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  1. - Top - End - #121
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    BlueKnightGuy

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    Default Re: Curse of Strahd Solo Run (IC)

    "Do you like my nest? I made it myself," Spider asks as Kellon emerges from the room to check the one just across the hall. "It's very impressive how many webs you can weave, Spider. Aww, thank you! You're making me very happy!" It is strange to listen to it converse with itself, in different voices.

    But now is not the time to get distracted, as Kellon is greeted with a room covered in deep shadows. The shapes of chairs, tables, and lamps covered in white sheets is far eerier in the lamplight and the unsettling atmosphere of the house. More disturbing in a primal way are the mannequins also stored here, some covered and some left out in the open. The secret door, Kellon knows, is to his right upon entering.

    There is an unlocked wooden trunk sitting near an iron stove, which seems a bit out of place amidst the covered furniture. Taking a peek inside, Kellon finds a pile of human remains wrapped in a familiar bloodstained nightgown.

    Spoiler: Kellon Medicine
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    Judging by the damage on the bones, the nursemaid suffered cranial trauma from a sharp object - calling to mind the bloodied edge of her writing desk. Her back and the bones of her left shoulder are damaged, as if from a fall... or being thrown through a wall. But it doesn't seem even that killed her, for there are many small nicks and scrapes along the bones that line up with the bloodstains on her dress. In the end, she was brutally stabbed to death - five times, by Kellon's count.

  2. - Top - End - #122
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Prehysterical's Avatar

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    "It is very impressive," Kellon reassures Spider as he passes, trying not to listen too closely to the ghostly voices emanating in conversation from it.

    Georgia's corpse is finally found in the chest and any doubt of foul play is gone from Kellon's mind. The nursemaid was viciously murdered, most likely by Lady Durst. Small wonder that she haunted this place.

    After what happened with the black suit of armor, Kellon does not feel overly like taking chances. They will have to come back through this room eventually and he looks over the covered objects suspiciously. Chanting in a mix of tongues, Kellon attempts to coax the reveal of any magical energies that might be in the room.
    Spoiler: OOC
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    Kellon will perform a Ritual version of Detect Magic, which will take about 10 minutes. It should cover the entire room and even extend to the other side of the hall.

  3. - Top - End - #123
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    BlueKnightGuy

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    Default Re: Curse of Strahd Solo Run (IC)

    Taking the time to scan the area around him for magic, Kellon senses nothing out of the ordinary save for the items already in the group's possession, on this floor. There is a single magical presence from the floor below, in the broom closet. In the time of the ritual, Gweyir finishes collecting the remains of the children and carries them on her back, walking in to find him. Anton is with her as well, carrying a shimmering vial of red liquid which also sets of Kellon's magic sense.

    "Find anything?"
    Last edited by RandomWombat; 2020-10-21 at 11:01 AM.

  4. - Top - End - #124
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    Fighting a feeling of anticlimax, Kellon reminds himself that he should be glad that nothing bad happened. Turning to regard the pair, he answers, "It seems that we missed something in that broom closet downstairs. I am going to investigate." On his way down, he hands the Innocent card over to Anton. "What can you tell us about this one? I found it in the stove in the other bedroom."

  5. - Top - End - #125
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    Anton takes the card in hand and examines it. "If you don't mind waiting for an answer, I have begun to run a little dry on spells. While we are in no danger, it might be wiser for me to spend some time performing a ritual while you explore."

    "Guess I'll keep sticking with him then. Spider can apparently pick locks, might be handy down there," Gweyir says, taking a wary look at the furniture much as Kellon had. "Preferably somewhere else. Like in the kids' room or back the master bedroom."

    "Friends Rose and Thorn know their way around! I would be careful of the broom closet. The broom was made to attack mice," Spider chirps, shifting into Rose's voice halfway through. "We were warned not to touch it."

  6. - Top - End - #126
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    Kellon nods his understanding of Anton's request. At the interruption from Rose and Thorn, he stops in place and holds up a finger in revelation. "That must be it! The ensorcelled broom must be the source of the aura!" Turning, Kellon comments, "Well, that saved me a trip. I am in no rush, Gweyir, so we can all go back down to the master bedroom while Anton performs his ritual. The magic contained in that Tarokka card might prove useful, perhaps even life-saving."

  7. - Top - End - #127
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    And so they descend, back to the dusty third floor bedroom. Spider crawls down ahead of them through its hole in the floor, and is awaiting when they arrive. Anton takes the card and sets it on the table, laying a sheet of paper beneath it and beginning to construct a ritual circle with ink and pen.

    Spider folds its legs beneath it and settles onto the floor, humming a tune - though whether it is Spider or one of the children who begins the humming isn't clear, as they soon all join in. Gweyir is standing nearby, pacing back and forth, her payload of bones in bags laid upon the bed for now.

    With the circle trace complete, Anton holds out his hands on either side of the glyph and chants in some arcane tongue. A green glimmer, such as that between his hands when he casts the spell more swiftly, takes form in a dome around the card. His eyes widen a little a she peers down to the object's nature.

    "This one is certainly less foreboding than its sibling. Its magic forbids the bearer from doing harm to others unprovoked, but in turn shields those who do no harm. It calls to many others, tiny lights scattered like stars."

    Spoiler: OOC
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    The Innocent has been added to the Cards document.

  8. - Top - End - #128
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    "A worthy artifact," Kellon praises. He has no intention of using it himself at the moment, but it could definitely come in handy later, especially with the townsfolk. Looking at Gweyir, Kellon asks wryly, "Well, shall we got on with it, lassie? You're liable to wear a hole through the floor at that rate. Down to the second level."

    The stairs are proving to be Kellon's favorite feature of the house. He thanks the stars, sky, and seas that the family's opulence included springing for stone stairs. He moves down to the bedroom immediately next to the staircase on the second level.

  9. - Top - End - #129
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    "Yes, we shall," the elf turns on the spot and nods, flashing a smirk of her own back. "With this floor, it might just be a real risk." She motions for Anton to go ahead and falls in behind him, with Spider taking up the rear - though it could easily overtake them by simply crawling along the ceiling.

    Making their way back to the finer parts of the manor, Kellon finds that little details seem to have shifted or changed. In the landing above the stairs, the woodland scenes seem to have taken a darker turn. Bodies hang from trees, nooses around their necks, and the woodland critters frolicking below seem to have been replaced by writhing worms.

    Further down, in the upper hall, he notes the two sets of double doors. Where the youths before seemed to dance merrily, they now frantically swipe at bats assailing them from above."Has everything always been this morbid?"

    "I'm not sure. Maybe certain things just stand out more now?"

    As they others gather in the upper hall and enjoy some space, a relent from the cramped halls above, Kellon enters the servants' quarters. The room is undecorated, but as with everything on this floor in much better condition than those above. Two simple beds with straw mattresses each have a small footlocker at their end, and a closet to his left opens up to reveal pristine, ironed and ready to wear servants' uniforms.

    A quick glance in the footlockers proves them to be empty, save for rolled up bedding not currently in use.

    Spider crawls across the room and turns upwards, staring up at the family portrait above.

  10. - Top - End - #130
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    Kellon suppresses a shudder as they pass the grim artwork. He doesn't know what possibility is more disturbing: that the art has changed during their stay, or that it has always been that way and they saw something else for a different reason. For that reason, he keeps his silence.

    Nothing remarkable, malevolent or otherwise, is present in the servant quarters. Kellon steps out and over to the room next door. If he recalls correctly, there is a room hidden behind a bookshelf that very much warrants investigating.

  11. - Top - End - #131
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    As he passes back through, Kellon sees that Anton has wiggled free another oil lamp to carry, replacing the one that broke upstairs.

    The double doors open into a study. It is far from a grand library, with only a few rows of bookshelves, but those shelves are packed full. All manner of subjects among them - history, warfare, alchemy, first edition works of fiction and poetry, a few children's stories.

    Two plush chairs flank another of many fireplaces that adorn the manor, and in front of them is a larger, oak writing desk. There is another oil lamp atop it, alongside a quill resting in a jar of ink, and a tinderbox for the fireplace. Inside of the desk is a pile of blank parchment, and a letter kit with a red wax candle and a wooden seal bearing the Durst family's windmill.

    Going around into the alcove between the bookshelves, Kellon finds the last bookshelf, where the door is supposedly hidden. One of the books, red with a blank cover, stands out among the others. Kellon can see that the pages inside are fake, the texture of paper smoothed into the wood. With a pull of the book, the shelf pops, allowing Kellon a grip to slide it open.

    Within is a smaller, cramped room. No desks or drawers, just more bookshelves, hidden here in the back. The tomes look eerie, with names such as Necromancies of the Priests of Osybus, or Gretelvuulf's Lesser Key of Fiends. At the end of the room is a large chest with iron clawed feet, much like the tub upstairs. The chest is partially open, with the lower half of a skeleton hanging out, clad in leather armor.

    There is a creaking behind him as the door begins to swing shut, operated by a spring on the hinge, but a hand catches it from the other side. Gweyir pulls it back open and props it in place with her foot.

  12. - Top - End - #132
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    It seems that the secret library of the family is just as dark as Kellon had feared. It would probably be easier to imagine what evils they had not tried to invoke.

    Kellon gives a nod of thanks to Gweyir as he turns back to the chest. "It seems that another looter came in here and paid with their life for it." Kellon uses the tip of his spear to pry the top of the chest open the rest of the way.

  13. - Top - End - #133
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    The top of the chest opens, and the skeleton's torso falls out, held together by its leather cuirass. Several darts are stuck into its chest, piercing the leather. A closer inspection finds them covered in a long since dried green substance, some kind of poison. But Kellon can see the trap mechanism inside the chest, and it seems it was never reloaded. Perhaps the Dursts were long dead when this unfortunate adventurer wandered in alone.

    Within the chest are three books with black leather covers, their pages blank. They seem to be personal journals of excellent quality, completely unused, and might fetch a few coins. Unlike most jewels and gaudy trinkets here, they do have practical value... assuming the locals are literate. Deeper inside are the deed to the house and the deed to a windmill and the surrounding acres west of the village of Barovia, as well as a signed will and testament from Elisabeth and Gustav Durst, leaving their properties to Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst in the event of their deaths. Underneath the legal documents are a trio of scrolls rolled up in leather cases.

    Spoiler: Kellon Arcana
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    And then there are the skull and other bones of the adventurer, having fallen apart into the chest. Kellon spots, clutched in its detached skeletal hand, a letter that its previous fleshy owner failed to pluck from the chest before he or she died.

    Spoiler: The Letter
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    My most pathetic servant,
    I am not a messiah sent to you by the Dark Powers
    of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to
    immortality. However many souls you have bled on your
    hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured
    in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who
    brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms
    writhing in my earth.
    You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You
    abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom
    of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by
    darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your
    wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.


    Your dread lord and master,
    Strahd van Zarovich

  14. - Top - End - #134
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    Kellon wonders if the thief ever knew the value of what was inside the chest before they died... Dead men can't spend anything, after all. Kellon first picks up the scrolls and stows them away in his pack. He leaves the deeds alone for now and reads the letter clutched in the skeleton's death grip. The more Kellon reads, the more disgusted he becomes. This "Strahd" sounded like an oil spill, poison dropped into a well. This would need investigating...

    Setting down the letter, Kellon picks up the enigmatic journals and looks at Gweyir sadly. "Well, at least now we know what happened to little Walter... Gods, what a mess," he swears. Stepping out of the room, Kellon calls out. "Anton! Spider! Come join us!"

    When the pair (quartet?) enter, Kellon passes the journals off to Anton. "My eyes tell me that these are blank, but then why would they be locked up in a trapped trunk with the family's most valuable possessions? We need your truesight, lad. Something about this stinks worse than seaweed at low tide!"

    While Anton occupies himself, Kellon asks the ghost children inside of their spider friend, "Rose, Thorn, do you know anything about Elizabeth and Gustav? I am guessing that they are your aunt and uncle?"
    Last edited by Prehysterical; 2020-10-22 at 09:42 PM.

  15. - Top - End - #135
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    The others shuffle in - or linger outside, as the room has little space. Gweyir takes a look at the letter while Anton and Spider are finding their way. "Stillborn. Poor nursemaid kept calling for him - she must have lost it in grief."

    Anton takes the journals and eyes some of the books on the shelves. "I shall take a look through these, see what I can learn about what they were doing here. I'll just, er, step outside to the desk... pardon me," he tiptoes out, shuffling past Spider and Gweyir in the cramped space.

    Spider climbs up onto the wall for more room and tilts its head at Kellon. "Elisabeth and Gustav are our mom and dad. Is this mama and papa special hiding place?"
    Last edited by RandomWombat; 2020-10-22 at 09:55 PM.

  16. - Top - End - #136
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    Spoiler: OOC
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    For clarity, I had specified that Kellon had moved out into the larger library space instead of staying in the hidden compartment.


    Kellon shakes his head and feels foolish at his mix-up. "Er, one of their hiding places, yes, though I would wager not their most special. And forgive me, children, but I was referring instead to Rosavalda and Thornboldt. Your mother and father left the house to them in their will."

  17. - Top - End - #137
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    Spoiler: OOC
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    My mistake, misread it as him stepping out to call Anton and Spider into the smaller room.


    Everyone assembles in the more open space of the library after taking a look at the smaller room. Spider's body emits a small girl's giggle. "That's us, silly! Silly silly! Rose and Thorn. We don't go by our full names because they're too long."

  18. - Top - End - #138
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    Kellon's eyes visibly flick as he connects the dots in his head and a look of embarrassment somehow works its way onto his beaked snout. He gives a good-natured laugh at his own lack of observation. "Ah, yes, I suppose I should have recognized that. I shall make the excuse that we tortles don't normally do nicknames. Still, that does raise the question... Do you two have any family outside of your parents? Anyone else living in Barovia that is related to you?"

  19. - Top - End - #139
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    Spider raises a single foreleg up under its head in a curiously human gesture, though it may be Rose doing it rather than the arachnid itself. "Let me think... do you remember big cousin Fiona, Thorn? Yea. Fio-na. What was her last name? She was engaged to Nick something. Water? Mmm, Nick and Fiona Water? That sounds close."

    "If they're nobles, I'm sure some of the locals would recognize the name." Gweyir pauses and looks outside through the windows of the study, where the Mist still clings to the glass. "Assuming we can ever leave this house."

    "Don't worry, Gweyir An Elf! We'll find a way!"

    Breathing in for a moment, Gweyir lets out a small half-laugh half-sigh. "Gweyir is fine, Spider. No... need for formalities between friends."

    "Okay!"

  20. - Top - End - #140
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    Gweyir's comment is an unwelcome (but understandable) reminder of the Mist that is ever present outside. Kellon wonders in his mind just how long they will be stranded here... The food will only last so long. He struggles to keep himself from laughing at Gweyir's expasperation.

    "Well, at the risk of running out of things to do, I suggest that we investigate the room across the hall while Anton is performing his inspection." Kellon steps across the hall to do just that.

  21. - Top - End - #141
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    Turning to follow Kellon, Gweyir strides out of the room in his tow. Spider crawls over to Anton's borrowed desk and lifts up to peek at what he's doing, an identification sigil in progress around one of the journals.

    The door to the next room opens up, revealing the wide open tile floor of the ballroom. All of the furnishings are around the edge, wooden chairs with blue cushions arrayed beneath painted figures on the walls, dancing and playing instruments. About half of the figures have no flesh upon their bones, painted forms of skeletal merrymakers.

    Two large instruments adorn the room. An old, but well maintained harpsichord and a tall standing harp. At the back end of the room is another fireplace. To the right of the fireplace is a silver flagpole, adorned with a flag. There are four colored squares, red on the top right and bottom left, purple on the bottom right and top left. In the center where they intersect is a simplistic figure of a raven.

    The flagpole itself, on closer inspection, is a spear set into a stand on the floor. The head of the spear is not very sharp, but could be sharpened again with a whetstone. As it is, it is perhaps better called a silver club.

    "Think they had the 'guests' dance with them here, before they dragged them down to the basement?" Gweyir asks in a disdainful voice.

  22. - Top - End - #142
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    Kellon looks skeptically between the instruments and the flagpole at the edge of the room. "Even if I knew the answer to that question, would it make any difference," he retorts lightly.

    Since they have some time while Anton makes his observations, and nothing immediately jumps out at them, Kellon begins performing his own ritual to probe for the ebb of magic in the room. Now that he is no longer concerned with crashing through the floor, Kellon dances lightly to better facilitate his gestures, shifting from one foot to the other as he chants.
    Spoiler: OOC
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    Another ritual of Detect Magic.

  23. - Top - End - #143
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    As Kellon performs his ritual dance, Gweyir watches from the doorway, leaning on the frame. It takes a bit to fully perform, but finally his senses flow out. But no more magical forces are at play nearby, save the one he recognizes upstairs - the mouse-killing broom.

    Not long after, Anton comes up to the door with Spider behind him, carrying the two journals. Kellon senses no magic in them, in his hands. "Well, these are just what they seem. Empty journals. I tried checking for invisible ink as well, but no luck. As for the other books, I left those behind," he motions over his shoulder. "Complete nonsense. If they were performing those rituals, nothing would have come from it."

  24. - Top - End - #144
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    It may seem like a waste of ten minutes, but Kellon is happy to be overly cautious. Time is something they have plenty of.

    Soon, he learns that Anton's search was equally as fruitless. Kellon can't decide if it is somehow worse that all of the foul rituals performed by the parents of the household did not even have any basis in actual function. "Well, I appreciate you being thorough, Anton." Looking down and blinking at the books, Kellon looks back up at Anton and asks, "What about the third journal? More of the same?"
    Last edited by Prehysterical; 2020-10-22 at 11:34 PM.

  25. - Top - End - #145
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    BlueKnightGuy

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    "Yes, I have it here," he pulls up the flap of his messenger bag. The book is there, alongside some other writing materials. "Would you like them? I have my own."

    "So you know the dark rituals are bogus from experience, do you?" the druid leaning in the doorway between them asks, nudging Anton in the side with an elbow.

    "Of course," the man readjusts his coat proudly. "As I said, I take pride in doing my research. Knowing the dark arts is not the same as using them, you know."

  26. - Top - End - #146
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    Kellon waves off the offer with visible contempt. "I'm more than happy to leave the book learning to you, lad. I am a student of the school of life."

    In a way, Kellon can see Anton's argument. Just because servants of the Tempest could call forth typhoons and thunderstorms did not mean that they did so at every opportunity. Still, the man's enthusiasm for such dark matters was uncanny...

    "All right, let's be on with it," Kellon tells the other two. "Back down to the main floor. Let's see if anything has changed..."

    Down on the main floor, Kellon decides to check the smallest room first.
    Spoiler: OOC
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    That would be room 2B on the map.

  27. - Top - End - #147
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    With a shrug, Anton tucks away the empty journals and walks along with the others down to the first floor. This place, too, seems a little more morbid than they left it. The images of flowering vines along the wall revealed as serpents, the flowers hiding imagery of skulls. Where the satyr in the statue with the nymph once seemed joyous, now his gaze seems lecherous and diabolical.

    A glance into the door, and Kellon recalls it as the coat closet. There remain inside a few black coats, and a black top hat.

    "For some folks, all they have is book learning you know," Anton converses as they traverse. "Most folks back home, where I'm from, they don't even know about the supernatural. Government keeps it all hush hush. And when they read books by other hacks they learn all sort of old deep-held superstitions that are just completely untrue. When they read my books, they are armed with knowledge. And if they should encounter some dark force, perhaps they can manage to escape. Little survival manuals, hidden as leisure reading, and all without blowing the top on government secrets that will see witch hunters at my doorstep."

  28. - Top - End - #148
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    The closet proves to be uninteresting, but Anton's ramblings for once capture Kellon's attention. He turns from the closet and stares at the man in disbelief. "Wait... How does a government stop people from learning about magic? Spirits? Demons? They are all an integral part of the cosmos! Why, that would be like me trying to hide me shell!" Kellon clacks the Spear of Light against his carapace in emphasis. "What about your wizards and sorcerers? The servants of your gods? Druids of nature and scheming warlocks? Can your government really control all of that?"

  29. - Top - End - #149
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    "Oh yes, quite," Anton nods. "Magic users must be licensed or employed by the government, and are legally obligated to keep their activities hidden. In the event of a major supernatural event, they all - myself included - are expected to participate in mass application of illusions, enchantments, and alchemical amnestics to keep the populace at large in the dark."

    "And you said witch hunters will track you down if you don't?" her interest captured as well, Gweyir, steps forward to join in the questioning.

    "Yes. In England, the worship of gods besides the 'One True God' - a false idol of perfect order and obedience invented to sap the true gods of worshipers and thus their power - is the only recognized religion. Pagan worshipers, unlicensed spellcasters, those who break the masquerade, all are pursued and eliminated by the witch hunters. Druid circles are expected to remain in their 'preserves' and avoid interaction with the general populace, where they care for controlled populations of magical creatures such as Spider."

    "Controlled population?" Spider asks, not really understanding the meaning.

    "Well, um. Keeping there from being too many of you... putting it in nice terms."

    "That's- that's absolutely insane! Why would they go to such lengths?"

    "Wars of men, wars of gods, vampire lords and wild magic," the scholarly writer explains. "In the true history, time and again, the world has nearly come to an end. More than once we have been set back an age or more in progress. And so the governments of Europe have settled upon pacts to quell the spread of unchecked magic, and drain the gods of their power." He shakes his head. "I don't agree with it. As far as I'm concerned, they are leaving the greater populace completely unprepared should something happen again. They can't cage the world, not realistically. They can barely cage Europe."

  30. - Top - End - #150
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
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    Default Re: Curse of Strahd Solo Run (IC)

    Haunted houses, restless spirits, and blood cultists were one thing, but the world that Anton describes is... not just merely an authoritarian dream worthy of Hell. It is a world of madness masquerading as control. And the idea of intentionally leading people away from the gods... There is irreverence, there is blasphemy, and then there is downright apostasy!!! Kellon grips his spear tightly to restrain his outburst, like a black thunderhead waiting to unleash its cargo of lightning.

    Finally, Kellon can only sigh in sadness. "I suppose that they also plan to leash the tides, quash the waves, and shush the wind. What folly... You are right, Anton. Nature cannot be contained in such a way. All the artifice of man cannot compare to the sheer raw power of the elements themselves. There is no wall too high for the ocean, no way to fight the tides. I fear what will happen for the people of 'Europe'..." With a snort of disgust, Kellon concludes, "All we can ever do is be responsible for ourselves, for our own survival. Deal with the tide as it comes. Speaking of which, I suppose we should get on with the business of living... and scouring this den of evil." He makes his way to the room to the right, expecting to see the kitchen.

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