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

[pathfinderq1]

"Looks like not much has changed in the past several days." Marot says as he strides around the battlesite.

"At least, it does to me."

"Where does one place a 'fane' anyway? I hate to display my ignorance, but I'm not too sure what exactly a 'fane' is. Is it smaller than a house, but bigger than a breadbox?"

"I would guess it is down below, where we fought those plant creatures," Tessa said quietly, unable to suppress a shudder at the memories of the fights that they had had on this ground, and the losses they had suffered here. "I don't suppose anyone wants to be the first one down the ladder? Once we're down there we will have to examine that pillar carefully. I don't know what kind of a ritual we will need- and I doubt it will be something as aeasy as simple destruction."

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

"Ahh, when I was with Khensu on the road to the castle -- 'tis strange that we were not bothered by vampires - whether that be by day or night. Perhaps they did not feel we were a threat at that time..."

He turns back to the reserved woman.

"So you have seen this fane -- then that is good, for surely the Flame will guide our hand on how to destroy it."

"Is it anything like the pillar that we encountered while battling the green lady, I wonder... perhaps that could be yet another of the fanes."

 

[pathfinderq1]

"It might- I had had a similar thought. But down below, under where the old circle is here, there is a much newer circle, 'round a pillar that seemed to be studded with Khyber shards. It still held power, but perhaps now, with our strength and our knowledge expanded, we can find a way to cleanse it." Tessa's voice sounded sure and steady enough, but there was no hiding the nervous glances which she kept giving to the ground where Daellin and Perriwimple had been slain by the tortured spirit...

 

[Stormwind]

As they approach the ruins, Ashlyn's eyes narrow as she notices something to the north. She speaks to the others in the group in a normal voice, as if engaged in normal conversation, "It seems that we arn't alone here. Looks like the caravan has sent someone else out to examine the ruins here."

Ashlyn nods towards the north at the horse tethered there. The horse with saddlebags bearing the mark of the twelve.

Ashlyn then pulls out her diary and flicks through it's pages briefly before she turns to the look at the others and speaks, "As I recall, during her reading of the cards regarding the Tome, Madame Eva mentioned the three fanes calling them 'defiled places'. She mentioned that at each fane, we must 'unearth the relic it contains'. She also mentioned that once we have all three relics, we must 'destroy what we have created'."

"Thus, I would guess that each fane has some corrupted saintly relic buried beneath it that we must unearth, and that once we have all three relics, they will fit together to form something that we must then destroy. Let us hope that it is as simple as it sounds."

Ashlyn, then pauses a moment as if in thought, then she turns towards Marot, "As for the pillar that we encountered close to the mad nymph. I know not what that is, but if what we seek in these ruins is indeed one of the three fanes, then I would guess that the pillar close to to the mad nymph is perhaps something else. The pillar in the ruins below was formed of rough stone laced with some sort of cystaline matrix and it was surrounded by an ancient ceremonial circle. The pillar by the mad nymph was perfectly smooth, green rock, and was not surrounded by a ceremonial circle. But in truth, I do not know. This land contains many ancient mysteries and I know as little about them as you yourself do. All we have are guesses and foretellings."

 

[stonegod]

Tessa's research seems to indicate that the place of the mad nymph is not one of the fanes---it is not in the right place.

Tessa, after a little further reading, identifies the location of the three "fanes." One, the party has already visited---it is the strange, Khyber-marked stone beneath Lysaga Hill (and thus likely responsible for its tainted history). The other is in the woods not too far from the Visanti camp. The last is in the fetid swamps where the Ivlis river drains.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Sir Khensu shifts from one foot to another, obviously uncomfortable. He moves to where the group is discussing things, and says quietly. "There is the horse to the north and the new footsteps to the caves down below... but I have a feeling there is something... or someone... else up here. I feel as though we are being watched."

Jarrith's eyebrows raise and he glances casually around, not seeing anything himself. "Give me a second..." he says, and he moves into the treeline. As he moves, he drops one of his Hide Undead prayers to increase his stealth capabilities, then begins silently moving through the trees looking for whomever might be spying on them.

 

[stonegod]

Jarrith's stealthy investigation are for naught---no signs of life anywhere. A lone eagle circles in the sky once, but other than the lone horse, nothing else is seen.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Jarrith silently comes back out through the trees and returns to the group. "Nope. Nothing. Just the horse."

Sir Khensu frowns, as his shifter instincts are usually not wrong. "Very well then. May I suggest we make our way to the ladder to go down to the caves?"

The Shadowbane Inquistor begins walking that way, and the Shadowbane Stalker follows close behind.

 

[s@squ@tch]

"So this is where Daellin met his end....." Marot murmurs to himself as he looks around the place.

He keeps an eye out for anything unusual as he follows the others towards the entrance to the underground fane.

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tessa took one more look around the area as they got ready to head down the ladder. "If there is someone down there from the expedition, we'd best not mention the book- I don't think anyone would be out here alone after what has happened in this valley so far unless they had to be. Say if, for instance, Mateusz had gotten impatient and ordered them out to find us, or anything we might have missed..."