Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders

November 2, 2013 @ Debbie & Barney’s

Day 24:

The Seven’s Sawmill, continued:

From the elevated vantage point of the rookery at the Seven’s Sawmill, the party saw several members of the Skinsaw cult flee the sawmill, taking refuge in the anonymity of Varisia’s largest city, Magnimar. They sensed that an alarm might be raised, and since they had just killed one of the city’s eminent citizens, they would prefer to leave the area rather than have to answer questions, at least not until after taking the opportunity to deal with the threat residing in the Shadow Clock.

The Shadow Clock

They made haste to the Shadow Clock, a decrepit and sagging clock tower, a dying structure of weathered stone, wood, and rusted metal supports that teetered to an unlikely height of over 180 feet. High above, near the tower’s roof and barely 5 feet from the Irespan’s stony belly, a tangle of scaffolding sat near a section of the structure that had fallen away. The tower’s clock face was frozen in time, defiantly proclaiming it to be 3 o’clock, while above, a stone statue of an angel, her wings crumbling, leaned precariously, almost as if she were preparing a final leap from her decaying perch. The tower itself is made mostly of limestone, with a tangled skeleton of wooden supports buttressed here and there by iron bands. The stone walls are etched by wind, rain, and grime. While this pitted surface might seem to make for a relatively easy climb, the fact that so many of the stones are loose makes such a stunt dangerous.

The door to the tower was closed, but not locked, and the party moved in cautiously. The air inside the clock tower was dusty and dry. Swaths of rubble and mounds of plaster lay in heaps on the stone floor, particularly in the southwest corner. A single wagon sat to the northeast, and six partially collapsed offices lined the northern and eastern walls, their doors hanging askew and their ceilings caved in. A wooden staircase wound up into the cavernous space above. High overhead, four immense bronze bells hung from sturdy crossbeams.

Closer inspection revealed that despite the place’s general appearance of ruin, a fair amount of foot traffic has been through the area–the floor bore several medium humanoid footprints and a pair of enormous misshapen prints that defy easy classification. Oz was detecting magic on the collapsed offices one by one when a large misshapen monster emerged from hiding and attacked. A jumbled mass of body parts incorporating as much cow and horse as man, its considerable girth topped by an idiot head that leered and drooled like a grotesque baby, its face cruelly stitched, the lips sewn partially together, the awakened flesh golem known as The Scarecrow sliced viciously into Echo with a large scythe.

The party moved quickly to defend Echo from the monstrosity. Lisanji’s adamantine greatsword bit deeply into The Scarecrow’s flesh, while Mackintosh’s merely magical one met greater resistance. Oz greased the floor under him, causing him to trip, while Nymeria disarmed him of his scythe. However, he remained a threat, swinging two meaty arms for great damage even without a weapon. Mackintosh ended him with a swift and strong stroke, severing body parts as he collapsed into a pile, never to move again. His scythe was highly magical (+2) and he also had a bag of coins, and a tarnished silver ring, and a silver mirror. There was nothing else of value on him, or in the base of the tower.
The party then began making their way up the treacherous wooden stairs. The rotting wood creaked and swayed alarmingly whenever more than one person went up at a time. To avoid using the stairs, Oz used defy gravity on himself and Lisanji, Wanga turned into a pteranadon, and Echo cast fly. Nymeria went up the stairs first, with Mackintosh coming up behind. They went around the spiral stairs, carefully ascending several levels before they reached a section of collapsed stairs. Nymeria tried jumping across, and was able to catch herself and pull herself up.

As Mackintosh moved to follow, the party noticed some people on the upper levels, and one of the huge bronze bells began to fall, crashing into beams and sections of wooden stairs as it fell. It smashed into Mackintosh, dealing heavy damage, but he was luckily not knocked down. Mackintosh then leaped gracefully across the gap of the missing stairs and the party continued to ascend.

As they neared the top where the bells were attached, they got a better look at the people who presumably caused the bell to fall on them. They looked just like Magnimar’s elite guard. In addition, a dark, winged figure seemed to fly around in circles. The upper part of the tower was too dark to get a really good look, but it appeared to be a dragon, possibly incorporeal, made of shadow.

As the party continued to climb the tower, the guards retreated through a hole in the outer wall on to some scaffolding that continued upward. Upon reaching the hole, the party noticed that only one of the bells had been rigged to fall, and the others were securely fastened. The three remaining bells hung from timbers there, affixed by rusting lengths of chain and thick ropers. Above the bells were massive gears and clockworks, although they seemed both rusted and scavenged–many of the smaller components were missing entirely. The rickety wooden stairs wound up and arouind them, but did not quite reach the ceiling above, coming to an end at the opening in the wall.

The party continued out the opening and up the scaffolding up the exterior of the tower to a room that lay just beyond the ceiling directly above the bells. The room contained a timber cabinet with a mesh door sitting against the the southern wall, while a boarded-up door stood in the wall to the east. The cabinet contained messenger ravens, one of which might have been the one the party released from the Seven’s Sawmill.

Beyond the boarded-up door lay a large and cluttered room filled with immense gears and clockworks, most of which appeared to have rusted into place. The floor inside, unlike the stairwell leading up the inner walls of the clock tower, was quite solid. Another opening led to the tower’s exterior, where the final ascent would be made via more scaffolding. The shadowy dragon flew in lazy circles around the top of the tower, making the party uneasy. Wanga cast flame strike, which caused it to seem to dissipate temporarily, but it soon re-formed, and withdrew from sight.

At the top of the tower, the smoky filthy rooftops of Underbridge sprawled below the dizzying perch. The conical roof supported an onyx statue of an angel. Towering like a god, her weathered features were caked with grime, making her seem almost demonic in countenance. At the far end of the hollow space under the roof, in the angel’s shadow, lay a nest of cushions, silk sheets, and a line of several small chests.

The guards the party spotted on their way up were inside, on either side of the entryway, ready to attack. Lying in the nest of cushions was a familiar-looking elderly man. Caizarlu Zerren, the necromancer the party rousted out of Habe’s Sanatorium, lay motionless on his back, with a Sihedron rune carved into his forehead.

The party, expecting a “snake lady” of some sort, was not sure what to make of it, but they did not have long to consider, because the “guards” turned out to be faceless stalkers, and they immediately reverted to their natural appearance and attacked, but the party made short work of them.

Caizarlu said “If you’ve come for Xanesha, you’re too late” and reanimated the slain faceless stalkers into ghouls. As the party battled the ghouls, Caizarlu cast a stinking cloud over the battlefield, but unfortunately for him, he was the only one affected.

About this time, Xanesha, a lamia matriarch became visible as she surprise attacked Mackintosh with a fancy longspear from above, where she clung to the rafters by her snake tail. The ghouls were dispatched quickly, Mackintosh and Lisanji taking one side, and Nymeria and Wanga taking the other, with Oz and Echo staying at range. Caizarlu and Xanesha took longer, as they both had mirror images up that absorbed several attacks each. Furthermore, the stinking cloud obscured vision somewhat, providing concealment that made some attacks miss.

Caizarlu succumbed first, and Xanesha commented on harvesting his greedy soul for her master, and that the party was next. However, Echo dispelled the stinking cloud, and Xanesha was soon surrounded. Mackintosh had leapt acrobatically up to the rafters, and Nymeria was attacking from below with her own polearm. Xanesha stabbed repeatedly at Mackintosh, but was unable to bring him down before falling herself.

Treasure

The party then inspected the bodies.

Caizarlu possessed a cape of the mountebank, a +1 Dagger of Venom, a potion of gaseous form, a potion of cure moderate wounds, a wand of false life (29), and a wand of infernal healing (44)

Xanesha possessed an Impaler of Thorns (her spear), a medusa mask, a Sihedron medallion, a snakeskin tunic, and a set of keys that unlocked the chests, which contained a +2 kukri, a ring of jumping, and a golembane scarab, 4 potions of cure moderate wounds, and 3000 gold pieces.

A crumpled-up wad of parchment in the southwest corner of the room revealed that Xanesha was in a sort of competition with her sister, gathering greedy souls for the rise of their “Lord.” While Xanesha was working in Magnimar, her sister was operating out of Turtleback Ferry.

Turtleback Ferry is a small township perched on the rain-drenched north shore of Claybottom Lake, and is the central trading town for the region. Nearly 80 miles from Ilsurian, the next town of similar size, Turtleback Ferry has nominally been under Magnimarian rule for 45 years, an arrangement the settlement agreed to in return for protection from the region’s ogres and ogrekin.

The letter also referred to an impending invasion of Fort Rannick, a fort in the shadow of Hook Mountain. The fort has been instrumental in the efforts of a group known as “the Order of the Black Arrow” in keeping the ogres, trolls, and other giants of the Storval Rise from spreading too far into the lowlands.

Thus ends Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders. There may be some recap and followup regarding any loose ends, but the main story is done. The breadcrumb trail leads to Turtleback Ferry and Fort Rannick.

Everyone should be level 8 before the next time we play.

I have also once again changed how we’re going to assign treasure to PCs. Let’s use the recommended character wealth by level as published by Paizo. For level 8, that is 33,000gp. Everyone can equip their own character with up to 33,000 gp worth of stuff, including consumables like potions, scrolls, wands, etc. Anything within that budget is assumed to be available. If you want to use crafting feats to lower the cost and effectively increase your budget, that is fine, just don’t try to game the system by taking advantage of infinite arbitrage opportunities, etc.

 

Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders

The Cleansing of Foxglove Manor

October 4, 2013 @ Debbie & Barney’s

Day 21:

Cyralie Foxglove

The orb in the observatory transported the party to a plane where they faced a large, fiery female form. She wielded a large flaming greatsword, and had several powers at her disposal. The first was a Fire Nova, which would deal fire damage in a 10′ radius and knock back opponents who failed a Reflex save. The second was Enfeeble, which would set an opponent to 1 hp and make them invisible. She also could apply ongoing fire damage, removable with a Reflex save or a move action. She also summoned infernal creatures which emanated a fire aura at a range of 5′. The party endured the damage, though some of them were knocked unconscious, returning to the fight a round later. The party was rewarded with her large +1 flaming adamantine greatsword.

Kasanda Foxglove

The orb in the guest bedchamber that was caked with a thick, spongy layer of dark green, blue, and black mold transported the party to a plane where they faced a representation of Kasanda Foxglove, a huge female form, heavily armored, and wielding a trident. She had several powers, the first of which was Repentance, which dazed targets in a 30′ radius and healed them, but the effect was broken if the target took any damage. She also could deal damage in a 15′ radius with Holy Ground, or inflict multiple targets with Holy Wrath. She could also Lay On Hands to heal herself. The party handled her with ease, staying either inside the range of Holy Ground, which would break Repentance, or outside the range of Repentance itself. The party was rewarded with a Ring of Retribution.

Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders

The Cleansing of Foxglove Manor

September 6, 2013 @ Crimson Castle

Day 20:

In the process of searching Foxglove Manor, the party discovered four large orbs of some sort of impenetrable force. Each orb was in a different area of the house, with an affinity for a particular member of the Foxglove family. Approaching an orb resulted in a compulsion to touch it, and when the entire party touched the orb simultaneously, they found themselves transported into an extradimensional space, where they were faced with a supernatural and hostile incarnation of the Foxglove haunts.

Traver Foxglove

The orb in Traver’s bedroom transported the party to a plane, featuring an altar and a pentagram, where they faced a huge demon. The demon Traver quickly summoned the first of several demon child in the guise of his children Zeeva, Sendeli and Aldern. While a demon child lived, demon Traver had enormous damage resistance (DR 20/-), but while there was no demon child, he would be very likely to be critically hit (15+). Though only one child would be summoned at a time, the demon child could do several things, including heal demon Traver, apply a fire vulnerability debuff allowing fire attacks to automatically crit, and inspire courage for a +2 bonus. Demon Traver could also “sacrifice” party members by immobilizing them in chains, which the party would have to destroy, or else the sacrifice would die, healing demon Traver the party member’s maximum health. Demon Traver also summoned demonic minions which cast scorching ray and could use misfortune, forcing a d20 reroll as an immediate action. With some effort, the party was able to kill the demon children and the minions to keep on top of the summoning, and wear down the vulnerable demon Traver. The party was rewarded with a Phylactery of Positive Channeling, which allowed Echo an additional 2d6 on her channeling positive energy.

Vorel Foxglove

The orb in Vorel’s workshop tranported the party to a plane where they faced a gargantuan skeletal dragon. The dragon could full attack with bites and a tail attack with knockback, or breathe nauseating foul breath in a 30′ cone, or fling filth at enemies, forcing them to move to avoid them or be nauseated. Colored orbs lay at the edges of a circle, with colored beams pointing toward the dragon. These beams conferred special powers on whatever they touched. They started out boosting the powers of the dragon, but the party swiftly commandeered them. The red beam would increase the target’s maximum health, heal it, and also draw the aggression of the dragon if intercepted. The blue beam allowed its target to crit on a 15 with a x4 multiplier. The green beam allowed its target one extra attack per round, as if under the effects of haste. In addition, no one could benefit from the same color beam two rounds in a row. For the most part, the party juggled the beams effectively, but on occasion, the positioning of the dragon resulted in him moving to attack a different target, which caused him to receive the blue and green beams which had previously been blocked. Mackintosh and Lisanji went down, but since their presence in this extradimensional space was merely a projection of consciousness, they were able to return. Draconic Vorel was very tough and lasted quite a long time, but the party was able to wear him down eventually, taking full advantage of the beams. The party was rewarded with a Ring of Transposition, which allows two party members to switch places if they had previously attuned their rings to each other.

Book 2: The Skinsaw Murders

Saturday, August 10, 2013 @ Bud’s

Days 10-16:

After the party thoroughly ended the goblin threat to Sandpoint, they had become known as the heroes of Sandpoint. They party spent some time recuperating from their bold exploits, but the other evil forces in Golarion did not stop just because the heroes took a rest.

Echo had begun to notice a few minor items like buttons going missing, but was creeped out by the disappearance of the hair from her brush, especially since no one else had noticed anything strange going on.

Day 17:

Murder!

In the morning, a sullen and grim-faced Sheriff Hemlock revealed that several murders have been committed in and around Sandpoint, and requested the party’s assistance investigating the crimes. The latest murder victims were Katrine Vinder, daughter of grocer Ven Vinder, and Banny Harker, who worked at the sawmill, where the bodies were found by Ibor Thorn, another of the mill’s workers. This is the second set of murders in the past few days, the first being that of three local swindlers.

Hemlock then handed Echo a bloodstained scrap of parchment with her name written on it, a message from the murderer, reading “You will learn to love me, desire me in time as she did. Give yourself to the Pack and it shall all end. — Your Lordship.” Hemlock explained that this note was found pinned to the sleeve of the latest victim by a splinter of wood, and seemed intended to implicate the party in the murders, though he did not believe the heroes of Sandpoint had anything to do with them. However, if word of this note gets out, the town’s reaction might not be so understanding, so the sheriff requested they keep as quiet as possible about the murders.

The sheriff then filled the party in on what he knew of the murders:

The lumber mill: The most recent murders took place here – the bodies were still present, and little had been done with the crime scene itself. Sheriff Hemlock suggested that this should be the first place the party investigate since he would like to get the mill cleaned up right away and the bodies buried.

Ibor Thorn: Sheriff Hemlock had interrogated Ibor, the man who discovered the bodies at the lumber mill, and doesn’t suspect the frightened man knew much more.

Ven Vinder: This merchant was Sheriff Hemlock’s only suspect, although the sheriff was fairly certain that Ven was innocent and that the murders were committed by someone else.

The first murders: Three con men from the town of Galduria were found murdered in an abandoned barn south of town a few days ago – their bodyguard survived the assault but has gone insane and had been sent to Habe’s Sanatorium – a privately run respite for the insane.

The rune: The star carved on one victim’s chest certainly had significance to the killer, but Hemlock was at a loss as to what it could mean.

Sheriff Hemlock confirmed that one of the mill’s operators, a penny-pinching man named Banny Harker, has been engaged in a semi-secret affair with the daughter of a local shopkeeper. He and Katrine Vinder had been meeting at the mill often of late, using the noise of the logsplitter to cover sounds of their trysting. But as to why they had been killed, Sheriff Hemlock could offer no theory.

The lumber mill

The lumber mill stood on the shore of the Turandarok River. A sizable crowd had gathered outside by the time the party arrived and groups of nervous looking town guards stood at the mill’s entrances. A few questions were enough to reveal that the mill was working last night – Harker and Thorn, the two millers, often worked late into the night which had become a bone of contention around town as the noisy mill and its infernally creaky log splitter kept neighbors awake. The guards stepped aside to allow the newly deputized party inside to investigate.

The mill was a well-built wooden structure with very thick walls. The roof was of wooden shingles, and doors were simple timber and unlocked. The mill machinery inside the mill was noisy – if someone wanted to sneak up on somebody it would be rather easy, Within the mill the party found the following items:

The pier: Timber was cut down upstream and then floated down the Turandurok River and delivered to the mill via a small pier that extended out into the River. The machinery then pulled the logs out of the water and onto the water saw where the logs were cut into boards. The party discovered a set of muddy footprints leading from the end of the pier into the sawmill proper. These footprints reeked strongly of rotting meat.

The murder scene: The mill interior is coated with sawdust strewn with footprints and splashes of blood. It was obvious that a desperate struggle took place here several hours ago. The primary clues were Harker’s body, Katrine’s body, a bloody axe, and a set of bloody footprints.

Katrine’s body: Poor Katrine had apparently fallen (or been pushed) into the log splitter. Her mangled, ruined remains lie on the mill’s lower floor amid heaps of bloodstained firewood. The log splitter itself was powered by a waterwheel and consisted of a chute in the floor with rotating saw blades that cut logs as they are fed in – a gruesome death indeed.

Sevilla then collapsed and issued a low moan. He attempted to reach his feet, tear off his straitjacket, and lunge at Echo, but before he could do so, Mackintosh delivered a coup de grace, a fatal blow ending the so-called-life of a man on the verge of the insanity of undeath.

Habe shrieked and attempted to flee, but Nymeria smacked him down with the flat of her sword, and he remained there, blubbering and whimpering in cowardly fashion. Two tiefling orderlies came to investigate the commotion, but Habe prevented them from provoking hostility.

The party began asking pointed questions of Habe regarding the sort of operation he was running, and he blamed someone he called “The Necromancer.” Further questioning revealed that Habe’s sanatorium had fallen on hard times, and he had accepted a silent partner named Caizarlu. Whenever one of Habe’s patients dies, Caizarlu is always willing to dispose of the body. As long as Caizarlu pays the bills, and as long as what goes on down in the basement stays behind closed doors, Habe has no complaints. Upon learning of Caizarlu’s presence in the sanatorium, the party decided to investigate further, but Caizarlu was already on his way up to deal with what he perceived to be a threat to his interests.

 

From behind a barred window on a door at the top of the staircase between the first and second floors, Caizarlu waited. When the party appeared on the second floor, Caizarlu cast stinking cloud into the main room. Wanga remained upstairs out of the cloud, but others were caught in it. Mackintosh, Hildabrandt, and Oz choked on the cloud, sickened, as Nymeria went to unlock the door. When the door opened, Caizarlu then fled down the stairs, as Lisanji struck a blow with her greatsword.

The party’s pursuit of Caizarlu was slowed by four zombies on the stairs, some of which were slain quickly by Lisanji, and some of which Nymeria bypassed with an overrun maneuver. Echo rushed past Caizarlu to block the exit, and as he was surrounded, he concentrated briefly, and disappeared. Attempts to find him were unfruitful, but the party got the opportunity to search the sanatorium, including Caizarlu’s basement laboratory.

The basement combined features of a laboratory and a catacomb–several tables bearing bodies covered by drapes dominating the room, while tools ranging from shovels to dissection implements sat on shelves against the wall. Three bodies lay on tables, preserved by gentle repose, a wand of which was discovered in a secret compartment in one of the table legs.

The party also discovered a map of the Sandpoint hinterlands that Caizarlu had been using to track “ghoul activity.” In particular, there has been an increase in ghoul sightings around the southern farmlands and along Foxglove River. Caizarlu’s current research seems concerned with developing a method by which one could track a ghoul’s lineage back through several “generations” of ghoul attacks. One takeaway from his notes is the very strong possibility of what he calls a “ghoulish source” having risen to prominence in the region.

A stark bedroom lay to the west of the laboratory, containing a simple bed, a study table, and a plain wooden chair. Caizarlu’s spellbook containing many spells lay atop the desk.

There are also quite a lot of notes in the spellbook concerning ancient Thassilonian traditions of magic, including a few drawings of the Sihedron rune. The party took the spellbook with the intent of copying the spells into Oz’s and Hildabrandt’s spellbooks. Oz also left a note for Caizarlu letting him know that they could be contacted at the Rusty Dragon in Sandpoint. The party then returned to Sandpoint to rest and to inform Sheriff Hemlock about what they had discovered. They decided to stay the night, and head toward Foxglove Manor in the morning.

Day 18:

The Hambley Farm

However, the next morning, a panicked farmer by the name of Maester Grump arrived in Sandpoint, breathless and covered with mud and sweat. He broke into frantic babbling about walking scarecrows, and finally settled down long enough to tell a short but harrowing story about how the southern farmlands have become plagued by foul walking scarecrows that stalk the night. All the farmers knew that the problems were coming from the old Hambley place–“things just ain’t been right there for a few days now”–but when a group of locals paid the Hambley farm a visit yesterday evening, they were attacked by folk that looked like corpses but fed like starving animals. “They even ate the dogs!”

Hemlock explained that his men picked up Grump as he ran into town screaming about walking scarecrows, and asked the party to investigate. Since it was on the way to Foxglove Manor, they agreed.

Along the way, the party found that the normally friendly locals were more withdrawn, and seemed unwilling to chat with visitors. The news of walking scarecrows has spread quickly. As the party continued through the footpaths and dusty tracks hemmed in by fields of corn and other crops, they noticed several scarecrows secured to posts scattered throughout the fields.

The party buffed up and spread out to investigate the scarecrows. Oz positively identified some of the scarecrows as ghouls courtesy of a disrupt undead cantrip, but some of them were living people suffering from ghoul fever, and others were ordinary scarecrows. The ghouls were easily dispatched, and the party rendered some healing for the afflicted farmers, who warned of a larger group of ghouls in the barn to the west.

The party hurried toward the barn, but the farm was so big that their short duration buffs such as enlarge person wore off. The party heard groaning from inside the barn, and knew that their ghoul enemies were within. Wanga had determined that the dry wood and straw of the barn would probably burn very well, so he opened the door and cast spark inside. The flames caught swiftly, and the ghouls moved toward the front and rear exits.

Hildabrandt, Nymeria, and Lisanji headed toward the barn’s rear exit while Mackintosh and Wanga covered the front. Oz and Echo also remained in the front, suspicious of the fire Wanga had started. The ghouls opened the barn’s front door, and whiffed a few swings at Tini. Mackintosh tried a spectacular acrobatic move to get past the three ghouls blocking the door, and failed spectacularly. Two of the ghouls got attacks of opportunity, and one of them paralyzed him for the majority of the fight. However, Tini was able to keep the ghouls contained. Echo channeled positive energy to damage them, and then joined Oz in creating water to control the spreading fire as Wanga continued setting new ones. One of the ghouls fled to the “safety” of the fire, and tried throwing Tini into it, but was killed before he could do so.

Meanwhile, at the back door, Hildabrandt and Nymeria moved into position. Nymeria opened the door and Hildabrandt cast a spell into the barn as Lisanji moved up behind them. Together, they dispatched the ghouls with ease, and began inspecting the stalls, one of which contained an undead horse with a ghoul rider. Lisanji’s greatsword was red hot as she tore into them with critical hit after critical hit. Threat confirmed. It’s dead. Cleave. Threat confirmed. It’s dead. It splits into more (haha). Cleaving Finish. Dead. Cleaving Finish. Dead. It splits into more (ok no really that’s enough)

As the party was annihilating the ghouls in the barn, a ghast with an iron key around his neck emerged from the farm house and moved toward the party. Oz blasted him with a ray of energy, and Mackintosh recovered from his paralysis just in time to finish him off. The key featured a heraldic symbol of a curious flower surrounded by thorns, the Foxglove family crest. As the Foxglove family estate is located on the coast a mere 3 miles from to the west of the Hambley farm, it seems likely that this ghast came from there, and may have been in the employ of the Foxgloves at some time.

A search of the master bedroom revealed a wooden coffer containing the life savings of the deceased farmers: 3400 silver pieces.

Next stop: Foxglove Manor

Treasure:

wand of gentle repose (17 charges)

Caizarlu’s spellbook

3: displacement, stinking cloud, vampiric touch, gentle repose, halt undead, suggestion, heroism

2: acid arrow, blindness/deafness, command undead, detect thoughts, ghoul touch, mirror image, scorching ray, touch of idiocy

1: cause fear, chill touch, color spray, floating disk, identify, mage armor, magic missile, obscuring mist, ray of enfeeblement, sleep

0: bleed, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead, light, mage hand, mending, message, prestidigitation, read magic

 

TL;DR: The party investigated a murder and determined it was probably done by a ghast. They checked out a mental hospital where a doctor and a necromancer were holding a lunatic on the verge of becoming a ghoul. The guy gave a hint that the killer is at Foxglove Manor, the party killed the guy as he started to turn, and the necromancer got away, but the party got to keep his spellbook. On the way to Foxglove Manor, the party cleaned out a farm that had become overrun by ghouls, one of which carried a key that probably goes to something inside the manor.

There was not much in the way of treasure, and I am probably going to simplify the way treasure gets handled, but I am not sure just how yet.

The party attained level 5 prior to checking out Habe’s Sanatorium, and should be level 6 very soon after starting the next session. It would be good to have level 6 character sheets ready.