[CLOSED] Diablo [3.5 Dungeoncrawl] - So the Town Remains

[~Corvus~]

South of you is the town of Tristram. The short, treacherous mountain pass leading into town is so narrow, your small party of adventurers even has sheer drops of three feet to take, and has made travel by horse impossible.

Looking below you at the town below, it is almost unrecognizeable. What was once a lush valley populated by a burgeoning town with verdant farmland to its south is strewn with huge jagged boulders around the small core of the town and the church nearby. The farms to the south are a burnt husk, and the great bridge that forded the stream bisecting the central town has also been destroyed.

Three pits of the recently-burnt dead lie behind what is most likely the Healer’s hut. Pepin, for sure, will have little trouble with business these days. A stream of smoke makes an almost-camouflaged line against the backdrop of the farmland, and a nearly invisible line comes from what is obviously the Rising Sun Inn.

The party had intended to pass on by the town by way of adventuring, having heard that it had been having a little trouble of late. Even better, Odgen’s inn was a place of incredible warmth and comfort, and it was well worth the visit and perhaps a little time spent in the town. As you gaze, you all feel something shift beneath your feet. Something is very wrong in the town.


* * *

As you make your way to the Rising Sun Inn, you can see that it has not been maintained than you’ve been led to expect. The door is messy. Dirt from the outside is tracked over parts of the floor. Farnham, a former Soldier and now an aged Militia man, is making as much of a mess of the bar while trying to clean it, and it’s clear that he is inebriated.

For those that know the town, an even more shocking sight is Ogden. He is slumped over a table in the middle of the room, with four empty pints of ale standing on the table, and several more tipped over on the table. His face is covered with several days of stubble, and his hair is grubby and unwashed. He looks up at you all as you enter, and his eyes bear rings showing his lack of sleep. He slumps his head almost as soon as he looks at you, and resumes his tortured sleep.

OOC thread here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?354750)

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[drack]

Joseph Caiaphas, swaying drunkenly on the balls of his feet even without any drinks manages to, with a sickening crunch, snaps his head to his left shoulder to afford him a better view of the man. Clicking his jaw together anxiously for a moment he decides to approach the man, the ground swaying uneasily under him as he made his way across the bar. "Excue...." His words seem to fade for a moment before he coughs sharply splattering blood which he doesn't seem to notice onto the edge of his robes. "Excue...." He begins again before his word once more fades from his mouth. Clunking his light frame onto the table, landing heavily on his elbows Caiaphas' arms dart out quicker then one might imagine, latching onto the drunk man's jacket. Pulling until their eyes were level, Caiaphas' pupils slowly dilate and his eyes widen as he asks, twitching. "You see them to don't you?! You see them! I know it, you do, you really do!"

[evyldead]

Shinra Tensei walks up to the man slouching his head about to pass out, "My good sir, is there a room I may rent for awhile? And you need to go to sleep yourself, I don't mean to be rude but the look of exhaustion over you is unbearable. No human should have to suffer through that."

[Mousedigits]

Dorian will walks over to the man holding up the bartender. "Leave the poor man alone. He's just drinken more than his fair share."
He turns to the barkeep. ""We're gonna need a couple rooms for the night, sir."

[JanusJones]

Moreina

Standing in the doorway, the lean woman eyes the scene and her "companions." Her fingers twitch, almost unconsciously, near her quiver as she watches the drunken Caiaphas.

She shakes her head, briefly, and takes up position outside the door, leaning against the wall, bow beside her, eyeing the street.

She had come for battle, and the stink of it was everywhere. They were already at war.

[~Corvus~]

Ogden barely twitches as Caiphas talks to him.

The Inn is laid out like so: from the entrance, there is a good view of the tables, and off to the left and against the back wall is the bar. There are two doors behind the bar, one immediately at the entrance to the bar, and the other door, halfway open, affords a view of the poorly-lit cellar-room in the back.

To the left of the bar and around the left corner of the entrance are some stairs that lead up to a balcony that hangs over a half of the tavern's space, with beams supporting the overhang (of course). Behind the balcony are six rooms, the last two of which turn across the balcony to overhang directly across from and above the entrance.


Shinra Tensei walks up to the man slouching his head about to pass out, "My good sir, is there a room I may rent for awhile? And you need to go to sleep yourself, I don't mean to be rude but the look of exhaustion over you is unbearable. No human should have to suffer through that."

Ignoring the good sense the monk speaks, Ogden instead turns each mug to look into them. "All gone" he sobs, and with a look of absolute despair leans himself back on the table and closes his eyes.


Dorian will walks over to the man holding up the bartender. "Leave the poor man alone. He's just drinken more than his fair share."
He turns to the barkeep. ""We're gonna need a couple rooms for the night, sir."

Farnham turns to the barbarian once addressed. Couple roomsh you shay? He turns to point in the general direction of the stairs. The roomsh are pusairs, but theresh no one here that wou- *hic* -ould wanna Shtay here anymore. Farnham turns the filthy rag in his hand, trying to find the least-dirty area without success. He drops the rag, and makes his way to the other side of the bar, and looks around for more rags. His voice echoes through the wood: If'n ye wan' rooms, then why not help move poorogden-- he bumps his head on the counter from below. Ow.

Moo poor Ogden to his room rightere behind th' barrand wake up the next morning and we can *hic* talkabout it.

Aaaha!!

He stands up triumphant at last, with a marginally less dirty rag, and makes his way over to Ogden's table, plopping the rag there and gathering the mugs in his arms.

Gillian shouldbe bak tommorowmornin *hic* orning and can tell you all abou' whas goin' on. Farnham dumps the mugs onto the bar counter and makes his way upstairs to the furthest room on the balcony.

[drack]

"I knew it! I KNEW IT!" Caiaphus yells excitedly before being overcome by swells of excited giggles. By the door a spider, easily as large as a dog skitters in, it's many legs clicking in time as it slides easily down the roof, and in across the ceiling of the bar. Snaking barbed tendrils weave across the spider's form, pulsating disturbingly with the faint reddish glow of burning steel. The spider itself is dark, a black that seems to soak in this light as a demon baths in the blood of innocent purity. The young man however, as if not noticing the demonic form of his companion calls "Here Benevolence, come along." Vehemently hissing the spider runs after the man as if to topple and devour the fool, but then, with what could only be thought of as a grin, the spider once more melts into formless darkness sinking into the Caiaphus' shadow.

Moving to rejoin the group he walks into a chair, and tripping, topples onto the floor, once more contorted by spasms of excited giggling. "They're here aren't they?" He manages to say to nobody in particular between bouts of strangled mirth.

[evyldead]

Shinra Tensei looks around at the place, "This place has seen better days, and could use more of those days. Let's bring the light back to this place and disperse the evil here."

[~Corvus~]

Shinra Tensei looks around at the place, "This place has seen better days, and could use more of those days. Let's bring the light back to this place and disperse the evil here."

It seems that two of Shinra's party members are at a loss for better words. As they help the monk move Ogden into his room, he can't help the feeling that finally this town has another glimmer of hope come from the outside world.

Caiphas, meanwhile, is rather self-absorbed and is still rather entertained by his own rambling antics, as he is half the time.

[JanusJones]

Moreina hasn't spoken. She has nothing to say until they get the man to bed.

"Whatever's here may come at night. We need a perimeter." She eyes the madman.

"You, and that thing, out. We came to fight demons, not lodge with them."

[drack]

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, ignorant of how he had caught Moreina's eye, continues laughing, blissfully unaware of her suspicions.

[JanusJones]

Moreina looks to Tensei. "You want to sleep near this one and his pet, he's your responsibility. I don't have the muscle to throw him out - you do. I'd wager we'd all be safer that way."

[Mousedigits]

"I don't know about you guys, but I kinda trust him." Dorian looks over to the spasming man beside him. "Something tells me he's a victim, not an enemy."

[drack]

At the sound of the word "enemy", http://hjemmeikbh.dk/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/J.jpg
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jumps, looking wildly about. "Enemy, Enemy, Enemy, WHERE?!" Attempting to look in all directions at once Caiaphas falls backwards. Panicked he reaches blindly to catch his fall, catching instead the end of a table, and pulling it down with him onto the floor. Frightfully he reaches fro something, anything, clutching a hold of a nearby chair while he frantically looks all around. "Are they back? The mad demons and their evil smokes? Has the devil's blue spittle crept from the earth and taken on a human form? Have the evil eyes of the cows congregated once more to torment me? Have the dark clouds of miasmas left the sky in the wake of a greater evil come to watch?! Why won't you all leave me alone!?" he cries out to an empty corner of the pub.

His eyes still darting about frantically, scanning the whole of the inn as if there were demons under every clump of dust and in every cobwebbed corner, he points a shaking finger beside the man still at the bar. "That one, the one with a head of a bull, legs of an elk, eyes of a frog and the fangs of a winterworm, is it... It... Is it after me again?!" For a moment the shivering silver fog of a summons appears about him, but in the next it fails to condense, dissipating harmlessly into the stale inn air. "If only..." the thin man begins, from amidst a tangle of furniture on the floor. "If only..." He hesitates shuddering as he curls tighter amidst himself within the mass of chairs. "If only they'd stop changing, if only they'd stay there and let me get them, but no, no, they keep changing and morphing, shifting in and out of my reach. WHY DO YOU TORMENT ME, WHY DO YOU NOT SHOW YOURSELF!? Never the same, they were there, they were there, I swear it..." Whimpering Caiaphas' voice becomes quieter and quieter until he's only mumbling to himself.

"Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? Please, please, please, why me? You! No! No please?! Why? No, come back! Please come back? No.... No!" Silently he begins sobbing, the chair still clutched in his hands.

[JanusJones]

Moreina gestures to the man. "Sure. I feel terrible for the poor fellow." Her voice is entirely emotionless.

Hand on her bow, she nods to Dorian. "You want to help him? Maybe talk it over with him, make him some tea, discuss his issues? Great. Noble of you. I suppose you'll be wanting some privacy, though."

She points her chin at the door to the inn. "Maybe the stables."

[Mousedigits]

"Noble of me? Maybe. However, listen to this. If we're going to disperse the evil from here, which I intend to do, we're going to need all the manpower we can get. If we can get this guy to calm down, he and his spider-thing may be helpful."

[JanusJones]

Moreina's hardened expression doesn't change. She nods. "Good. When you figure out how to make him an asset rather than a screaming unpredictable lunatic with a pet demon, bring him back in. Until then, you're his wetnurse, not I, and play outside like good boys."

[Techwarrior]

Father Absolam, Disciple of Light

It is now that a man wearing travelling clothes over a mail shirt enters the tavern. His steps are careful and measured, like one who is weary of the weight of each step.

"I'd be willing to help escort this man to the local healer. His screams sound tormented, and I was just there talking to the man myself; he's a good man, and would love to help in any way he can."

[Mousedigits]

Dorain

"Thank you. If payment is needed, come to me. Now, I'm pretty tired after getting here, so I'm gonna go ahead and sleep upstairs."

[drack]

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sits idly by, drooling for much of the exchange, though he refuses to release the chair or accompany the strange bloke when prompted. Madmen they were, all of them, and he wanted no part in it. Hunting demons they said? Killing them? The drunken buffoons, what of all the demons around them, some of them themselves were demons, and he would know! What nonsense.

[Mousedigits]

"Come on, Joseph. You're gonna go with the nice man here and get better."

[~Corvus~]

Moriena waits, arms crossed and her lips thin. She appears unwilling to move from her commanding spot near the stairs until Caiphas has left the tavern.

[drack]

Caiaphas falls into the half sleep of one too paranoid to sleep too deeply, still clutching the chair, waking instantly to the threat of demons if aroused.

[evyldead]

Shinra Tensei walks over to the door and looks around for anything out of the ordinary, "I will watch over the perimeter, and let you guys know of anything, if anything has arisen from hell into this town."

[Techwarrior]

Father Absolam, Disciple of Light

"I wish you luck. I'll keep an eye on this one."

He points to Caiaphas.

The priest sets himself up in a chair near the tormented man for the night. Come morning, he would do what he could to help the man, but then he needed to find out more about what was going on here. Information was worth it's weight in diamonds, and he wanted as much of it as he could get.

[evyldead]

Shinra walks out of the tavern. He looks to left and right and notice anything then starts to walk the perimeter. A few times to notice anything. He then walks around town and looks for anyone who would be of help.

[~Corvus~]

Shinra walks out of the tavern. He looks to left and right and notice anything then starts to walk the perimeter. A few times to notice anything. He then walks around town and looks for anyone who would be of help.

Shinra looks to his left from the tavern. He sees the dim glow of the front light to the smithy turned low. The forfe itself barely burns, and the blacksmith is nost likely sleeping. The monk sees the fountain in the middle of the town square, making only a murmur. Beyond the fountain and the smithy to his left is another small house, unoccupied and apparently vacant.

As Shinra's gaze sweeps to the right, he sees another house across from the Tavern, one that looks homey and yet has many jars and vials of sorts, all empty and upside-down at the moment, arranged neatly on the shelves outside. Perhaps this is the house that the Father was talking about. The town Healer?

The monk then begins his circle of the town square. As he circles these buildings, he finds another house to the north of the tavern. The path is well-worn here, as well as the area is between the central area around the fountain. However this house's lights, too, are off. As Shinra continues, he almost runs into the pale-blue bricks of the cemetary, and he looks up to see the looming shadow of the Cathedral beyond the walls. As the monk continues his travel south along this road he passes a longhouse; these houses are almost certainly for large town celebrations. Too bad it may never be used as such again. South he follows the road, until he comes to two bridges. The southernmost bridge has been burnt down, and the ground is slightly rounded here. There is a bridge to the east, but its length across the river--and the time of day--makes Shinra think twice about crossing this very moment. Instead he turns to complete his circuit, taking note of the devastated farmland past the river.

His second loop around the central town leads him a bit closer to the Cathedral. Red lights pour from the entrance, and it is deathly silent save the soft scraping sound, as if a boot were being dragged slowly across carpeting. The monk hears a rasping moan, followed by the scraping. As he pauses, all he hears is some shallow breathing. Looking around, there is nothing external of the Cathedral that he can see that could be making these sounds.

Shinra, these sounds could be from a terrible monster waiting to ambush you! What will you do?

[evyldead]

Shinra Tensei looks closer to the sounds. Hide- [roll0]
Move Silently- [roll1]
I will go up to the door and peek inside at what the sounds are. Spot check- [roll2]
I will fall back. If the pursuit me, the I will kite them back yelling for Father Absolam to come here, but not loud enough to wake and worry everyone. BUT If It Is only one of them I will try and fight it.

[~Corvus~]

As Shinra peers into the Cathedral, he notices a large number of the pews have been broken, smashed, and moved off to the side. The rug has holes and tears in it. There is a clear stairwell leading down to the grounds below the Cathedral, and in Shinra’s haste, he misses the long smeared line of blood leading from that stairwell to the entrance.

He does, however, catch the motion of a man making the noise. He is missing half of his right leg, and his shirt is ripped in several places. From each hole he has severe gashes. He is barely wheezing, now, and as Shinra recoils by pure reflex, he reaches out a hand.

Please…listen to me… he whimpers. The...Butcher did this to me...to..us...Avenge us!! He looks at you, pleading. A...venge... He cannot finish his sentence or his thoughts before his eyes close and his head falls to the ground with a firm smack.

Shinra has a deep sensation that there was very much left unsaid.

[evyldead]

Shinra rushes back to the tavern.

[Techwarrior]

Father Absolam, Disciple of Light

The Father notes the monks evident hurry, and and unconciously grabs his staff.

"Is there trouble?"

[Mousedigits]

Dorain, not quite asleep yet, hears the monk running in, clothes himself, and comes downstairs."Hey, what's with the racket? People are trying tosleep, Y'know? Gotta get some rest if we are to do anything about the taint in this place tomorrow."

[drack]

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continues to sleep soundly against the chair.

[evyldead]

Shinra looks un eased, "The Cathedral, The evil is there, a dying man said "the Butcher" killed him. He wanted to say more but he died before he could say it. There might not be time for tomorrow." He looks back at the Cathedral for movement. ""Sounds of evil are coming from there."

[~Corvus~]

Shinra There might not be time for tomorrow. He looks back at the Cathedral for movement. Sounds of evil are coming from there.

Melody stares at the monk, hands on her hips. Father, if you would be so kind, please take that madman she points at Caiphas' sleeping self and take him to the Healer, ANYWHERE but here?

Turning to the monk, she says It's been four days since we've rested. I'm barely holding it together. Let's get HIM out of here, let's get some rest, and deal with it later. Her look softens, and in a gentler voice she says Please, at least do this for us.

[evyldead]

Melody stares at the monk, hands on her hips. Father, if you would be so kind, please take that madman she points at Caiphas' sleeping self and take him to the Healer, ANYWHERE but here?

Turning to the monk, she says It's been four days since we've rested. I'm barely holding it together. Let's get HIM out of here, let's get some rest, and deal with it later. Her look softens, and in a gentler voice she says Please, at least do this for us.

Shinra's Emotions calm, "My emotions got the best of me, I am sorry. Let's rest up and do this tomorrow. Sorry for my nervousness. This Evil got the better of me." He starts to relax.