Howling Winter across the Empire - Gamethread[Closed RP]

Message

Shandiar · #121 Post by **Shandiar** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:25 pm

So once again you arrived at the barracks of Strudelheim, you all found it strange, there were no garrison at all. Only the stablemaster who directed you to Stefan and Stefan himself.

He still seemed very troubled.
"What did you discover?" He asked anxiously.

Krusader · #122 Post by **Krusader** » Wed Apr 06, 2005 11:35 pm

Jonas told Stefan what had happened, from the journey to the tradestation, the corpses that turned into skeletons, the voice, the sights at the stables, the Count's name, everything.
Whatever he forgets, the others fill in.

Shandiar · #123 Post by **Shandiar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:11 am

He broke down and cried.
"What is going on here? Can't believe I'm still in charge of nothing in this deserted land" He whimpered.
"I know nothing of this devious plot, but one thing I know is that my men deserted....all of them."

Krusader · #124 Post by **Krusader** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:14 am

"Deserted you? Why?
And...ehh...you sure you don't recall the name Count Gregor Amrathor?" Jonas said.
However, he was worried. There might be something more. His gut-feeling was wrong!!

Shandiar · #125 Post by **Shandiar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 12:21 am

"Virgins from this town had been abducted for several years and now this tradestation." Stefan could barely compose himself. "And after the incident at the tradestation, my men deserted. As a commander I have nothing left."
He sneezed into his hankerchief and tried to dry the tears.

#126 Post by **Anarion** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:25 am

"Calm yourself man," said Baffin. "I'm sure we will try to help you with this problem, now that we have come this far."

He looked at his companions. "Right fellows?"

Glaciandar · #127 Post by **Glaciandar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 9:53 am

"Aye. Sigmar always shows the faithful the way," Otto said resolutely.

Etherion Fenix · Thu Apr 07, 2005 10:09 am

"This has happened because you were weak and did nothing to stop it."
Kelian said disdainfully. "Show some strength, help us with this and prove your worth once again."

Shandiar · #129 Post by **Shandiar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:11 am

"Sniff" he looked at Kelian. "You may be a foreigner, but yet you give us hope." He tried to compose himself and failed miserably.
"I don't know much about this Count Gregor Amrathor you speak of. You might go see Bertha, she is wellversed in the local lore."

Glaciandar · #130 Post by **Glaciandar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:16 am

"Thankyou for your aid," Otto nods slightly and leads the way out of the barracks in search of Bertha.

#131 Post by **Anarion** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 1:17 pm

Once outside Baffin said, "Follow me," and lead the way to Bertha's house. He knocked politely and waited for her to answer. The old halfling looked surprised to see a halfling, 2 humans and 2 elves at her door.

"Baffin!" she said. "Back so soon? What brings you here with such strange company?"

"We've come to ask you some questions. Stefan sent us. May we come in?"

Shandiar · #132 Post by **Shandiar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:05 pm

"Of course my dear."
She opened the door and let you walk inside. The space was cramped but it was a cozy place with paintings on the wall and a small fireplace next to the dinning room.

"Anyone wants tea and bisquets? She offered you a seat in the small chairs, but you could only stand or place yourself on the floor.

After a while she asked. "What do you want to know?"

Krusader · #133 Post by **Krusader** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:09 pm

Jonas thanks Bertha for biscuits and tea, and remains silent.

He thinks it's best that Baffin does the talking.

#134 Post by **Anarion** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:11 pm

Baffin took one of the offered seats.

"Stefan said you might know something about a Count Gregor Amrathor. When we went to the tradestation we found a clue pointing to that name. Can you tell us anything about him?"

Garadehl · #135 Post by **Garadehl** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 3:14 pm

Daerendil stood hunched over in the relatively small house of the halfling woman. He politely chewed on the biscuits.

He was still rather ashamed of losing his cool against the undead where everyone else had acted quickly.

Shandiar · #136 Post by **Shandiar** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:00 pm

"To tell you the truth, it's a long story."
Her voice faded to a whisper as she took on a dreamy expression as she told you the tale.
"Count Gregor Amrathor was a mighty wizard, who lived at his tower of Dunkelwald. He loved his wife Franciska dearly, but couldn't stay clear of an elven maid and this was going to be his doom. Franciska bore their unborn child when the tragedy happened.
Franciska discovered that her husband had an affair. She confronted him and told him to leave the elf maid. He promised to do that, but his passionate soul couldn't allow him the peace and he continued to see the elf maid in secret.
Once again his wife uncovered his secret and this time he couldn't control his feelings and was unable to bear his guilt......"
Bertha paused for a moment.
"And killed his wife and unborn child with his bare hands. Morr, God of the Dead heard of this atrocity and cursed Gergor to live a blighted existence as a lich, forever denied eternal rest.
For many years he resided at his tower, now known as Grimberg because of the horrors a traveller would face if he went to close to the tower. The count kept him to himself. But lately...." she stopped unsure whether to tell this or not, but continued.
"Lately, I'm afraid a new evil has risen, awakening all creatures with evil intent and so Count Gregor Amrathor passionate soul awoke yet another time. He abducted virgins to remind him of the life he once had. But if what you told me was true, the Count is now looking for something in our possession."

Her dreamy expression wore off and she looked at Baffin with a smile. "Now where was I? Ahh yes making tea" and shuffles over to the fireplace

#137 Post by **Anarion** » Thu Apr 07, 2005 4:10 pm

"A lich," whispered Baffin, nervously. "That explains.... a lot."

"I've only heard about such creatures before of course. A terrible story it is. I wish I had not asked you," he added to his old teacher.

"But what might we have that he wants? And what are we going to do now?"

Etherion Fenix · Thu Apr 07, 2005 11:04 pm

"You seem to know much. What do you think it is that he looks for now?"

Shandiar · #139 Post by **Shandiar** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:08 pm

"I don't know" she shrugged. "Probably something connected to his love or passionate soul."
She was quiet for a while. "Well I do seem to remember he was buried in Dunkelwald. You might be able to find something there."

#140 Post by **Anarion** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:15 pm

The nervous look on Baffin's face turned into a dark scowl. "Ugh, I do not fancy this one bit. The trade station was bad enough and the Dunkelwald had an ill aspect from what I could see. I've no mind to go in there."

He looked at his recent companions. He was sure they were reckless enough to go ahead and do this. Probably they would want him to come along too. His scowl deepened. This wasn't exactly what he envisioned himself doing at age 59. He bit his tongue, waiting to see what the others would decide to do.

Krusader · #141 Post by **Krusader** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 2:36 pm

Jonas sighs. At the moment, all he wanted was to go back to the Bruchstein, and collect the reward. But somehow he thought Bruchstein would try and hire them to find out more about Count Gregor.

Jonas was deep in thought, as either they could travel to Bruchstein and claim the money reward, and then get more work, or they could skip going back, and just head into Dunkelwald and find out more...and hope Bruchstein would pay more for their services.

Garadehl · #142 Post by **Garadehl** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 8:23 pm

Daerendil had stayed silent up until now. Well there was no point in going back to Athel Loren knowing such an evil still existed. The undead were completely anathema to life's cycle, and Kelian looked interested in persuing this too.

"If we have what this count wants, we should go to the Dunkelwald. He'll only be interested in us, so he won't continue to take the lives of innocents while we are right under his nose..." Daerendil suggested.

Etherion Fenix · Fri Apr 08, 2005 11:00 pm

Kelian nodded. "The Undead upset the natural cycle. They must be put to rest." Whether the others would go or not, he didn't know. But he knew Daerendil would go with him to stop the Undead.

#144 Post by **Anarion** » Fri Apr 08, 2005 11:35 pm

Baffin glowered at the two woodelves. He had expected the humans to be most rash, not the elves. A strange turn of events it was. He sighed.

"Very well, someone must go along to patch you up. But I expect you to keep me out of trouble."

Shandiar · #145 Post by **Shandiar** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 12:20 am

"Baffin" Berthas eyes glowed, "you are a brave halfling. I'm so proud of you."
She opened a chest and found a clear vial filled with a lightgreen substance.
"Take this bottle of holy water, you might need it."

Krusader · #146 Post by **Krusader** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 1:05 am

It seems the choice had been made for Jonas. If he went back to Bruckstein now, he might use up more time, and as Jonas' gut feeling told him, Bruckstein would surely want to know more about Count Gregor. And if Jonas went into Dunkwald now, he would at least have some friendly muscle to back him up.

"Well...Why not. I will too come with you to Dunkwald, and investigate" Jonas said to Baffin and the two Elves, and then turned to Otto to wait for an answer.

Glaciandar · #147 Post by **Glaciandar** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 2:03 am

OOC: Silly people, don't wait for an answer from me!
IC:
Otto was resolute, even without the aid of his companions he was heading into the Dunkelwald to deal with the undead, Sigmar demanded such action. "I, too, will go with you. Sigmar teaches us that the undead must be destroyed and so I will go about doing His work."

Shandiar · #148 Post by **Shandiar** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 2:30 am

You decided to call it a night and went back to The Roasted Hen. It had started to snow again and a howling wind was blowing from Dunkelwald.
You all felt uneasy outside and hurried towards the inn.

Next morning you could all see that Otto looked terrible like he hadn't slept all night.

#149 Post by **Anarion** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 4:08 am

"Goodness me," said Baffin, in surprise. "What happened to you? You look terrible, as if you didn't catch a wink of sleep."

Glaciandar · #150 Post by **Glaciandar** » Sat Apr 09, 2005 10:40 am

"I had a vision," Otto murmurs, looking up briefly then letting his head fall back down, "Sigmar's gifts can sometimes be quite strenuous. Give me a moments and I;ll tell you what I saw."
Reaching to the table beside his bed, Otto picks up the pitcher and dumps its contents over his head. Shaking his head to get some of the water out of his dripping hair, Otto relates Sigmar's message as he sees it:
//Cross fade through black

//
Otto stands warily in the middle of a swirling fog, unable to see his flail which swings at his side, the hammer-head making a low whistling noise that seems strangely confident. A white light begins to show itself in front of Otto in the midst of the grey mists and as it approaches becomes the form of a beautiful mother-to-be dressed in archaic clothes. Her hazelnut hair falls just below her shoulders and contrasts pleasingly with her pleading brown-green eyes. From these come great streaks down her cheeks from tears long past and those she weeps now. She seems to pulsate slightly, as if she were not whole or just a spirit but it is conceivable that it is just the fog playing with the light.
She speaks, softly, as if she was afraid of being overheard in this strange landscape, but with an urgent desperation, "Save me..... Save me..."
Her fear heightens momentarily and Otto feels that she is screaming internally, while her hands reach out across the space between them almost touching Otto's now motionless arms before she vanishes.
//Fade through white to present//
"I think Sigmar enabled the spirit of this liche's beloved to contact me through my dreams. We must leave at once, I fear that otherwise we may not be able to stop whatever he has planned for her," Otto says hurriedly, as if his words are wasting valuable time. Dragging himself to his feet, he sways slightly then begins packing his things for the journey.