[D&D 4e] Winter's Herald 1

[Gizladlo]

Players allowed to post:
Zel'phir, Drow Monk (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14804904&postcount=31), as played by Son_of_Meepo
Ronin, Deva Invoker of Avandra (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14906936&postcount=90), as played by Irish_Musician
Faerthir, Githzerai Shaman (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14861218&postcount=40), as played by KnightSteve
Tarn Wildslayer, Warforged Warden (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14863355&postcount=42), as played by Halberd
Niyah Haust, Human Sorcerer (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=14896426&postcount=78), as played by Infernally Clay

"AWAKEN."

You open your eyes with a start while they begin to dart around the room, searching for something your recognize. None of your senses bring back familiar information. Strangely, you feel like you've done this before, as though it were part of some long, forgotten dream, but you just can't remember...

The room you're in is small, sparsely decorated and dressed in ice blue with obsidian walls. The shadows in your room seem alive, thriving. You climb from the bed you're in.

Coffins as beds? you think to yourself, Strange place.

A shadow steps from the obsidian wall and takes the form of a large raven, its eyes as shiny and black as the walls of the cramped holding cell you're in. The door to your cell unlatches and opens.

"FOLLOW," it booms, and flies into the hall.

Your body moves without your input, and you realize in horror what little control over the situation you have. You follow the raven down through the complex, slowly and feebly, and your eyes take in everything.

The decorations of this strange place are unrecognizable, but not unlike anything you've ever seen. You recognize a symbol here and there, in a tongue you speak, but you can't make sense of it. You might have seen some of the paintings and portraits before, might recognize a face, but this information doesn't help you. While walking, your eyes dance with the shadows.

For dry amusement, you try to remember a time you felt more hapless.

"WE ARE NEAR," the raven caws.

You now notice seven other souls have joined you. One is shaking from head to toe, eyes wide. Another is whispering a prayer in Common, something nonsensical and mentions Lolth. Another has his hands crossed across his chest and refuses to look at anyone.

You don't get a chance to talk to anyone, though, as the archway at the end of the hall opens a portal. Try as you might, you can't see anything through the other end.

"COME," caws the raven, and you follow it through the portal.

The room you have entered is cavernous, to say the least, and circular. The entire room is grey. Sitting in the center of the room, it seems, is a gargantuan snowflake, except it appears to be made of divine light, and is the only source of light in the room.

The raven, your guide, is gone. Shadows dance, as do your eyes, across the room. It is empty, save for the shadows and the snowflake.

"WELCOME TO LETHERNA."

The snowflake pulses when it speaks.

"TELL ME WHY YOU'RE HERE. DO NOT DAWDLE."

[Son_of_Meepo]

A figure covered from head to toe in dark clothing speaks softly behind the covering over his mouth. You likely have to strain at times to hear him.

"I was seeking a change of scenery... it appears that I have found it."

I stands motionless, his arms at his sides, but not at ease.

[Halberd]

A taller figure, seemingly made of metal, stone, and wood, hefts an axe warily.
A change of scenery, indeed. To answer your question, I know not why I'm here, and apparently you don't either. Still, I think I dislike it already. This place reeks of those gods that I saw the humans worship, what with all these strange ravens and coffins. In fact, if my soul weren't joined with the spirits, my first guess would be that I was dead. But it isn't, and thus I'm not, unless everything I've believed and taken strength in for the past five years is wrong.
He points the axe at the snowflake warily.
So if you would like to know why I'm here, I'm afraid I know no more than you do.

[KnightSteve]

The githzerai shaman stands beside his spirit companion, Grimalkin. "It seems as though my reason for being here has escaped me. I think I have a reason, but if you don't know, I may need time to think of it. Do you know Grimalkin?" Faerthir looks at his spirit knowing it won't answer with a physical answer, but maybe it will give him some insight on the situation.

[Irish Musician]

Ronin (http://iplay4e.appspot.com/characters/agdpcGxheTRlchQLEgtDaGFyYWN0ZXJWMhirx-sHDA), Angelic Invoker of Avandra
The long-haired Deva speaks up and flexes his wings, deciding how much room he has around him, "As always I am trying to lead people to freedom and help them make their own decisions and make their own lives. Though, if you happen to know where I can find a certain demon, I would be more than obliged to know where it is." With that said the Deva looks around, doing his best to try to tell how he is being controlled.......and how to break free.

[Infernally Clay]

"Knowledge," Niyah said shortly, "...and revenge."

At the final word's utterance, the air itself seemed to crackle with sparks of power. Evidently Niyah was currently more interested in the latter than the former.

[Gizladlo]

There is a small pause. There exists a great absence here: no sounds, no smells, and nothing stirs, not even the dust in the air.

"WRONG," the immobile snowflake says simply, "YOU ARE HERE BECAUSE YOU HAVE DIED AND REQUIRE JUDGEMENT. DEATH CAN CAUSE MEMORY LOSS."

One of the people with you, the shaking one, wails and falls to the ground, weeping. The drow who had been praying nonsensically in Common closes her eyes and sits cross-legged on the ground.

You, too, move to a position more comfortable. It appears whatever it was that had a hold on you only meant to bring you here.

"TELL ME HOW YOUR LIFE WAS WORTH LIVING."

The weeping one sputters, "I-I don't wa-want to be-e here..."

The drow gets up before anyone else can act: (Speaking in Supernal)
"[nonsensical], I cannot tell a lie! Long shall [nonsensical] reign!" she hisses!

Six seconds pass in great confusion: you are blown back against the one outer wall, and shadows encase your hands and feet, effectively imprisoning you and everyone else but the drow. Shadows fly from around the room to her, blanketing her and pushing her to the ground!

"HOW DID--HOW ARE--"

Laughter, cold and maniacal and hideous, echoes around the room, and you notice as the light grows dimmer... The gargantuan snowflake, the form the Raven Queen had chosen for her meeting with you, has been melting since the drow woman spoke up.

From under shadows, the drow woman, the weeping one, and the stern man have disappeared, replaced with the familiar forms of Lolth and Torog!

The shadows that had pinned you to the wall loosen and fall to the ground, and you fall into them. In your head you hear the voice of the Raven Queen:
"I DO NOT HAVE TIME: I WILL SEND YOU FIVE TO FIND THE WINTER'S HERALD. ONLY SHE CAN RIGHT THIS WRONG!"

Under the stress of the shadow jaunt, the three beings of power you have witnessed, and the news of your death, you pass out.

OOC:
To be continued: if you feel you must reply, you can write a dream your character has during this time of unconsciousness. It can be silly and nonsensical, or about a goal you want to accomplish, or an item you wish to acquire, or a reaction to what has occurred, or even something else that hasn't been covered here.

Go nuts!

[KnightSteve]

Faerthir is a young gith, sitting in a circle of a big group meditating. He sees his mother sitting at the other side of the group looking back at him. She smiles and mouths for him to close his eyes. Faerthir does as she says, and tries to meditate. He wants to figure this out and complete his training, but he keeps thinking of the elven village nearby.

...Faerthir is an adult now, he has spoken with the Elders. If they decide to stay in the Elemental Chaos, Faerthir is going to go back on their behalf to have a part in saving the world, to keep evil from spreading here. Faerthir has chosen to become a shaman not a monk, his elven interaction has changed his path there. But Faerthir has found his path, and his spirit companion, Grimalkin, an ancient jaguar. In the morning either Faerthir, or the whole clan will be heading to the location they will be setting up....

"You must use all that I have taught you. It is up to you to save our kind from the evil ones." Faerthir's mother had decided to join the clan and work on relations with the other races. Faerthir left with nothing more than a half smile and a wave.

[Irish Musician]

Ronin (http://iplay4e.appspot.com/characters/agdpcGxheTRlchQLEgtDaGFyYWN0ZXJWMhirx-sHDA), Angelic Invoker of Avandra
Seeing the three being turn into evil gods, Ronin automatically called upon his powers of the Divine, but something was wrong....they weren't coming to him as they should. Of course, he thought to himself, I am dead again....this is really becoming a bother. Then, he was cast into the shadows and feel asleep.

He was on a field of battle, staff in hand, reaping divine justice on demons and devils alike, not to mention the primordials that were fighting on the field. But it didn't matter to Ronin, he has his goddess on his side....and was generally fighting right next to him....and there was no creature that could stop him. Then he heard screams from the field in the distance, screams of his comrades. He rushed to their aid, and what he saw before him was the most wretched demon he had ever laid eyes on. The thing had one of his people in its massive hand, tearing the poor man in half, splattering his insides over those unfortunate enough to be within distance. This fueled Ronin's rage and his powers swelled in him life never before.

His fellow had turned on each other, twisted by the aura of this foul beast, and Ronin had to put a stop to it. He rushed the demon, sending divine radiance at it, scorching it and sending it backwards. He did his best to incapacitate his fellow that had changed, and there were but three left to help him take down this evil thing. Ronin heard a voice in his head that talked about the fall of Avandra, but it was pushed aside by the thought of his goddess being near him, such was the might of his faith. Ronin and the three got the beast to his knees and just as Ronin was to strike the killing blow, he felt a pain in his side. He looked and it was a dear friend of his, Argent, holding a dagger that had been plunged into Ronin. Ronin knocked Argent aside with a swing of his staff, knocking him out cold, but had to face his other allies. Unfortunately for them, he was not able to save their lives, but instead had to kill them, this gave the demon enough time to escape. Ronin watched as the demon limped away, too far out of reach to kill, and know burdened with the duty to find it and kill it, and his soul would not rest until he did........

[Halberd]

Tarn is dimly aware of the primal glade where he first saw his true path. Spirits loom over him, their spectral faces far more cold and distant than he has ever seen them before.
Spirits... I knew you would take me away from that awful place. Let my soul join with you, to fly among the trees, to guard nature's beauty, to-
He is cut off by a cold stare from the tree spirit known as Stoneroot.
No.
What? But... I was joined with you in the glade! I was promised an afterlife among you! Please, please tell me this is all some mistake!
Stoneroot rumbles in anger.
Why would we accept the likes of you? You, who have slaughtered so many? You, who have done more to destroy nature than any mortal for the past few centuries? This soulless steel thing that stands before me is nothing more than the most imbalancing predator of all, fit only to destroy. Nothing you can do can possibly atone for the sins you committed, let alone make you into a spirit guardian!
But you said I could atone! You said I could make myself at one with nature and its utmost protector!
...Oh, really? See for yourself- does this look like a protector to you?
Suddenly, Tarn sees himself- hacking through a group of trees and hapless-looking forest animals with bloodlust in his eyes.
Was that really how I looked? Tarn wonders. His double turns from his tree-butchering and, without so much as pausing, slices the helpless Tarn in half. A pair of ravens come and take him away despite every fabric of his somehow still conscious being fighting to stay and protect the glade. Then, the enveloping darkness returns, silencing all thought.

[Son_of_Meepo]

He slipped into the void again... It was not an unfamiliar place as Zel'phir had learned to clear his thoughts through meditation. Still, one idea kept creeping in. He was dead, or so she said he was... but how?

Poison? It was a familiar tool of the drow, so he'd learned how to resist it. No, any poison used against him would likely fail.

Ambush? He couldn't recall one. In his sleep. Not likely. Zel was careful and slept lightly.

He did not feel any wounds on his body nor could he remember receiving any. So if not his body... his mind? If someone assaulted his mind, then perhaps they have purged his mind of any memory of the attack...

One thing was clear to Zel'phir, unraveling this mystery would have to wait. For now, he let the questions roll off like the rain and flow by. The void greeted him again.

[Infernally Clay]

Where am I...?

The town was on fire, barely more than rubble amongst a sea of flame. The heat was suffocating, forcing Niyah to push forward. There were cries of pain, of fear, of loss...

What happened here...? I can't remember anything.,.

On the outskirts of the town, she spotted a group of five adventurers running, terror mixed with elation. Did they do this? One of the group, an older man in his 50's, was a lot calmer than the rest and stole a look towards the town. Toward's Niyah's right. Out of reflex, her eyes followed his until they settled upon something that almost made her sick...

I'm... Dead?

Niyah became as lightning, teleporting to her own corpse. Next to her was another corpse but, clearly, it wasn't human. It was at least ten feet tall, for one, and covered in steel-like scales. Both bodies were heavily damaged, Niyah's punctured with claw marks and heavy burns. The demon itself looked like it had been struck by lightning. Several times.

Niyah suddenly felt lightheaded and then there was nothing but darkness...

[Gizladlo]

"They're awake!"

Dazed, you look up into a sea of concerned, elvish faces. They grin at you before they begin to congratulate each other on their success, probably for caring for you while you were out. Before you have a chance to ask a question, though, a bubbly gnome wearing medical attire steps forward.

"Hi!" He squeaks in Common, "Found you in weird place. Known shadow junction. Wasn't sure you were coming or going!"

He beams around at all of you as the other people begin to vacate the ward. The ward is big, twenty beds in total, but almost all of them are empty. A centaur, eyes on your group, guards the double door to the north, and an elven archer stands perched above the emergency escape to the southwest, watching for invaders.

"You're meeting the queen. She will ask lots of questions. You have some for me?"

He looks around at you inquisitively, waiting for you to speak.

[KnightSteve]

Faerthir

"Meet the queen? I don't think my kind are welcome in elven covens. You might have been informed on this. My elders came from the Elemental Chaos to create a home for the Githzerai on this realm, and cut down some trees too close to an elven village. It almost brought about a war between the two, so we left back to the EC until we found a better suited place for our people. I was little when we first came to this realm, but I liked you elves and adopted your shamanism for my own, since it takes great pride in remembering ancient spirits." Faethir looks around as everybody starts watching him as he's telling the story. "Sorry, I am a bit long winded sometimes."

Faerthir takes a step back to let someone else talk, and to get the eyes averted from him.

[Son_of_Meepo]

The drow sits up and immediately feels the cool are across his torso. He notices that his usual, concealing garb is folded at the foot of the bed.

He laughs off the conversation thus far. "Your people aren't welcome? Did your goddess try to kill all their gods? You don't know what unwelcome is then. If I am here, then I doubt you need to worry about what amounts to only a few trees."

He then turns back to the gnome, noticing for the first time that he's feeling a little woozy. Reflexively he tries to cover up any sign of feeling weak or unwell. "We were told to seek the Winter's Herald. Is that your queen?"

[Infernally Clay]

"Where... where are we?" Niyah said, rubbing her head as she sat up, "Is the centaur there to keep something out, or us in?"

Realising she was coming off a little rude towards the people who had evidently cared for her, she apologised. "Sorry... Bad dreams. Thank you for helping us. Is there anything we need to know about your Queen before we visit?"

[Irish Musician]

Ronin (http://iplay4e.appspot.com/characters/agdpcGxheTRlchQLEgtDaGFyYWN0ZXJWMhirx-sHDA), Angelic Invoker of Avandra
Ronin opened his eyes and saw what was around him. He sat up and was welcomed by a little gnome as well as the faces of many smiling elves. Hearing his friends' comments he just smiled, "Well I have been an elf a time or two, so I will speak up for you two. There may be bad blood between races, but the elves are not an unreasonable people, the Queen will see reason, I'm sure, before chopping your head off.....at least I think so." Ronin ends with a sly smile and his dry, and somewhat morbid, sense of humor that he has adopted over the years. Dying again and again and being risen once more tends to make one a little less scared of death.

Ronin rose from his bed, and looked for a mirror, "I wonder who I am now." After finding one he was quite surprised to be looking back at the features that he has been used to for so many years. "I......I am not different. This is quite odd. I remember feeling death come for me and take me to the lands beyond, and then......" Ronin trailed off as his head was swimming with questions, but then snapped back into focus when he realized they would be meeting the queen, as if it hadn't hit him before. He found a wash-basin to clean his face, did his best with his robes, and stretched his wings out as far as he could, seeming to find the best place for them to settle after his stretch was done. Ronin was quite used to waking up after death, but he was not used to waking up in the same body. "Let us meet your Queen, come along friends."

[Halberd]

Tarn looks about the forest in confusion, then slowly smiles in relief. I've been given a second chance... he whispers, before getting up in a fluid motion and following the group to the queen.

[Gizladlo]

The eyes of the youthful gnome dart from one to the next as they speak their minds. He seems to understand more than he lets on.

"If you're ready, we'll go!" he chirps, jumping up to his feet.

Passing through the narrow corridors and atop the overhangs of the Feywild castle, he simply will not remain quiet, and his terse wording seems to be, simply, his manner of speaking.

"This place bastion against Shadowfell incursion. Fight many undead here, you'll see."

Elvish peoples pass by, male and female alike, almost all prepared to defend their homes from intruders. Many of their faces light up when they see your guide, the gnome, and greet him briefly before you shuffle on. You notice something missing, something vital to life in a keep--

Children. There are no children here.

"Queen not named--has title. 'Undareya.' Means 'unforgiving queen.'"

Just as you pass before two closed, ornate, oak doors, he pauses to gaze at the lot of you, his face dark and wary.

"Only don't say you know that."

His demeanor changes completely.

"Cheers!"

He leaves, and the doors open...

A voice light and warming, like the sun, awaits you: "You may enter."

You don't have to respond to this. I'm leaving for about an hour and will pick this back up before I go to sleep in three hours; I just wanted to a) have something for you to pick at, and b) start fresh after an hour break for lunch.

Yes, I know, we haven't fought anything yet, and, to be honest, I'm not quite sure how we'd do that. Anyone know of, like, an online tabletop I can use to run this game? Otherwise we'll need to do it MUDD style, complete with x-y coordinates, which isn't, I think, going to be much fun for anyone.

Also: I'll be having you roll initiative really soon. Don't you fret. :D

[Infernally Clay]

"The Shadowfell...?" Niyah whispered to the others as the gnome led on, "Undareya...?"

As the group walked, Niyah tried to remember if she had ever encountered these terms before.

History Check: [roll0]

When the gnome left the group and a warm voice bade them enter, Niyah was hesitant. She might be impulsive, but she didn't understand anything that was happening. Did she die? What about the meeting with the Raven Queen? Was that a dream? Where was she? Who were the people she awoke with? Who or what is the Winter's Herald and why was she being led to meet royalty?

There were too many questions left unanswered but, gathering herself, Niyah entered the room anyway.

[Irish Musician]

Ronin (http://iplay4e.appspot.com/characters/agdpcGxheTRlchQLEgtDaGFyYWN0ZXJWMhirx-sHDA), Angelic Invoker of Avandra
Ronin let the gnome go on and on about this and that as they walked. He heard the gnomes words, but knew not of which he spoke. However, this didn't bother Ronin, he knew whatever information they needed to know would eventually make itself known. So when he heard the voice inviting them into the room, he did not hesitate, sensing Niyah's reluctance.....he pushed open the doors and walked right in the room, with Niyah close behind.

[Son_of_Meepo]

Zel'phir didn't see much sense in talking. He just did as the voice bade and entered.

[Halberd]

Tarn hesitates for a moment, staring out of a window at the Feywild forest. He then walks in with the rest of the group.