Calliope goes by Emrys for now. She has long learned that of the entire troupe, he is her greatest protector and that her chances of being killed or kidnapped tend to be at an all time low when he is nearby.

I always thought you two would make a cute couple...

The howling continues.  The ruckus is definitely sounds of fighting.  But you aren't hearing steel on steel.  It sounds more like carts being overturned or people banging against the walls of the church.

The old woman is shouting now.  Screeching.  She's balled herself up against one wall, covering her head, and screaming, "Miks sa mind selle kuradiga siia tõid?  Ta tapab meid kõiki!"

Please make me two Awareness/PER checks a piece please.

Karl suddenly points towards the back of the church.  You can see where Olga's sister and the soldier were laid.  The soldier is trying to sit up, groaning as his wounds grind from the effort.  He seems bleary eyed and out of it.

Outside, you can start to hear a scratching sound. As if something with nails is clawing at the walls of the church.

Emrys notices Calliope nearby, "If I step outside, don't follow.  My magical shield may provide some protection but the Church is better I think."

22:20, Today: Emrys rolled 2 with the Ars Magica stress die.  awareness. – 2

22:20, Today: Emrys rolled 4 with the Ars Magica stress die.  awareness -3. – 4

Maybe a little distracted;-)  Emrys thinks so too but a Greek woman that lovely you just can't steal away to Troy;-)

Honestly, Calliope does find Emrys to be somewhat appealing as well, for various reasons. He's got Greek heritage (but that's not a requirement for her), he understands her blessing/curse and isn't affected by it, treats her like a perfect gentleman, and also is as thoroughly domesticated by her as the rest of the Troupe is. Yet, as gentle and patient and abiding as he is with her, he equally isn't afraid to hurl a magically-sharpened log the size of a cabin wall at someone across a river or something if the need arises, and she appreciates a man who can treat a woman like a princess while also fighting for her, and occasionally hurling some logs and stuff, when the gloves come off. ^_^

He also is educated enough to hold sustained intellectual conversations with her, both on magical and mundane topics, which is a huge plus.

However, there's a reason she isn't dropping more than subtle, indirect hints and it mostly has to do with her blessing/curse situation and the fact she doesn't understand enough about Apollo. Also, there is no longer a Troy left to steal her away to. :P


Calliope nodded, and attempted to listen closely both with her mundane senses, but also her heightened ones...

13:21, Today: Calliope Podarces rolled 16 with the Ars Magica stress die.  perception + awareness. – 16

13:21, Today: Calliope Podarces rolled 5 with the Ars Magica stress die.  perception + awareness . – 5

Well as normal it's not adding my mod properly. Her Perception+Awareness is a base of 10, 11 if "alertness" comes into play. The one with a 16 base result did something i not seen before 13:21, Today: Calliope Podarces rolled 16 with the Ars Magica stress die (({1,1}4)). Maybe it exploded because of the 1's?

Either way, the result of a 16 and 5 ads 10 or 11 to each result so she gets approximately 26 and 15 on her rolls.

20:48, Today: Affare Acisculu rolled 6 using 1d10+3. – 6

20:48, Today: Affare Acisculu rolled 9 using 1d10+3.  awareness/per. – 9


If it’s not too late, I’ll ask the hunters more about the identity of this demonic rider: his name, what he appears to want, etc.
This message was last edited by the player at 04:21, Thu 02 May.

Affare, you asked the hunters earlier.  They seemed to be a bit more at ease around you.  Probably because you aren't a soldier and you don't have that whole "evil air" thing that Emrys and Calliope have going on.

You get a bit of their story.  They confirm they are not from this village or Broken Boughs.  Instead they come from a village to the east.  They were out after game and saw the villagers from here marching in the direction of Broken Boughs.  And they came to investigate.  You get the feeling they were scouting the place for scavenging purposes.

They've never seen the rider.  Only heard tales.  Every village in this part of the land knows the tales.

A rider on a black horse, who travels with a pack of black wolves.  He is the master of Broken Boughs.  The villagers there revere him as a god.  And they will make raids on other villages to capture slaves for him.  What happens to the prisoners no one knows, though the general consensus seems to be this man hunts them and then gives their bodies to his horse and his pack to eat.

The man is called Hobuse Sõrg.  Or Horse's Hoof

One of the hunters claims to have seen the horse's tracks in the woods one time.

"It was the damnedest thing.  The hoof print was backwards.  Like it's hoof was twisted 'round the wrong way.  But you could tell it was going the other way.  Like that damn horse's legs are on backwards."

"I hear them wolves are huge.  An' black as midnight," offers another man.  "They don't like the shaman's crosses you're lot puts up.  They're afraid of the bread that your lot makes."

---

Emrys, you slide open the door, looking outside.  Taking any of the Groggers with ya?

The soldiers have lit up the area around the church.  There must be a torch every five paces.  You can seem some of the soldiers.  They seem to be fighting...the air.  They are all waving their swords or wrestling with some kind of opponent who isn't there.

You hear a howl.  Something is touching the borders of your parma.  You can feel it, like an old man tapping the side of a house with his cane to see how sturdy the walls are.  But it isn't focused on you specifically.  It seems to be in the air around the church.

---

"The girl!  Olga!"

Calliope and Affare, you hear the wounded soldier gasping.  He's waving an arm, gesturing towards the altar of the church.

"The girl!  The...host!"

"Get inside the Church!" yells to the soldiers, "Bring the Estonians too!"

His eyes flash like quicksilver as he looks out at the soldiers fighting air.

No grogs and he's not crossing the threshold of the Church.  Figure the grogs are getting their gear on.

Emrys attempt to destroy any magical effect (mentem) within the range of voice equal to half of level 15 (level 10 since round up?) + stress die (perdo 5 vim 6  stamina +1 -3 for wound -1 for aura) nonfatiguing. (general perdo vim to dispel +4 magnitudes of the Vim spell + a stress die (no botch)).

01:14, Today: Emrys rolled 5 with the Ars Magica stress die.  Emrys attempt to destroy any magical effect nonfatigue (1 level range voice +2) level 3 total. – 5  (17 -4) divided by 5 = 2.6 (so level 3) so spell casts

+ 4 magnitudes is level 15 (4, 5, 10, 15) and half is 7.5 (round up to 10)...so dispels a level 10 mentem effect or less?

Affare calls urgently for blessed crosses, holy water, even the holy eucharist.  This enemy can only be defeated by the power of the Christian faith.  He also urges everybody, including the fighting soldiers, to start praying in unison.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:55, Sat 04 May.

Calliope turned and rushed to the Tabernacle! She didn't know what was going on over there, but had to make sure all was well. She first wanted to make sure the Tabernacle was fine, and that the host was inside of it. Then, she'd look at the girl and see what was going on with her.

I have to check on how effective your spell is Emrys.  But do need to ask (or mention)...the church has a Dominion aura of 1.  Did you subtract that from your spell calc?

As Emrys stands in the doorway, making gestures and saying things in strange tongues, the interior of the church erupts into a flurry of activity.

Affare, the soldiers hesitate only briefly before moving.  One rushes towards the basin for some holy water.  Another snatches a crucifix from the wall.  A third rushes with you Calliope towards the altar and sacristry...

The two of you are met with a jarring sight.  The door to the small cabinet of the sacristry is open.  The Host inside is missing.

You can see Olga rushing away from the scene, clutching something to her chest.  She seems to be aiming for the doorway...


Calliope, Affare, or any Grog:  You can try to chase Olga and grab her.  I'd need an Athletics/Qik test though

OOC: About the dominion aura, if God actively "wants" the spell to happen you could always rule it momentarily didn't get hampered by the aura. And trying to fight off Infernal mental influences in and outside a church seems compelling. Then again, God works in mysterious ways!

Calliope didn't hesitate, and immediately ran and tried to grab Olga and stop her from leaving the church. She asks the soldier who followed her to grab and restrain the girl if possible. She cannot think of any good reason for the Eucharist to leave the Church boundaries.

23:27, Today: Calliope Podarces rolled 5 with the Ars Magica stress die.  Quickness+Athletics Base die.

So Athletics 1 and quick 1. She also has a running specialty, which I think applies as she's using her speed to runt he girl down as well as grab her. So that's a +3 mod total so her roll result is 5+3=8.

Looked at maths again and saw that I did subtract for aura.  Unfortunately I subtracted 1 and then double checked that was right and sure enough it's minus (aura x3).  So spell fails 11 divided by 5 is 2.2 (need a 3 to cast).

Leonard leaps to action to lend a hand with wrangling the girl.

00:39, Today: Emrys rolled 8 with the Ars Magica stress die.  Leonard (+4 athletics & quickness). – 8
so 12

Or 2 higher if he can use brawl to grab her;-)

Affare makes no attempt to restrain Olga, but calmly asks her what she is doing.

As you try to shape the magic Emrys, one of the soldiers suddenly stumbles into the space next to you, flailing his sword.  It doesn't strike, but it distracts, causing you to lose your grip on the magic and fail to make it take shape.

Outside the soldiers' battle with the things-that-aren't-there seems to be intensifying.  Someone is screaming from the direction of the rampart.

Inside...

You snatch at Olga Calliope.  But you and the soldier just manage to get in each other's way.  She dives sideways and tries to circle around...

Only to get scooped up by Leonard  She screams and thrusts her face forward, as if she's going to try to bite his neck.  The Host falls from her hands and spills all over the ground.

You get an answer Affare.  But it's from the wounded soldier, not Olga, who seems to be too busy screaming and biting poor Leonard

The Wounded Soldier is trying to stand.  His efforts are tearing open his wounds, but he ignores that, just feebly pointing at Olga.

"That girl...she's one of the ones.  The wolflings...You can't let her get outside!  I don't...I don't know if she can be...saved..."

Father Johan has rushed forward and is snatching up the Host.  But seeing the wounded man bleeding again, he rushes towards him.

"Everyone can be saved!" Johan snaps at the soldier.  "But not if you bleed all over the place!  Someone help me get him back down!  What is going on?"

Outside...

Emrys, you think you can spot something coming over the palisade walls.  Something large and dark looking.

"Evren, Wulfgang set up with me," He glances at Leonard's struggles, "Felix and Karl, help Leonard get her tied up."

Emrys moves back from the doorway to be less exposed as he holds a staff, waiting to use it.

Calliope begins to gather up the host in Father Johan's stead. She will put all that she can gather into the chalice that held the host, and she makes sure to keep it away from the girl.

"Don't worry about the host - I've got it. I'll put it back into the tabernacle shortly, so you guys tie the girl up. I suspect the church is preventing her from shifting, which means I think Father Johan is right about her possibly being able to be saved. Plus, she's just a little girl. We've got to try, if possible." she said as she began to gather up the host.

Once she gets the host gathered up and back into its chalice, she will quickly place it back into the Tabernacle and make a quick sign of the cross.

"God? If we somehow survive this Infernalism, wolf-men, and haunted horsemen I swear I'll put more effort into learning about Christianity!" she mumbled aloud.

She then scans the area, and makes sure she doesn't sense any other possible dangers to the Host.

Seeing the look on Emrys’s face, Affare tries looking in the same direction he’s facing.  Although he’s afraid to do so.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:10, Wed 08 May.

The wounded soldier lets out a groan as Johan starts to try to patch him back up.  Leonard and the others get Olga bound.

Calliope, you finish picking up the Host and return it to the tabernacle.  For some reason, you feel a bit calmer.  Your mind seems a bit more settled.

Affare and Emrys, you stare out the door.

The soldiers begin to stagger in.  Some of them are wounded, though the wounds aren't overtly serious.  They seem to be more slashes as if they had been cut by blades.  There is blood on their own swords.  But none of them are particularly gory.  More like the soldiers had slashed and been slashed in passing.

The sounds from the soldiers still outside stops.  The air outside the door of the church seems to get a touch colder.  Everything seems still.

There's a long moment of quiet.

Then...just at the edge of the torchlight the soldiers had set up around the church, you can see something.  It's like there's a patch of the darkness that is a bit darker than the rest.  And it's moving.  Gracefully.  Powerfully.  Skulking just at the edge of the torchlight.  Like the illumination is a fence it was trying to find a gap in.


Beyond the perimeter, faintly in the distance, there's a sound like galloping hooves.

If there are any last minute preparations you want to make, now is the time to make them.

Emrys holds unless he sees something he can hit with his staff.  He waits for Evren and Leonard to come up to them (Emrys, Affare, & Wulfgang) and get ready before taking a shot if he's able.  Karl and Felix stay behind in support (with Calliope or Alfred).

Emrys and grogs from the night foray still can see in the dark (until morning).

Realizing he probably won’t be much use in combat, Affare heads inside and tries to figure out how to make himself useful.

Your night vision isn't of much help Emrys.

Whatever this "dark" is, it's not got a clear shape.  At least not at the moment.

Inside, Olga is starting to thrash around.  She's screaming.  Cursing actually.  A torrent of filth begins to strew from the little girl's mouth.

Her sister begins to convulse.

Johann is staring at the two of them.  He shakes his head.  "Should...should I try an exorcism?  I have the accoutrements."

He looks at the soldier.  "Can someone try to get his wound closed while I try..."  He stares at the girls.

"And I'll need someone to assist me. If you can speak Latin, that'd be a help."

Emrys and anyone else at the door, the darkness stops opposite you. It stands there, just out of the torchlight. Hovering.

Then it launches itself forward...

If you want to do something, like fire anything at it, I will need an init roll as well as any other applicable rolls please.

Questions? Thanks

Emrys points the staff of wood he's holding at the onrushing darkness but nothing further happens.

23:41, Today: Emrys rolled 3 with the Ars Magica stress die.  Piercing shaft of wood (+7 MuHe mastered, +10 damage) -3 aura. – 3

Fails due to aura drat;-)

OOC
Anyone want to play and roll dice for the other grogs in combat?

Wulfgang is a bowman
Evren is good with his polearm
Leonard is a bruiser

Calliope ran over to Father Johan.

"Father! It's coming! The darkness...I believe it heralds the Horseman! And I don't need a blessing or curse to tell you that much when the evidence is right outside the door like a dark mist probing at us!| she said.

"Latine loqui possum, pater Johan. I can speak Latin! And I speak it nearly as well as I can speak Greek! I promised God I'd learn more about Catholocism, so I suppose an exorcism is one way to do it!" she said.

She quickly turned toward the Grogs.

Felix? Go and help the soldier stay down and push some rags onto his wounds to help get the blood to stop flowing again. Just do what you can for him! Wulfgang? Get your bow and arrow ready, and hide behind one of the pews as cover. Evzen and Leonard? get up there by Emrys! Leonard, focus on keeping your shield raised and try and stay in front of Emrys. But DO NOT LEAVE THE CHRUCH, even if that means you need to physically move Emrys back a bit to position in front of him. Evzen, get your polearm at the ready. Karl? Go next to Evzen and use your polearm to hold the line. she commanded, switching once again from weird Olive-Oracle to Resolute Noble again, like she did back in Riga when she took control over the counter-ambush. The menfolk were panicking, so it was up to the women to keep things together.

OOC: I am putting Felix into "passive mode" and having him tend the wounded soldier. Just mainly getting the man off to the side if they need to move to a safer spot, and helping get rags and stuff to hold onto the wounds to help the blood stop, and otherwise keep the man calm.

I am assigning Leonard to use full-defense actions, or whatever equivalent this system has, and his heater shield and placing him in Front of Emrys and the 2 polearm grogs (Evzen and Wulfgang). He will sacrifice all attacks to try and boost his defense as high as possible. I don't know the combat system that well yet but this is my intention. He will not harm Emrys, but he will as gently as possible push Emrys bask slightly if needed so he can get in front of him to tank, because he totally understands why Calliope is ordering him to do this and knows that if Emrys falls we're all fucked lol.

I will take control over Wulfgang and Leonard basically, and Wulfgang will be hiding back a ways behind some pews and using his bow and arrow for the fight. I figure this way, Affare and anyone else who wants to more actively participate can grab Evzen and Karl, the two polearm users.

Affare and others: will you take Evzen and Karl?
This message was last edited by the player at 05:25, Yesterday.

"I also know my Latin quite well," Affare makes known to all who will listen.  "I'm not sure an exorcism is really appropriate here, but I'm no churchman and will willingly assist the effort, if it is to be made."


I'd rather not run any other characters/grogs, if it's all the same to you.