Plot for session 57

Summary

The group tries to solve the mystery in Ooloodee, where everyone died. The town is wrapped by the negative energy accumulated within and everything is outright hostile.

Adventure background

The group is passing through Ooloodee in their attempt to reach the Blood Glade. They would also like to help one of the spirits that Mogo resurrected.

Goals

Solve the mystery

Give peace to the inhabitants of the town

Find more information about the Blood Glade

Regaining presence

The battle finished, a heap of skulls and bones remains in place of the terrifying scorpion that emerged from the lake. It is closed night by now, and all of you are feeling increasingly tired. In the presence of darkness, however, ghostly figures start emerging.

As ghosts start appearing, skulking in the shadows, running around, the hobgoblin zombie inhabited by a grippli spirit sees a friend and they run towards it. This brings their memories back, and the PCs can question them. They can learn the following from them:

Woordaa was a grippli who was very invested in the second tadpole attempt since the sickness spread through Candle river

Woordaa said she still heard the previous tadpoles who died, and was convinced that raising them anew was a good way of letting their souls rest

Since the town was sickness free, they tried having tadpoles, but less than six moons after the tadpoles were born, a new wave of sickness ravaged the town

Many became very ill, particularly those who hadn't gotten the sickness the first time around, some died

As people started dying, more and more people also started hearing what Woordaa was hearing, and what everyone realized were ghosts

With many sick and on the verge of dying, a mad plan was devised: to perform a ritual that would transform all of them into ghosts, which would allow them to continue living, sickness free, and be reunited with their tadpoles

Some opposed the plan

When the last tadpole died, however, Woordaa lost her head and started killing those who had opposed her plan

The storyteller, Awaalu was her main opponent

As the PCs investigate they can continue to deal with the haunts that inhabit the area. Once the PCs have investigated the houses, all of them begin to hear the echoes of the ritual (haunt).

Wronged Ritual

Ancient words start reverberating from the lake, indicating that the PCs are no longer alone. These sounds rapidly grow in power, until it seems as if an entire grippli village was chanting the same words over and over, the sounds now coming from almost all the houses. The ghosts decline to speak with anyone, repeating the words obligingly.
This persistent haunt plays out over 11 rounds, following a scripted series of actions. Allow the PCs to take their own actions as they wish each round; the haunt’s actions always occur on initiative count 10.
Haunting Ritual XP 51,200 CR 15 HP 67
CE persistent haunt (Pond and environs to a radius of 30 feet)
Caster Level 15th
Notice Perception DC 25 (to hear the sound of the ritual being performed)
hp 67; Trigger timed; Reset none
This persistent haunt adheres to the following round-by-round schedule. Note that until the haunt begins to act in force on the fifth round, it cannot be dismissed or damaged. These first four rounds are, in effect, an extended warning of what’s about to occur.
Rounds 1–3: Allow the PCs to each make a DC 25 Perception check. Anyone who succeeds hears a faint echo of a ritual being performed by the lake. PCs outside of a house need only succeed at a DC 10 Perception check to hear the ritual. The beginning of the ritual continues for 3 rounds, during which time PCs might head down into the pond to see whom it might be. Attempts to see the ground outside the cabin are fruitless due to the whirling raining storm, unless the PCs are within 5 feet, and then they still see nothing present that could have caused the noises.
Round 4: The strange chanting grows silent for 1 round.
Round 5: A loud crack followed by a series of screeching wooden noises boom through the village. On each turn that a PC remains in the haunt’s area, he must make a DC 15 Con save; failure indicates he cannot move for that round, while failure by 5 or more indicates he falls prone as the sounds hammer into their brains.
Round 6: The hammering continues, but now the faint images of grippli ghosts can be glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. Each character suddenly experiences painful hunger pangs and must succeed at a DC 15 Fortitude save to resist taking 4d6 points of nonlethal damage and 1d4 points of Constitution damage from the horrific hunger.
Round 7: Voices can now be heard, in most cases wordless cries of pain, but now and then snatches of sentences like "please work”, "i will endure it all if it works", and "I just want to laugh with them again". The hammering continues, but now the starving ghosts seem to notice the PCs for the first time. Each PC must make a DC 18 Will save— failure indicates that the haunt possesses him as the ghosts themselves seem to flow into the PC’s body. Possession inflicts 1d6 points of Wisdom drain, and has additional implications in rounds 8–10.
Round 8–10: For the last 3 rounds of this complex haunt, the chanting and hammering continues. Characters possessed by the haunt do not need to make Constitution saves to move and take whatever actions they can to render non-possessed characters unconscious or helpless, using whatever tools they have at their disposal. If a possessed character is adjacent to a helpless, non-possessed character and is not threatened by any other non-possessed character, he attempts a coup de grace action against the helpless character with the best weapon option he has. If a possessed character is adjacent to a dead character, he lays by them, peacefully.
Round 11: With a sudden lurch, the hammering stops. A shriek can be heard "Who is disturbing the ritual!?" Possessed characters immediately regain control of their faculties. Any character who successfully damaged on an ally must make a DC 20 Will save upon realizing what he’s done—failure results in an additional 2d4 points of Wisdom drain from the supernaturally fueled revelation.
Fight with Woorda.

Party size

3

APL

13

Environment

Mangrove town

Common monster type

Ghosts

Boss monster type

Woordaa

Mood

Creepy