A Stitch in Souragne - La Danse de Mort

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Vincent:

"Yes, yes," Koroshiya coos. "Come swim with us."

"Come swim with us," Authentès echoes behind you.

"Swim with us," the third child says. Her voice is slightly deeper than those of the others, more raw.

Koroshiya draws you into the water - although 'ooze' would be a better word for it. The inhuman heat has caused the swamp's water level to lower, and what liquid remains is more closely allied to the mud and the slime of the lower layers, now. Behind you, you hear muted splashing as Authentès enters the muck as well. You can feel the ooze sucking at every inch of your body that has been exposed to it, and small things hurry away from you.

The unnamed child and Koroshiya take you by the wrists and draw you deeper into the lukewarm mire. How they smile...! Such beautiful, bewitching smiles. Authentès' hands are on your shoulders, helping to propel you farther. The girls are surprisingly strong swimmers for their size, and they pull you through the swamp with great ease.

All around you, the glow of rot is upon the water. It is not bright enough to hurt your eyes, but the luminescence is everywhere, distracting, its crawling motion reminiscent of maggots on carrion. Or maggots on a corpse.

"Now it is time," Koroshiya says, when you have all gone a goodly one hundred feet from the shore. She releases your hand and starts to swim around you, widdershins.

"Now it is time," the raw-voiced one says. She also releases you and starts to swim around you widdershins.

"Now it is time," Athentès says. Her light touch leaves your shoulders, and she starts to circle you as well.

The three girls swim around you, just out of arm's reach, their beautiful smiles animating their faces. The eerie glow of the bog is in their eyes, and you can see the tips of their pointed ears quivering through their sleek caps of wet hair.

"Time for truth," Athentès says.

"Time for knowledge," Koroshiya says.

"Time to let all be known," the raw-voiced one says.

"Know this / This is truth / It is revealed to you of our own free will," the three of them chant together, circling, circling. The next words, they speak in a weird unison, the separate qualities of their voices merging into one that is more mature, more powerful, more alluring than you could ever have expected. The meaning of their words only filters through Vincent's befuddled mind after a moment of thought. The meaning floats into his thoughts on a tide of horror.

"We are hungry."

Underneath the water, weeds, slimy stems and hair-thin floating roots suddenly swirl around Vincent and grasp at the legs he needs to kick to stay afloat.

(OOC: Unless you have a very impressive ability to excuse what the Drownlings are doing to you, I'd say the Charm Person effect has just popped like a soap bubble.

On the other hand, you now have to deal with the Entangle effect they've centered on you! Reflex save DC13, please! If you fail, you will be unable to stay afloat and Drowning will commence! A Strength or Escae Artist check to a DC of 20 will be able to break you out if you fail the save.
If you do succeed, you will be able to move - at half speed, so long as you're in the Entangle area, which has a range of 40 feet with you as the epicenter.)

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Goren, Lucien & Zumba:

The corridor outside Goren's room is quiet, but not unnaturally so. You can faintly hear the music and the faint buzz of conversation coming from the dining room. In one of the guest rooms, someone noisily turns over in bed and starts to snore. Somewhere outside, a dog starts to bark. The barking soon turns to whimpering, and thence to silence.

Everything seems perfectly normal.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien notices the lack of activity in the other rooms. "Definitely an attack at us, specifically," he says, his earlier suspicions confirmed.

Souragnien "Who is man talk in my head to help me? You know him? And no, I not knowing where is Vincent. He not have room? Maybe innkeeping host person knowing where Vincent went or seeing, at any ways?"

Lucien says, "That voice in your head was Claude. A companion of mine." He looks awkwardly at Goren and Zumba. "It's difficult to explain, but I will -- this simply isn't the time. Goren, get yourself ready and meet me and Zumba at the front of the inn. Quickly!"

He then heads toward the entrance. Don't forget about the candles, Lucien. You're supposed to deal with the candles! You'll never achieve anything if you keep allowing distractions to interfere. Vincent seems capable of handling himself. Lucien ignores the voice. At the entrance, he sees the oddly dressed doorman and asks, "The other outsider who arrived with us this afternoon... has he passed by you? Did you notice which way he went?"

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Oui, Monsieur," the doorman says, and he tips his hat to Lucien. "The gentleman went in the direction of the Church, I believe. Is something the matter?"

[Ail]

Zumba is quite startled by the voice in his head, but the latter explanation given by Lucien leaves him more at ease. Before they leave the room, Zumba takes the candle that was beneath the glass hood.

Outside, he tells the others.

"Still, I would like to try and see if any other room is being attacked. Goren was silent too, so I'm not sure we can assume everyone is safe. But I want to believe you are right, it would be much better for us all.
Lucien, I'm taking this candle with me, separate from yours. So we can be sure the poison is on the candle or not."


Turning to the Lathanderite


"I'm so happy you are safe. I remember the Homme Broché in my dreams, and it was brutal. Did you see the woman well? I think we saw a woman before that also wanted to be free. Did she sound pleasant or hostile? What do you think about her?"


He follows the others outside.

[steveflam]

Goren changes in his room and closes the door behind him. Downstairs he tells Zumba and Goren in a low voice Souragnien "I no see woman. So, any knowledges of Vincent goings?"

[Guzrath]

Vincent snaps out of his revery as the girls talk in unison. He feels the warm muck sliding along his bare chest all around him and tangles trying to grab his legs. A chill down his spine. "I haven't learned from last time apparently" he says to himself and starts thrashing about screaming like a woman. He inhales deeply and goes under the muck. He pulls a disgusted face while, making sure his mouth and eyes are closed and not to inhale. He draws his Rapier and Dagger under water. He comes back up as if breathing for air in a panic, holding his arms underwater. He still trashes as if to keep his head above water, but slowly turns to face one of the girls.

OOC: Vincent fakes the thrashing, basically a bluff check to get a bonus on his next attack He faces 1 of the girls. On each of the others he gets a Dodge +1 (I split them up since it's 2 seperate abilities/feats).
Reflex 20
Bluff 18

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Still, I would like to try and see if any other room is being attacked. Goren was silent too, so I'm not sure we can assume everyone is safe. But I want to believe you are right, it would be much better for us all."

"I agree we should look, but once we've checked on Vincent," Lucien says. "More battles lie ahead, and we'll need his sword arm."

When Goren comes back down, he listens to the exchange between him and Zumba, a puzzled look on his face. "The two of you had communicated with someone in that shared dream? That's... damn, tell me the details as we move!" He thanks the doorman for pointing the way and he starts moving quickly in that direction. He uses his keen sense of hearing to pick up any sounds of conflict.

_________________________________
Lucien makes a Listen check: 1d20+13=25

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Vincent:

The girl Vincent is facing - Authentès! - licks her lips and darts forward. As she comes within reach, Vincent can feel the current in the muck all around him as she swiped her hands at him. Something sharp tugs at his leathers, but fails to penetrate. The warning is enough to dodge the second attack as well; Authentès hisses and snarls, baring sharp teeth.

"Waaaaiiit," the raw-voiced girl says. "He drownesss not, he faaaakesssss!"

The third girl - Koroshiya - growls angrily and frowns at Vincent. A vertigo of insanity suddenly claws at the Swashbuckler's mind.

(OOC: Will save to the tune of DC16, please...)

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien comes to a stop in the middle of the dark, quiet street. "There's something ... splashing, no, thrashing in water or muck," he says faintly to his companions. "Not the best location for a evening swim, is it?" He waits another second, trying to pinpoint the location. "THIS way!" he hisses, not wanting to draw undue attention. He begins running to the swamp just beyond the Church of Ezra.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lucien, Goren & Zumba:

(OOC: Based on the assumption that Goren and Zumba keep up with Lucien.)

You arrive at the edge of the swamp, and the first thing you see is Vincent's shirt, neatly folded and placed away from the edge of the mire. Lying on top is a valuable-looking signet ring.

Once you look beyond that, you see Vincent. Or rather, you see his head, bobbing above the surface of the muck. Your companion is at least one hundred feet from shore, and he is not alone.
The heads of what look to be three little girls are circling him -- and even while you watch, one darts forward in what is obviously an attack!
Another girls hisses something about Vincent 'faking'.

[Guzrath]

Vincent smiles at Authentés as she is suddenly within easy range. He feels something trying to penetrate his mind, but he is able to keep it out.
He suddenly lashes, his rapier coming above water and held just above the muck. Which she easily sees coming, but under the waterlevel his left-hand dagger comes in from the side and a little upward hoping to hit the girl in the chest beneath her ribs and upward.


OOC:
Will Save 22 (woohoo, I was afraid I would fail this one)
Doing this from workspot (ahum) so haven't calculated any bonus for her falling for my bluff. Don't have the books around here. Same for Crit.
Rapier Attack Attack 9 That is disappointing
Rapier dmg Damage 4 Just in case my Bluff gives enough bonus to actually hit her.
Dagger Attack Attack 26 Critical Threat
Threat attack Attack 24 *happy dance*
Dagger dmg Damage 4+3. I do not know whether it is 1d4*2+3 or 2d4+3 when critting, so only rolled 1d4. If you need me to throw another 1d4 let me know.
Automatically every round the dodge bonus of +1 on each of the 2 who are flanking me at that time.

[Ail]

ooc: can't post tonight. too late and computer problem. maybe tomorrow evening.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Children at play. Zumba and Goren hear the same voice in the head as before. "Time to cool their passion, then," Lucien says out loud in response. In the next second, all in the area hear a low, deep hum, as though a subterranean choir had gathered below them.

Suddenly, a icy-blue wall materializes in the water between Vincent and two of the "children." The water around the wall immediately turns to ice. Vincent feels no more than a slight drop in temperature, yet the two fey creatures experience a numbing chill unlike anything they've experienced in Souragne.

__________________________________
Lucien expends 5 power points to manifest energy wall (cold) as a line, ideally separating Vincent from the fey in front of him and one of the flankers. The wall is opaque, and it can extend 20 feet per level, but Lucien doesn't want to block his or the other PCs' view of or access to Vincent, so without a map, I'll leave the length and shape to your best judgment, Rock. If the wall can't go between either or both of the targeted fey, it'll go through them instead and do 5 more points of damage. Heh. While the rules don't talk about depth in water, I imagine that the wall can extend a ways under the surface, especially if I'm not stretching it to its max horizontally.

The two drownlings on the nasty side of the wall: 2d6+2 points of cold damage for being within 10 feet = 2d6+1 +1 (I miscounted the bonus when I rolled) = 7 points cold
(1d6+1 cold if within 20 feet.)
Anyone who goes through the wall (or if the wall materialized ON them) takes 2d6+7 points of cold damage. On the side with Vincent and the third drownling: no damage.
In all cases, Fortitude DC 17 for half damage.
The wall continues as long as Lucien concentrates. I'm nearly tapped out of points. Phew!

[Ail]

After Lucien puts his wall up, Zumba sniffs the air a while as if feeling some strange inspiration. He then holds his staff and runs at the drownlings, stopping at the shore, or at the most he can walk into the mire without having to swim.

He fires bullets at the nearest drownling hoping to bring them to him. He can walk 50ft per round. If that's enough to reach the swamp, he will attack still this round.

Attack: 1d20+7 = 19 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3020999/)
Dmg: 1d4+2 = 5 (http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3021000/)