NEW CAMPAIGN - RAVENLOFT 1983

(Jeez. I take the weekend off and look what happens!)

Odmun (who's totally been with the party the entire time) just sort of stares at the Mongrelfolk. They were...really messed up. This PLACE was messed up, but these creatures....He looked down to his fur-covered hands. No...he's not one of them. He's a bugbear. Still, maybe some answers awaited him within. "Ahem....Excuse me!" He tries to speak with one of the Mongrelfolk. "This is an Abbey, yes? Perhaps we can see the Abbot?"

Grishkar breaks away from studying the strange thing and catches up with the others, "This is beyond anything I'm familiar with, oh Angry Lightning Bug."

Imryll is still standing there in the courtyard, crying, caught up in the horrors of the abbey.  Thinking over and over, what has she gotten herself into?!

She soon comes to, realizing that she's standing there all alone, while the rest of her new group of friends has already been been escorted inside.  After spending most of her life alone with her own thoughts, she has never moreso wanted to be far from alone than right now.  Far from it.

She rushes ahead, passing through the guard gates and into the court yard, passing by the unnatural ugliness as quickly as she can, and into the abbey itself, catching up with the group.

MAIN HALL, S13

AFTERNOON

Gentle sounding music trickles down from above, played on a single stringed instrument by some unseen master. The ground floor is one large 50 foot square room with arches, leaded glass windows. A cauldron sits on an iron rack above a fire in a hearth, while above the fireplace mantel hangs a golden disk engraved with the symbol of the sun. In one corner, a wooden staircase climbs to the upper level, while in another corner a stone staircase descends into darkness.

Several chairs surround a wooden table that stretches nearly the length of the room. Wooden dishware and gold candelabras are neatly arranged on the table, standing behind which is a young woman with alabaster skin dressed in a torn and soiled red gown. Her auburn hair is neatly bundled so as not to touch her soft shoulders. She seems lost in her own thoughts.

A handsome young man in a brown monk's robe gently takes the woman by her hand. A painted wooden holy symbol that depicts the sun hangs from a chain around his neck. He moves with the grace of a saint.

This is the Abbot. The woman appears...stictched together from other matching humanoid parts.

"Greetings, travellers." He says. "I was just about to give Vasilka her dancing lesson. I see my doormen have let you in! I am the Abbot. How can I help you?"

Kia, first in, takes in the scene (Perception: 13  with some attention to the balcony above her head  totally ignoring anything but the two people in front of her, sigh), then marches straight in (but still on this side of the table) and plants her feet boldly. "You can explain how a holy order such as your morning lord's can countenance the disfiguring horror," she indicates Vasilka, "and unnatural experimentation," she waves a hand at the mongrel folk, "that we have seen here. Your seeming is one of holiness, but the creatures we see speak to acts more evil even than necromancy."

She is tensed up, ready to act, preparing a radiant sun bolt at the ready (Reaction) should the abbott take a hostile action.

“What my friend means to say, is what has happened here? We’re looking for an item, but what is going on here?”

The Abbot looks at you all with a kind eye, ignoring your questions for the moment. It's quite unnerving how handsome and polite he is. "Look at Vasilka. Isn't she beautiful? Come, watch how I teach her how to dance. She must be prepared correctly. There is much she needs to learn."

As he dances with her, slowly, he says. "No one comes to Barovia by accident. All of you have been summoned here for a reason. But believe me, I will not interfere with the Dark Lord's plans or intentions. I have been quite busy myself, the Dark Lord needs a bride. Do you think Vasilka will do? Look how beautiful and gracious she is! She will be my greatest achievement."

“A... bride? I don’t follow. Why does Strahd need a bride? And how can a holy man not interfere in the plans of darkness? People are suffering out there and you’re teaching a girl to dance?”

Grishkar can't help but smile at the morbid absurdity, "When she has been taught, maybe you can teach my servants a bit of grace? Tell me, how did you fashion your bride-to-be? If I can speak bluntly, the pets outside are truly a gruesome sight, which says a lot in my line of work. However, it seems like you have taken care with this one."

Kia is twitchy. She won't stand for this farce much longer.

OOC > Just FYI. :)

Martha nods to Kia with agreement, but she can tell that Martha is just saying for her to wait a moment.

Briella tenses at the mention of Strahd,her hand falling to her mace. She stills herself though curious as well as to why Strahd would need a bride.

"Perhaps it is the same reason he approached me earlier?" She says quietly, more to herself then anyone else.

 'But why?' 

Crazy busy here today guys, will catch up as soon as i'm off I promise!

OOC > Tis the season! No worries, Crispy.

With all the attention dancing, Imryll hides in shadows (Stealth: 12), and inches her way around to the backside of the room.

"There is no need to hide, young one" the Abbot says, gesturing to Imryll.

"I am acting righteously, of course." he says. "I regret transforming the Belviews into horrid mongrelfolk, and I believe their imprisonment to be necessary, to contain their madness. It has taken me generations to perfect the art.  Making a bride for Strahd is the key to freeing this land from its curse. He is looking for a woman since the death of Tatyana. But, the Morninglord has given me guidance, and I listen. I do, however, need a bride's gown for dear Vasilka. Should you find one for me, I would be happy to cast (raise dead) up to three times for you all, should you need it. You are all welcome to spend time here. Don't mind all of the screaming. Poor souls."

He returns to dancing with Vasilka.

"Who is Tatyana?" Briella asks face twisted in confusion, she keeps her hand on her mace.

"You say you are doing this to free the land, but what good will that do if you end up turning all of its denizens into these creatures."

Martha holds her chin, contemplatively, “So you’re saying that if Strahd gets a wife... then he’ll just suddenly transform into a new man? That’s crazy! Listen, I’m all for redemption, but this isn’t it! A man’s heart cannot be changed by material things! You’ll only drive him further into himself!”

"Tatyana is a love story beyond the ages. She was a woman of fine lineage and remarkable beauty. Strahd wanted her more than anything, but Tatyana fell in love and married Strahd's brother. Strahd killed him, and Tatyana committed suicide." He says as he dances with this creation.

"Barovians are made of flesh and blood. They are born, they live, they age, and they die. But not all of them - only about one in every ten - have souls. When a being with a soul dies in Barovia, that soul remains trapped in Strahd's domain until it is reincarnated in a newborn. It can take decades for a bodiless soul to find a host, and Barovians who share the same soul over generations tend to look alike."

"Now that I think about it, that young woman in your group looks very much like Tatyana. How uncanny." He stops a moment to admire Ireena, takes a few steps closer to look at her features.

Ireena shifts uncomfortably.

"I no longer make my experiments. Vasilka will do quite nicely.."

Quote from JcAndD >>

Martha holds her chin, contemplatively, “So you’re saying that if Strahd gets a wife... then he’ll just suddenly transform into a new man? That’s crazy! Listen, I’m all for redemption, but this isn’t it! A man’s heart cannot be changed by material things! You’ll only drive him further into himself!”