HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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There was only one person in the area who'd be shouting "Ezra" in that particular tone of voice...

Maintaining Inspire Courage, extending it to the others if they are in range.

Casting a Hideous Laughter (Will DC 19) at a living wolf with full health.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

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Vasili reels for a moment with this new shock, then looks around...
Nathan of the FoS wrote:It is no longer raining; it is after sundown but not yet dark, and the courtyard has become a open field; the dozen dead wolves have become three times as many, all moving with grim purpose toward the keep, where your friends do battle with them.
Isabella wrote:I have only my senses and my faith to guide me, and there is no more time left to think upon it... Please, let me be right in this! And if they are truly nothing more than restless souls, let this be their final torment! This endless cycle of death, that they are forced to repeat over all of eternity... let it end here!
Vasili shares a look with Richard, and smiles wanly as his friend calls upon the Goddess.

<You don't fight because you can save them,> he whispers to no one and everyone, <You fight because She has called you to fight, and you obey.>

He turns to Nuray and Tara as they gather in the situation, then looks Nuray in the eye. "Are you able to shoot into combat?"

We have them surrounded! :) Vasili casts haste on his half of the group, while Leila dashes in from the tombs to pounce on wolf 12 (run feat plus charge attack plus pounce). After pouncing, Leila will stay ready to attack any that pass by her on the way to the main group (forgoing grappling in favor of Combat Reflexes; can make up to 3 attacks of opportunity.) If Nuray is looking for direction, Vasili will have her target wolf 11 and the others around it that are in direct contact with their target (if she has precise shot) or (if she doesn't) any that are immediately around that area but unengaged.

Leila's pounce: claw+4/claw +4/claw +4/bite +4
[dice]0[/dice]
[dice]1[/dice]
[dice]2[/dice]
[dice]6[/dice]

Damage rolls+3
[dice]3[/dice]
[dice]4[/dice]
[dice]5[/dice]
[dice]7[/dice]

And that's up to 21 points of pounced-on-by-a-pointy-cat damage, by my reckoning
The Avariel has borrowed wings,
The Puppeteer must cut the strings
The Orphan Queen must take the throne
The Queen of Orphans calls them home
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

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Not to be outdone by Richard's display of faith, Tara strides forward too, raising her hands in invocation. Around them the zombie wolves drop like so much carrion--but those outside the reach of Ezra's power are drawn inward toward them. Nuray dispatches another with her bow, and Leila simply rips her target to shreds.

DS, you didn't declare a move for Vasili, which rather leaves him in the danger zone. Does a 14 hit his Armor Class?

On the other side of the courtyard Dundee goes down, tripped by a pair of his assailants; Rojan coolly disposes of one of his attackers, and Renhalt sends a beam of energy into another in combat with him. Cattia all but knocks the eye out of another with a well-placed coin. Marcel waits until the zombie wolves are almost on him before invoking Ezra's grace, ending them and healing Dundee at the same time.

Suddenly Brangain and Isolt scream, almost in unison.

A spectral figure--a youth with long, ragged hair, the veins in his face black, his mouth a nest of fangs--has appeared among you, a ghostly claymore in his hands. Throwing back his head, he wails--a sound that cuts to the bone.

Dead wolves have been removed, as have the servants who died or succeeded in fleeing.

Marcel's channel energy healed everyone who had been damaged so far, but Dundee is prone.

Annnnd...hello, Tristen! All within 30 feet--Renhalt, Cattia, Lena, Ushka, Avram, Isolt and Brangain--must save at DC 24 or flee in panic.

VIEW CONTENT:
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Isabella »

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Things here were starting to clear up, but they seemed in dire straights in places elsewhere. Mired in this undead carrion, there seemed to be little he could do to stop it. Richard sent his sword in an arc through the air, silver light slashing out from it in a circle once more. His sword couldn't protect those who needed protecting... maybe his words could.

"M-Marcel!" he roared across the battlefield, trying to keep his voice from seizing up when he needed it most. "The shard... the shield! Flagstone... by the well!"

I can kill two-three wolves or try to kill a whole bunch of wolves, so here goes:
[dice]0[/dice]
Eight damage to local wolf population. Ehhhh.
If that kills enough of the wolves nearby, I try and book it towards Tristen, if not, well, suck.
"No, but evil is still being — Is having reason — Being reasonable! Mousie understands? Is always being reason. Is punishing world for not being... Like in head. Is always reason. World should be different, is reason."
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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That was it. Lena had had enough. There is duty, there is loyalty, there is courage, and there is also 'suicidally facing the most powerful ghost in the most haunted castle in the Core'. Lena, quite simply, was not getting paid enough for this, and so she booked it.

Running like hell due East, Inspire Courage is now down.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

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The laird's dire call ringing in her ears, Lena flees.

A few moments later, her head clearing, she realizes that the castle has changed. It is the ruin the group entered when they first came here; she is at the foot of the north tower, cowering, and from somewhere fairly near at hand, just outside the door, in fact, she hears the clank of gears and then a voice--a deep, musical voice--swearing in Forfarian.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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Lena spent a couple of minutes taking very deep breaths and getting her heartbeat under control. Assuming they managed to get out of this in anything resembling one piece, Count von Zarovich was going to get a very snippy letter about sending a trade diplomat and a relative (Lena briefly ignored the three centuries of distance) on a suicide mission to bloody Forlorn. Negotiations, yes. Intrigue, yes. Spying, yes. Ghosts, no.

Also Lena had misplaced her fox. Again. Really, the Barovian bard was in a rather foul mood right now, even without some lunatic trying to let the goblyns in. Except that didn't sound much like a goblyn, and even if it was, Lena was in the mood to hex someone. So she adjusted her gown, checked her hair as best she could, and stormed out to see who was doing what.

"Good afternoon sir." She said brightly as she opened the door.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

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The man scowling at the drawbridge mechanism is a tall, brown-haired man dressed in the Forfarian style in a red-and-black tartan, carrying a claymore at his back. At Lena's greeting he whirls and falls into a wrestler's stance; seeing her, he relaxes slightly. Now that he's facing her she can see he is in his forties; his hair is thinning and greying at the temples. He is still obviously unusually strong and unusually good-looking--in fact, he looks alarmingly familiar.

"Guid afternoon to ye, lassie," he says, in intelligible Balok but with a formidable Forfarian accent. "I hope ye dinna be so alone as ye seem."
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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"I wasn't when I arrived here, though at the moment I've lost track of where this castle is putting people." Lena said, looking at the man carefully. Take Craig ApBlanc, age him up about twenty years, and this would be the person standing before her right now. On the one hand, it seemed impossible. On the other hand, nothing seemed impossible to Lena anymore. "And you?"
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by DeepShadow of FoS »

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Corrections from last time: Leila can make 4 AoO, not 3; her attacks are at +8, not +4; Vasili's move last round was just grabbing spell components, but he was fighting/casting defensively (+3 to his AC, because of his Acrobatic skill ranks)

Vasili's AC was 10+1 (haste) +3(casting defensively w/ acrobatics) so he should have avoided getting hit.


Leila dashes into the middle of the knot of wolves near Renhalt, attacking the strongest one with everything she has. Meanwhile, Vasili casts a protective spell on himself, and tries to evade bites until someone can dispatch the wolves for him.

When Vasili hears that the ghost has reappeared, he calls to the others: "Get everyone out here in the open. Back to back, away from the buildings."

Leila to G26 as a charge, lays out her four attacks on the strongest wolf, and is prepared to make an AoO against any adjacent wolves that try to move away from her. This position also gives flanking to several others, including Cattia for sneak attack. Vasili casts mage armor on himself, still casting defensively. This should bring his AC up to 18, even against Tristen.

[dice]0[/dice]

[dice]1[/dice]

[dice]2[/dice]

[dice]3[/dice]

All these rolls are at +8; I don't know if the first hits with a 12 or not.

And the corresponding damage:
[dice]4[/dice]

All at +3
The Avariel has borrowed wings,
The Puppeteer must cut the strings
The Orphan Queen must take the throne
The Queen of Orphans calls them home
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

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"Where the castle is puttin' folk?" the man replies, bemused. "Ye arrived with companions who've left ye, then?" A considering look comes into his eyes. "Was it ye who've gone and broken the door?" he asks, gesturing toward the drawbridge. "I'd a mind to leave before the goblyns return." His accent turns "goblyns" into a three-syllable word--gobble-inns.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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"Like I said. Temporarily misplaced." Lena said dryly. "And no, it wasn't me." It had been Renhalt, technically, so Lena was in the clear here. "Though I'm not sure being outside when the Goblyns show up is a better idea than being in here. Or do you have some trick to avoiding them in the forest?"
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

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"She is not here alone."

A tall, pale young man dressed in a mail shirt appears in the doorway leading out to the courtyard. Like Lena, he is dark-haired and dark-eyed; they even have the same nose and the same high cheekbones. "As for the goblyns, if you hurry there will be no trouble. Our cousin the Count sends his greetings, Lenka."
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by NeoTiamat »

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It took Lena a few moments to place the man. It could be defended on the fact that she did have quite a lot on her mind just now, and it had been a while since she had last seen this pale, raven-locked gentleman. So at first, one could see the Barovian diplomat forming an appropriate response (something between "How good of you to come" and "what bloody kept you, I needed backup ages ago").

The realization struck her mind just about when her pretty lips opened to form the first syllable. No sound came out, and Lena's eyes widened. Her throat went dry as dust, and her jaw moved, just a few millimeters, as if she were trying to say something. Her eyes went as wide as they could go, drinking in every sight of the handsome young man, and comparing it to something in her memories.

A few moments later, Lena's mind had confirmed that this was, in fact, who she thought he was. Under the circumstances there was only one thing Elena von Zarovich, agent of the Count of Barovia, who had dealt with cultists, shadow-monsters, a half-succubus, and entirely too many ghosts with cool equanimity, could do.

She fainted dead away.
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Re: HLoM: The Firebird, Chapter 2

Post by Nathan of the FoS »

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

Isolt, understandably, bolts. So do Rojan, Cattia, and Dundee, heedless of the wolves who snap at them as they flee, and the melee threatens for a moment to turn into a rout.

Brangain, impressively, does not, facing down the spirit with impressive calm. "Father?…" she whispers. The undead laird turns his ghastly face on her and advances slowly, claymore held in only one hand, and she moves toward him, one hand raised in mute appeal.

Marcel hurries to Brangain's side, and for a moment father and daughter consider each other.

"Daughter," he says, and the wolves cease their bloody work and begin to slink toward him.

Whatever he might have said next is lost in the strange, anguished wailing that rises from the neighborhood of the sacred oak. A mist forms at the base of the tree, coalescing into the form of a tall woman in plain druidic dress, throat torn and eyes pecked out, and as she takes form the castle seems to melt away and a great wood spring up around you.

"False son, false father," this second apparition speaks--though her mouth does not move, and the trees themselves seem to be the source of her voice. "You shall not know peace, now or ever. I will see to this. I speak for the gods, and I say you shall have no joy in any of your children..."

"You do not speak for all of them!" Tara says sharply, bringing up her holy symbol and advancing on her. "Marcel, get her out of here."

Rual turns on Tara, snarling; Tristen moves to place himself between Rual and Brangain, Marcel begins to draw her away and there is a roll of thunder, and the air shifts and ripples like heat haze, there is a sound like rushing water or the cheering of a crowd...

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"She's fine, I'm sure. It's not uncommon for the faithful to be overcome when they arrive. Er, brother, could you see to…you said she's the Baroness von Zarovich?"

You are standing in a grove of trees which grow together thickly overhead to form a space very like a cathedral vault. At its center is a small stone structure, surely only big enough to hold eight or ten and a time; you are part of a line of people who are passing through it. The tall young redhead, having recruited his fellow to see to Lena, continues. "We also have a tapestry of St. Brangain and St. Marcel in the chapel, lifting the stone the angel revealed to them to find the Shield. There are a number of interesting legends associated with this place even before they built the chapel here--over on our right you can see the ruins of the great hall of the last Laird ApBlanc, who was St. Brangain's father--I mean her natural father, of course, not St. Marcel. Many visitors here say that they see him, or even speak with him."

By now you are at the door of the chapel, and your guide falls silent and ushers you forward, the previous group of pilgrims filing out as you come in.

The shard of the Shield of Ezra lies under glass on a low wooden altar draped in a white-and-green cloth, flanked by two watchful anchorites and probably secured in other, less obvious ways as well. The people in the tapestry do not resemble Brangain or Marcel in the slightest, except in complexion, but the weaver has captured something in their posture and the way they seem about to turn toward each other that speaks of fulfillment and joy. The chapel is filled with an almost palpable sense of peace.
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