Our home has fallen to darkness.
You may recall it, a village of simple means and kind people. A place untouched by the evils of the world.
Doom comes to us all however. It has been ten years now since the shadows have taken hold of our lands. The forests wilt and rot, the sea cliffs are overcast by storms and gripped by the grimy claws of those from the depths. The moorlands and hills are rampant with bandits. The dead no longer remain as such. Our lord's manor house has fallen to fiends and eldritch abominations. Our goddess is gone. As you can see, light no longer shines in the Hollow.
I implore you family. Return to Raven's Hollow. Aid us in our hour of need. We beg of you.
You have been gone for quite some time. Thoughts of your ancestral home flood your mind as the Sea Devil navigates through the storm-tossed reef surrounding the cliffs of Raven's Hollow.
The captain bellows orders to his crew, promising them damnation if the Ravenholdts drown in these waters. His words bear weight, and the crew obeys.
Half an hour later, the ship makes anchor at a weather-beaten jetty. The captain is paid and the Scions step onto the dry land once again.
As the Captain begins to make preparations to sail off once again, you all begin your ascent. The Plumes are treacherous and the way is perilous. Luckily, the stone staircase is solid and after a weary climb, you reach the top.
Not five minutes walk down the beginnings of the Hollow Road, a carriage awaits your presence. The driver, a gruff young man who does not provide a name invites you to embark.
Your belongings are placed on the carriage's roof and room is made for everyone to either squeeze inside or sit beside the driver.
The carriage begins its ride along the road, and an hour later you see the Ravenwood, dark and foreboding. Your memories betray you, for the Raven's Hollow in your mind was not so dark and accursed as this.
The driver speaks.
"Be mindful my lieges. Bandits have run of the road of late. Words will be meaningless, so be ready."
The driver's words are almost ominous, for a quarter of an hour later, a fallen birch blocks your path. As the carriage slows to a halt, cloaked men step out from the underbrush.
"Easy now strangers. Would'na want to hurt your pretty faces. Leave the gold and valuables and pray we don't take more."
You succeeded in spotting the ambush before arriving and have one round to either cast a spell or prepare an action before the battle begins.
Combat Directives
The active map will always be in the Campaign Header at the top of the page.
You may choose any square adjacent to the carriage as your starting square. Vanessa will begin on top of the carriage with the luggage. It will take a move action for her to disembark.
When performing your actions, I do not require posting to be in initiative order. Once all actions are submitted, I run the combat to the best of my knowledge. If one of your actions becomes invalid I correct it to the best of my abilities. This is for ease of fluidity. Combats are major time sinks in PbP.
Furthermore, every 24h is automatically a new round if we haven't yet moved on. Failure to post a combat round means you skip that round. No GM automating, this is still a horror campaign so we can assume your character simply failed to act.
Please aid me by tracking your hit points and uses of abilities, conditions, etc. I am currently compiling your stat blocks into what is essentially a bestiary/npc statblock format and will put them up in the Campaign tab as well.
On the Subject of Statblocks
Please make sure all information is there, and that all Feats and Abilities are explained or linked. It saves me a lot of time.