"So, you're the merit badge achiever of the night. That kid you carried down to us will make it.
So how many rose up there? And.....what something else was involved?"
<Wod bares his teeth like a hungry chimp holding the only banana.>
"Hurmh. Those four.....long ago. Fought on that hill up there against an orc horde." he looks at Wod again; "what an....ironic twist. I almost feel as if Wod has been sent to test me....""Whu....what did you find up there? I didn't know about anything but the burial place of the paladins, really."
"Maybe you kill Wod's father."
"Maybe good kill. Now Wod will burn George, god man. Nobody will stop Wod."
Alinya watches as Larissa helps the injured guards. When she is sure that the healing is done well she gives a short satisfied nod, and turns to Castiel. "What do you make of this? Does 'V' relate to anything that we discovered last night?"
Alinya resolves to check her notes at the first opportunity.
"Father Grimburrow, I am glad you are unhurt. I feel we have much to discuss. But first, is there anyone else in Ravengro who we should check on - anyone in particular who might have been a target of these unquiet dead?"
“If we may speak to you in private ... no need to cause a panic ...” Castiel takes Grimburrow aside from the acolytes and deputies.
“Wod’s former friend ‘George’ – the gnome – had risen too. A walking corpse, but one that could talk and use magic. A spell it cast got the best of me, but my companions – Wod especially I understand – destroyed the thing. I don’t know if it was the cause of this plague of the dead – I suspect not. There is something else ... Professor Lorrimer was investigating the old prison, my instinct tells me something there is the cause of this.
“’George’ seemed to command several zombies wearing Pharasmin armour,” Castiel shows Grimburrow an epaulet taken from one of the suits. “He was holed up in an old crypt ... upon investigation after defeating the undead, we discovered what appears to be an old stash of undead and ghost fighting equipment. With your permission we would use this gear to help us investigate Harrowstone.”
"Hurmh. Those four.....long ago. Fought on that hill up there against an orc horde." he looks at Wod again; "what an....ironic twist. I almost feel as if Wod has been sent to test me...."
"Whu....what did you find up there? I didn't know about anything but the burial place of the paladins, really."
Castiel tells the priest what they found in the stash.
"So, you're the merit badge achiever of the night. That kid you carried down to us will make it.
So how many rose up there? And.....what something else was involved?"<Wod bares his teeth like a hungry chimp holding the only banana.>
"Hurmh. Those four.....long ago. Fought on that hill up there against an orc horde." he looks at Wod again; "what an....ironic twist. I almost feel as if Wod has been sent to test me....""Whu....what did you find up there? I didn't know about anything but the burial place of the paladins, really."
"Maybe you kill Wod's father."
"Maybe good kill. Now Wod will burn George, god man. Nobody will stop Wod."
"From the mouths of.....uh, sounds like a good idea."
Alinya watches as Larissa helps the injured guards. When she is sure that the healing is done well she gives a short satisfied nod, and turns to Castiel. "What do you make of this? Does 'V' relate to anything that we discovered last night?"
Alinya resolves to check her notes at the first opportunity.
"Father Grimburrow, I am glad you are unhurt. I feel we have much to discuss. But first, is there anyone else in Ravengro who we should check on - anyone in particular who might have been a target of these unquiet dead?"
"Uh,.....deputies?"
There's 4 of them, they suggest you guys follow them on a general sweep of the village, looking for stragglers."I don't.......I don't know if there's a pattern yet."
Castiel tells the priest what they found in the stash.“If we may speak to you in private ... no need to cause a panic ...” Castiel takes Grimburrow aside from the acolytes and deputies.
“Wod’s former friend ‘George’ – the gnome – had risen too. A walking corpse, but one that could talk and use magic. A spell it cast got the best of me, but my companions – Wod especially I understand – destroyed the thing. I don’t know if it was the cause of this plague of the dead – I suspect not. There is something else ... Professor Lorrimer was investigating the old prison, my instinct tells me something there is the cause of this.
“’George’ seemed to command several zombies wearing Pharasmin armour,” Castiel shows Grimburrow an epaulet taken from one of the suits. “He was holed up in an old crypt ... upon investigation after defeating the undead, we discovered what appears to be an old stash of undead and ghost fighting equipment. With your permission we would use this gear to help us investigate Harrowstone.”
"Hurmh. Those four.....long ago. Fought on that hill up there against an orc horde." he looks at Wod again; "what an....ironic twist. I almost feel as if Wod has been sent to test me...."
"Whu....what did you find up there? I didn't know about anything but the burial place of the paladins, really."
"Huh....sounds like someone was expecting trouble maybe; I don't know. This isn't on the church records; I'll ask my acolytes for sure, but.......well, I think we'll chalk this all up to serendipity. Guiding hand of Pharasma. I don't have to report this up the chain necessarily; sounds like it goes from Pharasma to me, to you guys.....or vice versa......i.e. keep it; I think you'll need it. I'm going to roust the council, I think this'll have to all be discussed in the town hall on the morrow. Emergency session....."
Alinya watches as Larissa helps the injured guards. When she is sure that the healing is done well she gives a short satisfied nod, and turns to Castiel. "What do you make of this? Does 'V' relate to anything that we discovered last night?"
"It has to refer to a group or an individual. Who do we know of whose name starts with a 'V'?"
Musing aloud, Larissa adds, "And is this mystery 'V' person the writer of the message? Or are they writing of someone else?"
She puts a hand over her eyes, shaking her head, before she lowers it again and asks, "Deputy Stiv, it it? You said you saw someone run away. Can you show us where they ran? Perhaps we can follow their trail and ask them directly who 'V' is."
Questions,.....answered,.....only to lead to more questions.
"He,...ran on up the river a way's." Points generally in a direction;
"then these.....walking dead men were upon me; lost track of my quarry. Wish the Sheriff were here. I could try to put him to bay."
Nigel strokes his goatee while listening to the information
"V ... related to foul necromancy.."
Knowledge(arcana):
Linguistics:
“This foulness should not desecrate a monument to men who died doing their duty,” Castiel wipes the fresh blood from the monument.
“Did any of the prisoners who died have a name starting with ‘V’? The prison is somehow at the centre of this – the Professor died there, Rholf and I had a vision of the place, the zombies in prison garb though the place has been shut down for decades ...”
"We would also do well" Rholf interjects calmly "to consider the possibility that the 'V' could be a sigil, a numeral, or perhaps resemble an organization's name instead of an individual. I think we would benefit from perusing any surviving records from the last days of the prison. Father Grimburrow, are there any townsfolk still living here that were alive when the prison was still functioning? Perhaps we could interview them."
Nigel strokes his goatee while listening to the information
"V ... related to foul necromancy.."
Knowledge(arcana): 1d20+6
Linguistics: 1d20+4
......maybe,....vampire...
"We would also do well" Rholf interjects calmly "to consider the possibility that the 'V' could be a sigil, a numeral, or perhaps resemble an organization's name instead of an individual. I think we would benefit from perusing any surviving records from the last days of the prison. Father Grimburrow, are there any townsfolk still living here that were alive when the prison was still functioning? Perhaps we could interview them."
For the sake of simplicity;.....not "5" in "Roman numerals." It's a letter "V" that much is utterly certain.
Edwin rolls his eyes (Careful not to let the others see him doing it) as they go ahead and blab about the stash of anti-undead-supplies. He lets the others talk, and goes to examine the fresh "V" on the tomb.
Total of 17
;P
Just a "V." Shoddily scrawled in blood.....nothing rings a bell.
lol.....another iphone zombie is born...;)
Air conditioner maybe busted.
I live in Texas.....
may be dealing with IRL bullshit for a bit; I'll keep ya posted.
Blown capacitor. No big deal. Dodged a bullet......huzzah!!!
Myron pulls the companions closer. "So, to recap: the professor goes up to the prison, and promptly dies. We're beset by something that seems to have burrowed up from the cells underneath the prison. Rholf and Castiel have visions of the walking dead wearing prison garb just as the same walking dead mob the town."
"Forget the 'V' for now. It is clearly the prison that is important. Sounds like the inmates are staging a prison break."
lol.....another iphone zombie is born...;)
ROFL- "Mmmmm,... Texxxxting,..."
Myron pulls the companions closer. "So, to recap: the professor goes up to the prison, and promptly dies. We're beset by something that seems to have burrowed up from the cells underneath the prison. Rholf and Castiel have visions of the walking dead wearing prison garb just as the same walking dead mob the town."
"Forget the 'V' for now. It is clearly the prison that is important. Sounds like the inmates are staging a prison break."
"Yesss,..." Edwin drawls out.
"Except that the inmates are breaking out of graves instead of cells. Padre'! You mentioned that you thought the old wards would hold. Did you mean that you thought they would hold? Or that you HOPED they would hold? Are they failing from age? Or is something tearing them down? Is there anything that can be done to re-strengthen them? At least in the short term?" Edwin asks the tired-looking priest politely but rapidly.
"I concur. The prison seems to be central to most of what's going on. Whatever that may actually turn out to be. I think we should investigate the ruins as soon as we get some rest. Preferably in daylight."
"Except that the inmates are breaking out of graves instead of cells. Padre'! You mentioned that you thought the old wards would hold. Did you mean that you thought they would hold? Or that you HOPED they would hold? Are they failing from age? Or is something tearing them down? Is there anything that can be done to re-strengthen them? At least in the short term?" Edwin asks the tired-looking priest politely but rapidly.
"The graveyard was blessed;.....made hallowed ground. Never did anything at the prison....
I don't know if they're failing, from age, or from some other phenomenon. Nothing I can do tonight though, my abilities are at their limit with all this....."
"Of course. You'll need your rest too. We'll have to wait until we've made certain that there are no more walkers out there who should still be in the ground."
"Hm. It COULD be mere coincidence. (Yeah. Right.) More likely that decades of childish pranks have desecrated a formerly consecrated area. If so, a few of the proper prayers and rituals should set things to rights soon enough. Unfortunately, they are time consuming. So we'll still have to deal with THIS for now, and try to button everything up and sanctified again once it's over, to prevent a repeat."
"I....I don't know if I'm strong enough. Powerful enough. I didn't put the first wards up.
And I fear that, if more of those things come;.....I'll be needed to put the defenders of Ravengro back together,....I'll give it some thought. See what I can figure out to do."
Seeing no one jumping at the possibility of tracking the graffiti artist, Larissa has come back to overhear the conversation between Father Grimburrow and the detective. Putting a hand on the priest's forearm, she pipes up, "The fates have seen to it that you need not face this alone. We are here and willing to aid the town, and yourself, if only to honor the memory of our fallen friend.
"Rest, get your strength back, and let us know how we can best aid you in the struggle."
He walks away; breastplate hanging heavy.
"Aye,.....need some sleep if I can. After I talk to the town council;....we'll call a meeting tomorrow. I'll send someone to the Prof.....the mansion; tell you when to show up."
“My vision was not of zombies wearing prison garb, but of actually being incarcerated within the prison – Harrowstone,” Castiel corrects Myron. “It felt extremely real,” he adds.
“I suggest we conduct a patrol of the town, then head back to the mansion to get some sleep if all is clear.”
"I agree Castiel. We need to make sure the unliving are all back in the ground and no-one else is in danger. Then we can plan our next steps, and review the clues we have already found. It's good that Grimburrow is talking to the town council, we should not be the only ones taking responsibility here. But have they no nearby lord or local sherrif to call on for aid?"
“The sheriff we met on our way into town,” says Castiel. “But I would say that he and his deputies are more used to dealing with bandits and maybe occasional orc raids – they’ll be out of their depth against undead. As for nobles ... I have heard that some counties in Ustalav have overthrown the nobility and given rule to councils made up of butchers, bakers and candlestick makers. Isn’t this one of those counties? In my experience, such councils are slow to act to threats, caught up in petty bickering and paper pushing.”
"Ah, really? Very strange choice, to forego the protection of a noble family. Still, that means that responsibility for handling this current mess must fall to us. We cannot expect the commonalty to ensure these undead abominations are put to rest."
+1 ring of protection
wand of magic missile...1st level.....25 charges
12 silver arrows
4 sun rods
6 flasks of holy water
10 +1 arrows
5 potions of cure light wounds
five +1 ghost touch arrows
two +1 undead bane arrows
two potions of lesser restoration
a scroll of detect undead
two scrolls of hide from undead
1 scroll of protection from evil
4 haunt siphons
"I agree Castiel. We need to make sure the unliving are all back in the ground and no-one else is in danger. Then we can plan our next steps, and review the clues we have already found. It's good that Grimburrow is talking to the town council, we should not be the only ones taking responsibility here. But have they no nearby lord or local sherrif to call on for aid?"
The town council is the nearest immediate representative of government/nobility, and Grimburrow's going to palaver with them, and see about a town meeting for tomorrow.....the sheriff took off to go check out the guys you fought in the first encounter; it was a tidy step; he's not back as of yet, for all you know.
I'll say (since I don't have the Ustalav book, but it's on my wish in one hand and shit in the other list).....the nearest "lord on a hill" is about 2 days' journey away, and you're not too sure of his disposition in this matter; he's a bumpkin to a city slicker noble like yourself; and sometimes they don't cotton to your types traipsing around and lording your fancy ways....
maybe he might help, but he'd be just as likely to try and arrange a marriage between yourself and one of his snotnosed whelps as a possible way of gaining influence and shaking your daddy down for money.....
"Ah, really? Very strange choice, to forego the protection of a noble family. Still, that means that responsibility for handling this current mess must fall to us. We cannot expect the commonalty to ensure these undead abominations are put to rest."
Church of Pharasma would be the most likely, possibly only place for a CLW wand.
Note to self.....describe some businesses!!!
I've had a real b~++& of a day, and am very fatigued, but tomorrow night I'll try to type up a description of a sweep through town, and make a note of shops and whatnot.
Again, (prolly missed cuz I just typed)
Father Grimburrow's the biggest rep of the Church of Pharasma around these parts, and he is disposed to letting you guys strap up the paladins' gear and go monster bashing to your heart's content.Selling it, though,.....meh, kinda flaky.
"I agree Castiel. We need to make sure the unliving are all back in the ground and no-one else is in danger. Then we can plan our next steps, and review the clues we have already found. It's good that Grimburrow is talking to the town council, we should not be the only ones taking responsibility here. But have they no nearby lord or local sherrif to call on for aid?"
The town council is the nearest immediate representative of government/nobility, and Grimburrow's going to palaver with them, and see about a town meeting for tomorrow.....the sheriff took off to go check out the guys you fought in the first encounter; it was a tidy step; he's not back as of yet, for all you know.
I'll say (since I don't have the Ustalav book, but it's on my wish in one hand and s@$$ in the other list).....the nearest "lord on a hill" is about 2 days' journey away, and you're not too sure of his disposition in this matter; he's a bumpkin to a city slicker noble like yourself; and sometimes they don't cotton to your types traipsing around and lording your fancy ways....
maybe he might help, but he'd be just as likely to try and arrange a marriage between yourself and one of his snotnosed whelps as a possible way of gaining influence and shaking your daddy down for money.....
Huh, found some stuff online; Canterwall is a "Palatinate" which is one of three counties in Ustalav that deposed their nobles for being scuzzbags or vampires or whatnot, and now is run by town councils made up of benevolent capitalist Captains of Industry....;)
So, yeah; the town council is the nearest thing; there might be some eccentric lord who has a castle on a hill, and he might be a necromancer for all you know......MWAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Looks like there's some forts on the western border where Canterwall borders with the Lawless Orclands tha that are the Hold of Belkzen.......maybe got some guys there, but they're kinda concerned with keeping orc marauders out.
Well that seems to be against the natural order of the world, and nothing good will come of this crazy idea of commoners holding power. They don't have the breeding for it. However, we will do our best to save this village, despite its own folly.
Again, (prolly missed cuz I just typed)
Father Grimburrow's the biggest rep of the Church of Pharasma around these parts, and he is disposed to letting you guys strap up the paladins' gear and go monster bashing to your heart's content.Selling it, though,.....meh, kinda flaky.
Myron pulls the companions closer. "So, to recap: the professor goes up to the prison, and promptly dies. We're beset by something that seems to have burrowed up from the cells underneath the prison. Rholf and Castiel have visions of the walking dead wearing prison garb just as the same walking dead mob the town.""Forget the 'V' for now. It is clearly the prison that is important. Sounds like the inmates are staging a prison break."
"Myron, you are right. We need to review what we know of the prison, and the Professor's thoughts on it. There is something evil happening here."
[ooc]No bow, so the arrows aren't of use to her...
Larissa just listens to the discussions about how to disperse the found equipment and answers according the thoughts above if asked. Otherwise, she keeps quiet.
Full plate it was.
Starting a late night tour of Harrowstone....
the memorial is at the very south, on the south bank of the river that divides the town. Feel free to comment or ask anything or do anything any time you want to.....I'm doing this in maybe 2 or 3 posts, so as not to get too much further ahead than you guys want to go.
(one detail changed; I put the prison NORTH, PAST THE CEMETARY, NOT SOUTH OF HARROWSTONE.....
The group winds up the bank of the river bordered by a slight rise on the south and east, and then past an extremely ramshackle building; it looks like a personal domicile, but extremely dilapidated, maybe even abandoned. Then next to that is a barn, bordered by a field of pumpkins and rye, and the farmhouse right on the river; to the left from this point is a bridge across to the road that runs north, past the church of Pharasma, and on to the cemetary.
From these buildings, on the south/east side of the river, there is a road that dips south east, then northeast into the town square.
THAT road passes the road south out of town, and what the deputy refers to as the house of "Councilwoman Maerta Straelock. She used to own the town tavern, but sold it right before joining the council."
Then, this road goes over a tiny bridge over a tiny creek, before swinging back northeast toward the middle of the town square.
The next building is on the left; the Professor's place where you guys are shacking up. There's a field of hay out back and a barn.
There's a light on inside in the parlor at the moment.
SLIGHT PAUSE TO LET THE GROUP COMMENT/ASK QUESTIONS.
Do we see any signs of trouble in any of these areas? Signs of bloodshed or combat? Signs of unholy spirits returned from their unquiet graves? Signs of mindless zombie hordes lumbering after innocent civilians in unclean hunger for brains?
If not, we're probably good to move on to the next section of the town.