In the memories of granite peaks and gray-green pines, Strephan Maurer was a fixture of Stensia. Not a god, though that was a word lost to the minds and lips of its people. He was a force, like the capricious wind and rains. Eternal, inexorable. Yet some people, crazy all of them, thought he could be killed.
In the Inland Valleys they wrote him off as a loss. The vampires were a menace to all, but the grace of angels could only be asked for so much. And where his domain stayed nestled in the outland valleys, away from the cities and homes that comprised much of the province. He was a bad dream, but not the nightmare the Markov or Voldaren families were. And so he was a thought for those inside.
Krezk stood resolute, recognizing his might but shying from his shadow. It was too hard to hold your ground against someone you fear. The Baron and Baroness would not be cowed however. Their voices were for their people, their prayers were within their hands, and their blood was of the mountains. They were Krezk, in name, body, and soul. But they were defenders, not warriors. And a bet was too much to take.
Still smelling of burnt Hawthorne and collared by martial law, Pallas was fraying at the seams. It had been a long time since it had been whole, unmarred by the stains of blood and dribble of sycophants. Long enough that the folk expected it. And endured it. The shell of the Wachter clan had no sway any more, and barely enough thought to contemplate their twice cursed fate. The family Martikov maintained their inn, hoping drink and passion could bring some light into this darkness. But a gentle glow does little to an abyss. And the Inquisitor Seeta feared a flash in the pan, a misleading light to drag those further into the dark like a corpse candle. That fiend was too much for anyone, despite her prayers to the otherwise. But she wanted to stand for this town and these people. A shield. An aegis. But she could only hold for so long.
And sunken below the castle’s reach was the broken town of Shadowgrange interred in the vampire’s grasp. The people there were husks, barely living their day to day. The shopkeeper had forgotten kindness, relying on foolhardy folk and need to bring him business. The priest lost to uncertainty and fear. And the man known as Ismark was worried and perplexed in the rising dawn. And in the weary hearts of those warriors of ours at the church perhaps there was uncertainty too.
But despite the pain and fear, there was still a truth: They fought off his wishes, maybe his best: And won. So here we are. The final hour. And it’s approaching dawn.
MUSIC CREDITS:
Dark Walk Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
PLAYERS
- James – Conrad Starkherz – Paladin: An inquisitor of the Avacynian church, dedicated to the destruction of evil by all available means. His fighting skills are weathered by his age, but he has come to rely on his holy powers to protect him from both his foes and the memories of his past.
- Susan – Elyria – Druid: A young lady who made her home in the terrifying forest of the Ulvenwald. She is a thin girl of medium height with wild ginger curls all over her head. The first things noticed are always her red hair and her large green eyes. She was a young girl from Kessig who found she had fantastical abilities fled to live in nature when some disastrous things happened. She has fantastical powers that can change nature, but these powers cannot change her past.
- Axe – Niccolo Argenti – Rogue: A former Midnight Duelist, sworn to protect the streets of his home city of Nephalia from vampires and corpse-traders. After his brother Jacomo died in service of the Church of Avacyn, he became disillusioned and forsook his duties, becoming an apostate and blade for hire. Thirty-five years old, he’s managed to live to what passes for middle age on the blighted plane of Innistrad with the sharpness of his wits and the speed of his blade.
- Kevin – Faustus Pent – Wizard: University educated among the Ivory Towers of Nephalia, Faustus Pent made a career of creating clockwork devices for the well-off, from toys to complicated weaponry. Betrothed to Inquisitor Arcelia Bright, his life took a terrible turn when she led an ill-fated raid against Strefan Maurer two years ago. On learning the news, he immediately closed his shop and devoted himself to single-minded study of battle magic. Now, spellbook and strange magics in tow, he has finally made his way to Stensia to find the lost pieces of a life denied to him…
- Travis – Grove Hecker – Ranger: Folk hero of Kessig. Grove is known for solving mysterious investigations and surviving deadly monsters attacks around the province . His last investigation ended with him befriending a wolf mongrel, Yew, and being asked politely to leave Kessig. His gruff demeanor and combat prowess make him a fantastic huntsman but his years in the Ulvenwald have made him a terrible people person. With his unusual new partner Yew, Grove left Kessig to challenge the Somberwald of Stensia.
- Josh – Grimhild – Fighter: A taciturn monster hunter from the grim mountains of Stensia. A pale skinned, fair haired, and athletically muscular woman with a permanent scowl. With an obscured past and a chip on her shoulder she hunts many of the fiends of the dark. Though her relationship with the church and its angels is strained at best, she has become a stalwart, if grim, defender of the people they forgot.
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