Dragoknighte

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: I12->G7 Action: Spell, Command Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Well, it seemed that Marita was correct, at least partially. She wasn't entirely sure just how effective fire was just yet, but this sudden change in behavior was much more satisfying than the no selling that had been the norm up to this point even if it was rather alarming to see such a huge mass of flesh go absolutely berserk. The far more vindicating part of the scenario of her being correct was that Cavendish had bitten off more than he could chew. He was trying his damnedest to reassert control of the flaming abomination, but it didn't seem like his words were having much of an effect on it.

In a moment of ingenuity, this feeling of schadenfreude of watching the situation start to slip from the sheriff's control and the desire to humiliate him even further brought about another idea to the cleric's mind: what if they could have the two meat piles destroy each other rather than attacking the cages or any of the party? Usually this would come off as something of a pipe dream, however many of the details of the current circumstances lined up in such a way that it could actually work out. Many things still had to go right, but it was actually doable. First, she would need to demonstrate to Cavendish how one really asserted command over a creature. Focusing directly on the thing still enacting its intended mission Marita spoke again, using her voice to speak with the full weight of the force of Law behind it.

"Approach."

She was quickly wearing her throat out and she hoped she wouldn't have to use it much more in case there was yet more to do tonight, but unlike most of what she had attempted in this battle up until now, this felt good. That was step one out of the way. Marita quickly hustled over to stand near Kathryn and Kosara. It was about as close as she dared to go to the rampaging one, and if it stopped right in front of her, the three of them would at least body block it from reaching a cage. Now to make sure the rest of the team knew what she was planning.

"I've Commanded the thing to come up to me. This is about as close to the rampaging on as I can reasonably get it. Kathryn, let's try to put it into position where it and its 'brother' can take their aggression out on each other." This was a pretty big ask, but Kathryn was able to move one of these things, maybe she'd be able to do it a second time. Or if multiple people worked together it would be a reasonable task.

@Sigil V's up

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: I12 Action: Channel Divinity - Turn Undead Bonus Action: Spell - Shield of Faith Reaction: N/A

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Those beasts certainly packed a wallop. With one blow each both Kathryn and Blackberry were pretty seriously injured. If those two were going to continue battling them face to face, they'd need defensive support. Unfortunately the one spell of that nature she had at the ready would only help one of them. Looking between them, the dragonborn was obviously the most squishy of the two, so that would have to do. With a quick gesture, Marita pointed towards Baronfjord.

"Shield." A shimmering aura appeared around the monk, offering him some degree of extra protection while the cleric maintained concentration.

Marita's most pressing concern was to get those things away from the cages. If they could even only buy time for the captives this would be a much better situation. From the look of things, their current strategy wasn't going to cut it. The cleric grit her teeth. She would have preferred to save her voice for dealing with the likes of Cavendish, but this was the far more pressing scenario. She could only hope that these abominations wouldn't resist her attempt to Turn them. It was unfortunate that Morty was likely to be caught too, but she had tried to warn Victoria beforehand. Marita raised her shield high and commanded:

"Abominations of undeath, the Light casts you out!"

And to her surprise, the things didn't react. They hadn't fought off the effects of the turn, it just didn't affect them. What? So despite being puppets of flesh and blood imbued with a foul mockery of life, they weren't undead. Just what were these things and how could they hurt them? The one stab BB gave them seemed about as effective as all their previous blows, so it likely wasn't that. Marita quickly tried to rack her brain for anything that would stick out, and something did. Why did Cavendish set a fire to block off his position? If he were truly in a position of absolute superiority and safety, he would have kept his seat for the 'show.' He seemed able to command the things, but as a warlock, messing with things beyond his reckoning that he couldn't quite control was a likely trait. What if the fire was a way to protect his rotten neck? It was worth a shot.

"These things aren't undead, and nix the blade strategy for now! Does anybody have access to fire?"

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: K16->I12 Action: Attack Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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All the speeches and quips went about as well as Marita had expected. What she hadn't expected was for two fleshcrafted abominations to emerge from out of the fountain. They were so grotesque and uncanny that instantly the hair on the back of her neck stood up and her stomach turned, adrenaline rushing through her body much faster than if the threat had been nearly anything else. The positive was that it appeared that she was able to react faster than almost anyone else on the scene, but she would much rather not be in this situation in the first place.

The second issue was that she was at a bit of an impasse on what exactly to do. Ideally, she would be able to bestow a blessing upon the others and get a Spiritual Weapon set up, but her eyes darted over the guards and sure enough, at least one of them had a crossbow ready to fire, presumably for the same anti-magic purposes of the encounter they'd had previously. She wasn't keen on getting shot at yet, so she'd wait until the situation was better understood before using any spells.

The other thing she immediately wanted to do was Turn these undead which would at least buy them some time of not having to worry about the behemoths, but in addition to the issue of the crossbowmen there was another thing that kept Marita from brandishing her holy symbol in the name of fighting the unliving. She had promised Victoria just a couple of days ago that she'd avoid messing with her own necromancy, and Morty was right over there. The poor pig would get caught in the crossfire so to speak.

In the end, the cleric grit her teeth and just rushed at the closer meat puppet that BB had already engaged with. His attack didn't seem to affect it too much, which was to be expected of undead, but maybe silver would produce more of an effect. She swung her mace directly into the thing's ribcage, and she felt it give some, but the impact felt off. It wasn't like the healing effect living wererats had exhibited previously, but more like the attack barely did anything. This was all very important information to know, so she worked through the lump in her throat to call out to the others.

"Blunt weapons seem ineffective, maybe blades will do better! Victoria, I'd keep Morty away from me if possible!"

@Sigil Vicky's turn

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Town Center Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita moved quickly to take a position near the front. Kosara was bouncing ahead and there wasn't much she could do about that beside run ahead which was not a good move. It felt like the most sensible position for her. Kathryn was the obvious frontliner, and although Marita wasn't the best at taking hits, she was in much heavier armor than the rest of the party. Victoria and definitely Kosara were better served not being in the line of fire. She could only hope the tiefling would move out of the open when it came time to actually fight. BB was quite large and maybe those scales offered a decent amount of protection, but he gave off similar vibes as Hugh and that didn't give her the most confidence in his durability.

Wordlessly, she took the dagger Kathryn offered her and tucked it into her belt. It likely wouldn't be very useful in full combat since her newly silvered mace was a much better weapon, but if she found herself disarmed, it would be a very handy sidearm. However, that wasn't her reason for taking it. She found herself missing the dagger as soon as she read the letter from Cavendish, and it was quite fortunate that their half giant supplied her with another without even being prompted. If they managed to take Cavendish out of commission without him fleeing or dying, she was going to use that dagger to get answers out of him. And then, she'd make sure that it'd make him pay for his sins. That bit of fun would have to wait until later.

The timing of things were rather inconvenient. She'd prefer to cast Bless before they went into combat in case there were more anti-spellcaster crossbowmen hidden somewhere, but from the way things seemed to be going, it would run out before they had the chance to utilize the blessing to its full potential. She also wanted to wordlessly ignore anything the bastard had to say and walk up to him and cave his ribcage in, but Kathryn had other plans. Her speech to try dissuading Cavendish's lackeys was commendable but would likely bare no fruit. Still, she let the lordess have her say as she looked around the field and studied the cages. Perhaps they were frail enough for them to smash open. She couldn't really tell, and given the situation, it wasn't in their best interest to try such a stunt. Perhaps if she had inhuman strength like Kathryn, but as it were, it was best to focus on what was ahead of them.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: On the street Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita thought over the contents of the letter. It made her quite furious, but not for the reasons one would expect. Yes, the taking of hostages and threatening to defile them were unforgivable offenses, but what really got to her was how conceited he was. He truly imagined himself untouchable and that he could get away with whatever he felt like. He didn't even take into consideration if his little threats would actually hold weight. Truth be told, as far as Marita went it didn't. Of course she didn't want any harm done to the innocent townsfolk and the few people she had befriended here, but that wouldn't stop her from doing what needed to be done to make sure that he would no longer pose a threat to others. If she had her way, in the very near future, the Constable would experience firsthand just what kind of person he pissed off.

However, the cleric's face maintained its more neutral expression of displeasure, only by looking into her eyes for an extended period of time would one see the cruel flames of anger burning within her. She crushed the note in hand before speaking.

"Trying to split up is far more likely to backfire than anything. Anything less than the totality of our party showing up would probably have him conclude that something is up and back out of his little bargain, assuming he'd ever honor it in the first place. If we still had Hugh around stealth would be a viable option, but given the present circumstances, we're far too conspicuous to realistically have success through that avenue. We need to play to our strengths." Marita paused for a second to think through the next thing she was about to say.

"In my training, a maxim we were given when hunting lowlifes was to imagine yourself in the place of enemy and picture what they fear most, then do that. From what I've seen of the Constable, he's shown himself of be a very small man. Always hungry for power and reveling in using it over others to make them kneel to his whims. What is likely the worst thing imaginable to him are those that cannot be controlled by displays of authority, force or cruelty. Our best course of action may simply be to strike so fast and hard that we crush him before he can do anything more. Unfortunately I lack the time to think of anything better at the moment. We've got to get going soon, but if any of you have anything else to add on, my vote is to give these bastards a show they'll never forget."

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Bed & Breakfast Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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There was a rush of relief when it turned out that whatever was behind the door was not someone or somethings with the desire to see the innards of present company. It was short lived however, partially in that Marita refused to let her guard down, but also in that there were several oddities that came about in rapid succession. She didn't understand the meaning of the axe immediately, but Kathryn and Victoria cleared that up pretty quickly. The rat... well she would deal with the rat when its time came.

What really threw her off was the voice. In her mind she had been preparing for the absolute worst case scenario where the entire town would be wiped out before the morning came. Or at the very least that they would have to be on guard for the entire night for attacks, and what they had seen with the rats earlier on seemed to back that up. But it was what, a couple of hours past sundown at most? And they were announcing that they were supposedly done for the night. And "bound to serve us in death?" Up until now she hadn't caught even a whiff of necromancy that wasn't coming from Victoria. Were the wererats actually those who had already been killed? Things didn't add up. Why would they make an announcement like this? Clearly they wanted to use fear to keep people inside to prevent any resistance from what they were doing. Perhaps the total manpower of the forces of evil was much less than anticipated. Perhaps they were performing some sort of ritual that required all three days of the Harvest Moon to complete. Whatever the case was, she didn't like it.

Back to the rat.

"I doubt that it would try to attack us. If they wanted to do so, they would have done so already. After all, they hold all the cards in this situation. However, all this reeks of a trap. I'd bet money that the note that rodent is holding is going to direct us right where they want us. Everything done so far is practically tailor made to rile us up and have us charge forward blindly." Now what exactly they should do with this in mind, she had no idea. What she did know was that she wasn't going to stand back inside as Kosara barged right outside to take the note from the rat. Whatever it wanted to tell them, perhaps it would be the one piece she needed to assemble a proper course of action for the rest of the night.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Bed & Breakfast Action: Reassuming leadership Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita was a bit surprised that Lizbeth was more cautious about accepting the amulet than the dagger. She would have guessed that the lethal weapon would be more off-putting. Were the L'Roses actually far more devout than she had known? The idea that a strict, somewhat obscure for the region Law deity could be unpopular never even crossed her mind. Well, she took them both so she would have to take solace in that she had done about as much as she could reasonably given the situation.

With that taken care of, she was about to explain the next step she wanted to take, but the sudden noise made her shut her mouth. There was no telling what was out there, but before she could signal to the others to get ready for war, Kosara was already opening the door. Well, she drew her mace and prepared for what was to come. Unlike Victoria, she didn't prepare to do any casting. She wasn't sure how often they would get into scraps over the course of the night, and she had already used a significant amount of magic during the day. The last thing she wanted was to be out of usable combat spells prematurely. Unless something really bad happened, she would have to settle for hitting things with a heavy chunk of iron and silver.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Bed & Breakfast Action: Reassuming leadership Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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It took Marita a bit to piece together everything that was happening. Not the big picture, she felt most confident in her understanding of the broad strokes of what was going on in town. It was more what was going on right in front of her. She had missed most of what had happened in between the scream and now and her brain had to process a lot of information to catch her up to where everyone else was. From what she could tell, the conclusions she was able to draw up seemed to have been already understood by everyone else, so she didn't feel the need to say aloud what everyone else probably already knew. And if Kosara happened to chime in later she would deal with it then.

The other thing she noted was that there didn't really seem to be a major consensus on what to do. A lot of the body language read as unsure, indecisive. Not surprising given the circumstance, but that wasn't going to do them much good. She had already made a decision on how to spend the night, it was time to act on it. The cleric put away her mace and then stepped forward to Lizbeth. She reached around her neck and took off the amulet she had been proudly displaying for the entirety that anyone present had known her.

"Lizbeth, you'll need to find somewhere in here to hide out. We're going to try to sort out this situation, and if all goes well, we will try to get back to you as soon as possible. In the meantime, you need to keep yourself secure. It's probably a good idea to snuff out that candle to keep yourself hidden. Once you're hidden away, do not open the door for anyone but us or your aunt. At least not until sunrise." Marita presented the amulet to the girl and explained the secular reason for passing it on to her.

"The monsters have an averse reaction to silver. Although you do not follow Pholtus, I'll be praying that his light will pierce through this miasma and shield you through the night." There was a bit of an internal struggle in her mind for a few seconds. A rare moment where she wasn't sure if what she was about to do was the morally right choice. Wordlessly, she removed Mallard's silver dagger from her belt and presented the handle to Lizbeth.

"If you want, I can lend you this silver dagger. In an absolute emergency you can use this to defend yourself if it comes down to it. If you don't feel comfortable with it, that's fine." The cleric waited for the girl to either accept or reject her gifts before turning around to face the rest of the party. If Lizbeth took her advice and items, great, that's about the best protection as she was liable to get tonight. If not, she couldn't blame the girl, Marita had experienced firsthand what a dagger in this situation could cause. When she faced the other adults, all the doubt she had experienced in the past couple of hours had been cast aside. If her eyes were normally that of iron, now they had hardened to steel, fiercely reflecting even the dimmest lights available in the Bed and Breakfast.

"We need to track down the Constable and get some answers out of him. And I have a pretty good idea of where we'll find him. Or at the very least if we don't find him there, it'll point us in his direction. Get ready for war."

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Bed & Breakfast Action: PTSD Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: N/A

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Marita remained silent after bringing up that it wasn't in their best interest to return to the Hayloft tonight. She didn't like it either, all her stuff was there as well, but if it came down to her or her belongings, she wasn't carrying anything valuable enough to make the latter a tempting proposition. She also didn't like the idea of not being able to stay in one place and at least attempt to get some rest, but as it was, staying mobile might be their best choice for making it through the night. Normally she'd communicate these things, but there were reasons she kept her mouth shut.

There was potential threat lurking in the fog. Not only were the rats keeping out of sight and tracking their every move, the no doubt roaming lycanthropes and who knows what else could come after them at any moment. With their senses cut off as it was by the fog, one had to maintain utmost concentration to detect any interlopers. However, that was not why she was silent. Nor was the seeping dread that saturated the air. No, it was the sense of unsettling nostalgia this situation brought with it. The cleric didn't know exactly why she felt that way at first, but it bothered her so much that's what the bulk of her thoughts were. It wasn't until the first screamed pierced the fog that it all clicked into place.

A series of sensations flashed through her mind. A dark, cramped place. The cries of friends and family. Fear. Warm blood. Remorse. The particulars of the situation were different, but it was a dead ringer for the worst day of Marita's life, when she had to flee her childhood home. It then occurred to her that she was standing outside of the Bed and Breakfast already. Kathryn was speaking to Lizbeth and she was gripping her mace so tightly it her forearm hurt. It had been her idea to try to simply hide out and make it through the night, but now she wasn't sure if she could go through that again. Nor was she inclined to make anyone have to go through what she did. She blinked a couple more times to try to clear up her head. Where had that scream come from? Up North? What was North? The market or Municipal building most likely. Depending on how things went it could be in the cards to reroute to those areas. They weren't going to be passive actors this night if she could help it.

Avonshire - D&D Based Adventure

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Marita Bärbel Human, Cleric, Level 3 HP: 18/18 Armor Class: 18 Conditions: N/A Location: Silversmith->Bed & Breakfast Action: N/A Bonus Action: N/A Reaction: Panic

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It was obvious something was up as soon as the fog became a factor. They had also been warned earlier that even mundane rodents were untrustworthy. However, it was an entirely different matter when one could see for oneself just what kind of challenges they were dealing with. Marita's heart leapt up into her throat at the sight of all those eyes. Blood stopped cold in her veins before quickening to the pace of a river's rapids. It was only after it became apparent that the rodents weren't interested in attacking them yet that she allowed herself to let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding in.

Marita took the mace and even in the poor viewing conditions of the situation was taken aback by the craftsmanship of her previous rather basic weapon. The few seconds she spent appreciating Mallard's work was just long enough that he shut the door before she was able to return his dagger to him. It bothered her more than it should that she hadn't fulfilled her end of the bargain, but not holding up her word, even in a minor circumstance went against the path. She resolved to return it first thing in the morning, assuming that they would be able to make it through the night. Given the current situation, the cleric decided it would be wisest to keep the mace in hand in the extremely likely case that she would need use of it in the next few minutes.

"It would be a poor idea to return to camp now." Marita observed, upping her pace to just below a job to keep up with the much taller Kathryn. She tried to choose her words carefully to avoid giving away more information than necessary just in case their observers had a greater capacity for language than expected. It was difficult to do so between the increase in exertion and her mental state. "The primary advantage it had is that as far as we knew, apart from a select group of people it was an unknown location. Knowing what we know now, if we went straight back it would compromise what safety it offered. If we want to go back, we'd have to make sure that we didn't have any uninvited company." Furthermore, there was nothing to indicate that even if they were able to escape the numerous eyes of the rats they'd spotted minutes prior that they wouldn't be found by yet more rodents in the Hayloft. Such buildings were not known for their resilience against pests. Unfortunately, it appeared that for the rest of the night they would have to improvise and pray for the best to make it through. At least they were better equipped to protect themselves now.