Session Start: Sat Dec 22 17:02:44 2007 Session Ident: #castlevania * Logging for #castlevania started [The intrepid party surveys the damage to the now far quieter Stavograd street. The dead monolithic creature rests as so much dirt and stone in the middle of the road.] * Roland walks over and pokes idly at the pile of dirt and stone. [It does not stir.] This was a great job here. A huge success. In more ways than one. Hm. That wasn't so bad. I hadn't expected it to be quite so easy. * Skip looks at the large, dead thing and shrugs, "It was, but it was nothing compared to what's coming. Well, that is, if the strange house spirit was telling me the truth." What's coming? * Nyyx glances at Skip. "This wasn't the gargoyle's father, was it?" * Skip looks at Charlotte and nods, "Well, we are going to try to stop whatever is bringing the town down, right?" Right. No, I don't think this was the father. According to the house spirit, it's beneath us at the city's core. I wnder how we'll get at it. * Nyyx frowns. "All right. Tell us what else you know, Skip." * Roland pulls his deck of cards from the holster at his waist and begins shuffling. I'm gonna check the house again. * Charlotte goes to check All I know is that the giant stone gargoyle has a father and it is somewhere beneath the city. I think it is big and very very angry. How do we defeat it? * Skip holds up his axes, "I have two ideas." Or Theo can set it on fire. That's worked for us in the past. Look, if you have a problem with my techniques, you can do it yourself. * Roland flips a card up, freezes for a moment, then goes pale. * Skip blinks. "No, I like your techniques. It has saved our lives many many times." Something the matter, Roland? * Roland flips the card through the air to Nyyx. That's what awaits us with this "father" ... hey guys. Come over here. * Charlotte looks up from the house * Nyyx snatches the card out of the air. "Death." * Skip walks over to Charlotte. [Skip and company see the dead domnii amidst the ruins of the house from which the child was saved.] * Roland holds his hand out for the card. * Nyyx returns the card to Roland. * Skip points to the domnii, "That's what a house spirit looks like. They are all over the city protecting the people. When the house is destroyed, the domnii dies with it." Does that card happen to have any other meanings besides the obvious? * Nyyx joins Skip and Charlotte and gazes down at the domnii for a moment. We need to hurry up before any other houses fall. Yes, but none of them are relevant. If we go, death is extremely likely, for one or all of us. I think it's too late for that. We need to organize the camp and figure out where large groups would be hiding. Victory, however, is another matter entirely. The domnii I spoke to told me that there were areas around the city where domnii were protecting a lot of families under one roof. So, what do we do? I think we need to find the druids. They might know where the people are hiding. Isn't your feline friend seeking those out? He was, the last I heard. I agree, though. We probably should seek out the druids. They might have a better idea of what that thing under the city is. Right We'll probably need their help in fighting it, too. * Nyyx nods. Did we search that thing for anything of value? * Skip points to the giant dead thing nearby. [The party uses picks and shovels to hack up several feet of the creature. Several tombstones, coffin bits and lose corpses are exposed.] This doesn't look good. It does not... Well, it came from the graveyard. * Skip puts his pick away, packs up, and makes ready to leave. "Let's go find those druids, shall we?" If everyone is ready. * Nyyx starts walking. Yeah * Charlotte gets moving * Roland follows Nyyx. * Skip motions to Theo and falls in line with the group. Once we have a better notion of what resources we have available, I can attempt some more powerful divinations. * Nyyx nods. "Thank you, Roland. I hope they can shed some light on this creature below the town." It would help if we knew what that thing, or its father, were. I wonder if that great Bocob library you can channel has anything on this creature. It is apparently known for enslaving and devouring towns. What other towns has it enslaved or devoured? I don't know. The domnii I talked to seemed to know the creature, though. Maybe if we found another, you could get more information from it than I could. Any house should have one, right? Possibly. Can you find us one on the way out? Let's find a block with its houses still intact and each take a look. One of us should find one, I would assume. * Nyyx nods and starts looking for houses. Sure * Charlotte searches. * Skip picks a house and starts searching the rooms. [After several minutes of searching down the street, Nyyx spots a creature standing in a window of a tavern down the street.] Skip, is that a domnii? * Nyyx points up at the tavern window. * Skip runs out and looks. "Yeah, that's it!" * Skip runs toward the tavern entrance. "There could be a lot of people inside, so be ready!" * Charlotte looks over and heads their way. "Sure thing!" [The party wanders into the tavern. It is deserted save the lone domnii at the window. All of the lamps are out and the interior is errie in the weak light.] You are one of the house spirits? Domnii? Domnii: "Yes." We have questions about this city that must be answered. Domnii: "Most of the people have made it out of the city, but the beast is still below, raging. He has killed several of us, but I will help you as I can." What is this beast below? Domnii: "We are not sure. It began to stir beneath the city months ago. It was weak until recently. Now it is strong enough to claim the center of the city from us." Do you know what the thing was at the top of the tower? Domnii: "We cannot hold it back." Domnii: "That was it's servant and extension. It carried the most aware part of the creature to the surface." Domnii: "We know it died and the beast's mind was roused. It is awake now and likely hates the ones who killed it's 'son'." I'm sure it does Does it no where we are? ( know, even )( Domnii: "Most of the townsfolk are now down in the tunnels beneath the city. We could only save a few dozen each. I am sorry." [Its wooden features tighten.] It will have to be enough. If you spirits cannot tell us what we need to know, we'll have to consult with higher powers, and hope that they have answers we do not. Domnii: "We have been safe here for ages. We love this city. We do not know what brought the beast here or why it hates us so...." No evil rituals done in the city before it was taken? Sacrificing of children, mating with animals, that sort of thing? Domnii: "What?! No. No, of course not. Why, to even suggest such a thing....." Wait, tunnels beneath the city? How do we get into these tunnels? Domnii: "I do not leave this house, so I am not entirely certain. I think the beast has opened a pit and several trenches, however." Did any strange people enter the city before the creature came? Domnii: "Only travelers and merchants and Seven Temples folk. Normal people in the tavern." Is there anything else you can tell us about the creature? Domnii: "Is is angry. Is it powerful. It is hungry. We feel it crawling beneath us. Squirming.... It should not be." We need the use of a fire. A small one. A fire? It helps to have one handy for burnt offerings. * Roland looks around for a fireplace. [The tavern has a fireplace need the bar. It is built of solid dark stone stained with smoke and soot.] [need=near. Wow, two letters off.] * Roland walks over to the bar, pulls a small campfire out of a pouch at his belt, and sets it carefully in the fireplace. Theodore, do you have a scroll? of? Anything more powerful than a cantrip. yes. and a wand of fireballs. What do you have in mind? I need a sacrifice to Boccob on behalf of the party. A sacrifice? For what? For information. Knowledge isn't free, you know. * Theodore hands Roland his scroll of Hypnotism * Roland takes the scroll and kneels before the fire. To be specific, in order to keep people from asking questions needlessly when they could find things on their own with a bit of work, the gods demand an offering be made along with the asking of a question. For this initial divination, a simple offering of a magical scroll to the god of knowledge and magic will suffice. Further divinations will require a rather more precious sacrifice on my part. Please ensure that I remain undisturbed for the next quarter-hour. You realize that I am a diviner I was explaining for Charlotte's benefit. I assumed you knew. Thanks. * Roland holds the scroll up before the fire and begins praying. * Skip wanders out to the street, scales the wall, and perches on the rooftop to keep watch. [Roland whispers to himself as the scoll vanishes in a puff of smoke rising between his fingers. As the smoke rises, it forms the unmistakable shape of the nearby mountain ranges.] * Charlotte watches. :O [Roland's mind is consumed in a vision of rising stone and wooded hills. His view finally centers on a ruined castle near a small town. He watches people pass from building to building and can identify Nyyx, Skip, Theodore and Biff among them.] [The view lifts and slides to the ruins. There, it hovers over the castle for several moments before burning through space itself into the Plane of Shadow. In the Plane, the Castle is a magnificent structure of looming gothic hatred. The view speeds through the dark mountains and ominous thunderheads.] [Past the mountains, the vision rushes down toward the sea. This is clearly the city of Stavograd, but it is wrong. Where the city should sit is instead a great twisted tree made of non-light. From its branches hang the citizens of Stavograd.] [Roland is back, starring into the fire.] * Nyyx is still standing guard over Roland. * Charlotte watches. * Roland stands and fistpumps. "Boccob, I LOVE BEING AN ORACLE!" * Nyyx blinks in alarm. "Roland? Are you all right?" Quite all right, Lady Natalia. What did you see? I saw your party, and your feline friend, entering a castle in Kronenburg. I saw that castle in the realm of shadow, where it is truly a majestic and frightening sight. I saw Stavograd in the realm of shadow, where a great twisted tree of darkness sat instead of the city, with the citizens hanging from the branches. * Nyyx taps her chin thoughtfully. "The Realm of Shadow. Theodore, do you know if that's where we went when we entered that other plane?" You did. While you were there, you used somethng. You siphoned life away from someone to benefit yourself. * Nyyx blinks a few times. "How did you know?" I am an Oracle, Lady Natalia. It is my business to know. Do you ask a bird why it flies, or a fish why it swims? * Nyyx seems a bit paler than she was previously. "That's right. I keep forgetting." WAit, waht? * Roland looks at Nyyx's right hand. "You paid the price, later." * Nyyx presses her lips together silently and nods. Someone is doing the same in Stavograd. And we are the ones who must collect on the debt they owe. The plague makes some sense now. Do you know who's responsible? I think you can answer that question yourself, if you think about it for a moment. Let me guess. Gregor. * Roland shrugs. "The answer is likely in the earth beneath the center of the city." Do you know how to end the effect you used? I just...stopped. Like the way you would stop any other kind of action you will yourself to do. * Skip climbs back down the wall and reemerges in the doorway. Oh, all done I see. Alright, so what's our plan? * Roland turns back to the house spirit. "Spirit, how long do we have before the thing breaks free?" Domnii: "Free? It is already free. It is here because it wants to be. It is feeding beneath the city. When it is done, it will slay us and leave." There's a book, but I think we gave it to the temple. I only learned how to siphon life away, but it might be possible to learn how to reverse it. I was not clear enough, perhaps. Do you have any idea how long it will take for it to finish this... feeding? Domnii: "No. We can feel the people down there. There are many left, but it is awake now. Soon." Then we've no time to rest. Unfortunate. We need to get to the druids, too. No one should confront it in small groups. It sounds like it will take everyone together. * Nyyx nods. "We should gather them now, then. There's no time to waste." Damn does anyone have any spare wands or scrolls? I fear I am nearly spent on spells Afraid not. No, but I bet the druids and other casters have a stash somewhere. * Roland holds out an amulet that consists entirely of three tiny insects encased in amber. We'll need to gear up, have a plan, and go in together. * Nyyx nods. "I agree, and very soon, it sounds like." * Theodore wanders to speak with the Seven Temple guys and scrounge for magical equipment * Skip follows Theo out of the tavern and back to the camp. * Nyyx leaves to find the druids. Right. * Roland follows Nyyx, but stops every once in a while to look around thoughtfully. * Charlotte follows but stays alert and wathces for stuff Interesting. Very interesting. No major battles. Elementals, so druid involvement is a possibility. The dragon could be significant, as well. Ah... and just in case... I hope everybody is okay with fighting werecritters. [END OF SESSION.] Session Close: Sat Dec 22 21:46:11 2007