EtCR: Knights of the Fallen

[Tatsel_Ganav]

DAY 1

You have all arrived at Professor Cyrus ir'Vedrain's office at Morgrave University for one reason or another, right on time... but the professor is late to his office hours for some reason, so you are left sitting around in the hallway, waiting for him to arrive. There are four others here as well, rather strange looking folk, no doubt, but then, they probably think that of you as well.

Spoiler

LINK TO OOC THREAD

[Fishy]

Sir Garrickh felt out of place in the halls of Morgrave University. But then, he felt out of place almost everywhere, these days.

Unlike Rekkenmark, the scholars of Morgrave tended to be indoors and bookish types- Garrickh's tall and muscular frame stood out like a sore thumb. His dark, unadorned clothes would have been a perfectly acceptable fashion statement in Karrnath, and the sword at his belt and the opal ring on his finger would have garnered instant respect. Here, of course, it all meant precisely nothing.

Garrickh holds a letter in one hand, wielding it like some sort of talisman, as if he might be called upon to justify his presence at a moment's notice. He taps it absently against the arm of his chair as more and stranger folk start to filter in- and congregate outside the good professor's door.

"This must be a very good book," he muses, wryly.

[Charl]

Lakshana comes wandering down the corridor, quietly muttering to herself. As he comes closer to the door and notices the company she stops and takes a quick look at the people. Determining that nothing sinister is going on she relaxes a bit and walks up to the door.
"Are you waiting for the professor?" She asks to everyone in general as she readjusts her cloak.

[King Tius]

Hrothgalm

As the group slowly beings to enter, a shout of fright is heard from somewhere down the halls. After a few minutes a large, beastial man enters the room. He is a particularly hairy Shifter with crazy-man eyes and a thick, dark mane of hair. Two swords with worn hilts are strapped to his back and his clothes are deep blue with leather trimmings. Though he seems feral and looks a tad crazed, his clothes and hair are very clean and you do not detect the slightest hint of stench upon him, other than from your imaginations. He walks into the room and sniffs the air, eying everyone in the room with a wide grin. Wordlessly he stalks into the room and takes a seat, the grin never leaving his face.

[Fishy]

Garrickh instinctively rises to his feet as a Lady arrives, folding one arm over his waist. "I am indeed, I don't suppose you happen to know him?" he asks politely, in a low, gravelly voice- and then is interrupted by the sudden and startling appearance of the shifter. The knight has seen his share of battles, though, and to a connoisseur of these things, that was definitely a 'startled' shout, and not, say, 'terrified', 'under attack', or 'in unbearable agony'.

[Charl]

Lakshana shakes her head as she eyes the feral man. "No." She says while still looking. "I do not know him personally." She keeps a still and emotionless demeanor as she talks.

[King Tius]

The apparent discomfort Hrothgalm is causing seems to make him incredibly happy. His smile gets all the bigger as he nods towards the knight and looks towards Lakshana.

"So, what are you here for?"

[Charl]

Lakshana

"Waiting for the professor." Lakshana turns to Hrothgalm. "Same as you, I'd imagine." She looks over to Garrickh, then back to Hrothgalm, and visibly relaxes. "I wonder what is taking him so long, though. Usually the staff here are meticulously punctual, in my experience." She puts her bag down next to the wall and raises her right hand in a greeting gesture. "But for now why not introduce ourselves if we are going to be working together. My name is Lakshana."

[Faulty]

Elorin

Loud, even steps echo their way through the corridorrs, heralding the approach of a rather stern looking young man. Despite being in a university, he still has on a shining breast plate covered along the arms, legs and certain parts of the torso with sharp spikes. A polearm is on his back, as his a longbow, and at his side is a flail and pair of gauntlets covered in spikes. His brown hair is neatly trimmed and his blue eyes stare straight ahead. He stops amongst the group, and stands near the wall. He eyes each member of the group, and shows no discomfort upon looking at Hrothgalm. He spies the letter in Sir Garrickh's hand and inquires, "Do you wait for the professor as well?"

[Fishy]

Garrickh does his best to return Lakshana's gesture, then moves to shake her hand. "Sir Garrickh ir'Trotholdt, of-" an ancestry that you've never heard of and don't care about- "- of Karrnath," he decides.

As Elorin arrives, the knight takes a moment to size up his weapons and armor, and smiles approvingly. "Another man of the sword? I'm beginning to wonder about the good professor's choice of librarians."

[Charl]

Lakshana

"The way I heard it he was looking for help for an expedition of his. That's why I'm here at any rate. I was promised some action." Lakshana says, and then mutters beneath her breath: "Let's hope it doesn't turn into a boring dig as the last one did."

[King Tius]

Hrothgalm

"An expedition? No wonder the little bookworm wants my help. Has anyone seen a half-orc around here?"

[Faulty]

Elorin

"Whatever it is," Elorin says with reverence, "I was tasked by the Church of the Silver Flame to do it, and so I shall. I am indeed a man of the sword, so sending me would insinuate that this is no small matter."

[King Tius]

Hrothgalm

When Elorin mentions the Silver Flame, Hrothgalm lets out a low growl.

[Faulty]

Elorin

Elorin turns to face Hrothgalm squarely and asks flatly, "Have you something to say about the Church?"

[King Tius]

Hrothgalm

"I've nothing to say, but I have many dead ancestors who might. You'll be able to ask them, someday."

[Fishy]

Garrickh

"As do I," Garrickh interjects, coldly. "A soldier of Thrane killed my grandfather, and he's still upset about it."

"But fortunately, we are not our ancestors. We are living in a new age, are we not?"

[Charl]

Lakshana

Lakshana touches the little crystal she has hanging around her neck and closes her eyes for a second, being reminded of her religion by the discussion.

[Trixie]

Gunther

A tall man in dark garb stands a score paces away from the group. He slowly nods, listening to conversation, but saying nothing, at least until now.

[Faulty]

Elorin

"We are living in a new age," Elorin says, nodding. "So, how long have you been waiting?"

[King Tius]

"Too long" grunts the Shifter.

[Charl]

Lakshana nods. "Agreed."

[Trixie]

The dark character in the back just 'nods' silently.

[Tatsel_Ganav]

The professor comes hurrying along, breathing heavy from a long run here and frantically looking about before scrambling into his office, "p-please, come in, come in!" He ushers you into his office, an abnormally large office with room to seat at least 8 people. He sits behind his cluttered desk and glances down at the papers and books scattered about the floor before looking back to his guests, "Hello, hello! You are the warriors I have summoned to find the-the, Tome of Strahd, yes?"

[Fishy]

"Sort of," Garrickh says, quietly amused, as he enters the office and pulls back a chair for Lakshana. "Azra d'Deneith sends her apologies, and also her regards," he intones. "In her place, I am at your service."

[Tatsel_Ganav]

He pauses slightly before saying, "Oh, yes of course! Well, it's very good to have you on board. I've brought you all here because, well, you see, there's this legendary tome, the Tome of Strahd, that rests in this small, relatively unimportant township called Barovia in Karrnath. The university very much wants this book for it's historical value. D-do any of you have any questions? This is my first time organizing such a venture, s-so, yes. Should be simple, go in, maybe barter with the locals?" He looks around at the adventurers, obviously nervous about the large number of weapons and armor around him right now.

[Charl]

Lakshana interjects. "Now hold on here professor. I was told that this expedition would have a serious element of danger to it. I was assured that my combat experience would actually come in handy this time. Are you telling me that is not the case? Surely the university wouldn't need the services of people of our calibre." She makes a gesture towards the other adventure types in the room. "If it was only a routine barter job?"

[Tatsel_Ganav]

The professor blinks, shakes his head, then starts fumbling through notes before standing up straight and calming down, "You are correct. I apologize. The job itself should be simple enough. However, Barovia is known to be haunted. It may be nothing, but I'm rather sure there is some credibility to the rumors, so... There is, indeed, a good chance of extreme danger, but the mission should go smoothly. There is also the possibility that others are interested in the book. Being a historical tome of necromantic lore, the Order of the Emerald Claw could take an interest, as could any mercenary sorts looking for some gold." He seems much more confident now, and not at all worried about the weapons.

[Fishy]

"I take it this book is of more than academic interest then, Professor? Whatever it is, rest assured that if the Emerald Claw wants it, my oaths and my conscience demand I keep it from them. It will be a pleasure to assist you."

[Tatsel_Ganav]

The professor looks at the Karrnathi knight calmly, "No, the tome if of purely academic interest to the university. It may not be as such for the Order, however."