RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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Wolfglide of the Fraternity
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

Klokulf clambers through behind, muttering a prayer in Vaasi while he does so.

"Illumine our darkness, and keep us safe we pray."

As he emerges on the other side, his holy symbol begins to exude light.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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Bennedict sweeps his crossbow across the opening, watching for movement.
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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The cold light of the Lawgiver reveals no enemies near the gap in the keep wall.
Only cobwebs, dust, and bare masonry.

A dozen paces to the right the hall stands choked with rubble and broken beams, this debris all hung over with white webbing of finger-thick strands.
Something moves in the deeper gloom beyond the veil of webs.

The hall runs clear a longer distance to the left of the gap in the outer wall, only to terminate in an ascending stairway blocked with a jumbled mass of slate and building stones. A nimble, lithe explorer could probably clamber of the wreck and squeeze through the gap at the top, entering the upper stairs--if those, too, aren't blocked.

And closer by on the left, set into the inner wall, a recessed archway opens into a short corridor. Peering in, the intruders see a square room of plain stone, big enough for a done men to gather with elbow room, with a wooden table set in the middle. They see two closed doors, one on the right wall and the other on the back wall.

The table looks conspicuously clean, lacking the thick dust of the outer hall.

And are those boot prints in the dust of the inner room's floor/

Yes.

Kat finds the inner doors aren't locked or warped shut...



But though the party conducts a sweep of the upper works, finding some signs of recent passage by others (footprints, forced doors, areas where rubble has been dragged to corners) it encounters no lurking foes.
And not a single rat or mouse.

The building appears semi-intact. Some rooms, the roof has fallen in and black ash stains the floor.

A small inner courtyard, once the party finds the way in, presents a different scene. Dead trees with desiccated black leaves that vanish in puffs of dust if touched, a turgid pool of slime ringed by fungus-crusted rock wall, and heaps of pulverized bones--too damaged for examiners to be certain all came from dogs and cats and other such common beasts.
The pool stinks of decay, and the bone heap carries a less potent but still unpleasant odor.


Still no people.

Sometimes one of the explorers catches a sideways look at a fleeing shadow, or hears the patter of what could be feet.
Maybe. The shifts of lighting and the sounds don't seem to correspond to any definite, discoverable causes.


Kat finds an unusual number of footprints that lead down a set of stairs deep in the Bastion's maze of partly ruined cells , galleries, and vaulted chambers. The trails converge on this point, where steps descend into darkness. A door at the base of the stairs hangs ajar.

Vague sounds drift up, a rumbling from the dark cellars.
Faint, but it sounds like words. Harsh accents, rising and falling tones, long pauses.
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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Raen closes in to the cleric and whispers "Do you have anything prepared that could allow you, or us, to listen? I recall you mentioned something like that."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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Bennedict posts himself at the top of the stairs, pointing the crossbow down. He prepares to move down, but stops to wait for Raen and the Lawgiver cleric's conversation.
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

I could listen or see, but not both," replies Klokulf. "Were I to do either, it would probably be best if I descended the stairs and peeked through the door to locate a suitable place to manifest the extra sense. Simply concentrating on the other side of the portal might place my perceptions too far from the source of the noise to be of any use."

He peers into the depths of the staircase appraisingly. "If that is amenable, I can head down to look for a moment and return to cast the spell."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by alhoon »

"Watch out, you carry the light. You'll be spotted. I'll stay a few yards behind you and I think it would be best if Kat was near you."
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

Klokulf inhales, thinking about walking with one arm in his pack while trying not to trip in the dark.

When he finally realizes he has stopped breathing, he exhales and unties his holy symbol, setting it on the top step. He then pulls a small mirror from his pack and begins to slowly descend the staircase. "Feel free to accompany me, if you think it best."

A few steps down, he turns and points to the replica spear. "If it is too dark on the other side of the door, I might need that brought down to me."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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Raen nods and doesn't speak. He gives Klokulf some distance but keeps close enough to be able to rush close and hit any attackers if needed.
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

Klokulf makes his way down at a speed which suggests that he has little confidence in his ability to remain silent.

At the bottom, he takes his mirror and holds it by the opening between the door and the jamb, trying to peer beyond.
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by kintire »

Kat moves down shortly behind him, trying to peer through and see if anything lies beyond
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by ewancummins »

Klokulf and Kat see a long, empty cellar hall with perhaps the faintest gleam of firelight someplace far off in the gloomy interior.

Klokulf's magical ritual takes longer still--about ten minutes to set up and execute.The party has time to double check the area, looking for traps and hidden foes. Nothing unusual turns up, though, just boot prints already spotted, dust, some desiccated insects and a few stray building stones


Kat, straining her ears, picks up harsh, discordant voices that rise and fall in the distance. But she can't understand any of it.
It does not sound welcoming.





Klokulf's remote listening post allows him to pick up the ominous voices along with fainter rasping sounds.
He can't make out what exactly is being chanted, even with his listening post placed as far down as he can put it under the circumstances, but...
VIEW CONTENT:
He's sure he's heard something like this once before? Where? When?
Delight is to him- a far, far upward, and inward delight- who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self.

-from Moby Dick (Hermann Melville)
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by Wolfglide of the Fraternity »

As Klokulf listens, he begins to roughly mimic the chant--largely the tone and snippets of syllables--for the others.

"So familiar," he whispers, "Yet I cannot confidently place it. Does it strike anyone else?"
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

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"It's a summoning ritual," Bennedict hisses from the top of the stairs. They're trying to call something from beyond the mists. Something foul. We'd do well to stop them.
"Of course," Benn mutters, "It would be a damned shame if we ever knew what the hell was actually going on."
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Re: RAVENLOFT: The One That Got Away, Chapter Eleven

Post by alhoon »

It was that warning that made Raen realize the horror of the situation. Native monsters were bad enough. Demons from beyond certainly had to be stopped from entering.
At all costs
"You truly see what a person is made of, when you begin to slice into them" - Semirhage
"I am not mad, no matter what you're implying." - Litalia
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