stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [IC]

[DEFCON 1]

"Jarrith? Jarrith can you hear me?"

The voice is distant... his vision still black. But slowly... ever so slightly... the sounds of the forest begin getting louder and the blackness fades up into light. After several moments the Stalker's brain clicks back on and he realizes he is alive.

"What-- Did we--?" he croaks out. As his vision starts coming back to him, he looks up to see Lady Ashlyn looking down upon him, the briefest sense of relief washing over her face. Jarrith flexes his fingers and the muscles in his legs, then slowly pulls himself up into a sitting position. Never before had he been hurt that badly... never before had he truly thought his time on the Flame's earth was going to end. And thankfully... it didn't.

He takes a few tentative deep breaths, then climbs gently to his feet. His armor and tabard are now dyed a deep crimson... quite the change from the silvered sheen it usually has. He looks at the paladin and nods once in gratitude, then glances around the battlefield to see what their losses and their victories were. Surprisingly, he seems to have been their biggest casualty.

"Werewolves. Of all the things. I guess the Purge wasn't as complete as some of my superiors have insisted."

He reaches down and picks up his two rapiers, then wipes the blades down before returning them to their scabbards. Jarrith Bronns then moves off a bit to kneels down on his own and begins praying to the Flame for guidance, inspiration, and thanks.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

Marot moves and stands over the shifter. "Guardian of the Wood, you have been relieved of your post." He spits on the corpse and attends to anyone in need of aid.

"Glad to see you still with us, Jarrith."

"I had not expected to find lycanthropes here, but I have been taught by this cursed land to expect anything."

He then surveys the area, taking note of any magical auras.

OOC: Who in the group would know much about lycanthropy, if anyone?

Detect Magic, checking the two werewolves, then the shifter, looking for any magical equipment. Then looking around the area for any magical auras (that are not belonging to our group)

 

[stonegod]

In short order, Ashlyn's holy power restores the health of the party. But the bruises from the wolf's bite linger under Jarrith's armor.

As the group finished the beasts, a perhaps startling transformation occurs. The werewolf turning back into the shifter is unsurprising, but the two other beasts twist and deform into another pair of shifters.

Marot's magical sight shows that the shifter guardian was under the effect of a spell, and that it carries to more potions in the potion bracer at its wrist---one of curing moderate wounds, and another to enhance the strength of natural weapons after closer inspection.

No one has specifically studied were-creatures, though Jarrith's training did mention them as a matter of course. Their drive to destroy, the curse of the moon, and their capability of spreading their taint are well known to the Flamist. Which puts the bruise from the beastial wolf's bite into a new light...

 

[James Heard]

"We need to finish searching the dead and move on. These were in league with Vistani who I saw watching us as we left the village, though I think the crone's people would not likely make as good time as those that have four strong legs to run with."

Janis grimaces unhappily as another thought occurs to her.

"Unless those Vistani also change freely, in which case I suppose we should depart from their friend's unfortunate circumstance even more quickly."

Janis looks to her bear and pours a bit of water onto his fur in places to comb out the blood and gore while her companions reorganize.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Even as Tessa reached forward, the massive shifter fell. She let her head sag in relief, but her arm and shoulder still flared with heat, almost to pain. She fought back tears as Ashlyn's healing power filled the clearing, and she saw Jarrith rise from the torn ground- they had not, it seemed lost another companion today. At least not yet... She took a wary look around the clearing, and moved to retrieve her crossbow- this time loading the weapon with a silvered bolt. "Are there likely to be more of these things nearby?," she asked the more woods-wise members of the party. "I should think that they might have heard the battle- we should be ready." She tried to sound confident, prepared- and was only partially successful.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

He walks over to his friend,"Are you alright, Jarrith?"

After he confirms that Jarrith is alright, he tells the group,"This vial here is a moderate curative potion, this other one would be of interest to our Pale Lady -- it enhances the natural weaponry of the drinker."

"If we are done here, we best be getting a move onto whereever our destination is, I'd hate to run into more of these creatures."

 

[ethandrew]

Ladreth stands there, wand in hand, looking for someone to give it to since the white lady passed him by. He is relieved to see the stalker stir and survive, although a pang of guilt, remorse, and jealousy fills his mind, as if the loss of Tobias should not have occurred.

He missed his friend. The times they had spent together, the horrors endured, were ones Ladreth would never forget. But he was gone now, honorable in his duty as well as his death. These people seemed nice, though. Competent. They gifted him with a beauty of a sword too, for which he was grateful, hence his offering of this wand to whomever would take it. He'd rather the pale lady have it, since she seemed to appreciate his use in the forest with the bear-calling, but maybe this time wasn't the best to be exchanging gifts.

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn returns with her blade sheathed at her side and walks over to Jarrith. She indicates his wounds and asks, "May I?". Then she carefully examines his wounds and how they have healed. A brief frown creases her forehead as she notes that they are not completely healed.

[Heal check +10 (to assess Jarrith's wounds)]

 

[DEFCON 1]

As he was kneeling in prayer and giving his thanks to the Flame, he could feel the bite mark itching. Jarrith looked down and raised up his chain armor to glance at the wound that had not yet healed. "Odd. I would think that should be gone." The idea that perhaps he has not fully recovered from the lycanthrope's wound does not seem to hit him.

He stands up and turns back to the others, still looking down at the remaining scar. When the paladin sees it, she immediately hurries over to him. "May I?" Jarrith nods and shrugs his shoulders, then allows her to examine the wound.

"Seems as though I'll always have a rememberance of this fight" the Stalker chuckles to the group. It is hard for the others to tell if he's putting on a good face, or perhaps just doesn't realize what the wound might symbolize (as nobody has dealt with a lycan problem in eons.) "Are you all right, Jarrith?" Marot says, and the Shadowbane priest laughs again. "Oh yeah... I'll survive. If I could fight off a zombie's wound, a werewolf's bite it nothing! Heh heh."

He motions with his head in the direction they were traveling. "Looks like we'll have a long route ahead. Shall we?"

 

[stonegod]

[sblock=Ashlyn]Ashlyn knows that the wound should have fully healed, but cannot find anything else that is off---all of Jarrith's other vitals seem fine. Grievous wounds occasionally leave a mark that even healing cannot remove, but it is usually rare.[/sblock]As the group looks over the dead wereshifters, howls can be heard in the distance in most directions. They are far off, but their timing has to be more than coincidence. The shifter's potion bracer, longbow and greatsword are its only other assets, and they are quickly stowed. Ladreth's offer of a wand is still in the air

In the shadow of the trees and mist, it is hard to say exactly what time it is, but it is at least after noon. Having no specific place in mind, the party must decide their strategy for finding the sword.

[I need to know if you folks are doing a general search, looking in a particular direction, trying to avoid the weres are not, trying to get back to town at any point, etc. Discuss IC or OOC.]