[Game Thread] Chapter I

[Cheaplaffs]

Everyone here? I'll be updating tonight as soon as I receive word from Sporatik. Before I do, though, I'd like to know if everyone's still interested.

[Cheaplaffs]

Lady von Drachen I'm not sure you grasp the chronology of my post, but just as a refresher: You are the first to wake up, there's no sign of Liz or Sharimel, probably still in their rooms. Downstairs, you see Keith the hunter, who warns you that the council is suspicious of your activities in town, and is after you for murder. Time is short, and outside you can hear the hands banging on the Inn doors, which are closed and bolted from the inside. The bartender is slowly, meticulously loading shells into a shotgun on the bar. Several of Keith's party are standing watch at the windows and a few of them step past you on the way upstairs. You can hear the sound of breaking windows. "You should gather your friends and get out of here. I'd hate to think what those sleep-deprived animals will do to three female captives." Keith says, his voice blank. "My men've promised to see you back to the woods. We've no alliegiance to that sick-o Council and their cronies. But we won't last long against militia. I hope you have a plan." A loud bang against the doors, which budge, causing Keith's men to throw themselves against it and force the latch shut once again. Its followed by cries from outside, the most predominant of which says, "Surrender the witches, now! Comply, or we'll burn the building to its foundations!"

Dorian You find the gates of the necropolis already open, the chain and padlock discarded off to one side as if someone had already bypassed it to get inside. Once inside, the stench of death, blood, and gunpowder is unmistakable, growing stronger down the main road to the scene of a recent battle. What strikes you immediately is the lack of bodies, only bits of ash strewn about... spend shell and bullet casings... bullet holes. And blood, strewn about at every angle, as if inflicted by multiple gunshot wounds from different points in time at close range. This place is wrong, you feel, down to its very foundations. The shadows grow darker here and loom deeper in the moonlight than out in the street, even with the absence of street lamps. You would have thought it was too quiet for a cemetery in the middle of a thriving metropolis if you didn't hear a moan from deeper inside the Necropolis at that very moment. There's something eerie about the cry, though. There's no sense of immanency in the sound, no human soul propelling the noise. Like the sound of a dying man, but without the panic or despair one would expect. It is definitely strange and unnerving. No doubt in your adventures you have come across entites of a spiritual, undead nature. The spirits of the dead, manifested in often strange, horrible ways. But nothing like this. The suffering here is evident in the air you breathe, to the scent of the recently overturned soil... In fact, many of the graves are recently exhumed, but in a way that appears quite shocking to you at first glance. Never mind the absence of any grave robbers' tools or labor, the graves seem to be exhumed from the inside out. That is, whatever had been buried is now absent of its own accord. The second thing that comes to your realization as a result is that the city has been using mass graves. Six, perhaps ten individuals to one plot of land. That is the only way you can even conceive a human body breaking through a casket and clawing its way to the surface. The third is the fact that there are a lot of empty graves. And the moaning is growing closer, and louder. From different angles now, and from different voices, devoid of life. Men, women, children... and in the darkness you spot flickers of movement between the shades of moonlight. Dozens of individuals, most naked or dressed in burial clothes, and all of them covered in dirt. Shuffling forward, arms outstretched, towards you. The manner of their walk is the most shocking and puts you automatically on edge. These people, bewitched, perhaps even dead... do not look friendly.

[Solitaire]

Dorian froze after entering the acropolis. He could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest - in stark contrast, he was sure, to the hearts of those twisting beings moaning all around him. Though he knew that if he wasn't careful he could be in grave danger, Dorian couldn't help but feel excited by the danger. His second reaction was to be disgusted by the city's burial practices - what could have forced them into burying ten people in a single plot of land? Dorian quickly attempted to analyze the situation - a battle had been fought here recently, that much was obvious. But there were no bodies. If the battle was between the living and the dead, did that meant the living had won? Or had they been transformed? They could easily be among the throng of monstrous corpses shuffling around him. Glancing quickly around, Dorian tried to find a way past the figures approaching in the dark to continue down the main road, deeper into the necropolis, ignoring his preservation instinct telling him to get out now. He could fight his way out if necessary, he decided, but he'd much prefer it not come to that.

[Greaven]

"Zen it is time to be gone, ve do not need your blood on our hands, is zere a back vay out?" She asked as she turned on heel to recover her companions from the rooms above. As soon as they gave the answer, dashing up the stairs she begins looking for her companions (not sure who is left). Upon waking them, or finding them missing, whatever the case may be, she will proceed back downstairs, ready to do what must be done next.

[copatt]

Lz starts awake at the banging on the door. Sun streams through the window to the small room she had occupied for the night. Curse me for oversleeping. Not more than a week out of the temple, and I've always reverted to my spoiled ways.

Liz leaps out of bed, bare soles hitting the wooden floor with a thud and dashes to the window to get a look at the source of the disturbance outside. Mob. This is bad.

Liz turns away from teh window and gathers up her weapons and travelling gear. Opening the door to her small room, Liz finds the Lady von Drachen having just made her way back upstairs. Trouble outside, huh? Do you have a plan?

OOC Sorry for my long absence. Work has been busy and inspiration low. I should be back at this point.

[Cheaplaffs]

Updates Great to see everyone back! Expect updates tomorrow, I promise! Thanks for the patience, everyone.

[Cheaplaffs]

Dorian Shuffling and partially decomposed as they are, the corpses are rather easy to outmaneuver and outrun, and you're able for the most part to find a way around and past them. Getting deeper into the necropolis without running into one, however, gets harder and harder and soon you find yourself caught in a narrow corridor created by two rows of tombstones and statues. You can see the dirty, moving corpses closing in around you. There are two zombies behind and in front of you, plus dozens more in pursuit. You'll have to think fast. In a few more seconds, you'll need to roll initiative and enter combat once they draw close enough.

Company von Drachen From her window, Liz is able to see an angry group of people gathered below. Men are trying to bash in the front doors of the inn, and occasionally someone will shout, "Let us in!" Or "Stop harboring the witches!" A young woman spots you and points up at your window, shouting, "That's her! That's one of them!" A stone cracks off the window pane, creating a snowflake of damage in the glass. Make preparations for your escape quickly, time is running short.

[Greaven]

Looking to the patrons within, Lady von Drachen shakes her head slowly, "If zere is another vay out, I vould love to hear it, I vould also suggest you let us tie you up, zen zey vould not lynch you... Please... Justice and truz must prevail, but I cannot zrow innocent to ze v...v...volves." Her plea was earnest, and hastened by worry for all of them. Her eyes scoured the corners of the building, and she thought of nearby buildings, thinking that perhaps they could break through the roof and escape to the nearer buildings before forging onward... Goodie Boole, she certainly knew something of this, but the village council undoubtedly had a hand in all of this.

[copatt]

Liz races down the stairs, bare feet barely touching each step. Lady-knight, we've gotta get outta here- and fast. Liz suddenly takes note of Sharimel's absence. Have you seen the sister?

[Cheaplaffs]

Liz and Company von Drachen "Sharimel left last night." The hunter quickly calls from his position at the bottom of the stairs. Keith shifts his gun to rest on his shoulder as he glances up the steps, "Once she caught wind that the Council had something to do with this, she said she had to return to the Church... to tell them what's going on, and to clear your names." Keith shakes his head, "Not a lot of good it'll do you now, though. The nearest settlement is a day away, she'll never make it back in time." There's a lot more banging outside, now, and the doors appear to be shifting inward more and more with each run of the battering ram. Time is running out. On further inspection, you notice that the window in your room is close enough to the nearest building to jump to it if you wished. The narrow alleyway below should give you cover for a few seconds before the townsfolk notice you escaping through the rear of the structure. If you decide to get out this way, I'll need a DC 15 jump check. From your window, you're 50ft off the ground. With luck, you can grab hold of the hanging terrace of the next building - a structure made up of a few shops jammed into the same foundation and make your way in through one of the windows, or the roof itself.

[Solitaire]

Dorian paused for a split-second, glancing behind him, then dashed forward toward the two zombies in front of him, drawing his rapier.

[Greaven]

A groan comes over her as she looked about once more, her eyes shifting over the situation. "Vell, my plan looks razer painful should ve fail...I do not suppose you have a better idea." Time was short, and they may well have to escape from the building that way, but the drop was nothing to be sniffed at.

Bracing herself, she prepared herself for the likely coming lunge, poking her nose slowly to the window and side to side, to make sure that this would not just take them into another trapped building.

[copatt]

Liz looks at Lady von Drachen and shakes her head. I don't think I can make the jomp to the next building. I mean, I could try, but if I fail, the fall alone will probably kill me. If it doesn't I'll just be so much kindling when these curs lay hands on me. Liz shakes her head again. Maybe we can bluff our way out of here. You can hold me up as an obvious witch that you have captured. Then you just have to get me out of here before they get me. You make the call. Liz turns to face the people inside the bar. I'm not really a witch, well, I mean, I was, but I'm being reformed. Liz points to the brand on her face for emphasis.

[Cheaplaffs]

Dorian Your rapier would have probably slain a living creature, the point puncturing somewhere around the upper torso and tearing violently across, almost severing the right arm. Though staggered by your attack, the dazed and clearly decomposing young woman in burial garment is otherwise undeterred, and continues to approach. Black blood spurting up into her face from ruptured arteries for just a second, she reaches out frantically with one arm to grab hold of you. Her grasp alone may be rather frail, but accompanied by another young man who joins in the grapple, you'll have to break free of both of them to get another attack out.

Company von Drachen Just waiting for clarification on what the plan is.

[Greaven]

Snatching up some rope, or even a few sheets to tie together, she quickly turns to Liz "If I make it up, tie zis around ze vaist, and I shall help pull you up." With that, Lady Drachen scurries out the window when she is sure the coast is clear, and clambers up to the roof with much more talent then she knew she could muster, pulling herself over. When all is secure, she will plant herself and lower the rope for Liz to use and hoist herself up.