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The New Adventures of Thundina Seong! Completed May 4
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<blockquote data-quote="Ealli" data-source="post: 3389284" data-attributes="member: 804"><p><strong>Chapter 8: Door Number Three</strong></p><p></p><p>Cyron came out of the coffin he had been imprisoned in clutching a scroll. Thundina took that as a cue to ransack every other coffin in the subvault. With each piece of loot, Thundina felt a little better. Krel had come down into the hole and began following Thundina around, inspecting each item. The wands and scrolls he kept for himself, the potions he identified as non-standard potions to be researched more fully later. When she found a silver necklace with a diamond set into it, Thundina asked Krel, “Do you think this is pretty?”</p><p></p><p>Krel touched the necklace and shook his head, “It’s not magical.”</p><p>“I didn’t ask if you thought it was magical, I asked if you thought it was pretty.”</p><p>“Umm, yes, it’s very nice.”</p><p>Thundina put the necklace on and asked, “Do you think this is pretty on me?”</p><p>Krel blanched and quickly asked, “Was there anything else for me to identify?”</p><p>“No, just some gold and platinum coins. Looks to be about 400 gold worth all together. Or 270 Bildreth bucks.”</p><p></p><p>While Thundina and Krel were rummaging through the coffins, Cyron noticed how weak Romann looked. Cyron sprinkled some diamond dust over Romann and invoked the gods for healing. The warrior’s fire quickly returned to Romann’s eyes. He strode around once more like he owned the place.</p><p></p><p>After climbing out of the hole, the party returned to the southern half of the catacombs and began systematically opening the crypts, looking for the key to the stairwell blockage. The tomb of King Dastrum, Hellborn and Hellbound, seemed promising, but contained nothing more than a scattering of ashes. Many however, had the name plate epitaph missing and the tomb had nothing more interesting than a skeleton in rags sitting on a marble slab. Thundina and Romann fell into a rhythm; Thundina inspecting the door, Romann shoving it open, and Thundina scouring the room.</p><p></p><p>After many disappointments, the tomb of Praefect Cyrel at last yielded excitement. The skeleton on the marble slab in tomb was dressed in still immaculate white clerical vestments instead of decayed rags. The high priest’s skeletal remains clutched a small chest in which Thundina found a strand of prayer beads and some silver arrows. After Krel had confirmed magic in both the beads and the arrows, Thundina and Romann moved on to the next tomb.</p><p></p><p>With Krel and Cyron close on their heels, Thundina and Romann looked back to see the vestments still in the high priest’s tomb, looked to each other and then looked quizzically at Cyron. Thundina said, “You know Cyron, if I see a sword, or a shield, or a helmet, or something I like, I’m going to take it.”</p><p></p><p>Cyron, not following, asked, “Of course you would. I don’t understand your point.”</p><p>“The point is, if you see some robes you like, you should take them.”</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“There’s something unusual about those robes. Everything else here has been decaying rags, but those are still in perfect condition.”</p><p></p><p>In the next tomb, Thundina found a jeweled dog collar but something about the back wall caught her attention. Tossing the dog collar up and catching it while staring at the back wall, Thundina rolled her head side to side trying to figure out what was so strange about the wall. Romann noticed the unusual behavior and asked what was going on. Thundina replied, “I think Cyron should come take a look at this.”</p><p></p><p>Romann bellowed, “Cyron, attend to me.”</p><p></p><p>Cyron came hurrying up clutching the vestments of Praefect Cyrel, “These are indeed magical.”</p><p>“Very nice,” Romann said hardly looking, “but Thundina wants you to look at something.”</p><p>“So what is this place?”</p><p>Thundina, still staring at the wall, answered, “Something something, dog sled champion. His tomb anyway. If you’re curious as to the exact name, check the epitaph outside, I can’t pronounce it.”</p><p></p><p>Cyron stood next to Thundina and followed her gaze to the wall. He too noticed something odd about it.</p><p>Thundina asked, “Well Mr. Dwarf, what do you think about it.”</p><p>Cyron replied, “It’s new and not well constructed. Maybe it’s a passage out of the castle?”</p><p>“Hmm, could well be. I can’t find a way to open it so I guess we ask Romann to deal with it.”</p><p></p><p>Romann stepped up the wall and smacked it once with his greatsword. Under the powerful blow, the wall exploded revealing a shaft with obvious handholds running both up and down. Romann took his everburning torch and climbed down a short way. Right as the handholds ended Romann could see the shaft growing wider and a couple dog-sized bugs scurrying about. Romann quickly climbed back up and reported what he had seen. No one had any particular desire to encounter bugs in a confined space so the party continued on to another tomb.</p><p></p><p>At the door to the tomb of Kudan Doranol, Cyron had something to say, “Kudan was an ascetic monk of the order from the burned out monastery on Lysaga Hill. He was supposed to be so holy and pure that his body ascended after his death.”</p><p></p><p>After the tomb was opened, Thundina found a faint outline of a body on the otherwise empty marble slab. “I guess he did, because there was a body here once but no more.”</p><p></p><p>Once all the southern tombs had been ransacked, Cyron wondered aloud, “It’s like an entire castle staff was buried here. We’ve found the councilor, the chef, the high priest, the dog sled champion, a knight. Did any of the epitaphs have any dates?”</p><p></p><p>Along the main hallway, next to the stairwell going up, the party found two very interesting names. First was the tomb for Patrina Velacova who was listed as bride. The second was already open and was not one the party had opened. The epitaph on that one read, “Ireena Kolyana – Wife”. When Thundina looked inside she saw no body on the marble slab, but did find a golden jewel studded comb entwined with several dark hairs. Thundina took the comb; something to show Ireena back in town and ask her about, and then get kicked out of the Kolyanavich manor again. Though very curious, the party soon moved on because there was nothing further to find in Ireena’s tomb.</p><p></p><p>Thundina read off the epitaph of the next tomb, “Pavit Builder – This Castle is a monument to his life.” When she searched his tomb looked for gold and valuables, she instead found a switch hidden beneath the marble display slab. After considering a moment what the switch might be to, Thundina shrugged and threw the switch. As soon as the switch had been shifted, the slab began to creak and move. Once it had completed its move, Thundina could see a narrow staircase spiraling down into darkness.</p><p></p><p>Thundina began descending the stairs and was perhaps a minute down when she realized that none of her party members were following. Re-emerging from the secret passage, Thundina and her friends had a quick conference and decided that they should follow this passage to its end. During the descent, Cyron called out every 100 feet down to say how far underground it felt. Almost immediately after he called out that the party was now 900 feet underground, the stairs ended in a straight passageway which then led to a door. After pushing it open and walking into the Svalich Woods beneath the cliff and beneath Castle Ravenloft, Thundina noted how well the outside of the door blended into the cliff.</p><p></p><p>The party pushed its way through the forest. As they approached a clearing in the woods with a single, large tree in the middle of it, an elf stepped out from behind the tree and called to the party in elvish, “What evil do you bring into these woods?”</p><p></p><p>Krel called back, also in elvish, “We bring no evil. In fact, we oppose Strahd; we just came from his castle where we were fighting his minions.” Thundina was content to let Krel negotiate with the elf, the elvish tongue was useful to know, but not one she particularly enjoyed.</p><p></p><p>The elf challenged Krel, “Do you have proof of this?”</p><p></p><p>Krel dropped back into common and told the party, “The elf wants proof that we oppose Strahd. Halas, I think the Symbol would be good proof.”</p><p>“Ah, Karl. Remember, I told you, I hid the Symbol in town. I feared for its safety if I had brought it up to the Castle.”</p><p>“Ashlyn, the Sunsword would be the next best bet,” Krel said. He then returned to elvish to tell the elf, “We have reforged the Sunsword.”</p><p></p><p>A rustle in the woods from both the north and south gave the party scant warning before a pair of large white wolves charged the party. At the same time as the wolves charged, the elf whipped out his bow and began firing at Romann. The arrow missed and the underbrush slowed the wolves just enough that they could not begin biting as soon as they arrived.</p><p></p><p>Cyron was the first to react and said a <em>Blessing</em> for the party. As he attempted to back away, the underbrush hindered him such that the wolf near him pulled him to the ground. From on his back, Cyron brandished his symbol and the wolf and <em>Commanded</em> it to flee. That wolf bounded off to the south.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Thundina had maneuvered her way around and behind the other wolf. Romann got up into the wolf’s face and began swinging his greatsword about. His first swing looked very impressive but only drew a little blood to stain the wolf’s white fur. The second blow however separated the head from the body.</p><p></p><p>Thundina began looking for the second wolf, not expecting much respite from it. A scream indicated a human in trouble, just a little south from the ongoing battle. Chasing towards the sound, Thundina found the white wolf standing over what looked like a traveler who had taken a bad turn. With a sudden pop, the figure disappeared and reappeared in the midst of the party. Thundina advanced on the wolf with Romann attempting to get behind it to set up flanking. The two of them quickly dispatched the second wolf as well.</p><p></p><p>While Thundina and Romann were dealing with the wolves, the elf had continued its mostly futile attempt at raining down arrows on the party. Ashlyn began advancing through the underbrush as quickly as she was able. Krel kept a small distance behind her so as not to attract too much attention from the elf. As soon as they made it into the clearing, they charged forward towards the elf. Thundina and Romann pulled out their bows and began trading fire with the elf rather than trying to run through the woods. The stranger joined in the fray on the side of the party with a small barrage of <em>Magic Missiles</em> which ended the battle against the vastly outnumbered elf.</p><p></p><p>When forced to melee, the elf had wielded a greatsword. Romann asked Krel to inspect the quality of the sword and once Krel said that was of masterly quality, Romann added a third sword to his collection, next to the two magical greatswords he carried.</p><p></p><p>The party then surrounded the stranger. At first he was oblivious to the party, muttering to himself. A raven alighted on his shoulder and he continued his monologue, except including the raven now as well. Finally he noticed the others, “Oh, right, yes, I should introduce myself and thank you for rescuing me. Thank you.”</p><p></p><p>Thundina interrupted him, “What are you doing in the woods here?”</p><p>“I’m looking for a town, well more of a village really, that’s somewhere nearby. I seem to have gotten a little lost.”</p><p>“Looking for Barovia?”</p><p>“Yes, that’s it! Does that qualify as a town or as a village?”</p><p>“Village I’d say. We can escort you back to the village; we’re heading that way ourselves.” </p><p></p><p>The party resumed their progress through the woods with the stranger in tow. Whenever he wasn’t specifically engaged with someone in the party, he began talking to the raven which rode on his shoulder.</p><p></p><p> Now, you were going to introduce yourself.”</p><p>“Right, right. My name is Grim d’Orien.”</p><p>“d’Orien, as in House Orien?”</p><p>“Yes. I was supposed to be delivering a message out here, to a Mr. Layson, only I’ve lost the letter. If don’t deliver it, I’m certain to be fired.”</p><p></p><p>Thundina had to think a moment. That name sounded familiar, but she was having trouble placing it. Romann spoke up saying, “Sorry, but I don’t think we know a Mr. Layson.”</p><p></p><p>It was then that Thundina recalled that, yes, the party did know a Mr. Layson; Mr. Orning Layson. Thundina mentioned this and Romann, somewhat confused, asked, “Bravo had a last name?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, Orning had a last name,” Thundina confirmed. “Who has his papers?”</p><p></p><p>Cyron pulled out the papers Orning had always carried with him in case he became lost and needed assistance. Cyron and Romann looked at the papers again and Cyron told Grim, “I’m sorry, but Mr. Layson has recently died.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s a problem,” Grim muttered. “I need to deliver the message in someway still. If I don’t, it’s more than I’m worth.”</p><p>Thundina grinned mischievously, “We can give you directions to where he lays. You can take the letter and tuck it into his hands for a mission accomplished.”</p><p></p><p>Grim glanced up and took a hard look at each member of the party. “You’re Miss Seong. And you’re Mr. Hauldak. I must admit that I peeked at the letter. It was from Mr. Layson. I mean, the father, not the Mr. Layson you know. The two of you were also mentioned. Mr. Layson was supposed to be retrieving something called the Sunsword. Perhaps if I bring the item back in addition to the news of what has befallen Mr. Layson that will be acceptable in place of delivering the actual letter.”</p><p></p><p>Thundina protested, “The Sunsword does not belong to Orning’s father. It belongs to the Lightbringers. We have it, but it is not yet restored to its full powers. We still need to do that before we can take it back to the organization.”</p><p></p><p>The party had reached town and was at the central square, outside Bildreth’s shop. Thundina said, “We need diamond dust first, and pearls second. Who wants to deal with Bildreth?”</p><p></p><p>Grim spoke up, “What was that? Hmm, I think I have some of each of that which I could share. That is, if I can join you and be of assistance in returning the Sunsword and Mr. Layson’s papers.”</p><p></p><p>For the rest of that evening, and beginning again the next morning, Krel and Grim worked on <em>Identifying</em> the various magical objects recovered from the catacombs to that point. The green enamel ring that Thundina had thought so pretty was of no use to her however; she passed it first to Cyron who then passed it to Grim.</p><p></p><p>In the morning, Thundina bounded up to Cyron and with a flutter of her eyelashes she asked, “Do you have a diamond for me?”</p><p>“Yes, I have the <em>Restoration</em> prepared.” Cyron said. He sprinkled the dust over Thundina and began praying. Thundina stared transfixed at the sparkling motes that hung around her. As Cyron finished his chanting, a feeling of completeness returned to Thundina. She hadn’t realized how cold she felt until the cold had broken and left only warmth in her soul.</p><p>“Thank you Cyron. You’re my hero.”</p><p></p><p>As the party, with their new recruit, gathered to begin another assault on Strahd’s stronghold, they needed to discuss which way to enter. Thundina wanted to try the main gate again, but the rest insisted on taking the hidden entrance up into the catacombs. Thundina acquiesced but sulked all the way through the Svalich Woods and up the stairs back into Castle Ravenloft. Once back to exploring the catacombs, Thundina found her professionalism and examined the nearest unopened door.</p><p></p><p>“Sasha Ivliskova. I think I’ve seen this name somewhere before.” Thundina thought aloud after examining the door. “I remember now, it was in the accursed diary. Forty years ago she was able to keep Strahd at bay until she disappeared one day.”</p><p></p><p>Halas began inching away from the door and towards the glowing blue barrier, even trying to go through it, only to be teleported back to where he started. At the strange looks from the party he attempted an explanation, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”</p><p></p><p>Thundina shook her head and told Romann to open the tomb to find out what had become of Sasha. When the door was thrown open, instead of the expected skeleton in rags, Thundina spotted a pale beautiful woman standing ready. Her brilliant red hair was pulled back highlighting a widow’s peak in front. Her deep blue eyes locked with Romann’s eyes, drawing him in before he blinked. Her bright red lips parted revealing two prominently fanged teeth as she sweetly called out, “Help me, to my defense!” Tears then welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she pleaded softly, “Kill me.”</p><p></p><p>Cyron’s eyes went wide and he shouted, “Vampire! Feel the power of the gods and despair!” Not only did Sasha not blink at the shout, but a tomb down the hall opened and two humanoids with red eyes began to move to the fray. One reached Cyron and clawed at him. Very little physical damage seemed evident, but Cyron wilted a little.</p><p></p><p>In response to Sasha’s call, a celestial dire lion appeared in the hall, next to Halas. It pounced on him, shaking him about like a rag doll before dropping a heavily savaged body. Romann charged at the lion to rescue his friend. Both Krel and Grim pumped magic into the dire lion; Krel with his wand of <em>Scorching Ray</em> and Grim with basic <em>Magic Missiles</em>.</p><p></p><p>Thundina and Ashlyn stepped into Sasha’s tomb to fulfill her wish. Thundina’s strike slipped past Sasha’s defenses but then struck some invisible force and rebounded just shy of Sasha’s body. Ashlyn and Sasha both reached out towards each other. They clasped hands and both narrowed their eyes in concentration to force their will on the other. When they let go, both seemed weaker from the contest. Sasha tapped a brick next to her and a hidden door swung open beside Sasha.</p><p></p><p>Cyron brandished his holy symbol at the creature with the glowing red eyes and shouted, “Be gone creature of darkness! The light of the gods shines even in this darkness!” The creatures could not resist Cyron’s holy energy and began to run away into the darkness of the catacombs.</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile Romann’s plan of rescuing Halas from the lion met an acute problem. The lion bit Romann, grabbed him, and wrestled him to the ground. Romann struggled against the lion, trying to turn it onto its back. The first attempt appeared to go well before one of Romann’s feet slipped out from beneath him leaving him no leverage. Far away, a wolf howled and the faintest echo of the howl reached even the deep bowels of the catacombs. The lion growled as it looked at the soft targets in front of it. Romann made a second try and caught the celestial dire lion by surprise and flipped it onto its back. The lion flailed helplessly as Romann shouted in triumph and shock, “I pinned it!”</p><p></p><p>Thundina sensed the rare opportunity presented by Romann’s heroics and if the opportunity passed, there was a very real danger that Romann would not survive a second round of wrestling with the lion. Thundina withdrew from facing Sasha to get close enough to the lion to aim a deadly blow at the helpless creature. Since the lion was pinned, Thundina was able to line up a very precise blow which snapped the creature’s neck. Sparkling lights replaced the lion which then faded out and Romann dropped to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Cyron moved over to where Thundina stood and Romann lay and considered a moment before putting a <em>Death Ward</em> on Thundina and telling her that she need not fear the dark touch of the vampire for a couple minutes.</p><p></p><p>Sasha burst out of the tomb via the secret door and began retreating down the hall. Grim, who had been waiting for just that maneuver, dropped a <em>Fireball</em> on her, singeing her before beginning to concentrate and gather more fire for a larger blast. Thundina tumbled past Sasha to cut off the escape path Sasha appeared to be heading towards. Thundina drove her blade low towards Sasha’s back only to have it rebound off the same invisible field that had protected Sasha previously. This confused Thundina because she had always heard from her father that the best way to get at a shielded wizard was to get behind it.</p><p></p><p>Sasha, tears still streaming down her cheeks, feinted at Thundina putting Thundina on the defensive before whirling and flinging five <em>Magic Missiles</em> at Grim who was deep in concentration. The sudden damage stunned Grim and the magic between his fingers dissipated. Sasha slid to her left while keeping Thundina at arm’s length. </p><p></p><p>Romann jumped up and ran into battle even though he was half dead while Ashlyn limped after Sasha brandishing the brightly glowing Sunsword. The three trapped Sasha against the wall and prevented her escaping. Grim retaliated with his own barrage of <em>Magic Missiles</em> which forced Sasha into a gaseous form to flee the short distance back into her coffin. Ashlyn quickly strode over, pulled out a <em>flare stake</em> and hammered the stake into the vampire’s heart.</p><p></p><p>Thundina called out to her allies, “Quickly, after the spawn, while they are demoralized!” Thundina raced through the dark passages attempting to track the one spawn she had seen fleeing. Upon reaching the corner where she was expecting to find one cowering but finding no enemy, Thundina slowed to consider her options for which other paths to follow. Listening to her heart beat from the fighting and running, Thundina realized she wasn’t hearing anything else; she was alone away from the party. She retraced her steps back to Sasha’s tomb. As she approached, Grim started chanting an incantation. Before Thundina could call out a greeting, Grim threw a <em>Fireball</em> down the main hallway orthogonal to Thundina’s approach and out of her sight. The party rushed to see what had set him off and discovered the smoldering remains of a large swarm of dire rats.</p><p></p><p>With the monster defeated, Thundina set to looting while Cyron healed the wounded Romann and near-dead Halas. Thundina chuckled as she thought about taking the rouge for the rogue before also tucking away a trio of bottles of perfume. She held a golden locket up to get a better view of its inscription, ‘Strahd’. Finally, Thundina found a diary. She shuddered a moment remember how the previous diary had treated her, but still she opened it and skimmed through.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>“Well, Thundina, that was useful,” Krel said after Thundina completed the reading. “And you didn’t want to come back this way.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes, it was important information,” Thundina agreed, “but I still don’t like this place.”</p><p></p><p>Grim requested a couple moments to review his spellbook before the party continued their adventure through the catacombs. The party agreed while they mulled over the new implications of what they learned and the final healing spells used to restore health.</p><p></p><p>Creatures of shadow silently advanced on the meager flickering light at the center of the party. Unseen for the poor oculary capability of the heroes they homed in on.</p><p></p><p>-----------------------------------------------------------</p><p>Chapter 9 will be delayed for a week while we take a break.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ealli, post: 3389284, member: 804"] [b]Chapter 8: Door Number Three[/b] Cyron came out of the coffin he had been imprisoned in clutching a scroll. Thundina took that as a cue to ransack every other coffin in the subvault. With each piece of loot, Thundina felt a little better. Krel had come down into the hole and began following Thundina around, inspecting each item. The wands and scrolls he kept for himself, the potions he identified as non-standard potions to be researched more fully later. When she found a silver necklace with a diamond set into it, Thundina asked Krel, “Do you think this is pretty?” Krel touched the necklace and shook his head, “It’s not magical.” “I didn’t ask if you thought it was magical, I asked if you thought it was pretty.” “Umm, yes, it’s very nice.” Thundina put the necklace on and asked, “Do you think this is pretty on me?” Krel blanched and quickly asked, “Was there anything else for me to identify?” “No, just some gold and platinum coins. Looks to be about 400 gold worth all together. Or 270 Bildreth bucks.” While Thundina and Krel were rummaging through the coffins, Cyron noticed how weak Romann looked. Cyron sprinkled some diamond dust over Romann and invoked the gods for healing. The warrior’s fire quickly returned to Romann’s eyes. He strode around once more like he owned the place. After climbing out of the hole, the party returned to the southern half of the catacombs and began systematically opening the crypts, looking for the key to the stairwell blockage. The tomb of King Dastrum, Hellborn and Hellbound, seemed promising, but contained nothing more than a scattering of ashes. Many however, had the name plate epitaph missing and the tomb had nothing more interesting than a skeleton in rags sitting on a marble slab. Thundina and Romann fell into a rhythm; Thundina inspecting the door, Romann shoving it open, and Thundina scouring the room. After many disappointments, the tomb of Praefect Cyrel at last yielded excitement. The skeleton on the marble slab in tomb was dressed in still immaculate white clerical vestments instead of decayed rags. The high priest’s skeletal remains clutched a small chest in which Thundina found a strand of prayer beads and some silver arrows. After Krel had confirmed magic in both the beads and the arrows, Thundina and Romann moved on to the next tomb. With Krel and Cyron close on their heels, Thundina and Romann looked back to see the vestments still in the high priest’s tomb, looked to each other and then looked quizzically at Cyron. Thundina said, “You know Cyron, if I see a sword, or a shield, or a helmet, or something I like, I’m going to take it.” Cyron, not following, asked, “Of course you would. I don’t understand your point.” “The point is, if you see some robes you like, you should take them.” “What?” “There’s something unusual about those robes. Everything else here has been decaying rags, but those are still in perfect condition.” In the next tomb, Thundina found a jeweled dog collar but something about the back wall caught her attention. Tossing the dog collar up and catching it while staring at the back wall, Thundina rolled her head side to side trying to figure out what was so strange about the wall. Romann noticed the unusual behavior and asked what was going on. Thundina replied, “I think Cyron should come take a look at this.” Romann bellowed, “Cyron, attend to me.” Cyron came hurrying up clutching the vestments of Praefect Cyrel, “These are indeed magical.” “Very nice,” Romann said hardly looking, “but Thundina wants you to look at something.” “So what is this place?” Thundina, still staring at the wall, answered, “Something something, dog sled champion. His tomb anyway. If you’re curious as to the exact name, check the epitaph outside, I can’t pronounce it.” Cyron stood next to Thundina and followed her gaze to the wall. He too noticed something odd about it. Thundina asked, “Well Mr. Dwarf, what do you think about it.” Cyron replied, “It’s new and not well constructed. Maybe it’s a passage out of the castle?” “Hmm, could well be. I can’t find a way to open it so I guess we ask Romann to deal with it.” Romann stepped up the wall and smacked it once with his greatsword. Under the powerful blow, the wall exploded revealing a shaft with obvious handholds running both up and down. Romann took his everburning torch and climbed down a short way. Right as the handholds ended Romann could see the shaft growing wider and a couple dog-sized bugs scurrying about. Romann quickly climbed back up and reported what he had seen. No one had any particular desire to encounter bugs in a confined space so the party continued on to another tomb. At the door to the tomb of Kudan Doranol, Cyron had something to say, “Kudan was an ascetic monk of the order from the burned out monastery on Lysaga Hill. He was supposed to be so holy and pure that his body ascended after his death.” After the tomb was opened, Thundina found a faint outline of a body on the otherwise empty marble slab. “I guess he did, because there was a body here once but no more.” Once all the southern tombs had been ransacked, Cyron wondered aloud, “It’s like an entire castle staff was buried here. We’ve found the councilor, the chef, the high priest, the dog sled champion, a knight. Did any of the epitaphs have any dates?” Along the main hallway, next to the stairwell going up, the party found two very interesting names. First was the tomb for Patrina Velacova who was listed as bride. The second was already open and was not one the party had opened. The epitaph on that one read, “Ireena Kolyana – Wife”. When Thundina looked inside she saw no body on the marble slab, but did find a golden jewel studded comb entwined with several dark hairs. Thundina took the comb; something to show Ireena back in town and ask her about, and then get kicked out of the Kolyanavich manor again. Though very curious, the party soon moved on because there was nothing further to find in Ireena’s tomb. Thundina read off the epitaph of the next tomb, “Pavit Builder – This Castle is a monument to his life.” When she searched his tomb looked for gold and valuables, she instead found a switch hidden beneath the marble display slab. After considering a moment what the switch might be to, Thundina shrugged and threw the switch. As soon as the switch had been shifted, the slab began to creak and move. Once it had completed its move, Thundina could see a narrow staircase spiraling down into darkness. Thundina began descending the stairs and was perhaps a minute down when she realized that none of her party members were following. Re-emerging from the secret passage, Thundina and her friends had a quick conference and decided that they should follow this passage to its end. During the descent, Cyron called out every 100 feet down to say how far underground it felt. Almost immediately after he called out that the party was now 900 feet underground, the stairs ended in a straight passageway which then led to a door. After pushing it open and walking into the Svalich Woods beneath the cliff and beneath Castle Ravenloft, Thundina noted how well the outside of the door blended into the cliff. The party pushed its way through the forest. As they approached a clearing in the woods with a single, large tree in the middle of it, an elf stepped out from behind the tree and called to the party in elvish, “What evil do you bring into these woods?” Krel called back, also in elvish, “We bring no evil. In fact, we oppose Strahd; we just came from his castle where we were fighting his minions.” Thundina was content to let Krel negotiate with the elf, the elvish tongue was useful to know, but not one she particularly enjoyed. The elf challenged Krel, “Do you have proof of this?” Krel dropped back into common and told the party, “The elf wants proof that we oppose Strahd. Halas, I think the Symbol would be good proof.” “Ah, Karl. Remember, I told you, I hid the Symbol in town. I feared for its safety if I had brought it up to the Castle.” “Ashlyn, the Sunsword would be the next best bet,” Krel said. He then returned to elvish to tell the elf, “We have reforged the Sunsword.” A rustle in the woods from both the north and south gave the party scant warning before a pair of large white wolves charged the party. At the same time as the wolves charged, the elf whipped out his bow and began firing at Romann. The arrow missed and the underbrush slowed the wolves just enough that they could not begin biting as soon as they arrived. Cyron was the first to react and said a [I]Blessing[/I] for the party. As he attempted to back away, the underbrush hindered him such that the wolf near him pulled him to the ground. From on his back, Cyron brandished his symbol and the wolf and [I]Commanded[/I] it to flee. That wolf bounded off to the south. Meanwhile, Thundina had maneuvered her way around and behind the other wolf. Romann got up into the wolf’s face and began swinging his greatsword about. His first swing looked very impressive but only drew a little blood to stain the wolf’s white fur. The second blow however separated the head from the body. Thundina began looking for the second wolf, not expecting much respite from it. A scream indicated a human in trouble, just a little south from the ongoing battle. Chasing towards the sound, Thundina found the white wolf standing over what looked like a traveler who had taken a bad turn. With a sudden pop, the figure disappeared and reappeared in the midst of the party. Thundina advanced on the wolf with Romann attempting to get behind it to set up flanking. The two of them quickly dispatched the second wolf as well. While Thundina and Romann were dealing with the wolves, the elf had continued its mostly futile attempt at raining down arrows on the party. Ashlyn began advancing through the underbrush as quickly as she was able. Krel kept a small distance behind her so as not to attract too much attention from the elf. As soon as they made it into the clearing, they charged forward towards the elf. Thundina and Romann pulled out their bows and began trading fire with the elf rather than trying to run through the woods. The stranger joined in the fray on the side of the party with a small barrage of [I]Magic Missiles[/I] which ended the battle against the vastly outnumbered elf. When forced to melee, the elf had wielded a greatsword. Romann asked Krel to inspect the quality of the sword and once Krel said that was of masterly quality, Romann added a third sword to his collection, next to the two magical greatswords he carried. The party then surrounded the stranger. At first he was oblivious to the party, muttering to himself. A raven alighted on his shoulder and he continued his monologue, except including the raven now as well. Finally he noticed the others, “Oh, right, yes, I should introduce myself and thank you for rescuing me. Thank you.” Thundina interrupted him, “What are you doing in the woods here?” “I’m looking for a town, well more of a village really, that’s somewhere nearby. I seem to have gotten a little lost.” “Looking for Barovia?” “Yes, that’s it! Does that qualify as a town or as a village?” “Village I’d say. We can escort you back to the village; we’re heading that way ourselves.” The party resumed their progress through the woods with the stranger in tow. Whenever he wasn’t specifically engaged with someone in the party, he began talking to the raven which rode on his shoulder. Now, you were going to introduce yourself.” “Right, right. My name is Grim d’Orien.” “d’Orien, as in House Orien?” “Yes. I was supposed to be delivering a message out here, to a Mr. Layson, only I’ve lost the letter. If don’t deliver it, I’m certain to be fired.” Thundina had to think a moment. That name sounded familiar, but she was having trouble placing it. Romann spoke up saying, “Sorry, but I don’t think we know a Mr. Layson.” It was then that Thundina recalled that, yes, the party did know a Mr. Layson; Mr. Orning Layson. Thundina mentioned this and Romann, somewhat confused, asked, “Bravo had a last name?” “Yes, Orning had a last name,” Thundina confirmed. “Who has his papers?” Cyron pulled out the papers Orning had always carried with him in case he became lost and needed assistance. Cyron and Romann looked at the papers again and Cyron told Grim, “I’m sorry, but Mr. Layson has recently died.” “That’s a problem,” Grim muttered. “I need to deliver the message in someway still. If I don’t, it’s more than I’m worth.” Thundina grinned mischievously, “We can give you directions to where he lays. You can take the letter and tuck it into his hands for a mission accomplished.” Grim glanced up and took a hard look at each member of the party. “You’re Miss Seong. And you’re Mr. Hauldak. I must admit that I peeked at the letter. It was from Mr. Layson. I mean, the father, not the Mr. Layson you know. The two of you were also mentioned. Mr. Layson was supposed to be retrieving something called the Sunsword. Perhaps if I bring the item back in addition to the news of what has befallen Mr. Layson that will be acceptable in place of delivering the actual letter.” Thundina protested, “The Sunsword does not belong to Orning’s father. It belongs to the Lightbringers. We have it, but it is not yet restored to its full powers. We still need to do that before we can take it back to the organization.” The party had reached town and was at the central square, outside Bildreth’s shop. Thundina said, “We need diamond dust first, and pearls second. Who wants to deal with Bildreth?” Grim spoke up, “What was that? Hmm, I think I have some of each of that which I could share. That is, if I can join you and be of assistance in returning the Sunsword and Mr. Layson’s papers.” For the rest of that evening, and beginning again the next morning, Krel and Grim worked on [I]Identifying[/I] the various magical objects recovered from the catacombs to that point. The green enamel ring that Thundina had thought so pretty was of no use to her however; she passed it first to Cyron who then passed it to Grim. In the morning, Thundina bounded up to Cyron and with a flutter of her eyelashes she asked, “Do you have a diamond for me?” “Yes, I have the [I]Restoration[/I] prepared.” Cyron said. He sprinkled the dust over Thundina and began praying. Thundina stared transfixed at the sparkling motes that hung around her. As Cyron finished his chanting, a feeling of completeness returned to Thundina. She hadn’t realized how cold she felt until the cold had broken and left only warmth in her soul. “Thank you Cyron. You’re my hero.” As the party, with their new recruit, gathered to begin another assault on Strahd’s stronghold, they needed to discuss which way to enter. Thundina wanted to try the main gate again, but the rest insisted on taking the hidden entrance up into the catacombs. Thundina acquiesced but sulked all the way through the Svalich Woods and up the stairs back into Castle Ravenloft. Once back to exploring the catacombs, Thundina found her professionalism and examined the nearest unopened door. “Sasha Ivliskova. I think I’ve seen this name somewhere before.” Thundina thought aloud after examining the door. “I remember now, it was in the accursed diary. Forty years ago she was able to keep Strahd at bay until she disappeared one day.” Halas began inching away from the door and towards the glowing blue barrier, even trying to go through it, only to be teleported back to where he started. At the strange looks from the party he attempted an explanation, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” Thundina shook her head and told Romann to open the tomb to find out what had become of Sasha. When the door was thrown open, instead of the expected skeleton in rags, Thundina spotted a pale beautiful woman standing ready. Her brilliant red hair was pulled back highlighting a widow’s peak in front. Her deep blue eyes locked with Romann’s eyes, drawing him in before he blinked. Her bright red lips parted revealing two prominently fanged teeth as she sweetly called out, “Help me, to my defense!” Tears then welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks as she pleaded softly, “Kill me.” Cyron’s eyes went wide and he shouted, “Vampire! Feel the power of the gods and despair!” Not only did Sasha not blink at the shout, but a tomb down the hall opened and two humanoids with red eyes began to move to the fray. One reached Cyron and clawed at him. Very little physical damage seemed evident, but Cyron wilted a little. In response to Sasha’s call, a celestial dire lion appeared in the hall, next to Halas. It pounced on him, shaking him about like a rag doll before dropping a heavily savaged body. Romann charged at the lion to rescue his friend. Both Krel and Grim pumped magic into the dire lion; Krel with his wand of [I]Scorching Ray[/I] and Grim with basic [I]Magic Missiles[/I]. Thundina and Ashlyn stepped into Sasha’s tomb to fulfill her wish. Thundina’s strike slipped past Sasha’s defenses but then struck some invisible force and rebounded just shy of Sasha’s body. Ashlyn and Sasha both reached out towards each other. They clasped hands and both narrowed their eyes in concentration to force their will on the other. When they let go, both seemed weaker from the contest. Sasha tapped a brick next to her and a hidden door swung open beside Sasha. Cyron brandished his holy symbol at the creature with the glowing red eyes and shouted, “Be gone creature of darkness! The light of the gods shines even in this darkness!” The creatures could not resist Cyron’s holy energy and began to run away into the darkness of the catacombs. Meanwhile Romann’s plan of rescuing Halas from the lion met an acute problem. The lion bit Romann, grabbed him, and wrestled him to the ground. Romann struggled against the lion, trying to turn it onto its back. The first attempt appeared to go well before one of Romann’s feet slipped out from beneath him leaving him no leverage. Far away, a wolf howled and the faintest echo of the howl reached even the deep bowels of the catacombs. The lion growled as it looked at the soft targets in front of it. Romann made a second try and caught the celestial dire lion by surprise and flipped it onto its back. The lion flailed helplessly as Romann shouted in triumph and shock, “I pinned it!” Thundina sensed the rare opportunity presented by Romann’s heroics and if the opportunity passed, there was a very real danger that Romann would not survive a second round of wrestling with the lion. Thundina withdrew from facing Sasha to get close enough to the lion to aim a deadly blow at the helpless creature. Since the lion was pinned, Thundina was able to line up a very precise blow which snapped the creature’s neck. Sparkling lights replaced the lion which then faded out and Romann dropped to the ground. Cyron moved over to where Thundina stood and Romann lay and considered a moment before putting a [I]Death Ward[/I] on Thundina and telling her that she need not fear the dark touch of the vampire for a couple minutes. Sasha burst out of the tomb via the secret door and began retreating down the hall. Grim, who had been waiting for just that maneuver, dropped a [I]Fireball[/I] on her, singeing her before beginning to concentrate and gather more fire for a larger blast. Thundina tumbled past Sasha to cut off the escape path Sasha appeared to be heading towards. Thundina drove her blade low towards Sasha’s back only to have it rebound off the same invisible field that had protected Sasha previously. This confused Thundina because she had always heard from her father that the best way to get at a shielded wizard was to get behind it. Sasha, tears still streaming down her cheeks, feinted at Thundina putting Thundina on the defensive before whirling and flinging five [I]Magic Missiles[/I] at Grim who was deep in concentration. The sudden damage stunned Grim and the magic between his fingers dissipated. Sasha slid to her left while keeping Thundina at arm’s length. Romann jumped up and ran into battle even though he was half dead while Ashlyn limped after Sasha brandishing the brightly glowing Sunsword. The three trapped Sasha against the wall and prevented her escaping. Grim retaliated with his own barrage of [I]Magic Missiles[/I] which forced Sasha into a gaseous form to flee the short distance back into her coffin. Ashlyn quickly strode over, pulled out a [I]flare stake[/I] and hammered the stake into the vampire’s heart. Thundina called out to her allies, “Quickly, after the spawn, while they are demoralized!” Thundina raced through the dark passages attempting to track the one spawn she had seen fleeing. Upon reaching the corner where she was expecting to find one cowering but finding no enemy, Thundina slowed to consider her options for which other paths to follow. Listening to her heart beat from the fighting and running, Thundina realized she wasn’t hearing anything else; she was alone away from the party. She retraced her steps back to Sasha’s tomb. As she approached, Grim started chanting an incantation. Before Thundina could call out a greeting, Grim threw a [I]Fireball[/I] down the main hallway orthogonal to Thundina’s approach and out of her sight. The party rushed to see what had set him off and discovered the smoldering remains of a large swarm of dire rats. With the monster defeated, Thundina set to looting while Cyron healed the wounded Romann and near-dead Halas. Thundina chuckled as she thought about taking the rouge for the rogue before also tucking away a trio of bottles of perfume. She held a golden locket up to get a better view of its inscription, ‘Strahd’. Finally, Thundina found a diary. She shuddered a moment remember how the previous diary had treated her, but still she opened it and skimmed through. “Well, Thundina, that was useful,” Krel said after Thundina completed the reading. “And you didn’t want to come back this way.” “Yes, it was important information,” Thundina agreed, “but I still don’t like this place.” Grim requested a couple moments to review his spellbook before the party continued their adventure through the catacombs. The party agreed while they mulled over the new implications of what they learned and the final healing spells used to restore health. Creatures of shadow silently advanced on the meager flickering light at the center of the party. Unseen for the poor oculary capability of the heroes they homed in on. ----------------------------------------------------------- Chapter 9 will be delayed for a week while we take a break. [/QUOTE]
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The New Adventures of Thundina Seong! Completed May 4
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