Cataclysm (AD&D Ravenloft -> PF1 Conversion) INC Thread

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Scarengi looks about when Cheyanne asks about a way out of these lands. Looking for someone who might be listening.

"The Dark ones do not often release the souls of those they have ensnared in these lands. We are not where you come from."

He takes a few bites from the stew as the children are brought back, finally cleaned up, they are each given a bow of stew to eat. They sit around the fire with you, the older woman making her own bowl as well. The Sound of the Fiddle playing filling the silence between Scarengi's responses.

"Anton Misroi, Hes a prisoner here, Bound to Souragne and twice bound to these swamps, unable to ever leave. Some call him Lord of the Dead, and he is slightly bitter over his entrapment, but does not welcome visitors in the lake central to the swamp."

Scarengi look to Rose

"Id not show off your arcane prowess while here.... only divine magic, aside from arcane necromancy, is allowed by the laws of Misroi."

Scarengi looks back to grey and gives him a smile.

"You, shall go through much.... but in the end.... you will tip the scales, to save all existance from the evil that dwells in the mists."

[kinem]

Ted says "Hi, I’m Ted. To be fair, I do believe in destiny, which is the result of powerful forces at work behind the reality we see, pushing us in directions we might not have chosen for ourselves.

Scarengi, who are your people? Did you come from a Prime plane like us? And, how can we get back home? My own destiny surely doesn’t lie here.”

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Scarengi looks to Ted.

"We are the Vistani, those who wander in the mist. Our history is.... complicated. Your path is the river, going to the Ocean. I cannot say how you will reach the ocean, but you may get there eventually, be comforted that you will reach the ocean."

The Fiddle slowly stops playing as Scarengi looks to the Colorful Wagon, then back at the group with a smile.

[DigoDragon]

Spoiler: Rose

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Dread is not often used in a naming convention outsideof the infinite planes of the Abyss, but in conjunction with sea of sorrows, you believe you've heard of a small demi plane, whose epithet is the The Domains of Dread. You know that demi plane is known for mists that reach across the planar realms and pulls people in, not unlike what happened to you. You believe you are in one of the many countries or domains, of Ravenloft.

Rose scratches at her chin. "This place, this land... I might of come across a text about it," she speaks, keeping her voice low in case what she speaks of causes the wrong stir. "The Domains of Dread I believe was the epithet; a demi-plane that pulls in travelers from across all worlds. A place that might go under the name of, Ravenloft, if I'm not mistaken?"

Scarengi look to Rose. "Id not show off your arcane prowess while here.... only divine magic, aside from arcane necromancy, is allowed by the laws of Misroi."

This causes Rose to stop and curl in her legs to her chest (and her tail curling tighter around her waist). She wibbles a bit, turning her attention to the food and trying it. "I'll be more, ah, discrete with my magic."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Scarengi nods to Rose.

"That name can apply to some lands within the mists, I do believe my daughter is finally ready to join us, she'll be able to answer your questions better."

[DigoDragon]

Rose quietly finishes her meal and awaits the daughter.

[Bunny Commando]

Grey - HP: 17\17 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

The more Scarengi avoids answering his questions, the more Grey becomes suspicious of these so-called "Vistani". That is why when Rose shares some bits of knowledge about this Plane, Grey says nothing - it might even be an outright lie that they are now in this "Sea of Sorrows", snared by creatures called "Dark Ones" with a prisoner named "Lord of the Dead"...

"Damn." he mutters, now dawning on him that if that's the truth he's in deep, deep trouble.

[samduke]

millie ever watchful of these strange people and the surrounding, standing close enough to grey to over hear his comment. now she was sure there was nothing right about all of this.

[DarkOne-Rob]

Cheyanne listens, nodding her head and looking about with an apprehensive expression. With a sigh she looks around and asks the old man, "With all due respect, sir, you've told us some pretty frightening things. Why should we trust you? You have shared your meal and your lights brought us here, but..." she shrugs and smiles ruefully. "If this place is as evil as you describe, why would you be kind to strangers you've never met before?"

[Ancient]

Rose scratches at her chin. "This place, this land... I might of come across a text about it," she speaks, keeping her voice low in case what she speaks of causes the wrong stir. "The Domains of Dread I believe was the epithet; a demi-plane that pulls in travelers from across all worlds. A place that might go under the name of, Ravenloft, if I'm not mistaken?"




This causes Rose to stop and curl in her legs to her chest (and her tail curling tighter around her waist). She wibbles a bit, turning her attention to the food and trying it. "I'll be more, ah, discrete with my magic."

Scarengi nods to Rose.

"That name can apply to some lands within the mists, I do believe my daughter is finally ready to join us, she'll be able to answer your questions better."

"Ravenloft!?", Amelie sputters, nearly choking on her stew. "My good sir! Tell me, have you seen a man, about this tall, hair straw blonde like mine, a bit of curl with a dark beard, answers to Trystan Pendagrast?"

Miss Pendagrast looks to the old man with a pleading look of desperation in her eyes.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Scarengi smiles to Cheyanne.

"You know how important it is, to be an island of decency, when in an ocean of evil. We vistani remember our debts, are you six are always welcome in our camp."

Scarengi looks to Ms. Pendergast, a look of sympathy comes to his face.

"Weve looked these last three years, and have not come across him yet."

The door at the back of the wagon opens to reveal a shapely young woman with dark, expressive eyes. She smiles shyly, then settles nearby, beside the fire.

“This,” Scarengi proclaims proudly, “is my beautiful daughter Valana. She will tell your fortune again. In hopes to guide you”

Valana looks to the six of you in turn.

"Hello my old friends. It is good to see you well. Its been three years since we last saw you. Though... you all seem younger."

Her eyes widen with realization.

"I see.... youve not met us before... This must all seem very suspitious to you Grey."

She has brought with her a flat pan and a handfull of stone.

"I suppose you have questions youd like answered, my father is.... slippery and ominous, and has answered none of your questions?"

She shoots him a glare while he smiles, wrinkles bunching at the corners of his eyes.

[DarkOne-Rob]

A bit surprised, Cheyanne looks at Amelie during her outburst and questions about a lost relative. Out of respect for her privacy the monk doesn't ask for any more details but mentally files her questions away as the old man answers her questions. "I survived Pandemonium...so far this place is better, so I can survive this too," she quietly says to herself, partially trying to convince herself of the truth of her words. "At least with friends we have somewhere safe to rest and recover," Cheyanne says by way of thanks.

When Valana appears and begins speaking in riddles, as if she's confused by what is in the future and the past, Cheyanne leans in to listen with a furrowed brow as she tries to understand the woman. "If...Ravenloft...and this swamp and sea are a pit-trap for unfortunate planar travelers, then are we here to help and fight the evil powers ensnaring the weak? Or are the inhabitants like you all and just trying to live in peace and safety? If we shouldn't hope to leave, at least not yet, then how do we know why we are here?" she asks, concern visible on her face as she hopes the cause and effect questions won't overwhelm the time-confused seer.

[Bunny Commando]

Grey - HP: 17\17 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

Grey throws a look at Amelie, making a mental note of the desperation in her voice when she talks about her brother. Right now, however, there are more pressing matters at hand and the newly-arrived young woman who might shed some light on the whole predicament they find themselves in.

"More or less. He said we're supposed to do something, but wouldn't tell us exactly what. Do we have to murder this "Lord of the Dead"?" he says back to Valana with a shrug, trying to gauge if the Vistani is insane - has she said she has already met them in the future? Grey is starting to become a bit restless, wondering if this is a dream; or has he relapsed and this is all a hallucination? Or maybe he is the insane one...

[Darius Vibrtrar]

She let's the pan sit in her lap as she puts her hands together.

"For the moment, the lord of these swamps is akin to the land itself, he is an environmental hazard, not actively seeking to harm you, but still dangerous if you are not cautious, there are others you must worry about before him."

She looks down at her pan again, she reaches down and gently moves the stones in the pan nervously.

"Our current situation started nearly 200 years ago when a seer glimpsed an event that will soon be upon us. 6 signs, a hexad, will tell of the coming event. 3 years ago was the first sign, it seems you have not been there yet, so I will not speak of it, to avoid influencing your choices.

But I believe the hex of you, the six of you are here as an outside influence to fulfill his prophecy that he spoke of. Hyskosa was a powerful seer, one who should never have been, but I have seen you 6 are heroes who can bring hope to those of us who may have lost hope. And if you can fulfill the prophecy... you may yet be able to return home.

She inhales, visibly steeling herself against her moment pf nervous energy.

"Here, today, it is 739 by the barovian calander. About 2 weeks ago a young man came to me and asked for his fortune. Thats when all the trouble here started, and I think with your arrival, that only you can help."

“Perhaps it will end with another casting.”

She holds a flat pan stone tiles in her hands. Then, once again into your eyes, she drops the tiles into the pan.

“The lost one ha s called you ”

Valana gasps. Each member her family hastily makes protective gesture.

“The dead will walk with the coming storm, and you must find a way to put them to rest. If you cannot the rain will turn to blood! It will drown you, you and all of Marais d'Tarascon"

[DarkOne-Rob]

Cheyanne watches and listens to the young woman, not at all convinced that temporal cause and effect and linear passing are her strengths. "We don't travel to the past, at least not yet," she begins, before settling down to allow the seer to finish. When the company of Vistani collectively gasps at something she doesn't understand Cheyanne looks into the pan curiously, utterly lost as to any meaning displayed by the stone tiles.

[DigoDragon]

Rose remains quiet, feeling that her companions don't trust these travelers. Her companions do have good reason to. Rose probably should be more careful than she is.

Amelie's outburst startles Rose. The hair on the back of her neck is probably up and she gently runs fingers through her hair to recompose herself.

Valana's talk of events that are out of order does pull Rose back into the conversation. "Does time flow back and forth across the land, or are there just specific points that would move us about to meet you... out of order than how you remember things?"

[Darius Vibrtrar]

"I suspect that there is something clandestine that will move you in a path through time in a non linear fashion. Hyskosas sight was very strong,
The night of evil shall descend on the land.
When this hexad of signs is near at hand
These were his words, you may very well be drawn to each of the hexad..."

[Bunny Commando]

Grey - HP: 17\17 - Conditions: None - Active Effects: None

---------------

"It does sound a bit like blackmail. Either we find a solution to some undead apocalypse or we're stuck in an pleasant place called 'Sea of Sorrows'. Grey quips after having listened to Valana's explanation, now finally seeing some light - this is not a con as he initially thought, it's just the old "This is an offer you can't refuse" he heard so many times "But hey, I'll bite. Let's say that we agree to put your dead into the ground again. What exactly should we do? I mean, you said trouble started when some fellow asked you for his fortune; would you share it with us? Might be useful, because at the moment I don't have the faintest idea what we have to do to solve this mess."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

"I am sorry you are in this situation Grey, but you have been trapped by malicious powers, I am merely trying to give you hope for escape. The young man's fortune spoke of the hyskosa hexad, and led him to his doom, I value your lives and will not send you to that same fate if I can avoid it."

She looks to her grandfather who seems focused now on the swamp, a nervous look on his face. The elder woman slowly moving around and gathering the slowly dozing off children.

"There have been a series of murders these last two weeks, and each time they... did not stay dead. In order to to escape you will need to solve who is doing the killing and the raising."

Once more she tosses the stones in the pan, the clattering echoing in the night.

"Beware the madman the stones say... beware his blood."

[DigoDragon]

"Well, the fates may have us entangled in this web, but I too am game to pull on the strings and see where this takes us," Rose adds. "Hmm, do I have something to jot down notes? I feel that I should write these prophesies down."

She rummages through her backpack and finds the appropriate ink and page to jot down a brief of this... what would it be called? Reading of the stones? Rose figures that suffices as a descriptor.

"Murders with victims that don't stay dead... hmm, wonder if necromancy or a curse. Considering the omen about avoid a madman's blood..." Observers can tell Rose is getting into this mystery.

[DarkOne-Rob]

With a deep, calming sigh Cheyanne steps back from the fire and lowers herself to the ground, sitting cross-legged and settling into a well-practiced meditation pose. In spite of the grace with which she settles it is clear she is not calm or centered right now as her facial expressions flicker and struggle to settle. There is no mask of peace visible as she breathes deeply...deliberately and tries to focus her mind. "Can our gods and patrons hear us here?" she asks, a bit louder than she intended, before answering herself. "Nevermind - even if they don't answer I will try to commune with him..."

Then, in a constant string of subvocal words she begins praying, repeating the prayers and meditations of Irori with passion and intensity as she tries to mentally grapple with her situation. As long as Rose is copying down the details of the prophecies and the others are asking more questions she concentrates, intent on making herself address this issue directly. After several minutes it appears to be working, a little, as her demeanor seems to grow more at ease and her muscles relax. "In all circumstances, places, and times we can work towards our best selves..." she intones finally as she rises and rejoins the group.

"So, now what? Do we rest here or get started right away, and how do we get started?" she asks, apparently prepared to take this situation and make the best of it.

[samduke]

is it safe to rest here?

[kinem]

Ted whistles.

"This prophecy thing is confusing, but there's no help for that I guess. Thanks for the information.

But as for the ones who don't stay dead ... What more can you tell us? I know little about the undead, but I gather that they were not very talkative. Has it come to violence, and, well, if so, how well do these things fight?"

[Ancient]

Miss Pendagrast

It was all so overwhelming to Amelie...

"Three years...and no word of Trystan, all the rumours said he was trying to find a way to Ravenloft, to fight the greatest monster to ever flee the Realm..."

[Darius Vibrtrar]

Scarengi and Valena both have stood up, scarengi looking to Shepard all the vistani into the wagon. Valena still speaks.

"Time doesn't always flow in one direction, the mists can obfuscate reality."

Scarengi looks to Cheyanne.

"You are welcome to stay by our fire, it should keep you safe for tonight, in the morning, head toward the lights, let them guide you. Do not stay long in the swamps if you can help it."

Valena calls to Ted as she is ushered up the steps into the wagon.

"The dead walk and shamble, they groan and feed. Under the blood red moon they will come, take heed."

As she is moved out of sight within the wagon, scarengi stands in the doorway, and gives his evening farewell.

"Stay safe my friends. Do not heed calls to the darkness. Hope and light will be your salvation in these lands."

Scarengi closes the wagons rear door, and it can be heard latching from the inside. The swamp becomes quiet, only broken by the sounds of nature, there is a menacing fog only broken by the light of your fire. You post watch to keep safe through the night, but in the morning, you all awaken as if the evening had been dreampt up. You are alone on the same small island, the fire slowly burning with only embers, the wagon gone, with only tire trails rolling into the water to mark it was ever there. In the distance you can see lights.... candle lights, twinkling in the fog.

[DarkOne-Rob]

Cheyanne stands her watch restlessly, going back and forth between trying to meditate and focus her thoughts, practicing fighting forms and motions, and pacing unhappily. When the carts appear to mysteriously disappear she nearly wakes the others before shaking her head angrily and silently cursing the fates that have led her to this planes-hopping life.

She rises with the dawn, intent on breaking her fast and getting started as soon as the others are ready. "Irori perfect me and help me to be my best self today," she prays quietly as she gets ready to scout ahead and follow the mysterious lights in the fog. A bit louder she says, "If the fog seems to be enveloping me and cutting me off from view, please call out. It's bad enough being stuck on a hostile plane, but I'd rather not be stuck alone..." Then she confirms the others are ready and begins roaming ahead and looking for some sign of their quest.

Spoiler: Mechanics

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Take 10 on Stealth (17) and Perception (16). If it matters she is untrained in Survival but is familiar with Undead (+7 to Knowledge-Religion).

[Bunny Commando]

Grey - HP: 17\17 - Conditions: Dazzled - Active Effects: None

---------------

Morning. He hates morning. Doesn't certainly help that he's also stuck in a forsaken place and that he has to wade in blood and murder victims if he wants to have a chance to escape it.

He slowly stands up, stretching his muscles, and shares his thoughts about last night with the others "Not sure I want to trust these people. And I really despise being forced to do someone's else bidding, otherwise we're all trapped here." and Grey does sound aggrieved "Besides, what's wrong with darkness? At least I can see fine when there's no light." he sighs and shakes his head "Guess we don't have any hint other than following these cursed lights. Fine, let's see where they'll lead us."

That said, he covers himself in the vain attempt to shield himself from the light and follows Cheyanne closely - given what happened the day before, he's not really keen in leaving the planar traveller go forth alone.

Spoiler

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Take 10 on Stealth (21) and Perception (13)

[samduke]

Millie awakes to the wagon being gone, and Cheyanne talking about going out into the fog.
Why not strap a rope between us, that way none get separated in that fog soup ?

[DigoDragon]

Rose stirs awake a little slower than the others. "Mmm, grilled gator soup... no, hold the teeth..." she mumbles, waking from whatever odd dream ran in her head. She sits up and looks around to see that the wagon is gone.

"Oh. Was hoping to say goodbye... guess they had to hurry off to... um..." She sees the tracks go down into the water. "Go for a swim?"


Rose gathers her book and notes, studying spells and reviewing what she wrote down from last night. She finishes up and then quickly gathers her things together when the group seem eager to continue onward. "Rope might keep us together, but wouldn't it be a hinderance if we get into another fight down the path?" she asks, straightening her long skirt and hiding her tail once more.

[Darius Vibrtrar]

The swamp has not yet allowed for walking without the raft so the group reboards and sets towards the candle lights.

The trees in this part the swamp close in on the raft, forming a thick tangle of brambles and exposed roots, making movement slow and difficult. Sharp, broken limbs scratch your arms and legs as you push the raft forward, and the wind whistles a odd and lifeless tune as it rushes through the leaves overhead. You momentarily lose sight of the candles but as you push past a clump of foliage the lights reappear in the distance. It is brighter than a single lantern, warm and inviting in the cold damp air.

The light is not at eye level, it hovers in the dark so that you must look up to see it. Almost like moths, you guide your raft to the lights, your raft gliding through the water. There is a small wooden house, hardly larger than a shack. Light spells from its two front windows and front door left wide open. It seems to be suspended in air, above the surface of the swamp, a reflection of its image reflected in the placid water below it.

Spoiler: Cheyanne

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The house appears to be suspended up on four poles, you could paddle the raft under it where there seems to be an opening