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Story Hour
The Lightbringers' Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - updated 12/19
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<blockquote data-quote="Dr Midnight" data-source="post: 3681551" data-attributes="member: 69"><p style="text-align: center"><em><strong>Session 6 - Chapter 1</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: DarkRed"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px"><span style="font-family: 'Impact'"><u>REINCARNATION</u></span></span></strong></span></p><p></p><p>The adventurers had lost a party member. They didn’t dare go below the trap door to face the priest, but nor did they dare leave. They could reincarnate Ashlyn in the morning, once Arianna memorized the spell. Of course, they’d only just woken up and come to the church… it was maybe 9 in the morning. </p><p></p><p>Gerrit, Arianna and Toufghar would have almost twenty-four hours to pass while locked in a room.</p><p></p><p>They spent about three hours bringing each other up on the relevant events of their time in Barovia, making as long and detailed a story of it as they could. That got them to lunchtime. After a meal of trail rations, they began telling stories of their respective adventures outside of Barovia. That got dull around five o’clock, and Toufghar was pacing the room. </p><p></p><p>He opened the hinged stained glass window and let a little air in. Zombies passed by outside, heedless of the window or the living watching them. Toufghar rested his elbows on the sill and said “They almost look like people, just walking around like that.”</p><p></p><p>“They <em>are</em> people,” Gerrit said irritably.</p><p></p><p>The half-orc shrugged in reply and kept watching the world around them. “Sun’s setting. At least it’ll feel like night soon.” </p><p></p><p>The group checked and re-checked that the door was well blocked against intruders. After the sun went down, they lay down and tried to go to sleep. After a time, they did. </p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://a132.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/74/l_8cb59b0bf1f8084d97818e3453a2be0b.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p>Gerrit woke up, the side of his face lit by a pale greenish glow. The light was coming through the window, from outside. The halfling yawned and got up. He leaned out the window and looked. </p><p></p><p>Green-white radiance was blossoming from the center of the meager graveyard behind the church. From this point of spectral light marched a ghostly procession. Wavering images of doughty women touting greatswords, woodwise men with slender bows, dwarves with glittering axes, and archaically dressed mages with beards and strange pointed hats – all these and more marched forth from the graveyard, their numbers growing by the second. </p><p></p><p>They marched slowly with shoulders hunched up the west road, a pale green line of ghosts. They went over the Ivlis bridge and up into the hills that curled about towards Castle Ravenloft. When the last one disappeared around the rocks near Lysaga Hill, Gerrit turned from the window and went back to bed. There had been no need to wake the others- it was only a pretty midnight distraction. </p><p></p><p>Something about the procession of spirits bothered him. His mind gave in to sleep again before he could figure out what it was. </p><p style="text-align: center"></p> <p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://a132.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/74/l_8cb59b0bf1f8084d97818e3453a2be0b.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p>“Okay,” Arianna said. “I haven’t ever actually cast this spell, so I’m not sure what the likely results are.”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?” Toufghar asked. “She’s going to come back to life, right? Isn’t that the point of the spell?”</p><p></p><p>They stood over Ashlyn’s body in the room. Morning light was streaming in through the window. The three of them were eager to have Ashlyn among the living again so that they could leave the room with confidence. </p><p></p><p>Arianna covered Ashlyn’s body with a sheet they’d found on the high shelf. “Yes, but it’s complicated. She could come back… different.”</p><p></p><p>“Different how?”</p><p></p><p>“She may not come back as a human at all,” Gerrit said. “She may return to us as something else.” </p><p></p><p>“Oh, like a dwarf or a half-elf?”</p><p></p><p>“Or a goblin.”</p><p></p><p>Toufghar looked horrified. “She might come back as a <em>monster</em>?”</p><p></p><p>Arianna shrugged. “Technically, yes, but she’d be the same inside. Same soul and mind, different body. Or she might come back in the same body. We won’t know until the spell’s cast.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, can you cast it right, so that she’s <em>not</em> a monster?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s not that simple. Okay, stand back.” Arianna kneeled and said some words, then made some gestures over Ashlyn’s covered body. She concentrated like this for ten minutes or so, moving her hands in swirling patterns and speaking indecipherable words. With a final flourish, it was done. </p><p></p><p>The sheet covering Ashlyn slackened and fell away where the head, hands, and feet were. Her plate armor alone seemed to be holding up the sheet now. </p><p></p><p>“She’s gone,” Toufghar said in wonder. “Did you do it right? What happens now?”</p><p></p><p>“It’s not immediate. It may take a moment to work.” They kept staring at the draped armor. </p><p></p><p>Something beneath the sheet moved, and then the head, hands and feet areas of the sheet were rising again, filling out in new forms. The head especially took on a bulbous, misshapen cast. </p><p></p><p>Arianna pulled at her collar uncomfortably. It wasn’t looking like the pretty paladin woman they’d known with the braided pigtails was coming back. </p><p></p><p>The draped form moved slightly and began to sit up. It pulled the sheet off its head and looked at them. It wore Ashlyn’s full plate armor, but the head was that of a scaled, brownish lizard-thing. The cruel green eyes blinked at them. </p><p></p><p>“Hi!” </p><p></p><p>Toufghar’s jaw dropped open. Gerrit reached up and politely shut it for him. Arianna forced a smile. “Welcome back, Ashlyn.” </p><p></p><p>“Back? What happened?” The lizard’s tongue darted out of its mouth, testing the air. </p><p></p><p>“You died yesterday in a battle with a mad priest of Bellethanne,” Gerrit said. “Arianna brought you back to life just now. How do you feel?”</p><p></p><p>Ashlyn shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Wow, I was really dead? Thanks for doing that, then. You have my gratitude.” She stopped and looked at Toufghar. “Touf, what in the world are you staring at?”</p><p></p><p>Toufghar continued to stare with his thunderstruck expression. Arianna answered for him. “Uh. Well, it’s not every day that you wake up as a lizard, eh?”</p><p></p><p>“What? A… what?” Ashlyn raised her hand to look at it, and instead of her strong pink hand with closely trimmed nails she saw a scaly clawed mitt that was purplish-brown on the outside and pale white on the inside. </p><p></p><p>Ashlyn screamed and almost immediately there was a flush through the room’s air- a noxious scent that wasn’t unlike a latrine pit full of burning hair. Arianna, Gerrit and Toufghar all wretched as Ashlyn wore out her throat shouting. </p><p></p><p>When the ruckus had died down, a rheumy-eyed Gerrit was covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and trying to fan the smell out of the window. Toufghar was still vomiting into a trash bin. </p><p></p><p>Arianna was trying to comfort Ashlyn, who was crouched in a corner. “What in the world <em>am</em> I?” Ashlyn sobbed. Her long forked tongue shot out of her mouth repeatedly as she spoke. </p><p></p><p>“Well, I think… based on the lizard attributes and… um… the musk, I believe you came back as a troglodyte.”</p><p></p><p>“A what? This is awful.”</p><p></p><p>“It’s not so bad. You’ll secrete a scent when frightened or excited, but otherwise you’re not much different. It’s just your body. Your soul is unchanged.”</p><p></p><p>Ashlyn nodded and reached into her <em>bag of holding</em>. “I understand. Well, no point crying over it. There’s a job to do, and Urso is my judge.” She took out a hat and placed it on her head. The hat allowed her to magically change her appearance, and her lizard form melted away to reveal the human paladin they’d known. She stood proudly, affecting the noble poise of a holy woman. “If I’m destined to be a troglodyte, then I’m going to be the best damned troglodyte I can be.” Her small, pink human tongue darted out. “Let’s go.” </p><p></p><p>The others exchanged a look as they followed.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><em><strong>Coming up</strong></em></p> <p style="text-align: center"><span style="color: DarkRed"><strong><span style="font-size: 22px"><span style="font-family: 'Impact'"><u>INTO<span style="font-size: 18px"> THE </span>PIT</u></span></span></strong></span></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dr Midnight, post: 3681551, member: 69"] [CENTER][I][B]Session 6 - Chapter 1[/B][/I] [COLOR=DarkRed][B][SIZE=6][FONT=Impact][U]REINCARNATION[/U][/FONT][/SIZE][/B][/COLOR][/CENTER] The adventurers had lost a party member. They didn’t dare go below the trap door to face the priest, but nor did they dare leave. They could reincarnate Ashlyn in the morning, once Arianna memorized the spell. Of course, they’d only just woken up and come to the church… it was maybe 9 in the morning. Gerrit, Arianna and Toufghar would have almost twenty-four hours to pass while locked in a room. They spent about three hours bringing each other up on the relevant events of their time in Barovia, making as long and detailed a story of it as they could. That got them to lunchtime. After a meal of trail rations, they began telling stories of their respective adventures outside of Barovia. That got dull around five o’clock, and Toufghar was pacing the room. He opened the hinged stained glass window and let a little air in. Zombies passed by outside, heedless of the window or the living watching them. Toufghar rested his elbows on the sill and said “They almost look like people, just walking around like that.” “They [I]are[/I] people,” Gerrit said irritably. The half-orc shrugged in reply and kept watching the world around them. “Sun’s setting. At least it’ll feel like night soon.” The group checked and re-checked that the door was well blocked against intruders. After the sun went down, they lay down and tried to go to sleep. After a time, they did. [CENTER] [IMG]http://a132.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/74/l_8cb59b0bf1f8084d97818e3453a2be0b.jpg[/IMG] [/CENTER] Gerrit woke up, the side of his face lit by a pale greenish glow. The light was coming through the window, from outside. The halfling yawned and got up. He leaned out the window and looked. Green-white radiance was blossoming from the center of the meager graveyard behind the church. From this point of spectral light marched a ghostly procession. Wavering images of doughty women touting greatswords, woodwise men with slender bows, dwarves with glittering axes, and archaically dressed mages with beards and strange pointed hats – all these and more marched forth from the graveyard, their numbers growing by the second. They marched slowly with shoulders hunched up the west road, a pale green line of ghosts. They went over the Ivlis bridge and up into the hills that curled about towards Castle Ravenloft. When the last one disappeared around the rocks near Lysaga Hill, Gerrit turned from the window and went back to bed. There had been no need to wake the others- it was only a pretty midnight distraction. Something about the procession of spirits bothered him. His mind gave in to sleep again before he could figure out what it was. [CENTER] [IMG]http://a132.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/74/l_8cb59b0bf1f8084d97818e3453a2be0b.jpg[/IMG] [/CENTER] “Okay,” Arianna said. “I haven’t ever actually cast this spell, so I’m not sure what the likely results are.” “What do you mean?” Toufghar asked. “She’s going to come back to life, right? Isn’t that the point of the spell?” They stood over Ashlyn’s body in the room. Morning light was streaming in through the window. The three of them were eager to have Ashlyn among the living again so that they could leave the room with confidence. Arianna covered Ashlyn’s body with a sheet they’d found on the high shelf. “Yes, but it’s complicated. She could come back… different.” “Different how?” “She may not come back as a human at all,” Gerrit said. “She may return to us as something else.” “Oh, like a dwarf or a half-elf?” “Or a goblin.” Toufghar looked horrified. “She might come back as a [I]monster[/I]?” Arianna shrugged. “Technically, yes, but she’d be the same inside. Same soul and mind, different body. Or she might come back in the same body. We won’t know until the spell’s cast.” “Well, can you cast it right, so that she’s [I]not[/I] a monster?” “It’s not that simple. Okay, stand back.” Arianna kneeled and said some words, then made some gestures over Ashlyn’s covered body. She concentrated like this for ten minutes or so, moving her hands in swirling patterns and speaking indecipherable words. With a final flourish, it was done. The sheet covering Ashlyn slackened and fell away where the head, hands, and feet were. Her plate armor alone seemed to be holding up the sheet now. “She’s gone,” Toufghar said in wonder. “Did you do it right? What happens now?” “It’s not immediate. It may take a moment to work.” They kept staring at the draped armor. Something beneath the sheet moved, and then the head, hands and feet areas of the sheet were rising again, filling out in new forms. The head especially took on a bulbous, misshapen cast. Arianna pulled at her collar uncomfortably. It wasn’t looking like the pretty paladin woman they’d known with the braided pigtails was coming back. The draped form moved slightly and began to sit up. It pulled the sheet off its head and looked at them. It wore Ashlyn’s full plate armor, but the head was that of a scaled, brownish lizard-thing. The cruel green eyes blinked at them. “Hi!” Toufghar’s jaw dropped open. Gerrit reached up and politely shut it for him. Arianna forced a smile. “Welcome back, Ashlyn.” “Back? What happened?” The lizard’s tongue darted out of its mouth, testing the air. “You died yesterday in a battle with a mad priest of Bellethanne,” Gerrit said. “Arianna brought you back to life just now. How do you feel?” Ashlyn shrugged. “Fine, I guess. Wow, I was really dead? Thanks for doing that, then. You have my gratitude.” She stopped and looked at Toufghar. “Touf, what in the world are you staring at?” Toufghar continued to stare with his thunderstruck expression. Arianna answered for him. “Uh. Well, it’s not every day that you wake up as a lizard, eh?” “What? A… what?” Ashlyn raised her hand to look at it, and instead of her strong pink hand with closely trimmed nails she saw a scaly clawed mitt that was purplish-brown on the outside and pale white on the inside. Ashlyn screamed and almost immediately there was a flush through the room’s air- a noxious scent that wasn’t unlike a latrine pit full of burning hair. Arianna, Gerrit and Toufghar all wretched as Ashlyn wore out her throat shouting. When the ruckus had died down, a rheumy-eyed Gerrit was covering his mouth and nose with a handkerchief and trying to fan the smell out of the window. Toufghar was still vomiting into a trash bin. Arianna was trying to comfort Ashlyn, who was crouched in a corner. “What in the world [I]am[/I] I?” Ashlyn sobbed. Her long forked tongue shot out of her mouth repeatedly as she spoke. “Well, I think… based on the lizard attributes and… um… the musk, I believe you came back as a troglodyte.” “A what? This is awful.” “It’s not so bad. You’ll secrete a scent when frightened or excited, but otherwise you’re not much different. It’s just your body. Your soul is unchanged.” Ashlyn nodded and reached into her [I]bag of holding[/I]. “I understand. Well, no point crying over it. There’s a job to do, and Urso is my judge.” She took out a hat and placed it on her head. The hat allowed her to magically change her appearance, and her lizard form melted away to reveal the human paladin they’d known. She stood proudly, affecting the noble poise of a holy woman. “If I’m destined to be a troglodyte, then I’m going to be the best damned troglodyte I can be.” Her small, pink human tongue darted out. “Let’s go.” The others exchanged a look as they followed. [CENTER][I][B]Coming up[/B][/I] [COLOR=DarkRed][B][SIZE=6][FONT=Impact][U]INTO[SIZE=5] THE [/SIZE]PIT[/U][/FONT][/SIZE][/B][/COLOR][/CENTER] . [/QUOTE]
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The Lightbringers' Expedition to Castle Ravenloft - updated 12/19
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