Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

Ulthan dodges and weaves as the vampire spawn close on him, and rushes in grabbing for the flame.  Ketch, his eyes in a glaze, sees his last ally vanish and dodges away from the two golems and touches the flame.....

-------------

Mordekai unleashes two blasts....the first misses narrowly but the second strikes Strahd with a crackling thud. He grimaces.  Ezz rushes forward and attacks him, with a shriek.  Her rapier swings at him twice and then her handaxe in her hand swings down at him. 

Attack: 12 Damage: 8 Attack: 26 Damage: 11 Attack: 21 Damage: 6

Strahd attempts to grab her.... Attack: 10 Damage: 13. He grabs her, and pulls her, struggling into his grasp and tries to bite her... Attack: 16 Damage: 7 + 10 

Meepo appears in the room in a bright flash... but is out of actions. 

Strahd bites Ezz again....Attack: 19 Damage: 7 + 12.   She drops to the ground at his feet.  He grins and in a blur walks over until he's standing next to Mordekai.....Ezz's blood still dribbling down his chin....the bruising from Mordekai's blast fading away. 

A transparent howling spectre appears behind Mordekai....see through and raging with a silent scream and takes a swipe at Mordekai. Attack: 12 Damage: 10

Samanthan appears in the room suddenly, dripping wet, the holy symbol held aloft, .....and bright daylight shining throughout the room (but has no actions left).  Strahd scowls and holds up a hand in rage. 

Mordekai, Meepo, your actions. 

[ Round 4:  Strahd : 22, Ketch : 19, Samanthan: 15, Mordekai 12, Meepo: 6 (no skeletons), Ulthan : 4,  ] 

Mordekai will Misty Escape as his reaction, teleporting into the corner of the room (doesn't really matter which corner, we'll go for the far left on the map).

For his turn, Mordekai believes the best strategy to be piling the damage onto Strahd himself, so he continues his Eldritch Blasts. 

Attack: 28 Damage: 20 + 5 Hex 

Attack: 10 Damage: 9 + 3 Hex 

Meepo sends 4 magic missiles slamming into the vampire lord...

Force damage: 13

Mordekai blasts Strahd once....then magic missiles slam into him. 

Ulthan appears in a flash of yellow in the room. (but can't act since he's taken his full action). 

Strahd hisses as Mordekai vanishes from before him....and turns to Samanthan who has appeared next to him....and looks at her, deeply in the eyes...."Take that evil cross from this place immediately....."  (Samanthan, Wisdom saving throw DC 17.) 

The spirit that was attacking Mordekai turns to Meepo and attacks him instead....  Attack: 10 Damage: 13

Ketch appears in the room...with horrible wounds across his body, his eyes glazed over...barely standing. (and can take no actions this turn). 

Samanthan's turn (after her save).

[ Round 4:  Strahd : 22, Ketch : 19, Samanthan: 15, Mordekai 12, Meepo: 6, Ulthan : 4  ] 

(Wis save: 12. Samanthan is also immune to Charm and Fright. If this is not a Charm or Frightening - second Lucky roll: 18)

"Your words are hollow, foul beast!" Pompously declared Samanthan, but instead of any attacking move did something opposite - glanced at Ketch and stated: "You are hurt and need some healing."

Cure Wounds on Ketch for 11

Samanthan shakes off the charm.  

Samanthan, Mordekai, Meepo, and Ulthan, you may all take your actions.

Mordekai continues to stand in the corner and hope the damage adds up fast.  However, now from a safe distance, Mordekai feels more confident to taunt Strahd again too, and he asks, "Why are the other family crypts so much more impressive than yours?"

Attack: 10 Damage: 12 + 4 Hex.

Attack: 22 Damage: 8 + 3 Hex.

The dwarf lowered his head for moment o a silent prayer and the it seemed as if the light of the amulet begun to radiate even brighter, bringing with it Hope to every heart that saw it (present vampires excluded) Beacon of Hope on the group.

Meepo ignores the specter and sends another four darts flashing into the vampire lord...

Force damage: 14

Ulthan launches two arrows into Strahd hoping to end this sooner than later. "hrmpfh" is the only thing he says at this time.
Silver arrow: 8 Damage: 20
Silver arrow: 23 Damage: 24

The creature that is Strahd has been reduced to a charred, smoking, inhuman beast of a creature. His eyes are black and red and searing with more anger than pain...pure outrage at those around him.....and like a cornered animal he is all hissing and empty yells....spittle spraying from his mouth in anger.  He lashes out at everyone around him as the magic blasts, magical darts, and arrows lance into him.....but in the bright light he's striking nearly blind and his claws sweep about with little effect. 

You hear what can only be described as thunder coming from within the castle walls, and what sounds like the hordes of the abyss coming at you from outside the crypt.....can be heard...the sound of what must be every shadow, vampire, wolf, and bat as a very literal wave of creatures being pouring down the stairs from outside the crypt towards the group. 

Strahd looks up at the wave of bodies, and grins.... a blackened charred crispy face....as he staggers back in a blur....gasping in pain he puts his hand to the back wall.  His grin turns vicious, and he says, "Finish them my minions....I shall await their mutilated corpses in my tower..." and then he steps back through the wall. 

Or at least...he tries to.  But...instead of merging through it like you've seen him do so many times before...his body just thuds into the wall. He looks at it, aghast...."What??!  NO!??  HOW?!!?"  What feels like the thud of a gong ripples through the air....and you hear Madam Eva's voice echo above the din...disembodied and indistinct......"Fate has come calling Strahd....even you can not deny the power of Fate. It has foreseen this moment. And now it comes calling." 

The daylight seems to be eating away at Strahd's face....and then its as if all the darkness in the room is pulled into his body....turning him into a mere black outline...an indistinct shape of blackness, that then erupts. 

Everyone is knocked to their feet as the wave of darkness blasts out.  As it crashes into the wave of creatures coming for you they seem to evaporate into nothingness.  

A huge block of stone comes tumbling down, crashing to the floor amidst the room right onto Strahd's tomb, crushing it.  The ground is rumbling and shaking.....the castle is clearly collapsing all around you as you hear the awful grinding sounds of solid earth and worked stone screeching through the air. 

Actions everyone? 

"To the Brazier! Can someone heal Ezz?" (She's currently unconscious, isn't she?)

(I can't remember if we ever confirmed where the exit teleport was from here, but detect magic last time we were here picked up something from two of the alcoves, one of which was the destination point of the teleport in from one of the crypts. So whilst I can't remember which alcove was which, Mordekai probably does, and if not, some trial and error will be needed!)

Mordekai will lead the way with his 120ft darkvision, into the alcove that teleports out to the crypts, then (assuming he's not facing some horde of monsters) he'll cast Dancing Lights to lead the way through the crypts in case any others need light, and he'll use up the rest of his 30ft movement heading the now fairly familiar route back through the crypts to the teleport room. 

Meepo is following for the alcove and then towards the room with the flame, hoping it yet works.

"I will heal her!" Yelled Samanthan as she/he/all of them run towards Esmeralda. Lay on Hands for remaining 20 points to Ez. The dwarf then helped the girl to stand up and follow Mordekai back trough the alcove and to the teleporting room.

No spells left, so now it's a matter of just running and trying to dodge things. So much for keeping the castle thinks Ulthan. Athletics rolls just in case. 18 13 9 16 16

     Is this really it? Ketch wonders.  So quickly, all of a sudden?  After everything, right on the brink of utter failure, everything goes right for a change?

     Ketch squints upward, more towards the heavens than the ceiling, and squints his eyes as if suspiciously examining Gruumsh’s intentions.  Ketch reaches quickly into his things and fumbles about for a moment before finding a few of the vials of holy water they had gotten,  he throws them against the area Strahd’s coffin head, trying to soak the stone that crushed it and whatever remnants of it remained.  Despite the ceiling caving in around him, this was most important.  Ketch had fallen and arisen again...  he was determined to do what he could to ensure Strahd did not.

     Not until the last of his holy water was thrown about this accursed resting spot did Ketch finally utter a final prayer and then seek to make his own departure...

Mordekai runs for the teleporting alcove and leaps into it, as Lionel/Samanthan, who has healed Ezz pulls her up, the two of them leaping into the teleporter. Meepo is right on their heels followed by Ulthan.  Ketch however can't believe it.....he pulls out his holy water and begins tossing it across the smashed and empty coffin.....the water hisses wherever it strikes......bubbling up and sending off smoke, eating away the wood like it was hot oil melting through butter. 

He utters a final prayer, and...a huge rock comes smashing down into the alcove with the teleporter, sealing his escape off.  He glances around...the only other way seems to be up the stairs.....

The group emerges from the teleporter into one of the crypts, rushing out into the main crypt area. Bats seem to be the only creatures here, though rather than swarming you as they did before, they seem only intent on escaping the castle.  You know there are two main ways out of here....one is the central stairway...you see rocks falling and the bats swarming up it's central core...or the teleporter, which is back down a hallway on the far side of the crypt...which is a bit of a ways...and also the hallway from there to the teleporting brazier had a trap, but you figure you can navigate that.  Looking around though, you see no Ketch...and a long stretched two seconds of waiting doesn't present him.  Also....from the parents crypt....you see a bright golden glowing light pouring from down the stairs.....that you haven't seen before.  

Chunks of guano covered rocks tumble down, bouncing off shoulders and armor.....the whole ground lurching constantly.  In your imaginations you see the entire castle of Ravenloft, purchased on it's pillar stone....crumbling down into the ground....

Next Actions? 

     Ketch isn’t afraid to die, but he’s not searching for it either.  With his mind constantly on the Eye of Gruumsh which is emblazoned upon his shield, Ketch puts that arm forward and charged up the stairs.  With each step he expects...  something.  A swarm. Falling debris.  A cold laugh and a colder hand around his neck.  But that is just all the more reason to run forward, letting the Eye lead the way..

     ((Full movement up the stairs and beyond!  I forget if the blue squares are teleports into a crypt (which I think we busted open already?) or basically force fields, but it doesn’t matter.  Ketch races all out up the steps then turns a sharp left hitting square under 37... he’s blindly running out quickest route he recalls until something stops him.))

Ketch charges up the stairs....the waves of enemies up here seem to have vanished from the wave of blackness that exploded off of Strahd...he takes a left and runs through the patch where the teleporting was, but nothing happens, so he keeps running, chunks of stone falling from above...the floor slippery with Guano, the ground shaking like the earth itself was ready to roll over and give up. 

The group sees Ketch charging through the darkness on the far side of the crypt in their general direction....

"The priest is catching up." Samanthan was as useful and informative as ever. In her defense it was better to talk out loud than listening the chorus (or cold silence) of disappointed voices inside dwarfs head - some urging to return and make sure the vampire is dead, some blaiming for not landing a killing blow, some sulking generally about the whole situation.

"We shall wait for him here." Actually, the dwarf made more than that - walked a bit towards Ketch to help if something was about to endanger his return.