(D&D 5e) The Plague of Nightmares IC

[Awful]

Yvonne merely made a hummph of acknowledgement, her prickled pride tempting her to stop and demand satisfaction. She suppressed it with a scowl, and simply stalked away down the shadowed streets.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu bumps into the sulking Knight lady on the street.

"Oh it's you Lady Knight. Thanks again for saving me earlier. I'm going to the Black Sheep Inn with Mr. Yaotl. It's to the north of town. Are you also going there?"

[Awful]

The noble cast a glance down at the diminutive gnome as he wandered up, and slowed her pace so her long legs would not outpace the lad's.
"Ah, child. You are welcome."
Sh looked up to catch a glimpse of the strange snake-priest lurking in the shadows and frowned. She did not trust him. Indeed, all the people she had met so far had been peculiar in some aspect.
"I am going there, yes. Mayhaps it is even still in business..."
She brushed a hand against the hilt of her sword as she thought on the combat earlier. Ah, to have her court magician here - but then, he was ancient enough the creaking of his bones would have alerted every corpse-wolf from here to the world's rim.
"I have no knowledge of magic, child, but you do. Those we defeated earlier - the magic they used. Invisibility, and that ghostly form of the ranger. How potent or rare is that sort of sorcery? It is important I know what I face."

[Zergrinch]

"I know not how the ranger achieved the intangibility, milady. But if that spell was an illusion of sorts, it has to be a second order spell. I believe the kenku cast a first order spell called Thunderwave, but judging by the spell component I found on her, she is at least capable of casting the second order spell called Shatter."

Seeing her quizzical look about spell orders, the gnome explains, "You see, Lady Knight, there are tiers to spellcasting, ten in all. Novices can cast cantrip autospells which require only an affinity with magic and knowledge of the spell, with little need to tap the Dreaming. Apprentices like myself are capable of a few first order spells. Second order spells require more magical power and experience, so I am far from being able to use second order spells, even should I find their spell scrolls for my spell book."

Spoiler

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I'm adding a lot of hooey here because spell levels and character levels are simply mechanical abstractions and should not be easily observable, right? Nevertheless Zuzu will think more deeply about how the ranger achieved what he did. Maybe he read about it in a book somewhere?

Arcana: (1d20+5)[14]

[Requilac]

Spoiler

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Nevertheless Zuzu will think more deeply about how the ranger achieved what he did. Maybe he read about it in a book somewhere?

Arcana: [roll0]

While there are definitely some incorporeality spells out there, all of those are only usable by the most powerful of spell-casters, and while the ranger did exhibit some great power if he had enough to cast etherealness then he should have been much more of a challenge. He must have been using some power outside of arcane spells, possibly via the worship of a god or a more sinister force, but as to what precisely that was you cannot tell.

[Zergrinch]

"You know," Zuzu muses out aloud, more talking to himself but still quite audible to Yvonne, " If that smoky effect was caused by the Etherealness spell, which I've seen my master cast exactly once and it drained a lot out of him, then he wasn't the one who cast it on himself. He went down far too easily to be capable of such a spell. No, something else did that. Some kind of demon. Or even Divine Magic he was worshipping or channeling... But it is hard to tell since the spell disincorporated after his death."

Spoiler

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Regardless of what Yvonne and Yaotl are going to say or do, I am ready to move on with the next scene and reunite the party at the inn, unless of course we are attacked in the city streets.

[Awful]

Yvonne listened to the gnome carefully. Her court magician had mentioned something on orders of magic before, she mused, before scowling as the kid continued.
"Demons? Wonderful." the Knightess muttered..."Hmmph. And so few of them worship the gods here."

[Sariel Vailo]

Spoiler: performance

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(1d20+5)[25]

Spoiler: lyrics for a bar song

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Their once was a lass who was pretty and brash she stood for truuuuth and justice, but between you and me,she sought some time with just us three fairly bardic three with each a skill and each a speciality she had but many a need.

[Requilac]

The four of you enter the inn, Anastasia singing the second she opens the door so as to ensure your presence is recognized. And your presence is without a doubt recognized, just not by all that many people. Four to be precise, all of them which appear to be wearing almost identical clothing to everybody else outside. A nondescript looking woman who looks even more tired then the other citizens is automatically awakened from her state of half sleep by the song. She appears to watch intently, though much more with confusion and surprise than actual amazement. Sitting on a bench next to the appears to be a young boy and an older man who you assume is his father, but something is off about the scene. The boy looks pale beyond all belief and he is shaking nervously and whispering to himself something unintelligible, his seeming father appearing to try to calm the nervous child down. Once your song is finished though the boy seems to stop quivering and his breathing seems to regulate. He appears to sit their nearly motionless except for the beating of his chest. The older man looks at you all and seems greatly relieved by what you did. He turns his head to the iand asks if he is okay now and gets a mere meek nod in response.

The woman behind the counter walks up to you all, more specifically Anastasia with the aid of a cane. Its rather strange because she doesn't seem to be so old that she must use it, but seems to be leaning on it nonetheless. "Thank you young lady. Our son is deep into the sickness and was just experiencing another nervous fit. He seems to have calmed down though, due to your song it appears. What exactly is it that you need, we would be glad to help?"

In the corner of the room you can see another person hiding his face under his cloak and looking at you all. He appears to actually be equipped with a breastplate and a mace, but so far has made no aggressive move. He has said absolutely nothing so far, and for some reason is attracting no attention from the innkeepers.

[Sariel Vailo]

i did what i needed for songs were sung, id like a room while my allies ask you some questions.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu makes a bee-line towards the innkeeper, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Good evening, ma'am. We're travelers just passing through. Do you have separate rooms for us?"

[Requilac]

i did what i needed for songs were sung, id like a room while my allies ask you some questions.

Zuzu makes a bee-line towards the innkeeper, ignoring everyone else in the room.

"Good evening, ma'am. We're travelers just passing through. Do you have separate rooms for us?"

The innkeeper seems to give a slight smile at the both of your responses. "This is an inn, of course we have separate rooms for you all. We should have more than enough individual rooms for you all. Each are going to cost you about 20 copper pieces*." After saying this she turns to Anastasia. "And you need to question me? Well I am afraid I do not have much to tell, but if there is anything I know I will be glad to inform you about it. What knowledge do you seek?"

*A copper piece is worth 1/100 of a silver piece. Whenever I say something costs copper pieces, you don't need to keep track of it. They simply exist to keep in game immersion and represent when a currency transaction is occurring. You don't actually need to mark of .2 silver pieces from your character sheet.

[Sariel Vailo]

I have one thing to ask but first i wish your boy gets healthier.she mumbles something.

Spoiler: mumble

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seeing the plague is difrent than hearing about it. And worse yet it could happen to zuzu,or i.

now on to my question how long ago did his abilities of the dream begin.

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu counts off the correct amount of copper pieces and slides it over to the innkeep. After he receives his key, the gnome locks himself in his room, where he would feverishly try to jot down the workings of the Thunderwave spell that he had seen in part. Analyzing it was simple enough, really. It was an evocation spell, the same school of magic from which the boy would base his eventual specialty on. What was trickier was to sculpt the spell in such a way that his allies would not be affected by the magics. After all, Thunderwave would emanate from him, and to otherwise activate such a spell without harming allies requires him to be at the epicenter of the fight, completely surrounded by enemies.

[Requilac]

I have one thing to ask but first i wish your boy gets healthier.she mumbles something.

Spoiler: mumble

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seeing the plague is difrent than hearing about it. And worse yet it could happen to zuzu,or i.

now on to my question how long ago did his abilities of the dream begin.

The boy is still sitting there shivering and looking at the ground with batted breath. As to what exactly he is afraid of, you don't know, because its certainly not you.

The woman begins to frown in thought as you mention the plague on her son. "The plague become a major problem about four moths ago and only then is when I heard of it, but odds are that it probably started much earlier than that as diseases are likely to do. My son though... he caught it only about three weeks ago. He told me that it started when one day he woke up but couldn't get up and was ,what I could only call, paralyzed*." Now she starts to hug her cane tightly and shiver as she recalls the account " Then he said that he saw a shadowy figure enter the room and choke him. Eventually he was able to move and started thrashing around, but by that time the shadow person was already gone. His skin had become grey and his hair is stark white as it is now too. Ever since then he has had these hallucinations*, he sees people that have such terrible injuries that they should be dead, but walk regardless. Its getting worst with every day and he is getting more and more fatigued* everyday. He can hardly walk now."

* She is using some more complex medical terms here that you would not expect a normal commoner to know.

[Sariel Vailo]

Thank you,i. Pay for the room snd with no hesitation hug the child i wish well on this house.afterwards she walks to her room.

[bc56]

Yaotl carefully counts out his money and places it on the counter, then retreats to his room for contemplation.

[Awful]

Yvonne didn't waste time bartering over the price; such a thing was beneath her. She handed over the money without debate.
"I am the Knightess Yvonne the Faithful. If you serve drinks, I will take one, good woman."
She muttered a brief prayer, then glanced over at the ignored figure in the corner - the man with the breastplate and mace. For a moment she sized him up, curious as to who this fellow was.

Spoiler: rolls

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Insight on this bloke, with benefit from Guidance:
(1d20+1)[14]+(1d4)[4]=18

[Requilac]

Yvonne didn't waste time bartering over the price; such a thing was beneath her. She handed over the money without debate.
"I am the Knightess Yvonne the Faithful. If you serve drinks, I will take one, good woman."
She muttered a brief prayer, then glanced over at the ignored figure in the corner - the man with the breastplate and mace. For a moment she sized him up, curious as to who this fellow was.

Spoiler: rolls

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Insight on this bloke, with benefit from Guidance:
[roll0]+[roll1]=18

You take a careful look at the figure, and you expected a wide variety of things to happen, but what you see is not even on the list of things you could have possibly expected. Surely your mind must be playing tricks on you, because the person you are witnessing here could not possibly be here.

It is Imbert, but something isn't right. A slit is cut through his throat, one so deep that it should be impossible for him to still be alive. Blood that you did not immediately recognize covers his breastplate and chain mail. His eyes stare outwards in space, hollow and souless, somehow rid of their iris and pupil and left with only the sclera visible. He is not breathing nor moving, but standing their straight and stiff nonetheless, staring at you with his unhallowed eyes.

[Awful]

Yvonne inspected the man and saw a corpse.

"Vitay's blood!"
Yvonne stifled a twitch of surprise, her voice sharp and loud, snatching for her weapon.
"What devilry is this?" she snapped, her shield brought half to bear. Her face was narrowed

Her hand wrapped around her sword hilt, ready to draw - but she didn't quite bare steel just yet. Something was off. Most would notice a carcass in their corner - especially one that shouldn't be there.
"You, woman." She snapped her fingers and pointed at the woman, her iron gaze not wavering from the phantom in the room. "Tell me - what do you see in yonder corner? That figure?"

[Requilac]

Yvonne inspected the man and saw a corpse.

"Vitay's blood!"
Yvonne stifled a twitch of surprise, her voice sharp and loud, snatching for her weapon.
"What devilry is this?" she snapped, her shield brought half to bear. Her face was narrowed

Her hand wrapped around her sword hilt, ready to draw - but she didn't quite bare steel just yet. Something was off. Most would notice a carcass in their corner - especially one that shouldn't be there.
"You, woman." She snapped her fingers and pointed at the woman, her iron gaze not wavering from the phantom in the room. "Tell me - what do you see in yonder corner? That figure?"

The woman looks absolutely bewildered and is suddenly terrified. "I see a table ... and a wall ... and a chair. I don't see anything that has not always been there. What is wrong."

The man which you assume is her husband gets up and grabs a bottle nearby to him and holds it in front of him defensively, expecting you to attack.

The young boy's head turns to you and his eyes see to flash with recognition. "You can see them too? The dead people. You can see them? I thought I was the only one who could. Can you seem them watching you also!?"

[Awful]

The noble chanced a look away from the apparition to give the husband a sardonic look.
"You may place the bottle down. I have no inclination to assault the innocent."
What he expected a bottle to do against a fully-armoured and trained knight is another matter, but at least he would have tried. She returned her gaze to the corpse-image as she spoke top the woman and child.
"The dead, indeed. The image of a man slain earlier this night stands in that corner, and I do not think the madness of this place has seeped into my bones just yet. Woman. Fetch my companions - the ones who entered this establishment with me. Wake them if they sleep." In case the woman was still hesistant, she added: "Quickly, now! I assure no harm to you or yours will come from me, on Vitay's name and the honour of Sonnenstahl."
She released her grip from the hilt of her sword, straightening up - but her hand did not stray far. She addressed the child.
"Child, you see the dead? Tell me more. You say a shadow strangled you in the night?"

And the three who had come here had all gone to sleep in different rooms. Marvellous.

[Requilac]

The noble chanced a look away from the apparition to give the husband a sardonic look.
"You may place the bottle down. I have no inclination to assault the innocent."
What he expected a bottle to do against a fully-armoured and trained knight is another matter, but at least he would have tried. She returned her gaze to the corpse-image as she spoke top the woman and child.
"The dead, indeed. The image of a man slain earlier this night stands in that corner, and I do not think the madness of this place has seeped into my bones just yet. Woman. Fetch my companions - the ones who entered this establishment with me. Wake them if they sleep." In case the woman was still hesistant, she added: "Quickly, now! I assure no harm to you or yours will come from me, on Vitay's name and the honour of Sonnenstahl."
She released her grip from the hilt of her sword, straightening up - but her hand did not stray far. She addressed the child.
"Child, you see the dead? Tell me more. You say a shadow strangled you in the night?"

And the three who had come here had all gone to sleep in different rooms. Marvellous.

The man of course is still clutching the bottle nervously, well aware that it probably would not do much, but sort of lowers his hand. The person who you assume is his wife wordlessly goes to fetch the others, seemingly also anxious but compliant.

The child is quaking furiously but appears to be almost relieved that someone asked him about. "That is when all of this started yes. I saw a man made of darkness creep up to my bed and tried to choke me, and I couldn't move. I could move a little bit later, and started hitting it, and it just sort of stopped for a second before just sort of fading away, kinda. Maybe it wasn't looking for me and accidentally found me or something like that. After that I see all these weird things now." He gestures to the figure which resembles Imbert. "Its really creepy."*

* I am intentionally using low level vocabulary and poor grammar, as the speaker is only a pre-teen.

[bc56]

Yaotl is unhappy to be dragged out of the solitude of his room, but arrives downstairs. "What isss it?"

[Awful]

"A man made out of darkness? You were brave to fight, child. Well done." she said slightly awkwardly, but nonetheless meaning the compliment. "Did he have a recognisable face, or was he just shadow? Do you know of any others who can see these phantoms, or this shadow-man?"

Yaotl is unhappy to be dragged out of the solitude of his room, but arrives downstairs.

"What isss it?"

"Perhaps you should be more observant, serpent." Yvonne said dryly, now more at ease though not relaxed - if the child had been seeing these for weeks without harm, she was less convinced she was about to end up in a life-or-second-death battle with the ghost in the corner. "There appears to be some kind of phantom in the corner. Can you see it as well?"

[bc56]

Yaotl inspects the phantom. "Yesss, the priessst. Can you ssspeak, phantom?"

[Requilac]

"A man made out of darkness? You were brave to fight, child. Well done." she said slightly awkwardly, but nonetheless meaning the compliment. [B][COLOR=#daa520]"Did he have a recognisable face, or was he just shadow? Do you know of any others who can see these phantoms, or this shadow-man?"

The child seems to be afraid but also somewhat excited that he is finally talking about the experience. "I couldn't see a face, but it was also pitch black, so I probably couldn't have seen his face even if he did have one. And some of the other people who have gotten sick have claimed to go through things which were pretty close. Ask anyone who has gotten sick and they will say they have seen at least one."

Yaotl inspects the phantom. "Yesss, the priessst. Can you ssspeak, phantom?"

The phantom continues to stare into empty space without responding, more looking through you than at you. He is breathing, but seems completely unresponsive, as if in some sort of trance.

[bc56]

Yaotl slaps the phantom Imbert across the face. "I sssee your breathing. Ssstop sssleeping!"

[Zergrinch]

Zuzu unlocks the door and pokes his head out the door.

"What is it?" he says, with a hint of irritation at being interrupted.

[Sariel Vailo]

Anastasia now out of her armour comes out in her noble dress and asks.Whats going on everyone i mean it is bed time i thought.