Ragnorra Session 12

Start: 5 am, Tuesday, 15th, 1396

The party woke up for the day.

Before setting off, Vix disguised Simon as a badly diseased old man. With Ronja's assistance, she produced a very convincing result.

Dorn said his prayers and prepared his spells before leaving.

Cassius set his amazing lock on the wagon before leaving, taking a preventative step against theft. They're in bandit territory, after all.

The four of them set off on the trail.

Vix mentioned the possibility of Simon going hungry soon. Ronja took initiative and shot down a large hawk. It partially sated his hunger, adding 12 hours until he has to save.

The four of them moved on. They spotted the shrine in the distance. It was a bit smaller than they anticipated, but still relatively impressively built. In many senses, it was a squat tower built into the side of the mountain.

They devised a plan of approach. They were going to use Simon as bait to lure two guards out, and take them out, while Cassius distracted the clergy.

Cassius took point, and approached the shrine.

The woman who met him was quite friendly, and oddly, creepily, enthusiastic and attentive. She seemed to have a bit too much to smile about.

Cassius bluffed and told her they had a sick old man with them who needed assistance to get to the shrine, and more companions down the trail, who all needed assistance.

The ploy worked as intended. One guard set off down the path, passing by the party.

They noticed some odd intricacies about the guard. Namely, its gait, and stiffness in motion, almost as if the limbs were controlled by an external stimulus, poorly imitating normal movement. The guards did not speak even when addressed. The second guard approached the party, and attempted to pick up Simon without a word to the four of them.

Instead of allowing this to happen, Dorn, Ronja, and Vix sprang to action and attacked the strange guard.

Noticing this plainly in the distance, as he was facing the scene intentionally, Cassius took this opportunity to talk loudly and lead the priestess into the shrine, out of sight and hopefully earshot.

Dorn, Ronja, and Vix slew the first guard with relative ease. They removed his helmet and noticed advanced signs of the sickness, and that the guard had his tongue removed.

They hastily followed the other down the decline.

Their haste afforded them an opportunity to catch the guard, who moved slowly down the steps with an awkward gait. They took this one out just as easily, and searched through his gear.

They made the same checks on this guard, and noticed a near match. He also had advanced signs of the sickness and a missing tongue.

They did not linger for long, however, not wanting to risk Cassius's life, if things were to go poorly in the shrine, as they could.

Meanwhile, Cassius spoke with the priestess and got a lay of the ground level of the temple.

The longer he spoke with her, the weirder the situation seemed. She was abnormally attentive and happy. She never broke eye contact, and seemed to be scrutinizing his actions and sizing him up behind that false-friendly customer service smile.

Cassius got a feel for the energy of the shrine. It abounded with life energy, certainly, but something was horribly wrong about it. Something was touched about it, something abominable and "wrong". Seeing the effects of the energy and being close to its source were two very different things. It unsettled him.

Dorn, Ronja, and Vix came to the shrine. They talked briefly from the doorway, and Ronja, using her warlock detection, came to the conclusion many things were amiss here. These women were being dominated by magic, without a doubt in her mind. She whispered this to Dorn and Vix.

This was overheard by the priestesses and guards in the temple, who wasted no time in attacking the party.

Combat was quite protracted, and waves of guards came from the different levels of the shrine, as did additional women.

The four of them noticed something odd during combat, other than the obvious.

Only one of the women moved at a time.

This matched Ronja's observation perfectly. They were indeed being dominated, and whoever was dominating them could see the fight and was deliberately interacting with it in this way. They were being toyed with.

The women periodically would throw themselves at party members, especially Ronja, and scream not to hurt them, and the like. It was unsettling and disruptive.

In the end, the party prevailed.

Cassius stopped the women from bleeding out with his arts, and cured one of ghoul fever.

Ronja tied them up quite securely.


Simon fed 3 am, Sunday, 14th, 1396 + 12 hours
Simon will need to feed in 26 hours or suffer from diet dependency on flesh.

End: 3 pm, Tuesday, 15th, 1396