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

[Stormwind]

Once back above ground, Ashlyn see's to the arrangements for a funeral pyre and without further ado, albeit with a certain amount of respect for the dead, she solemnly lights the pyre.

Once the pyre is lit, Ashlyn follows her companions back to town and in the central square she whistles once, a long wavering note. Only moments later a horse, black as night, trots up to her and nudges her hand with it's head. She reaches over to a bag on the back of the horse and draws out a blade, a greatsword that, by all rights, shouldn't have fit inside the bag. She then walks over to Ladreth and says quietly and simply, "Can you use this?"

Seeing Marot nearby, after a few moments she walks over to him and exchanges a few words before walking over to her horse and pulling a mace and some scrolls out of the same bag. She then turns back to Marot and hands him the items.

[Distribute equipment:
- Greatsword -> Ladreth
- Cold iron mace -> Marot
- 2x scroll of cure light wounds -> Marot]

 

[ethandrew]

Ladreth takes the offered sword in his hand, feeling the balance of it with his right, comparing his old, worn sword in his left. With a surprised deftness he cuts the air with it, the slicing sound reverberating over the courtyard as he maneuvers the fine blade masterfully. He looks at Ashlyn and smiles thankfully, bowing his head slowly.

After she walks away, he takes a cloth out from his pack and wipes down his standard Deneith blade lovingly before unfolding the cloth and rolling the greatsword up in it. He seems to be following a ritualistic pattern, his movements precise and memorized as he takes great care.

 

[James Heard]

At the well, Janis "washes the stink off" by pulling several buckets of water up and, after checking the water to be certain that there's nothing particularly malicious in it, dumps them unceremoniously over her head.

The no-bones practical sluicing continues afterward, with even more water being dumped over a very wet, and long suffering looking, bear.

Casting a simple cantrip of prestidigitation Janis continues the exercise by heat pressing her clothes and drying her hair into not-often-seen curls. Even the bear is dried and doused with a bit of the mint-smelling conjuration that lingers after she finishes, though looking considerably larger and disconcertingly fluffy.

The task finished, Janis sits upon her haunches in the square waiting, amusing children and villager alike with bizarre animations of butterflies and colorful-looking scorpions chasing flowers. Despite the playful activities, lines continue to crease the woman's face in her usual implacable expression.

She's besotted with him besides entranced, Janis thinks. A fool, and worse a fool in love...the most dangerous kind. We've told her everything. She'll think we lie. Think Janis, if you were an idiot, cow-eyed daughter of a burgomaster, what mischief would you do to get everyone killed?

I wonder if someone in town did the work on her dress.

 

[DEFCON 1]

As the group stands around the well in the town square, Jarrith takes a few more sips of his canteen to hopefully rid himself of the dry-mouth he has from his drinking the night before and today. As the noon-day sun climbs high overhead, he drops his backpack and begins rummaging through it to claim his notebook. He begins flipping through it and starts speaking out loud to anyone and everyone who might hear.

"Well so far we've accomplished some things... but little of any tangible results. From what we gathered from Madam Eva... we still have quite a bit left to do if we are to completely free these people and this land from the shadow that covers it."

He flips a page, then nods appreciatively. "We've taken care of the church. The destruction of the pastor's so-called 'child' has ebbed the flow of necromantic disease that had been changing everyone. There are still walking dead around, but those seem to be of a past time, and not due to the disease that we stopped. So that's one point in our favor."

Another flip of the page, another bit of information. "The Symbol of the Raven... an object of good that Sir Urik and Ireena and Ismark all claim to be of use to this land... is either too well hidden at the monestary ruins to find, or is possessed by one of the people who will be going there at the new moon for their ritual. So until that ritual occurs, it is beyond our reach."

"Lady Ashlyn's Sunsword is hidden away in the forest, guarded by the creatures of fey. Once claimed and then awoken up at the castle, it's might will cut a swath through the shadows of this land. This appears to be our next destination once we are done resting here."

A few more flips and scans of the pages. "The three unholy fanes... the locations of unholy power that need to be destroyed... are currently unknown to us. Supposedly the Tome of Strahd has their locations found within."

He chuckles at the thought, then flips back to earlier in his pages. "And speaking of that Tome... the book is supposedly hidden inside the Castle itself, in it's library. Which means that we'll need to go up there soon enough and deal with this newly-arrived descendant of The Devil Strahd... or else just sneak on in and try to get in and out with the book as quickly as possible. But going up there soon is certainly in the cards."

He flips the pages of his notebook shut, then puts it back in his backpack. "So our next step is to go into the woods and hope against hope we can find Ashlyn's Sunsword. After that... either we wait for the new moon and try and get the Symbol off of he or she that has it... or we head up to the castle and either one or more of us try and get the Tome out of the library."

He says to himself (but still loud enough for other people to hear if they tried) "Still think we should bring the girl with us... let her spend the hour playing kissy-face with her Lord to keep them both busy while we grab the book."

 

[James Heard]

Oh no, Jarrith is drunk, Janis thought, rubbing her temples. Or worse, maybe he's intending to go where Ireena's 'Lord" does. Of course, it might do for him to settle down a bit, and if Ireena had any sense at all she'd have him shave more often and correct that ridiculous haircut...

Janis muses.

 

[stonegod]

[With no objections, I'm assuming we are moving into the forest.]

The group gathers their various mounts---the headstrong Edi, Selase's old mount for Jarrith, the sable Valo, and Marot's steady warhorse. After some discussion, Tessa and Ladreth decide to share Daellin's magebred mount, neither of them having their own horses. As they leave town, they note again a group of colorful Visanti noting their exit.

The northern Svalich Woods are no more welcoming then when the group passed through them several days before. Off the road, the trees quickly come together, slowing travel down significantly. The towering trees, their tops lost in heavy grey mist, allow only dim shafts of light to reach the dusky forest floor. Moss covers everything, and a deathly quiet fills the air.

After a few hours of travel, meandering through the woods, the forest thins a bit. A wide swath of clearer ground forms something like a path or trail, though there are no clear marks of anything traveling this way.

[sblock=Janis]Janis has the distinct feeling that they are being watched. In the path ahead is a large tree; out of the corner of the eye she think she detected a glimpse of fur and the gleam of metal.[/sblock]

 

[James Heard]

Janis swings her legs over and dismounts the horse-faced Edi.

"I believe my stomach has been ill-served by something for breakfast. A moment, if I might? Tessa, Ashlyn? Are you coming?" Janis asks, as if every constitutional the three women took was a group activity.

"Once we're through, the rest of you should water yourselves too. In fact, now might be a good time to take our fast before we meet up with Daellin and the others. I don't know why they've not come sooner, unless they have eyes on something."

Janis squirms a bit as she waits for the two other women to join her, running her fingers through the oily course hair of the bear.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Not-so-Chaotic

"What is she trying to tell us." Marot thinks to himself.

Not sure what exactly she means, the warlock shoots Jarrith a quizzical look.

"Daellin?" He says softly aloud.

OOC:

Sense Motive for Janis's cryptic message (1d20=14)

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn looks towards Janis and with a sigh dismounts, "No matter how much you protest the matter, I swear that your bladder gives away your feelings for our countryman. Perhaps you should speak of your feelings to him when next you see him."

Ashlyn seems to fall into the routine as she strokes Valo on the nose and says softly, "Be a good boy and wait here."
She then calmly walks over towards Janis ...

 

[pathfinderq1]

Tessa slid rather clumsily off the shared horse- while she didn't have a clue what Janis was talking about, that was hardly a new phenomenon. She was just glad of an excuse to be out of the saddle. She looked warily around the clearing, then, without a word, started walking with Janis and Ashlyn.