The following morning was the first day class. Or rather, it should have been the first day of class. The school was still empty, save for the party, Denise, and the groundskeepers. At this point, any hopes that still remained of everything being okay were gone. Something was wrong, and the party intended to find out what.
The party decided to investigate the tower further and see what they could discover. They went up the tower into the faculty levels. However, all of the faculty offices were locked (which was not entirely unexpected). Deciding that breaking and entering was not their best course of action at that time, the party went back down and went to see if anybody in the town had heard anything new.
Unfortunately, the peasants were just as useless that morning as they were the previous day. They could hardly be blamed though, as it was the general consensus among the party members and Denise that something was preventing people from reaching the town. Whatever it was though remained to be seen.
At this point it was time for lunch. There was an official school lunch scheduled for that afternoon, with several notable speakers from the school giving speeches on various topics. Denise had prepared the dining room for the event despite circumstances, but to no avail. The food was delicious, but it did little to offset the uneasiness of the situation. A group of five sat, eating in a giant dining area set for hundreds of others whose fates were unknown and presumably dire. The tone was somber, and the meal went on in silence. The students left the dining area as soon as they had finished hastily eating their meals.
The afternoon was uneventful. Some of the party went back into town to try and gather more information, while others searched the tower for clues. Shanris decided to spend it meditating, anticipating that trouble was coming and that it was more likely to come in the dark than in the light. Unfortunately, not only was he was the only one who was successful in his rather mundane endeavour, his anticipations turned out to be were correct.
That evening, the party went out into town after dinner. It’s not that they expected to find any useful information out in the town or that they felt like having a good time, it’s just that the tower was becoming an increasingly unnerving place to be in and everyone was happy to leave. After spending a few hours in the local tavern, the party decided it was time to go back to the tower.
Upon leaving the tavern, the party noticed that the few people who were in the street seemed very uneasy. The party happened to pass Clarence’s father and his wagon on the way, and he beckoned them over. He explained how people had been seeing “ghosts” out of the corner of their eyes all night, and that he had even seen one himself. He said it seemed as if the ghosts were trying to sneak through town and make their way to the tower. The party decided to investigate the town, as it could be a threat to the school and they were the only ones there to defend it.
As the party explored they town, they felt like they were being followed but could never verify that. Eventually, Shanris climbed on top of a taller building for a better view of the city. He spotted quite a few of the “ghosts” and quickly reported that information back to the party. He then climbed down and the party went after the nearest one. They were not able to catch it. The party then rushed back to the school to try and defend it.
When the party arrived, they could not see any of the spirits outside. Assuming that they had already made it inside the building, the party rushed in. As the party entered the tower, there was a distinct smell of sulfur in the air. They didn’t spot anything on the first floor, so they went up to the dorm rooms. Here, the smell of sulfur was much stronger than before. Looking through a keyhole, Clarence was able to spot one of the spirits inside a room. The party gathered around the door and burst into the room. As soon as they entered, the spirit looked at them and then disappeared, leaving behind a repulsive sulfur stench.
A lot more of the same happened as the party climbed the tower until they reached the 11th floor. As they climbed the stairs, they noticed that the opening to the 12th floor (which leads to the faculty offices) was now sealed off by a stone wall, which was not unlike the rest of the walls in the tower. This wall had definitely not been there before, though the party could not decide if it was some defense spell built into the school or part of the perceived attack.
Deciding to investigate it further in the morning, the party decended back down to the library for what would be an uneasy night’s sleep.
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