The Party begins picking up the items, Kenzo takes the Frayed Rope of the Hanged Man, Sterling takes the Scarab Vial of Bonegnasher, Zyblina takes the Spider’s Web decorated Jar of Soulcatcher, Teofila takes the Moldy Spellbook of the Splatter Man, Cole takes the Masterwork Smith’s Hammer of the Mosswater Marauder, Sergei takes the Oversized Bloodstained Handaxe of the Lopper, it feels natural to hold these items for each of you, though you’re not entirely certain why…
Zek and Bastion are left to carry either the Silver Flute of the Piper of Illmarsh or the Collection of Holy Symbols of Father Charlatan. Zek takes the symbols while Bastion takes the Flute.
Van Richten's Journals
There are four journals in the chest. The first is from ten years ago. The next then leaps forward in time to about five years ago. The third journal is a dream log. The final journal is the most recent which describes the incidents that led up to his death.
Rudolph's earliest journals are not present, perhaps they were lost or perhaps they are back in Lepidstadt University.
The first journal goes back about ten years ago wherein the Professor discusses his first encounter with agents of the Whispering Way, but he does not discuss exactly what the Whispering Way is except to say:
The Whispering Way is more than just a cabal of necromancers. I see that now. Undeath is their fountain of youth. Uncovering their motivation does not place me at ease as I thought it might. Their desire to be eternal simply makes them more dangerous.
The rest is quite interesting but the Professor himself circled the above entry.
The second journal covers his time mainly at the University and traveling about Ustalav as a "consultant" no longer actively hunting the denizens of the night that roam the land. The circled entries in this journal consist of the Doctor meeting all of you! He cross references meeting those of you individually with page in his dream journal wherein he met people he named as similar to you all but different. Darker in demeanor and purpose. His most extensive writing is on Sergei, he appears to believe that Sergei may be an individual pulled out of what he calls his dreamworld. The stuff of dreams come to life.
The group continues to read through the second journal, finding more references to yourselves as characters that inhabit his "dreamworld". However, he does not state your alter-ego names from this dreamworld. The journal discusses how he goes out of his way to track each of you and your careers creating "chance" encounters with each of you. Whether to provide guidance or assist with your work, or to simply ensure that you have the proper mentors.
The dreamlog focuses on his life as hunter of the dead within this land named Barovia. There are also neighboring lands, though he does not mention them by name, wherein he encounters foes many of which are described in his "Van Richten's Guides".
In addition to his dreamlog, the third journal discusses the Doctors travels to a place called Brandescar Prison. It was in this place that he met with Sergei directly. Based upon his writings, Sergei did not belong in the prison and it was never clear why Sergei was even placed within the prison other than his mysterious appearance on the island of Talingarde. However, the warden refused to allow Sergei to leave and be given to the Doctor's care. The Doctor believes, but never shared with his colleague at Brandescar Prison, that Sergei may well be an "escapee" from his dreamworld! From a place he names Barovia.
By the end of the third journal, the Doctor has decided to retire. The decision is to ensure that he can independently print the treatises that he wishes to print and to continue to pursue his dreamworld analysis without any teaching work interference as his days are simply too busy at the college to do so properly.
The fourth journal is the most recent and the most troubling. The Doctor's notes seem to indicate that his interest in printing his "Guides" are being blocked from widespread print.
Within the last two months though his attention is taken up by something far more sinister.
Two Months Ago:
It is as I had feared. The Way is interested in something here in Ravengro. But what could it be?
One Month Ago:
Whatever the Way seeks, I am now convinced their goal is connected to Harrowstone. In retrospect, I suppose it all makes sense—the stories they tell about the ruins in town are certainly chilling enough. It may be time to investigate the ruins, but with everyone in town already being so worked up about them, I’d rather not let the others know about my curiosity—there’s plenty of folks hereabouts who already think I’m a demonologist as is.
Twenty Days Ago:
It is confirmed. The Way seems quite interested in something—no, strike that—someone who was held in Harrowstone. But who, specifically, is the Way after? I need a list of everyone who died the night of the fire. Everyone. The Temple of Pharasma must have such a list.
Eighteen Days Ago:
I see now just how ill prepared I was when I last set out for the Harrowstone. I am lucky to have returned at all. The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent to investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation—hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared. Thankfully, the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro within my own lab.
Still, it is time to send missives out! I will need assistance from my closest allies. My dreams indicate that they are all somehow linked to... it all.
Two Days Ago:
This evening I return to the prison, risky as this venture may be. It is imperative the Way does not finish. My caution has already cost me too much time. I am not sure what will happen if I am too late, but if my theory is right, the entire town could be at risk. I don’t have time to update my will, so I’ll leave this in the chest where it’ll be sure to be found by Kendra, should the worst come to pass. Hopefully my work will delay the Way's efforts and by then my friends shall arrive and with their help I can set this right. Then I trust some secrets, long dormant, can be revealed...
On Verified Madness
None of the aberrations are familiar to her. In the margins, the Doctor writes notes on the creatures. His notes in every case, show that he seems familiar with each creature based on his dreams. He makes a distinction between "dreams" and what he describes as his "dreamworld" claiming that none of the creatures had ever been encountered in his dream world. He conjectures that perhaps some of these creatures may dwell in a place he calls the "Nightmare Lands".
The Order of the Palantine Eye
The Order appears to be a semisecret society of scholars and philosophers who explore and study dusty secrets hidden in the past. This particular book contains ancient ceremonies both magical and mundane mathematical theorems. In the back of the book are some notes scribbled by Rudolph. It appears that he was hoping some members of this society could substantiate findings from his dream journal but he appears to have had no luck.
The Yellow Book
As it turns out, Ogre is indeed merely looking at pictures as the language is one that he cannot read. It appears to be made up of the odd phraseology that the group found in the main house. However, instead of a few jotted notes, it is the entire text.
The pictures that the book depicts are... odd. Creatures that appear unnatural and unsettling. There is a feeling in the pit of your stomach as you stare at them overlong, as if you cannot pull your eyes away.
Sanity Score: This is sort of like mental hit points. It’s the sum of all your mental stats (Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma) less any damage to those scores.
Sanity Damage: this is like hit point damage done in physical combat (like a sword blow, etc), only, it affects your sanity score, not your hit points. So, if you encounter an attack on your sanity and suffer damage, you deduct that damage from your sanity score.
Losing Sanity and Gaining Madness:
When you’re faced with a monster that can do sanity damage, you have to make an immediate will save. If you save, most of the time, you will be able to ignore all Sanity damage (i.e. your mental faculties hold up) though some creatures may do damage regardless of your save (like Great Old Ones).
If you lose ALL of your Sanity (i.e. Sanity pool moves to zero), you gain a lesser madness (this is generally a temporary condition), I will not have PCs suffer more than 1 lesser madness at a time. This mechanic is for flavor not to annihilate PCs effectiveness.
If you lose ALL of your Sanity facing a Great Old One, that will trigger a greater madness. This is permanent though each PC will only ever gain a single one of these.
Losing Madness and Gaining Sanity:
Madness can be lost (and sanity restored in several ways).
1. Rest: Every 7 full days of uninterrupted rest heals sanity damage equal to your Charisma modifier (minimum 1). You’re letting your own sense of self and force of personality reassert itself and mend together the tattered fragments of your tortured psyche.
2. Therapy: Tell someone else your problems (mentor, counselor, confidante, friend, family, priest, advisor, etc). At the end,, the ally attempts a Wisdom or Intelligence check (whichever is higher) DC equal to the amount of Sanity you have lost. Success means you add their ability modifier (wis or int, whichever is higher) to the amount of sanity damage you heal.
3. Magic:
a. lesser restoration: 1d2 points once per day
b. Restoration: 2d4 points per day
c. Heal: 3d4 points/day
d. Greater restoration, psychic surgery, limited wish: all of it, if your sanity was below your edge (in other words, you still had more than half your sanity points left). Or, to 1 point below your sanity edge if you had more than half of your sanity lost.
e. Miracle and wish fix everything
Effects of Restoring Sanity:
Lesser Madness - If all of your sanity damage is healed, your lesser madness is removed entirely.
Greater Madness - If all of your sanity damage is healed, your greater madness is dormant. It will become reactivated if you again suffer a full loss to your Sanity score. A greater madness can only be fully healed with a long term psychiatric stay (1 month, which could well be played out over a downtime depending on how the chronicle proceeds) r the use of a Wish or Miracle spell (hard to come by in Ravenloft!).
Fear, Horror, and Madness:
I will NOT be using Madness rules as the Sanity rules already cover that.
Fear, Horror, and Madness saves represent the power of terror — a roleplaying tool to help players visualize the hysteria that often clouds the minds of characters in classic tales of horror.
Making the Saving Throw
Fear and Horror saves are considered Will saves in all respects. Anything that modifies a Will save likewise modifies Fear and Horror saves; anything that modifies saves vs. fear effects modifies Fear saves.
Fear and Horror saves all use the same basic mechanic: a Will save against a specified DC. Specific DCs depend on the situation and type of check being made and will be provided by me. Luck effects and resistance effects (such as those generated by a luckstone or a cloak of resistance) do not affect Fear and Horror saves; they are outside the purview of luck and are not "active" effects that would be resisted. Divine effects do aid Fear and Horror saves, however.
If a character succeeds at the Will save, then there is no effect, and she is immune to that specific source of fear or horror for 24 hours. If a character fails the Will save, then the margin of failure determines the result. Subtract the final check result from the DC; this result determines whether the character suffers a minor, moderate, or major effect.
Failure Margin Effect
1-5 points Minor
6-10 points Moderate
11-15 points Major
16+ points Major, plus additional effect.
When determining the results of failed Horror save, the player should also concurrently roll 1d4 for the DM to select a specific effect.
FEAR SAVES
A character should make a Fear save when facing overwhelming odds and/or immediate, dire physical danger.
Failure Results
Minor Effect: Shaken. The character suffers a -2 morale penalty to attack rolls, checks, and saves.
Moderate Effect: Frightened. The character is shaken and flees as well as she can. She can fight to defend herself if unable to flee. A frightened character can use special abilities, including spells, to flee; indeed, she must use such means if they are the only way to escape.
Major Effect: Panicked. The character suffers a -2 morale penalty on saving throws and must flee. She has a 50% chance to drop what she's holding, chooses her path randomly (as long as she escapes from immediate danger), and flees any other dangers that confront her. If cornered, she cowers. A panicked character may use a special ability or spell to escape.
Additional Failures: Fear effects stack. A shaken character who fails another Fear save becomes frightened. A frightened character who fails another Fear save becomes panicked.
Recovering from Fear
Fear effects last 5d6 rounds. Certain spell effects (such as modify memory or remove fear) can remove all Fear effects.
Note that as the characters level, the amount of fear checks will diminish as you confidence and power/abilities increase.
HORROR SAVES
The heroes witness scenes of terrible cruelty or behold events that simply should not be. Horror is a broader emotion than fear, and more intimate. Horror often permanently colors a character's view of the world, be it through the shock of realizing that such merciless events are possible or the paralyzing dismay of discovering some monstrous trait within oneself. Horror is the murderer of innocence. Possible examples of scenes that might require a Horror save include seeing someone torn limb from limb, watching a friend transform into a hideous monster, or learning that you slew an innocent bystander while possessed by an evil spirit.
Horror saves are typically prompted by unusual, unique situations rather than by creatures, so unlike Fear saves there's no quick formula to determine the DC. Instead, I will use my best judgment to apply a DC to the scene. As a rule, the more gruesome, abnormal and/or insane the scene, the higher the DC should be.
Failure Results
If a character fails a Horror save, the player should roll 1d4 and compare it to the effect category to select a specific symptom of Horror. If a character fails a Horror save by 16+ points, he suffers Sanity Damage on a one for one basis for each point over 16 (i.e. failing a roll by 20 would result in 4 points of Sanity Damage).
Failure Results
Minor Effect: (1) Aversion, (2) Fearstruck, (3) Frozen, or (4) Nausea.
Major Effect: (1) Fascination, (2) Haunted, (3) Mental Shock, or (4) System Shock
Additional Failures: Some Horror effects have outburst durations that are measured in rounds. A character can carry only a single Horror effect at a time. If a subsequent failed Horror save indicates a result of equal or lesser severity, I will use another outburst of the existing effect. If a failed Horror save indicates a result of greater severity, the existing effect is removed and there is default to the greater one instead. Horror effects do not stack.
Recovering from Horror
Minor Horror effects last one week.
Moderate effects last two weeks.
Major effects last thirty days.
At the end of this duration, the character rolls a recovery check (a Horror save). Use the DC of the original Horror save with a -2 morale bonus, since time and distance heal all wounds. If the character succeeds at this check, the Horror effect is removed. If she fails, the Horror effect persists for another duration period. A character can retry failed Horror recovery checks each time she reaches the end of a duration period. The -2 DC modifier is cumulative with each attempt.
Numerous spells and magical effects (such as modify memory or remove fear) can also remove all Horror effects.
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 33/39, Temp HP 3/3, Non-Lethal taken: , Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 1/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
Zyblina Arvanxi wrote:
"Remind me again why we're in this murder box, as opposed to making our to the nearest town, and trying to get home?" Zy says, as they find yet more dead bodies.
"The best case scenario in any nearby town is that we would learn something that leads us back here," Sergei said with a wry shrug. "So far, this is a lot less awful than I expected."
Male Half-Orc (Pyro) Kineticist 3 / VMC Sorcerer (Orc)
Stats:
HP 39/39 (-0NL) |Current Burn: 0 (Limit+1/rd)| AC 15 T 12 FF 13 | Fort +9 Ref +6 Will +3 | CMB +4 / CMD 16 | Init +2 | Perception +7|Sanity: 33/33 | Hero Pts: 3/-0 | Active:
Zyblina Arvanxi wrote:
"The young warrior priest draws her scimitar, and heads towards Cole. [b]"Something interesting, that isn't on fire? This place really is strange." She quips, trying to use a bit of humor to keep her spirits up.
Smiling, Cole stands by the door, lighting the room still.
”YET. Nothing is on fire yet. Don’t worry. Something will burst into flames eventually. That is the nature of existence. Eventually everything returns to nature in some form or another.”
Kenzo heads into yet another crime scene and searches the dead.
Bastian heads in as well to begin pulling the bodies out as Kenzo looks them over.
The bodies all appear to have died from blunt force trauma or from being stabbed or a combination of the two. These bodies are the oddest of all based on the clothing they wear. One was clearly an employee, wearing a uniform of sorts, one was clearly an inmate wearing a different uniform but is identifiable as something an inmate would wear, the other four are all dressed in "normal" clothing. The style of dress is not one that any of you are familiar with. The clothing is a bit more coarse in material and a bit less cheerful in color patterns. The stitching is all by hand rather than "mass produced" as much of the clothing purchased in Ustalav is unless you pay a specific tailor good money.
Two of the four look a bit better to do than the other two do. Perhaps these four were visitors caught here at the wrong time? The well to do couple has coinage struck with the mark of a Hawk Nosed Wizard one one side and an arcane symbol on the other.
Knowledge Religion DC 20 - Sterling ONLY:
Sterling, that arcane mark bears a tangential relationship to the symbology of the Whispering Way...
Sergei ONLY:
The Wizard minted coin is the coinage of Darkon. The other coin you do not recognize.
The other coin, is struck on one side with a Noble Family crest that none of you recognize and on the other side an apple.
The barricade was not moved, it remained in place, it seems that when the wall collapsed behind them, the very barricade being used to stop attacks from the door sealed their fate preventing them from fleeing whatever broke through behind.
---
The group covers Bastian as he drags the bodies out once more for storage and decapitation.
So far, the story of what took place here is making little sense but whatever happened, racked up quite the body count.
Zek retreats back within and then back outside to ascertain if he can hear that same noise out front, he cannot... perhaps whatever hovers over that courtyard is overseeing only that Courtyard, but of course that is pure speculation.
Where to next? There are many more doors and halls to check other than the Courtyard if you so choose.
Male Human Kineticist 2, AC 13, HP: 33/39, Temp HP 3/3, Non-Lethal taken: , Sanity 38, Burn 0/8, Burn Shard 0/1, Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +1 (Second Chance 1/1) Init +3, Per +7, Hero Points 1/1
Sergei studied the coins. "This one is from Darkon," he said, pointing to the mark with the wizard on it. "That gives us another clue as to where we are."
Male Half-Orc (Pyro) Kineticist 3 / VMC Sorcerer (Orc)
Stats:
HP 39/39 (-0NL) |Current Burn: 0 (Limit+1/rd)| AC 15 T 12 FF 13 | Fort +9 Ref +6 Will +3 | CMB +4 / CMD 16 | Init +2 | Perception +7|Sanity: 33/33 | Hero Pts: 3/-0 | Active:
Frowning, Cole spits at the mentioning of the ‘Whispering Way.’
”For all that is holy, please tell me that you might be wrong. I have fought the minions of the Way before. They are relentless and evil to their core. Let’s just hope you are wrong.”
Male Human Pharasman Cleric (Ecclesitheurge) 2/ Unchained Monk 1
Cole Burrns wrote:
Frowning, Cole spits at the mentioning of the ‘Whispering Way.’
”For all that is holy, please tell me that you might be wrong. I have fought the minions of the Way before. They are relentless and evil to their core. Let’s just hope you are wrong.”
Sterling shrugs.
"It is certainly only an indirect inference from just one symbol. I COULD be wrong. It has happened. I mean, not often, but it does happen."
Sergei wrote:
"I am not familiar, who are they?" Sergei asked.
Sterling shrugs again. He sounds relaxed, but his words are terse and clipped.
"Ancient death cult. Nihilistic philosophy. Its followers believe that unlife is the ultimate, purest form of existence. Needless to say, Pharasma is not at all pleased with them."
HP 39; San 36/36; Rage 8/8; AC 15 Init +0; Fort +6; Ref +1; Will +3; Per +6 3
Bastion looks around at the bodies. "It looks like the cultists got their wish. They do seem to be dead. And if that was their desire, then, why would they come back as undead?"
As time ticks by, still nothing form outside attacks Bastian. Perhaps above the Asylum the mist is so thick that whatever is over the Courtyard simply cannot hear or find its way over here.
So far, hard to piece together what happened here, you'll need to explore further or you can try and leave as Zyblina suggested.
Sergei and Zek head back into the Visitor's Room most southeast room they have found thus far.
The door was locked but not trapped, Sergei fumbles the tumblers unlocking the door which swings open, Zek holds inside and peers out...
Zek sees rustic flagstones that create a path through a bed of wilted flowers and shrubs, the foliage shriveled as if drowned by the surrounding sea of dense yellow fog. Though the unnatural mist muffles every motion, a sound like the flapping of giant wings splits through the fog bank, causing it to swirl as if seeking escape...
The sound of flapping wings catch Zek's attention right away. But perhaps most perturbing is the fact that the path itself staves off the mist. A path to a far door, but is it a safe path?
