Session 16: The Grieving Ghost and the Freed Jailer

S16 — The Grieving Ghost and the Freed Jailer

TL;DR: The party fought a grieving, weeping ghost (a level-6 creature against their level-4 party) who was immune to precision and bleed and resisted physical hits. They used invisibility to loot and drag away her tethering body, then finally laid her to rest after bloodying and intimidating her with the truth that her lost love is dead. They recovered necromancy books, a runed magical chain shirt, a portrait, and a +1 silver hatchet, returned a found Infernal contract to the bound jailer devil (a 99-week/99-day loophole freed him), then cleared two cultists praying to a dormant gibbering mouther and a pair of violet fungi. They ended in an unexplored corridor near the stairs down.

Previously / Setup

A devil bound by contract to lick the walls had earlier traded the party a vision of events from hundreds of years ago in exchange for his life.
A wall message — "save me, I was Otari, save me below" — was tied to a blue light deeper underground.
The party had angered a ghost who demanded they "work"/transcribe; Cid opened a secret door revealing where she passed through a wall.

What happened

The ghost fight begins. The ghost screamed "you're not my Vullock" (her lost love, name transcribed Vullock/Voloch/Volo). She proved immune to precision and persistent bleed, resistant to physical damage, and too strongly tied to the world to be exorcised.
The portrait. Abbas pulled a portrait from a skeleton on the floor (believed to be the ghost's own body). It depicted her lost love; a gold plaque bore a name (transcribed "Ball Grisney"). Confronting her with the portrait and the truth that her love is dead repeatedly hit her with "slowed."
Retreat and looting. Judging her too strong, the party tried to disengage. Veve made Venris invisible; using his Shadow Mark stealth feat, Venris looted the body — a magical, runed chain shirt — and grabbed the portrait. When he dragged the body out, the ghost followed, suggesting the body is her tether.
The kill. They committed to the fight, using a figment of her husband to distract her and the Dread Marshal aura to frighten her on crits. Venris and Cid stabbed her down; a final intimidation/confrontation sent her off with "I'll see you on the other side, my love."
Room loot. The desk and cabinets held a stack of scrolls and several named necromancy books — The Worm, Grave Feasts, Secrets of the Skull — flagged as sellable/high quality. One scroll was an Infernal-written contract (a signature at the bottom marked it a contract, not a spell scroll).
Freeing the jailer. The wall-licking devil confirmed the contract was not his but the jailer's (name transcribed Horlock). The party brought it to the bound jailer devil; reading it aloud revealed a clause that if no new order arrived within 99 weeks and 99 days, his service ended. Triggering the clause freed him — he snapped, incinerated, and vanished. His empty cell granted XP; it held a fungus-covered Morlock corpse.
Cultists and the gibbering mouther. Near the blue light, two cultists knelt praying before a dormant aberration Venris recognized — a gibbering mouther ("Gibbering Mouther"). The party killed both cultists (who cast tendrils of darkness, bit, bled, and emitted a sickening stench). The cultists wore necklaces of flesh. The party avoided the mouther and closed the door.
Violet fungi and final rooms. Two violet fungi (level 2, mindless, 60-ft tremorsense, weak to fire, inflict "violet rot") were burned down with crafted burning arrows. Exploration found a collapsed elevator connecting this level to the worm above, a butcher's-block office holding a +1 low-grade silver hatchet, and a former bedroom turned meat locker full of dead Morlocks (too foul to search).
End. The party called it, leaving off in a corridor deciding their next direction, with the stairs down and an unexplored noisy room still pending.

Decisions

Chose to fully fight and destroy the ghost rather than permanently flee.
Returned the found contract to the jailer devil, inadvertently freeing him.
Avoided/left the gibbering mouther and the dead-Morlock meat locker untouched.
Deferred deeper exploration; ended at the corridor near the stairs down.

Loot and mechanics

Magical, runed chain shirt (rune type not identified; needs appraisal).
Portrait with a gold plaque (name transcribed "Ball Grisney"); flagged as sellable/high quality.
Named necromancy books: The Worm, Grave Feasts, Secrets of the Skull (≈3 total named books on hand; sellable).
+1 low-grade silver hatchet.
XP from the jailer devil's freed cell.

Open questions for next time

Where do the stairs down and the blue light lead — toward "Otari, save me below"?
What is behind the unexplored corridor and the room with a noise the party never opened?
Is the gibbering mouther / cult worth returning for, and who are the cultists serving?
Should the party return to town to sell the books/portrait, identify the chain shirt rune, and re-prep spells (e.g., fire) before tackling the violet fungi room remnants and deeper levels?

Scene timeline (11)

00:00:03	Recap and pregame chatter Speaker A recaps the prior session: the party met a devil bound by contract to lick the walls, who traded a vision of events from hundreds of years ago for his life. The party connected the 'save me below, I was Otari' wall message to a blue light deeper underground. They resumed a careful door-by-door approach, met an angry ghost demanding they transcribe/work, and Cid opened a secret door that revealed where the ghost had passed through a wall, provoking her. Pregame banter follows about making a new character and the previous combat. Initiative is rolled to begin the ghost fight. [S16 · 00:00:03 · turn 0001 · scene 001]
00:05:02	Fighting the grieving ghost (first engagement) Combat against an angry, weeping ghost who screams 'you're not my Vullock' (the name is transcribed variously as Vullock/Voloch/Volo). The party discovers she is immune to precision/bleed damage and resists most physical damage, and that she is too strongly tied to the world to be exorcised. Abbas recovers a portrait from a skeleton on the floor (which the party believes is the ghost's own body) depicting a lost love named Voloch; confronting the ghost with the portrait and the truth that her love is dead lands a 'slowed' condition on her. The party throws chairs (no effect, non-magical), fires arrows, and Venris stabs with a magical kukri for minimal damage. The ghost crits party members hard. The group begins to suspect they may not be strong enough. [S16 · 00:05:07 · turn 0052 · scene 002]
01:11:46	Sneaking, looting the body, and ghost retreat tactics The party decides not to kill the ghost outright (described as a level-6 monster vs a level-4 party). Veve casts Invisibility on Venris, who sneaks into the room using his Shadow Mark skill to loot the skeleton/body. He recovers a chain shirt (magical, runed) and the portrait (gold plaque with a name, transcribed 'Ball Grisney'). The party debates whether the ghost is tethered to the body or the portrait; when Venris drags the body out, the ghost follows, suggesting the body is the tether. Combat is messy with repeated hide/seek, invisibility, picking a locked door, and the ghost critting Viz down to ~4 HP and dealing 48 damage on one crit. Healing rules (Healing Hands d10 vs d8) are corrected mid-fight. [S16 · 01:18:12 · turn 0779 · scene 003]
02:16:06	Defeating the ghost and looting the room The party stops fleeing and fights the ghost to the end, using Veve's figment of the husband to distract her, the Dread Marshal aura to frighten her on crits, and repeated stabs from Venris and Cid. The ghost is bloodied and finally falls, departing with 'I'll see you on the other side, my love' after Cid's successful intimidation effectively exorcises her. Loot recovered: the magical (runed) chain shirt, the portrait, and several books from the desk/cabinets including named necromancy tomes (The Worm, Grave Feasts, Secrets of the Skull) plus a stack of scrolls, one of which is an infernal devil contract. The GM confirms the ghost was a level-6 creature. [S16 · 02:25:39 · turn 1495 · scene 004]
02:40:20	Identifying the contract's owner (the jailer devil) The party determines the contract belongs to a devil bound to the prison/cell (the jailer), distinct from the wall-licking 'Tong' devil whose contract this one is not. They resolve to take the contract to the jailer devil, then take a short break. (Continues in scene 007.) [S16 · 02:40:02 · turn 1638 · scene 005]
02:42:25	Break and off-topic dice/table bit A table break: Venris's player spams a huge number of d100/d40 dice on the virtual tabletop to 'brick the map' as a joke, and an NPC food vendor 'Mochi' is referenced. Off-topic banter; no story progress. [S16 · 02:48:41 · turn 1687 · scene 006]
02:53:45	Freeing the jailer devil with the contract The party returns to the wall-licking devil (still cleaning walls), who confirms the contract is not his but belongs to the jailer at the prison. They take the contract to the jailer devil (this one's name transcribed as Horlock), knocking loudly with a worthless ring. Venris and BB read the contract aloud with the devil; a clause states that if no new order arrives within 99 weeks and 99 days, his service ends and he is free. Reading it triggers the clause and the devil snaps his fingers, incinerates, and vanishes (freed). His empty cell grants the party XP; the cell contains a fungus-covered Morlock corpse. Cid does not want Venris near devil dealings and hands the contract off (to BB/Veve). [S16 · 02:54:37 · turn 1744 · scene 007]
03:05:34	Cultists and the gibbering mouther The party explores rooms near the blue light. Behind several doors they find two cultists kneeling in prayer before an aberration resembling the one that made noises in the tunnel (now identified as a gibbering mouther / 'Gibbering Mouther'). Combat ensues. The cultists cast tendrils of darkness, bite, and inflict bleed; the aberration emits a sickening foul stench (fortitude saves). Cid uses Divine Lance and the Dread Marshal aura; Venris stabs and frightens. Both cultists are killed; their bodies wear necklaces of flesh. The party avoids the gibbering mouther and closes the door on it. [S16 · 03:13:14 · turn 1947 · scene 008]
03:37:44	Violet fungi fight and final rooms (butcher / meat locker) The party finds a room with two violet fungi (level 2, mindless, 60-ft tremorsense, weak to fire, inflict 'violet rot' poison/enfeebled). Venris crafts and fires burning arrows; the party defeats both fungi with fire and ranged attacks. Further exploration reveals: a collapsed elevator confirming this level connects to where Abbas previously blasted a skull/floor near the worm above; a butcher's-block office with a +1 low-grade silver hatchet wedged in the desk; and a former bedroom repurposed as a meat locker full of dead Morlocks. The Morlock locker is too foul to search and is closed off. [S16 · 03:42:22 · turn 2291 · scene 009]
04:09:07	Wrap-up and stopping in the corridor The party agrees to call it for the night, considering returning to town. They note the level is essentially cleared except an unexplored corridor and a room with a noise behind it (plus the stairs down). They leave the minis in the corridor at a decision point about which way to go next. [S16 · 04:09:07 · turn 2599 · scene 010]
04:15:05	Post-game off-topic (video game session) Post-session off-topic chatter while players play an unrelated auto-battler / deck-building video game (references to vendors, sextants, regals, haste, items, poison builds) interspersed with a long improvised 'Beach Mouse' song bit. No campaign content. [S16 · 04:58:06 · turn 2647 · scene 011]

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