“N … no,” stammers one of the monks in response to Laithe's shouted question. “We heard a scream. Looked outside, saw someone in a dark cloak and hood sneaking about near the back of the church – we hurried back in here and closed the door!”
Alton throws up his hands in exasperation, cursing loudly. He enters the church behind Kajetan and breathes a small sigh of relief at seeing Nicolai still safe. He moves into the shadows, seeking to observe what he can, especially around Nicolai, and the other shadowy sections of the church.
“N … no,” stammers one of the monks in response to Laithe's shouted question. “We heard a scream. Looked outside, saw someone in a dark cloak and hood sneaking about near the back of the church – we hurried back in here and closed the door!”
"Stay here and stay together," Laithe says to them, turning back towards the open door behind him. "And lock this door," he shouts over his shoulder, as he closes the door behind him.
As he leaves the building he sees Kajetan and Alton entering the church after Nicolai. With a quick prayer to Ehlonna he wills the transformation into wolf form, and speds off towards the opposite side of the church, hoping to cover an alternate entrance.
Kajetan:
Alton slips stealthily into the shadows around the edges of the church, un-noticed by anyone (as far as he can tell), and begins looking and listening for any signs of anything not right ...
Kajetan is beginning to think his bright idea is not so bright, but he continues to scan the area, while checking the bottom of the monks robes for any signs of water or snow from being outside recently.
Nicholai catches his breath, and listens to the murmurs of Laithe and Kajetan echoing in his ears. He turns at the entrance of the newest group of monks, and his lips thin into a tight line.
“Brother Edmund has been killed,” says the abbot, quietly and sadly. “In broad daylight.” The old monk looks out a nearby window at the steadily falling snow and the iron grey clouds above. “Well, close enough. Either way he grows more bold.” He looks at Nicolai, searching for answers, looking rather lost, although he does appear to notice the holy symbol that the sorcerer wears, and nods slightly.
Nicholai sags visibly. "I'm sorry. I didn't even have time to see who was attacked, We were trying to catch,..."
Bernadino is not so polite. “You are supposed to be protecting us!” he hisses, thrusting his lean, hatchet face towards Nicolai. “What have you done? Any one of us could be next!”
Nicholai raises himself to his full height, managing to look down his nose at Bernadino, even though the severe monk is easily as tall as he is. The dandy slowly reaches up, and tugs on the new holy symbol he now wears, placing it carefully on top of his robes and smoothing the material out of habit. It is a gesture that Nicholai uses often straightening his now-absent ascot, and one that Alton easily recognizes even at a distance. It means that Nicholai is about to start talking.
"Protect you?" Nicholia matches Bernadino's stare without blinking.
"In the old days, even the non-martial monks were depended upon to defend others!" He responds softly, but intensely.
"What have I done? Only gathered clues that were in plain sight to anyone who bothered to look. Only pieced together information revealing the methods and motivations of the monster behind these attacks. Only risked my own life and limb trying to catch the vile villain in the very act!" Nicholai declares, his resonant voice rising louder with each statement as his own frustrations with his failure to protect Brother Edmund are given reign. He smiles coldly at Brother Bernadino.
"You want action? Fine." He says calmly, taking a large step away from the knot of monks surrounding them both.
"I'm an idiot anyway. I should have done this in the first place!" he mutters magically into the ears of Laithe and Kajetan. The dandy turns in a swirl of robes towards the main church and the now-staring monks still gathered there. He dramatically raises one hand above his head as high as he can reach, and loudly and distinctly proclaims "Incantus Revelos!"
There is a flash of light from his upraised hand, turning a usually hidden minor charm into a stage production worthy of any mountebank. In the aftereffect of the flash Nicholai's eyes glow with a dim blue light of their own, which shines clearly in the current dimness of the altar podium.
Nicholai slowly lowers his hand, gazing across the assembly.
'In for a copper, in for a gold!' he mutters to Laithe and Kajetan without moving his lips.
All attention in the church is diverted to Nicolai at his display of theatrics. The nearby monks recoil and cry out in shock or horror at the audacious if harmless pyrotechnics display, except the abbot who initially looks a little shocked, then simply seems to wait to see what will happen next. Quite a different reaction to that of Brother Bernadino, who cries out “Blasphemer!” and reaches for his side as if grasping for a sword – a warrior’s gesture. Fortunately for Nicolai he is a monk, and carries no weapon.
Nicolai:
Kajetan:
Alton:
Kajetan: ** spoiler omitted **
DM:
Nicholai does not turn to look at Bernadino's outburst, but his resulting smirk seems to be genuine amusement rather than smugness or superiority. He concentrates on maintaining his spell. A simple effort, but one requiring focus all the same. Still, he can't help but retort in a casual tone as he scans the church.
"Blasphemer? Hardly. I assure you Brother my powers are a gift, and not the result of studying moldy old texts. A gift from associating with angels and their ilk, and not their lower-planes cousins." He adds without thinking, his tone turning hard at the end.
He concentrates, trying to focus his sight past the expected auras of decades of faithful worship and deity-powered Blessings,...
:)
Keildrithe had spent the last few minutes trying to rouse Pharris to action, but the elven woman seems to have sunk into a deep fit of melancholy – something about this place has had a profoundly negative emotional effect on her. While the bard is confident that he could bring her around given time, he’s not sure that he has that time – the others might need him. So he leaves Pharris curled up on her bed and heads back out through the snow, following Alton.
Laithe, meanwhile, in wolf form, has raced back into the cloister to the side door of the church. There are a number of monks in the cloister now, some near the entrance to the dining hall and others near the church door. Upon seeing the rugged grey wolf racing towards them, monks shriek, call out to Arton for help, and scatter, a number of them running back into the church, some running away. While Laithe doesn’t see anyone who doesn’t look like a monk, he can’t be sure that the killer hasn’t used the panic to get away.
Moth
:)
Kajetan:
Nicolai:
Here is a map of the church and surrounds.
The abbot, Brother Anselm, is at J12, Brother Bernadino is beside him at K12. Novice Plutarch is at I13, Brother Horatio is at L15. Other monks are inside the church at K4, K5, I12, L12, J13, K13, L13, I14, M14, O14, H16, J17, N17, L18, Q18, I20, M20 and K21, and outside the church at Z3, Y4, S13, T17, U19 and X21.
Nicolai entered via the back door (J4) and is now talking to the abbot and Bernadino, so should be somewhere north of them but nearby (probably around J or K11). Kajetan also entered via the back door and would have positioned himself to best scan the room with his spell, so should be somewhere from H8 through to M11. Alton entered via the back door and hid in the shadows in the church, he should be somewhere near a wall or column no more than halfway down the church (from the top of the page).
Laithe is in wolf form somewhere in the cloister or the courtyard within, so can position himself anywhere to the right of grid S (outside the church). Keildrithe was making his way to the church and can position himself anywhere outside the church on the map.
Please call positions when you give me your initiative rolls.
Alton:
:)
Nicholai frowns slightly, and turns a little to one side,...
The murmur of voices and the sounds of scared monks inside the church is broken by a sudden intense shriek, so filled with raw anger and hatred that it rocks those who can clearly hear it to their very cores, filling their hearts with fear.
Alton recoils as if hit as he hears the awful shriek. He sinks back against the wall, trying to bury himself further into the shadows as the shriek reverberates through his skull, as if speaking to him of the demise of all he holds dear.
Alton recoils as if hit as he hears the awful shriek. He sinks back against the wall, trying to bury himself further into the shadows as the shriek reverberates through his skull, as if speaking to him of the demise of all he holds dear.
Will: +4(class) +1(wis) = +5
Kajetan's mind is still reeling from touching a mind so full of hate and loathing that he is stunned and caught completely unprepared for the primal screech. The fear floods through his open defenses, involuntary his bladder loosens and warm wet patch spreads down the front of his brown robe.
Rounds affected:
Will: +4(class) +1(wis) = +5 1d20+5
Kajetan's mind is still reeling from touching a mind so full of hate and loathing that he is stunned and caught completely unprepared for the primal screech. The fear floods through his open defenses, involuntary his bladder loosens and warm wet patch spreads down the front of his brown robe.
Rounds affected: 1d4
The vast majority of the monks in the place collapse in fear, or begin gibbering in mindless terror. A handful have the presence of mind to look for the nearest exits and get ready to run. Only Anselm and Bernadino show any strength of will, although both men are clearly shaken – pale and staring in horror at the shadowy apparition.
Nicholai freezes, his eyes wide, as the scream chills him to his very soul. He knows he has to move, he knows, somewhere deep down, that he has to fight. That the creature he is looking for is here. But he can't get past the cage of panic that has suddenly trapped his mind in an iron grip. He suddenly relives every frightening, terrible event he has ever lived through, werecreatures, chain demons, tentacled horrors, life-draining undead, being tormented by the older kids at night in the orphanage, Every fear he has ever had returns at once,...
Keildrithe's heart pounds and his blood freezes in his veins as he hears the wailing coming from within the church. Terror wells up within, making him want to flee in terror... but he resists the urge, for now. You must be strong... for your friends, he thinks to himself. The Karand cautiously enters through the back door of the church, hand on the hilt of his grandfather's longsword. He tries to quietly open the inner door a crack while hopefully remaining unnoticed, peering through the opening to determine the position of the wailing fiend, his companions, and anyone else who might be in the church before taking further action... and hopefully being able to identify the exact nature of the threat they face... and what vulnerabilities it might possess?
Ignoring the fearful monks, Laithe-wolf hears the shriek from within and an involuntary shiver runs down his spine. He lopes into the church, moving urgently but cautiously. Entering the main hall, he tries to get a view of the man or thing that let out the horrific scream.
Keildrithe, peering through the crack of the barely open door, you can see a shadow shrouded figure near the far end of the church. It appears human – or at least humanoid in form – and is dressed in what appears to be a brown monk’s robe with a ragged dark cloak or blanket over the top of it. Beneath the cowl you see a hint of a very pale face with a dark hole of an open mouth, but can’t make out much more, nor do you recognize what manner of creature this might be.
Laithe, you can spot the thing too
The cowled figure suddenly lurches forward, beginning with an awkward gait, but then speeding up, moving with surprising haste and agility, weaving its way between the wooden pews into the main aisle of the church, then moving with horrifying swiftness towards the knot of people standing before the alter.
As it hastens forward, it lifts a pale hand to its cowl. The hands appear human, except at the tips of the fingers, where the skin has been shredded or peeled away, tattered skin, dried blood and scabs giving way to exposed, jagged finger bones. The thing throws back the hood, revealing a drawn, sunken face beneath a bald head, lolling to the side, the neck twisted at an impossible angle, the skin pale and showing faint signs of decay. Dark, sunken eyes blaze with fury.
Brothers Anselm and Bernadino both gasp with shock and horror. “Abel!” exclaims the abbot. “How..?”
A hollow voice rattles from the creature’s chest as it advances, pointing at Brother Bernadino. “Confess your sins,” it intones. Reaching the cowering monk standing before Bernadino, it smashes the poor man aside, sending him crashing to the hard stone floor. “Or be condemned to burn in the pits of Hell,” the late Brother Abel continues, its attention not wavering from the older monk.
“You’re dead!” Bernadino gasped backing away. “We killed you!” He backs away as fast as his limping gait will allow him, then turns and hobbles past the alter, flinging open the door that Keildrithe hides behind.
Brother Anselm stares in shock, looking between Abel and Bernadino.
“You’re dead!” Bernadino gasped backing away. “We killed you!” He backs away as fast as his limping gait will allow him, then turns and hobbles past the alter, flinging open the door that Keildrithe hides behind.
Laithe-wolf let's out a growl, Bernadino's comment alerting him to the fact that perhaps some of the he and perhaps some of the other monks might be responsible for the creatures existence. However, the most immediate threat remained the undead creature Abel had become. As the creature swats away another priest, Laithe wolf launches himself at the thing, hoping to prevent any more deaths, hoping one of his companions would be able to prevent Bernadino from escaping.