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]

[Nat 20 cant be plenty to poke around all of the barricades, if they're willing to invest the time. (Since there's not much going down on the West side, and it's a shame to waste a Nat20) The West side is pretty boring, apart from a handful of shambling undead. The North and South seem pretty clear. A lone figure slowly shuffles to the East of the barricades. The fog clears a bit due to some helpful breeze, and Willow can clearly see the church and graveyard to the North, and investigating the South she can see a mansion in the distance. Both the mansion and church lie about 200 feet from the town square. Many undead are gathered about the mansion, scraping at it, but it seems to be well barricaded.]

[In fact I'll just hand Willow this map here, she could have pieced this together from their trip in, and her in general badass surveying skills.]

[Make a Listen check, while poking around the South barricade.]

[olreliable]

[Listen 24! She's just super focused on figuring out what the heck is going on around here.]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Willow's senses are "turned up to 11", which is a good thing in Barovia. While scouting around the South barricade, she hears the distinct notes of sobbing from a house that is barricaded but, for the moment, unmolested by zombies.]

[It is four houses down, on the left.]

[olreliable]

[She glances around. Are the boys with her? Maybe they are off in another direction if they came with. Or maybe she came alone. Either way, she's not waiting on anyone before checking out that sobbing.

She tries to keep an eye out for undead things (and still has her silver sword on her FYI) as she makes her way to the door of the house and knocks gently.]

Hello?

[pickyourbattles]

[ THE BOYS ARE HERE DESPITE MATT'S BEST EFFORTS TO LEAVE THEM BEHIND BY TAGGING WHILE I WAS ON TAG VACATION.

aurelius' listen check sucked though so i guess he's just focused on like staring down at the map, trying to read it when it's so small. so many small. next time ask for a bigger one, willow. ] I would hope no one was still out here so far away from the others alone.

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[NO REGRETS]

[The moaning sob is echoing from a darkened two-story building, hoarse and drained of hope. When they arrive, they find the door barricaded, with the source of the noise being somewhere on the upper floor. There is no reply to Willow's knocks.]

[They will have to find some way of breaking in, if they intend to investigate further.]

[olreliable]

Someone's up there! [She looks so concerned about it.] Maybe there's a window that's less... barricade-y.

[Goes to find it! ...another nat 20. What the hell, Willow??]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Willow is very in her element. Looking down a narrow alley near the house there is a corpse lying on the ground, head caved in, and a window next to it covered in bits of gore. The window appears hastily and poorly re-barricaded after this particular zombie broke through. They should be able to bash it in much easier than the front door.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius looks around for something to smash it with??? not sure his sword is the best choice but he'll do that if he can't find anything. spot 12... ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[There is an array of detritus along the alley, some large rocks and lots of planks from the barricade that could be makeshift clubs.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Henry has been here, I swear, and he's searching around like Aurelius (spot check 14), bending to grab a large rock as he calls out. ] We should be able to break that window. [ And he just...makes his way close to the window and hurls the rock, not sure how much time they have to waste to help the person sobbing (his listen check was 16). ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Henry throws the large rock, and it smashes some of the window remnants and shutters away. Suddenly the whole thing shockingly gives way, and swings wide open into the alleyway. A zombie bursts forth, and a cloud of bats with it, flying up out of sight!]

[Make Will saves (Just DC15) to not become shaken with fright. Hopefully no one screams...]

[The zombie, half hanging out of the window... sways unmoving. It appears to have been bludgeoned, with a large kitchen knife sticking out of it's skull. They must have used it to help block the passage. A climb check DC10 can be attempted to clamber over the decaying corpse.]

[olreliable]

[Willow is no stranger to dead or undead bodies being uncovered. With a will save of 22, she barely flinches as the body flops out. Once she's assessed that it's not going to leap at the first person who approaches, she looks at both boys before heading over to climb on in (climb 11).]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Willow clambers over into a dusty and long-untended kitchen. There is a living room on the far side of this lower floor, and a few doors to what look to be closets. Between the kitchen and the living room is a stairway that leads up to the source of the wailing.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius rolled a 2, so he uh

covers the girly scream part of this adventure. sorry... it takes him a moment to recover, and he leans on the building with one hand, taking deep breaths before willow starts climbing in like a champ and he pulls himself together, glancing at henry. ] I, er, thought it was-- [ he trails off weakly, coughs, and then heads in after her, cringing as he draws near to the thing. (climb 13) ]

[olreliable]

[Poor Aurelius being the girly screamer for the group. She gives him a sympathetic smile as he climbs up, offering her hand if he needs it.]

Sounds like it's coming from upstairs. [She says, edging towards the staircase and peering up.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Henry rolled a 5 so he's not exactly much better off. He jumps, and there's a sharp intake of breath; not a gasp, but...almost. It's been a rough night, okay. Then he quickly coughs to clear his throat and recover as well, nodding at Aurelius. ] Right, yeah. I get it. [ He's got your back, man, don't worry. He climbs in after Aurelius (climb 22), and stays close to both of them. He brought a flashlight, so he pulls that out of his pack and shines it up the staircase as he inches closer beside Willow. ]

I can lead the way.

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[The stairs creak as they slowly ascend to the upper level of the townhouse. Henry presses open a door at the top of the stairs, and it swings open slowly. This bedroom is painted bright pink with fluffy white clouds. A big yellow sun with a smiling face stares down from the ceiling. A great fairy castle with gleaming crystal windows adorns a wall, with pretty girls, handsome lords, and unicorns painted on it's verandas and in it's courtyard. A small canopied bed stands in one corner of the room, made up perfectly. Dolls, play-princess crowns, and other little girls' toys fill shelves. In the center of the floor sobs a despondent older woman, with her back facing you.]

[olreliable]

H-hello? [Willow calls out, peeking around Henry but not exactly rushing towards the woman. Look, there were zombies all over town. She's not interested in finding more.] Are you okay?

[pickyourbattles]

[ yeah, aurelius puts a hand on willow's arm in case she gets any designs on moving forward, giving her a nervous look, and craning to see anything about the woman without getting closer. (spot 11) ]

[wanttobeahero]

[ He's worried about this woman, but still a little tense after everything that's just happened, so waiting to see if she turns around or acknowledges their presence in some way first seems like the smarter thing to do. He does take one single step forward, though, keeping himself in front of his companions. ] We're here to help.

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[After a few moments of silence, she speaks in a hoarse, shattered voice.]
My girl had everything she could have ever wanted. Why did she run away? I kept her in this room her entire life. She was safe here. Safe!

[She only seems to half-notice there is even another presence in the room, in her inconsolable grief.]

[olreliable]

[Willow glances to the Hand Aurelius puts on her arm and gives him a small, almost apologetic smile as she lifts her own hand to remove it. She doesn't let go completely, though. Instead she just keeps hold of his hand and steps further into the room, right behind Henry.]

Is your daughter missing, ma'am? Maybe we can help you find her?

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[The old crone looks at Willow, in a seeming moment of clarity.]

Not missing. Taken. The lord of the castle has her now. Oh, my poor Gertruda! I know the worst has come to pass...

[And she lapses back into grief.]

[pickyourbattles]

The lord of the castle? [ aurelius frowns ] Ma'am, do you... know what's going on out there? In the city?