Curse of Strahd dnd campaign

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shakes her head "doubtful. its either in the statue or down one of the side hallways" she moves towards the statue itself "i'll bet it has something to do with this. you don't build a giant fucking statue like this for no reason. the fane's a stone right?" she hmmms "lets see if there's any hidden panels or compartments in the statue itself."

 

[SubPhil91]

Quinn looks around before looking down at the ground noticing a trap door at the door of the statue. Opening it up she can see a ladder descending twenty feet. Lucan looks over, "Well, maybe that will lead to where we are supposed to go. Should we check it out?" He looks down into the hole seeing another large room at the bottom.

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn nods "yeah well, might as well. makes sense that if the fane is in here the temple would be a distraction right?" she starts down the ladder, not answering him about the eyes because she doesn't want anyone to be overly reckless in their pursuit of the fane "lets keep an eye out everyone" when quinn hits the bottom, she will start checking for traps again

 

[SubPhil91]

Quinn gets to the bottom, checking for traps. She doesn't see any and let's the others know the coast is clear. Everyone else heads down shortly after and you all look around. This large room is full of of treasures, as well as nine more sarcophagi with green flaming skulls. In the center of the room a large obelisk shines against the green flames of the skulls. Lucan looks around at the sarcophagi, "Great.. More of them. I wonder if they will be as helpful as the last one.."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn hmmms "i think we should assume that's a no" she sends a stray thought over to one of the skulls, trying to communicate with it before getting too close "hello there. I don't suppose you're feeling conversational?"

 

[SubPhil91]

"Oh lol a group of young ones, we haven't had visitors in ages! Hmm.. It seems you already got a gift, perhaps you'd like another? Hmm.. Perhaps you will, if not, what would you like to talk about?" You don't hear anyone speaking again, but you can see a few of them lost in thought perhaps also speaking to different skulls.

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shakes her head "no i'd rather not tempt fate. The gift i got is great. I was wondering if you'd have any objection to us interacting with the fane here and severing it's connection to strahd. " she holds up a hand to indicate the rest of the group should chill out a moment "we'd really appreciate it."

 

[SubPhil91]

Quinn can hear a few of the skulls laughing. "Strahd never had a connection to this fane. He took one of the gifts. This temple was built to protect the darkness inside and its fine that just fine throughout the years. Yet people still wander in and take our gifts. Strahd's immortality journey started here. Maybe one of you will take that same journey. Shame he had to kill his one true love to make it happen huh? Oh I'm sure he's fine now though right? He has to be over it by now."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shakes her head "no. he's gone quite mad." she nods "so there's no connection of this fane to strahd then?" she shifts as that feels unlikely. "you wouldn't mind then, if we fiddled about with it? if you're just here to hand out dark gifts that doom those that accept them and all"

 

[SubPhil91]

"Feel free to, though its a waste of time. The huntress doesn't normally come around here anymore, and when she does it usually means doom for all that are near. But by all means, take your time and fiddle as much as you want. Gives us more time to convince your friends to accept our great gifts." Lucan is already eyeballing the fane as Quinn speaks to the skull. Ireena and the others still seem to be lost in thought.

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn turns and broadcasts into the minds of the others "strahd was set down his path by these skulls. im sad i took the first gift. gods alone know what will happen to me because of it" she sighs "please don't" she looks over at lucan "he says strahd never did anything with the fane." she crouches, trying to look over the obelisk herself to see if there's some way to bring the guardian. "though if that's the case it would explain why he hasn't tried to stop us"

 

[SubPhil91]

Lucan nods as he runs his hand over the obelisk. "Well, that explains the eyes then.. What was the gift you got?" Quinn talking seems to shake everyone from their trance and everyone but Ireena gathers around the obelisk. After a few moments the obelisk glows and a tall old woman steps out of it. Her skin is grey and chiseled, she is well toned with long white hair. She has a pair of enormous stag antlers growing from her temples. She looks over the group with her black eyes. "Ah, the enemies of Strahd, finally come to pay a visit. I'm surprised it took you so long, most come to seek me early in their journey."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shifts a bit "well we were nearby, but we hadn't been informed of Strahd's connection to the fanes" she looks at lucan and projects a thought "i don't want to say because I don't want it to affect anyone's behavior" she turns her attention back to the woman with the antlers "is it true, that he has no connection to this fane? If it's not too impertinent of me to have asked."

 

[SubPhil91]

She shakes her head and takes a few steps around the pillar. "No, hes not connected to this thankfully. He came here centuries ago to try, but ended up taking a dark gift instead. Not many would turn down the gift of immortality though. Breaking the other connections though huh? Dangerous work, people have died attempting that. Though it seems like you all have managed." Lucan watches the huntress as she moves before turning to Quinn and raising an eyebrow. He shrugs and turns his attention to Ireena who seems frozen in thought. The huntress looks over and smiles. "Sometimes accepting a gift takes longer than others. Or maybe she hasn't accepted but they are trying to convince her. The gifts are great, there are negative effects that come with the benefits."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shifts "is there any way to reject it? He said there was no price other than conversation. he gave me the ability to raise my companions from the dead but if they all have a terrible price i'd rather not."

 

[SubPhil91]

She shakes her head, "Unfortunately once you accept the gift you can't give it up. Unless you use a powerful spell to undo it. Im sure that's what he said, they like to be deceptive toward those they think they can trick. Though, your negative effects don't seem too bad at least. There are many worse effects you could have gotten, trust me. You won't have any other downsides, your companions won't have to pay a price for being brought back. I think you got a good deal, but thats just me." Lucan looks over at Quinn, "You took an ability to bring people back from the dead? Thats.. Dangerous Quinn. That doesn't always go the way you hope or expect."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn shifts a bit "well fuck me" she sighs and brushes her hand through her hair "i mean if they say its free I didn't really accept the terms if it's not free. I feel like i should be able to get out of it. what's the downside?" she looks over to lucan "well excuse me for thinking of others. fuck" she sits and leans back against the wall "well now I can't use it at least till i figure out the price"

 

[SubPhil91]

"Im not saying its bad to think of others, but being brought back can go very wrong. Its not something many people can do successfully. But if you have an ability, maybe it'll be more effective, I dont know." The woman stops moving and looks over at Quinn. "That odd bit of swirling in your eyes. The negative energy thats filling you, thats the downside. Might make you feel sick but really its nothing too awful. I think your eyes look interesting this way to be honest."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn manages a weak smile "i'll take interesting" she laughs "will the negative energy go away after i use the power? I know you... might have limited information but the more i know about this the better. forewarned is forearmed and all that"

 

[SubPhil91]

The woman nods, "Yes, though the eyes might stay like that.. Its hard to say until after you've used the effect. Sometimes things stay, sometimes they don't. But the negative energy is whats going to give you the ability to bring people back. So once you use it, it'll start to disappear. The more you know, the better. These skulls can be tricky, they don't give you all the information but the effects they can give can be extraordinary."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn nods "well. I thank you for your assistance in all this. We're sorry to have disturbed this place. Had we known he had no connection we would have ridden straight for his castle. This does give us some time to rest though, and to recouperate before we beard the lion in its den" she runs her hand through her hair and lets out a long slow breath, hoping that the exchange doesnt change her personality. "we will leave you and your shrine alone"

 

[SubPhil91]

The woman smiles, "I appreciate that. Its always unfortunate when I have to rid others from this temple because they think everything belongs to them. Or because they feel like destroying things. Rest if you need it, or venture off, its up to you. Either way, good luck ridding this land of Strahd." She looks around the group again before heading back toward the pillar and disappearing into it. Lucan walks over to Quinn and leans on the wall next to her. "So, what's the plan?" He reaches down and rubs her shoulder lightly.

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn covers Lucan's hand with her own "well. first we congratulate ourselves on not looting the place" she laughs and turns to kiss his hand "then we get a good night's sleep out of the wind and we head on towards strahd's castle. maybe in the meantime we get an idea from the others if there's a town or two on the way where we can sleep in a warm inn and fully recouperate."

 

[SubPhil91]

Lucan smiles and closes his eyes. "Sounds good to me. Hopefully we can find somewhere, but if not, I guess we will have to wait until after we defeat him. You never know though, maybe he will let us sleep in his castle before the fight." He chuckles knowing the odds of that are slim to none. He looks over at Ireena who is still frozen with her eyes closed concentrating on something. "Shes been talking to these skulls for a while now.. I have a feeling thats not a good thing."

 

[siobhancan99]

Quinn inhales and then exhales slowly. she reaches out, trying to touch Ireena's mind "angel. you have to stop talking to the skulls. please. please baby they are responsible for a lot of bad things. please come back to me."