Alder is quiet throughout the meal. He attempts to restrain himself, but yet still seems to eat a sizable portion of food very quickly, as if he has not had the opportunity to do so in a while. Like Sandu, he took takes the opportunity to tuck away some bread for later use. Finally he breaks his silence in a deep rumble.
"I can carry the coffin if you need. Might be better if I am ready to fight, though. It doesn't matter to me."
“Hey Sandu, aren’t you going to read your book,” he asks quizzically.
Sandu was finishing up packing his bag when Dormak addressed him. 'You saw that?' He asked, his eyes scrutinising the warforged. 'I thought you.. you know.' Sandu dropped his chin on his chin and mimed a puppet whose strings got cut.
With a shrug he reached into his bag and pulled out a damaged, leather bound book. He had tried to restore it as best as he could with some magic but other than making the title readable and cleaning away some mouldy patches, it seemed the book would need a more professional touch-up.
'A history of the Von Zarovich dynasty.'Sandu showed Dormark the book. 'Might as well learn about the man if we're going to walk around in his domain.'He put the book back, taking care that it would not jumble around when he slipped his backpack around his shoulders.
'Do you read?' Sandu asked, leaning on his walking staff as he waited for the others. 'Or do you, like, consume books to assimilate their content?' He held his hand in front of his mouth, gesturing like he was eating a slice of bread. A juvenile grin graced his face, covering the fact that he still knew next to nothing about the metal man, never mind the uncanny way he seemed to mimic human behaviour.
“No, I read like most other people, the functions I don’t need, but I can enjoy is breathing, eating, drinking. Also, I don’t sleep... though the last few nights have been weird for some reason,” he says taking a roll off the table and pops it into his mouth enjoying the flaky texture of the bread.
He then says, “That wasn’t the book I was referring to. Most mages I have know have a book they store their knowledge of magic, so they will remember how to cast spells. Sorcerers can cast magic freely, but that is a innate ability they have. Are you perhaps one of those?”
Sandu yawned. 'I suppose.'He stretched his limbs to shake out the last remnants of sleep and combed his hair and beard with his fingers. 'I tried my hand at wizardry but I wasn't a good student.'Another yawn. 'Though the learning process and teachers weren't all that gentle either.'
He looked across the room to see what was keeping the others. 'What about you, metal man?' He offhandedly asked. 'What drives a...' He decided to go with the polite option, 'man like you into religious service?'
Ismark looks pale and absent minded as he picks at his breakfast. Ireena joins the party but eats little, though her eyes are bleary there is a steel and grit determination behind them, "If you are all ready, I would like to suggest we make a move."
"Yes... yes... I think that is for the best dear sister." Ismark snaps out of his stupor. "Alder, I fear you might right about needing your sword arm."
Dormark prepares to leave, but hearing Sandu’s question he pauses then says, “I guess I’m wanting to prove that I have a heart.” It was a mixture of a response to Sandu’s comment about him being a tin man and hoping that there was the same divine spark called a soul inside him as well. He begins to move to help get the coffin out of the house.
Valerie is surprised and a bit upset when Dormark takes her sword without her consent. However, she holds that back when the warforge returns the sword to her with some magic imbued. "Erm... I appreciate it." She accepts the sword. "... but... I... err" She is trying to think of a polite way to tell him. "But it would be better if you could ask for my permission first. You caught me off guard back there."
She sheaths the sword back to her waist and says to the group. "Anyway, I’m ready whenever you are."
When Baern returns from his first trip with some dishes and sees that Sandu has cleaned a couple already he is impressed. "Ooh, how'd you do that? Was it magic?"
Hearing Dormark's questions for the warlock, Baern casually comments "I don't think you have to be a wizard, do you?" "One time a sorcerer came through Eartheart and told a bunch of us that her magic just came from within her, like from her blood or something. She said she's had it for as long as she can remember, even when she was young." He shrugs and carries on with his task.
Always eager to be helpful, Baern offers to carry one end of the coffin by himself to the others can keep watch.
Ioben watches as the others gather there things and make last minute preparations. Despite the efforts by Baern to carry the coffin on his own, it would be some distance, and carrying a coffin solo would be very unwieldy. As much as he hated being stuck holding onto the thing, and unable to move freely, it was probably best that he help out. That way they would get there a lot faster.
"Hold a minute," he says to Baern."You're not going to last long on your own." Reluctantly, Ioben moves to the right hand side of the coffin, allowing him to pick it up on his left shoulder and keep his right hand free. Then, turning to the others, he waves them over. "We need one more to help out. The more bodies we put on this the quicker it will go."
Dormark grabs hold of the other end of the coffin compensating so that he wasn’t lifting it to high above Baern’s head. With a nod he says, “Let us move quickly.”
As the party venture forth it is the start of a new day in Barovia. Though it is early morning the skies are dark, the fog remains, and there is heavy rainfall causing the cobbled streets to become slick and slippery. You assume that for many of the locals the weather is keeping them inside - away from the damp and cold. However, the spectacle of a group of strangers, accompanied by the previous Burgomaster's two children, carrying a rickety coffin has caused many to peer eerily out of their windows in grim fascination.
Wind howls through the streets as the party continue at a slow pace towards the church. Ismark's face is grim as he carries his fathers coffin - he looks heavenwards as he walks,"I don't like this, not one bit"he says bitterly. Ireena is upfront with Valerie, she is on edge and makes a point of staring back at the faces peering out of the windows, "For years he served this village, he helped these people, watched many of them grow up", her face twists into a scowl, "so much for paying respects".
Please can I get Perception checks from non-coffin holders - Alder, Sandu and Valerie.
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Valerie slowly walks in front of the group with Ireena keeping the pace. She looks around the street as Ireena makes the remark. "Is it because of Strahd that makes people don’t come out of their house?"
This post has potentially manipulated dice roll results.
Sandu brought up the rear of the group. With his walking staff and travel clothes, he figured he could pass as a travelling pilgrim wanting to pay his respects to the deceased mayor. He also hoped that, in a pinch, he could combine the look with a flahs of magic and scare off anyone wanting to bother them. As far as he could tell, magic was not common around these parts and capitalising on that could prove useful.
He heard Ireena's remark and Valerie's reply. 'You think he's watching?'Sandu asked, taking care not to mention Strahd's name if not necessary.
Way up in the foggy sky you see the fluttering of multiple bat wings - swarms of bats seem to be following a larger one. The larger bat comes to a rest up ahead in the village square. You are sure you see it change into a figure obscured by the mists. As the figure raises an outstretched arm towards the party a number of the bats begin to fly in your direction.
Ireena turns to Sandu, "Not sure, I was convinced he would try something. We'll be ready though. We mustn't lose hope. Besides, I...". Ireena is cut prematurely short as an elderly man appears from a side street, his walking is laboured as he shambles forward before falling with a groan face down in the street. "Oh poor dear! He's slipped! Come Valerie." Ireena exclaims as she starts to move towards the man.
Hearing Sandu talks about he might be watching, then an elderly man appears in front of them is quite a coincidence. Valerie quickly gets in front of Ireena and moves toward the old man. She carefully observes the old man while walking toward him. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"
The man is lying face down, as he starts to rise you see his skin is a grey-green colour, his flesh looks soft and sloughs off its brittle bones at points. Your intuition kicks in - something is not right here.
Sandu stopped dead in his tracks. His mind desperately searched for an explination: a trick of the light, some fog that the wind blew up, his own overactive imagination, anything really rather than to acknowledge what he just saw. A split second later, he knew it was futile to deny.
'Guys?' Sandu said with a trembling voice. He reached over with his staff to tap Dormark, tapping the metal man to draw the attention of everyone. 'I just saw a bat change into a person.'
He pointed his staff towards the village square up ahead. Rapidly flying towards them were he did not know how many bats. 'We've got bats incoming!'Sandu yelled.
With strange man in front of her and the shouting from Sandu, Valerie takes out her sword and shield and pushes Ireena back along with. "Something is not right with him. Everyone be one your guard!"
She grabs Ireena close to her and raises her shield to block the incoming bats that Sandu just points out.
Sandu's words are punctuated by the sound of hundreds of furiously flapping tiny wings... Out of the fog ahead a black cloud surges towards the party - the squeaking and fluttering of swarms of tiny bats.
In conjunction with the appearance of the bats the figure in front of the group stands hunched in front of the group. The man begins to look up pulling away the robe that served to hide his frame. Underneath you can clearly see a bony rib-cage sticking out under an ancient looking suit of armour. Clasped in the man's hand is an equally ancient looking sword. He advances towards Ireena.
Alder is quiet throughout the meal. He attempts to restrain himself, but yet still seems to eat a sizable portion of food very quickly, as if he has not had the opportunity to do so in a while. Like Sandu, he took takes the opportunity to tuck away some bread for later use. Finally he breaks his silence in a deep rumble.
"I can carry the coffin if you need. Might be better if I am ready to fight, though. It doesn't matter to me."
Sandu was finishing up packing his bag when Dormak addressed him. 'You saw that?' He asked, his eyes scrutinising the warforged. 'I thought you.. you know.' Sandu dropped his chin on his chin and mimed a puppet whose strings got cut.
With a shrug he reached into his bag and pulled out a damaged, leather bound book. He had tried to restore it as best as he could with some magic but other than making the title readable and cleaning away some mouldy patches, it seemed the book would need a more professional touch-up.
'A history of the Von Zarovich dynasty.' Sandu showed Dormark the book. 'Might as well learn about the man if we're going to walk around in his domain.' He put the book back, taking care that it would not jumble around when he slipped his backpack around his shoulders.
'Do you read?' Sandu asked, leaning on his walking staff as he waited for the others. 'Or do you, like, consume books to assimilate their content?' He held his hand in front of his mouth, gesturing like he was eating a slice of bread. A juvenile grin graced his face, covering the fact that he still knew next to nothing about the metal man, never mind the uncanny way he seemed to mimic human behaviour.
William Brackwater: Human Fighter - The Windward Isles
Tyrgram, the Butterfly Knight: Dwarf Warlock - Secret of Greenwold
Iòlinder Corrach: Half Elf War Cleric - Allansia Adventure
Valerius Sergius Publius: Dhampir Paladin - Vae Victus
“No, I read like most other people, the functions I don’t need, but I can enjoy is breathing, eating, drinking. Also, I don’t sleep... though the last few nights have been weird for some reason,” he says taking a roll off the table and pops it into his mouth enjoying the flaky texture of the bread.
He then says, “That wasn’t the book I was referring to. Most mages I have know have a book they store their knowledge of magic, so they will remember how to cast spells. Sorcerers can cast magic freely, but that is a innate ability they have. Are you perhaps one of those?”
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
Sandu yawned. 'I suppose.' He stretched his limbs to shake out the last remnants of sleep and combed his hair and beard with his fingers. 'I tried my hand at wizardry but I wasn't a good student.' Another yawn. 'Though the learning process and teachers weren't all that gentle either.'
He looked across the room to see what was keeping the others. 'What about you, metal man?' He offhandedly asked. 'What drives a...' He decided to go with the polite option, 'man like you into religious service?'
William Brackwater: Human Fighter - The Windward Isles
Tyrgram, the Butterfly Knight: Dwarf Warlock - Secret of Greenwold
Iòlinder Corrach: Half Elf War Cleric - Allansia Adventure
Valerius Sergius Publius: Dhampir Paladin - Vae Victus
Ismark looks pale and absent minded as he picks at his breakfast. Ireena joins the party but eats little, though her eyes are bleary there is a steel and grit determination behind them, "If you are all ready, I would like to suggest we make a move."
"Yes... yes... I think that is for the best dear sister." Ismark snaps out of his stupor. "Alder, I fear you might right about needing your sword arm."
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Dormark prepares to leave, but hearing Sandu’s question he pauses then says, “I guess I’m wanting to prove that I have a heart.” It was a mixture of a response to Sandu’s comment about him being a tin man and hoping that there was the same divine spark called a soul inside him as well. He begins to move to help get the coffin out of the house.
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
Valerie is surprised and a bit upset when Dormark takes her sword without her consent. However, she holds that back when the warforge returns the sword to her with some magic imbued. "Erm... I appreciate it." She accepts the sword. "... but... I... err" She is trying to think of a polite way to tell him. "But it would be better if you could ask for my permission first. You caught me off guard back there."
She sheaths the sword back to her waist and says to the group. "Anyway, I’m ready whenever you are."
When Baern returns from his first trip with some dishes and sees that Sandu has cleaned a couple already he is impressed. "Ooh, how'd you do that? Was it magic?"
Hearing Dormark's questions for the warlock, Baern casually comments "I don't think you have to be a wizard, do you?" "One time a sorcerer came through Eartheart and told a bunch of us that her magic just came from within her, like from her blood or something. She said she's had it for as long as she can remember, even when she was young." He shrugs and carries on with his task.
Always eager to be helpful, Baern offers to carry one end of the coffin by himself to the others can keep watch.
Ioben watches as the others gather there things and make last minute preparations. Despite the efforts by Baern to carry the coffin on his own, it would be some distance, and carrying a coffin solo would be very unwieldy. As much as he hated being stuck holding onto the thing, and unable to move freely, it was probably best that he help out. That way they would get there a lot faster.
"Hold a minute," he says to Baern. "You're not going to last long on your own." Reluctantly, Ioben moves to the right hand side of the coffin, allowing him to pick it up on his left shoulder and keep his right hand free. Then, turning to the others, he waves them over. "We need one more to help out. The more bodies we put on this the quicker it will go."
Dormark grabs hold of the other end of the coffin compensating so that he wasn’t lifting it to high above Baern’s head. With a nod he says, “Let us move quickly.”
Dormark Calling of Strahd (warforged cleric) 4
Day #2 - Funeral March
As the party venture forth it is the start of a new day in Barovia. Though it is early morning the skies are dark, the fog remains, and there is heavy rainfall causing the cobbled streets to become slick and slippery. You assume that for many of the locals the weather is keeping them inside - away from the damp and cold. However, the spectacle of a group of strangers, accompanied by the previous Burgomaster's two children, carrying a rickety coffin has caused many to peer eerily out of their windows in grim fascination.
Wind howls through the streets as the party continue at a slow pace towards the church. Ismark's face is grim as he carries his fathers coffin - he looks heavenwards as he walks, "I don't like this, not one bit" he says bitterly. Ireena is upfront with Valerie, she is on edge and makes a point of staring back at the faces peering out of the windows, "For years he served this village, he helped these people, watched many of them grow up", her face twists into a scowl, "so much for paying respects".
Please can I get Perception checks from non-coffin holders - Alder, Sandu and Valerie.
DM rolls:
3
1, 4, 1
2, 6
6
3
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Valerie slowly walks in front of the group with Ireena keeping the pace. She looks around the street as Ireena makes the remark. "Is it because of Strahd that makes people don’t come out of their house?"
Perception 7
"I reckon so... still. My father... They could have made an effort... to honour him. y'know." Ireena clenches her fists as she continues walking.
Valerie's Perception check:
As you glance around the dark clouds above you believe you may have seen something fleetingly. Equally it could be your mind playing tricks on you.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Sandu brought up the rear of the group. With his walking staff and travel clothes, he figured he could pass as a travelling pilgrim wanting to pay his respects to the deceased mayor. He also hoped that, in a pinch, he could combine the look with a flahs of magic and scare off anyone wanting to bother them. As far as he could tell, magic was not common around these parts and capitalising on that could prove useful.
He heard Ireena's remark and Valerie's reply. 'You think he's watching?' Sandu asked, taking care not to mention Strahd's name if not necessary.
Perception 21
William Brackwater: Human Fighter - The Windward Isles
Tyrgram, the Butterfly Knight: Dwarf Warlock - Secret of Greenwold
Iòlinder Corrach: Half Elf War Cleric - Allansia Adventure
Valerius Sergius Publius: Dhampir Paladin - Vae Victus
Sandu's Perception check:
Way up in the foggy sky you see the fluttering of multiple bat wings - swarms of bats seem to be following a larger one. The larger bat comes to a rest up ahead in the village square. You are sure you see it change into a figure obscured by the mists. As the figure raises an outstretched arm towards the party a number of the bats begin to fly in your direction.
Ireena turns to Sandu, "Not sure, I was convinced he would try something. We'll be ready though. We mustn't lose hope. Besides, I...". Ireena is cut prematurely short as an elderly man appears from a side street, his walking is laboured as he shambles forward before falling with a groan face down in the street. "Oh poor dear! He's slipped! Come Valerie." Ireena exclaims as she starts to move towards the man.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Hearing Sandu talks about he might be watching, then an elderly man appears in front of them is quite a coincidence. Valerie quickly gets in front of Ireena and moves toward the old man. She carefully observes the old man while walking toward him. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?"
Insight 12
"What is it Val?!" Ireena says, concerned. The figure starts to rise, moaning.
Valerie's Insight / Perception check:
The man is lying face down, as he starts to rise you see his skin is a grey-green colour, his flesh looks soft and sloughs off its brittle bones at points. Your intuition kicks in - something is not right here.
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)
Sandu stopped dead in his tracks. His mind desperately searched for an explination: a trick of the light, some fog that the wind blew up, his own overactive imagination, anything really rather than to acknowledge what he just saw. A split second later, he knew it was futile to deny.
'Guys?' Sandu said with a trembling voice. He reached over with his staff to tap Dormark, tapping the metal man to draw the attention of everyone. 'I just saw a bat change into a person.'
He pointed his staff towards the village square up ahead. Rapidly flying towards them were he did not know how many bats. 'We've got bats incoming!' Sandu yelled.
William Brackwater: Human Fighter - The Windward Isles
Tyrgram, the Butterfly Knight: Dwarf Warlock - Secret of Greenwold
Iòlinder Corrach: Half Elf War Cleric - Allansia Adventure
Valerius Sergius Publius: Dhampir Paladin - Vae Victus
With strange man in front of her and the shouting from Sandu, Valerie takes out her sword and shield and pushes Ireena back along with. "Something is not right with him. Everyone be one your guard!"
She grabs Ireena close to her and raises her shield to block the incoming bats that Sandu just points out.
Sandu's words are punctuated by the sound of hundreds of furiously flapping tiny wings... Out of the fog ahead a black cloud surges towards the party - the squeaking and fluttering of swarms of tiny bats.
In conjunction with the appearance of the bats the figure in front of the group stands hunched in front of the group. The man begins to look up pulling away the robe that served to hide his frame. Underneath you can clearly see a bony rib-cage sticking out under an ancient looking suit of armour. Clasped in the man's hand is an equally ancient looking sword. He advances towards Ireena.
Please can everyone roll initiative.
Ismark: 21
Ireena: 6
'Man': 17
Swarm of Bats: 22, 12, 6, 14
DM - The Call of Strahd (CoS); Feyrealm Campaign, Chapter 0 - Bleak Prospect (BP), Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown (DU)