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

[somepagesturn]

[Paige swallows as her ears catch the chanting.] Does everything here have to be so ominous and foreboding?

[autorevive]

Too bad we can't just torch it, yeah?

[wanttobeahero]

[ At this point, Henry is wondering if they'll ever find Dovan alive. Of course, he hates thinking that, but if he had to deal with all of this alone...well, it gives him a bad feeling. Even worse than that creepy chanting.

His voice is dripping with a mixture of sarcasm and sass as he responds to Nathan: ] You know, I was just thinking the same thing.

[olreliable]

[Willow is still going to be optimistic!! It's all she has going for her okay...]

Maybe they're... nice cultists?

[pickyourbattles]

Maybe we can try to peek in the windows, see what they're doing.

[olreliable]

Ooh! Good idea! [Is she tall enough for this? idek. She got a spot of 29 tho so if not, someone give her a damn boost.]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[They have to stalk around the side, before they can find a suitable window. The interior is ruined. Pews lay smashed and pushed around. All the walls and floors are marred by blood, delicately drawn in precise symbols. There is a massive hole in the floor at the church's center - Willow can only guess what it may lead to. (Probably a Hellmouth) At the back of the church, near the desecrated remnants of an altar, prays a gaunt looking cleric fitting the description they've gotten so far of the "Mad Priest" Danovich. He seems utterly focused on his ritual.]

[somepagesturn]

[I don't think any window is suitable enough for itsy bitsy under-five-feet Paige, so she probably has to get a boost up. Once she can see inside, she'll see if she can recognize any of the chanting/symbols (knowledge religion 27)]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Oh, Paige recognizes it. Just identifying the runes gives her an instant headache, and the realization of what is happening here sends chills down her spine.]

[This is the work of a powerful necromantic relic, the Liber Blaspheme. There are several such scrolls, all are copes of an original excerpt from The Book of the Damned.]

[Paige knows the specifics of the ritual: It creates a monstrous undead of terrifying power. That creature carries a powerful necromantic plague, which affects anything it touches and spreads like wildfire. She also knows it is a ritual that can only be performed on a loved one...]

[olreliable]

[between mega evil vibes in this town and the presence of undead already? Definitely thinking this is a hellmouth. She turns back and whispers to the others.]

That priest is in there, but... This really doesn't look good. Apocalypty levels of not good.

[somepagesturn]

[One really has to wonder what Paige has been reading to know all this....

Her eyes go wide as recognition sets in and she slinks back to the ground, looking like she might burst from fretting, if not from the headache she's now sporting.] Oh no, no, no... That's very, very bad necromancy. If he manages to pull that off, things are gonna get even worse around here.

[pickyourbattles]

I think... we might already be too late. [ knowledge religion 23 ] I imagine he's already completed the ritual - that must be where all these creatures have come from in the first place.

[somepagesturn]

Well, we have to do something.

[Like hopefully not bring the church collapsing down on their heads...]

[autorevive]

Well, fire still has my vote.

[pickyourbattles]

As long as we can prevent it from spreading through the city.

[somepagesturn]

[paige looks distressed.] I can't believe I'm saying this, but... Nathan, do you still have your grenades?

[wanttobeahero]

[ Not something he thought he would be saying on this mission, either, but when the situation calls for it... ] Whatever it takes. [ Even if that means grenades or something similar. ]

[autorevive]

[he looks SO EXCITED with this prospect] Sure do!

[olreliable]

Maybe the rest of us should... get back. [Nathan apparently lives forever. The rest of them are soft and squishy.]

[autorevive]

Step aside, bitches, and let the master work!

[ after waiting for his teammates to get out of the way, he pulls out a frag grenade, throws it inside through the window, and with an action point ... nat 20s the attack????? so i guess it goes off in a 20 ft radius which is probably contained within that entire room??? and does 22 slashing damage to anything within the room. ref save 15 to half.]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Nathan's Grenade seems unusually effective. Like, what you might expect if there were a gas leak in the building. There's a very good chance at least a few of them are thrown to the ground by the blast. In the ringing following the explosion, the structural damage to the building seems extreme. Maybe it was some special reagent he had on hand for the ritual? Whatever the case, the building shudders, and half-collapses in on itself. There's an eerie silence, accompanied only by the low hum following a huge explosion. It's one of those jarring experiences, where time can seem to move all-too fast, as they seek to regain their footing and their composure.]

[Suddenly, something begins to smash it's way from the wreckage of the house. Something powerful. A creature erupts from the ruins - a corpse seemingly surgically modified by the lunatic priest. Skeletally thin, the arms are too-long, and it's head is wide and wedge-shaped, with a mouth that swings open to inhuman levels, revealing teeth that glitter like shards of black, steaming ice. While the explosion likely killed the mad priest Danovich, it would seem whatever is left of his Son won't be returned to the earth so easily.]

[To compound matters, the low din of moans and groans begins to drown out the buzzing in their ears. That huge explosion has drawn the attention of most of the walking dead in the town, now shambling their way towards the remains of the old church. As the dust is still settling, the Blaspheme stands over the remains of the church, glaring at them. Their blood runs cold, as it somehow chokes out broken speech:] Pa... pa... [Then it utters an inhuman wail, and rushes towards them;]


[Init Plurk going up, but: Roll20 Link][Image of the Battlefield.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius moves up beside nathan, worried about leaving him alone up there, but he's also... out of spells from earlier. womp womp. reluctantly, he draws his excalibur, but he won't be able to fire it this time. ] I... think we found his son.

[somepagesturn]

[Well, Paige is just gonna back up a bit to where the undead are headed so she can try to turn them as they get closer, but since they're not in range yet, she'll cast Eagle's Splendor on herself to give her a +4 boost to her charisma for six minutes.]

[autorevive]

Ya think?! [this isn't why he brought the holy water ... but this demon child seems pretty unholy right now. more unholy than gypsies. which is why he reaches into his bag for his bottle of holy water and aggressively throws it at doru for a ranged atk 26! and ... 4 dmg. AT LEAST HE'S TRYING, OKAY.]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[The holy water burns on the skin of the undead horror, mingling with the shrapnel damage, and the damage caused by debris. The thing moves with preternatural speed - all the more horrifying considering it's undead nature. It's not slow and plodding like most undead. In fact, it seems faster than any of them, as it erratically charges forward, twisting it's bizarre anatomy as it sprints for Nathan.] HURT! IT HURT! IT HURT! [It abruptly comes to a stop adjacent to Nathan, and it's mouth snaps wide, yawning like the maw of a shark, and clamps down on him hard, with an Atk of 23. If that hits: It's 18 damage, it will Daze Nathan for 1 round (1/2 Actions) and might pas the necromantic infection along, if Nathan fails a DC22 Fortitude save.]

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