"Bar car, do you say?" Whister asks, intrigued. "Well, lead the way my good chap!" That said, Willem silently encourages Reaper to join them as well, doing an "After You" gesture if he shows any reluctance.
"I must confess, my brain just ain't what she used to be," he says with a grin as they walk. "Some days it seems I have lost it altogether." Willem then gives the side of his head a quick rap with his knuckles and produces a distinctly hollow knocking sound. "So if you please, Sir Vagrant, refresh my memory on just who these Druskenvalds may be? Here I thought Druskenvald was the whole realm that held us all and all... Yet you speak of them as distinct individuals?"
((No worries on the crossposting. It happens in play by post. It is inevitable, really. Unless it creates a continuity error or something it's easiest to just let it go and find a way to make it work...))
Reaper unfolds from his seat, his whiskers quivering. It looks like they are going to finally get some information on why they are there. Reaper pulls back the hood of his cloak and takes a battered fedora from his pocket and puts it on, then touches the brim and waves Whistler on. As they walk down the aisle Reaper investigates the other seats in this car.
Reaper, as you look around (with that roll and the roll from earlier) The rows seem empty at first, but flickering in and out of sight are spectral humanoid shapes—passenger souls on their way to Druskenvald to be reborn, or have their mortal souls be released, depending on the beliefs they once held. Ghostly passengers ride peacefully seated on the tattered remains of once-lavish upholstery. They simply look forward or out the window with empty eyes, ready to meet whatever comes next. None seem to have any baggage.
under one seat, tucked into a cushion, you see a small jar with 12 glass marbles inside.
The Vagrant responds to the questions regarding the Druskenvalds, “Oh, do pardon me, I’ve been here for too long, and I forget most people don’t know much about what’s going on who ain’t from these parts. Lord Philip Druskenvald is the Lord of this realm of death. He’s well liked by most, and he’s a good fella. Phillip is a dapper man a’ vision who believes that keepin a forward-thinking attitude will solve any problem. As such, he does have a problem that needs solvin’, an’ has a feeling you might be the right pick. Tall, thin, and a mustache you won’t forget. You may just get a chance ta meet him. He is aboard the train, with his wife, Adela as well. In fact, the end of the line for this train is the Lavish Chateau Claire de Lune, the home of Lord and Lady.”
The foggyness of your mind seems to intensify as you pass the threshold of this door, when you expect to see the crossing area between cars, expecting to get a chance to peer deeper into the mists. But what you are met with is clearly a type of magic that allows you free passage into the next car.
this seems normal, but what does not, as made obvious by the Vagrant looking about this room quizzically, this is not the room he was expecting. What lies before you seems to be a baggage room. Packed with trunks, bags, and personal belongings, the Baggage Car is a compartment on the train designated for storing passengers’ luggage and personal items, ensuring that the main passenger areas remain uncluttered. Most of the luggage here is abandoned, either by the once living who died while on the train or those who escaped the train in fear. Despite being covered in dust, they are all still generally intact. The car’s musty scent lingers in the air, a strange contrast to its faded elegance. Polished wood paneling and brass fixtures, worn and tarnished by time, line the walls. Heaps of dusty old canvas bags and wooden chests clutter the space, but among them stands a fresh cluster of fine leather travel trunks embossed with the letter “D.”
what you also notice is a soft, bestial snoring, echoing through this car. The sound seems to be nearby
"A mustachioed gentleman, you say?" Whistler thinks aloud whimsically. "I've been thinking of having a go at a bit of facial hair myself. A Van Dyke, perhaps... Or a soul patch. What do you think?"
"No, no. You are right," he answers himself before either Reaper or The Vagrant have a chance to opine. "It wouldn't suit me at all. All wrong for my features..."
Willem nods along a bit as The Vagrant describes the Druskenvalds. It is... familiar-ish information, it seems like to him. Like he's heard it before somewhere but never paid it very much attention. Stepping from one car to the next is a bit of an odd segue, it seems to Willem. Like when one is totally engrossed in a heart rending story of lost love but the narrator suddenly is telling jokes about the family dog farting. A bit jarring but if you trust the narrator you can be comforted knowing it'll all come together and make sense eventually. But Willem isn't quite sure he trusts The Vagrant yet.
"This doesn't look like a bar car," he begins to point out but his voce gets low as he speaks as he tries to catch some other sound.
"Is that... snoring?" he asks in a whisper. "Did our bartender scamper off to dreamland?"
“Truely this was not my intention, but the will of the Ghostlight.” he keeps a hushed tone, “like a bear with an itch, it will be scratched. Think of this as the ghostlight askin for help, however this was supposed ta be a quick trip and I must be meeting our next guest.”
”we do from time ta time get a few stowaways, of the animal variety, and not everything is ready to cross into the afterlife. I think you can take a look for me?” he smiles a genuine smile thinking fondly of maybe a pet he had once had, and drifts away into that similar smoke of the vagrant disappearing,
and you are left in this baggage car with the grumbles and what other sounds come with sleeping
"All this to recruit us to rouse a stowaway?" Willem asks nobody in particular even as he casts Dancing Lights and summons forth four vaguely skull-like glowing lights. Each is a different color - A flat white, a sickly yellow, a uneasy green and phantom blue - and each bobs slightly up and down as if upon a gentle wave while staying more of less around five feet above the ground as a general principle... Once the summoning is completed Willem sends the lights slowly moving through the car, trying to shed a new light upon every nook and cranny, specially amongst the shadows and hidden places. Willem walks with the lights, and peeks here and there, lifting this, toppling that and occasionally sticking his foot here and there to see if it strikes anything unexpected. (Investigation 21)
"Perhaps we need to look into the baggage?" Willem suggests, eyeing in particular the particularly nice luggage with the fanciful D embossed upon it. "You think anyone would mind?"
Reaper smiles. "Be my guest, but remember whose guests we are." He then steps to the other end of the car and investigates the bags there. (Ivestigation 3) and finds nothing of interest.
Reaper, you look about you and you notice some new, well kept, beautiful and simple Leather bound Steamer trunks emblazoned with the initial “D”, but you look deeper into this area, and you see a green glow against one of the luggage surfaces near 20 feet from you, against the (north) wall, and what appears to be just the very end of a calm tigers tail, made of green flame.
"My friend Whistler, there seems to be a green glow to the north of you. Since you are looking in that direction could you investigate it?" Reaper, being of rodent extraction, has an aversion to cats of any stripe.
"A green glow?" Whistler asks as he absently pushes his top hat back just a bit. "You don't mean George here, do you?" As he asks he has the green glowing skull he summoned via Dancing Lights quickly bop up and down in a much quicker rythym than the others to make sure it stands out. Once Reaper confirms that it is not what he meant at all, Whistler will frown and look in the direction that Reaper indicated.
"Well, let's have a look then," he says and slowly, almost as if on tiptoe, he starts creeping in that direction. As he does, the Dancing Skulls head in that direction at a much quicker pace in order to shed some light on the situation, so to speak... But also to allow Whistler a moment to reach into his pocket and palm the cube he carries there. He fingers it deftly, able to tell by feel which face is which on the cube and once he finds the one he wants he uses it to cast Mage Armor upon himself. Just in case. (AC boosted to 16 for next 8 hours..)
"Come out, come out, whatever you are..." Willem then calls in a sing-song voice as he approaches the area he believes Reaper has indicated...
Since you do make the effort to be careful in the moment, you do not wake what is indeed a sleeping flame spirit, known as a Wildpyre, in the form of a tiger.
Being of death, you have heard of these spirits, when animals perish in flames, their escaping spirits can cling to the fire that took their lives and arise as wildpyres. These Undead resemble the kind of animal they were in life, though made of ghostly flames.
It lies before you, sleeping away. You hear a thunk of its tail, and see that an iron ring seems to have found its way on the end of the tail.
you know wildpyre can be dangerous, and this one could be woken by that loose fitting ring thunking against the flooring as it flits its tail randomly, in its sleep.
"Shhhhhhhh!" Willem shushes out quietly but dramatically, turning to Reaper and lifting one long, skeletal finger if and placing it over his mouth. "Be vewy, vewy quiet... No need to awaken the sleeper."
That whispered out, Willem the Whistler quickly looks about him at the various bags and other pieces of luggage. He tries to spot something kind flat-ish and soft... A garment bag, perhaps or a blanket or a heavy coat? (Perception: 13) If he finds anything suitable he will grab it up and then bring it over to the glowy tiger spirit and try to slip it under the tail when it raises up, hoping to soften the thumping of the iron ring.
If the 13 doesn't find him anything he frowns and looks back to Reaper. "I think we need to try to de-ring the beast..."
You do find strips of cloth, but most are so old, it seems to outdate the train itself, and are deemed “not enough” as it were, and you get the sense that slipping it off would be the best course indeed. how would you like to endeavor to do so?
Leaning his head to the left and the right, Willem then laces his fingers together and begins to stretch his arms out... Only to suddenly open his eye-sockets wide and stop himself! Cracking his knuckles could be very bad right now, he suddenly thinks. Alrighty then, time to keep things calm and gentle.
Willem begins to slowly whistle. A lullaby. Softly and calmly. The gentle whistling hopefully covering any noise he may make as he tiptoes to the hindquarters of the spirit beast and tries to time his hand movements to the natural beat of the beasts tail. Once Willem believes he has the correct rhythm, he does his best to take hold of the iron ring and gently slip it off as the beasts tail is on the down swing.
You find the timing and ——clasp the ring as the tail drifts out of it gently.
you now possess a warm iron ring.
However, the Wildpyre does notice, opens its eyes gently, and sees you have removed the ring.
for a moment your bones go ice cold in hesitation, and the ghostly tiger nuzzles its hard back into its sleeping position as it starts to fade away into green ethereal smoke. Reaper, you would recognize this from the ghostly lady before. It seems this is what happens when souls are released and are at peace.
in that moment the train begins to slow, and the atmosphere grows colder.
Meanwhile
————Greel Gulvor————
Greel, you trudge through the thick fresh snowfall as it continues to sprinkle down large feathery flakes that sparkle against the starless sky. One could imagine the individual sparkles as a replacement for the cosmos here as it is Endless winter in the land of Syndramas, where you live.
As you walk down this path you have many times to where you store and butcher your meats, feeling a bit peckish. What stands out differently to you on this walk is it’s seemingly harder to slog through this batch of snowfall, and you take your time. Continuing a few steps and stopping, and again. To the side of you you start to see the mist swirl into an oddly solid shape of a train rail.
You too begin to hear the Ghostlight express, but you being from the land of Druskenvald, you are familiar with this Engine, but never encountered it yourself. Seems like this time you have been chosen.
This thought is confirmed as you don’t turn to look, but the train comes up on those rails from the direction you just came from, and the blackened darkness seems to choke out the area around you and this train.
”Pardon me, Sir, you are needed by the Druskenvalds themselves. They told me ta tell ya they can give ya rewards beyond your imagination. All aboard, friend. There are some others waitin on ya as well.” He gives a bow while speaking standing at the train door, and drifts through the air to one side of it, very presentationally, and kindly offering you entrance
Greel's new body has a resting grin on its gaping maw, but the corners of his lips turn up in a genuine smile as he watches the train pull up. This new world was full of so many fantastical things, many of them edible. His long tongue flicks out past his teeth, tasting the air.
Upon being greeted and his presence being requested Greel rubs his hands together.
"Wonderful, wonderful! I'd just run out of fresh meat. I do hope the train's larder is full, it wouldn't do to have cannibalism in the cars AHAHAHAheeehehe!!!"
He laughs like a hyena, his eyes glowing from behind the bandages the top of his head is wrapped in.
With surprising speed he runs down the path and leaps onto the train on all fours before clambering inside.
Once inside the train car he looks around.
"Hello!"
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(That cross chat may have been my fault, as I didn’t really talk about him exiting the train, just leaning out of it. Sorry guys!)
"Bar car, do you say?" Whister asks, intrigued. "Well, lead the way my good chap!" That said, Willem silently encourages Reaper to join them as well, doing an "After You" gesture if he shows any reluctance.
"I must confess, my brain just ain't what she used to be," he says with a grin as they walk. "Some days it seems I have lost it altogether." Willem then gives the side of his head a quick rap with his knuckles and produces a distinctly hollow knocking sound. "So if you please, Sir Vagrant, refresh my memory on just who these Druskenvalds may be? Here I thought Druskenvald was the whole realm that held us all and all... Yet you speak of them as distinct individuals?"
((No worries on the crossposting. It happens in play by post. It is inevitable, really. Unless it creates a continuity error or something it's easiest to just let it go and find a way to make it work...))
Reaper unfolds from his seat, his whiskers quivering. It looks like they are going to finally get some information on why they are there. Reaper pulls back the hood of his cloak and takes a battered fedora from his pocket and puts it on, then touches the brim and waves Whistler on. As they walk down the aisle Reaper investigates the other seats in this car.
Investigation: 15
Out of my mind, be back shortly.
Reaper, as you look around (with that roll and the roll from earlier) The rows seem empty at first, but flickering in and out of sight are spectral humanoid shapes—passenger souls on their way to Druskenvald to be reborn, or have their mortal souls be released, depending on the beliefs they once held. Ghostly passengers ride peacefully seated on the tattered remains of once-lavish upholstery. They simply look forward or out the window with empty eyes, ready to meet whatever comes next. None seem to have any baggage.
under one seat, tucked into a cushion, you see a small jar with 12 glass marbles inside.
The Vagrant responds to the questions regarding the Druskenvalds, “Oh, do pardon me, I’ve been here for too long, and I forget most people don’t know much about what’s going on who ain’t from these parts. Lord Philip Druskenvald is the Lord of this realm of death. He’s well liked by most, and he’s a good fella. Phillip is a dapper man a’ vision who believes that keepin a forward-thinking attitude will solve any problem. As such, he does have a problem that needs solvin’, an’ has a feeling you might be the right pick. Tall, thin, and a mustache you won’t forget. You may just get a chance ta meet him. He is aboard the train, with his wife, Adela as well. In fact, the end of the line for this train is the Lavish Chateau Claire de Lune, the home of Lord and Lady.”
The foggyness of your mind seems to intensify as you pass the threshold of this door, when you expect to see the crossing area between cars, expecting to get a chance to peer deeper into the mists. But what you are met with is clearly a type of magic that allows you free passage into the next car.
this seems normal, but what does not, as made obvious by the Vagrant looking about this room quizzically, this is not the room he was expecting. What lies before you seems to be a baggage room. Packed with trunks, bags, and personal belongings, the Baggage Car is a compartment on the train designated for storing passengers’ luggage and personal items, ensuring that the main passenger areas remain uncluttered. Most of the luggage here is abandoned, either by the once living who died while on the train or those who escaped the train in fear. Despite being covered in dust, they are all still generally intact. The car’s musty scent lingers in the air, a strange contrast to its faded elegance. Polished wood paneling and brass fixtures, worn and tarnished by time, line the walls. Heaps of dusty old canvas bags and wooden chests clutter the space, but among them stands a fresh cluster of fine leather travel trunks embossed with the letter “D.”
what you also notice is a soft, bestial snoring, echoing through this car. The sound seems to be nearby
"A mustachioed gentleman, you say?" Whistler thinks aloud whimsically. "I've been thinking of having a go at a bit of facial hair myself. A Van Dyke, perhaps... Or a soul patch. What do you think?"
"No, no. You are right," he answers himself before either Reaper or The Vagrant have a chance to opine. "It wouldn't suit me at all. All wrong for my features..."
Willem nods along a bit as The Vagrant describes the Druskenvalds. It is... familiar-ish information, it seems like to him. Like he's heard it before somewhere but never paid it very much attention. Stepping from one car to the next is a bit of an odd segue, it seems to Willem. Like when one is totally engrossed in a heart rending story of lost love but the narrator suddenly is telling jokes about the family dog farting. A bit jarring but if you trust the narrator you can be comforted knowing it'll all come together and make sense eventually. But Willem isn't quite sure he trusts The Vagrant yet.
"This doesn't look like a bar car," he begins to point out but his voce gets low as he speaks as he tries to catch some other sound.
"Is that... snoring?" he asks in a whisper. "Did our bartender scamper off to dreamland?"
“Truely this was not my intention, but the will of the Ghostlight.” he keeps a hushed tone, “like a bear with an itch, it will be scratched. Think of this as the ghostlight askin for help, however this was supposed ta be a quick trip and I must be meeting our next guest.”
”we do from time ta time get a few stowaways, of the animal variety, and not everything is ready to cross into the afterlife. I think you can take a look for me?” he smiles a genuine smile thinking fondly of maybe a pet he had once had, and drifts away into that similar smoke of the vagrant disappearing,
and you are left in this baggage car with the grumbles and what other sounds come with sleeping
Reaper does a perception check (Dirty 20) and marks this area for future investigation. He then follows Vagrant and Whistler in their wake.
Out of my mind, be back shortly.
"All this to recruit us to rouse a stowaway?" Willem asks nobody in particular even as he casts Dancing Lights and summons forth four vaguely skull-like glowing lights. Each is a different color - A flat white, a sickly yellow, a uneasy green and phantom blue - and each bobs slightly up and down as if upon a gentle wave while staying more of less around five feet above the ground as a general principle... Once the summoning is completed Willem sends the lights slowly moving through the car, trying to shed a new light upon every nook and cranny, specially amongst the shadows and hidden places. Willem walks with the lights, and peeks here and there, lifting this, toppling that and occasionally sticking his foot here and there to see if it strikes anything unexpected. (Investigation 21)
"Perhaps we need to look into the baggage?" Willem suggests, eyeing in particular the particularly nice luggage with the fanciful D embossed upon it. "You think anyone would mind?"
Reaper smiles. "Be my guest, but remember whose guests we are." He then steps to the other end of the car and investigates the bags there. (Ivestigation 3) and finds nothing of interest.
Out of my mind, be back shortly.
Reaper, you look about you and you notice some new, well kept, beautiful and simple Leather bound Steamer trunks emblazoned with the initial “D”, but you look deeper into this area, and you see a green glow against one of the luggage surfaces near 20 feet from you, against the (north) wall, and what appears to be just the very end of a calm tigers tail, made of green flame.
do you relate this information or investigate?
"My friend Whistler, there seems to be a green glow to the north of you. Since you are looking in that direction could you investigate it?" Reaper, being of rodent extraction, has an aversion to cats of any stripe.
Out of my mind, be back shortly.
"A green glow?" Whistler asks as he absently pushes his top hat back just a bit. "You don't mean George here, do you?" As he asks he has the green glowing skull he summoned via Dancing Lights quickly bop up and down in a much quicker rythym than the others to make sure it stands out. Once Reaper confirms that it is not what he meant at all, Whistler will frown and look in the direction that Reaper indicated.
"Well, let's have a look then," he says and slowly, almost as if on tiptoe, he starts creeping in that direction. As he does, the Dancing Skulls head in that direction at a much quicker pace in order to shed some light on the situation, so to speak... But also to allow Whistler a moment to reach into his pocket and palm the cube he carries there. He fingers it deftly, able to tell by feel which face is which on the cube and once he finds the one he wants he uses it to cast Mage Armor upon himself. Just in case. (AC boosted to 16 for next 8 hours..)
"Come out, come out, whatever you are..." Willem then calls in a sing-song voice as he approaches the area he believes Reaper has indicated...
Since you do make the effort to be careful in the moment, you do not wake what is indeed a sleeping flame spirit, known as a Wildpyre, in the form of a tiger.
Being of death, you have heard of these spirits, when animals perish in flames, their escaping spirits can cling to the fire that took their lives and arise as wildpyres. These Undead resemble the kind of animal they were in life, though made of ghostly flames.
It lies before you, sleeping away. You hear a thunk of its tail, and see that an iron ring seems to have found its way on the end of the tail.
you know wildpyre can be dangerous, and this one could be woken by that loose fitting ring thunking against the flooring as it flits its tail randomly, in its sleep.
Reaper upon seeing the Cat takes the Hide action (Stealth 22) and readies his shortbow. "Cats, why did it have to be cats?"
Out of my mind, be back shortly.
"Shhhhhhhh!" Willem shushes out quietly but dramatically, turning to Reaper and lifting one long, skeletal finger if and placing it over his mouth. "Be vewy, vewy quiet... No need to awaken the sleeper."
That whispered out, Willem the Whistler quickly looks about him at the various bags and other pieces of luggage. He tries to spot something kind flat-ish and soft... A garment bag, perhaps or a blanket or a heavy coat? (Perception: 13) If he finds anything suitable he will grab it up and then bring it over to the glowy tiger spirit and try to slip it under the tail when it raises up, hoping to soften the thumping of the iron ring.
If the 13 doesn't find him anything he frowns and looks back to Reaper. "I think we need to try to de-ring the beast..."
You do find strips of cloth, but most are so old, it seems to outdate the train itself, and are deemed “not enough” as it were, and you get the sense that slipping it off would be the best course indeed.
how would you like to endeavor to do so?
Leaning his head to the left and the right, Willem then laces his fingers together and begins to stretch his arms out... Only to suddenly open his eye-sockets wide and stop himself! Cracking his knuckles could be very bad right now, he suddenly thinks. Alrighty then, time to keep things calm and gentle.
Willem begins to slowly whistle. A lullaby. Softly and calmly. The gentle whistling hopefully covering any noise he may make as he tiptoes to the hindquarters of the spirit beast and tries to time his hand movements to the natural beat of the beasts tail. Once Willem believes he has the correct rhythm, he does his best to take hold of the iron ring and gently slip it off as the beasts tail is on the down swing.
You find the timing and ——clasp the ring as the tail drifts out of it gently.
you now possess a warm iron ring.
However, the Wildpyre does notice, opens its eyes gently, and sees you have removed the ring.
for a moment your bones go ice cold in hesitation, and the ghostly tiger nuzzles its hard back into its sleeping position as it starts to fade away into green ethereal smoke. Reaper, you would recognize this from the ghostly lady before. It seems this is what happens when souls are released and are at peace.
in that moment the train begins to slow, and the atmosphere grows colder.
Meanwhile
————Greel Gulvor————
Greel, you trudge through the thick fresh snowfall as it continues to sprinkle down large feathery flakes that sparkle against the starless sky. One could imagine the individual sparkles as a replacement for the cosmos here as it is Endless winter in the land of Syndramas, where you live.
As you walk down this path you have many times to where you store and butcher your meats, feeling a bit peckish. What stands out differently to you on this walk is it’s seemingly harder to slog through this batch of snowfall, and you take your time. Continuing a few steps and stopping, and again. To the side of you you start to see the mist swirl into an oddly solid shape of a train rail.
You too begin to hear the Ghostlight express, but you being from the land of Druskenvald, you are familiar with this Engine, but never encountered it yourself. Seems like this time you have been chosen.
This thought is confirmed as you don’t turn to look, but the train comes up on those rails from the direction you just came from, and the blackened darkness seems to choke out the area around you and this train.
”Pardon me, Sir, you are needed by the Druskenvalds themselves. They told me ta tell ya they can give ya rewards beyond your imagination. All aboard, friend. There are some others waitin on ya as well.” He gives a bow while speaking standing at the train door, and drifts through the air to one side of it, very presentationally, and kindly offering you entrance
Greel's new body has a resting grin on its gaping maw, but the corners of his lips turn up in a genuine smile as he watches the train pull up. This new world was full of so many fantastical things, many of them edible. His long tongue flicks out past his teeth, tasting the air.
Upon being greeted and his presence being requested Greel rubs his hands together.
"Wonderful, wonderful! I'd just run out of fresh meat. I do hope the train's larder is full, it wouldn't do to have cannibalism in the cars AHAHAHAheeehehe!!!"
He laughs like a hyena, his eyes glowing from behind the bandages the top of his head is wrapped in.
With surprising speed he runs down the path and leaps onto the train on all fours before clambering inside.
Once inside the train car he looks around.
"Hello!"