"Of course," Strahd said with a shrug. "I have given her a bedroom on the third floor. Take the main stairs up, make a right before the hall of statues and then a left at the study. That is her room."
"There is plenty of time for that later, let us finish our meal first. And do not try to rush us. It is unhealthy to try and rush a meal, bad for digestion."
Enough of this farce. Stay yourself, Inquisitor. Strahd, I name you vampire, tyrant and deceiver.
*Rising my longbow with an arrow nocked aimed at Strahd*
I have seen the malevolence of your rule and the mark of your "affections" on Iriana. By all that is good and right I will send you back to the Abyss where you belong!
Strahd disappears with a mocking laugh before the arrow can reach him. As he does, a viciously cold, bone-chilling wind rises up, blasting through the hall, blowing out every candle and torch, leaving the room in blackness. The screech of unoiled hinges resounds through the room, followed by the dull thuds of doors slamming shut, and the clang of a falling portcullis, followed by the tired groan of the aged drawbridge being pulled closed.
The vast room is dark. A wind whistles through its confines. Crystal sings in the darkness as the great Chandeliers rustle in the wind. The fragrance of the food and wine waft through the darkened hall.
Oh yeah, that was smart. We are in his manor, in his lands where he controls everything and you feel you can just simply slay him. And they say Paladins are zealous, yet in my wisdom I knew it would be a waste to attack him. Did you not pay any attention at all to the gypsies.
You may have doomed Iriana by ending our treat with Lord Strahd, and what of Gertrude?
Don't lecture me, Inquisitor. There is only one way to deal with this Strahd. You would sit here and eat his food and let his words charm you. You are now in Strahd's element, and I have removed his illusions. What do you see?
*Walks to the nearest torch*
If this "man" is anything of what he says, why do his town folk cower in a run down town afraid of the night? You say you know the nature of vampires, yet you seem more hostile to an innocent girl beset by a vampire than you do to the vampire itself. Who do you think set the wolves upon us and placed those fang marks on Iriana?
*lights the torch with flint and steel*
As you can see Iriana is still within our care, unless you would abandon her to the fortune the gypsy woman told us about. I don't recall anything about dinner and a long diatribe in anything she said, but I can see where she might have wanted to skip that to keep us interested.
*Brings the torch to Iriana*
We are here to bring light to this darkness. If you believe Strahd told us the proper directions to reach Gertruda, then by all means let us head there first. Although I believe we should keep an eye out for the vague references the gypsy woman told us about.
There you go thinking we are dealing with a simple common Vampire, we are no threat to him at this time. There was no reason for him to have sent those wolves after us. Threatening gets us nowhere till we know what we're truly dealing with.
OOC: Time to break the party Keldorn grabs a lit torch, thanks to Kivan.
IC: Upwards to find Gertrude and maybe shed some light on this darkness. Skie, if you feel like leaving the darkness you're hiding in, I fear Kivan will need your protection.
"Are you truly as ignorant as you seem? We do not yet have the holy symbol and we fight in Strahds place of power. What's more you have taken away any chance we had of taking Strahd unaware. Now he has the upper hand because of your foolishness. If the child is dead her blood is now on your hands."
Aerie had half risen to accompany Keldorn to find Gertruda when the lights went out. Though no one can see it, she shakes her head sadly. "That was unwise, Kivan. In this place, knowledge is power, as is knowing when, where, and how best to attack. Your rash actions may bring harm to others, even the innocents we're charged with aiding." She moves close to Keldorn and his light and nods to Edwin. "Let us go find the little girl. Afterwards, I recommend we seek out Strahd's resting place and the "place of supplication" the gypsy woman spoke of."
Your plan is wise Aerie, but I still worry about the Gypsies, maybe my worries are unwarranted, but I fear they may have left out some crucial information, and why, I'm not sure.
*quietly speaking* And I fear that I can no longer feel Torms presence here, evil infests in such a way that the good has forsaken it. I will need your strength to see me through this. I have seen many horrors, but never have I found myself in such a land as this. Where the law is evil and the only escape is anarchy.
Door? As in all of are locked in, or those who walked out of the dinning room are locked out? Just trying to visualize where we all are and what door shut.
The screech of unoiled hinges resounds through the room, followed by the dull thuds of doors slamming shut, and the clang of a falling portcullis, followed by the tired groan of the aged drawbridge being pulled closed.
Branwen instantly draws her hammer as the impetuous ranger fires his arrow and chaos suddenly reigns, turning everything to black. Behind her she hears the doors slam and the rumble of what sounds like the drawbridge back towards the entry.
"ha! So, it appears your actions have trapped us within this place, brave ranger. It seems we must take the only path available to us now, which is to combat this Strahd and defeat him. 'Tis amazing how a single arrow fired in anger has much more effect than countless words.
Sticking to the walls, she fumbles her away around the darkened room to where the heavy doors were and attempts to wrench them open....
OOC: sudden painful grisly death, here i come!!! Just please no flesh eating green slime.
Branwen pulls the doors open. Apparently, the torches out here were blown out as well. The hallway lies in darkness. To the east, a single arched corridor of stone masonry is lit by light from the circular stairs now visible some 20' away. The light is coming from up the staircase. The staircase also descends into terrible darkness. Standing beside the archway to the stairs, a suit of armor stands in a shallow alcove, a dark shadow falling across its faceplate.
OOC Sorry for being absent these days... It took my ISP 4 days to find and fix the problem, if it is actually fixed. It worked once for 4 hours sunday before going down again...
Comments
*Rising my longbow with an arrow nocked aimed at Strahd*
I have seen the malevolence of your rule and the mark of your "affections" on Iriana. By all that is good and right I will send you back to the Abyss where you belong!
*Fires the arrow*
The vast room is dark. A wind whistles through its confines. Crystal sings in the darkness as the great Chandeliers rustle in the wind. The fragrance of the food and wine waft through the darkened hall.
You may have doomed Iriana by ending our treat with Lord Strahd, and what of Gertrude?
*Walks to the nearest torch*
If this "man" is anything of what he says, why do his town folk cower in a run down town afraid of the night? You say you know the nature of vampires, yet you seem more hostile to an innocent girl beset by a vampire than you do to the vampire itself. Who do you think set the wolves upon us and placed those fang marks on Iriana?
*lights the torch with flint and steel*
As you can see Iriana is still within our care, unless you would abandon her to the fortune the gypsy woman told us about. I don't recall anything about dinner and a long diatribe in anything she said, but I can see where she might have wanted to skip that to keep us interested.
*Brings the torch to Iriana*
We are here to bring light to this darkness. If you believe Strahd told us the proper directions to reach Gertruda, then by all means let us head there first. Although I believe we should keep an eye out for the vague references the gypsy woman told us about.
Skie immediately rises from her seat and hides in shadows.
OOC: Time to break the party
IC: Upwards to find Gertrude and maybe shed some light on this darkness. Skie, if you feel like leaving the darkness you're hiding in, I fear Kivan will need your protection.
Skie will wait and see what the other members of the group will do, and will stick with the largest, most heavily-armed group.
Valygar hides in shadow and stays with the group.
"Are you truly as ignorant as you seem? We do not yet have the holy symbol and we fight in Strahds place of power. What's more you have taken away any chance we had of taking Strahd unaware. Now he has the upper hand because of your foolishness. If the child is dead her blood is now on your hands."
Edwin follows off after Keldorn.
Alignement dynamism, a beautiful thing.
*quietly speaking* And I fear that I can no longer feel Torms presence here, evil infests in such a way that the good has forsaken it. I will need your strength to see me through this. I have seen many horrors, but never have I found myself in such a land as this. Where the law is evil and the only escape is anarchy.
If there is nothing nasty looking back at her she will start down the corridor looking for traps.
And you will know us by the trail of crumbs ...