1. The Long Falls

Her guts cold as a glacier, the elf tried to keep control over herself.

Jacky retreats, but under his own free will!

Ruined Tower
Thrud, Ella, Grim (your +4 dwarf bonus to saves against magic applies) and Jackie all pass their saving throws. Vasco and Zach fail.

The sight of the ghostly figure is too much for Vasco and Zach to bear. They are compelled to flee, screaming, out of the tower and back towards the Imperial Road and the waterfall. As they do so, they feel their very life force diminishing in the mere presence of the apparition.

Please can Vasco and Zach each make two further dice rolls to determine the consequences of the encounter … 2d8 and 3d6.

The remaining party members are free to act according to their original declarations for the round. Jackie, Ella and Thrud retreat. Is Grim still committed to attempting to turn the tower’s resident or, in light of events, is he going to join the general withdrawal?

---
12:30 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’

As Jacky ducks outside the tower into sunlight, he has the horrible realization that he's dropped his 10 ft pole!

Grim stays his holy symbol. Taking a moment to parlay with the spirit.
Sorry to have disturbed you, Grim says. Have you any tasks you need completed, dear spirit? Anything left undone in life, that we can look into for you?

... and a 3d6 please Vasco ...

As the ghostly apparition rises from the trapdoor, Zach’s teeth begin to chatter. Steady, Zacharias, steady. Zach feels his sword begin to slip as his hands start weeping a clammy, cold sweat. He tries to grip his sword tighter, and succeeds—until the ghost opens its spectral mouth. Zach feels the cold, cold wind of the grave loop around his neck, down his back, and into his very heart. He envisions cold, skeletal hands fastening bony knuckles around his throat. He feels what seems like an ethereal tongue made of ice and blood lick his eyeballs. The awful odor of the charnel house invades his nostrils and then his lungs. no. No. NO. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! AAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHH! In rank panic Zach backpedals and then flees as fast as he possibly can. Unthinking and uncaring of anything other than to escape the very servant of Death itself who has chosen Zacharias Polipulis as its next victim.

Ruined Tower
As most of the party gathers outside the tower, beyond the immediate clutches of the "Archontean noble", it is clear that the encounter has taken a physical toll on Vasco and Zach (especially). There are a few more wrinkles around their eyes and across their brows. Zach has gained a few flecks of grey in his hair. And neither feels quite as lithe and supple as they did this morning. They are also both in a state of sheer panic - unfocussed, unsettled, rambling and incoherent - unable to engage with the world in any meaningful way.

Zach has aged ten years, Vasco has aged four.

Both are still in a state of panic, and incapable of meaningful contributions to the party until they recover from that state.

Meanwhile … Grim stands alone, facing the apparition in a bold and courageous attempt to parley with it. However, the futility of this quickly becomes apparent as the ghostly figure sweeps towards him, a look of pure malice upon its face.

The onlookers outside the tower see the ghost rush towards Grim and then apparently merge with him. Grim tenses, his limbs outstretched and his back arched as the Archontean spirit attempts to assert control over the dwarf’s body.

The ghost is attempting to possess Grim in a battle of wills. Please make a saving throw versus Spells. Again, you can use your +4 dwarf bonus. You also get a further +2 because Grim’s Intelligence and Wisdom are relatively higher than those of the ghost.

---

You may attempt that next round. It's likely to bring you within melee range of the ghost though.

---
12:30 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’ (*Lantern*)
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’

Vasco had crawled back on his back for some distance after which he stood up and gave a wail while running towards the tower exits. At the entrance he stumbled and rolled over the ground feeling the blow deep in his bones. He oddly felt stiff and but then again he had seen a ghost, it was better to be alive than to be stiff and not moving. Outside the tower, the white noise of the waterfall was a pleasant comfort that helped him to get distracted from whatever was going inside.

Standing alone against the ghost, Grim soon realizes it’s time to retreat!
Picking up what he can carry out, including the ten foot pole, our dwarven fellow makes for the exit!
We’ll be seein’ ya again someday, Grim declares back at the apparition!

Zacharias ran and ran. His heart beating faster and faster until it felt like a fireball had ignited in his chest. His breath came in huge panting gasps. He felt more tired than he had ever been in his entire nineteen years. He reached the riverbank and collapsed. He had no concept of time; his brain was racing with visions of ghastly death. After almost an hour he finally was able to rise to his knees. He stumbled to the river to quench an overwhelming thirst. As he bent over the river, he screamed in horror, for the reflection staring back at him wasn't the teenager he expected, but that of a grown man with faint scattering of white hairs among his head. His formerly baby-smooth skin was now creased with crow lines and other creases. The ghost had siphoned a decade of his best years! Not even one day on this adventure and he was so much closer to death. Zach collapsed in tears and impotence.

Ruined Tower
With a guttural roar, Grim expels the ghost through sheer dwarven stubbornness. As it is forced to separate, the ghost’s fury only intensifies. It begins to transform, losing its ethereal, translucent quality and solidifying into something more ectoplasmic. Grim sees this period of transformation as his chance to escape; he grabs Jackie’s pole and runs for the exit.

Now distinctly solid, the ghost starts to pursue. But it becomes clear that it is reluctant, or unable, to leave the tower. It halts at the threshold, howls a single word - "NYEMA!!!" - and then turns and heads back into the darkness.

---

It is going to take an hour for both Vasco and Zach to calm down sufficiently to continue adventuring. What do the rest of you want to do during that period? Shall I just skip forward an hour so that you can continue together? Or do you want to investigate anything in the meantime?

---
12:30 pm, Demmasday 1st Lucreon (April) 2993 AEP
Ellagel, Elven Fighter/Magic User 1/1: 6/6, 90’
Grimidek, Dwarven Cleric 1: 9/9, 60’
Jacky, Halfling Fighter/Thief 1/1: 6/6, 60’
Thrudmarr, Wiskin Fighter 1: 5/5, 90’ (*Lantern*)
Vasco, Thorcin Thief 1: 6/6, 120’
Zacharias, Archontean Fighter 1: 10/10, 60’
—
Billie, Mule, 120’

Peering inside the ruined tower, Jacky's nearly bowled over as Grim makes his exit - and to the halfling's joy, with his 10 ft pole in tow. "Well done, Grim!" Jacky claps the dwarf on the back. "Brave of you to try to talk to that thing. That's my first time seeing a ghost. I wonder who or what this Nyema is?"

"Oh, dear," he continues, looking at the fleeing Vasco and Zach. "I think we'd better go after them while they're still in our sights!"