A cold wind whips sleet at you and tears at your cloaks. The moon is shrouded behind a grey haze, and wolves are baying in the dark woods all around. Against the dusky sky, you can just make out the shadow of a low tower. A lantern burns in one of its windows and begins to sway, beckoning you toward the safety of shelter. As you move you travel warn body toward the tower you come to a crossroad and happen across several travelers. Whether they are together or simply in this particular place at this time by chance is not clear.
This message was last edited by the player at 02:38, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

  Rhagar unfortunately, does not come with default cold resistance.  Though weather has always been much more bearable than things trying to stab you to death with iceicles.

  The draconian is no stranger to coincidentally timed gatherings, but on nights like this it's better to not assume it is a friendly gathering.  Still, he won't be the one to be violently paranoid out the gate.

A large figure around six ft in height sways through the cold and comes to a slow halt with a small figure standing beside it. As the two stop the small figure steps forward and is revealed to be a small female that has the looks of a human in her early twenty's. She starts to take a fighting stance but the large figure claps a hand on her shoulder and through the cowl hiding his face a deep voice can be herd. "Calm yourself, only a fool looks for war were there is non to be found. Hello strangers we ask safe passage through this pass, we simply seek to escape the weather."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:02, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

The young women halts when the hand grabs her shoulder. She looks up to the covered figure and nods. "Yes master, forgive me." She bows her head slightly and turns to await answers.

A young girl, about 5'2", looking to be in her mid teens, walks into the open. There is something cradled in her arms, but under her raincoat.

The girl pauses in her tracks to see a small gathering of people. 6'6" dragonborn. 6' cloaked figure. 5' girl.

The newcomer with the cat says something, but the noise of the rain is louder than her voice.

She walks over to the group and stops about 4' from the cloaked figure. Her eyes slowly follow up his chest to his cowl. It soon becomes clear why she wasn't heard earlier. The girl speaks softly in a half-whispered voice, just below normal speech in loudness. "Hi. I'm Antoinette. Let's go together."

It is also now apparent what is in the girl's arms. A cat, being sheltered from the rain. The cat looks at Rain, lets out a low, annoyed meow, but is quickly calmed by Antoinette looking down at it. "Shh..."

Cat: https://upload.wikimedia.org/w...iseshell_she-cat.JPG

Easily missed in the dim light due to his small size is a grumpy looking pixie.  He simply nods to the others then heads for the tower.

As adventurers try and decide what to make of one another they notice several sets of eyes in the forest around them coming closer. There is a low growling as wolves emerge from the shadows between the gray tree trunks. Most of the wolves look half starved, and they charge toward you.


The first Gray wolf lunges at Rhagar and misses landing at his feet. It growls and readies for another attack.

The two Ravenous wolves north of the group try and surprise Raven and Eren with attacks from their side but are noticed and avoided with Eren getting of an swing but sadly missing.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:51, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

Rave takes a stance and strikes out at the wolf twice but the rain and mud cause her to slip and slide not allowing for good footing and she misses her target, but remains firm in her position beside her master.

One of the Ravenous wolves takes a bite out of Rhagar and runs off in the distance. While the second of the Gray wolves moves to Eren missing him by a small margin.

  As nice as it would be to risk needless injury to more quickly aid a child, Rhagar has more pressing concerns with the wolf that is already biting him.

  A spray of freezing liquid joins the rain, striking the gray wolves and followed up with a rapier slash across the eye of the closest one.  Not enough to drop the beast, but hopefully enough to make it think twice about attacking agai-

  Oh who are we kidding?  Nature is an asshole.

The young girl quietly takes a prayer posture and two angels appear! One female and one male. The female angel appears among the wolves next to Erin and Rhagar while the male angel flanks the wolf that is next to Antoinette.

The female angel gives the wolves a stern look as if ready to use that sword of hers. The male angel does use his, slashing the wolf to within inches of its life!

---

Standard: Call Spirit Companion
Minor: Angelic Protector
ACTION POINT
Standard: Angelic Protector melee v ravenous wolf 3. Hit(16)!
 dmg: 24!

Ravenous Wolf 3 HP: 25 - 24 = 1

The large figure looks for an opening to attack the wolf he has in his sight but the beast offers none.

The pixie smirked at Rhagar's violence against the wolf then gasped in shock when a bunch of angels appear.  He shakes it off and focuses again on the fight.

Eren swings at the grey wolf next to the angel and it barely ducks under his swing.  He then spins around to uppercut the nearby ravenous wolf.  Thunk!  The pick impales the wolf's throat and it lets out a stifled gurgle of pain!

"Rrrraaaaahh!"

Still holding his pick, the pixie flies over the wolf's head, and swings his pick again, sending the wolf and it's now severed head flying several yards away in a spray of blood, completely drenching Eren in crimson!
This message was last edited by the GM at 05:02, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

The Gray Wolf near Rhagar attempts to attack him but is evaded with ease. It passes him and along with two other of the wolves is caught in The young monk girls fury, She Stamps the ground and cracks form her eyes go red and demonic fire erupts from the ground around her scorching the wolves killing one. The two that survived the fire however are met with bone crushing force from her fists the mud causing her to not hit with her full might, but still killing another of the wolves and badly wounding another. She looks to the tall figure beside her as if begging for praise or acknowledgement.

One of the remaining grey wolf jumps and pulls the Female Angel out of the sky onto the ground ripping her apart.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:00, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

  They just don't make Angels like they used to, it seems.  Though at least that gave enough time for Rhagar to flap over, and inflict a slide along that wolf's side as it lunges past the draconian, it's (flavor text based) attack easily sidestepped.

Antoinette is still in a prayer pose. The female angel only appears to be ripped apart, but vanishes. A tear rolls down her cheek, but the female angel reappears in a new location, looking good as new. She looks sternly at the wolf that had grabbed her before. The male angel then walks over to the wolf.

---

Standard to re-summon Abrielle

Rain does not take notice of Ravens actions because from the hit he received seeing so much blood has driven him into a blood frenzy causing his nails to grow into long claws and his hood falls back revealing long sharp fangs in his mouth and deep black eyes. He has long silver hair and a very pale complexion. The girl tries to grab him but he moves to fast and seems appear next to the wolf instantly without time to react the wolf is helpless as the man picks it up and rips its head from its shoulders with his bare hands its blood covering him and socking through the cloth into his skin causing the wound left by the wolf to somewhat heal.
This message was last edited by the player at 05:33, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

Eren flies around to flank the last remaining wolf, giving a nervous glance to the creepy vampire guy.  He swings with all his might down on the wolf's head.

"The first blow makes the helmet crack,
The axe cuts to the teeth!"

CRACK!

"I rip the axe from the head,
Covered in blood and brains,
Leave the body lying dead,
Ready to strike again."

But upon seeing that there's no more enemies to fight, he nudges his head toward the tower and starts flying over there.

As the battle rages on a voice calls from the tower, shouting over the pouring rain and new pack of snarling wolves that has revealed itself. Its the sound of an old women yelling "Get inside my tower! You'll be safe in here!" The adventurers now have a choice to make stay and fight the countless numbers of starving wolves or retreat to safety.

  Yes, going inside would likely be much more practical than fighitng dozens of wolves.  Less things trying to kill them could fit inside.

  Rhagar has to remind himself that rushing ahead of small children carrying distraught cats is potentially frowned upon, as he keeps pace with Antoinette for the moment.

Antoinette says, "Thank you" in her usual quiet tone. The two angels give polite bows and then follow the group.

Eren takes a peek inside to make sure it's safe for the others, then stands guard by the door, choosing to remain in the rain until the others enter.  Partly so he won't be dripping blood all over the nice person's floor.  He glances again at the strange collection of new allies and tries to not look too weirded out.

Rain turns and runs at the back of the pack following close to Raven. "Raven now help me buy us time they are to fast." His body scatters and turns into a swarm of bats that flies around blinding the wolves closest to them.

"As you will it master." Raven turns and takes the few seconds he provides to call on the strength she has left and slams the ground calling a pillar of daemon fire across the bridge, it would do little more than slow them but it will last long enough for them to reach the tower.

  Rhagar hurls a token sling stone at the pack of wolves  Raven and Rain are rushing towards, but there's only so much one stone to a wolf nose will do.

  "They will be fine, go inside." He says to Antoinette, finally bothering to talk.

As the party enters the tower an elderly women introduces herself as Treona and as she speaks an elderly man in his mid-forties descends the stairs of the tower and she introduces him as Kiris Alkirk. She asks the Heroes in and tells them that she was watching their exploits outside hoping for a chance to call out to them over the noise. She tells them she is very impressed with them and wishes them to lend her their aid.

The angels that are with Antoinette look around, seemingly ignoring their hosts. Once they are sure the place is secure, they look at Antoinette, give another bow, and vanish.

Antoinette takes a deep breath. She looks in Rain's direction. Then looks at Rhagar's chest. She lifts her eyes towards his slowly, then says softly, "Be well." and all his wounds revert, vanishing.

Antoinette then turns to look at the host and hostess' chests. "Thank you for the shelter." she says softly. She sucks her lower lip in.

Eren had chucked a stone or two at the wolves as well while the others got to safety then entered himself, sure to be the last to enter.  He perks an eyebrow at the hosts, then blinks a bit in surprise at the vanishing angels.  Shaking that off, he takes himself over to the fireplace to dry off - assuming there's a fire lit.

Rain pulls his cowl back over his head and moves to sit on the floor next to the wall while his wounds finish healing, he will wait and see how this plays out before he makes to much commotion. He then waves his hand beckoning Raven to join him.

Raven goes to his side and curls under his cloak, though his body provides no heat the cloak holds the warmth in a small pocket and keeps it from escaping. She sits quietly watching those around her waiting.

Treona looks over the drenched party and offers warm drinks and towels to them to dry off. "Forgive me for being brash and bombarding you with a request as soon as you have escaped such danger. If you are willing then I would be happy if you would listen to my request, but for now feel free to stay the night and warm up. We may speak when you are ready if at all."

  "Thank you, for that."  Having your wounds healed is a less frequent occurrence than being given them in the first place.

  Best to get it over with, but Rhagar decides to let how heavy the curiosity of others decide when to ask.  It will probably involve killing things.  You don't compliment a missmatched group of people for slaughtering wolves if you were going to ask them nice things.

  "A place inside from the weather sounds good for the moment."

  He wonders if there is something wrong with Antoinette's neck, she does seem to have issue looking upwards.

And he can continue to wonder. Until he asks, anyway.

Antoinette answers softly, "My name is Antoinette. I will help tomorrow. I need to rest. If you want to tell what you want, I will listen."

She lets the cat onto the ground and it immediately rubs against her leg, purring.

Eren unscrews the top off a small flask that looks similar to something hard drink is usually kept in and takes a sip, watching the others.  He looks a bit confused at the apparent lack of interest in the request and says more forcefully,

"I'd rather know now, if it's all the same to you."

"If you have the time now that we have all settled we will hear your request now." Rain then closes his eyes the light from the fire hurting them, and proceeds to hum ever so quietly only barley loud enough for raven to hear who has fallen asleep under his arm and cloak next to him.

Light Snore "zzzzzzzzzzzz"

Treona nods and explains that she and Alkirk need confident adventurers to recover an item for them. Alkirk is the las heir to the Kiris line, the rulers of the fallen town of Kiris Dahn. Eight years ago they were forced to abandon their home. In the face of an overwhelming goblin invasion they had no choice but to flee and even now the goblin still live there. The item they wish for the adventurers to retrieve is the last of the Slaying Stones, a very powerful item that the town used to kill their enemies. The town had eight such stones and they were all thought to be gone, but rumor of a ninth has mad them worry and they wish it retrieved so they may destroy it.

She offers a hand full of home drawn maps of the town and explains that the goblins live mostly in the northern sections of the town.  She thinks the slaying stone likely rests within the old library, one of the temples, or the Kiris estate. All of these are outside the areas where most of the goblins live. 

  "Dangerous magical artifacts, is it?  Some specifics about it will be needed.  If it is desired back so much, it would not be in your interests those sent to retrieve it to drop dead anyways."

Antoinette wanders to the fire and after situating herself, turns to look in the direction of the others. She looks up at Alkirk and softly asks, "Do you know what it looks like?"

She pets the cat idly where she sits.
This message was last edited by the player at 07:29, Fri 13 Nov 2015.

Eren is a little distracted by the snoring lady, but stays focused on the matter at hand.

"So...  Why destroy a powerful weapon?  What's the catch?  Does it corrupt the wielder?  Or is it because word of the stones got out and that's why the goblins attacked the village?"

Rain shifts at the sound of such a powerfull item, he had been alive for many years longest than most and had seen the town before, but new nothing of such a stone. "This sounds quite troubling, should the goblins learn to recreate such a stone then many would be in great danger."

Raven continues to sleep only moving when Rain shifts a little in his seat.

When the town of Kiris Dahn was at the pinnacle of its power, its wealth and prosperity made it a target for nearby settlements and thieves. To guard against any invasion by powerful forces, the then-ruler of Kiris Dahn sought out tiefling weapon smiths known as the Architects ofVictory, who were experts at deadly magic passed down from the last days of Bael Turath. For a hefty price, they created a set of magic weapons capable of slaying Kiris Dahn's enemies. They placed a limit on the weapons, though, to ensure that they would be used for their stated purpose and couldn't be used against the tieflings. The items worked only in and near the town of Kiris Dahn.

Treona explains to the party that the stone has brought nothing but pain to those that have used its power and that though its power those who ruled became arrogant and power hungry with god complexes and she wishes to finely end this nightmare of their past before someone learns to make more of them, for the world needs not more power hungry fools whom have great strength and endless lust. She explains though that the stone is not perfect and should a situation arise that puts the party in unavoidable danger that they absolutely cannot handle alone that the stone will crumble if used and though it will sadden her that its power will be necessary once more that so long as they bring proof of its demise she will content with that.

Treona gives the characters three identical ritual scrolls and a map of the town. She tells them the ritual scroll is attuned to the slaying  stone, and shows a ghostly image of the item if it's nearby. It's best to use the ritual at the center of a building to search the whole area thoroughly. The ritual has a component cost of 25 gp, so Treona gives the characters 75 gp worth of alchemist reagents.Though she refuses to give the characters the ritual to destroy the slaying stone because she wants proof of its eradication.
This message was last edited by the player at 00:19, Sat 14 Nov 2015.

  So... Magic stone bad, please stop stone.  Except please don't destroy the stone that has only brought misery, that would be bad. because?

  "So... it does what then?  Towns are not very large, so I feel I am missing something in just how it could give one a god complex or cause tradgedy to it's owners.  Does it eat a baby every time it defends town?."  That is generally frowned upon as a source of arcane fuel, right?

  Still, the fact they are actually including components along with the ritual shows these people are serious.  Reasons still in question, but serious.

OOC: Rhagar will stop asking for specifics right now if this is one of those cases of 'well, I'd have to read ahead a couple modules to actually know the specifics'""
This message was last edited by the player at 11:07, Sat 14 Nov 2015.

Eren frowns, clearly furious at the mention of Tieflings.  But he keeps most of his angry thoughts to himself.

"You're right to want such a terrible thing destroyed.  I do too.  But destroying evil won't pay for the magic armor I'll need if I'm going to survive making a habit of risking my life to see it done.  So outside incidental valuables I may find on my slain enemies, what kind of reward can I expect for carving my way a second time through hoards of goblins to bring you the Slaying Stone after I find it?"

Antoinette says nothing yet. For one thing, the others are asking important questions. For another, she is thinking about things to ask her companions. So she keeps a mental note.

(OOC: This means I will write her questions and such in scratchpad. In case I forget them)

Rain sits quietly contemplating the quest they had been offered. He and raven were only in this part of the world in search of information on her brother, but this could prove fun. He looks around the room at the assembled adventurers and laughs "Fun in Deed."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The old women shakes her head and apologizes, she says that anything of fortune they had left was abandoned with the town so they could escape in time. Any monetary rewards to be gained will need to be recovered from the ruins of the town and corpses of the fallen enemy.

  "I suppose the words 'I have nothing better to do at the moment' are not very comforting for you to hear.  But the alternative is outright telling you no."

Eren folds his arms, frowning.  He furrows his brow at Rain's strange exclamation but keeps quiet for the moment to see what the others say to the "offer" made by the near broke hosts.

Antoinette softly says, "Yes." Her eyes lift to look at the host. "We will find the stone."

As the adventurers settle in for the night the wind and sleet seems to grow in strength and a howling ca be heard from the packs of wolves that they had escaped earlier. After drying and drinking the warm meed from their host and eating what they could hold the party sleeps through the night to awaken to a cool crisp morning. Through the window a bright light shines and the party feels fully rested. Treona descends the spiral staircase and greets the adventuring party awaiting their final decision on weather to retrieve the stone and what their plans may be to do so. 

  "I have not changed my mind in the past few hours."  He looks to the rest, as they may have recalled more pressing business in the meantime.

"Yeah yeah," Eren grumbles, "I'll get your stone."

Antoinette says, "Yes. Thank you for the food and shelter."
This message was last edited by the player at 03:49, Thu 19 Nov 2015.

Rain and Raven have taken up position toward the back of the group but his deep voice rings through the crowd. "So then my new friends where shall what is our plan of action, I recommend a stealth approach to the situation. Recon and then infiltration vi darkness is my preferred method."

Raven nods in agreement and says "So long as there is a light shadow or they are not staring directly at me in a bright area I can bypass most guards."

  "Scouting out the enemy is preferable, yes.  But unless all here can accomplish such things readily, it is better to fall back and take the loud approach together rather."  Unless the only enemies are a few Minions, or something.

"That's fine with me.  So... What are your names and what do you do?  I'm Eren.  I'm a fighter."

Antoinette is staring at the ground and says in her soft tone, "My name is Antoinette. I'm a farmer. But the gods watch out for me."

"Well as many of you all saw in the battle last night I am blessed with the curse of Vampire-dome. Raven is my life blood partner and has her life extended from my feeding from her. We have been together for a little over 200 years now. I have since our meeting only fed from her and those whom I kill in self defense. She keeps my blood lust and blood frenzy at bay."

I was raised into my role as a young monk, but after my people were killed by one of our own I gave my Soul to my master in exchange for the everlasting life and strength to chase my prey to the ends of time."

  "I am Rhagar, an Adventurer."  Hey, it's good enough for Speilberg.

  A certain ranger his player has used knows how suspicion goes from 170% to 'I literally shot someone in the back and they didn't suspect me of anything' if you don't call yourself a Rogue.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:22, Thu 19 Nov 2015.

Eren sweatdrops but shrugs it off.  He takes point until such point as the scouters want to scout ahead.  Walking is go!

Antoinette follows the others, but does not say anything until spoken to. For now, anyway.

Rain grows more and more interested in the party by the minuet, no response to his condition and immediate trust was not expected.

Raven follows quietly never lowering her guard.

When the characters first arrive at Gorizbadd, they see goblin guards at the front gate. The party will need to make their decision here, sneak in or try the direct approach. Should they try and take out the guards by the gate the rest of the town would surly get word and become more alert.

(group needs to decide direct approach or try and sneak through the town to the area described by the treona.)

  "If we wish to avoid them entirely, then we help eachother climb a section of wall where they can not see us in the first place.  There is sure to be more within we can not so easily bypass."

  Much easier to sneak outdoors than it is through narrow dungeon hallways.

"It's just a few goblin guards.  I'm fine with either approach."

Antoinette says softly, "We could ask the goblins where the stone is."

"That is one option but if we look at the map it show quite a few paths we could traverse. If we get into a situation that calls for stealth Raven can lead us through and If the opportunity presents itself i can provide detraction as well as the rest of you can pitch in at different time to make quite the snaky teem."

"Raven points to the guards I can get me in that way but not the rest of you, however this way through the slums looks like a good rout, The forest will allow us to bypass much of the main parts of town but it will also be the worst to traverse the forest in these parts are crawling with those wolves and grow thick with brush. I suggest we take the slums though they could prove just as deadly if we make a mistake."

   "Unless every wolf in the forest is at the front of it, we only need to travel by it long enough to get over the walls unseen."

He looks over to Raven at the warnings of the slums.  "That seems rather specific.   Are you expecting something in particular in the slums of a long abandoned town, or a reason for the Goblins to have a reason to guard them more?"

"I thought running water repelled vampires," Eren comments with a shrug, "The only option that doesn't involve swimming is through the gate...  Though I guess you're all light enough I could fly you one by one over the water."

Antoinette begins walking towards the gate unless stopped.

"Running water less repels me and more weakens me if i stay to close to it, so as long as I fly over it quickly and it should do minimal damage to me." (DM says 5dmg to him for crossing river) I still thing sneaking in is best, though if we are quick and go one at a time we may be able to slip past the guards at the gate if that's what the rest of you wish."

Raven calls to Antoinette and stops her pointing to the wall just before the guards as it caves in and they scatter to the left side of the gate. "If we move now before the gather at that rubble we can sneak into the slums or try and bypass them. And the reason I wory over the slums is because that wall as example the slums are called that cause of their condition and that was when the town was kept now what must it look like. Don't want to die from a falling stone."

The Goblins scramble away from the dust and ruble so they are not crushed and start to wipe the dirt from there eyes. This will be our parties last chance to decide on the slums if they miss this chance they will be choosing the forest or the gate directly.
This message was lightly edited by the player at 05:20, Thu 19 Nov 2015.

  At this point, will stop making suggestions for now and follow along with whichever last second scramble decision people veer towards.

Eren folds his arms and looks to the others.

"I did say before that I'm fine with either way.  But I'm not fine with standing here talking about which way to go all day.  So which is it going to be?"