Azrian listened intently while the will was being read, noting that the professor wanted them to stay around for a month before doing one last thing for him. The money that had been left for them at their destination would be helpful to him, but he thought of it more as an added bonus then an actual reason to listen to the will, since even without the offer of money he would have likely done the Professor’s task. He was thankful for Kendra's offer to let them stay for free for the month, however, and bowed to her as she handed him his key. He then followed Alaizia out of the room, hoping to think back on the day's events in the provided room before supper.
Lia grabbed her pack from the lobby and power walked to catch up with the others. She was somewhat resentful that the professor was having her stay in the same place for a month, though she supposed that if something more important came up, a will was not legally binding when it came to orders. It was a request, which she hoped she would not have to decline. Still, there were more urgent matters at hand, such as the undead in the Restlands. In fact, she was thinking of the task half of the time during the will reading, and was determined to eliminate the problem, even if she didn't know exactly how yet. If there's undead, there's someone raising them. It's as simple as that. I just find necromancer and bring them to justice. Of course, Lia's definition of "bring them to justice" was a bit different from, say, a town guard. In her mind, and in the mind of Sarenrae, goddess of justice, raising the dead and terrorizing an otherwise peaceful town such as Ravengro qualified as an unforgivable act. The kind that paladins were sent to deal with in the name of her holiness, Sarenrae. So Lia planned to deal with the problem in the most permanent fashion. Impromptu execution. In her room she began to prepare. Scale mail armor? Check. Longsword she was given at birth? Check. Trusty, light, steel shield? Check. She looked over the rest of her rather minimalist traveling equipment: a pile of rations, a bedroll and winter blanked, a backpack, flint & steel, and five torches. She decided that most of the rations, the sleeping equipment and two of the torches could stay. The rest was coming with her in her backpack. Now, I simply wait an hour or two. It's not that long of a walk. Right?
That was quite a bit of money, wasn't it? Quite a bit indeed. Funny, the man was dead and still managed to be a gracious employer. The job had to be one of the easier ones Ulysses had taken too. Hell, he would do it for free just because the old man asked. The coins really helped though. He was glad they were finally at the estate as it would give him time to check if his blade needed sharpening or if his bow needed tending. He was sure he wouldn't make so much noise, not enough to bother anyone anyway. His greatsword might be dull after cleaving through those thugs, so that would need checking. He hoped he still had enough oil to sharpen it on the stone. None of that mattered though unless he got to his room. Then he could worry over every chip and crack. He could pour over the bindings of the hilt and the engravings on the blade. He had a quiet month after all.
Alaizia leads each of you too your own guest room, the bed is well kept, the furniture looks almost untouched and there is even a small oil lantern on the nightstand. Time passes by and the dinner with Kendra is rather uneventful with very few words said. After dinner Kendra thanks all of you for coming too the funeral and says it will be nice having the three of you for the month. After dinner Kendra says her goodbyes and goes too her room. The evening grows old and all of Ravengro seems to become a much eerier place. No one is out this late and even the air around you feels dead.
Lia got up off of her knees. She had been praying to Sarenrae for the fortune of finding the source of the undead quickly, rather than having to desecrate more bodies searching for the culprit. Normally Lia made little time for prayer, knowing that actions speak louder than words. But tonight was a bit of a special case. Due to the appointed time of "midnight" Lia had spare time between dinner, preparation, and departure. But now it was time to move out. She grabbed her backpack and donned it, simultaneously putting her hand at her hip to check for her sword. Lastly, she set up her shield over her backpack, ready to be grabbed should the need arise. Lia then made her way out of her room and into the entrance hall of the manor, pausing for a moment in front of the door, feeling the foreboding atmosphere and mentally bracing herself for the stale night.
Work the blade down the stone along the edge, all the way to the leather wrapped blunt section at the base. Sharpening his sword was an easy enough task and he saved it for last due to that. Ulysses had had just enough oil to finish the blade on all of it's sides. It was looking quite nice, he even gave it a good polish, making the etchings and runes really shine. He decided that it would be a fairly good idea to break in the new sharpening. He remembered the tavern owners comment about the Restlands. A few measly undead would be a good enough test of the blade. He guessed that the girl that made the ruckus at the tavern would be going there too. She could probably help him out. He made his way lethargically towards the room door, giving a last check over his gear.
Azrian sat near the window, silently praying for nothing to attack tonight, though he did this more out of habit than actually expecting anything to attack. He then prayed for Sarenrae to give him strength and guidance for the next month, and afterwards he stood up and walked over to the bed, contemplating it for a few moments. The idea of just going to sleep was on the top of his mind, but this thought was soon replaced by him wondering whether the other person was actually planning on heading to the Restlands. With an audible sigh he decided that he'd better go there just in case, so he grabbed his gear and headed out, hoping to either run into her and try to convince her not to do it or help her if anything did happen.
Lia had just put her hand on the deathly cold door knob, when she heard the wooden floors creaking behind her. She turned around slowly, spotting the mercenary that had been around all day. She took her hand off of the hilt of her sword. In just more than a whisper she asked "What business do you have in the middle of the night? I need to go quickly, so please do not take long." Lia had hoped to get out quietly, though in hindsight she hadn't really made much of an effort in being sneaky. She had just assumed that everyone would have had the common sense to go to sleep. And to her dismay, almost nobody had, it seemed. Behind Ulysses approached the cleric, Azrian. Her heart sank a bit inside. She did not have time to let them try and talk her out of this. Midnight was not quite that far off.
"Frankly, I felt a night of killing undead would be a good time. Any objections to that?" Ulysses lovers arms and shoulders back in an attempt to crack his spine. He was satisfied when he heard the pop from his back. "I reckon that you could also use some help in that matter."
Azrian caught up to her much faster than he expected, but in front of him was a man, one of the people who had been around for the reading of the will. He wasn't sure what the man wanted with her, but he wanted to try to convince her before she left, so he stepped forward and spoke. "I'm sorry if I'm interrupting anything, but I'd like to talk to you before you leave. I know I already said this earlier, but I'd prefer if you waited one day to go to the Restlands just so we can try to get others to help out. If this still doesn't sway you, then I'd feel better if I went with you just in case." At this point he honestly doubted that he'd be able to make her not go, but it was better to try and fail than to not try at all and if there were any undead then they'd have to be dealt with before anything happened with him around. If anything did happen he'd have to pray for forgiveness for not trying to stop it, and even after seeking forgiveness he'd still feel guilty about it until he dealt with the problem.
Lia looked from one of the older men to the other and quickly settled on a decision. "Why would I wait and get help when all of it I'll need is right here. Let's go." She spun around and pushed open the door into the chill, black night. Just about ten feet out she stopped and lit her first torch. Just then, it dawned on her that she had forgotten something that was becoming increasingly important. Turned back around she said one last thing to the two men before they set off. "My name is Lia. Yours?"
Azrian followed her, hoping that he would be able to prevent any unnecessary deaths if anything did happen. It seemed as if the other person was also going to the Restlands with them, so that made him feel a little relieved, knowing that it wasn't just the two of them fighting against undead should they appear. Hearing Lia introducing herself and asking for their names, Azrian thought for a second before replying. "My name is Azrian." He almost said that it was nice to meet both of them, but decided that was too formal for the situation they were in. Formality had its place in religion, but right before heading off to a graveyard wasn’t the best time for it. This thought almost made him laugh aloud, but he restrained himself just in time.
ALaizia tip-toed down the stairs, making sure to keep out of sight of the guests as they all left out into the darknes. Only minutes ago Gygax had woken her from her slumber, telling her that the two men and girl were all in the foyer of the house and seemingly leaving for the Restlands. ALaizia didn't want to be left behind...she wanted to be there if a fight broke out, if only to try and provide help no matter if it revealed her secret. So she quickly got dressed and headed after them. Shivering in the dark, gloomy air of the night, she tried to be brave and keep her fears under control. Her father had always told her stories of horrible monsters that prowled the night, as did all Ustalvic families. ( stealth 17 vs. other players perception)
Walking along with the other two, Ulysses noticed a small rustling behind them. He stopped his walk and turned his head to take a peek. Noticing a rather...memorable...silhouette among the bushes in the receding torchlight, he decided to speak up. "Young Miss, if you're going to be following us at this time of night, you really should do it from the safety of the actual group. There's an old saying that at night, stragglers are dead men. You don't look neither dead nor manly, so why don't you come on out?" Ulysses found it odd for someone like her to be out and about at this hour, especially a grieving daughter.
ALaizia nearly fell over in surprise... "EEEP!" she staggered forward before gaining her footing again. " h-how did he see me " the girl whispered to Gygax and tried to hide out of sight.. " maybe if I hide...they wont know im actually here"
Lia let out an exasperated sigh, simultaneously placing her hand gently on her face. There was no longer any time to be sidetracked. Bringing the girl along may put her at risk, but many more may be put at risk every night the undead, should they be more than a mere folktale, rise. She'll just have to stay out of the way... Lia walked over to where she had heard Alaizia, with her form being increasingly distinguishable form the night as she approached. She put a hand on her shoulder, but quickly recoiled when her hand touched the wrinkly flesh of Gygax instead. A tad flustered, Lia continued nonetheless. "Alaizia, you shouldn't have come here. But there's no going back now, we're off to the Restlands." Lia then spun around and continued her prior pace off towards the graveyard.
ALaizia looked suprised that the Paladin had just let her come along...even though it was dangerous. " oh...um right..Ill..try not to be a burden" She quickened her pace to try and keep up with the group, her cat trotting along side her. The whole time Alaizia would jump at the smallest sound...apparently afraid of the dark. She had never actually been to the restlands at night...it was sorta of creepy
Azrian thought it was odd that the other man was talking to something that he didn't know about, but he stopped and tried seeing what the man was talking to, though he still couldn't find it. As he was doing this, Lia walked over and yanked someone out of cover, revealing it to be Alaizia. Shrugging at the addition of another member, he started walking off again, following a short distance behind Lia just in case.
As you are walking too the Restlands you all notice how dead Ravengro gets this late at night. The air is cold and stagnant and you can hear the sound of ravens in the trees. You four finally make it too the Restlands, as you walk though the gates you hear one of the grave diggers call to you "Hey you the folk at Petros's funeral right, what brings you here its not wise to be walking around this late at night".
ALaizia nearly jumped out of her skin when the man called to them, she hadn't actually expected anyone to be out this late. " u-um we were told that there is an undead probl----" she paused for a moment " why are you out here so late also " she had a bad feeling about this... Gygax stayed at her side, feeling her unrest and trying to comfort her with his presence.
