romania ♔ in the end of the night i can feel you breathe

[pickyourbattles]

♬ Night - Zola Jesus

WHO || Willow, Paige, Nathan, Henry, Aurelius, Dovan [Closed]
WHAT || The Knights travel to Romania to investigate a mysterious, magical fog
WHERE || Romania
WHEN || April 11th [back dated]
HOW || Actionspam. Single thread, don't worry about maintaining tagging order.

February in Romania isn't very comfortable, so hopefully everyone bundled up for this little trip into the countryside.  The appearance of a mysterious bank of fog into which several locals have gone inexplicably missing upon entering, has caused Wynn to speculate that it might be connected to the mist that appears when the Veil brings people from other worlds.  Could this be the first instance of a door going the other way?  If so, here's hoping it's a round trip...

Comments

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Marching onward, meandering eastward and crossing yet another bridge over the Tser river, the party would find themselves coming upon the village of Barovia within the next hour. Mist blankets the village, smothering streets and marooning the buildings, forming an archipelago of crumbling masonry in a gray, hopeless sea.]

[At the village's lonely edge, most buildings are abandoned burnt out husks. Charcoal lies thick on the air, but that choking odor can't overpower the underlying sickly sweet smell of carrion and spoilage. Claw marks rake some of the vacant homes, ominous not merely because of their presence, but because of the five-fingered hand-like shape they suggest.]

[Welcome to Barovia...]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige wraps her arms around herself as she enters the village, looking around for some sign f actual life on this side of the village (spot 22).] It looks almost abandoned....

[autorevive]

[nathan tests her theory with] HEY, IS ANYONE ALIVE? THERE ARE DEAD GYPSIES DOWN THE ROAD!

[somepagesturn]

[Paige makes the most DISTRESSED FACE EVER in the ensuing silence after Nathan screams and then whispers:] Thank you, Nathan....

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Silence? Who said anything about silence... Nathan's shout is met by an eerie faint sound, as if of something groaning, echoing hollowly from deeper within the settlement. The muddy path underfoot gives way to slick, wet cobblestone. The streets are choked with mist, limiting vision to only a few dozen feet. Ahead, an overturned cart blocks an intersection.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius' hand goes to the silver shortsword now hanging at his belt. ] Do you all hear that?

[autorevive]

Guess we've got company. [gulp. whoopsie. he'll just ... get out his shortsword, too...]

[olreliable]

[Willow also stands with sword in hand, trying to be brave.]

Just...everyone stick together.

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Drawn by Nathan's shouts, figures begin to appear in the mists, and draw closer. The stench of carrion grows heavy, as the figures become visible through the fog - The dead stalk the streets of Barovia. They shamble towards you, clawing at the empty air as they walk.]

[From the crooked narrow alley to the left, a skeletally thin cadaver's eyes flare purple in the shadow, and a charnel energy churns down it's arm, splaying across it's fingertips. Corpses stomp towards the ruined cart. A pair of gore-streaked animals - something between a grotesque rat and a rabid wolf - Their prodigious jaws hang loose and slavering.]

[Battle Maps: Image Link Roll20 Link]

[Special Rules: Doors are simple wooden and barricaded (For opening/breaking down purposes.) The Cart provides cover when adjacent (+4AC vs Ranged)]

[olreliable]

Caracas Eaters! [she points at the little animal things.] Just...don't fall. They'll rip you apart if you end up on the ground.

[pickyourbattles]

Zombies? [ oh bother ] I- I don't think much but the swords is going to harm them. And, [ he pales, looking past into the alley ] that one's casting something!

[autorevive]

[ uhhh nathan is GETTING OUT ANOTHER GRENADE] Sounds like time to blow his undead brains out to me!

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Far ahead, beyond the cart, a door swings slowly open with an ominous creak, and out plods another zombie. It joins it's fellows near the cart, and they all begin to slowly shamble towards the team. The entire road is now choked with them, reaching with grasping hands towards their next meal. Between them there's a flash of motion, and one of the snarling Carcass Eaters darts eagerly ahead, and claws at Henry. Atk: 11, 2 Damage if that hits vs Flat Footed AC.]

[Updated look at the map]

[autorevive]

[nathan is gonna try to take care of the magic zombie first, hurling a grenade down the alleyway with a ranged atk 18. same as before, it goes off in a burst radius of 20 ft and does 21 slashing dmg without a dc 15 ref save. SLASHING DAMAGE!!!11]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius pushes in front of paige, hands extended as abruptly a plane of white hot flames of druid fire burst from his hands in a 40 foot semicircle, 15 dmg to those in the zone. creatures can make a ref save dc 23 to halve it, but it cuts through SR if they have any. ]

[olreliable]

[Assuming that the rat toasted from Aurelius' spell was the one in front of Henry?? Willow will rush towards the zombie right in front of her and give this sword thing a try. (attack 18, damage 6).]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige takes a step back and casts Divine Favor on herself to beef up her attacks. This will give her a +2 to attack rolls and a +2 to damage rolls. Mmm.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Henry just narrowly avoids being hit by the freaky rat creature. Way too close. He takes a deep breath and with his dagger, he rushes towards the zombie slightly to the right in front of him, aiming for its head (attack 14, damage 7). ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[The Deathlock and one of the carcass eaters are left smoking husks thanks to the combination of Nathan's grenade and Aurelius' magic. The zombies seem a bit more durable, taking the magical blow, and shuffling onward. Willow's strike hits, but Henry narrowly misses.]

[Two more doors from beyond the intersection swing wide, and another pair of undead stumble into the street. The dead surge towards them, luckily zombies can only more or attack each round, so there aren't going to be many attacks.]

[The zombie willow slashed strikes back with a Slam Attack 22 for 9 Damage Another zombie goes for Henry with an Attack of 21, for 7 Damage. And the last Carcass Eater will also edge in and claw at Henry with a pathetic Attack of 7.]

[Updated Map]

[autorevive]

[using an action point bc we don't have time for crit fails rn ok, nathan tosses another frag grenade basically ... at the cart, 3 squares past the zombie in the middle of the X-shape. (ranged atk 19) HE'S TRYING NOT TO BLOW UP HIS FRIENDS. and that will be 16 slashing dmg without a 15 ref save.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius moves up to willow's shoulder, raising another hand and blasting a scorching ray towards the one in front of her (ranged touch 14; dmg 10 if it strikes) ]

[olreliable]

[IS IT DEAD YET??? If not, Willow will slash at it again. If it is dead, she'll go after the one beside it which I think is also in front of Aurelius now. attack 17, damage 15 because she penetrated the shit out of that thing. Wait. No, I'm leaving it.]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige is over here, kinda panicking like a little girl, because once she gets her blade out, she has to stand there and think about it... and look a little frightened and squeamish, because HAHAHA she doesn't... do this sort of thing. Poor Paige. She was badass last fight.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Henry manages to avoid the rat thing again, but the zombie strikes him, though he's fighting back (fort save 13). Well - at least everyone else is sort of safe for now... ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[The Fortitude save DC is actually exactly 13. Willow and Henry both feel a sickening wave of revulsion wash over them, but it quickly fades. Paige and Henry, since you both essentially held your actions, you can take double next time your turns come around.]

[The grenade blasts all the zombies full on but they're still coming! Though shrapnel does drop that little rabid rat-dog. A fiery ray to the face drops one of them, and Willow's slash brings down another, but there's two waiting just behind to surge forward and fill those gaps!]

[The undead continue to stomp forward, though luckily no more seem to be pouring out of the nearby houses. The one directly in front of Henry swipes at him again Atk 15, 7 Damage and another Fort save if that hits]

[Updated Map]