Kora smiles at Jared, "Agreed." Turning to Anthony, "You're right, we don't know. But inaction can be just as bad. We can try our best to keep appraised of what is going on and if need be, we can change course if it makes sense."
"This is part of the Shadowfell.." He should have known by the suffocating feeling of the place, home sweet home."If the beings that made this place are from the Shadowfell then it makes perfect sense that they would place something they want within their prisons. What's more torturous than having what you want most just in front of you, but you can never have it? Here within the prison they stay stagnant and unhappy. If they get out that is no longer the case and they go back to accumulating power. If there's a chance to put everything back how it should be then we should do it. Kora is right. Being complacent is just as bad as helping them."
"Well" Jared asks. "Then what are we waiting for? We've already said we are going to help Ireena and that seems to be the 1st step to solving this so let's get at it."
As you talk amongst yourselves, the sounds of raindrops striking the canvas roof overhead slowly begin to increase in volume and frequency. With thunder rumbling softly in the distance, the sounds of weather create an almost rhythmic backdrop of sound that accompanies your words. With what little sun that was visible now obscured by storm clouds, the temperature quickly drops from pleasant to chilly. It becomes surprisingly dark in the tent with only a few candles to give feeble light to the cramped room you find yourselves in, but perhaps the dimness of the room matched the manner of conversation being carried out. Darkness for dark business of grave import.
After about fifteen minutes or so of rain thrumming overheard and discussion of your situation, you hear a shout of alarm rise from outside, and it's quickly followed by another. The sound of footsteps splashing through puddles and mud announce someone approaching a moment for the flap of the tent is hastily parted by a Vistani man soaked from head to heel. The man is of a slender build, and he has a noticeable scar splitting his upper lip. He wears simple leather armor, but a dappled cloak composed of various shades of green hangs from his shoulders, its hood over the man’s head in an attempt to block out some of the rain. As you look, the greens of the cloak seem to shift and merge with one another in a dizzying pattern, and you have a hard time looking directly at it. You assume some kind of stealthy magic is imbued in the cloak. “Madame Eva!” the man cries out, ignoring the groups seated in the room. “Madame Eva!” he repeats, an anxious cast to his slender face and voice. The veil of hanging beads parts, and the wizened seer steps peeks out with a scowl on her face.
Sounding annoyed, Madame Eva says, “I’m rather busy at the moment Voldar, so you better ha-”
“The forward scouts have spotted Strahd heading this way!” the man blurts out, cutting off Madame Eva’s words. “A troupe of vampires follow him, and reports say that the wolves and werewolves of the forest are growing restless.” As if to support his claim, the monotonous backdrop of fallin rain is broken by the sound of a guttural howl of a wolf, yet this howl sounds more primal, more ferocious than any wolf you have heard before. The howl is followed by several others in the distance, and they merge into a discordant harmony of doleful wails.
Madame Eva looks shocked, the unflappable seer’s jaw drops in surprise. She obviously wasn’t expecting this turn of events. “He wasn’t supposed to come here until this evening,” she sputters. Turning her eyes towards Ireena, she says in a grave tone, “He comes for you, child. Are you ready to meet him?”
A look of dread settles on Ireena’s usually staunch features as Madame Eva turns her attention towards the scout in the doorway. “Is that all?”
The man hesitates, rain streaming from his body to the rug at his feet. Then, in an ominous voice, he says, “The scouts also say that a force of undead are heading this way from Argynvostholt. There’s also something happening at the ruins itself, but they couldn’t get close enough to see what it was. The scouts say that the undead and Strahd’s forces will be here in about an hour.”
Madame Eva swears violently, a very surprising outburst from her. “I should have foreseen this,” she hisses vehemently. “The Mists are too much in the thrall of Azalin.” She sighs, rubbing her temples with knobby fingers. “Prepare our forces, Voldar. We’re going to need everything we have to survive this.”
Voldar hesitates at the doorway for a moment before he asks with uncertainty, dread coloring his words, “What are we preparing for?”
Madame Eva looks at the group, her ancient and furrowed face creased with worry.
"What I'm worried about is why they are being gathered here in the first place. It doesn't sound like they were brought here to keep anyone safe from them. It sounds like something more powerful and evil than they are is gathering them here. Them along with chunks of whatever world they came from and the people there with them. How many are stuck here being victimized twofold?"
Anthony shook his head. "I don't like it. It's not a kind of justice that makes any sense to me, and I don't think these.... wardens have anything approaching good intentions."
Not as if he thought there was much anyone could do to work against them from within. That was a god problem. 'Hear that big guy?' Sending up a silent 'prayer' to Ilmater. 'Take the wheel on that one maybe.'
Kora immediately jumps out of her seat, looking from Madame Eva to Voldar to her siblings. She stares at the worried face of the seer, "Your forces? Do you have forces to handle such a situation or should we be fleeing?" She turns back to her siblings, "vampires and undead? Are we ready for such a thing? I mean... I want you to know I'll stand with you either way, but this... I'm worried."
Akyan had remained silent through most of the conversation. He prefers to hear all opinions before forming his own, though he's not sure he agrees with Anthony's proposal of killing the dread lords. Not now at least. He actually had a similar thought as to using it to buy time to deal with Azalin, but like Zathon said, they may not be able to handle that yet. At least they all seem to agree on one thing, and that's the fact that right now, Ireena is their first priority.
The drow's attention immediately shifts to the man as he bursts into the tent. Then a chill runs down his spine as the situation is explained. Strahd and Azalin? Both? And he was just thinking about how they may not be ready to deal with just ONE dread lord. Growling, he stands up and looks to Madam Eva and then the scout, "About how long do we have?" Then he looks to the others, "If we have time, we need to get Ireena out of here. I hate to leave these people to fight alone, but even if they can hold off the threat, Strahd could easily snatch Ireena out of the fray and use the confusion of battle to cover his escape. If we do not have time, then we need to figure a formation to ensure someone has eyes on her at all times."
Aoufie mouth opens in disbelief. "There is no way we can deal with such a threat, and I doubt the Vistani can either. We need to get out of here and like Anthony said perhaps it best we depart this realm for another." says Aoufie as he holds the talisman in hopes of figuring out how to use it. "Do we just walk into the mists and will ourselves to another demi-plane?"
As Voldar drops the flap of the tent and rushes outside, slipping and sliding on the mud, Madame Eva ducks back inside of the dark room beyond the beads. You hear sounds of rustling as she roots around the room for something. As she does, she calls out to you, "The way the talismans work is simple. You walk to the borders of the domain and simply pass into the fog. The leader with the mist talisman must focus on their destination, and it will guide you there. However," she grunts as if lifting something heavy before she continues, "the Darklords of each domain has the option to open or close their borders. If they're open, you can leave freely. If they're closed, the Mists separating each domain are very dangerous. The talismans should protect you from most of it, but it will not be a pleasant journey."
Madame Eva emerges from her room carrying a large wooden chest in her arms. With a grunt, she sets the chest on the low wooden table in the room with a loud thud. Dusting off her hands, she crouches down and starts fiddling with a key and a lock to the chest. As she does, she says, "The borders are several hours away, and either Strahd or Azalin would intercept you along the way if you chose to flee. I only know one spell that involves teleportation, but I intend to use it for a different purpose rather than shipping you to the edge of the Domain."
She finally unlocks the chest, and it springs open with a slight squeak from old hinges. She begins rummaging around in the chest as she continues. "A few centuries ago, I learned the true name of an Elder Tempest. I've never uttered it, but this might be the moment when I have to." She pulls out a several strands of beads and polished wood. She hands each of you one of them. "I believe the safest option is to stay here where my forces can protect you and Tatyana. Once Strahd and Azalin arrive, I can release the Elder Storm, and it should be powerful enough to drive them away or even hurt them enough that they will need to take some time to recover. Either way, it will buy you some time."
Gesturing to the beads, she says, "My people have crafted those for you. They should shield you from scrying eyes and other forms of divination."
I guess I'm a guy who wears three necklaces, slipping his over his head. He wasn't going to argue. "Running. Got it. Which direction?" Turning to Ireena. "You are welcome to stick with u- with me" Remembering at the last second he had no right to speak for the others even though they seemed like they were in agreement. "as long as you want. Not gonna lie, might not be much better than running in a random direction with a sword swinging over your head."
Kora immediately jumps out of her seat, looking from Madame Eva to Voldar to her siblings. She stares at the worried face of the seer, "Your forces? Do you have forces to handle such a situation or should we be fleeing?" She turns back to her siblings, "vampires and undead? Are we ready for such a thing? I mean... I want you to know I'll stand with you either way, but this... I'm worried."
"Vampires are undead," he says. "Just the more.. non-rotting variant. I should be able to turn a good portion of them for a time but we can't hold out against a full army-"
He stops talking as Eva explains her plan. "An Elder Tempest... Yeah, that would buy some time," he comments, accepting the necklace.
I guess I'm a guy who wears three necklaces, slipping his over his head. He wasn't going to argue. "Running. Got it. Which direction?" Turning to Ireena. "You are welcome to stick with u- with me" Remembering at the last second he had no right to speak for the others even though they seemed like they were in agreement. "as long as you want. Not gonna lie, might not be much better than running in a random direction with a sword swinging over your head."
"With an elder elemental that can at least give the Vistani a chance. Alright we can stay though I plan to proceed with caution which means the Vistani will most likely take the brunt of the forces that come. Let's see how this pan's out" says Aoufie. Some battle dirges come to mind as he patiently waits for the Vistani to prepare themselves for battle.
Kora steals a glance at Ismark, didn't he say the Vistani worked for Strahd? Would they just turn them over to him? Was Ireena really safe here until they could leave? these questions started to haunt Kora as things started to spin even more out of control.
As Madame Eva starts pulling the necklaces out of the bottom of the chest, she stares at the old woman, "How...how did your people know to craft these for us?" But as she thought about it, the way the woman knew things... of course she would know this. But the way it was first impressed Kora but it was now starting to make her uneasy. She puts the necklace on and then sees her brothers get themselves ready.
Turning back to Madame Eva, "Should we do that reading quick before the shit hits the fan?"
Madame Eva goes back to rummaging around in her chest. Replying to Kora, she says, “I foresaw that you would come to me quite a while ago. We’ve had a bit to prepare.”
She pulls out a few items that you assume are going to be spell components of some kind. She shakes her head distractedly. “We don’t have time for a reading right now. If my plan works out the way I’d like it to, I should be able to meet with you all in private sometime in the next few days.”
”If you’ll excuse me,” she says as she hurriedly makes her way to the door, “I need to oversee preparations.” With that, she steps outside and quickly begins walking away.
With that, you have an hour before two of the most powerful Darklords in all of Ravenloft. What do you do in the meantime?
Kora smiles at Jared, "Agreed." Turning to Anthony, "You're right, we don't know. But inaction can be just as bad. We can try our best to keep appraised of what is going on and if need be, we can change course if it makes sense."
"This is part of the Shadowfell.." He should have known by the suffocating feeling of the place, home sweet home. "If the beings that made this place are from the Shadowfell then it makes perfect sense that they would place something they want within their prisons. What's more torturous than having what you want most just in front of you, but you can never have it? Here within the prison they stay stagnant and unhappy. If they get out that is no longer the case and they go back to accumulating power. If there's a chance to put everything back how it should be then we should do it. Kora is right. Being complacent is just as bad as helping them."
"Well" Jared asks. "Then what are we waiting for? We've already said we are going to help Ireena and that seems to be the 1st step to solving this so let's get at it."
As you talk amongst yourselves, the sounds of raindrops striking the canvas roof overhead slowly begin to increase in volume and frequency. With thunder rumbling softly in the distance, the sounds of weather create an almost rhythmic backdrop of sound that accompanies your words. With what little sun that was visible now obscured by storm clouds, the temperature quickly drops from pleasant to chilly. It becomes surprisingly dark in the tent with only a few candles to give feeble light to the cramped room you find yourselves in, but perhaps the dimness of the room matched the manner of conversation being carried out. Darkness for dark business of grave import.
After about fifteen minutes or so of rain thrumming overheard and discussion of your situation, you hear a shout of alarm rise from outside, and it's quickly followed by another. The sound of footsteps splashing through puddles and mud announce someone approaching a moment for the flap of the tent is hastily parted by a Vistani man soaked from head to heel. The man is of a slender build, and he has a noticeable scar splitting his upper lip. He wears simple leather armor, but a dappled cloak composed of various shades of green hangs from his shoulders, its hood over the man’s head in an attempt to block out some of the rain. As you look, the greens of the cloak seem to shift and merge with one another in a dizzying pattern, and you have a hard time looking directly at it. You assume some kind of stealthy magic is imbued in the cloak.
“Madame Eva!” the man cries out, ignoring the groups seated in the room. “Madame Eva!” he repeats, an anxious cast to his slender face and voice. The veil of hanging beads parts, and the wizened seer steps peeks out with a scowl on her face.
Sounding annoyed, Madame Eva says, “I’m rather busy at the moment Voldar, so you better ha-”
“The forward scouts have spotted Strahd heading this way!” the man blurts out, cutting off Madame Eva’s words. “A troupe of vampires follow him, and reports say that the wolves and werewolves of the forest are growing restless.” As if to support his claim, the monotonous backdrop of fallin rain is broken by the sound of a guttural howl of a wolf, yet this howl sounds more primal, more ferocious than any wolf you have heard before. The howl is followed by several others in the distance, and they merge into a discordant harmony of doleful wails.
Madame Eva looks shocked, the unflappable seer’s jaw drops in surprise. She obviously wasn’t expecting this turn of events. “He wasn’t supposed to come here until this evening,” she sputters. Turning her eyes towards Ireena, she says in a grave tone, “He comes for you, child. Are you ready to meet him?”
A look of dread settles on Ireena’s usually staunch features as Madame Eva turns her attention towards the scout in the doorway. “Is that all?”
The man hesitates, rain streaming from his body to the rug at his feet. Then, in an ominous voice, he says, “The scouts also say that a force of undead are heading this way from Argynvostholt. There’s also something happening at the ruins itself, but they couldn’t get close enough to see what it was. The scouts say that the undead and Strahd’s forces will be here in about an hour.”
Madame Eva swears violently, a very surprising outburst from her. “I should have foreseen this,” she hisses vehemently. “The Mists are too much in the thrall of Azalin.” She sighs, rubbing her temples with knobby fingers. “Prepare our forces, Voldar. We’re going to need everything we have to survive this.”
Voldar hesitates at the doorway for a moment before he asks with uncertainty, dread coloring his words, “What are we preparing for?”
Madame Eva looks at the group, her ancient and furrowed face creased with worry.
“Azalin and Strahd are coming.”
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"What I'm worried about is why they are being gathered here in the first place. It doesn't sound like they were brought here to keep anyone safe from them. It sounds like something more powerful and evil than they are is gathering them here. Them along with chunks of whatever world they came from and the people there with them. How many are stuck here being victimized twofold?"
Anthony shook his head. "I don't like it. It's not a kind of justice that makes any sense to me, and I don't think these.... wardens have anything approaching good intentions."
Not as if he thought there was much anyone could do to work against them from within. That was a god problem. 'Hear that big guy?' Sending up a silent 'prayer' to Ilmater. 'Take the wheel on that one maybe.'
"We're waiting for Madam Eva."
Anthony was cut off by the hubbub. "Well, this will be interesting."
Kora immediately jumps out of her seat, looking from Madame Eva to Voldar to her siblings. She stares at the worried face of the seer, "Your forces? Do you have forces to handle such a situation or should we be fleeing?" She turns back to her siblings, "vampires and undead? Are we ready for such a thing? I mean... I want you to know I'll stand with you either way, but this... I'm worried."
Akyan had remained silent through most of the conversation. He prefers to hear all opinions before forming his own, though he's not sure he agrees with Anthony's proposal of killing the dread lords. Not now at least. He actually had a similar thought as to using it to buy time to deal with Azalin, but like Zathon said, they may not be able to handle that yet. At least they all seem to agree on one thing, and that's the fact that right now, Ireena is their first priority.
The drow's attention immediately shifts to the man as he bursts into the tent. Then a chill runs down his spine as the situation is explained. Strahd and Azalin? Both? And he was just thinking about how they may not be ready to deal with just ONE dread lord. Growling, he stands up and looks to Madam Eva and then the scout, "About how long do we have?" Then he looks to the others, "If we have time, we need to get Ireena out of here. I hate to leave these people to fight alone, but even if they can hold off the threat, Strahd could easily snatch Ireena out of the fray and use the confusion of battle to cover his escape. If we do not have time, then we need to figure a formation to ensure someone has eyes on her at all times."
"Now would be a good time to figure out how to use these talismans to bamph out of here."
Jared takes up his mace and waits for the others to decide if they are staying or going.
Aoufie mouth opens in disbelief. "There is no way we can deal with such a threat, and I doubt the Vistani can either. We need to get out of here and like Anthony said perhaps it best we depart this realm for another." says Aoufie as he holds the talisman in hopes of figuring out how to use it. "Do we just walk into the mists and will ourselves to another demi-plane?"
As Voldar drops the flap of the tent and rushes outside, slipping and sliding on the mud, Madame Eva ducks back inside of the dark room beyond the beads. You hear sounds of rustling as she roots around the room for something. As she does, she calls out to you, "The way the talismans work is simple. You walk to the borders of the domain and simply pass into the fog. The leader with the mist talisman must focus on their destination, and it will guide you there. However," she grunts as if lifting something heavy before she continues, "the Darklords of each domain has the option to open or close their borders. If they're open, you can leave freely. If they're closed, the Mists separating each domain are very dangerous. The talismans should protect you from most of it, but it will not be a pleasant journey."
Madame Eva emerges from her room carrying a large wooden chest in her arms. With a grunt, she sets the chest on the low wooden table in the room with a loud thud. Dusting off her hands, she crouches down and starts fiddling with a key and a lock to the chest. As she does, she says, "The borders are several hours away, and either Strahd or Azalin would intercept you along the way if you chose to flee. I only know one spell that involves teleportation, but I intend to use it for a different purpose rather than shipping you to the edge of the Domain."
She finally unlocks the chest, and it springs open with a slight squeak from old hinges. She begins rummaging around in the chest as she continues. "A few centuries ago, I learned the true name of an Elder Tempest. I've never uttered it, but this might be the moment when I have to." She pulls out a several strands of beads and polished wood. She hands each of you one of them. "I believe the safest option is to stay here where my forces can protect you and Tatyana. Once Strahd and Azalin arrive, I can release the Elder Storm, and it should be powerful enough to drive them away or even hurt them enough that they will need to take some time to recover. Either way, it will buy you some time."
Gesturing to the beads, she says, "My people have crafted those for you. They should shield you from scrying eyes and other forms of divination."
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
I guess I'm a guy who wears three necklaces, slipping his over his head. He wasn't going to argue. "Running. Got it. Which direction?" Turning to Ireena. "You are welcome to stick with u- with me" Remembering at the last second he had no right to speak for the others even though they seemed like they were in agreement. "as long as you want. Not gonna lie, might not be much better than running in a random direction with a sword swinging over your head."
Jared nods and takes the beaded necklace. After putting it on he goes to the tent flap and opens it slightly, looking out.
"Vampires are undead," he says. "Just the more.. non-rotting variant. I should be able to turn a good portion of them for a time but we can't hold out against a full army-"
He stops talking as Eva explains her plan. "An Elder Tempest... Yeah, that would buy some time," he comments, accepting the necklace.
He gives a nod to Anthony. "With us."
Anthony appreciated the reassurance that they were together on this stuff. It was a complicated mess.
"With an elder elemental that can at least give the Vistani a chance. Alright we can stay though I plan to proceed with caution which means the Vistani will most likely take the brunt of the forces that come. Let's see how this pan's out" says Aoufie. Some battle dirges come to mind as he patiently waits for the Vistani to prepare themselves for battle.
Kora steals a glance at Ismark, didn't he say the Vistani worked for Strahd? Would they just turn them over to him? Was Ireena really safe here until they could leave? these questions started to haunt Kora as things started to spin even more out of control.
As Madame Eva starts pulling the necklaces out of the bottom of the chest, she stares at the old woman, "How...how did your people know to craft these for us?" But as she thought about it, the way the woman knew things... of course she would know this. But the way it was first impressed Kora but it was now starting to make her uneasy. She puts the necklace on and then sees her brothers get themselves ready.
Turning back to Madame Eva, "Should we do that reading quick before the shit hits the fan?"
Madame Eva goes back to rummaging around in her chest. Replying to Kora, she says, “I foresaw that you would come to me quite a while ago. We’ve had a bit to prepare.”
She pulls out a few items that you assume are going to be spell components of some kind. She shakes her head distractedly. “We don’t have time for a reading right now. If my plan works out the way I’d like it to, I should be able to meet with you all in private sometime in the next few days.”
”If you’ll excuse me,” she says as she hurriedly makes her way to the door, “I need to oversee preparations.” With that, she steps outside and quickly begins walking away.
With that, you have an hour before two of the most powerful Darklords in all of Ravenloft. What do you do in the meantime?
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Zathon makes himself useful, helping the Vistani set up defenses.