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Jacoby Jacoby runs into the ghostly "store", looks around madly until he sees the mirror, and with one hand holding down his hat, he runs for the mirror... Dive!: 1d20=16 aaand missed by 1.
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Jul 31, 2015 01:31
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Allie Victor "This better not be one of your 'games,'" Victor grunts as he bends to pick up his side of the mirror.
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Jul 31, 2015 06:42
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Hendrick "I really don't like the look of this...", Hendrick mumbles to himself as he holds the door open for Victor, Jerald and Allie as they hoist the mirror up and begin carrying out of the house.
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Jul 31, 2015 11:47
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As Victor and Jerald pick up the mirror you can suddenly hear footsteps coming closer. They seem to be coming from the mirror. In the mirror, between all of your reflections, you can see the figure of Jacoby running towards you, pursued by some kind of ghost. Jacoby suddenly appears as if he had dived right through the mirror. However, the spirit that pursued him was able to get through the mirror. At least partly. Before the gateway closes behind Jacoby the spirit is able to stick its arm into this world and scrape the back of Jacoby's head with it. Jacoby feels a literal chill down his spine as the spirit barely touches him, but as the portal closes behind him the spirit is stuck, its arm appearing in the world of the living as a spectral arm flailing wildly and trying to grab you, and the rest of its body on the other side of the mirror. The others, as Jacoby gets up you notice that the hair at the back of his head where the spirit touched him has gone entirely white, leaving a long white streak in his brown hair. Anyway, what do you do? How are you going to deal with the spirit half-stuck in this world? Would this be a good opportunity to share your findings?
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Jul 31, 2015 12:04
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Hendrick Hendrick lunges towards the mirror and pulls Jacoby away from it, then gives it a forceful kick near the center of the glass, hopefully breaking it. OOC: Do I need to roll to attack an inanimate object, or would it be an automatic hit?
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Jul 31, 2015 13:25
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Comrade Koba posted:Hendrick Automatic success, no need to roll here. As Hendrick kicks the mirror it shatters into hundreds of pieces. There is a terrible scream that lasts for only a fraction of a second as the ghostly arm dissipates. Allie, I hope your father wasn't particularly attached to that mirror.
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Jul 31, 2015 17:22
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Allie "Aiiiiiiiighhhh! He's going to kill me!"
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Jul 31, 2015 19:11
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Jerald 7/12 I jump back as the arm lunges out of the mirror after Jacoby. Once Hendrick breaks it, though, I recover enough to ask after Jacoby, saying, "What happened to you? We dealt with the skeletons, but you were gone by the time we were done." Looking at the shards on the ground, I add, "And... maybe we should have this conversation back at the in- uh, my inn. At least I could scrounge up a bandage for my arm there." It's still surreal, thinking that I kinda own the whole place now... Capfalcon fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Jul 31, 2015 |
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Jul 31, 2015 19:29
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Hendrick "Sorry, Allie. I'll try to explain to him what happened." Hendrick looks thoughtful for a moment, desperately trying to come up with a plausible way to put all the blame on skeletons and evil spirits.
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Jul 31, 2015 19:57
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Jacoby Jacoby lands in a heap, then quickly checks to make sure all his bits are still attached. He the checks that he still has his hat, and relaxes just a bit. "Oh, thank the gods," he breathes. He then looks up at everyone. "I know what's going on! Uh, sort of...I talked to the weeping widow! The real one!" As he staggers to his feet, he feels the back of his head. "Am I bleeding? It felt like that thing swiped at my head before I got out."
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Jul 31, 2015 20:17
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Jerald 7/12 My eyes go wide as he shows us the back of his head, and I say in shock, "Your hair... You've got a white streak in your hair!"
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Jul 31, 2015 20:34
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Jacoby "I what now?" Jacoby does the reflexive spin in place as he tries to look at the back of his own head, then stops and feels his hair. "It...doesn't feel different. Anyway, we need to talk about what I saw! Preferably in private, otherwise we're going to make people kind of upset. More upset, I mean." As he walks out, he mumbles under his breath, "of course I couldn't get a cool-looking streak that'd make me look handsome or mysterious, oh no. I get one that makes me look like a skunk..."
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Jul 31, 2015 20:38
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Allie "He's going to boil me then skin me then roast me then..." she muttered as she grabbed a broom and began sweeping up the pieces.
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Jul 31, 2015 23:58
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Victor Victor lets his side of the mirror frame down with a grunt, careful not to touch the few shards remaining in the frame. "Tell him one of the skeletons did it," he suggests. "And let's go hear what Jacoby has to say."
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Aug 1, 2015 14:20
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After Allie finishes sweeping up the shards of the mirror I trust you all regroup at the Inn. The Inn has been temporarily transformed into a field hospital: the men of the militia, some rather severely wounded, some having only received minor bumps and scrapes, are being patched together by the villagers, while some still continue working on the arrangements for tonight's wake. Salicia notices you coming in, and in spite of Jerald doing his best to look tough she immediately notices him concealing the cut on his arm. After a while your arm has been bandaged followed by Salicia telling you to avoid straining the arm for at least a couple of days. Finally, after a while of having been fussed after by Salicia you find some time to talk among yourselves in private. It's getting to be late afternoon now: time has certainly flown today what with all the arrangements and the excitement caused by the skeleton attack and Jacoby's disappearance. The arrangements for tonight have been all but finished, and slowly the villagers are retiring into their homes to await the beginning of the wake, scheduled to begin somewhere around ten in the evening, but some villagers still remain to look after the wounded and make the final arrangements. Joan seems to have taken charge, as she guides not only the people decorating the Inn but also the cleaning crew dusting cobwebs around the Inn. Jerald, since it's your Inn now, where do you and your friends retire to find privacy in the Inn?
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Aug 2, 2015 13:38
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Jerald 7/12 I chuckle at Jacoby's distress a bit more than I probably should. He's always taking himself too seriously, and I clap him on the back as I say, "Well, considering you escaped from the land of the dead with just a streak of white in your hair, I think you fared pretty well." ----------------- After I get my arm taken care of, I head down to the cellar to get out of the way. It's well lit and well stocked with food and drink. In addition, it's where we normally store the extra tables and chairs, even if almost all of them are upstairs now. I tell the others that they're welcome to meet me whenever they're ready. Once people start to arrive to prepare for the wake, I excuse myself to try and pitch in. I make a halfhearted attempt to help get things in order, but when Joan shows up and takes charge, I'm well aware that I'm going to lose this fight. Still, I can't just let everyone else do all the work in my own inn without at least trying to help. As I pick up a broom, I say, "Some mindless work would do me well, I think." As expected, Joan isn't having any of it, and I end up getting chased back downstairs to the cellar with the others. When I return, I plop down into a chair and look over the others, saying, "So, Jacoby, what were you saying about the Wailing Stone earlier?"
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Aug 3, 2015 04:31
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Jacoby "Okay...so the Weeping Widow? It's not just a stone, there's an actual weeping widow. A ghost, who's been there for...well, years. Her name is Hadewig. Queen Hadewig. She used to rule this area, I think. Her husband was King Osric, and she's been waiting for him by the stone since she died." He nods at Jerald. "That's who you saw by the stone last night. She was 'pulled' briefly into the world of the living." "Anyway, I think she's tied up in what happened last night. I, well, promised to help her find out why her husband's spirit hasn't come to meet her after all these years; I'm willing to bet it has something to do with the attack. Especially after that thing I had the other day where the spirits shouted through me."
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Aug 3, 2015 15:44
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Jerald 7/12 I frown, nodding along as Jacoby tells me about the spirit I talked with the previous night. I add, "Well, if he's anywhere, he's probably buried outside town, right? Out in the barrows? Victor and I found an entrance a few days ago when the ground gave way under Victor." I shrug and say, "Unless you remember anything else from the old stories about the king."
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Aug 4, 2015 22:46
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Jacoby Jacoby stares at Jerald for a moment, blinks, and stares a bit more. "You. What?"
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Aug 4, 2015 22:49
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Allie "Victor you didn't tell me about that! And now Rolf disappeared over there!"
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Aug 4, 2015 23:50
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Victor "What's there to tell? We were just after a runaway horse and I fell in a hole." Victor wishes he could come up with a few more dramatic details, but after what they've just seen, now doesn't seem like the time to embellish.
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Aug 5, 2015 01:47
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Just a quick question: do you guys still wish to continue with this back and forth discussion or would you like to get things moving along? The reason I'm asking is that I'm afraid that if I don't move things along we might lose momentum in the game. If the latter, my next post will be narrating the events of Jerald's father's wake and funeral, with a couple of prompts for each of you as to how each of you conduct yourselves during the festivities (unless you feel that your character would have something better to do). Also, apologies for the silence for the past few days: my holiday's over and I've had a lot of (relatively) early meetings this week and I haven't gotten all that much sleep, which combined with a crippling caffeine addiction means that I've been plagued with splitting headaches every day after work. Things are starting to normalize now since I got a good night's sleep last night.
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Aug 5, 2015 15:20
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I'm okay with moving things along.
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Aug 5, 2015 15:22
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Evil Mastermind posted:I'm okay with moving things along. Same. If something comes up we should have done, we can just rewind through the magic of PbP.
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Aug 5, 2015 15:34
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Move along
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Aug 5, 2015 16:20
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Alright, moving right along! Your private moment is interrupted after a while by a rap on the door. As the door opens Joan appears and says "Jerald, we're ready to begin." The wake is, well, as nice as you'd imagine a wake to be. All the villagers share stories about Jerald's father, recounting their fondest memories of him ("...and that's when he says 'Well, if that ain't the second biggest frog I ever saw,' and I says 'Second biggest?!" followed by raucous laughter. "But seriously folks...") and while the mood is somber and the villagers have been quite shaken by the events of the recent days, they seem more than happy to take just one night to celebrate together, even if it means saying goodbye to a dear friend. If any of you would like to speak, go right ahead. Everyone's at the party! Even the Abbot, a rare sight in the village, has decided to grace the village with his presence (Unsurprisingly, as he's to act as celebrant at the funeral the next day. Wait, did anyone even tell the Abbot about the funeral? How did he know to come by?). As is customary, a wake is a good excuse to eat, drink, and be merry. Here's a few things you might wish to do: One of the villagers (who?) goads you into an arm-wrestling competition. Test Strength to prove yourself! Someone (who?) drags you along onto the dance floor for a vigorous folk dance. Test Dexterity not to make a fool of yourself on the dance floor! Since you're nearly considered an adult now, you're well within your rights to share in the drink, and someone joins you and you have a couple of pints too many. Test Constitution to stay relatively sober! You're not really a party person and decide to, instead, bury your face in the books while everyone else is partying: the Inn has a pair of bookshelves filled with books of local legends and folksy wisdom. It won't be considered a terrible faux pas, and you might even discover something interesting. Test Intelligence! While you are definitely involved in the party, you decide to hang back to get a better view of what everyone else is doing. You might even overhear snatches of their conversation. Test Wisdom to see something suspicious or hear something interesting! Hey, it's a party, might as well mingle and socialize! Tell me who you're trying to talk to and what you're saying to them! Test Charisma! Ratpick fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 16:46
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Allie Allie of course will prove that she can hold her liquor! Cheers!: 1d20 3! Holy hell! I made it?!
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Aug 5, 2015 18:27
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Humbug Scoolbus posted:Allie Congrats! Who did Allie manage to drink under the table?
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Aug 5, 2015 18:42
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Jerald 7/12 I shrug with as Jacoby reacts to the information, saying, "Well, if you think that's got something to do with it, we can go take a look once things calm down." -------------------------------------------------------------- Once Joan gets us, I still don't feel much like partying. The excitement of the fight had helped me forget about what had happened, but now that I'm back, the memory is inescapable. The rest of the town seemed to be enjoying themselves, though. I just end up at a table in the corner, nursing a drink and nibbling on a few pieces of dried fruit. I frown when I see the Abbot is attending. There's no way he knew about my father passing before he left to come to town. Maybe he was coming into town to try and aid those sickened by the disease. I don't want to talk to him. I'd probably end up snapping at him and demanding to know why he didn't come sooner, which wouldn't be fair. My moping is interrupted by Nicolas. He's only a few years older than me, but he's a good foot shorter. I used to pick on him more than the other kids, since he was so small. I tried to beg off, saying that I wasn't in the mood, but he was insistent. Figuring that he'd go away quicker if he just got his match, I accept and almost instantly a small crowd appears out of nowhere, eager to see the old bully taken down by his once victim. Armwrestle!: 1d20 14 But that kind of thing only happens in stories. It takes a little effort, but I still beat him handily. The small crowd seems disappointed but not surprised. I am pretty strong, after all. I try to lessen the blow to his ego as I say, "Well, you've really gotten a lot stronger! You must have been putting in some extra hours on the training field, right?"
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Aug 5, 2015 19:29
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Victor Victor is more in his element here. He moves from person to person talking about the weird events recently, helping to calm fears with unshakable confidence and good humor. Charisma test: 1d20 12 Victor gathers a small crowd around him to make sure everyone knows how he and his friends helped fight off the skeleton attack. And if his own role in the fight seems to loom a little bigger in the crowd's minds than it really was, well, that can't be helped. Is that a wound he took fighting the skeletons? Oh, it's nothing, just a scratch ...
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Aug 6, 2015 13:45
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Allie Allie is none too clear who she'd been drinking with. After finally convincing her father that a horde of skeletons had crashed into the shop and broken the mirror, she had needed some mental reinforcement. She may not be passed out, but it's not for lack of trying.
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Aug 6, 2015 15:37
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Jacoby Jacoby is sitting at the table with everyone else, feeling a mixture of depression and near-panic when Megan (the daughter of Marcus the town baker) grabs him by the arm and drags him into the dance. "You're always so dour lately! Come dance!" Shake what my momma gave me: 1d20=15; huh, I actually made it! Jacoby...actually seems to lighten up a bit as he dances with everyone else.
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Aug 6, 2015 15:46
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Jerald, Nicolas looks at you quizzically, like he wasn't expecting any kind words from you. "Um, thanks. Yeah, Old Rolf has really been riding me hard with the test dummies. Good thing too, 'cause otherwise you might have snapped my arm off there!" he says. The crowd's disappointment at your victory is immediately dispelled as they break out in laughter. There is plenty of back-slapping and mugs of ale are brought for all, and everyone insists on sharing a drink with you. Victor's having a similar effect, but for other reasons: as you tell the tale of how you and your friends defeated the skeletons the small crowd of villagers follows your story extremely attentively. Even though you don't take credit for the victory, the crowd seems to hail you as a hero of their village. For the rest of the night, the girls seem to be giving you an awful lot of smiles. Jacoby, you surprise not only yourself but everyone in the village when you suddenly wind up on the dance floor dragged by Megan. No one's really sure what to think of you now that you're technically the town witch, and Zabitha was never much of a party-going person. Their uneasiness is shortly put to rest as Megan leads you into one of the many vigorous folk dances of the region. There's a lot of good-natured laughter (no one's ever seen a witch dancing before) as the people start clapping their hands and drumming the tables with their fists to the rhythm of the music. You suddenly realize that you and Megan are the only ones remaining on the dance floor, everyone else just watching the spectacle. After the song finishes, there's a huge round of applause, followed by Megan giving you the slightest curtsy. You might've thought about calling it a night after that, but as you try to leave you are dragged back onto the dance floor for a large group dance. Allie, for some strange reason you end up drinking with the militia. One of the men approached you saying that "A pretty girl such as yourself, why, it'd be a crime if you were without company!" At first the men are amused at how quickly you are downing your drinks, but at some point it turns into amazement. Probably due to some manly bravado, they start to drink much faster, probably to keep up with you and to prove a point of some kind. Eventually, you find yourself alone, your drinking companions either passed out under the table or throwing up their guts outside. Having said that, you are very, very drunk. I don't know what Hendrick's doing, but thanks to the magic of PbP we can retcon his action in later. Also, at this point I just ------------------------------------------------------------------- The Day of the Funeral, Morning The whole village has gathered for Jerald's father's funeral. Where do the villagers generally bury their dead? It's a short and sweet ceremony: the Wake last night was enough of a send-off to a dear old friend, and the Abbot seems to understand it. Instead of going on at length, he makes a short speech: "Friends. We are gathered here today to lay to rest a cornerstone of our community: a local businessman and father, the man who made sure that even on the darkest and coldest winter's night there was always a place where we could fill our bellies with beer and spend time with friends in front of a warm hearth. A man who, while not soft-spoken, was always willing to listen. A man who in spite of having experienced so much hardship gave this village everything his all without ever asking for much in return." "He leaves behind a son," he says, meeting Jerald's gaze, "who has already experienced more loss than any of us can understand. His father left him big boots to fill. As friends and neighbors, we are to be there for him so as to honor the memory of a beloved friend." Following the speech there is the requisite ceremony, conducted according to the Old Rites, as Jerald's father's spirit is sent off into the afterlife. What do you do? To recap (unless you protest I assume you've shared all this information with each other by now): Jacoby, for some reason a spirit who has locked in the land of the dead for many centuries has recently made an appearance. Said spirit is the wife of King Osric, an ancient king of your line. Allie, King Osric's name rings a bell with you: that time many years ago when you eavesdropped on the adults you overheard Zabitha say something about King Osric, speaking of him as if he was alive. Also, Rolf seems to have gone off to the barrows to stop something bad from happening? Jerald, as above, but also: King Osric's tomb was disturbed the year your mother died under similar circumstances as your father now, bringing King Osric to life and making him put a curse on your village. That time, Zabitha was the one who somehow managed to put an end to it. Victor fell into one of the tombs while you were at the barrows a week ago, but even a dead king wouldn't be that petty, right? Hendrick, all you know is that a foreign fortune teller gave you an omen of death. On the bright side, you have a totally bitchin' sword that sometimes glows green. Wonder what that's about?
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Aug 6, 2015 22:03
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Jerald 8/12 I stand there, out in the graveyard between the Inn and the woods, as expected of me. I don't really have anything to add. Never been much of a public speaker. Afterwards, I figure I've calmed down enough from last night to have a civil conversation with the Abbot, and I end up asking, "Thank you for presiding over the funeral. I know dad appreciates it. But, what brought you here in the first place? You couldn't have heard about him dying in time to get here when you did." I also ask, "What do you think about the skeleton attack yesterday? It doesn't seem all that common. Any ideas about what happened?"
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Aug 8, 2015 16:01
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"Well, let's just say this: that witch of yours isn't the only one around here who knows a thing or two about the world of the spirits. On the night of your father passing I felt a great sorrow coming from the village. I believe now that what I was sensing was either your sorrow at your father's passing or the sorrow of that specter the townspeople have been so kind in telling me about. Regardless, it was that feeling that drew me to the village. I knew that somehow I was required." "As for the skeleton attack, this is not the first time our village has been visited by the walking dead, but you wouldn't remember it: I recall the children were locked indoors the moment we received word of a skeletal herald riding towards town many years ago. I trust you have been finally told about what really happened the year your mother died? The skeletal herald came to us, carrying a message from King Osric, a man we had thought long dead. Turns out the late King had been sleeping rather lightly, and after his tomb was opened and its riches plundered by some person unknown to us, he decided to lay the blame on us. His rising brought with it the disease that took your mother then, and your father now." "But this is different: when Osric's tomb was disturbed he sent a herald and did not attack us. He bargained with us to set things right and to return the riches stolen from him. The witch Zabitha supposedly handled it that time: she was away for almost two weeks, and when she returned the disease subsided. It was unfortunate that whatever she did, it was too late to save your mother." "If this is Osric we're talking about, this is not the same Osric we're dealing with as last time: he could be reasoned with and he did not raise arms against us without warning. I fear that the attack last night is but a prelude to something even more terrible. I hate to say this, because you have already suffered enough, but after that show of martial prowess by you and your friends yesterday, it would seem that you are the ones best-equipped to deal with this. Also, your friend Jacoby is our witch now, and dealing with long-dead kings sort of comes with the job description," he says with a bit of a cheeky tone. Also, as Jerald already marked down, you all recover 1 hit point for the sleep you got last night! Ratpick fucked around with this message at 18:30 on Aug 8, 2015 |
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Aug 8, 2015 18:27
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Jacoby, as you make your way back to Zabitha's... I mean your hut from the funeral you find Zabitha's familiar, a venerable and extremely lazy bloodhound called Brute, lying on the porch, snoring loudly. You never quite understood why Zabitha kept a dog as a familiar when most witches had cats and owls, but according to Zabitha "It's nice to have someone around the house who's almost as old as I am." Just as you're about to open the door to your hut the wind suddenly carries a voice with it. It's unmistakably Zabitha's. "Hello Jacoby, how are you? You know what, let's cut the niceties. I'm sorry to have left unannounced, but my attention was needed elsewhere. I've been doing some research into some unresolved business from a few years back. I'm sure you've been doing fine in my absence, but I just wanted to check up on you." You can feel the wind whirling around you, as if it was expecting you to say something.
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Aug 11, 2015 13:52
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Jacoby The first thought to go through Jacoby's head is "uh oh". Out loud, he says, "Zabitha? What happened? You just vanished! I was worried sick about you!"
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Aug 11, 2015 16:23
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"Oh, don't worry about that. Sorry I skipped town without telling you. Thing is, my research into some local affairs lead me to believe that one of our long dead kings might have done something very stupid back when he was still alive. Sorry I didn't get back to you before, but I've been quite caught up in research. Anyway..." Her voice is cut abruptly, then it returns. "There we go. How do you like my new spell, by the way? It's the same trick I taught you, but it actually allows for two-way communication. Problem is, it doesn't last too long. Anyway, should you see any evidence of weird stuff like dead kings rising, do be a dear and sort it out while I'm away. I'd do it myself, but I have bigger fish to fry."
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Aug 11, 2015 20:18
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Jerald 8/12 I leave the Abbot wondering just how much he really knows, but he does confirm the only thing I'm really sure about. I need to go talk to Jacoby and figure out what's going on with the Barrow. But he doesn't seem to be at the service anymore. While looking for him, I run into Victor and Allie first and say relate what the Abbot said about what happened the last time the Barrows were causing problems. I say, "I'm gonna go find Jacoby. I'd welcome both of your company." I add to Allie, "Also, um, did you get in trouble? You know, about the mirror?"
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Aug 12, 2015 17:40
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| # ? Apr 20, 2024 00:28 |
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Jacoby "Sort it...?" There's a pause, and suddenly the words come pouring out. "Zabitha, I've been sorting everything out since you left! Everyone's coming to me for medicine, Mrs. Weaver almost lost her baby because her husband didn't want a male midwife, some creepy guy came looking for you and I had to scare him off, and now there's skeletons attacking and the ghost of a dead queen in the middle of the town square! What the hell do you think I've been doing since you vanished?"
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Aug 12, 2015 17:52
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