A Stitch in Souragne - La Danse de Mort

[Guzrath]

"Well, my sweet little girl, you must have some very mean priests around here to think that." he says with a small laugh. He approaches the water cautiously when she mentions magic in the lights. As he sees the small ripple in the water he thinks to himself "Edge of the swamp, middle of the night, unkown little fey girl, something splashing in the water to show me the "truth" and magic. This might get exciting."
He turns to the little girl, but making sure his back is not to the water. "What is your name pretty one?" he asks.

[Ken of Ghastria]

Lucien & Zumba:

You hear Goren's voice reply from inside: "Can't it wait until tomorrow? I'm exhausted - I'm in bed already. Please don't make me get up now."

Lucien sighs and looks at Zumba with frustration. "Well, Zumba and I just wanted to tell you that we're going to see..." He pauses. A chill runs up his spine as he realizes that Goren's response was spoken perfectly. Perfectly. "That's not Goren," he hisses to Zumba.

He grabs the doorknob to turn it. If it doesn't open, he says to Zumba, "Break it open!"

_____________________________
OHHHHHH, that was sweet, Rock. Almost got me on that one. Well done.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Goren:

The dark bulk of L'Homme Broché seems to quiver when Goren's spell hits it. It shivers so fast that it becomes a dark blur in the air, a blur that hugs itself like a man in agony until it slows down and its lines clarify themselves again. The Stitched Man throws back his sackcloth-covered head and roars like an enraged bull.

"Release me!" that other voice demands, howling just as loudly as the furious Loah. "Release meeeee~!" All the pain and frustration felt by a prisoner are in those two words, and they make the walls shake and sand and pebbles rain down.

"Disgrace infamy blasphemy blasphemer I will break you make you bow in your own blood"

L'Homme Broché thunders forward, arms swinging. It will only take a moment for him to reach Goren and exact his revenge...

(OOC: L'Homme Broché: Affected by Mark of Doom. Takes 1d6 damage every time it performs a hostile act against Goren.
Goren: -23 hp.)

Lucien & Zumba:

The door is, indeed, locked. You hear Goren's voice, sounding sleepy and just a little annoyed: "Really, now! You are so rude. Can't you just come back in the morning, when we've all had a chance to sleep and be refreshed?"

Vincent:

Souragnien: "My name, Monsieur?" The little girl smiles prettily. "My name is Authentès. And yes, the priests are horrible! They sacrifice people when no one's looking, the people who no one will miss. Come, the swamp will show you."

Skipping, the girl precedes you to the very edge of the swamp, where she squats. "Like this, Monsieur! The swamp, she wishes to tell her champion, the future saviour of Souragne, what is really going on and how you can stop it from continuing! You must sit like this and look deep into the lights."

The little girl demonstrates what she means, leaning forward to look into the radiance of rot and decay.

[Ken of Ghastria]

The door is, indeed, locked. You hear Goren's voice, sounding sleepy and just a little annoyed: "Really, now! You are so rude. Can't you just come back in the morning, when we've all had a chance to sleep and be refreshed?"

"Oh, very well," Lucien says calmly. But his eyes are full of anger. Then he whispers, "In a rat's ass. Zumba, I'll handle the door. As soon as it's open, run in -- Goren is in trouble." Or dead already.

The half-elf touches the doorknob again, concentrates for a moment, and then turns it smoothly. He then flings the door open wide.

_______________________________________
Expending 3 pp for psionic knock to open the door.

[steveflam]

"ENOUGH! I WILL NEVER BOW DOWN TO YOU, SPAWN OF EVIL. I TIRE OF YOUR VOICE."

Goren casts Silence around himself. Next, he is going to attempt to wake up.

[Guzrath]

"Looking into the light" he thinks to himself smiling. To him it sounds like a superstitious story from a little girl.
"Authentés" he says "that is a beautiful name. Those are pretty lights you refer too." he glances over to the lights then squats down besides her. "You mentioned that the priests sacrifice people. How do you know that, if they take people no one will miss?" he asks calmly.

[Ail]

Ail, I'm making the leap that Zumba goes along with the idea of telling the others where we're going (although neither of our characters is aware of Vincent's current location).

Yes, it's fine.

[Ail]

OOC:
Well, sorry all I couldn't post yesterday. Seems I almost lost an important part of the action. Trying to recover lost chances back.
-----------------------------

When Zumba first hears Goren's respose, his first reaction is
"That's not Goren! He can't speak Souragnien!"

As soon as Lucien opens the door, he rushes in, quarterstaff in hand and ready to strike. If no one is in the room, he runs to open windows and extinguish candles if any are alight.

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Lucien & Zumba:

The door to Goren's room opens without even the slightest resistance. Lucien and Zumba can see that the window is open at a crack, to let what little fresh air there is - practically none - circulate. The curtain flutters in a lacklustre way. What little light there is, comes from a single candle under a glass hood. Shadows dance upon the walls.

Goren is not dancing. The priest lies upon the bed, his eyes closed and his brow furrowed. His breath comes in a painful wheeze, and you can barely hear him whisper: "Murmuri morete..." A silence grips the room, a silence as absolute as iron. You can almost feel it squeezing your brains.

In the silence, sight and scent become all. The scent of fresh blood, hot and coppery. The sight of a dark stain, spreading on Goren's chest as he tosses and turns in his sleep. The sight of a small stool, which must have been shattered before you came in.

The sight of one shadow among the others, which does not flutter, but holds position. And in your minds, an urbane, cultured voice that chuckles: "Ah, me. Such rudeness. Shocking in ones so young... and tender of flesh."
On the bed, Goren convulses, his back arched in evident agony.

(OOC: The room is now under a Silence effect. You can not make any kind of noise, but telepathic communication is evidently possible.)

Goren:

Shrouded in unnatural silence, L'Homme Broché rises up before Goren. With vicious speed, the behemoth swipes at the priest and strikes him in the same spot as before. Goren is hurled away like a lawn dart and crashes down next to the form at the end of the room. Pain explodes in his chest, and he can feel the grating of broken bones.

"Release me," the feminine voice whispers in the priest's mind. "Releaaaase me..."

"Die die die die die-" rumbles the horrible voice of L'Homme Broché in Goren's mind. The behemoth's feet do not rumble as he stalks closer, but approach he does.

(OOC: Goren takes another 20 damage.
You have one full round to act before L'Homme Broché is close enough to hit you again.
An attempt to wake up will take you a Concentration check, DC15.

Goren: -43 hp. Under the effects of Silence.
L'Homme Broché: -6 hp. Under the effects of Mark of Doom. Under the effects of Silence.)

Vincent:

"Because they do not know we are watching, Monsieur," the little girl replies in flawless Mordentish.

As Vincent squats before the edge of the swamp, the surface ripples and breaks. Two other children, each the same mix of fey and Souragnien as Authentès, surface and regard you with large, solemn eyes. The first one startles you, but the second -- Vincent suddenly finds himself full of warm regard for the final child. A girl, like Authentès, but much more beautiful, surely. How else to explain this sudden blossoming affection, which fills your mind with pink clouds?

"Hello," the third child says, and smiles. "My name is Koroshiya. I am so happy to meet you at last, Monsieur. We have come to give you the gift of truth, the gift of knowledge, but you have to come with us into the lights and the water to have them. Here, take my hand."

All three girls giggle, and Vincent can feel Authentès pushing lightly against his back, urging him to accept Koroshiya's hand.

(OOC: Vincent is the subject of a Charm Person effect! You automatically see everything Koroshiya says and does in the most positive light possible. I'm afraid this means you're about to take a swim...!)

[Ail]

Zumba points to Lucien indicating Goren and suggesting the word "fast". He looks around at the candle, thinks of smashing it but then they would be in the dark. Instead, he charges at the unmoving shadow and trying to strike at it with his quarterstaff.

Attack roll: [1d20+7+2] = 25
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3011351/

[Rock of the Fraternity]

Goren, Lucien & Zumba:

Goren's will asserts itself only just in time. Even as the fist of L'Homme Broché comes hurtling down to smash the last of his life out of him, he reminds himself that this is a dream! - and the subterranean room shatters like glass.

The priest hurtles down into a great void, and hears one last, venomous whisper: "Free me, serf of Lathander! Set me free! Releaaaaassseeeee meeeee~!"

Goren suddenly sits up in his bed, sweat and blood staining his body, his own magical silence squeezing on his brain.

Zumba's quarterstaff thuds into the wall where the shadow is. The wood is dented, all in silence -- and the shadow does not even flinch!

Something unseen shatters the glass hood covering the candle and preventing it from accidentally setting the whole room on fire. But luck is with you; rather than set the bed linens aflame, the candle is snuffed out by the Capoeira's attack.
Darkness envelops you all, smothering another sense.

"Such rudeness in the young these days," that eerie voice says, chuckling. "Ah, well. Another evening, perhaps, my young friends. I get... me... gone..."

The chuckle dies away into the distance, and your eyes adapt to the darkness. You are standing - sitting, in Goren's case - in an ordinary room. A room of undeniable quality, but still: normal.

(OOC: Goren's wounds, suffered in the dream, are healed - but the bloodstains remain.)

[steveflam]

Goren sits up, momentarily unsure of his whereabouts. "Huh, I, I am awake!" He realizes his silence spell is still in effect and concentrating, cancels it. Then he sees Zumba and Lucien and hears a voice in his head. Lucien slaps him across the face and he nearly falls over before stilling himself. Souragnien "I is awaked. I.... I .... hear voice in my head too. He yell me to waked. Does you be hearing it too? I having blood, but am health fine. I.. had ... had bad sleep vision, you calling it? Night vision? Was with L'homme Broché, evil evil being. Want me to um be his follower. I refuse and cast spells and woman needs me free her. I realizing is dream and wake as you come in room. We need be careful when we go sleeping from now on. Hey, where being Vincent?"

The red haired priest stands and looks at his robe, frowning. Souragnien "Now I needing to clean robe. I have spare one for such occasions."

[Ken of Ghastria]

Zumba hears another voice in his head. It's not like that of the shadowy foe; the tone is curt, like that of a martial instructor. Zumba, don't be alarmed. I am Claude, an ally of Lucien. You, he, and I can communicate simply, without the need for sound. If you find yourself unable to harm our foe, inform me immediately so that I can tell Lucien to stop wasting time. He's been afraid of harming you.

Lucien nods at Zumba as the bizarre communication ends, then Lucien moves forward and slaps Goren across the face. Goren hears a strange voice yelling in his mind, Goren, you delusional fool! WAKE UP!

After Goren rises, looking relatively healthy despite the fresh blood on his shirt, Lucien looks at him and Zumba and says, "Let's get out of this room. Too many shadows."

After the trio is back in the hallway, Lucien says, "Goren, you were just attacked. A creature made of shadow was standing next to you when we came in! Obviously, we've been targeted... and that means Vincent is in danger, too! Where the blazes did that man say he was going?"

[steveflam]

Souragnien "Who is man talk in my head to help me? You know him? And no, I not knowing where is Vincent. He not have room? Maybe innkeeping host person knowing where Vincent went or seeing, at any ways?"

[Guzrath]

Vincent smiles at seeing the third child "It is a pleasure to mee you Koroshiya, my name is Vincent" he bows to her.
"Just a moment sweet one" he says removes his shirt and necklace "this will swim a lot easier and we wouldn't want the necklace to get unecessarily damaged by the foul water." he then accepts her hand and steps into the water after.