RAVENLOFT: Down the Dark Road

[alhoon]

Raen, even more alert follows the big man. "Are you all right?" He asks Benn.

[ewancummins]

Whatever Benn answers, a good look at him, such as can be had by holding up a lantern near his face, shows the man is not “all right.”
He looks half-dead, though there’s not a mark on him.
…

Several times, as you all walk on, members of the party sight warm fire-lights moving in the Mists to either side of the road or faint, pleading voices.
But nobody leaves the road—not after what happened to Benn.
With no timepiece and no visible landmarks, only counting paces gives any sense of time passing or distance covered.
And even that fails, for you soon discover that no two of you seem to be experiencing distance and the flow of time in quite the same way.
Even walking abreast and counting aloud, you come up with mismatched numbers after a few dozen paces.

Eventually, no one has any clear notion of how long or how far your party has sojourned on the Dark Road. You know only the soreness of the hard march, the chill of the fog, and the oppressive sense of being watched by unseen things off the roadway.

Raen stumbles in an ankle-deep mud puddle.
He sinks to his knees and presses his hands into the muck, a grin forming on his haggard face.
Splash.


Benn wades through a boggy patch in the road.

A warm, soft breeze picks up, rolling the mist away, and you find yourselves standing on half-sunken pavement in vast swampy woodland. The stones underfoot look like a broken section of road or causeway wide enough for an oxcart but terminating in fallen masonry at points about ten feet from the head and tail of your group. To have walked here by any ordinary way, you've have had to walk over water.


The low sun shines weakly on the left side, barely topping the trees, its beams filtered through haze.
Gnats buzz in the humid air.

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

"I dearly hope that is the morning," says Klokulf. He casts his eyes about, asking "Perchance does anyone recognize this place?"

[alhoon]

Raen gives a short prayer to Ezra and all the powers that be.
"That place is better than the mists. I say we sleep under that tree if you all agree. It seems dry enough. Bennedict certainly needs some rest." The Wizard is clearly relieved to be anywhere but in the mists. He looks around the swamp as if he found himself in a palace.

[Adam]

Raen, even more alert follows the big man. "Are you all right?" He asks Benn.

"Mostly my pride is injured," he mutters. He looks into the mists. "And I fear for Dorgio. I would hate to think that he would come to an end from something so pointless, after all we've survived up until now."

*later*

Bennedict looks around the swamp, eyes bleary. "It's a swamp. There are many of these in the Core. I'll have a look at some native flora to see if there's anything distinctive, but we'll likely have to find a town to know for sure."

He staggers in the direction of the suggested camp, looking wearily around at the plant life.

[ewancummins]

Raen, even more alert follows the big man. "Are you all right?" He asks Benn.

"Mostly my pride is injured," he mutters. He looks into the mists. "And I fear for Dorgio. I would hate to think that he would come to an end from something so pointless, after all we've survived up until now."

*later*

Bennedict looks around the swamp, eyes bleary. "It's a swamp. There are many of these in the Core. I'll have a look at some native flora to see if there's anything distinctive, but we'll likely have to find a town to know for sure."

He staggers in the direction of the suggested camp, looking wearily around at the plant life.

By the time Benn reaches the dry, willow-topped hummock that Raen pointed out, he has waded through a sampling of the local flora: algae, bulrushes, water-lilies, etc.
On dry land, he sits down and sets to picking specimens off his wet pants and shirt.
Some of the plants are familiar, others strange.

Feeling some mud sliding down the front of his pants, Benn adjusts his belt.

VIEW CONTENT:

His hand brushes something clammy--and squirming.

Not mud!

Looking, he sees a leech bigger than a sewer rat wriggling toward his crotch.

[Adam]

"Ach! Mein gott!" he snatches the creature off and hurls it away.

"Watch yourself, there are leeches." He starts examining himself for more of them. "I have a feeling we may be a long way from home, friends."

[ewancummins]

As the party cleans up a little atop the hummock and checks for leeches (finding none), the sun moves lower in the sky, dropping below the trees.

[Lord Skybolt]

"I will take first watch as I have clearly not been drained of energy by the Ritual you tried to perform ."Alain says and looks for suitable spot to keep watch out .

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

Klokulf extracts his bedroll from his pack and unrolls it in a convenient location. Being too tired to instate his normal security measures, he simply lays straight down and waits for his eyes to close on their own.

He thinks about some of his recent discoveries.

He reflects on his missed prayers.

Finally, he occupies himself with idle curiosity as to whether he will be able to fall asleep before the light dies.

[kintire]

Kat steps back onto the road and follows silently, looking increasingly puzzled as the strangeness develops. As they settle under the tree she looks idly around.

"I think we should set watches. I'm happy to go first, since I did neither rituals nor spells. But first....i semm to have missed some details about this ritual. Anything you feel you should tell me, apart from "don't step off the road?"

[alhoon]

"In short, it backfired and threw us in the mists. And the mists threw us here. For reasons I can't still understand I threw myself in the portal before it closed. I marked the place hastily so that if Sara or the Gendarmes go around, they can find three Xs. I don't think that will be enough for them to realize that the portal collapsed and threw us here. Wherever here is. But it would be enough to tell them that something happened there... assuming the room survived whatever followed the closure of the portal.

Regardless, I believe me making a mark and following you through out of my own volition is certainly enough to earn me rest without watch duty. "
Putting a dry piece of cloth under his head and covering his eyes, Raen lied down to sleep.

[RocEter]

The armored swordsman finds a suitable spot to rest beneath the tree.

"I will take all subsequent watches. I require little in the way of rest," He says to the others before turning his attention to Alain. "Wake me in two hours time, stranger."

He then raises his right hand and utters an arcane phrase. After muttering this phrase, both his his armor and overly large sword began to glow. Soon after they seem to melt into a metallic liquid that traverses his across his body and to a jewel encrusted ring on his right hand. For a brief moment he is left exposed, save for his under garments, a ring on each hand, and large rugged belt with several small bags and pouches. During that brief moment all can see the scar that adorns upper part of his chest on the left side. The scar looks like a large bite mark left from some creature, however his left arm from shoulder on down seems pristine and unmarred. Almost as if it were a new arm!

After that brief moment of exposure the metallic liquid spreads out from the ring once more and covers his body. The liquid takes shape forming around his body and draping off his shoulders like a cape of liquid metal. Once the shaped has formed it solidifies, into an eloquent colored breast plate with a high collar, gauntlets, spaulders, mid thigh high metal sabatons, with high quality leathers undearneath it all, and a knee length cape. Across his back is yet another large sword, smaller than the previous but still large, and heavy steal shield.

Once the armor and weapon have completely taken form, he begins removing them so he can sleep.

[ewancummins]

All but Kat make preparations for a night-camp, or just slump down exhausted to sleep on the grassy hummock under the willow's boughs.

On lookout, Kat sees no enemies creeping or swimming in the dim wetland all about the hummock campsite, just a few pale green frogs and some drifting brown lumps that might be turtles or the upper knots of submerged logs.
Late in her watch, swarming gnats prove a nuisance, but fanning suffices to keep them out of her eyes.

True night has fallen before Kat rouses the outlander swordsman for the second,long watch.

...

The Outlander knight stands watch over his new companions as they huddle together on the hummock (the available space is limited), turning now and then to view the swamp in another direction.
He's stood long vigils before, and under conditions worse than this.

The calls of nightjars and screech owls punctuate the soft whisper of wind through the swampland trees. Gnat clouds give way to ghostly moths.
Now and again, he hears a frog croak. Splashing noises, some sounding too big to be made by frogs, occasionally reach his ears.

Hours pass...

Near midnight, he thinks, he hears or imagines he hears a woman sobbing in the distance to the south. But no sooner than his ears prick up at the sound, something splashes much closer to him and at his rear.
When he turns, he sees only rippling water near the hummock.

More time crawls by...


When at last the eastern sky turns rosy, the knight wakens his companions and then returns to his chosen resting-place under the willow.

...

[RocEter]

All but Kat make preparations for a night-camp, or just slump down exhausted to sleep on the grassy hummock under the willow's boughs.

On lookout, Kat sees no enemies creeping or swimming in the dim wetland all about the hummock campsite, just a few pale green frogs and some drifting brown lumps that might be turtles or the upper knots of submerged logs.
Late in her watch, swarming gnats prove a nuisance, but fanning suffices to keep them out of her eyes.

True night has fallen before Kat rouses the outlander swordsman for the second,long watch.

...

The Outlander knight stands watch over his new companions as they huddle together on the hummock (the available space is limited), turning now and then to view the swamp in another direction.
He's stood long vigils before, and under conditions worse than this.

The calls of nightjars and screech owls punctuate the soft whisper of wind through the swampland trees. Gnat clouds give way to ghostly moths.
Now and again, he hears a frog croak. Splashing noises, some sounding too big to be made by frogs, occasionally reach his ears.

Hours pass...

Near midnight, he thinks, he hears or imagines he hears a woman sobbing in the distance to the south. But no sooner than his ears prick up at the sound, something splashes much closer to him and at his rear.
When he turns, he sees only rippling water near the hummock.

More time crawls by...


When at last the eastern sky turns rosy, the knight wakens his companions and then returns to his chosen resting-place under the willow.

...

Outlander Knight

Once the others are fully awakened, the knight reports his observations during his watch. He does this in a fashion similar to a soldier reporting to a watch commander, only with less formality and urgency.

"I also suggest that you begin conserving your rations and water now, we don't know how long it will take us to find a town." He says.