Kora looks upon the dreadful woman and doesn't know exactly what to say as she doesn't really know how to feel for this woman. Kora doesn't know what it's like to lose a child and finds her utter desolation about it hard to commiserate with. Her surroundings, however, yeesh.
Kora looks out the window, the words of the departing Vistani still resonating and wonders if there were any ravens in sight. What an odd comment, but definitely one she wants to explore. Unlike where this Gertruda was. If she was very smart, she would have run away. Maybe she ran to this Vallaki village and on that thought, especially if they are heading in that direction, she turns away from the window and to the woman crouched on the threadbare rug, "What does your daughter look like?"
Jared stays at the back of the group, a bit uneasy in this place. Hearing the reasons for the woman's wailings of grief and pain, Jared is a bit indifferent. "Is she too afraid to go and look for her own daughter?" he thinks to himself. "The girl must not be that important to the woman if she curls up in misery instead of doing something about it." Compassion is not Jared's strong suit, especially if one has the means and ability to do something about misery and suffering.
Akyan follows Ismark up the stairs warily, eyes darting around the dilapidated house as if expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. Flexing his hands slightly as he walks, he prepares to summon his blades at any hint of danger.
When the enter the sobbing woman's room, he lingers towards the back of the group. He has no wish to try to comfort the woman. He's never been very good at that sort of thing. So instead he just evaluates the situation.
So the girl's been missing a whole week? That's not a good sign....and what is with that doll thing? He narrows his eyes at the hideous thing. When did this woman actually notice her daughter was missing? Since several of the others have decided to go strait to questioning the poor woman, Akyan turns to Ismark. "Do you know anything about this woman's daughter? How old is she?" After asking this, he eyes the doll again, then glances at Mary. All of this seems off. Suddenly thought hits him, "Do any of you know a spell that can detect magic?"He looks to his siblings. Magic isn't his strong point, but during his time with the guild, he'd learned a few things even if he can't use them himself.
Mary takes Aoufie's proffered handkerchief thankfully and begins wiping away her tears. She looks up at Anthony with puffy eyes and says, "I don't know. We got into an argument the night before she disappeared. She wanted to go see the world, but I said we needed to stay here where it was safest. We argue about it a lot, but she's never just disappeared before. I went out to go find her, but she's vanished."
She has to take a moment to compose herself, her emotions welling up within her again. As she struggles to compose herself, Ismark attempts to answer the rest of the questions. "From what I remember, Gertruda was about... 16? 15?" Mary nods, dabbing her damp eyes.
"Anyways, she had light brown hair, blue eyes, kinda short." Ismark shrugs, "She was a pretty gal for her age. The local boys sometimes take turns waiting outside in the alley across the street to see if they could catch a glimpse of her through the window, the little creeps."
Not much to go on. They could keep an eye out as they travelled, but it would be pure chance if they found anything. He withdraws to avoid crowding the cramped space. "Missing people is more your thing?" the big man said quietly as he nudged Akyan with a light laugh. "I'd say I deal with lost souls, but I'm not that good at being a priest."
Kora isn't sure what to do with this situation. They weren't getting any closer to home, or to figuring out what the hell they were supposed to for Aeolwyn. Did she know this would happen to them? Could they traverse the mist because of their Tallismen? Sure would be worth a try, but she felt so lost. She looks over to Ismark, "Do you have a map of the area?"
Jared sighs, coming to the realization his siblings are not going to let this go. "Mum wouldn't" he whispers to himself. Jared turns and starts better attention to the conversation.
Akyan nods in response to Ismark's answer. A teenager. Old enough to be capable of caring for herself, but young enough for her absence to be concerning. If this had been any other town, he would likely have simply assumed the girl was a runaway. Especially based on Mary's explanation and confession of constant argument between the two. Still, it seems off that the girl's been missing for a week and the mother just now decides to start crying about it? And why is she holding that doll? Did it belong to the girl? 15 or 16 seems a little old for dolls...
He nods to Zathon, then glances back at the doll. Now he knows that spell is an option, but is it worth using now? Plus he doesn't want to alarm the woman any more than she already is. "It might be useful to know if there are any spell lingering in this vicinity." He says bluntly, "I doubt there is, but knowing for sure would cross of a few possibilities."
The drow grunts when Anthony nudges him, "You could say that." He mutters, eyeing his friend. He's still wrapping his head around Anthony being some sort of holy man. Even seeing him wearing holy symbols doesn't seem to help...well at least it seems to have set him on the right track. "You don't have to be a priest to deal with lost souls." He looks back at the woman. If he wasn't a lost soul when Aoelwyn took him in he doesn't know what is. Even if Anthony didn't walk a strait path then, he'd just being there for him had given him some sort of direction...even if it wasn't always the right one.
"So the local boy's took a liking to her?" He says, directing his words to Mary, "Did she have eyes for any of them?"
Didn’t have to be a priest to deal in lost souls. Wasn’t that the way it usually went? How many people had he coached through poisoning themselves? Anthony felt vaguely nauseous and spoke out of turn to distract himself from unwanted reminiscing. “If we see or hear of her in our travels, we’ll try to send word.” With the room starting to feel suffocating, Anthony abruptly left the house to wait on the street.
Looking closer at the doll, your keen elven eyes spot the phrase, "Is No Blinksy, Is No Fun!" hemmed upon its dress.
When questioned about a map, Ismark rises to his feet and says, "I have one back at home."
Mary shakes her head at Akyan's question. "Not that I know of," she says with a sniffle. "She didn't like telling me about her personal life. She said she didn't trust me with details because I was such a bad mother." Tears begin welling in her eyes at her words, but she manages to hold them back.
Ismark looks down at Mary, and Mary looks up to meet his gaze. He smiles gently and says in a tone full of quiet conviction, "Your daughter will come back. Either I'll find her, or these fellows will." He gestures towards all of you as he says this. "The Morninglord lights the way, Mary. Never forget that, even when times are dark."
Mary smiles for the first time, a bit of hope kindled in her chest at Ismark's words. Tears begin falling from her face once more, but these are tears of hope. "Thank you," she breaths out quietly, looking each of you in the eyes as she clutches the doll to her chest. "Thank you."
Ismark begins heading down the stairs and joins Anthony waiting down on the street.
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were spells at work around but.. this just seems like a runaway daughter,"Zathon says quietly to Akyan. He gives a nod to Mary before following Ismark down.
Jared follows but he has his doubts about the woman and the situation. Once out of earshot of Mary, Jared whispers: "A head strong girl in a place as dark as this doesn't bode well."
Anthony lets conversation pull him out of dark thoughts and nods in agreement."But, can't hurt anything to keep an eye out. Makes sense she might try to get to a bigger settlement. Vallaki seems like.. The place to be." He'd not ready to commit anything about Ireena's situation on behalf of the group with Ismark standing there. "Ismark, I take it this town doesn't have an churches or temples to defend against the restless dead?"
Aoufies follows the others out of the house "We have few leads and gets us no closer to home. I feel for her, but Gertrude could be anywhere. I know it is not my place, but Ismark I suggest you build a wall or some other form of defense against the creatures that attacks this village." he then looks to his siblings "We are at a crossroads and there seems to be no quick way home. I hate to say it, but we may be here for quite some time. Shall we help Ismark with his sister or visit the Vistani camp? My vote is to help the man as we can use all the allies we can get."
Usually pretty good at keeping a straight face, Anthony just stares at Aoufie, dumfounded that he'd invited the group to debate whether to help someone right in front of them. "I'm not sure it's an either or thing. The camp is on the way." He says noncommittally, looking to the others to see if they're equally willing to have the conversation in the open.
Zathon seems to be in his own head at the moment, going through the conversation and sifting through their knowledge. 'Could do both..' he thinks, but the thought echos out. Escaping his mind and tumbling into Anthony's. Although Zathon doesn't seem to notice.
Aoufie looks at Anthony and shrugs "A decision needed to be made and I did not feel the need to walk away to speak amongst ourselves." He then turns to Ismark. "My apologies for my impoliteness, but we needed to make a decision. Ismark, we will help your sister, but on the way to Vallaki we will stop by the Vistani camp. Do you happen to have a map of Barovia? It would help keep our bearings."
Anthony lets conversation pull him out of dark thoughts and nods in agreement."But, can't hurt anything to keep an eye out. Makes sense she might try to get to a bigger settlement. Vallaki seems like.. The place to be." He'd not ready to commit anything about Ireena's situation on behalf of the group with Ismark standing there. "Ismark, I take it this town doesn't have an churches or temples to defend against the restless dead?"
A slight smile tugs at the corners of Ismark's mouth. We have a church dedicated to the Morninglord on the outskirts of town, but it's not much of defensive asset. The Morninglord hasn't answered our prayers for centuries now." A thoughtful expression drifts across his face as he seems to ponder for a moment before saying, "Now that you mention it, Ireena and I were planning on talking to Father Donovan about doing a burial ceremony for our father tomorrow morning." He shrugs as he continues, "Wouldn't hurt to stop by if you'd like."
Aoufie looks at Anthony and shrugs "A decision needed to be made and I did not feel the need to walk away to speak amongst ourselves." He then turns to Ismark. "My apologies for my impoliteness, but we needed to make a decision. Ismark, we will help your sister, but on the way to Vallaki we will stop by the Vistani camp. Do you happen to have a map of Barovia? It would help keep our bearings."
The mist continues to drift through the wane afternoon sunlight as Aoufie asks about a map. At mention of the vistani camp, Ismark's eyes narrow slightly, but he says, "Like I said earlier, I have a map back at my house. I could take you there now if you'd like, but it's up to the rest of you. You're visitors and potential allies, so I'll be a guide to wherever you want to go in town."
Some passing villagers eye the group suspiciously as the skulk past, but they don't say anything.
Kora looks upon the dreadful woman and doesn't know exactly what to say as she doesn't really know how to feel for this woman. Kora doesn't know what it's like to lose a child and finds her utter desolation about it hard to commiserate with. Her surroundings, however, yeesh.
Kora looks out the window, the words of the departing Vistani still resonating and wonders if there were any ravens in sight. What an odd comment, but definitely one she wants to explore. Unlike where this Gertruda was. If she was very smart, she would have run away. Maybe she ran to this Vallaki village and on that thought, especially if they are heading in that direction, she turns away from the window and to the woman crouched on the threadbare rug, "What does your daughter look like?"
Jared stays at the back of the group, a bit uneasy in this place. Hearing the reasons for the woman's wailings of grief and pain, Jared is a bit indifferent.
"Is she too afraid to go and look for her own daughter?" he thinks to himself. "The girl must not be that important to the woman if she curls up in misery instead of doing something about it."
Compassion is not Jared's strong suit, especially if one has the means and ability to do something about misery and suffering.
Akyan follows Ismark up the stairs warily, eyes darting around the dilapidated house as if expecting something to jump out at them at any moment. Flexing his hands slightly as he walks, he prepares to summon his blades at any hint of danger.
When the enter the sobbing woman's room, he lingers towards the back of the group. He has no wish to try to comfort the woman. He's never been very good at that sort of thing. So instead he just evaluates the situation.
So the girl's been missing a whole week? That's not a good sign....and what is with that doll thing? He narrows his eyes at the hideous thing. When did this woman actually notice her daughter was missing? Since several of the others have decided to go strait to questioning the poor woman, Akyan turns to Ismark. "Do you know anything about this woman's daughter? How old is she?" After asking this, he eyes the doll again, then glances at Mary. All of this seems off. Suddenly thought hits him, "Do any of you know a spell that can detect magic?" He looks to his siblings. Magic isn't his strong point, but during his time with the guild, he'd learned a few things even if he can't use them himself.
Mary takes Aoufie's proffered handkerchief thankfully and begins wiping away her tears. She looks up at Anthony with puffy eyes and says, "I don't know. We got into an argument the night before she disappeared. She wanted to go see the world, but I said we needed to stay here where it was safest. We argue about it a lot, but she's never just disappeared before. I went out to go find her, but she's vanished."
She has to take a moment to compose herself, her emotions welling up within her again. As she struggles to compose herself, Ismark attempts to answer the rest of the questions. "From what I remember, Gertruda was about... 16? 15?" Mary nods, dabbing her damp eyes.
"Anyways, she had light brown hair, blue eyes, kinda short." Ismark shrugs, "She was a pretty gal for her age. The local boys sometimes take turns waiting outside in the alley across the street to see if they could catch a glimpse of her through the window, the little creeps."
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
He leans over to Akyan at the question of detecting magic, "I do.. why?"
Not much to go on. They could keep an eye out as they travelled, but it would be pure chance if they found anything. He withdraws to avoid crowding the cramped space. "Missing people is more your thing?" the big man said quietly as he nudged Akyan with a light laugh. "I'd say I deal with lost souls, but I'm not that good at being a priest."
Kora isn't sure what to do with this situation. They weren't getting any closer to home, or to figuring out what the hell they were supposed to for Aeolwyn. Did she know this would happen to them? Could they traverse the mist because of their Tallismen? Sure would be worth a try, but she felt so lost. She looks over to Ismark, "Do you have a map of the area?"
Jared sighs, coming to the realization his siblings are not going to let this go. "Mum wouldn't" he whispers to himself.
Jared turns and starts better attention to the conversation.
Akyan nods in response to Ismark's answer. A teenager. Old enough to be capable of caring for herself, but young enough for her absence to be concerning. If this had been any other town, he would likely have simply assumed the girl was a runaway. Especially based on Mary's explanation and confession of constant argument between the two. Still, it seems off that the girl's been missing for a week and the mother just now decides to start crying about it? And why is she holding that doll? Did it belong to the girl? 15 or 16 seems a little old for dolls...
He nods to Zathon, then glances back at the doll. Now he knows that spell is an option, but is it worth using now? Plus he doesn't want to alarm the woman any more than she already is. "It might be useful to know if there are any spell lingering in this vicinity." He says bluntly, "I doubt there is, but knowing for sure would cross of a few possibilities."
The drow grunts when Anthony nudges him, "You could say that." He mutters, eyeing his friend. He's still wrapping his head around Anthony being some sort of holy man. Even seeing him wearing holy symbols doesn't seem to help...well at least it seems to have set him on the right track. "You don't have to be a priest to deal with lost souls." He looks back at the woman. If he wasn't a lost soul when Aoelwyn took him in he doesn't know what is. Even if Anthony didn't walk a strait path then, he'd just being there for him had given him some sort of direction...even if it wasn't always the right one.
"So the local boy's took a liking to her?" He says, directing his words to Mary, "Did she have eyes for any of them?"
Didn’t have to be a priest to deal in lost souls. Wasn’t that the way it usually went? How many people had he coached through poisoning themselves? Anthony felt vaguely nauseous and spoke out of turn to distract himself from unwanted reminiscing. “If we see or hear of her in our travels, we’ll try to send word.” With the room starting to feel suffocating, Anthony abruptly left the house to wait on the street.
Akyan
Looking closer at the doll, your keen elven eyes spot the phrase, "Is No Blinksy, Is No Fun!" hemmed upon its dress.
When questioned about a map, Ismark rises to his feet and says, "I have one back at home."
Mary shakes her head at Akyan's question. "Not that I know of," she says with a sniffle. "She didn't like telling me about her personal life. She said she didn't trust me with details because I was such a bad mother." Tears begin welling in her eyes at her words, but she manages to hold them back.
Ismark looks down at Mary, and Mary looks up to meet his gaze. He smiles gently and says in a tone full of quiet conviction, "Your daughter will come back. Either I'll find her, or these fellows will." He gestures towards all of you as he says this. "The Morninglord lights the way, Mary. Never forget that, even when times are dark."
Mary smiles for the first time, a bit of hope kindled in her chest at Ismark's words. Tears begin falling from her face once more, but these are tears of hope. "Thank you," she breaths out quietly, looking each of you in the eyes as she clutches the doll to her chest. "Thank you."
Ismark begins heading down the stairs and joins Anthony waiting down on the street.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"I wouldn't be surprised if there were spells at work around but.. this just seems like a runaway daughter," Zathon says quietly to Akyan. He gives a nod to Mary before following Ismark down.
Jared follows but he has his doubts about the woman and the situation.
Once out of earshot of Mary, Jared whispers:
"A head strong girl in a place as dark as this doesn't bode well."
Anthony lets conversation pull him out of dark thoughts and nods in agreement. "But, can't hurt anything to keep an eye out. Makes sense she might try to get to a bigger settlement. Vallaki seems like.. The place to be." He'd not ready to commit anything about Ireena's situation on behalf of the group with Ismark standing there. "Ismark, I take it this town doesn't have an churches or temples to defend against the restless dead?"
Aoufies follows the others out of the house "We have few leads and gets us no closer to home. I feel for her, but Gertrude could be anywhere. I know it is not my place, but Ismark I suggest you build a wall or some other form of defense against the creatures that attacks this village." he then looks to his siblings "We are at a crossroads and there seems to be no quick way home. I hate to say it, but we may be here for quite some time. Shall we help Ismark with his sister or visit the Vistani camp? My vote is to help the man as we can use all the allies we can get."
Usually pretty good at keeping a straight face, Anthony just stares at Aoufie, dumfounded that he'd invited the group to debate whether to help someone right in front of them. "I'm not sure it's an either or thing. The camp is on the way." He says noncommittally, looking to the others to see if they're equally willing to have the conversation in the open.
Zathon seems to be in his own head at the moment, going through the conversation and sifting through their knowledge. 'Could do both..' he thinks, but the thought echos out. Escaping his mind and tumbling into Anthony's. Although Zathon doesn't seem to notice.
Aoufie looks at Anthony and shrugs "A decision needed to be made and I did not feel the need to walk away to speak amongst ourselves." He then turns to Ismark. "My apologies for my impoliteness, but we needed to make a decision. Ismark, we will help your sister, but on the way to Vallaki we will stop by the Vistani camp. Do you happen to have a map of Barovia? It would help keep our bearings."
A slight smile tugs at the corners of Ismark's mouth. We have a church dedicated to the Morninglord on the outskirts of town, but it's not much of defensive asset. The Morninglord hasn't answered our prayers for centuries now." A thoughtful expression drifts across his face as he seems to ponder for a moment before saying, "Now that you mention it, Ireena and I were planning on talking to Father Donovan about doing a burial ceremony for our father tomorrow morning." He shrugs as he continues, "Wouldn't hurt to stop by if you'd like."
The mist continues to drift through the wane afternoon sunlight as Aoufie asks about a map. At mention of the vistani camp, Ismark's eyes narrow slightly, but he says, "Like I said earlier, I have a map back at my house. I could take you there now if you'd like, but it's up to the rest of you. You're visitors and potential allies, so I'll be a guide to wherever you want to go in town."
Some passing villagers eye the group suspiciously as the skulk past, but they don't say anything.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"Lead the way Ismark and I will be right behind you" says Aoufie