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

[James Heard]

Janis smiles cryptically, before replying in low tones that gather force as she speaks as Sergei leaves.

"All ties of blood are merely flesh and memory. They are things that cannot long endure without will, and things which blade and storm sever as neatly as spring parts winter. The infection of this land has no master, only victims rotted from within, spoiled like last year's fruit. This pretense, this fiction...A Master? The entire valley is powerless, the highest among you no more than the least," Janis makes eye contact with Ireena.

"Fate is for cowards who cannot face the present," Janis finishes quietly, casting her eyes downward in sudden introspection, before lifting them again and cocking her chin defiantly.

Janis pauses a moment before rising.

"Let me cast an eye toward your supper before we venture forth again," she says, looking at the meal critically.

OOC: Casting Detect Poison and Detect Magic on the meal and the room once our host has left.

 

[pathfinderq1]

As soon as their host rose to his feet, Tessa pushed back her chair and stood as well, putting down the cup of wine which she had taken (though as yet, she had simply been toying with the glass, and had not actually imbibed anything). She watched the others for some kind of cue, obviously reluctant to be the first to make an overt action...

OOC: As noted, Tessa will have taken a glass of whatever is convenient, just to be polite, and she may even have lifted it once or twice- but given the uncomfortable nature of the castle's atmosphere, she has not actually drunk anything. This would probably not be unusual for her- given the power of her ring, the others in the party have yet to see her eat, and while she sometimes takes a mug of hot tea in the mornings, that seems to be more for the warmth than the drink itself.

 

[stonegod]

"This pretense, this fiction...A Master? The entire valley is powerless, the highest among you no more than the least," Janis makes eye contact with Ireena.

Sergei perhaps smirks as this, but adds nothing, giving the party on last look over. With nothing more, he ventures out into the darkness. He carries no light source, and soon disappears from sight.[sblock=Marot]Sergei heads down the hallway across from the door (east) before he is out of range of your darkvision.[/sblock]

"Let me cast an eye toward your supper before we venture forth again," she says, looking at the meal critically.

Nothing immediately untoward jumps out at Janis magically, though she knows from the intrigues at court that there are more subtle natural substances that could be at work that her arts could not detect.

Ireena looks thoughtful, but says nothing.

 

[James Heard]

Janis frowns as if displeased by her findings.

"What thoughts take hold in you, Ireena? Speak," the witch commands.

Finding no obvious treachery, Janis begins to search for hidden ones, perhaps proscribed foods for the priests, suspicious meats, etc as she waits for the girl's answer.

"The rest of you would do well to search our belongings to see if sticky fingers have plumbed them, since we have taken bread without guest gift," she says thoughtfully, peering closely at some bit of foodstuff.

OOC: Or so I assume that Eberron's got the same weird possibilities for archaic table manners as we do here irl.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Jarrith raises his eyebrows and his lips are tightly pursed. "Well I guess that's it then. Guess we do this the hard way. But the Light will see this through."

He grabs another roll and hands his backpack to Khensu. He then begins preparations to cast several spells. "I'll be home late, father... don't wait up."

OOC: Jarrith waits a few seconds to see if anyone offers up a plan. If nothing comes, Jarrith will make preparations to sneak up to the library on his own to find the Tome, while the others either go to the Chapel anyway or decide to leave the castle. This preparation will consist of casting Cat's Grace, Shield of Faith, Hide From Undead, and losing Magic Circle Against Evil to power up Sacred Stealth.

This should give him an AC of 23, and a Hide and Move Silently check of +21 each, all for 5 minutes (as well as being unseen to all undead for 50 minutes on top of this, minus a successful Will save of course.) He'll then attempt the journey through the castle to hopefully find the library unseen and unheard.

 

[s@squ@tch]

Marot the Poor-mannered

As their host departs, Marot watches him disappear from view down the hallway.

"I don't understand -- we come to his castle, he has food waiting, then tells us to basically get lost. Then does not even see us to the door, but walks away, leaving us to our own devices."

"What does he expect us to do? Simply leave? After telling us that the locations we wish to visit are cursed -- AND knowing our current activity pattern in this land? Surely he realizes that mere words will not deter us from our plan -- it is almost as if he expects us to do so."

He looks wistfully at the goblet in his hand, before placing it back down on the table.

"Perhaps he has retired to alert the haunting agents within the castle?"

After listening to Jarrith's preparations for searching the castle,"Be cautious my brother, for this castle should not be a friendly place to unwanted visitors."

 

[stonegod]

Janis does not see anything out of place, or at least, inappropriate. The meat is probably steaks of some kind with local root vegetables. The wine has a strong bouquet, with a spicy and slightly metallic undertone to the aroma; swirling the glass shows it has thick legs, sticking to the glass. It must be full bodied and strong.

A quick review of any belongings shows nothing missing.

Jarrith, thinking about his plan, realizes he has no idea where the library could be, nor how he could call for the others if needed. In addition, he will be unable to see in the dark---with any light source giving himself away.

Ireena bites her lip a moment, then answers a bit distractedly. "He seemed... distant. Less warm than before. I told him this place would get to him." This is obviously troubling her. Then she brings up something else. "Who was this 'she' he mentioned? Has your party sent another ahead to the Castle?"

 

[James Heard]

Ireena bites her lip a moment, then answers a bit distractedly. "He seemed... distant. Less warm than before. I told him this place would get to him." This is obviously troubling her. Then she brings up something else. "Who was this 'she' he mentioned? Has your party sent another ahead to the Castle?"

"Who knows what Mateusz has done? The creature knew of his desires before he sought us out," Janis answers.

"We might find the answers we seek with whip and salt," Janis says with an odd mixture of revulsion and eagerness...perhaps flavored by personal knowledge, whether of the giving or of the receiving is impossible to tell by the odd light in her eye.

Janis shakes her head, whether in denial of the thought or to merely clear herself of it is unclear.

"Distant though? Perhaps his mind was elsewhere?" Janis muses, pacing the room while tapping her forehead in the center with a single curled finger as if to direct the thoughts into her brain.

"Khyber's spleen!" she exclaims."I'll have his kidneys on a plate for his 'you have served me well!' By the Host and Shadows... what does that mean?"

 

[Stormwind]

Ashlyn turns quiet as Sergei speaks and leaves. She remains silent a few moments longer and then replies tiredly to Irene, "I do not know who he meant when he said 'she'. I doubt it would be anyone from the caravan or the village as someone would have noticed if someone went missing. That leaves very little possibilities, and thus I must conclude it to be someone whom we are not familiar with ... someone we don't know"

Ashlyn then turns to the others, "I am disquieted by the Lord's response to our offer of assistance. ... Furthermore, though he warned us of dangers he did not specifically forbid our intent. I would still visit the castle's chapel if we can find it, what about the rest of you?"

As she awaits an answer, Ashlyn moves towards the doorway and looks into the darkness before looking back at the others.

[Detect undead in the direction of the dark hallway]

 

[stonegod]

[Detect undead in the direction of the dark hallway]

The gloom is impenetrable to normal sight, but Ashlyn's trained Lightbringer senses do not detect anything nearby. The Lord is long gone from sight.

I assume she looked after Sergei vanished down the hall, not while?