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

[stonegod]

Outside the Inn

The meek inkeeper manages to find some cold stores of questionable character, though it is not much. The recent crisis put food stores at risk. Janis thinks it will be enough for the creature for now, though it will not enjoy it.

While the bear is feasting from the provided bucket, the Pale Lady looks to find Daellin. In a tent set up by the Jorasco healers, she finds the corpse. Other than the paleness of death, nothing marks the body as a physical wound. When she questions the healers about a book, they shake their head. Perhaps the Stalker Jarrith has it instead.

While waiting for the others to finish their business, Janis takes time to look after the nameless bear. The townpeople are still a bit skittish, though she manages to allay the worst of their fears. That is when she is surprised.

"I-... I need to speak to you and yours."

The voice had come up behind her. Turning, Janis unexpectedly found the Burgomaster's 'daughter' looking at her. Ireena seemed as white as death. Either her efforts with the burials had taken more out of her, or she had not been sleeping well. And those were the charitable possibilities.

"Please. Let us do this away from the townfolk."

 

[stonegod]

Inside the Inn

Sir Urik watches as Janis leaves, then turns to the remaining group. "Have a seat. Lady Ashlyn, Master Jarrith---I do care about your travails in this land, since your struggles are similar to my own. If I can do anything, I want to know."

While he waits for a response, a biting, hiss-like whisper comes from behind Tessa on the landing. "Miss Varequin." It is the Head Archivist's voice. He had come up behind her when she was looking at the occurrence below. "I have heard there has been more... setbacks. I would be ever so glad if you kept me abreast of such things." Once again, the insinuation. You work for me. "Come into my 'office'." A request... or command?

 

[pathfinderq1]

While he waits for a response, a biting, hiss-like whisper comes from behind Tessa on the landing. "Miss Varequin." It is the Head Archivist's voice. He had come up behind her when she was looking at the occurrence below. "I have heard there has been more... setbacks. I would be ever so glad if you kept me abreast of such things." Once again, the insinuation. You work for me. "Come into my 'office'." A request... or command?

A night's worth of sleeping and prayer had done wonders for Tessa's spirit and confidence- as she made her way down the stairs, her usual smile was firmly in place. But as soon as she heard Mateusz speak, that smile faded away and she hung her head in meek dejection. With a last glance, she turned her head away from the gathering, and followed the archivist into the other room, prodding the door shut behind her. While she had her hangdog look, something else struggled within her- why should she submit to such treatment, a part of her wondered. The same part of her, in fact, that unleashed the surging blast of fire in battle the previous day...

Her voice, however, was as quiet and dejected as her visage. "We found nothing of true consequence, and we lost two of our warriors to the things we did find. I did not wish to disappoint you with more of our failures when you were so deeply entrenched in your important work." Then something else occurred to her- the stray thought from the preceding night about the Twilight Forest, and how it tied into their struggle. "The only tidbit we got from our one captive, before his untimely end, was the mention of Czernovog, the Verdant Lord who dwelt in the Dark Places of the Eternal Forest- he named a Green Crone and a Dark Lady as well. I thought perhaps he spoke of Lamannia, but maybe your superior lorecraft might know more..."

 

[stonegod]

"The only tidbit we got from our one captive, before his untimely end, was the mention of Czernovog, the Verdant Lord who dwelt in the Dark Places of the Eternal Forest- he named a Green Crone and a Dark Lady as well. I thought perhaps he spoke of Lamannia, but maybe your superior lorecraft might know more..."

[Diplomacy]

The archivist sat in his simple chair as Tessa spoke, his lips almost disappearing with his tight frown. He was expressionless at the 'loss', nothing more than a cost in a ledgerbook in the Twelve's accounting. At the scholar's open face request, the frown turned into the tight smile. "Ah. So something might have been found, after all. But, first, I need to know everything you found. 'Nothing of consequence' is the phrase of a Morgrave hack looking for treasure when the power of history is laid out before them. What did you find? How were the Cyran and the simpleton killed?" Mateusz arched his hands beneath his chin as his waited his answer.

 

[James Heard]

While the bear is feasting from the provided bucket, the Pale Lady looks to find Daellin. In a tent set up by the Jorasco healers, she finds the corpse. Other than the paleness of death, nothing marks the body as a physical wound. When she questions the healers about a book, they shake their head. Perhaps the Stalker Jarrith has it instead.

Warding off onlookers with a glance, Janis spends some small moments with her oldest... friend? Perhaps not. Still, Janis remembered him from her past, from Cyre before The War had truly came to the lands of her uncle where she spent much of her childhood.

He was not a friend. He was a keeper. She did not weep for him, she wept for the past. Wiping her face, she exited the tent.

"I-... I need to speak to you and yours."

The voice had come up behind her. Turning, Janis unexpectedly found the Burgomaster's 'daughter' looking at her. Ireena seemed as white as death. Either her efforts with the burials had taken more out of her, or she had not been sleeping well. And those were the charitable possibilities.

"Please. Let us do this away from the townfolk."

" You are one of the townfolk, are you not? If they are yours then you are theirs, such is the dance that always passes between servant and master," Janis replies automatically, the political certainty that doomed her family rolling from her lips again unbidden. Perhaps Daellin's death had brought too much of the past to the forefront.

Janis stopped herself.

" You did not come for a lecture in responsibility. Which of me and mine concerns you? Some of us rot today that once breathed, and the others are most likely in the inn seeking council with Mateusz. You look like death, girl," says Janis, ever polite.

 

[Stormwind]

As Ashlyn sits down with Urik, she sighs and speaks in a soft voice, "Cyre was our homeland ... then came the Day of Mourning. A catalysm beyond comprehension ... my people and my homeland destroyed in an instant. And now the land and those creatures that now inhabit it are warped. Those of us few that remain are a people without a land. Daellin was one of us, as is Janis."

The pale paladin is quiet for a moment, then a look of grim determination once again takes place on her face as she speaks again "There is something I would speak to you about: Yesterday we had an encounter of sorts with the Green Crone. She spoke of the Verdant lord and the Eternal forest ... the name Czernovog was mentioned ... as was the Dark Lady and the fanes. It seems that the Crone and her followers intend to use the Dark lady's symbol to break the fane on Lysaga Hill and corrupt it. We could use your help, your knowledge. We are still stumbling around in the dark."

As Ashlyn speaks of the Crone her voice hardens.

Finally she looks towards the raven, then back at Urik, "I am glad to see your companion is with you once more, but how is it that Hurrn still accompanies you? I thought him lost."

 

[stonegod]

" You did not come for a lecture in responsibility. Which of me and mine concerns you? Some of us rot today that once breathed, and the others are most likely in the inn seeking council with Mateusz. You look like death, girl," says Janis, ever polite.

Ireena's lips tighten at the mention of her health, and brushes it away. "My sleep has not been well. But that is not why I seek you." She looks around at the courtyard and then comes close. In a low whisper she adds, "I seek Ismark, my brother. We... something has happened that has driven him away. I was hoping to talk to you and yours to ask you to keep an eye for him. In case he does something... foolish."

 

[stonegod]

"And now the land and those creatures that now inhabit it are warped. Those of us few that remain are a people without a land. Daellin was one of us, as is Janis."

The large man hangs his head a moment. "It must be a painful world for you all. Ghosts that haunt still. Our lands both or cursed. We fight and we live. That is all we can do."

"We could use your help, your knowledge. We are still stumbling around in the dark."

Urik strokes his beard. "The coven must have a leader, and this Crone must be she. Witches have come and gone in this place, fools hoping a dark power will protect them from the land itself. They always perish for their foolishness. But perhaps this new leader has capability. Alas, I cannot help you further. The Dark Lady was storied to have fought many evils that haunted this land before the fall, but the fracturing of my order has cause most of our lore to be scattered."

Finally she looks towards the raven, then back at Urik, "I am glad to see your companion is with you once more, but how is it that Hurrn still accompanies you? I thought him lost."

Urik grins unabashedly. "The gift of Those that Overwatch are not contained in such a fragile vessel---they can be called again to join the eternal struggle. The divine lingers, does it not?"

Urik leans back, his meal nearing completion. "What then are your plans for this day? I can give you no more guidance on the Crone but to say that if Madam Eva stated you will meet her on the hill, then on the hill you shall find her."

 

[pathfinderq1]

The archivist sat in his simple chair as Tessa spoke, his lips almost disappearing with his tight frown. He was expressionless at the 'loss', nothing more than a cost in a ledgerbook in the Twelve's accounting. At the scholar's open face request, the frown turned into the tight smile. "Ah. So something might have been found, after all. But, first, I need to know everything you found. 'Nothing of consequence' is the phrase of a Morgrave hack looking for treasure when the power of history is laid out before them. What did you find? How were the Cyran and the simpleton killed?" Mateusz arched his hands beneath his chin as his waited his answer.

Tessa stood, clasping her hands together behind her backand her gaze fixed on the floor, looking for all the world like a schoolgirl reciting a memorized passage before a teacher. In fact, though, that stance seemed to lessen the burning tension in her left shoulder as she recalled the events of the previous day- some of it had already, thankfully blurred, as if it had happened weeks ago, and dragging those memories back to the surface was neither easy nor comfortable. The archivist's insistence, though, left little room for choice. Keeping her voice steady, Tessa related the trip up the hill, and the discovery of the first ritual circle, describing the symbols and the area as well as she could. Then the climb down, and the battle with the fiendish plant creatures, and the other circle, with its strange aura and the embedded dragonshards. As she described the return to the surface, and the battle with the ghostly creature (and its terrible toll), her voice halted more than once as she tried to describe the emotions and atmosphere of the fight. Finally, she related their capture of the lurking woodsman, and the words that had been wrenched from him- and of his fate. When she was done, she raised her eyes to see what kind of reaction Mateusz might have to their less-than-stellar success on the expedition.

 

[James Heard]

Ireena's lips tighten at the mention of her health, and brushes it away. "My sleep has not been well. But that is not why I seek you." She looks around at the courtyard and then comes close. In a low whisper she adds, "I seek Ismark, my brother. We... something has happened that has driven him away. I was hoping to talk to you and yours to ask you to keep an eye for him. In case he does something... foolish."

Janis arches an eyebrow and deliberately steps a step back from the woman before cocking her chin again and replying.

" I see. Sleep you say? Foolishness?" Janis reaches out and grasps the young woman's wrist and tugs her as she stalks toward the doorway of the inn.

" We shall hear you, and remedy that which ails you. Come." The command is inconsequential, as Janis has every appearance of insistence.

With her free hand and a shout across the courtyard, Janis motions to collect one of the healers from their station outside the inn to accompany the two as she marches to the door.