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

[James Heard]

" If I were then I'd have surely struck at you all after the battle with the many-faced creature, when you were weakest and still rattled by the death of Daellin. Or else I'd have bitten and converted Mateusz one night, and pressed him to talk with one or more of you privately while he spent his time back at the village converting villagers to strike until they numbered enough to kill the survivors of our party after this next bit of bravado we plan." Janis does not laugh, but seems to be seriously considering it.

" It's just as well I am not. I am not a merciful enemy. If my heart were black..." the pale spellcaster's face briefly twists into something that might charitably be called horror. "...If my heart were blacker - I would kill you all tomorrow if it needed doing, and you are the only people close to me any longer. To let the sunlight of my soul fade away entirely? I endeavor against this, understand me; but if I failed then the depths of my evil would be unending and the suffering of those around me be eternal."

 

[DEFCON 1]

"To let the sunlight of my soul fade away entirely? I endeavor against this, understand me; but if I failed then the depths of my evil would be unending and the suffering of those around me be eternal."

"So what you're saying is that you'd get in touch with your feminine side?"

Jarrith immediately spins around and holds up his hands palms out to Lady Ashlyn and Tessa, trying to forstall any rebuttal. "Kidding... kidding! Just a joke! Just a joke!"

For those who would take a few seconds to analyze him, they might be able to tell that his mood has swung away from the despair and paranoia of last night and is becoming more giddy. Possibly the result of drink?

 

[stonegod]

Janis' arcane senses do not detect anything unusual. Considering the Burgomaster was buried the same day as the mass burial a few days previous, it is not surprising that the gravesite does not appear disturbed. However, all this thought of the graves tickles something the back of the group's mind, something Daellin told them. The ghasts the group found wandering the streets during the zombie incursion were not caused by it---they must of come from somewhere. And the graveyard is the most likely place.

After a bit of examination, one grave appears to have looser soil than its age should indicate. Its inscription is simple:

Mihail Latcu-- Father, Brother, Husband

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

"Heavy are the spirits in this place." Marot says as he scans the graveyard.

As he looks at the freshly disturbed ground at the grave of Mihail Latcu, he looks to his companions,"Does this name mean anything to you?"

"I fear that this grave may not hold what it is meant to."

 

[James Heard]

"Maybe we should dig a firepit to dispose of the cursed ones in?"

Janis looks for a clear space to dig a hole and likely candidates for firewood.

OOC: Are there any above ground tombs?

 

[ethandrew]

Ladreth moves closer to the grave, his sword out, gripped tightly in one hand. This place hung heavy with death, almost as oppressive as the fog that mysteriously avoided this yard. He drags the point of his well-worn sword through the top of the loose soil, trailing a thin line behind. The half-orc's breath is heavy through his nose, like compressed steam. As he continues to trace his sword point into the dirt, he ends next to the gravestone, where a dull tick is greeted when the two meet.

Reaching his other hand down, he joins his other in holding the sword. Bringing it back he attempts to use it to push away the top most layer of soil in the center, no more than an inch or two as he moves his sword side to side.

 

[stonegod]

OOC: Are there any above ground tombs?

It appears not.

 

[stonegod]

Reaching his other hand down, he joins his other in holding the sword. Bringing it back he attempts to use it to push away the top most layer of soil in the center, no more than an inch or two as he moves his sword side to side.

The old sword digs easily into the dirt. With an easy push, it collapses, tumbling down into the darkness. What comes out is a vile smell---the smell of corpses and carrion. It reminds those of the desiccated ghasts fought a few days before. The rough hewn, earthen tunnel is about six feet in diameter. Bits of gnawed remains---a fingerbone, part of a skull---and scraps of torn, rotted cloth are partially embedded in the heavily used path. Claw marks are quite plain in the soft earth.

 

[James Heard]

Janis looks over her shoulder from where she stands building her makeshift fire pit at the warrior looming over the hole, frowning.

" Remember to tell us that you'll be right back if you choose to investigate that further," she says primly, before she turns away again to resume the fire building.

" Scream if anything tries to eat you."

Ah, that fresh carrion stench of Barovia in the morning.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Deadly

"I can't say that I expected that to be down there..." Marot says as he sees the tunnel. He peers down into the depths, looking for anything sinister.

"But what can be expected in this land at this point?"

"Should we see where this rabbit hole leads?" He says as he looks around to his companions.

OOC: Use his dark vision and see invisibility to make sure nothing is in the hole looking back up at us.