GM Harpwizard |
"Cairn, is that trap door secure enough to prevent any of the wooden mannequins from following? Ok, let's stick together and mover onward." Solaric moves to the western door and looks down the hallway.
Zyren, it is fine if you don't but by any chance to you have a map of this opera house?
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
Only handwritten, maybe I can find a virtual one too.
The corridor is dark and chilly and extends to the left and right for quite a distance until it turns around corners at both ends.
In the distance of the right corridor you can see faint torchlight - behind the turn the corridor must be illuminated.
--------
As you have finished pulling the bodies out of the opera, you hear the clacking of boots behind you, Gregori has arrived with a reinforcement of a score of Nightscarves.
What... he seems speechless in all the hells has happened here?
Cairn Stern |
Cairn slid the bar home securing the trap door against followers...why didnt the Ragman do this to stall us?... and nods an aknowledgement to Solaric before moving to the front. Thankfull for the lights provided by the others his eyes swept the hallways.
Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (17) + 15 = 32
Right or left? To the light or back into darkness?
Cairn Stern |
It certainly looks like we've been expected. Cairn says with a frown. He didnt much like the idea that the Ragman wasn't scared of them in the least...quite the contrary it seems... He took his mind of it by getting back to work and checking the door.
Perception: 1d20 + 15 ⇒ (14) + 15 = 29
Kirk Spearborn |
"No idea, but there's trouble inside. I'm going in. Is anybody coming with me?" Kirk hesitates only a moment at the door, waiting to see if the Nightscarves will accompany him or not, then he turns and all but barrels into the opera house in search of his old partners.
Assuming I should keep the same rolls as earlier...
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
The carpet catches fire easily and soon dark smoke fills the corridor and you have to return to the trapdoor room...while you wait for the smoke to dissipate, suddenly the gutted man behind you croaks
You are even too barbaric to appreciate a friendly welcome!
like the mannequins before, his facial features suddenly resemble those of Alon Weatherby.
---------
Stepping over more unconscious youths you venture deeper into the opera house past the entrance to the grand hall. Soon you reach the central stairwell leading up and down.
The Nightscarves behind you meanwhile continue to carry the kids out.
GM Harpwizard |
You are even too barbaric to appreciate a friendly welcome!
"The only barbaric one here is you, Ragman! Show yourself and face us in the light! You hide in shadows and behind the constructs of mindless beings. If you truly wish to make us feel welcome, you will step forward and face us now!"
Cairn Stern |
Cairn startled when the dead body spoke but calmed when Solaric answered with a challenge...Light but these Chosen are brave... He moved towards the corpse and swung his axe into the things neck to make sure it was dead.
GM Harpwizard |
"There is no luck involved in this, you fiend! The Inheritor has willed that you will die, and I am here to ensure that her will is fulfilled!" Solaric thrusts his longsword through the image of Alon's face to make his message loud and clear! "I can see the fear in your eyes and I understand why you hide in shadows like a rat in sewer. You fear the light will burn you!"
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
With a cracking sound Solaric splits the skull and now the projected visage of Alon fades. In the distance of the corridor you hear a door swing open - the smoke has also mostly dissipated by now.
--------
The youths seem to have come out of the grand hall of the opera, but more recently a group of people has descended the stairs.
Cairn Stern |
Free from the threat of water and with danger imminent; Cairn took a moment to draw his pistol and large hunting knife from his satchel and tuck them in his belt. He then fell in with the Chosen in their pursuit of ending the Ragman.
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
Awaiting a nasty surprise or even worse a trap every second, you cautiously move down the corridor which leads into a vast domed chamber.
The room is a strange sight since onle the back wall and the ceiling are visible, the walls to the right and left are obscured by magical darkness.
The corridor that leads through the darkness ends at the foot of a podium on which a throne-like chair (surely one of the many props they need for the opera) rests. On it, in a pose that is at once mocking and snotty, a hooded figure sits. His face is obscured by the large tattered hood, but he radiates a cold that turns your breath into tiny clouds of steam.
A slow rolling laughter errups from underneath the hood and with an astonishing agility the Ragman gets up and shouts
Welcome, welcome to tonight's special premiere!
then he slumps back into the chair and adds You were too weak to kill the first few actors, how can you dare...or even imagine you are able to kill the star? I guess we will find out, are you ready for act one? The play is called "The tragedy of Alon Weatherby...
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
As I said...you're just a barbaric small mind!
The Ragman says, but remains seated. As you reach the foot of the podium, you feel like you've smashed into a solid wall of thick glass. The ragman must be sitting behind some invisible kind of force field!
Can we now start the play or do you want to go on pestering me? he asks laconically.
GM Harpwizard |
Solaric is furious that he cannot reach the ragman and pushes against the force field trying to find a weakness. Alas he remarks, "I do not know what magic you use to hide behind, but someday I will smite you down with Iomedae as my witness!"
Solaric waits cautiously to see what happens next.
Cairn Stern |
Cairn could feel his heart thundering in his chest and wouldnt have doubted if those beside him said they could hear it. Before him sat the creature resposible for the deaths of many children including his nephew Gavran. It took ever ounce of self control the young Sczarni had not to rush the little stage and thorw himself at this mockery of life but he knew from Sir Solaric's attempts that it would be futile. He waited with gritted teeth as the scene played out.
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
The Ragman bows adroitly and shouts
BEGIN! ACT1!
At first nothing happens, but slowly the darkness to your left dissipates. Before you is a miniature version of a snowbound Karcau. But even though the weather isn't good to say the least, the streets are filled with throngs of joyful people, singing loudly, chatting and drinking. From time to time fireworks brighten up the sky above the onion-domed towers.
This must be the night after your graduation!
The "camera" zooms in and behind a nearly bursting tavern - the Snickering Madman -, a gaunt ash-blonde man stands in the cold and tries to look through the icy windows. His clothes are shaggy and partly ragged. As he turns around to face the camera fully, you recognize Alon in the days when he wasn't undead.
Before the play can go on, the Ragman shouts
Question no. 1! And the first of your many mistakes! Who is this poor fellow and what does he crave for that you already had at this time?
GM Harpwizard |
Knowledge, Local 1d20 ⇒ 15
"I recognize our graduation night, and I see Alon Wetherby. At that time, he sought to be married to none other than the star Tatyana. I never understood what ever happened to him, but from what he looks like in this image, he appears to crave new clothes and acceptance."
'Countess' Victoria |
Know Local 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (18) + 5 = 23
"Acceptance and talent. He wanted power and influence. The man was a hack and a pretender, a man of some small capacity, his reach exceeded his grasp and the young Aasimar he pined for and wished to marry would never be his"
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
Nearly frothing with wrath, the Ragman shouts
You are a tool, Victoria! Alon was a man of great capacity, he only failed the university accpetance test twice because they cheated him! And then, none of his old friends wanted to support him anymore, that's your solidarity that you're so proud of. As soon as one is weaker than the rest you push him out of your group!
'Countess' Victoria |
"Really? I didn't know him from a pile of coal. Even I passed that exam and I hated book study. Are you sure your man wasn't simplyweak of mind and weak of will, and thats why he failed you?"
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
And again you underestimate me! While you only managed to become "Karcau's Chosen"...a ridiculous band of idiots, I've become the vessel of the a power you cannot even imagine in your wildest dreams...anyway...
he points at the play again and the scene begins to blur but becomes clear again after some seconds with Alon in the backstage area of the opera. He looks over to a silver-haired beauty who is surrounded by many fans and admirers who praise her beauty, talent and voice.
Alon meanwhile seals a letter with a clumsily drawn heart on it and tries to pass it over to her...but one of her squires catches his wrist and grasps the letter...when he begins to read it out aloud, poor Alon runs away, tears in his eyes...
Cairn Stern |
True love...true love is all he wanted...and he was ridiculed for it...
Cairn hated this creature before him anddespite the evidence still couldnt find it in his heart to feel sorry for the man.
Flofer Nighthawk |
Many are cheated of what they desire, and of what they need. What makes this man any different from the thousands that die of hunger and sickness every day? What makes him better than all the others who long for love and receive only hardship and abandon? Tell me, were you this same man, who followed a noble profession and strove to bring joy to others through art?
Detect chaos
Johenric |
Johenric who never met the Ragman speeches in a neutral way.
Diplomacy 1d20 + 17 ⇒ (18) + 17 = 35
Ragman, many people tell about me I have no real ambition to steer the lifecylce; they perceive me as an observer - but this is ok, because this is who I am.
Please keep in mind that what ever has happened to you does not justify what you are doing - for any morality be it good or evil. It only counts what you are doing regardless of the reasons you might have. The people of Karcau will tell stories about you. Hijacking people or murdering kids - what ever has happened to you - will be in their memory. Even from an neutral perspective this is defined as evil. Is this what you want?
DM Zyren/ Heart of Light |
The Ragman slumps back into his throne and trhows his arms up in frustration
Not even now you manage to apologise? You who sat in the tavern, you who were amongst the people Tatyana liked? A hundred times she said "Oh would I ever a marry a student of the academies, my life was good..." bah...but hey, the tragedy is far from being told, let's take a look at the second act!
Again the scene blurs and the next thing you see is a small room, most probably one of the artists' dressing rooms rooms here in the opera. Alon has his face pressed against the wall to peek through a crack between two boards into the next room, as suddenly the door is pulled open and the man who caught his wrist earlier enters. The newcomer seems confused for a moment as if he had entered the wrong room, but then he spots Alon and begins to laugh and gives him a kick in the ribs. More kicks and insults follow...
@ Flofer:
The Ragman radiates a strong aura of chaos.