A New Barovia: Chapter One

[BigBadQDaddy]

Finding himself utterly unable to resist the creatures calls, Thomas begins walking straight towards the undead creatures dark master. He feels his frame shake in fear at the creatures red eyed gaze.
Walking through the throng of undead creatures the young man fights back a cry as he regretfully looks into their ruined tragic faces. Their spiritless eyes waver dully back at his own desperate sockets.
"Run!" He cries to the others. "You don't stand a chance, just Run!"
He feels his feet shift under a power of will not his own, sloppily gaiting their way to what may as well be the devil itself.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Khalfani's dark skin turns pale in the moonlight. The look of the frightening man -- his manner of dress -- reminds the gnome of portraits and engravings that he's seen repeatedly in his time in Barovia, especially in his first weeks. A fantastic, terrifying thought runs through his head: Could this be Strahd, back from the dead ... returned for vengeance against his usurpers?

He then sees Thomas walking toward the dark figure, fear in the man's face and voice as his legs seem to move of his own accord. "Excellency!" he calls out in desperation in the Balok tongue. "We seek not conflict, but the safety of Barovians!" He hopes to buy time for the others to act or for Thomas to recover his strength of will.

[steveflam]

Coin

No shops are open and no citizens are out and about in the streets at this hour. It soon becomes apparent as to why. The Goblyns patrol the streets in pairs of four.

Cemetery

The figure looks at Marilee and raising a manicured finger at her utters arcane phrases, fingers moving in intricate patterns. The woman freezes in place, unable to move. Once Thomas is close enough to him, he levitates down to ground level from the Masoleum. He is slightly taller than the young Cante. "Yes, you are of the flesh of one I encountered in my abode years ago. What are you doing here, in my land, young whelp?"

When Khalfani talks in Balok, the man is startled, but only for a moment. "You, little one, have some semblance of etiquette and recognize royalty and power. Thus, I decide you and your friends shan't be harmed. I have been away far too long. Your lady friend is under a Hold Monster spell. Now, I ask once more. Who are you and what are you doing here in MY land. I will not ask again."

Looking over at Marilee he says "Those are my Zombies, yes. I merely wish conversation and information. Unless you prefer battling my Zombies?" He stops talking and folds his arms across his chest, eyeing each of you.

Robert sees that what the Zombies were looking at now. What were once two cemetery guards now lay on the ground, half eaten and torn.

[Ail]

Robert lets a short meaningless whisper as he notices the two bodies farther away into the cemetery. At the insistent question of the caped figure, he turns and with a very sincere look of respect says


"Your eminence, we are travelers in this land... I at least am. We just noticed the door to the cemetery was opened and thought that shouldn't be proper. We were just guessing what had caused that when we heard a cry. We meant not to intrude and will leave this place at once, if your mercy graciously allows us too."

[BigBadQDaddy]

Swallowing hard, Thomas manages to reply, "I Had heard the tale of that encounter from my father William, Lord Strahd." His voice wavers as he finds himself astonished at his ability to even put thought to word in the presence of such an infamous creature.
"As to why I am here, when I left my home my purpose was not quite clear. Now that I have arrived I have found myself in the employ of the militia of Krezk." Thomas feels his nerves buzz in high alert as he continues to speak. The thought of what this creature could do to him on a mere whim...the young man had never felt so powerless. The least he could do was press the conversation.
"For one who has been reported dead, Lord Strahd, you seem to be remarkable...active. Pray tell, now that you have me at you mercy, what are your intentions?"

[Ken of Ghastria]

When Khalfani talks in Balok, the man is startled, but only for a moment. "You, little one, have some semblance of etiquette and recognize royalty and power. Thus, I decide you and your friends shan't be harmed. I have been away far too long. Your lady friend is under a Hold Monster spell. Now, I ask once more. Who are you and what are you doing here in MY land. I will not ask again."

"My name, Excellency, is Khalfani Fenimikk," says Khalfani, continuing to speak in Balok. He bows his head before continuing. "I am a scholar, researching the history of this great land. As you can tell, we are a disparate group, gathered by the officials of Krezk to investigate a series of murders - of innocent women, as far as we have been told. You may not be surprised to learn that Barovia has been gripped by chaos since your... departure." Khalfani hopes to appeal to the menacing figure's vanity. If this IS Strahd, he reasons, he is likely to believe that Barovia has fallen into ruin without his hands gripping the reins.

[kintire]

Marilee's furious glare reveals that she would very much prefer to fight the Zombies, but perhaps fortunatly bound by the power of the paralysis spell she can make no reply

[Zilfer]

OOC sigh, i know splitting from the group is baaaad. I may get myself killed here lets see. XD

"Aw well was worth a shot," said Coin to himself as he purposefully tries to hide from the Goblyn patrols since he is still unsure about them. He then tries to tail one of the groups to try and find out what they are doing or if they talk with anyone or keep to themselves.

OOC Hide and Move silently in that order...

HIDE
1d20+10; 1d20+10 → [10,10] = (20)
Move Silently
1d20+10; 1d20+10 → [18,10] = (28)

Link
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3024967/

OOC I hate my rolls... they abandon me when I needed them. XD

IC: Coin begins to stalk the Goblyns trying to keep to the shadows and backalley ways, hoping they wouldn't notice they have someone tailing them. He takes a mental count of how many they are in a group in case they do notice him and one stays behind to flank him or surprise him to throw him off the trail.

[steveflam]

Cemetery

"Your eminence, we are travelers in this land... I at least am. We just noticed the door to the cemetery was opened and thought that shouldn't be proper. We were just guessing what had caused that when we heard a cry. We meant not to intrude and will leave this place at once, if your mercy graciously allows us too."

The tall man looks at Robert, his red eyes penetrating the man's. "Yes, you will leave when I say you can, boy. Your apology for intruding is accepted."

Turning to Marilee, he says "I release you. If you chose to be foolish, then I leave you at the mercy of my Zombies, understood?" Marilee feels the spell end and can now move and breath etc.

"I am a scholar, researching the history of this great land. As you can tell, we are a disparate group, gathered by the officials of Krezk to investigate a series of murders - of innocent women, as far as we have been told. You may not be surprised to learn that Barovia has been gripped by chaos since your... departure." Khalfani hopes to appeal to the menacing figure's vanity. If this IS Strahd, he reasons, he is likely to believe that Barovia has fallen into ruin without his hands gripping the reins.

"Murders, you say? That is of no concern to me. MY LAND however... is. My departure was greatly exaggerated, young gnome. I must confess, I have never met one of your ilk and am curious as to what your blood would taste like .... Neverthless I promised you safety and I am a man of honor. As to the state of affairs of MY LAND, that is of my concern, not yours. Be content to know that I envision taking back what is rightly mine."

Now he looks at Thomas as if sizing up the young man before responding.

Swallowing hard, Thomas manages to reply, "I Had heard the tale of that encounter from my father William, Lord Strahd." His voice wavers as he finds himself astonished at his ability to even put thought to word in the presence of such an infamous creature.
"As to why I am here, when I left my home my purpose was not quite clear. Now that I have arrived I have found myself in the employ of the militia of Krezk." Thomas feels his nerves buzz in high alert as he continues to speak. The thought of what this creature could do to him on a mere whim...the young man had never felt so powerless. The least he could do was press the conversation.
"For one who has been reported dead, Lord Strahd, you seem to be remarkable...active. Pray tell, now that you have me at you mercy, what are your intentions?"

"Yes, you have both guessed as to my identity. My demise was wrongly reported, it seems. As for my intentions, it should be obvious, young Thomas. Reclaim what is mine from that cretin Death Knight Soth. It is of no concern to you. Now you may go. Seeing as I have graced you all the favor of remaining alive, you owe me a favor which I shall call upon at the appropriate moment. I bid you farewell."

With a flourish, he snaps his fingers and both he and the Zombies are gone in a plume of smoke!


Coin

You follow the Goblyns without being detected. They travel in fours at all times, but do not speak.

[Ail]

Robert sighs heavily and says, a far more relieved now.


"Well... that went pretty good, I think
Let's wait a while outside, to be sure He's gone.......
then we may try and go look at the corpses inside. I saw two bodies fallen over there... that the zombies were eating."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Khalfani swallows deeply. He is then silent for several seconds. Finally, he says to those around him, again in the awkward Mordentish, "That was the closest to Death that I have been... and do not wish to get closer. Very bad. Strahd von Zarovich ... back in Barovia and seeking power. Pray for the spirits of those who get in his way."

Another pause. "Yes, Robert, you are right... let us not forget our reason for coming here. And Thomas, are you all right? Strahd seemed to know you ... your family?"

[BigBadQDaddy]

The young man straitens up his posture once the Lord of Castle Ravenloft departs the scene. For a moment all he could think about was how lucky he was that Strahd had not been in a foul mood. Facing a foe like he while completely unprepared was worse than death. It was simply put, suicide.

Another pause. "Yes, Robert, you are right... let us not forget our reason for coming here. And Thomas, are you all right? Strahd seemed to know you ... your family?"

"Aye, I am all right. It isn't often one comes face to face with death itself and lives to tell the tale, though I do not wish to speak, nay, even remember such fear again." He lets out a long satisfying sigh of relief. "And yes, the devil himself has knowledge of my family. The most recent crossing of paths to my knowledge took place before I was born when my father and his companions briefly stayed in the Lord of the lands company while en route to Kartakas.
"I agree with Robert. We should have a look at those bodies, and we can take a moment to gather ourselves outside the gates. We may want to also take this moment to try to discern what has become of our companion, Coin."

[steveflam]

Cemetery

The party, less Coin, exits the cemetery. There is no sign of Coin anywhere's.


Coin

You continue following the Goblyns, unnoticed by them. They keep in groups of four. They concentrate on their task and talk not. From an alley Coin hears "Having fun yet, young man? You really don't want to get caught by these brutes, Coin." You recognize the voice as belonging to Delsenora.

[Zilfer]

Coin jumped as he heard a voice so close to him in a side alley. He managed to hold in any noise he might have made as he held his hand to his mouth for a moment. He recognized the voice and slipped into the alleyway. “Do you make it a habit of following ‘young men’ at night?” complained Coin for a moment as he peeked around the corner once more. “I though you had things to do. I mean besides stalking people in the dark.”

“That’s generally the idea, I just wanted to see what they were doing. They are patrolling the streets but for what? They looking for someone, or something? Never seen anything like them before,” whispered Coin underneath his breath trying to keep quite. She was right though, he’d be in trouble if they did spot him. He’d fought before, and he was no stranger to fighting. But four opponents against one weren’t good odds, especially when he knew nothing about his opponents. “I guess you may be right I don’t trust those guys though. I have a bad feeling about that…. anyways better head back before the others start wondering if I skipped town.”

[steveflam]

"That is as sound advice as I've never heard, Coin. Say, how did it go at the cemetery? And where is everyone else?" Her eyebrow is raised quizzically.