[IC] The Cult of Brannulv

[Fay]

Rose, still tense at the situation, moved a few steps in and to the side. Still far away from the table and bartender but also not with the door directly behind her anymore.

[Izzarra]

The leer of the bar occupants continues unabated, slowly their eyes sort of sink into darkness and shadows begin to drip from their sockets. The noise of the docks at the end of the alleyway becomes harder to hear as the silence deepens and the air feels thick and hard to breath.

---

From her position next to the door all of the patrons appear normal to Rose, nothing weird is happening.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Zanza needs to make a DC 12 Constitution save if she takes a drink. 1d4 poison damage on a pass, 2d4 and poisoned on a fail.

Everyone except Rose needs to make a DC 14 Wisdom save or become frightened and paralyzed.

[Valmark]

"This... Is not... Normal..." Ghiso said weakly.

Spoiler: Ooc

Show

Cue Ghiso's ****ty wisdom save in 3 2 1 (1d20-1)[19]

[Fay]

Rose, noticing the concern in Ghiso's voice took a few gentle steps towards him.

"Are you okay?"

[Valmark]

"Are... You?" Ghiso asked her, shaking the feeling off in part "Something's happening- it's hard to breath and the people here don't look well- and the sounds... Are quieting down too much"

[Xihirli]

Lana stopped, and looked back. Frozen in place.

[Izzarra]

When Rose steps forward she experiences what the others are going through.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rose needs to make the same save.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Taara shook off the effect, whatever it was, and continued to drag Lana away, unaware she was under it.

[Fay]

Rose was just about to respond to Ghiso when the dark and terrible force afflicted her as well.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Rose makes a wisdom save...come on Lady Luck! (1d20+3)[19]

[Valmark]

Seeing that Lanitfat was the only one feeling it so heavily, Ghiso started helping Taara take her away with one arm after lighting up a torch to try and shoo away the darkness.

[Xihirli]

Lana felt her body shaking, and she desperately held onto Taara, shivering and crying.

[Izzarra]

Perfectly in sync, all of the patrons lift their mugs and take a drink. As they do so Lana can feel her vitality drain.

Nothing stops you from leaving the tavern, and they do not come after you as you move down the alley.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Lana takes 5 necrotic damage and once you are a few dozen feet away from the building she is able to move again.

[Zergrinch]

Zanza drains her mug and continues to try and chat up the bartender.

(Made rolls in Discord. CON save is 23 - nat 20, while WIS save is 16)

[Xihirli]

Lana shook and fell limp in Taara's arms, crying. "What... what happened?"

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Taara was shaking as well, not because of the sickening... Well, whatever it was that happened in that alleyway. She had seen worse. She was shaking because Lana was. She hugged her and held her tight.

"It is fine now. That was... Not the place to go looking for the stolen carving," she said matter-of-factly, slipping into her neutral expression for a moment. She stumbled over her words to try to comfort Lana, careful to not say anything she feared might damage her attitude. "N-nothing to worry about now, ok? You... You are fine now."

[Fay]

Rose also stepped out. This place was strange and any information on it would probably be helpful. She decided to start asking random locals, especially those who looked like they might know about magic or at least have some experience seafaring and/or adventuring.

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Persuasion roll to see if anyone spills some info: (1d20+5)[25]

[Valmark]

"Those weren't normal people, Lanitfat" Ghiso said, staring back at the tavern "Whatever went on in there is an entertaining subject, but not one worth studying without the surveillance of an expert" he wrote in his book with a serious expression, documenting what happened in there.
"Seeing how life keeps going fine in Qsen, none of that must be spilling into normal life... And Zanza stayed behind it seems. She didn't look frozen, so I'm guessing she isn't in danger. We should keep checking on her- regardless, deduction leads us to believe nobody from there went to Matatabi's temple to steal the relics, nor would they talk" he decided to wait and see wether Rose managed to discover something useful by questioning people.

[Xihirli]

Lana held Taara close. "I just wanted everyone to be happy."

[Valmark]

"Which isn't wrong" Ghiso stated "But I strongly doubt those were real people in the first place. Or if they are real people, then some other entity resides within the building" he also thought the druid was being naive, at best, but he was not going to disturb her with those thoughts.

He checked on Zanza from as far as possible, not wanting to risk being caught.

[Izzarra]

The air inside the tavern becomes so thick that it is no longer breathable. A darkness begins to fill the room, it is so deep that not even darkvision can pierce it.

---

As Ghiso returns to the tavern he cannot see anything that is happening inside.

---

Spoiler: OOC

Show

Zanza has one round before being blind.
Rose's questioning will take a few minutes so it might be a post or two before it is addressed.

[Zergrinch]

Talking to the bartender was like talking to a wall, except the wall made for better company, Zanza decides. The beer was also nothing to write home about as far as she can tell. Taking a glance around, the goblin realizes that she has been abandoned by her new compatriots.

"Typical," the rogue mutters to herself as she moves to leave the tavern. "Knew it was too good to be true. Talk to cats. Yeah, Zanza, I can talk to cats. Smelled something fishy by the docks. Fool me once, shame on me."

There was no point in her staying. The bartenders and its patrons may as well be wooden statues by this point, completely incapable of stealing a prized statue from the Temple.

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Taara listened to what Ghiso said, carefully parsing it for things that could hurt Lana just by hearing them... As expected of Ghiso, he was comforting."Let us get you away from here," Taara suggested, holding Lana tightly. "Back to the inn maybe. Can you walk? Or should Ghiso carry you? I fear I could not."

[Xihirli]

Lana stood up. "I can walk," she offered. She frowned sadly.

[Valmark]

"I'm going to stay" Ghiso said "I promised we'd find the culprit, I should see this through"

When Zanza emerged Ghiso smiled and approached her "I'm glad you're okay. When you ignored us I figured you had it under control- you look fine in any case. Lanitfat had taken a turn for the worst from the evil aura so we stood outside- Rose seems to be interrogating passerbies, so we are biding our time"

[Fay]

Rose continued questioning people but at one point came back to the group to try to comfort Lanitfat for a moment before going back to asking strangers if they knew anything.

[Izzarra]

Rose talks to several people along the docks. The locals do not know anything about the Black Barnacle. However, several sailors do, and they think that Rose is joking with them. Tails of the Black Barnacle are frequently told late at night to the new recruits during their first voyage. They assure Rose that it is a myth.

---

While the others wait for Rose to return, one moment the entrance of the tavern is there, then after you look away for a second, or in the space of a blink, it is gone. All that remains is a regular wall in a dark alleyway.

[Xihirli]

Lana looked back at the vanishing building. "Taara, Ghiso destroyed the whole tavern."

[Gluteus_Maximus]

Taara didn't say anything; she simply smiled at Lana, stood, and then went to hug Ghiso, doing so silently and without explanation. Then she took Lana's hand. "Do you want to go rest? Or do you think you can keep going?"

[Valmark]

Ghiso was back to not understanding why he was getting hugged, but it was better then getting punched.
He wanted to inspect the alleyway, but didn't think it wise.
"How about we check out the Bosun's Rest after Rose is done with her interrogations?" he proposed to those that were going to stick around.

[Xihirli]

"I'm okay," Lana said, giving Taara a kiss on the cheek. She held her real close for safety, but didn't look panicked anymore. "Yeah, the mattress's bosun sounds good."