[IC] The Church's Sword & Shield

[wadledo]

The long weeks of sea travel are finally over, and as you gaze over the side of the ship at the shore of this land that does not need a name.
As dark, forbidding clouds gather over the small sheltered cove the fleet has anchored itself in, the grit and sand slowly blowing its way through the deserted town that lay on the cove making your eyes water and your teeth burn.
A vague, unearthly howl fills the afternoon air, the sound coming from the barren wastes to the north of the town.
as boats are being dropped int the water and scouts sent out, you feel a chill, as though some vast invisible hand were slowly reaching its way into your chest.

[MeklorIlavator]

Thank Heimdall that this is almost over. Even with nothing in it, I spent way too much time by the side.
Normally, Theodore wouldn't be on the first wave, but getting off the ship sooner was much preferable than later. Plus, if there was danger, it was his duty to stand with the others of the expedition. Looking out over the water at the town, he turns to one of the scouts with a shiver.
Doesn't look very inviting, does it?

[shaddy_24]

Ferualith

Ferualith stood firm at the rails of the boat. He would be landing with the first boats, and his horse and mule would be travelling over later. He had checked with the stables and the man in charge would be able to take care of the animals until they were brought over.

The chill wind rattled through him, forcing him to surpress a shudder. It would be shameful to show any sign of weakness or fear, especially at first landing. Shaking his head once, he stepped towards whatever the gods had in plan for him, no hesitation.

Searching, he found the one in charge of the first landings. "I will be travelling with you," he stated as he walked up to him.

[MCerberus]

Tren

Looking over the other scouting boats while his own bobs up and down with the waves, the realization starts to come over Tren that it's finally time to get to work. He doubts any of these men truly know what they'll be fighting. What's worse is that there isn't, in his eyes, enough reconnaissance.

When the chill comes across him, Tren subconsciously reaches for one of his swords before regaining composure. He scans the horizon before responding to one of the men in the same boat as him.

"I don't like it. We don't really know what's in that town."

[tonberrian]

Baris

Baris opened his mouth to reply to the man commenting about the unwelcoming feeling from the shore when some scarred guy spoke up. Annoyed at the interruption (and the sinister tone it was delivered in), Baris turned to him.

"Does it matter? Everybody has to come ashore at some point. Besides, I, for one, will be grateful for some land under my feet."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kathrin looks on from the deck of one of the large ships. Until this moment, she would have been so anxious to see this part of the world that she would have hopped onto the first boat to launch and charged ahead straight away... but looking at this ghost town, in this wasteland... well, something about it gave her the creeps. Not just the, 'eee, this place is dark and spiky and is probably infested with dire rats and goblins,' sort of creeps, either, but the special kind of creeps you get when the setting's description literally states that it feels like someone is sticking their cold hands into your chest. Quite unsettling.

It would take more than that to deter Kathrin, of course. She didn't sign up to come all this way to be scared off by a sandstorm and some bad vibes. She pulls the hood of her reversible orange cloak over her already-frizzy hair and draws up the neckline to cover her mouth and nose for protection. Thanks to a few minor alterations, she had somehow managed to make this configuration into a stylish look.

Having regained a fair amount of resolve, she continues watch the scout boats approach the empty village as her ship follows not far behind.

[wadledo]

The town, for those who choose to go to it, is barren of all life.
No rats scurry, no dogs bark, no maggots crawl through the flesh of the dead.
There's just empty houses.

When the upper officers on the ship hear of this news, after it was yelled from shore, they go into a tight huddle.
From the way the others are talking, those still on the ship can gather that there was supposed to be a friendly village here.

As the news spreads to those on shore, some of the others make the signs of their gods, looking around at the blasted, dry landscape with the beginning of fear in their eyes.
They are in the minority, however. The Majority begins to systimatically loot the houses, burning any foreign icons they can find and heaping anything with possible value onto one of the piers.

Sorry this took so long guys, I was hoping the 6th person would show up.
For those of you reading this, nows the time to move to shore, get your crap together, and ask me questions about the town.

[MeklorIlavator]

As Theodore looks over the town, he mumbles softly to himself.
Where is everyone?
As he passes lifeless houses, his hands form a grip and then suddenly a large sword made of light appears. A moment later, his entire body is shrouded in a similar construct.

Moving through the village, Theodore looks around for damage or signs of struggle, trying to figure out what happened here.

He now has a Bastard sword, and has the force armor
Also, if you require them:
Listen and spot both at +12

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

As the ship nears the dock, Kathrin observes the activities going on ashore.

This place is so sad... everybody must have left because of the storms, or else been dragged off by monsters... I wonder what kinds of strange creatures would inhabit a place like this...

...what are those idiots doing?

She furrows her brow and tilts her head to one side as she watches the raid begin, then sighs. "Sure, guys," she mutters sarcastically, to no one in particular. "Go ahead, just mindlessly pull everything out of place so that we can never tell how it was arranged to begin with..." She calms herself with a second sigh. "I'm all for treasure hunting, I guess, but I still think that we could wait long enough to get a better idea of how these people whaaaaaaa?"

Kathrin dons a silent face of angry exasperation when the first set of artifacts is set on fire. After spending a moment grinding her teeth, she goes to one of the ranking officers - the captain, if he happens to be around - and points out the scene. "What's going on here?" she asks, "Under whose orders are everyone destroying all of these symbols? We can't just burn something without at least knowing what it is first!"

What exactly do you mean by 'foreign icons?' I tried to be general enough that this reaction would apply even if they obviously seemed to be evil demon statues, but the particulars obviously matter to her. Of course, she'd also want to know about the local architecture, language, and cuisine, but we're not quite to that point yet.

Also, how much are we to assume about our surroundings in our posts, like the reactions of typical NPCs? Are we in a 'when in doubt just charge ahead and correct it later' sort of mood, or a 'never post more than six seconds of action at a time in case something wants to stop you' one, or about where in between?

[MCerberus]

Tren

The lack of discipline causes an exasperated shake of Tren's head as the scouting parties move in to loot. Almost immediately, he slips off to try and find out what happened here. Tren goes from house to house looking for signs of life but doesn't find any. Paranoid, possibly justified, his twin swords are drawn during the search.

Eventually Tren spots one of his comrades roaming the streets. It seems the one with the glowing weapon would be the only one of the group not looting so far. He waves at the man (Theodore) before approaching.

"We need to figure what happened here. I think the best bet would be town hall or the mayor's house or whatever they had here. Two eyes are better than one."

The rogue takes a moment to observe his surroundings before continuing.

"Be careful. Whatever caused this may still be around."

[tonberrian]

Baris

Baris is waiting by the shore for other members of his faith as everyone else checks out the town until he hears about how empty the town is. Worried about this, and worried about how worried the people on the boats look, he starts asking around about what was supposed to be here. He also checks the items being burned for anything that he might recognize.

Gather Information is at +9 and Know(Religion) at +10

[shaddy_24]

Ferualith

The champion-initiate rolls his eyes at the random looting of the houses. "Such astounding discipline among the soldiers," he mutters to himself as he moves towards the buildings. "Come now! We should examine the site before dismantling everything! There could be clues to the location and fate of those that lived here, but you're gathering and destroying them!" He moves in front of one of the groups before they enter one of the buildings, and stands between them and the door. "If you must search for treasure, at least allow the area to be searched first!"

Diplomacy to try and slow down the group, and maybe get some people to look around. [roll0]

How large are the buildings on average? 1 room, 2 rooms, much bigger?
About how large is the town?
Are any of the buildings noticably a temple, government building, etc?
How organized are these looters? Random destruction or careful searching?
I guess that's all my questions for the moment.

[MeklorIlavator]

Theodore holds his hand out in greeting as the other approaches, and nods his head as Tren explains his idea.
It's good to see that at someone has a head on their shoulders. I'll follow you're lead. Name's Theodore, by the way.

As they move on, Theodore continues scanning the surrounding, looking for any signs of ambush.

[tonberryking]

Acama

One member that planned to go ashore comes into the picture late.

Rubbing sleep from her bleary black and red eyes (mismatched) a fair looking but hard, burly dwarf of the female persuasion sits up in the long boat she'd slept in. Known as Acama The Thresher, or Red Acama or "That stupid sack of a dwarf who won't do anything," finally gets about following the others, but not before grabbing a coarse blanket wrapped around a beat up quiver and her weapon of choice and namesake. Her blond hair braided into two plaits thick as rope bounce against her black chain armor with spiked studs on its leather pauldrons, the braids and their bright cheery color mismatching her grim appearance otherwise.

There hasn't been a deadlier looking scythe made, or at least she insists that this is so. A serrated edged weapon of war and not a farmer's tool, Acama carries it without regard to the weight of the item nor the razor sharpness of it's edge. She hardly remembers it there, as if it were a part of her arm.

That aside, however, she's less graceful about rejoining the others, hitting the shore and merely looking around with a stern expression, not really saying much as she inspects the cove town.

Following the sound of the girl's voice she eventually falls in line with the others as if nothing had deterred her prior.

[roll0] [roll]1d20+1[roll] Spot/listen respectively.

[MCerberus]

Tren

Sheathing his swords, Tren shakes Theodore's hand firmly but briefly before turning his attention back onto the empty city streets. "My name is Tren."

Gazing down the abandoned path, he tries to spot any important or government buildings. The wind causes his cloak to sway slightly in the wind, collecting a small amount of the dust from the unkempt city. Reaching for one of his blades, he begins to search the streets, unsure if he should be on guard.


[roll0]
[roll1]

[wadledo]

Everyone:Foreign Icons as in small statues of saints, incense, candles, a few holy relics (stuff like finger bones of saints, a fragment of a chair somebody important sat in, etc.), paintings, murals, and anything with religious carving (including chairs, benches, chests, and other such furniture).

Correct later sort of posts. As long as you don't start talking about snow and giant flying cats, I'm fine.

The buildings are on average 2 or 3 rooms, with about a quarter having second stories, and pretty much all of them having access to the rooftops. There are probably about 120 buildings in the entire town.
There is also a short wall surrounding most of it, and the entire town could (according to the spies who joined the ships on the other side of the ocean) and did house about 500-600 people. As far as buildings go, there are a few larger than average homes, mostly rich persons houses, and one semi-large temple.

The looters are a combination of wild, chopping up everything, throw the cradle out with the bath water type, along with a number of clear heads, who make sure that the first don't get themselves killed (Ratio of about 5 or 6 to 1). It's a very well planned invasion.

As you wander the city streets, you are met with nothing but blowing sand and the creak of shutters. When Ferualith blocks one of the doorways, the men he stopped simply laugh and throw a bench through the window.
So far, only the first of the houses have been completely looted, and only the most adventures of the looters have made there way into the streets nearest to the docks.

Theodore only:You hear a faint, almost impercivable crying comeing from further inland.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

After disembarking from her vessel, a frustrated Kathrin notices a spike-covered scythe-wielding dwarf following behind her as she nears the glowing Jedi and the scary scar-faced guy. Luckily, she's not the judgmental sort.

"Well, good morning, sleepyhead," she says with a smile to the unexpected company. "I take it that they've left you out of the loop, too?"

It's at about this time that she overhears Tren and Ted. Excited to hear the first voices of reason since her ship had landed, she runs up to approach them. "Actually, I think that it might be best to investigate the temple first," she says, indicating the conspicuous building. "If there are any survivors, they would probably be holed up in that sort of sanctuary. Besides, I want to get a look at the motif before they burn the whole place down; I tried to talk to the captain about it, but he appears to have come down with an acute case of Knott Helpinga's syndrome."

Having gotten ahead of herself again, she takes a few steps in the direction of the temple, and nearly trips as she finally takes the time to consider the motley group she had just now gotten mixed up with. "Oh! My name is Kathrin, by the way - Kathrin Ericson. I guess that for all of the time we spent on the voyage together, we were never really introduced." She offers her hand to anyone in the mood to shake it.

[shaddy_24]

Ferualith

Ferualith ground his teeth as the men simply continued their mindless rampage around him. Knowing that nothing short of violence would stop them now, he turned away hoping to find others who hadn't descended into madness.

Spoting several people moving towards what appeared to be a temple, Ferualith sighed and walked over to them. "You appear to be the only ones in this crowd not destroying something at the moment. If your intentions remain level-headed, I would like to join you for the moment," he said. He nods to each of the members. "My name is Ferualith, Champion Initiate. Greetings."

[tonberrian]

Baris

After searching through the pile of burning idols coming up with nothing except some singed fingers, and striking out with those on the shore who were as clueless as he was about exactly what they were supposed to find here, Baris turns towards where he had heard the sound of someone chewing out somebody for letting the idols be burned.

Of course, by this time she had disembarked and was heading towards somebody holding a glowing sword. Baris decides to follow her because she was on the boat and might know something, and a group with something as unusual as the glowing-sword guy might be more accepting of more unorthodox members, such as binders.

"Hi, the name's Baris Thi-Oy! You're the guys form the boat!" Baris takes a second to gather his thoughts, and then addresses Kathrin. "Anyways, you were still on the boat when the news came back about the town. You know what we were supposed to find here?"

[MeklorIlavator]

"Good idea. I'm Theodore, and this is Tren. Let's..."
Theodore's voice trails off, and his head slighly twitches, before continuing.
"Did you hear that? It sounded like some sort of...cry? Whatever it was, it seems to becoming from inland. It could be survivors, and even if it'snot, we might get some answers."
At this, his grip on his sword tightens, knuckles growing noticeably white.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Hm?"

Kathrin turns inland as per Theodore's direction, her ears straining to find whatever he's talking about over the sound of the wind. In that interest, she lowers her voice to a whisper as she addresses Baris' question.

"Well, they said that this was supposed to be a friendly village," she says, noticeably irritated even at this volume. "I naturally interpreted that to mean, 'allies,' but by the looks of it, everyone else has apparently interpreted it to mean, 'chumps.' Of course, nobody has really given me a straight answer one way or the other, so I'm not completely sure."

[MCerberus]

Tren

Turning back, Tren watches as some others approach. He is pleasantly surprised there aren't any looters up this far yet, but he often turns back towards the empty city while introductions are being made. One of his eyebrows raises as it occurs to him that command had put strangers in the recon boats without so much as a handshake.

"As much as I would like to get to know each of you better, we still have the looters to out-search. We should continue this conversation walking."

Tren begins to continue towards towards the temple. Not checking if anyone follows, he throws a comment over his shoulder.

"Hopefully we can pin down that sound."

[wadledo]

This time, you all hear the noise.
It's coming from an area slightly to the north of the church, which is filled with shops and a market.
The other's haven't reached this far yet, and as you pass near the church, the shadows seem to swell up for a moment, looming over you with menacing intent,

Tren, Theodore, and Kathrin onlyIn the shadows, you think you see hundreds of small, child sized shapes with black, two dimensional forms and white holes for eyes, staring blankly at you.

But it turns into just a crow, the first living thing you've seen so far, cawing wildly and flying away into the gloom before you can even move.
The church itself is more of a humble affair, at odds with the somewhat lavish abandoned buildings surrounding it. This appears to be the more successful part of town, the few large homes clustering around the church like young ladies at a ball, gossiping with a older and far more regal woman somewhat past her prime.
The church doors are closed, like all the other doors in town, but the bell is in a state of transition, half in and half out of the belfry, as though the inhabitants had just stepped out for lunch. As a breeze whistles through the street, the bell gently rocks, the ropes holding it up creaking slightly as the weight changes.

[tonberryking]

Acama

The dwarf waves to Kathrin silently, looking up between the voices in the discussion but she keeps looking around at any given example of looting and pillaging the other mercs are up to. It seems to capture all of Acama's attention up until Tren starts to head towards the suspicious temple.

"Oy, s'all good and well that we 'vestigate this matter, but oughtn't we...someone... maybe I perhaps put a halt to all this razin'? Any info we pick up in th' temple may not make sense without something that's being killed or stolen...or set afire. I could think of a nomination fer the job..."

Shenanigans. Anyone actually looking at Acama, the grim smile on her face, the way she's palming the haft of her weapon, this dwarf really just wants an excuse to put down the bridge of polite protocol and fight something.

"I suppose we'd need fellows of book learnin' or law knowin' for the inside of that building. But... Hmm. Who could we use to quell the ne'aerdowells, hm?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kathrin stares as her eyes lose track of the shadow-children-turned-crazy-bird. "Did you guys see..."

...yeah, it's probably pretty apparent that everyone else saw it, too. Everyone in this group, anyway. ...but what does it mean...?

She follows Tren as her mind cranks away, thinking about what this phenomenon could be.
She has knowledge ranks in Arcana, Religion, Dungeoneering, The Planes, Geography and Nature. One of the first two would probably apply, but it's probably best if you make a roll in secret. Any result will probably occur to her while she's working on the following...

"Hmm..."

Producing a hypothesis and a small piece of black cloth from her pack, the artificer gets to, well, artificing. She drops down to scoop up a handful of sandy earth and begins to work it into the scrap. The stuff in her component pouch will probably be enough in a pinch, but if she's right, this town is just as good as a graveyard...

She's using Spell Storing Item to make a headband of Detect Undead. This'll take a minute, but she can follow along and occasionally add to the conversation while she's working. Before casting the spell, I'll also have her infuse it with Skill Enhancement and get a bonus to Use Magic Device for good measure.

[shaddy_24]

Ferualith

Ferualith watched as the bird circles about and flies away again. He frowns at Kathrin's reaction to it, "I saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was a simple bird." Shaking his head, he continues towards the church, but glances over at Acama occasionally. It would do no good if a fight broke out, but arguing with those who had their minds set on pointless actions would drag out longer than was necessary. Better to keep an eye on her and ensure that any trouble started remained minor.

[MCerberus]

Tren

The appearance of the figures causes Tren to snap into attention. Sure that there's something out there he does not return to a more relaxed state when a bird flies off.

"No, she's right. Something else was watching us. Keep an eye out while I check out this door."


Moving up to the door, he glances over his shoulder before searching the exterior for tripwires and other giveaways for traps. The temple might have been someone's last hole-up. Desperate people like to leave surprises for others. When he finishes the search, he tests the door to see if it's locked or barricaded before commenting to the others, "Can't be too careful. If someone lived to make it to the temple they'd want to slow down whatever caused this."

[tonberryking]

Acama

"...What're ye preparin', girl?"

Surprisingly, Acama gives deference to the more mysterious situation, something in Tren's carefulness and Kathrin's sudden preparations having caught the dwarf's interest. Maybe she thinks she can find a BETTER fight if not smaller minor ones. "There's something else going on, somethin' not apparent?"

Spot/listen: [roll0] / [roll1] Also, what's that church made of? Stone? I figure it may be worth trying to use Acama's stone cunning to deduce just how stable this building is, suspecting that it's more than the local God Hut. ([roll2]) if allowed for appraisal.

[wadledo]

Everyone looking at the Church:It seems a normal church.
There are no tripwires, and the place looks as deserted as all the other buildings in town. The main door is the only visible entrance, and there are several high shuttered windows about ten feet off the ground that look small enough for a skinny child to get through, but no bigger. Those are all closed, too.

Kathrin: The only thing you can think of is an old legend about the time when the earth decided to rebel against the creatures that lived on it, swallowing them all up and leaving shadow creatures to replace them.
You don't know why you remember this particular story, either, it just seems to pop into your head.

[shaddy_24]

Ferualith

Seeing that the church appears deserted, Ferualith simply walks up and knocks on the door, then tries to open it and look in. He doesn't enter yet, wanting to get a look at the inside before stepping into an unknown area.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Of course there is," Kathrin replies to Acama, wondering whether she's missed the point of the question somehow. "There's more to this than everyone just packing up and leaving. I think it has something to do with the shadows. Something is still going on here, beneath the... surface..."

This would be where the idea occurs to her.

"You know, this actually reminds me of a concept from some mythology... I don't remember which mythology, but anyway. If I remember it right, it begins with everybody being able to see and know each other easily, completely. Eventually everybody finds each other to be so interesting that Earth gets cheesed off, since nobody is paying attention to her. Uh," she pauses for a moment to extract the most relevant part of the thought and summarize it. "Well, the point is that the earth swallows up every living being, leaving their dark and creepy shadows to walk the surface in their stead. I think that it's supposed to mean that there's more to people than we can ascertain easily, but here... I wonder whether this sort of story has magically taken on literal, physical meaning..."

Incidentally, that boring speech? It takes about a minute to say. "Skill Enhancement."

"So, in summary of the summary," Kathrin says, tying her newly-enchanted cloth around her head with a nice, big bow, "I don't think that the people here actually left, per se. And if I'm right about that, with any luck this infusion will help me see what's left of them."

Casting Detect Undead! [roll0] + 2(charisma) + 4(skill enhancement) + 3(skill focus) + 8 (skill ranks) = 16 + 17 = Way more than necessary to activate the item. Eh, still good to play it safe anyway.

[tonberrian]

Baris

"That's informative, but it doesn't explain the raven. If you saw something to do with the raven, wouldn't the obvious course of action be to find it? That bird cannot be normal. Look around - the only things alive here are the people from the boats. No insects, no birds, no nothing. Except the raven. And maybe whatever you saw. You might have some luck with whatever you're doing, but if not, we should at least try to find that bird."

[MCerberus]

Tren

Satisfied that the door contains no sinister traps, he once again reaches for his sword as he shifts his weight so he can easily open the heavy door. Tren waits for the others to finish before remarking, detached from the previous conversation, "We're looking for what and when the people were doing, and why. Try to find something official looking. Remember, we're being pressed for time."

Tren puts his weight into his shoulder and tries to quickly open the door and find out what lies on the other side.