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

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius got a whole 14 diplomacy check to try and haggle, in other words, he'll be paying full price today. BUT HE WANTS THE WAND OF SCORCHING RAY PLZ and a potion of shield of faith. ]

[olreliable]

[Willow only got a 15 on her diplomacy so she's only slightly more charming that Aurelius :/ That necklace of fireballs looks swell, though. She would like that. And the potion of Sanctuary.]

[autorevive]

[meanwhile, this guy...] I don't suppose you've got any fancy hats back there, do ya? I'm building a collection.

[wanttobeahero]

[ Well, Henry's diplomacy check of 5 is the worst of the bunch. :| But he would still like the Chain Shirt and Potion of Guidance if possible. ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Well, you lot have more than enough spare magical equipment to trade for all of that, so despite your less than stellar haggling skills, you manage to all leave happy. Even Nathan, as Bildrath throws in a dusty old Fez. It's not magical, but it does give Nathan a +2 to looking distinguished -or- a +2 to looking like a complete idiot: Depends on who's looking.]

[And with that, they can set off after a night's rest, fully stocked and equipped to deal with the Witches of Lysaga Hill. It's about a day's trip, mostly off the beaten path. All the while during their trip, they are constantly aware of the oppressive nature of Strahd's clutch on the land. What had previously been just a general eerie discomfort, or momentary sensation of feeling watched, takes on a whole new level of discomfort. Regularly a murder of crows flies lazily overhead, replaced by bats after dusk. Wolves and eerie humanoid forms appear at the edges of thickets, and watch them, retreating slowly when noticed or called at. None of the agents of Strahd move to harm or hinder you, however, and the journey is otherwise simple.]

[Shorty after nightfall, you come upon a burned-out tower. It is merely a husk of a building, with only three portions of the outer wall yet standing, and only just about 20 feet from the ground. Within, some shorter walls reach 10 feet, remnants of the interior walls of the first floor, delineating the chambers of this ancient site, while piles of rubble choke much of the open space. Among the ruins, several figures shrouded in dark cloaks stand around a bonfire blazing an unearthly green fire. A many-pointed star is traced betwixt them on the earth, glowing with green powder. The air above the fire cracks, and seems... thin somehow. The witches are guided by a deep gravelly voice, coming from a hulking monstrosity that sits bound nearby in a runic circle - an Aspect of Chernovog, called to assist them in opening the rift to the Abyss...]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige has been the idiot who probably tried shouting at all the agents of Strahd following them in order to shoo them away, but once that proves to be a fruitless effort, she gives up and sticks close to the rest of the party, looking fretful and anxious. Upon their arrival, her eyes light upon the monstrosity and she grabs her pin tightly in her hand, expression stricken.]

Well... This is happening, isn't it? [hahahaha why.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius' attention is definitely drawn by that fiendish looking creature. in kol-world, i count anything abyss/hell related as knowledge: religion, and he got a 30, so maybe that tells him something??? he puts a hand on willow's arm, to stay her from getting any closer yet. ]

[olreliable]

[Willow keeps back at Aurelius' warning, but is ready to jump in and get into some shit if need be. She doesn't like the idea of fighting witches but this place is sort of all crazy evil. She's still hoping they can convince the witches to work with them but she...will keep those thoughts to herself for now.]

[autorevive]

[meanwhile ... nathan is trying to get his fez to sit on his head just right. at least he remembers to whisper??] D'ya think I look more Jewish or more like Aladdin? I can't decide.

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Aurelius would have heard very little about Chernovog, though simply due to there being very little to know. Only a few documents even mention him; an old Slavic deity whose name literally translates to "The black god." The documents detail how the people would pass a bowl, and spit curses and epithets to Chernovog in ceremony, but little else is recorded. Also, he was in Disney's Fantasia, as a manifestation of pure evil. So there's that.]

[Aurelius would also notice, due to his close inspection, that the horrible form of the demon is wavering and inconsistent - for now he remains merely a projection, issuing commands to the coven, until they can tear a hole through reality for him to crawl through...]

[pickyourbattles]

[ ignoring nathan entirely, aurelius whispers fiercely: ] They're... they're trying to rip a hole open to the hell dimension that creature hails from, to set it free, no doubt. If we allow them to succeed, there's no telling what evil that thing might bring to this land. [ the other part goes unspoken, but is clear in his voice - he's rather doubtful that they could fight that thing, either. ] We have to stop them.

[autorevive]

[OH SNAP DOES THAT MEAN] D'ya want me to throw a grenade?

[somepagesturn]

I know we'd be playing into Strahd's hands if we kill them, but knowing what they're doing... We can't actually ask them to help us.

[it's sort of against her religion to let people bring horrible demons into the world, okay. she bites her lip, still clutching her pin.] I can't in good faith keep suggesting you throw grenades at people not expecting us, Nathan...

[But she's also... not gonna stop you.]

[pickyourbattles]

I don't have the spells to detain them. We have to at least interrupt their casting, and quickly. [ and he's going to pull out that nice potion he just bought and down it like it's a stiff drink and he needs one ]

[autorevive]

That the spirit, get some liquid courage in ya! [he claps aur on the back. bc he's an idiot.]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Despite the fact that things appear to keep getting worse and not better, somehow Henry manages to retain his unflappable belief that they will...just get through this somehow. Seeing Aurelius down his potion, Henry reaches for his. Potion of Guidance - they could kind of use some guidance right now, right? It can't hurt anyway, and they don't have much time, so. Down it goes. ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Alright, so Aurelius also summons forth a Celestial Bee, and then the init order will be Aurelias > Paige > Nathan > Willow > Henry, and then the witches and their demon friend. [Here's a link to the Roll20, in case people wanna move their own token and measure or w/e] [And otherwise here's an image of the battle layout] You all are currently hunkered down behind some rubble in the north-east. Passing through the rubble makes you move at 1/2 speed. The outer walls are very tall (10') The inner walls are more like 2-3 feet, so you do have line-of-sight/effect on the initiates that are "inside" the ruined structures.

[pickyourbattles]

[ aurelius draws out his wand of scorching ray. ] Come on. We've no time to waste. [ he steps forward beyond henry and levels the wand at the closest witch, firing off two rays (atk 14 & atk 26, dmg 9 and 10 fire). he orders his celestial bee (which is FIVE FEET LONG) to fly forward towards the same witch and try to sting it with a SMITE EVIL ATTACK, but it only got a 10, womp womp. ]

[somepagesturn]

[Paige will run up to Aurelius and cast Magic Circle Against Evil. Everyone within a ten foot radius will receive the bonuses, but only if they stay here, which is... good for our precious babby spellcasters.

The subjects within the circle gain a +2 deflection bonus to AC and a +2 resistance bonus on saves. More information can be found here. It's just that. Only a circle. That lasts for 19 minutes.]

That should keep them out.

[autorevive]

[as previously discussed, nathan pulls out a tear gas grenade and flings it towards the witch circle, but since he's not jackie robinson and range increment penalties and etc he makes it to a spot next to the witch closest to the bee. for a whole atk 11. more about tear gas grenades here but basically if you don't make the dc 15 fort save you become nauseated. (sorry, aur's bee.)]

[olreliable]

[Willow is going to hang with Paige and Aurelius in that cool protection circle and ready an action with a magic missile. But she wants to see how Nathan's bomb plays out first.]

[pickyourbattles]

[ the bee failed :( ]

[wanttobeahero]

[ Given his lack of special powers or range weapons, Henry figures it's a smart idea for now to stay close to that protection circle. Once he knows if he needs to rush forward to attack, he will. ]

[count_strahd_von_zarovich]

[Well, Aurelius' twin lances of flame will actually drop that nearest witch. With a surprised shriek, and the sickly crackle of fire on flesh, she crumples. The rest of the coven cries out in shock and anger, and the demonic visage frowns. The Bee's heroic charge is actually a success! However... it dies when it's stinger is used (The stat block seriously says that.) So, the heroic little bee evaporates back into celestial dust as the tear gas bomb goes off, and that unfortunate witch begins to hack and cough as she fails her save vs tear gas!]

[The witches scowl, and move - their rift wavering and flickering weakly as they draw their focus from it. They each return a blast of fire towards the party. Ranged Touch of 16 & 20 at Aurelius (16 Fire Damage & 9 Fire Damage), and Ranged Touch of 20 at Nathan (20 Fire Damage)]

[Baba Zelenna scowls, and surges forward, discarding her weak human guise to reveal her true hag form. She redoubles in size, and her hands grow and twist into grotesque claws.]

[The demon cannot fully manifest, but that does not leave it without power, and it's gaze is fixated with rage on Paige. He's not a fan of the faithful. He raises a clawed hand, and an umbral blast of vile magics scorches toward Faith - Touch Atk 27 for 23 Damage. She also needs to make a Fort save DC20, or she becomes blinded. It's voice booms telepathically through each of their minds: "YOU WILL NOT INTERRUPT MY GRAND SUMMONING. I WILL TEAR THROUGH THIS LITTLE VALLEY, LEAVING ONLY DUST IN MY WAKE!"]

[pickyourbattles]

[ both of those flames hit aurelius :( and are enough to disable him at 0 hp. he's such a bb. but he's gonna lift his wand anyway to point at baba zelenna, wincing through the pain. ] No... you... won't... [ he'll use his action to fire off two more rays, this time at her (ranged touch 25 & 10; dmg 14 fire & 12 fire). ]