Hazlan: Chapter Four

[ewancummins]

Cornelius makes himself comfortable by sitting down with his back against the wall.

[steveflam]

[OOC: Sorry, been slightly busy with the other game, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxime culpa.]

Valerian had been strangely silent throughout the discussion, gazing on Ms. Tara Kolyana with an odd look. Sefi was behind the group, sulking slightly.

"Miss Kolyana, I must beg a question of you." The Warden spoke. "In Ezra's Name, do you know why there would be a ghost matching with your appearance in Count Von Zarovich's castle?"

"And I think that however dangerous Hazlan is, Barovia would be worse."

Tara appeared to be puzzled over the mention of a ghost at the Count's castle. She had never had nor never will have the compunction to ever visit that dreaded place.

"I can't say why there is a ghost of me there. Presonally I know little of the Count and as you mentioned, Barovia is a far worse place than Hazlan, even for an Ezrite like myself."

[OOC: Knowledge History for knowing anything of Barovia's history, and Strahd's marriage. I don't have my sheet without me, so can you please roll, Tarlyn?]

I'm real sorry but even if you roll a 20, not good enough to know of that little ditty. It was a long time ago and perhaps only the Vistani know of the marriage of Sergei, not Strahd

[Ail]

Lucius looked around the room.

"I guess we are all determined to leave Hazlan as soon as possible, right? The question now is, where to? Should we continue to Kartakass, do our business there, then go to Levkarest and try to see Draven and Sefi cured of their respective afflictions, or should we do it the other way around? Another question concerns you, Tara, more than anyone else. What will you be doing? Do you stay here in Hazlan, or will you keep moving? And by the way, since you are a devout follower of Ezra, do you have any magical ability? I speak for myself, but I would not shun having you in our group, if the others wouldn't mind."

[NeoTiamat]

"I believe it would be best if Miss Kolyana were not to accompany us, particularly not to Kartakass." Warden Grane nodded politely. "Meaning no disrespect, but Ezra has entrusted us with an exceedingly dangerous task, and I would not wish to be responsible for the safety of one more innocent."

Valerian suddenly realized what this sounded like, and amended it hastily. "Miss Lerbin... has unique talents."

"As to where we go... I do not see an alternative as to go to Kartakass first." The elder Ezrite continued to speak. "The only avenues for reaching Borca before us are the roads of Barovia and the Svalich Pass, which are now closed to us, and through the mountains and fens of western Hazlan... Provided of course we don't decide to head back north and around the Shadow Rift through Darkon."

"Does anyone have a map..?" Valerian continued, then suddenly noticed something. "And where is Miss Lerbin?"

The lycanthrope had slipped out sometime during the conversation.

[ewancummins]

''I'm sure I've got a map in here someplace...''

Cornelius rummages through his kit.

[lostboy]

Draven opens his eyes and speaks in a drowsy voice:

"Tarlyn gave me rough instructions on how to reach the Kartakan border before he departed, he was most insistent we not linger in Hazlan longer than necessery. I vote we continue with our route as planned, if Miss Kolyana wants to come with us, that is her choice, either way we should leave tommorrow."

[VAN]

"I totally agree with Alexander. We should continue to Kartakass do our task there and then head to Lenkarest. As about Miss Kolyana, she is free to decide what she want to do."

Van looks freneticall around as Valerian says that Josephine is missing:

"I hope she isn't catch up in any trouble. Does any of you noticed when she left?"

[BigBadQDaddy]

William speaks up as the party debates its current options.
"I think we should move on to Kartakass as well. No offense m'lady, but yer business is none of ours and it would most likely be best fer you and the rest of us if you were to go yer own way." He looks about nervously at everyone befor continuing. "I didn't like the look of that count, and anything that ties us to him is worth severing. That goes fer you as well, I suspct that count has a liking for ya and will go at any length to get you."

[steveflam]

"I do need to return home. ANd I would never think of accompanying you on your quest. I do grow tired and wish to get some rest, you all should do the same if you leave early in the morning"

OOC: The game should advance to the next part, so the conversation with Tara as well as Tara herself is done.

[NeoTiamat]

It was an hour or two past midnight as large, heavy paws padded up the stairs of the inn wherein the group slept. Soundlessly, subtly, two shapes entered the bit of the hallway.

After a moment, Draven's door opened, the jingle of lockpicks the only sound as Alexander stirred in his sleep.

And then...

A wet, pink tongue, at least as long as Draven's hand, moved up Alexander's cheek. It was shockingly cold, and woke the rogue from whatever morphine-inhabited sleep he had been in.

As Draven woke with a start, he saw a huge, black shape in his bedroom yellow-green eyes all but glowing in the night. Sefi sat on her haunches, tongue lolling forth. And that is what you get for jabbing me with a needle. Now we're even.

There was another, rather familiar shape in the room. That of an elf, a rather familiar elf with white hair and black skin.

[lostboy]

Draven dreams, the morphine in his blood blotting the evils of reality out for a few hours. Yet the dream is there again...

A padded room, the walls colourless and thick, pale moonlight spiling form a window high above. Draven opens his eyes groggy and disorientated, a strange metallic taste in his mouth. The room is bare with only a door opposite, yawning open, broken on its hinges. His eyes focuss a little more on the dark marks on the floor, not just dark marks but a trail of bloody prints. He starts, fear pumping through his veins, pulling hiomself slowly to his feet he edges towards the door. The prints lead along the corridor into the darkness, but he is not alone. A dark form stands there, it has no eyes, no wait, it has glistenign emeralds for eyes, no wait.....

Crouched where she is Sefi sits back to watch Draven wake, he shudders once before he shakes himself and opens his eyes. His eyes! They burn red like hot coals in the dark of the room, the pupils slit like a cats. But there is confusion there rather than malevolence in those baleful eyes.

He raises a hand to his face, the arm that appears is pale or would be, beneath the black twisting tattoos and burns that cover the length of it. The designs swirl evily along the arm, slithering like black snakes, as Draven wipes his face.

He gazes at his fingers not blood...... good this is reality then! And by default must be an improvement on where Ive just been. He realises as he continues to stare for a moment at the form above him and the other behind.

"You might have knocked." he says in a slightly shocked voice, withdrawing the scarred limb back beneath the blanket.

[steveflam]

"Why knock, when we can enter in this unconventional way, hmmm? Now now, Alexander, be civil to your friend Sefi and I. We have had such a nice evening thus far killing werewolves and dread trolls. Come now, say hi to an old friend would you?" Tarlyn says to him.

[lostboy]

"Because my dear Tarlyn, if you had knocked you would not find me half naked in bed!" Draven mutters as he throws off the covers and grabs his shirt from the chair near the bed.

Sefi might catch the glimpse of swirling darkness across the pale skin of his chest and stomach as he throws the shirt oiver his head and quickly fastens it to his collar.

Gazing around the darkened room with his weirdly glowing eyes he spots soemthign in a far corner. Padding lightly past his "guests" he lights the small lamp on the table. Its yellow glow lighting his face and hazel eyes with a warming touch.

"It is good to see you Tarlyn." he says clasping the elfs wrist in greeting. "And you too Sefi, although you had only but to ask to visit me at night" he says with a wink at the werewolf.

[steveflam]

Tarlyn grasps Draven's arm back firmly, smiling. He averts his eyes in politeness to Alexander's privacy. "It's good to see you as well, Alexander. I'm glad to see the party made it without me this far. I have a few questions as I'm sure you and the others will as well" he pauses before continuing.

"We should wake the others, and I think I'll do the honors. What room is the warden in, pray tell?"

[steveflam]

OOC: Sefi rolled a 26 so keeps her alignment after the transformation.

Sefi slipped out of the room and trod gently down the steps. She left the Inn. Hungry, in search of flesh, she roamed the winding streets of Ramulai for nearly an hour before coming upon a scent. The scent of a human, two very hated smells, a familiar elf smell, and one unkown smell. The hated smell stirs Sefi's blood , but she retains control of herself. Werewolves!.

She moves closer to the area and definitely hears snarling and a commotion. The area is dimly lit and the street is winding, as most are in Ramulai. Sefi moves into the shadows to see more before deciding what to do.

OOC: Sefi 21 Hide 29 Move Silently 24 Spot 33 Listen

She sees two werewolves, a human male in between them. A human lays dead on the ground. To the right of them a large warty creature with lanky armsending in sharp claws battles a two bladed form, who's haed remains hidden by their cloak. The two bladed person appears to definitley be winning. The other human crumples, bloodied , to the ground. The werwolves turn to the two bladed form and try to flank him/her with the warty creature.

The toadman loses an arm. Sefi sees that the two bladed form is around five feet tall and quite agile with those blades. Sefi climbs a house to the roof. Looking at the combat area she sees a globe of darkness appear and the two bladed form tumbles out. She moves to hide out of line of sight of the combattants in the street. She then howls. The toadman stumbles out of the globe first and attampts to slam the two bladed person.

The werewolves run out of the darkness and search for the howler, eyes scanning the night. As Sefi looks down to the fight, she could have sworn she saw white hair beneath the cloak of the two bladed person. She thinks that it could possibly be Tarlyn but he doesn't smell like the Tarlyn she's smelled before. She moves away from the scene, hoping to catch Tarlyn's scent later so she can beat his head against the wall a few times.

Once she is five hundred feet away she howls and moves off yet again, looking for a cul-de-sac, finding one. The werewolves follow, not having seen her as of yet , but curious. Sefi switches to hybrid form.

OOC:19 on a DC 15

Once the werewolves enter the alley, she moves around and jumps down behind the lycanthropes, not surprising them unfortunately. One lycanthrope moves back away from the other as it attacks Sefi, missing. Sefi does a full attack on the lycanthrope , nearly killing it but it remains alive. It tries to attack Sefi again but only manages to bite Sefi for three points of damage.

Sefi dismembers the werewolf and turns to the other one only to see the two bladed person fighting it and winning fast. The werewolf crumples to the ground, dead as a doorknob. It is Tarlyn and he is just standing there, looking at Sefi. His blades at his side. Sefi beacomes a little confused when she realises that yes, it is Tarlyn. He does smell like an elf, but not at all like the Tarlyn who was with them from the time she met him back in Nova Vaasa.

"Who are you?" she growls to him. "And why do you have that idiotic elf's form?"

He blinks at her. She sees his eyes are not red at all. Surprised by the fact that a huge hulking loup garou is speking ot him instead of attacking him. Notwithstanding the fact that her claws and muzzle are quite bloody.
"I'm Tarlyn Xarran...and until recently... was held captive by shapechangers.."

"Do you know a man named Valerian Grane?Alexander Draven? Or Lucius Plancturus?" she growls at him. This was getting blody odd and fast.

"I know of them, yes. If you permit, I can prove something to you." As he says this he sheaths a blade and reaches into a bag at his waist, removing a body. Sefi doesn't recognize a doppleganger but it's smell is of the Tarlyn she knows.

Alrighty this is too odd for me. Sefi knew one thing, and that's that this was a little over her head. "I think...you better come to the Inn."

"Pardon, but I've never met a lycanthrope who could speak. As he says this he places the body back in the bag and sheaths his other blade.

Leery of her but following all the same.

"Funny. I've never met a drow I wanted to speak to before."

"Touché"

Sefi cleaned the blood and gore from her claws with her tongue. "I think we'll go see the warden. Anyone asks I'm just your pet dog. And if youtry to run away, I'll rip out something important" she sya as she looks meaningfully at his waist.
"Deal?"

Tarlyn raises an eyebrow at her statement of her being his dog. "Deal.. and I like my limbs thanks all the same for the offer but I'll pass. Deal."

Sefi transforms into an immense black furred wolf.
OOC: 13 on 15 DC. Retry 23 transformation is good.

Tugging on Tarlyn's sleeve with her razor sharp teeth, Sefi leads Tarlyn through the maze of streets that is Ramulai, finally arriving at the Inn. She does look back to make sure Tarlyn is following, and he moves up next to her to remove any doubt she had he'd run away.

During the walk Tarlyn's shape changes to that of a Mulan. Looking down at Sefi, he says "It's a ring, I'll show you." He does show her.

"So are Van, Cornelius, Draven, Valerian and the rest all here?"

She nods up to him. Once at the Inn Sefi attempts to transform back into human form.

OOC: The joy of a DM. 12 a failed check! Hee hee.... Sefi is stuck as a wolf or hybrid form until morning.

"Can you change now?" Tarlyn asks her

She nods up to him "NO".

Sefi shook her dog head and walked to the back of the Inn. She scratches at the door to which Tarlyn hisses at her "Hey you'll wake the Inn. Where's their rooms?" She points a paw at their windows. She wonders how he would get a three hundred pound wolf up through a window. He removes a rod from his bag then puts it back. Grinning at her he walks to the back door. Sefi doesn't like the idea of a smiling elf. Tarlyn removes what looks to be a few illicit tools and puts them to work on the lock.

"Click!" The door unlocks

Apparently even elves have their uses. Sefi padded into the Inn and up to their rooms. Tarlyn follws after he locks the door.