The Evil of Ravenholm - Chapter 1: The Dark City

[NayrVentess]

You were all drawn to the Dark City for your own reasons. Maybe it was the opportunity for another life, or you came in search of forbidden knowledge. Maybe it was just a source for fresh...or not so fresh meat. Perhaps you want to prove yourself in the face of battle or maybe it was just the tendency for evil and dark deeds that brought you here.

For whatever reason, you have been it at least the past few months. In Ravenholm, groups of mercenaries tend to do better than those that go alone, and so you five banded together. Maybe you don't like it, but find the company a necessary means to an end.

In the previous two or so months, you have been planning a raid on the nearby village of Paolun. It may not be very large, but the settlement is well protected and you know of some people who have died there when they tried to attack it, so you are being cautious. You all had your own reasons to attack the village, but a few nights ago, you set out from Ravenholm to put your plan into action.

In the night just before the dawn, you approached the village and Grashuk began to coordinate the attack. It was a brutal sneak attack, the guards didn't see anything coming, as blades were driven into their stomachs, dark energy's pulsed toward them and they were bit by chilling cold.

Within minutes the entire guard force were dead or gravely wounded. During the fighting, people had left their homes, to see the new dawn sun rising, and dead guards covered in blood on the floor. Women screamed and ran, children stood shocked and some men tried to take up arms but were struck down by you, as little more than playthings.

You now stand at the centre of the broken village. It is beginning to rain and the ground is slowly becoming a mush of mud and the red blood of your victims, some of which are dead, some are still barely breathing.

You all came here for your own dark reasons, the village of Paolun has finally been overrun by Ravenholm, the Dark City is once again the cause of pain and suffering...

What do you do?  

[joe-dude667]

As the villagers ran, Cain jumped off of the building he was stood upon. The rain felt cool against his feathery skin, but the nights skirmish had left him hungry. Walking through the street littered with dead bodies he saw a human feebly crawling into a dark alleyway.

Kicking the human over to face him, Cain saw that he was a guard of Paolun. The guard was bleeding profusely from a deep wound in his stomach. Taking his sword, Cain leaned forward to stare into the man's eyes as he brutally gutted him. Reaching in, he pulled out the still warm heart and began to chew it most greedily. The rubbery texture burnt his tongue with it's immense heat.

Kicking the now still body aside, Cain walked towards where the conflict was just moments before to find his allies. He walked casually through the streets, chewing on the dripping heart as if it were nothing but an apple.  

[iDragow]

Grashuk stood in the town square, watching the humans flee what was left of their city. Naturally, his strategy worked just the way he had planned it. His attention turned from their fleeing backs, to the bodies laying about.

"Hm, it's starting to rain... I would have liked to have burned the bodies before we left. A smoldering pile of charred bodies would demoralize anyone who decided it was safe to return. But, I suppose the wildlife will get rid of everything in due time."

This was a good raid. Not only did it line their coffers with gold and silver, but it would also earn them reknown from the citizens of Ravenholm. All in all, a good day.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Yes, well I doubt anyone would find a town full of strewn carcasses inviting," the necromancer says. He was eager to return to Ravenholm, the only reason he'd come on this raid was in hopes of some recognition. Now that it was done his time would be better spent petitioning the temple of Vecna for whatever information he could convince the high priestess he was worthy of.

He also didn't like standing around now that it had begun to rain. The necrotic energy flowing through his body kept him unappetizing to most fungi and molds that plagued normal corpses, but his robe was just as susceptible to becoming uncomfortably damp as any other article of clothing. Most of the eyes adorning the robe (real ones, of course) shut themselves to keep from getting pelted by the droplets, but it was for its own comfort, not his.  

[Vorastrix]

Pelloth greatly enjoyed the rain. If there was ever rain in the Underdark, it was usually not something that you would want to be caught under, but on the surface world, he found it a pleasant experience. He tilted his face upward the feel the cool raindrops play upon his face. Looking down again, he looked around to his companions and was repulsed, but not surprised to see Cain with his 'snack'. Then again, it was the type of behavior he had come to expect living on the surface with lesser beings.

The drow could care less about the supposed respect they would gain back in town. His race alone gained him fear and respect from others. The reason he had accompanied the troupe was for monetary gain and for the sacrifices he made to Zehir, both of which had been many. He was still radiating a bit with dark energy from all the lives he had stolen this night.

"Tis also a shame we will not be able to burn the houses to the ground. Then again, that just means the fools will come back," and then he finished with a wicked smile, "I don't suppose you know any rituals that can be left behind to welcome those who do?" he inquired the necromancer.  

[Arc Vembris]

"Oh, I don't know" Hars still wears the face and helm of a town guard, long dead beyond the walls. Paunchy with a bushy mustache and the muzzle of a man who was nearly about finish a full day's work. He watches the blood wash from his blades in the falling rain.

"We could always arrange the bodies in clever scenes, perhaps use some lumber to erect crude frames. They could appear to be frozen in a moment of time, until upon closer inspection they are found to be long dead." He discards the helmet as well as the face, shifting back to his natural featureless pale gray skin and pouf of silver hair, limp in the rain.

He wasn't always so open with his shapeshifting, but in his time with this company he had learned if not trust then a confidence in the level of monstrosity among his fellows. He was hardly out of place in his normal form here, as he might have been in his previous occupations.

"Maybe not too practical in this mess. We could just erect them as scarecrows in the fields, no offense Cain. Or maybe we could just strip them nude and carve messages into their flesh, like 'Ravenholm was here'" He gestures a scrawling motion with a dagger in the air. "Or 'All will fall', it would be especially effective if the same babble was on all the corpses. Like a mantra, almost."  

[SporkMaster5000]

"No, I know of no rituals that double as death traps," the necromancer says dismissively to the drow, "And whatever plans you have for the dead you can execute them without me. I'm getting out of this godsforsaken rain, and going back to Ravenholm once it's over. If you'd like my assistance igniting anything at that point let me know." The robed corpse walks toward the nearest building, eager to have a roof between him and the sudden weather.  

[iDragow]

The large Warlord shrugged one shoulder at the imaginative ideas of his fellows. "Do what you would like to the bodies. Not exactly like they'll complain much. I do believe we've earned a warm bed and a nice meal tonight, though. We'll head back to Ravenholm in the morning."

The Bugbear eyed the nearest corpse, and drew his b*****d sword. With a quick cleave, he neatly sliced the man's left arm off at about mid-bicep. He lifted the object by the wrist, and licked his lips. Re-sheathing his blade, he walked toward the second-nearest hut, already producing his flint and steel in preparation for his soon-to-be feast.  

[NayrVentess]

@Gerash - The nearest building that you walk to, appears to be a small house. The door is slightly ajar, allowing you entrance. As you step inside to get rid of the damp feeling that has been permeating the air outside, you notice there is still a resident of Paolun in the house. Cowering by a wooden table, a human girl of about fifteen is looking at you with fearful eyes. She is still in her nightdress and a tear is rolling down her cheek.

"P-Please, don't...don't kill me."

@Cain - As you are standing, chewing on your meal, you hear some movement in the alley next to you. When you turn your head, you see nothing, but you swear something was there a minute ago.

@Grashuk - You wonder over to the house next to the one your necromancer friend has just entered. Opening the door you are greeted with an empty room. You assume this is where the humans would have eaten their meals, at the table, and sat around the fire on the wooden chairs that you see, set in a semi circle around the fireplace. You can tell the people of Paolun were not rich, constantly in fear of Ravenholm, you know they put a lot of money into the training and recruiting of guards.  

[iDragow]

Looking the room over, he simply saw resources to be exploited. He moved toward the semi-circle of chairs, dropping the arm on the table with a solid *thump*.

Gripping the back of the nearest chair, Grashuk would fling it as hard as he could at the fireplace, attempting to smash the wooden furniture to splinters. After this deed was done, he squatted down by the hearth, attempting to strike up a fire with the flint and steel that was in hand.

Quote:

Athletics Check to smash chair: 21

 

[joe-dude667]

Cain cackled as he clapped his hands excitedly at Hars' suggestion.

"Yesyesyes! Gather all the bodies, cut messages into their skin, humiliate the dead...." Cain started shouting before finishing the heart and pacing around. He was still muttering incoherent ideas of what to do with the bodies when he stopped in his tracks.

Did he just see something...?

Without warning he climbed up the building beside the alleyway, keeping out of the light as kept an eye out for this shadow.

[[Athletics: 27 to climb up building [not forgetting boots of spiderclimb - climb your speed] Stealth: 21, Perception: 21]]  

[Vorastrix]

Pelloth had other things in mind. He set off to find the Leader's house. Be it a mayor or Governor, it was likely to be the house best furnished. If he was going to sleep in this place, he wasn't about to spend the night in some ratty peasant's cot. If he was lucky, he may even find some good wine, or valuable items they had left behind when the predictably fled.  

[SporkMaster5000]

"Don't worry," Gerash says gently with a friendly smile as he slowly approaches the little girl, "Death is just a beginning," his tone of voice is rather comforting, but the implication is anything but. With a snap of his fingers shards of energy made tangible swarm the little girl cutting her to ribbons. With the house now hopefully completely abandoned he goes about looking for the bedroom, of all the things his form doesn't need, rest was not one of them, and he could do with one while he waits out the rain.

((24 vs. reflex to cloud her with daggers))  

[Arc Vembris]

Seeing everyone wandering off to their own devices, Hars sets to positioning a pair of the dead into a position suggesting they were slain mid-coitus in the center of the town square. He is ambivalent to their genders.

If this doesn't take too long, he goes to check where Cain flitted off to, with the understanding that the kenku would not be found if he wished against it.  

[NayrVentess]

@Grashuk - Your strength was easily good enough to cause the old wooden chair to shatter, causing bits of what you would now use as firewood to fill up the fireplace. Your agile hands struck the flint and steel together, and within seconds the sparks had caused it to catch, and a crackling fire is now warming your damp fur.

@Cain - Scurrying up the side of the house with shocking speed and efficiency, you arrive on the roof and keep low, cloak covering most of your body. You look around for anything or anyone, you are surprised when you see an Elf sitting on the roof opposite to you. He is wearing a hooded cloaked similar to yours and he is sporting a thin smile. He is holding a hand crossbow at his side, but not threateningly. You get the idea that he knows how to use one.

When he speaks, his voice is raspy and quiet, "I like your groups ruthless efficiency. We have been watching you for some while. If you are interested in turning this world over to the forces that should rightfully rule it, seek us out, we could give you all whatever your malicious hearts desire. My name is Daelos, and I am a Bloodstone Stalker.

With that, he jumps up and sprints away, vaulting across the rooftops. You see him perform an acrobatic front flip and disappear behind a building.

@Pelloth - You wander around the almost deserted village. In the distance to the north, through the rain you can still see a few peasants fleeing, screaming as they go. It doesn't take long, this is a small settlement after all, to find the largest and best looking house. Half a dozen steps lead up to a large front door which seems to have been left wide open as the occupants obviously fled very quickly. From here, you can't see that much, since it is quite dark inside. The sun is just barely above the horizon.

@Gerash - The anguished screams of pain that the girl vocalised as conjured daggers cause her grievous wounds can be heard by your companions outside, and maybe even the people in Ravenholm. As she fell to the ground gaping cuts gushing blood, you walk past her lifeless body, heading up the stairs behind her. You find a modest bedroom, a single bed hastily evacuated with bedsheets half on the floor, half on the straw mattress.

@Hars - After arranging the dead guards, one of which minus a left arm, into a rather amusing position, you walk to the alley where you last saw Cain. As you look around you see nothing, but you can hear a raspy voice above you but you can't make out what he is saying. Before you can focus on the voice more, you hear someone get up and seemingly run off in a southerly direction.