Book the Second, Chapter the Seventh: Clouds of Battle

[Mr. Handy]

"Can your invisible servant lift those stones back into place again?" Henry asks Lepus.

[jp1885]

"You could ask him my lord, but yon stones be too heavy methinks."

OOC,Looking in the players' guide, an unseen servant can lift up to 20lb or drag 100lb. I suspect the standing stones are somewhat heavier.

[Mr. Handy]

"Ivan could have done it, perhaps," says Henry, regretting having left him back at the house. "Or Gogmagog. No matter. A simple application of the physical principle of leverage will do. 'Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world,'" he adds, quoting Archimedes. He looks around for suitable levers.

[jp1885]

"Aye, 'tis a fair point," Lepus concurs as he squints through the storm. "But afore we act, let us see what is occuring."

[SunlessNick]

"Show yourself!" challenges William.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

“Hmm... Either this be a ruse to draw us away from yon great house or there be something here old Lepus cannot yet detect...” muses the wanderer.

Leaning forward as if the lashing rain was merely a curtain to peer through, he opens all six of his senses.

WIS 18,[dice]232534:0[/dice]

The hedge wizard's experience with the unnatural allows him to deduce that the movement of these great stones -- far beyond the ability of an Invisible Servant or ordinary mortal man to set into motion, save through a mighty Feat of Strength or through some ingenious mechanism -- must be the work of a particularly powerful and malevolent Poltergeist, as yet unattached to any human host, and desperate to obtain such, particularly a person of the female sex of tender years. The fact that most members of that ghostly tribe satisfy themselves with much less massive objects -- stones, furniture, and the like -- suggests that this being is an unusually ancient member of its kind, long unbound to a host, and thus far more dangerous than most. It is, perhaps, no coincidence that its appearance coincides with the arrival of a girl-child in the beleaguered manor home.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Ivan could have done it, perhaps," says Henry, regretting having left him back at the house. "Or Gogmagog. No matter. A simple application of the physical principle of leverage will do. 'Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world,'" he adds, quoting Archimedes. He looks around for suitable levers.

There are a few fallen trees that could serve as such, one properly arranged. Whilst Doctor North is engaged in this search, he is pelted with numerous small pebbles, annoying but not damaging, which fall from the sky, without apparent source.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

"Show yourself!" challenges William.

Spoiler:

battle of CHA; William = 11, Poltergeist = 9. In that order, [dice]0[/dice]

Perhaps taken by surprise by this bold declaration, the invisible entity briefly appears as a faintly glowing ball of greenish light, floating a rod or so above the ground. During this moment of visibility, the movement of the Druid Stones, which had been continuing throughout this encounter, ceases, as if drawing the being's attention in this manner distracted it from its task. Once it vanishes to human sight again, the crashing of the monuments returns.

[jp1885]

Lepus nods at the glowing shape.

“Ah... it be a poltergeist; an ancient and dangerous one too, yesno? ‘tis looking for a host: an innocent babe mayhap? Time to send it away hm?”

The wanderer fishes through his ragged garments for the piece of cloth on which he had previously written certain runes and then steps forward with it held aloft for the ghost to see.

“Away with thee spirit!” he yells.

Said runes, of course, are the ones found in the caves that are believed to send restless spirits back to whence they came.

[Mr. Handy]

While Lepus tries to banish the spirit, Henry ignores the pebbles that probably come from the poltergeist and busies himself collecting the fallen trees and constructing the apparatus to right the stones.

[SunlessNick]

William stands guard over the other two. If the company has been lured out to the stones, it is for an attack on the house or an ambush on them.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

The glowing green light reappears and draws near Lepus.

Spoiler:

The rune acts as a Banish Spirit spell, so the Poltergeist can resist it with a saving roll on WIS = 9[dice]0[/dice]

It trembles and seems to dissipate for a moment, but, as if fighting off the power of the runes, it soon draws itself together, its eerie glow brighter than before, seemingly representing rage or resolution on its part.

The Druid Stones remain untouched by its unseen power as it concentrates on attacking those living creatures who happen to be near.

Spoiler:

The Poltergeist has the Shower of Stones spell, which can be resisted by a WIS save. Random target:
1 = North, 2 = Lepus, 3 = William[dice]1[/dice]

WIS = 18[dice]2[/dice]

A large number of stones, of considerable size, appear at some distance above the head of Lepus, and, as all such heavy masses must, fall to earth with considerable speed. Undaunted by this preternatural attack, the hedge wizard is able to step aside at the last possible moment, so that he remains unharmed.

[jp1885]

Lepus winces as the heavy stones thus into the wet ground inches from where he was standing. Scampering away to a safe distance, he mutters the incantation to summon Britches, his unseen servant.

“Wouldst thou assist?” he asks, handing the invisible assistant a piece of chalk. “Copy the runes on this cloth onto yon big stones so that they circle the ghost, if thou please.”

He turns to the others.

“If this fails, alas old Lepus knows of no other way to banish the spirit.”

[Mr. Handy]

Henry keeps working on the mechanism. He knows his new weapon will be ineffective against spirits, which have no actual brains.

[SunlessNick]

As the spirit responded to William before, he endeavours to distract it once again while Lepus and his servant work. "Are you here at the behest of the Fae Lady Silveroak?"

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Lepus winces as the heavy stones thus into the wet ground inches from where he was standing. Scampering away to a safe distance, he mutters the incantation to summon Britches, his unseen servant.

“Wouldst thou assist?” he asks, handing the invisible assistant a piece of chalk. “Copy the runes on this cloth onto yon big stones so that they circle the ghost, if thou please.”

He turns to the others.

“If this fails, alas old Lepus knows of no other way to banish the spirit.”

As if exhausted by this incorporeal battle, the glowing green sphere grows visibly weaker, reduces in dimension, and finally falls to the ground, where it slowly fades into nothingness.

Spoiler:

We'll allow one more try. WIS = 9[dice]0[/dice]

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

As the spirit responded to William before, he endeavours to distract it once again while Lepus and his servant work. "Are you here at the behest of the Fae Lady Silveroak?"

Spoiler:

another CHA battle, 11 and 9[dice]0[/dice][dice]1[/dice]double failure, so . . .

The entity produces a brief, barely audible sound, as of a dying person attempting to speak, but nothing is intelligible. Soon the only sound is of the wind and the rain, the lightning having ceased and the thunder silenced. It appears as if the weather is clearing, the moon appearing now and then between the scattering clouds, like one in hiding who yet feels the need to observe what is feared.

[VictoriaSilverwolf]

Henry keeps working on the mechanism. He knows his new weapon will be ineffective against spirits, which have no actual brains.

The device, although it may be frowned upon by the shade of Archimedes for its rough nature, is completed at last, and appears to be worthy of its task, although it is impossible to be entirely certain of that fact until it meets with actual use.

[jp1885]

Lepus sighs as the entity dissipates.

"'tis a pity we could not converse with one so ancient, yesno? But alas time is short and there be other matters more deserving of our attention. Unless other creatures bar our way, it be prudent to see that mother and babe are free from peril, hm? Let us right yon stones when the battle is ended."

[Mr. Handy]

"Provided the stones are not some form of preternatural defense," says Henry. "You are the expert on such matters. If you are satisfied that they need not be righted during the battle, then we shall return to the house."