11. Beneath the Castle

[Dram]

Bragar-Kickcking himself in the A$$ for praying for a light spell. The torch is better than nothing. But be ready if case something comes outta the dark. As he readies his battle axe.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog will catch a ride from the poly-morphed companion now turned steed to get out of the accursed castle.

[Dram]

Bragar- Will reluctantly join Gragog on the horse. And fly off to other side of the cliff.

[Inferno]

Agax Grygg, dreaming wizard, leaps off the towering ramparts of Castle Ravenloft and flies across the bottomless chasm in the shape of an ebon, winged mount, bearing his final two riders.

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 12:00 PM
Weather: Stormy
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Castle Wall
**************************************

Agax picks up Bragar and Gragog and flies them safely though the wind and storm to the other side of the chasm. As he alights and the two dismount, the faint tolling of bells rises from the church a thousand feet below.

The long walk back to town awaits.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 42/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Polymorph Self (Agax): 12 turns
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff) (not active while Agax is polymorphed); Torch (Gragog, 5 turns)

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog signals to the others "Well lets get this long trudge back to town over, shall we?" and the half-orc begins the walk back to the town.

[Inferno]

Agaxsus nods once and transforms from avian equine to chiropteran; a vampire bat that will serve as aerial lookout for the long journey back to the village.

[Dram]

Bragar- Follows Gragog back to the village. Hopefully yer wishes worked.

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 13, 1222
Time: 12:10 PM
Weather: Stormy
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Castle Wall
**************************************

You being the long trek back to town. Agax shifts forms into a vampire bat; the rest of you trudge along on foot down the ancient forgotten road. Shinyah's coin and Gragog's torch light the way, casting ominous shadows across the craggy rock of the Balinok cliffs that rise on either side of you. The storm lets up as the cliffs give way to deep forest.

The forgotten stone road ends at a dirt road—more of a mud road, now—leading northwest and southwest. You follow the road southwest. The mud sucks at your boots and slows your progress. The road comes, by twists and turns, to the bridge over the high, thin waterfall that crashes to the valley floor far below.

You can just make out the castle to the east. Looking back, you wonder whether Strahd is still master of the castle. Shinyah—his consciousness trapped somewhere so far away you cannot even name the plane of existence where it lies—wished Strahd to the surface of the sun. Then Scarlett disappeared. Was Scarlett Strahd? Did the wish defeat the Vampyre? And what of Shinyah's other wish, that there be no more vampyres in Borovia? You can only guess what effect that wish had.

A black cloud seems to spread from the castle, like tar oil spreading across a murky pool. It seems to grow, and as it grows you hear fluttering and screeching, and realize that the cloud is actually a swarm of bats. Batgax finds himself surrounded by screeching bats, obscuring his vision and buffeting him about.

With no choice but to press onward, you continue forward with your bat escorts. After an interminable time marching through the muck, the "road" turns sharply down the side of a cliff. Agax's spell expires, leaving him in human form once again. As you start down, the cloud of bats flies back to the castle.

Halfway down the cliff, you spot something approaching from the road ahead and below. As it approaches, it resolves itself into several somethings: a seeming army of spectral man-like figures is making straight for you! The procession climbs single file up the road and stretches back for leagues upon leagues. Whatever these creatures are, there must be hundreds of them!

You stand on a narrow stretch of road, perhaps eight feet wide. To your right is the cliff wall; to your left, a sheer drop of hundreds of feet.

Actions?

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 42/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Honeynose: 24/24, Treescratcher: 29/29; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran); Polymorph Self (Agax): expired
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff) (not active while Agax is polymorphed);

[Inferno]

"Is Strahd truly dead?" Agax whispers in disbelief as he gazes down upon the advancing shadows.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "Perhaps though I'm wondering if the townfolk were so attuned to a vampire lord running things that now we've angered the masses?" the half-orc warrior fears for the worst and is not sure what to do other than be prepared for a fight as per the usual spear in hand though not in a threatening manner more as it being used as a walking stick pointy end in the air.

[Inferno]

Agax, game mage:

"That's certainly one possibility," the dreaming wizard opined. "Or, freed at last from his cruel dominion, the peasants are charging the castle. The eternal optimist in me would rather like that possibility.
"Let's fall back and observe from hiding who or what this procession really is, shall we? Better safe than sorry."

Agax covered his light and began to climb back up the thin path.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog "Very well. Lets wait and watch from a strategically concealed position, just in case it be zombies or some such hoard of monsters."

[Dram]

Bragar- Moves into the bushes with the group. Lets pray we do not have to fight the townsfolk.

[Zhym]

Date: Trieluna 14, 1222
Time: ~2:00 AM
Weather: Stormy
Location: Castle Ravenloft; Castle Wall
**************************************

Having no idea what approaches, you turn and head back, hoping for a less exposed position. You easily guide Shinyah and the still-invisible Castran to turn around. Agax covers his light, though whoever—whatever?—approaches must have spotted the light already. In the dark, you stay close to the cliff to your left, keeping your hands on it at all times to avoid straying off the path and falling to your deaths.

Stumbling about in the dark, you still somehow manage to stay ahead of the approaching line of figures long enough to reach the top of the cliff. Scrambling in the dark through brush and branch, you wait to see what passes.

They do not appear to be villagers.

What you see are spectral, ghostly figures of men, women, dwarves, elves, halflings, gnomes. They wear battered armor or torn robes. The first figures in the procession wear skins or dull bronze plates; they carry weapons that are little more than spiked clubs. Many of these are broken.

The spirits continue past you, one by one, marching with grim purpose up the road to the castle. If they notice you, they pay you no mind. You lose count of them. You lose track of time.

Finally, the end of the dismal parade is in sight. The last few figures in this parade float in front of you. Bragar gasps—he recognizes one of them!

Ghost Vorkath Forest.png (386.93 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Vorkath Tsaridian, Paladin of the One True God! Bragar only saw him on the holy warrior's death bed, but his armor and bearing are unmistakable.

Other recognizable figures follow him:

Ghost Agrippo Forest.png (444.67 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Agrippo the Spartan.

Ghost Fendt Forest.png (412.52 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Fendt, the half-elf.

Ghost Iluq Forest.png (244.11 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Iluq, dark elf priest.

Ghost Tumbler Forest.png (519.26 KiB) Viewed 672 times

Tumbler, dwarven locksmith.

Ghost Scarlett Forest.png (311.93 KiB) Viewed 672 times

And Scarlett, who vanished when Shinyah wished Strahd to the sun.

They march past you without even a glance in your direction.

----
Status: Gragog (F8): 57/60; Bragar: 42/42 (C7); Agax (MU7/C4): 45/45; Petyr (F3): 23/23; Bogdana (C3): 23/23; Mindless: Castran: 23/23 (F5/I6); Shinyah (D7): 38/38
Effects: Phantom Armor (Castran): 6 pts; Invisibility (Castran)
Light sources: CL coin (60', held by Shinyah); CL gem (60' Agax's staff)

[Inferno]

Wide-eyed, Agax whispered, "Now that's terribly interesting, don't you think? A procession of all the dead souls murdered at the fell hands of Strahd.

"He is undone!

"...Shall we follow them to the castle?"

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog after the spirit march is past works his way back to the road bringing whomever he can guide with him making for the road angling to be further away from the ghostly parade.

[Dram]

Bragar- Terribly shooken up by seeing his past comrades. We cannot leave our friends or my friends to wander that castle. We must let there souls be at peace.

[GreyWolfVT]

Gragog having to ties to any of the spirits except Scarlett "Good luck with that Scarlett was sent into the sun how do you suppose we can put her at peace? The others I have no ties to therefor care not."

[Inferno]

Agax uncovers the light atop his staff, illuminating his wide smile. "Dram and I wish to investigate this fascinating spectral procession.
"Gragog, you wish to return to the village. Will you come with us, or shall we divide our number? We shan't be very long, I don't think."