Fri 9th Jun 2023 05:07

The Third Tower - Ghosts and Dolls

by Tay'lonia Evyrn

Having missed out on the exploration of the second tower, I was determined to head out with the group that intended to explore the third tower. It was a good thing that I did two. These guys...I swear...
 
Left town with Fian (the ogre king) , Reksiit, Tello, and Wonsbok and headed north past the familiar sight of Badger Hill and when we came across the southern most tower and then headed to the west. The guys were legit worried about getting ambushed so I had to forge on a head while they crept along, completely slowing us down. Good thing I was paying attention because I spotted the ambush well before them and was able to warn them. Skeletons, half a dozen or more of them attacked us, which wasn't a problem at all. However a strange thing happened when they died, the skeletons fell apart leaving orbs of glowing blue light, mischievous seeming and definitely not benign. We didn't give them the chance to do anything suspicious and splattered them outright.
 
The rogue was quick to pick through the skeletal remains (shocker!) and we were then hailed by a knight defending the bridge to get to the tower. He let us know that we had two choices to cross the bridge: defeat him in single combat or pay the toll. He seemed rather upset at giving us the option to pay the toll, like if he would have his way he wouldn't offer that option at all. Perhaps someone could give him a challenge, however he wasn't a human...or anything mortal like that. He seemed more like a bunch of random armor pieces being held together by an ooze, he might have been a rust monster hidden or something else, but I'm not entirely confident about that. Wonsbok managed to convince him that we had already paid the toll which was good.
 
Going into the tower, my ring was trying to tell me something and it took me a while to remember what it did. Invisible creatures, and ghosts plagued the tower. While everyone was was busy looting chests and breaking open the doors they weren't listening to the tower itself. There was singing, a lullaby that was strangely familiar...
 
Hush, my child, don't you weep,
Lay your head down, drift to sleep.
In the shadows, whispers creep,
In the nighttime, secrets seep.
 
Creaking floors and sighs so low,
Echo through the halls, eerie and slow.
But fear not, my dear, for I'll never go,
I'll guard your dreams from the ghosts below.
 
Close your eyes, the night is deep,
Where the moon casts shadows steep.
Monsters lurk, their silence keep,
As through the darkness they slowly creep.
 
Creepy creatures, they dance and play,
In the corners where moonbeams sway.
But within my arms, safe you'll stay,
As we chase those ghouls away.
 
Sleep, my child, with peace profound,
Though whispers may echo all around.
In my love, a fortress is found,
Where nightmares vanish without a sound.
 
The spirits were all of dead elves, a mother and a daughter who were angry...so angry was the little girl she was fueling a doll to attack people. A haunted object that the others wanted to destroy outright, but I knew that there had to be another way. So I sang to her, and her to me, banking the fire of her anger and calming her. Her spirit soothed for the moment, I decided to carry the poppet with me, to see if I can help her find rest, true eternal rest.
 
After clearing the top of the tower, we delved into the basement where we encountered more ghosts, prisoners of old that had been held in the tower. After dispatching them, we ventured to another part of the basement and discovered a well...of souls...trapped in pain and misery behind arcane symbols etched into a grate in the floor. Using an old elvish hymnal, the oldest that I know, I managed to keep the souls at bay behind the grate to keep them from causing harm to other members of the group. However, they weren't truly dealt with and laid to rest. Their souls were trapped as part of the sacrificial ritual that was used to build the tower, in support of the tower of Nargoul...they don't deserve that fate...but the others didn't seem to be interested in helping them, perhaps I'll gather another group to head back and dismantle the well and lay those poor bastards to rest once and for all.