Kora will fill them in on what Rhea said about her magic disappearing the night of Aeolwyn's death.
She smiles as she recalls the waterfall and the memories there. As Jared fills them in with what he overheard, "Should we go now? I'm afraid if we don't, whoever Jared just overheard are going to beat us there."
"There may be an artifact, whatever that is, there but the voice clearly said, "The fools won't survive till morning," Jared tells them. "To my mind, it means there will be an attack here soon. Now Anthony is playing statue in the hall and"...Jared pauses. "Tom told me he ain't from here. He's from some place called Barovia. It's ruled by a vampire and Mum is the one that rescued him from the place. He said there is a mist that kills folks but he is scared of this mist. Says it's different. I ain't sure about it all but, to my mind undead and mysterious killings make me think of Thay and those Red Wizards. Either way, this Kazahd-nei fella doesn't sound pleasant and I saw someone lurking around outside in the storm when Tom came in." Jared pauses. "I don't know how much time we have but, I'm more worried about the kids than some artifact Mum got on her adventurers."
Aoufie is roused from his fitful sleep by Jared and Anthony talking. He grabs his gear and lute "We leave now in the dead of night before whoever they are find and take the artifact Aunty Grym tried to hide. We will lose them if we wait till morning. It sounds like they intend us harm more than the kids"What by the gods could this artifact be? Aunty has traveled it seems everywhere and it could be anything she picked up from her adventures.
Now who is Kazahd-nei. He looks into his mind to see if he knows anything of such a person or perhaps in rumors he overheard.
History
6 in game log
Aoufie shakes his head as he has no clue as to who Kazahd-nei is and what kind of threat they may pose to him and his siblings.
Under the grim threat of an attack looming over you, you set your mind to the task of going to the waterfall, the area that Aoelwyn hinted you should go through a series of cryptic messages. The orphanage is silent and dark as you make your way through its familiar halls with the sound of rain splattering on the roof overhead as your constant companion. You make your way to the back entrance, unlatch the sturdy lock barring the door, and push open the heavy wooden door. It swings open silently on well-oiled hinges, and the sight of rain cascading gently down upon the wooded valley before you greets you. While the rain has let up a bit since the storm first hit, it is still raining consistently and heavily. Stepping out onto the muddy path that leads towards the lake, you become soaked within a matter of moments. Thunder rumbles wearily overhead, but much of the storm's original fury has been spent.
You begin making your way down the trail, several of you stumbling in the dark as you do. The night sky would have been unlit by the moon tonight, and the black clouds overhead block out what little light that the stars would have shown. After about a minute of struggling along the boggy path, you step between a pair of monoliths that loom almost unseen in the darkness. As you do, the oppressive spiritual darkness flees from you, and magic courses back into your bodies, reinvigorating you with a new sense of energy and clarity. With steps more steady, you continue along the trail.
You make it to the lake. Its surface is broken and rough from the constant stream of rain striking it. You can smell the scent of fresh rain mingling with the more earthy and swampy tones of the lake. You can also see several branches and small limbs littering the ground, evidence of the strong winds that were blasting the forest a few hours earlier. You walk along the edge of the lake for about 10 minutes before you come to a small river that feeds into the lake. You start following the river that winds between trees as it leads you deeper up into the mountains.
After about five minutes of a moderately vigorous trek along the soggy banks of the river up into the mountains, you come to the waterfall that you've been searching for. The waterfall cascades over a wall of jagged stones that split the falling water into several different waterfalls that feed into a small pond that the river comes from. You recall that there is a small cave behind the largest waterfall up ahead.
You approach the waterfall and duck under the curtain of water, revealing a small cave that is about 10 feet by 10 feet. It is damp and noisy in here, both byproducts of the waterfall that guards the entrance to this cave. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the cave are unnaturally smooth, a detail you remember noticing the last time you were here. On the far, moisture-slicked wall, you notice flowing words etched into the stone. You recognize the writing as Aoelwyn's, but it is written in Elvish. For those that speak Elvish, you read:
"We hurt without moving and poison without touching. We bear truth and lies but are no judged by size. What are we?"
Aoufie does his best to shake off the rain as he haphazardly moves through the rainstorm. He then rummages into his pack and lights the candle stored inside. He translates the riddle into common for everyone to hear. "I believe the answer are words. As they can be harsh, regardless if it's a lie or a truth."
He has mixed feelings about leaving the house vulnerable. Part of him thinks it's well too late to help any of them. On the other hand Aoelwyn made this mess and is conveniently off the hook for it after getting herself killed, but now expects them to clean it up. It's also more than a little troubling that no one seems to take how vulnerable everyone in that house is seriously. The old anger and resentment bubbles up unexpectedly, but where before he was a kid who didn't know what to do with it other than turn it inward and rebel against her efforts to mold him into what she thought he should be by diving head first into what she'd tried to pull him out of, now he was old enough to take that half a step back to remind himself that everyone stumbles blindly though life just trying to get to what waits on the other side. And none of it matters.
And stumble he does, finding calm in nihilism and apathy, until, as soon as they move outside the stones, Anthony is able to see clearly once again. The night opens up so much so that he thinks for a moment the sun has begun to rise. When they arrive at the waterfall, he takes the rear to prevent slowing others down as he climbs and intends to post himself as lookout, knowing there is a high probability they were either followed or beaten here. First, however, "I'll keep watch. Anyone having trouble seeing in the dark, I can help a couple of you. It lasts about an hour. Or until were get near those stones again," he offers. He also casts a spell on himself to give early warning of anything hiding in plain sight.
((He's offering to grant two people access to his Eyes of Night ability which grants 300' darkvision as they approach, and casts see invisibility on himself. Both have one hour duration.))
As Aoufie says “words” within the confines of the cavern, you can see that the wall with the riddle written on it becomes transparent and ghostly, revealing another small cavern beyond. With Aoufie’s flickering candlelight, you can see some sort of rather plain-looking wooden chest in the center of a large and complex symbol emblazoned onto the ground. Thy symbol shimmers slightly with power, distorting the air around it similar to the way a fire distorts the air with its heat.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
The rain doesn't bother Kora much. Getting soaked to her skin wasn't ideal, but something she was used to as well. The darkness however was something she always struggled with, jealous of her elven friends that could see so very much better. She looked to the sky and cursed the black clouds that took away the starlight.
She pauses right outside the pair of monoliths. Standing there feeling part of herself return, letting the rain fall upon her as she does. Her mood drastically improves as she gets moving again, "C'mon! This'll be fun, the waterfall will be easy to get through since we're all soaked anyways!"
Kora gladly accepts Anthony's Eyes of Night as they get closer to their destination.
She is just about to commend Aoufie in his quick thinking when the wall transforms. Walking gingerly towards it, she raises a hand and sees if she can put it through the now ghostly wall. If she can, she'll walk through to the next small cavern, careful to steer clear of the complex symbol on the ground. She stares at it, trying to make heads or tails of it.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Akyan listens in silence as Jared explains the situation. He agrees with his siblings. With this threat, it's best to visit the river now despite the storm. Once they get this figured out, they can worry about everyone else here.
Retrieving his coat and boots, he follows the others out into the rain sticking close to Anthony to ensure his friend doesn't stumble to much in the darkness. He is a human after all, humans cannot see in the dark without the aid of magic, not to mention that limp of his. After the dark feeling stops gripping his soul, he's surprised to hear Anthony offer aid to those who can't see in the dark. Seems his old friend has learned some new tricks.
He waits for the others to step through the waterfall, he scans the surrounding area before following the others inside. Someone had been listening in on their conversation earlier, so it is very likely that they could have learned of their change of plans.
Perception: 7
By the time he ducks under the waterfall, Aoufie had already solved the puzzle. He walks up next to Kora to observe the ghostly wall and notes the riddle written there. Seems someone had already solved it. He puts a hand on Kora's shoulder when she lifts her hand to touch the wall. "We should go through in pairs. I know that this is Aoelwyn's writing, but someone still could have tampered with it. We don't want to get separated."
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"That worked and now I wonder what these symbols mean and what is in the wooden chest." Aoufie moves the candle closer to exam the complex symbol on the floor and does his best to decipher there meaning. Internally he knows danger may lie ahead of him, but he is glad that magic still works and suffuses the world around him.
As you peer carefully at the obviously magical symbol, you recognize that this was done by Aoelwyn. Aoufie can tell that it is defensive in nature, but Kora is able to glean a little more than that. Even though arcane magic isn’t really her thing, she ascertains that at least one of the functions of this glyph is prevent people from finding this area through magical means. Other than that, she thinks it’s safe to go in.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"These symbols are defensive in nature. What have your learned Kora?" asks Aoufie as he enters the revealed room also careful of the symbol on the floor. He instinctively held his breath as traverses the wavering threshold. He slowly looks around and then examines the wooden chest for possible traps or some other arcane warding.
Even pensive and quiet, Anthony appreciated the gesture. Having another body to follow in the dark alone was helpful, but the presence also reminded him he wasn't the only one on edge and frustrated. He also appreciated not being the only one paying attention to their surroundings so the group as a whole didn't get tunnel vision.
For the next hour, Kora sees the world as Anthony has grown used to seeing it. Oddly enough, first on city streets, keeping to the shadows, while the rest of the world was dimly lit by street lamps and light from windows - as a city that never sleeps, Scornubel is a twilight place. In more ways than one, and now with divine granted sight. It hadn't been until he'd left town and entered the countryside that he'd truly understood what Brother Lucas had meant when he'd said, 'Though we are asked to follow the Broken One though dark places, and he promises to walk with us through ours, we have the burden of sight. You must not look away from horrors, Brother Anthony.'
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
"Well, it looks to me that this glyph is just protecting it from being found by magical means. Other than that, it looks pretty safe? I mean, arcane magic isn't really my thing, so I could be wrong." She gives him a sly smile, then steps into the distorted air anyways, and rubs her hand over the chest.
Looking for any traps or anything before trying to open it...
As the rest of the group files into the cave, Anthony stays behind keeps an eye out for any danger. The waterfalls cascading over rocks does a very good job of drowning out other sounds, especially the constant symphony of raindrops falling about you. It's nice to have your darkvision back; you can see quite a ways away. Straining your ears, you catch an occasional muffled word from the inside of the cave, but you hear nothing else.
A few minutes later, Anthony notices something out of the ordinary. At the edge of his darkvision in front of him, he spots a tendril of mist slowly weaving its way towards you amongst the bases of the towering pines along the riverbank. It stays low to the ground, almost serpent-like in the way it slinks across the muddy ground. You spot another tendril appear near it, also slowly but steadily drifting towards you. You begin to spot more and more materializing in the forest, seemingly unbothered by the rain and weak breeze. There's something malevolent in the way it drifts in your direction, something almost sentient about it. At this rate, you think it will be upon you in two or three minutes.
As Kora runs her hands over the chest on the ground, the chest shudders as she feels several locks and mechanisms within it seemingly disengage all by themselves. After she hears the last lock shift into place, the lid begins to rise all by itself. In the bottom of the chest are several items bundled up in a gray woolen blanket. Atop each neatly wrapped item is what looks like piece of parchment paper that has a single word on it. Looking closer, she sees that one of the pieces of worn paper has her name written in Aoelwyn's telltale flowing handwriting. Looking at the others, she sees that they each have a name that corresponds with one of your siblings.
As she peers into the chest, the shimmering rune etched onto the ground pulses gently with golden light and the sound of tinkling chimes fill the air. That light spirals upward around everyone in the chamber before it coalesces into the figure that roughly resembles the shape of a humanoid standing in front of the wall opposite of the one you entered the chamber by. The shimmering golden figure slowly fades away, and standing in its place is Aoelwyn Grymheart.
Standing at just over 5 feet tall, she has a very slender frame typical for elves. Her golden hair is tied into a loose braid woven with colorful flowers that extends down to her waist. Her light green eyes twinkle with an inner light that is matched by a shy, but genuine smile. A sprinkling of light freckles dust the bridge of her nose, while the rest of her skin is fair as freshly fallen snow. Her modest, yet elegant dress reminds you of the color of new and tender shoots of leaves growing during springtime. Patterns of blowing leaves, dancing trees, and other forest scenes are woven in golden thread along the hem of her sleeves and skirt. Just like the magical entrance of this secret chamber, she too is transparent and faint. She smiles warmly at her adopted children before her as a singly ghostly tear runs down her face.
She begins to speak, her voice distant and ephemeral. You notice that her eyes don't focus on any of as she speaks; she seemingly looks past you at a point only she can see. With her faint voice cracking with emotion, she says, "I'm so proud so see you all here. You've all grown up so much, and I am filled with sorrow that I can't be here in person to be with all of you." She pauses as she wipes away another phantom tear. "I'm so sorry to force all of you into the middle of this conflict, but I trust each of you will all of my heart, something that can't be said for most people."
She straightens up, her posture becoming resolute as she continues. "This illusion won't last very long, so I need to be brief. I don't have time to explain everything, and I'm sorry to leave you all in the dark like this." She gestures towards the items in the chest at her feet with an elegant hand. "These items here are incredibly important and rare; they are something called mist talismans. They act as keys that can guide you to and from the prisons-realms of Ravenloft. My enemies desire these dearly, and they must not fall into their hands at all costs. If they do, the multiverse as we know it is doomed to become a realm of darkness and death..." she trails off ominously, the silence emphasizing the severity of her words.
"It is imperative that you find Rudolph van Richten and show him these items. He is one of my more trusted allies, and he will be able to fill you in on what I can't." She pauses again as she seemingly looks at each of you. You see grief and love shining her eyes: the grief of a mother that can't be with her children; the love of a mother that knows that her children have grown up into wonderful adults. She smiles sadly as she says, "I had to destroy my own soul so I would not become one of Azalin's pawns in death. I'm so, so sorry to leave you this way, but it was the only way that prevented him from winning his freedom. If he get's his hands on these mist talismans, our world and countless others die."
She takes a deep breath, a little bit of joy and warmth creeping back into her smile. "I love all of you so much. Remember to trust each other when you can't trust anyone else. Remember to do what is right, even when it is hard. Above all, remember-"
Her words are cut off as she suddenly dissipates into a shimmering curtain of golden light that seeps back into rune on the floor. It appears that her illusion reached it limits, silencing her before she could finish speaking. You are left alone in the dark confines of the chamber, Aoelwyn's last words hanging in your minds.
"#*%@"muttered under his breath. "Evil fog in coming. couple minutes tops!" Anthony warns the others as soon as he spots it. They hadn't been subtle or sneaky getting here so he saw little reason to be coy about the threat now. "If we're going to try to run. Nowish would be a good time to start."For his part, Anthony braced himself for a fight.
He would mentally process the illusion later. immediate survival was more important.
((Anthony has another ability he can use as an action now to give himself initiative advantage. Vigilant Blessing.))
Aoufie knows it's an illusion as he uses them as well though not as sophisticated as this reflection of the beloved Aunty Grym. Seeing her so close and alive made his heart tighten as if clenched by a fist. Of course, a threat that threatens all is at their doorstep. He feels a surge of anger, but this is not the time to blow his top. He reaches into the chest for all the Talismans and hands them out in quick order. "They are keys to prison realms and may protect us from this damnable fog."
He then stands to the side with his father's blade in his hand.
Jared watches the illusion of Mum. He holds back a few tears as she explains what little she can. He takes a deep breath and focuses on the name Azalin. This Azalin took mum from him, from them all and Jared will focus his rage upon whomever this being is.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Kora will fill them in on what Rhea said about her magic disappearing the night of Aeolwyn's death.
She smiles as she recalls the waterfall and the memories there. As Jared fills them in with what he overheard, "Should we go now? I'm afraid if we don't, whoever Jared just overheard are going to beat us there."
"There may be an artifact, whatever that is, there but the voice clearly said, "The fools won't survive till morning," Jared tells them. "To my mind, it means there will be an attack here soon. Now Anthony is playing statue in the hall and"...Jared pauses.
"Tom told me he ain't from here. He's from some place called Barovia. It's ruled by a vampire and Mum is the one that rescued him from the place. He said there is a mist that kills folks but he is scared of this mist. Says it's different. I ain't sure about it all but, to my mind undead and mysterious killings make me think of Thay and those Red Wizards. Either way, this Kazahd-nei fella doesn't sound pleasant and I saw someone lurking around outside in the storm when Tom came in."
Jared pauses.
"I don't know how much time we have but, I'm more worried about the kids than some artifact Mum got on her adventurers."
Aoufie is roused from his fitful sleep by Jared and Anthony talking. He grabs his gear and lute "We leave now in the dead of night before whoever they are find and take the artifact Aunty Grym tried to hide. We will lose them if we wait till morning. It sounds like they intend us harm more than the kids" What by the gods could this artifact be? Aunty has traveled it seems everywhere and it could be anything she picked up from her adventures.
Now who is Kazahd-nei. He looks into his mind to see if he knows anything of such a person or perhaps in rumors he overheard.
History
6 in game log
Aoufie shakes his head as he has no clue as to who Kazahd-nei is and what kind of threat they may pose to him and his siblings.
Under the grim threat of an attack looming over you, you set your mind to the task of going to the waterfall, the area that Aoelwyn hinted you should go through a series of cryptic messages. The orphanage is silent and dark as you make your way through its familiar halls with the sound of rain splattering on the roof overhead as your constant companion. You make your way to the back entrance, unlatch the sturdy lock barring the door, and push open the heavy wooden door. It swings open silently on well-oiled hinges, and the sight of rain cascading gently down upon the wooded valley before you greets you. While the rain has let up a bit since the storm first hit, it is still raining consistently and heavily. Stepping out onto the muddy path that leads towards the lake, you become soaked within a matter of moments. Thunder rumbles wearily overhead, but much of the storm's original fury has been spent.
You begin making your way down the trail, several of you stumbling in the dark as you do. The night sky would have been unlit by the moon tonight, and the black clouds overhead block out what little light that the stars would have shown. After about a minute of struggling along the boggy path, you step between a pair of monoliths that loom almost unseen in the darkness. As you do, the oppressive spiritual darkness flees from you, and magic courses back into your bodies, reinvigorating you with a new sense of energy and clarity. With steps more steady, you continue along the trail.
You make it to the lake. Its surface is broken and rough from the constant stream of rain striking it. You can smell the scent of fresh rain mingling with the more earthy and swampy tones of the lake. You can also see several branches and small limbs littering the ground, evidence of the strong winds that were blasting the forest a few hours earlier. You walk along the edge of the lake for about 10 minutes before you come to a small river that feeds into the lake. You start following the river that winds between trees as it leads you deeper up into the mountains.
After about five minutes of a moderately vigorous trek along the soggy banks of the river up into the mountains, you come to the waterfall that you've been searching for. The waterfall cascades over a wall of jagged stones that split the falling water into several different waterfalls that feed into a small pond that the river comes from. You recall that there is a small cave behind the largest waterfall up ahead.
You approach the waterfall and duck under the curtain of water, revealing a small cave that is about 10 feet by 10 feet. It is damp and noisy in here, both byproducts of the waterfall that guards the entrance to this cave. The floor, walls, and ceiling of the cave are unnaturally smooth, a detail you remember noticing the last time you were here. On the far, moisture-slicked wall, you notice flowing words etched into the stone. You recognize the writing as Aoelwyn's, but it is written in Elvish. For those that speak Elvish, you read:
"We hurt without moving and poison without touching. We bear truth and lies but are no judged by size. What are we?"
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
Aoufie does his best to shake off the rain as he haphazardly moves through the rainstorm. He then rummages into his pack and lights the candle stored inside. He translates the riddle into common for everyone to hear. "I believe the answer are words. As they can be harsh, regardless if it's a lie or a truth."
He has mixed feelings about leaving the house vulnerable. Part of him thinks it's well too late to help any of them. On the other hand Aoelwyn made this mess and is conveniently off the hook for it after getting herself killed, but now expects them to clean it up. It's also more than a little troubling that no one seems to take how vulnerable everyone in that house is seriously. The old anger and resentment bubbles up unexpectedly, but where before he was a kid who didn't know what to do with it other than turn it inward and rebel against her efforts to mold him into what she thought he should be by diving head first into what she'd tried to pull him out of, now he was old enough to take that half a step back to remind himself that everyone stumbles blindly though life just trying to get to what waits on the other side. And none of it matters.
And stumble he does, finding calm in nihilism and apathy, until, as soon as they move outside the stones, Anthony is able to see clearly once again. The night opens up so much so that he thinks for a moment the sun has begun to rise. When they arrive at the waterfall, he takes the rear to prevent slowing others down as he climbs and intends to post himself as lookout, knowing there is a high probability they were either followed or beaten here. First, however, "I'll keep watch. Anyone having trouble seeing in the dark, I can help a couple of you. It lasts about an hour. Or until were get near those stones again," he offers. He also casts a spell on himself to give early warning of anything hiding in plain sight.
((He's offering to grant two people access to his Eyes of Night ability which grants 300' darkvision as they approach, and casts see invisibility on himself. Both have one hour duration.))
As Aoufie says “words” within the confines of the cavern, you can see that the wall with the riddle written on it becomes transparent and ghostly, revealing another small cavern beyond. With Aoufie’s flickering candlelight, you can see some sort of rather plain-looking wooden chest in the center of a large and complex symbol emblazoned onto the ground. Thy symbol shimmers slightly with power, distorting the air around it similar to the way a fire distorts the air with its heat.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
The rain doesn't bother Kora much. Getting soaked to her skin wasn't ideal, but something she was used to as well. The darkness however was something she always struggled with, jealous of her elven friends that could see so very much better. She looked to the sky and cursed the black clouds that took away the starlight.
She pauses right outside the pair of monoliths. Standing there feeling part of herself return, letting the rain fall upon her as she does. Her mood drastically improves as she gets moving again, "C'mon! This'll be fun, the waterfall will be easy to get through since we're all soaked anyways!"
Kora gladly accepts Anthony's Eyes of Night as they get closer to their destination.
She is just about to commend Aoufie in his quick thinking when the wall transforms. Walking gingerly towards it, she raises a hand and sees if she can put it through the now ghostly wall. If she can, she'll walk through to the next small cavern, careful to steer clear of the complex symbol on the ground. She stares at it, trying to make heads or tails of it.
Arcana? 6
Akyan listens in silence as Jared explains the situation. He agrees with his siblings. With this threat, it's best to visit the river now despite the storm. Once they get this figured out, they can worry about everyone else here.
Retrieving his coat and boots, he follows the others out into the rain sticking close to Anthony to ensure his friend doesn't stumble to much in the darkness. He is a human after all, humans cannot see in the dark without the aid of magic, not to mention that limp of his. After the dark feeling stops gripping his soul, he's surprised to hear Anthony offer aid to those who can't see in the dark. Seems his old friend has learned some new tricks.
He waits for the others to step through the waterfall, he scans the surrounding area before following the others inside. Someone had been listening in on their conversation earlier, so it is very likely that they could have learned of their change of plans.
Perception: 7
By the time he ducks under the waterfall, Aoufie had already solved the puzzle. He walks up next to Kora to observe the ghostly wall and notes the riddle written there. Seems someone had already solved it. He puts a hand on Kora's shoulder when she lifts her hand to touch the wall. "We should go through in pairs. I know that this is Aoelwyn's writing, but someone still could have tampered with it. We don't want to get separated."
"That worked and now I wonder what these symbols mean and what is in the wooden chest." Aoufie moves the candle closer to exam the complex symbol on the floor and does his best to decipher there meaning. Internally he knows danger may lie ahead of him, but he is glad that magic still works and suffuses the world around him.
Arcana
6
As you peer carefully at the obviously magical symbol, you recognize that this was done by Aoelwyn. Aoufie can tell that it is defensive in nature, but Kora is able to glean a little more than that. Even though arcane magic isn’t really her thing, she ascertains that at least one of the functions of this glyph is prevent people from finding this area through magical means. Other than that, she thinks it’s safe to go in.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"These symbols are defensive in nature. What have your learned Kora?" asks Aoufie as he enters the revealed room also careful of the symbol on the floor. He instinctively held his breath as traverses the wavering threshold. He slowly looks around and then examines the wooden chest for possible traps or some other arcane warding.
Investigation
19
Even pensive and quiet, Anthony appreciated the gesture. Having another body to follow in the dark alone was helpful, but the presence also reminded him he wasn't the only one on edge and frustrated. He also appreciated not being the only one paying attention to their surroundings so the group as a whole didn't get tunnel vision.
For the next hour, Kora sees the world as Anthony has grown used to seeing it. Oddly enough, first on city streets, keeping to the shadows, while the rest of the world was dimly lit by street lamps and light from windows - as a city that never sleeps, Scornubel is a twilight place. In more ways than one, and now with divine granted sight. It hadn't been until he'd left town and entered the countryside that he'd truly understood what Brother Lucas had meant when he'd said, 'Though we are asked to follow the Broken One though dark places, and he promises to walk with us through ours, we have the burden of sight. You must not look away from horrors, Brother Anthony.'
Perception 24
Jared follows behind, saying nothing. Best to let the smart people figure things out.
"Well, it looks to me that this glyph is just protecting it from being found by magical means. Other than that, it looks pretty safe? I mean, arcane magic isn't really my thing, so I could be wrong." She gives him a sly smile, then steps into the distorted air anyways, and rubs her hand over the chest.
Looking for any traps or anything before trying to open it...
Investigation 14
As the rest of the group files into the cave, Anthony stays behind keeps an eye out for any danger. The waterfalls cascading over rocks does a very good job of drowning out other sounds, especially the constant symphony of raindrops falling about you. It's nice to have your darkvision back; you can see quite a ways away. Straining your ears, you catch an occasional muffled word from the inside of the cave, but you hear nothing else.
A few minutes later, Anthony notices something out of the ordinary. At the edge of his darkvision in front of him, he spots a tendril of mist slowly weaving its way towards you amongst the bases of the towering pines along the riverbank. It stays low to the ground, almost serpent-like in the way it slinks across the muddy ground. You spot another tendril appear near it, also slowly but steadily drifting towards you. You begin to spot more and more materializing in the forest, seemingly unbothered by the rain and weak breeze. There's something malevolent in the way it drifts in your direction, something almost sentient about it. At this rate, you think it will be upon you in two or three minutes.
As Kora runs her hands over the chest on the ground, the chest shudders as she feels several locks and mechanisms within it seemingly disengage all by themselves. After she hears the last lock shift into place, the lid begins to rise all by itself. In the bottom of the chest are several items bundled up in a gray woolen blanket. Atop each neatly wrapped item is what looks like piece of parchment paper that has a single word on it. Looking closer, she sees that one of the pieces of worn paper has her name written in Aoelwyn's telltale flowing handwriting. Looking at the others, she sees that they each have a name that corresponds with one of your siblings.
As she peers into the chest, the shimmering rune etched onto the ground pulses gently with golden light and the sound of tinkling chimes fill the air. That light spirals upward around everyone in the chamber before it coalesces into the figure that roughly resembles the shape of a humanoid standing in front of the wall opposite of the one you entered the chamber by. The shimmering golden figure slowly fades away, and standing in its place is Aoelwyn Grymheart.
Standing at just over 5 feet tall, she has a very slender frame typical for elves. Her golden hair is tied into a loose braid woven with colorful flowers that extends down to her waist. Her light green eyes twinkle with an inner light that is matched by a shy, but genuine smile. A sprinkling of light freckles dust the bridge of her nose, while the rest of her skin is fair as freshly fallen snow. Her modest, yet elegant dress reminds you of the color of new and tender shoots of leaves growing during springtime. Patterns of blowing leaves, dancing trees, and other forest scenes are woven in golden thread along the hem of her sleeves and skirt. Just like the magical entrance of this secret chamber, she too is transparent and faint. She smiles warmly at her adopted children before her as a singly ghostly tear runs down her face.
She begins to speak, her voice distant and ephemeral. You notice that her eyes don't focus on any of as she speaks; she seemingly looks past you at a point only she can see. With her faint voice cracking with emotion, she says, "I'm so proud so see you all here. You've all grown up so much, and I am filled with sorrow that I can't be here in person to be with all of you." She pauses as she wipes away another phantom tear. "I'm so sorry to force all of you into the middle of this conflict, but I trust each of you will all of my heart, something that can't be said for most people."
She straightens up, her posture becoming resolute as she continues. "This illusion won't last very long, so I need to be brief. I don't have time to explain everything, and I'm sorry to leave you all in the dark like this." She gestures towards the items in the chest at her feet with an elegant hand. "These items here are incredibly important and rare; they are something called mist talismans. They act as keys that can guide you to and from the prisons-realms of Ravenloft. My enemies desire these dearly, and they must not fall into their hands at all costs. If they do, the multiverse as we know it is doomed to become a realm of darkness and death..." she trails off ominously, the silence emphasizing the severity of her words.
"It is imperative that you find Rudolph van Richten and show him these items. He is one of my more trusted allies, and he will be able to fill you in on what I can't." She pauses again as she seemingly looks at each of you. You see grief and love shining her eyes: the grief of a mother that can't be with her children; the love of a mother that knows that her children have grown up into wonderful adults. She smiles sadly as she says, "I had to destroy my own soul so I would not become one of Azalin's pawns in death. I'm so, so sorry to leave you this way, but it was the only way that prevented him from winning his freedom. If he get's his hands on these mist talismans, our world and countless others die."
She takes a deep breath, a little bit of joy and warmth creeping back into her smile. "I love all of you so much. Remember to trust each other when you can't trust anyone else. Remember to do what is right, even when it is hard. Above all, remember-"
Her words are cut off as she suddenly dissipates into a shimmering curtain of golden light that seeps back into rune on the floor. It appears that her illusion reached it limits, silencing her before she could finish speaking. You are left alone in the dark confines of the chamber, Aoelwyn's last words hanging in your minds.
DM- Azalin's Doom
DM- Surviving the Unsurvivable
"#*%@" muttered under his breath. "Evil fog in coming. couple minutes tops!" Anthony warns the others as soon as he spots it. They hadn't been subtle or sneaky getting here so he saw little reason to be coy about the threat now. "If we're going to try to run. Nowish would be a good time to start." For his part, Anthony braced himself for a fight.
He would mentally process the illusion later. immediate survival was more important.
((Anthony has another ability he can use as an action now to give himself initiative advantage. Vigilant Blessing.))
Aoufie knows it's an illusion as he uses them as well though not as sophisticated as this reflection of the beloved Aunty Grym. Seeing her so close and alive made his heart tighten as if clenched by a fist. Of course, a threat that threatens all is at their doorstep. He feels a surge of anger, but this is not the time to blow his top. He reaches into the chest for all the Talismans and hands them out in quick order. "They are keys to prison realms and may protect us from this damnable fog."
He then stands to the side with his father's blade in his hand.
Jared watches the illusion of Mum. He holds back a few tears as she explains what little she can.
He takes a deep breath and focuses on the name Azalin. This Azalin took mum from him, from them all and Jared will focus his rage upon whomever this being is.