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

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

"Need brings us. We came the bequest of a strange message, only to find the town cursed with the walking of its own dead. We cannot leave such things as they are. We seek wisdom in order to find a remedy for this plague," Maraat tells him. A white rat peeks out of his breast pocket as he talks, and Anuine, his familiar, casts a jaded eye over Urik and Hurrn both.

 

[GwydapLlew]

"And there are those of us who fight evil when it is found. The Flame protects us, but it also commands us. The shifter sheathes his axe and looks at the gallows while they speak with one another.

"What do you know of the witches of Lysaga Hill, Sir Urik? What evils infest this land? Do you know a 'Viktor Litmunova'?" The questions are not presented in rapid-fire succession; instead interspersed among the conversation with the rest Khenu's companions.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Jarrith wanders around the graveyard as the conversations abound. When Sir Urik mentions that he needs a spell cast, the Stalker is about to reply when Lady Ashlyn and Marot both speak up and say they will do it. Jarrith is about to take a typical humorous jab at them both, but then he sees Janis scouting about and he remembers to keep a civil tongue. So he says nothing and continues to wander about.

Although he doesn't really expect to find anything of interest, he decides to take a bit more time inspecting the area since they've stopped anyway. He moves over to the gallows and begins looking around for anything of note, and if he finds nothing, will move back to the graves and search around there. Perhaps one of the tombstones will have something written on it of note. (Search checks at gallows and graves)

 

[drothgery]

Daellin joins Jarrith in investigating the area.

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn looks on as Maraat takes the scroll and casts it.

Once Urik has asked his question, Ashlyn waits a few moments and then replies, "Legends scribed in ancient texts bought me to this land, yet it is the presense of the undead that concerns me now, for I will not suffer their foul blight to be unopposed. If I understand you correctly, you have fought the undead alone for many long years, and your mentor before you, and so forth. Now you need not stand alone, for I too oppose those that should not walk this earth."

I wonder, ... does he oppose the undead or simply any evil that blights his lands? Are undead are anethema to him as they are to me?

[Diplomacy check to improve Urik's reaction during the conversation]

 

[James Heard]

Janis lifts her chin in quiet, Janis-like imperiousness in the background, and concentrates more fully on the man since there are no other magical sources in the area.

"The farmers up the road mentioned you. Apparently they fear you. Why?"

 

[stonegod]

"Legends scribed in ancient texts bought me to this land, yet it is the presence of the undead that concerns me now, for I will not suffer their foul blight to be unopposed. If I understand you correctly, you have fought the undead alone for many long years, and your mentor before you, and so forth. Now you need not stand alone, for I too oppose those that should not walk this earth."

Urik nods at Ashlyn's response. "It is good to hear that there is still a spark of light in the darkness, though it is a shame that such sparks are difficult to find for they do not seem to breed true in Barovia. I had high hopes for one once... but, I am the last unless some other takes up the mantle." He looks at Ashlyn appraisingly for a moment, but adds nothing more.

"And there are those of us who fight evil when it is found. The Flame protects us, but it also commands us.

"Good, good! Fire is a most potent weapon against many evils, and the living dead fear it almost as much as the ravens!" Hurrn cocks its head to the side at this comment and caws once, a silvery sound.

"Need brings us. We came the bequest of a strange message, only to find the town cursed with the walking of its own dead. We cannot leave such things as they are. We seek wisdom in order to find a remedy for this plague."

Urik shakes his head, and thumps his sword in the ground in obvious upset. "It is as I suspected! I come to the town rarely---the villagers cannot see beyond their benighted lives and forsake the old symbols. However, I am need of supplies, and though most of the town scorns me, Father Danovich still honors those that overwatch us and provides me with needful things, such as that scroll. I fought a few of these vile corpses, but had to turn back, their numbers too overwhelming."

Janis lifts her chin in quiet, Janis-like imperiousness in the background, and concentrates more fully on the man since there are no other magical sources in the area.

His armor, shield, cloak and sword all possess faint magic, chiefly abjuration for the former two, transmutation for the cloak, and evocation for the sword. Typical armaments for a warrior, the cloak is out of place.

[Ashlyn Diplomacy check: 27]
The conversation carries on for several minutes, and Urik's strong but dark humor colors the discussion. Many questions are asked:"What do you know of the witches of Lysaga Hill, Sir Urik? What evils infest this land? Do you know a 'Viktor Litmunova'?" "The farmers up the road mentioned you. Apparently they fear you. Why?" Each is answered in turn:

- "The witches? Black-magickers of ill repute. They are a new blight, but they are weeds buried in the grass---hard to find, and hard to root out. I hear tales of foul rites being performed during the darkness of the month, but I have not found them yet. But Lysaga Hill---it is a place dark enough for their hearts, tainted by ill buried deep in its stones. Murder, madness, all of them found their home in Lysaga Hill in times past."

- "The land... the land has a shadow over it. When Karrn the Great created his empire, this land was wrested from its former masters and given to some powerful warlord. Every child knows this warlord betrayed his family in an act so vile, it turned our land into the black place it is now, a prison of fear. Hope does not live long in Barovia. Pettiness, greed, all the great sins feed this place, manifesting as the cursed unliving that haunt every corner of the land. And only I seem to fight them." He stares off at the castle a moment as he finishes, a stoney look on his face.

- "I know of none of the family Litmunova. The townsfolk shun me, and my vigil is a solitary one."

- "The farmers! Hah, hah! A superstitious bunch, more close to the dangers of the land than the ones surrounded by stone walls. But I am sure you have already seen Barivian hospitality, being strangers. Though I am one of them, as far as my former neighbors are concerned, I have turned my back on sanity. After all, can someone who fights an impossible battle be sane? Hah, hah!"

While he is lucid, his occasional pauses as if trying to recall words indicate his mind is still wounded from his battles.

 

[stonegod]

[Daellin and Jarrith take 20 on Search]
As the other's converse, the hunter and the Stalker examine the crossroads. A old wooden gallows creaks in the chill wind coming down from the mountains, a long-ago frayed length of rope dancing from its beam. The well worn road splits here, and a signpost opposite the gallos points off in three directions: "Barovia" to the east, whence the party came; "Tser Pool" to the north, the home of the oracle Madam Eva; and "Castle Ravenloft" to the west. Across from the gallows, a low wall, crumbling in places, partially encloses a small plot of graves---presumably of those who died at the end of the rope.

The two's search turns of little of interest, most of the markings on the graves having been eroded long, long ago. Daellin finds evidence of Urik's passage, apparently having come from the forest to the north.

 

[GwydapLlew]

Finally someone who has a sense of history...if he is considered mad, how ignorant must the villagers be?

"You mention that the dead fear your raven. What do you mean?"

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Maraat will wander over to Jarrith as Urik speaks, having a sneaking suspician that after fighting the Murks, his odd departure won't garner much comment from the half-mad knight.

"Jarrith, I have a question for you. This Knight of the Raven seems to be one that could be our ally. But I worry that his mind is still hurt from battling the Murks. Have you the prayer to help restore his balance, like the scroll I used on him? It would be a great tragedy for this place to lose the only native champion we've found," he asks.