Thadeus charges up the broken pews, the Peacebringer fixed on the pulpit. The three women stand together in red, still as markers in the gloom.
Thadeus Jovanović
The aisle is clear. They want this moment.
Elizabeth Bathory
Thadeus, wait. They are not the whole answer. Look at the space behind them.
Elizabeth does not advance with him. She lingers near the door, torn between warning and betrayal, while Elias hangs back in visible fear.
Elias the Shopkeeper
Thadeus, I do not like this. They are expecting us.
The nearest woman lifts one hand. A hidden panel somewhere behind the pulpit clicks, and the heavy hum deepens through the stone hall.
The Woman at the Pulpit
Bring the weapon closer. If you want the truth, it starts here.
Thadeus closes on the pulpit, and the hall makes the choice plain, the women are the gate to whatever the Revenant has built, and Elizabeth is no longer safely on his side.
✓ Quest Accepted
Breach the pulpit's defenses
✓ Quest Accepted
Confront the women at the pulpit
“Can Thadeus see if the women are undead?”
NO, BUT (Likely, rolled 69)
The dim, colored light filtering through the stained glass obscures the women's features, leaving their skin tones and vitality impossible to discern. Thadeus searches for the telltale signs of the Revenant, but they remain as inscrutable as the stone walls themselves.
“Thadeus has Elias and Marla stay behind with Elizabeth, while he cautiously approaches the pulpit”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled -1)
Thadeus eases the Peacebringer down and signals for Elias and Elizabeth to hold back near the broken pews. Marla stays with them, tense and watchful, while he moves alone up the center aisle.
He keeps his steps light, shoulders low, using the dark gaps between pews as cover. The hall answers with a soft creak from somewhere above the pulpit.
Elias the Shopkeeper
Stay behind him. Don’t let her near me.
Elizabeth Bathory
He is testing the room, not charging it. Let him.
Thadeus reaches the front section without triggering the floor. The pulpit looms ahead, and the stained glass throws an EB mark across the aisle like a warning.
The Woman at the Pulpit
You made the right choice coming forward. Now look under the lectern.
Thadeus stops at the pulpit’s edge, close enough to see a seam in the wood and a hidden latch built into the base. The women behind it stay in place, but the aisle is now his.
Quest Complete
Confront the women at the pulpit
“Thadeus pauses in front of the pulpit, scanning the three women. The one in the center is wearing a gold necklace with strange markings. Thadeus sees claws protruding from her hands, similar to Elizabeth. He thinks, "she has to be a vampire, all three women must be. I have to keep some distance from them."”
SUCCESS (Fair Perception, rolled +0)
Thadeus studies the women in the red glow and catches the center one’s necklace, gold marked with tiny symbols that do not belong on church jewelry. At the same moment, the light falls across her hands, and the shape of sharpened claws shows clear against the pulpit wood.
Thadeus Jovanović
She has to be a vampire, all three women must be. I have to keep some distance from them.
The Peacebringer stays low in Thadeus’s grip, its glow sharpening the edges of the aisle while the hidden latch waits at the pulpit base. Elias flinches hard behind the broken pews, and Elizabeth’s jaw tightens as she sees what Thadeus sees.
The Woman at the Pulpit
Good. You are finally looking at the right details.
The woman on the left shifts her weight, and the woman on the right lifts one hand, claws flashing once before settling near the lectern. The stained-glass EB mark throws a red band over their shoulders.
Elizabeth Bathory
Thadeus, do not let them box you in.
Thadeus keeps his distance, square to the pulpit, now certain the front line is made of teeth and intent. The room tightens around the revealed trap, waiting for his next move.
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The pulpit answers with a sharp mechanical clack. A seam opens under the lectern, and the front steps split apart as a narrow panel slides sideways, exposing a dark slot beneath the wood.
The Woman at the Pulpit
Now. Hold him there.
The woman on the left reaches down, not for the hidden latch, but for a concealed handle under the rail. The pulpit shifts again, just enough to turn the aisle into a funnel. Elias stumbles back behind the pews, eyes wide, while Elizabeth plants herself between him and the moving wood.
Elizabeth Bathory
Thadeus, move. They are closing the floor.
Thadeus Jovanović
The pulpit is moving.
A low scrape rolls through the hall as the center platform settles into a new position, boxing the front row of pews against the aisle. Dust shakes loose from the stained glass, and the EB insignia throws a red wash across the widening gap at Thadeus's feet.
“Fearing for their safety, Thadeus lunges over the widening gap in the floor towards Elias and Marla. He forces them back towards the entrance of the church, telling them to leave. As he watches them escape, Thadeus feels a sharp pain shoot through his chest. He turns around to see Elizabeth smirking maniacally, her hand piercing his back.”
SUCCESS (Legendary Agility, rolled +2)
Thadeus drives forward off the broken line of pews, using the widening gap as a launch point. His shoulder clips the pulpit rail, but the shove sends Elias and Marla stumbling back toward the entrance.
Thadeus Jovanović
Go. Get out now.
Marla grabs Elias by the arm and pulls him toward the shattered door. Elias backs away fast, still staring at the women as if expecting the floor to move again.
The hall answers with another metallic groan. The center platform keeps shifting under the pulpit, cutting Thadeus off from the retreating pair and leaving him on the wrong side of the funnel.
Thadeus turns back to face the pulpit. The Peacebringer flares in Elizabeth’s direction, its glow harsh against the red EB light.
Elizabeth Bathory
There it is. That is the sound of the trap waking up.
A sharp pain punches through Thadeus’s back, stopping him cold. Elizabeth stands close behind him, smirking, one clawed hand buried between his shoulder blades.
Elias freezes near the entrance, horrified. Marla recoils beside him, and the women at the pulpit hold their ground as the floor keeps shifting.
“Thadeus starts to lose his balance, his strength waning with the injury, when Peacebringer begins glowing bright blue, showering the room with color. Thadeus feels a surge of energy course through him from the weapon. He starts floating in the air, trying to contain the energy, when he screams out, bright blue flames shooting out from him in the shape of a cross. The flames felt the three women in the pulpit, causing them to collapse to the floor, while Elizabeth screams and jumps away from Thadeus. Elias and Marla duck for cover behind the entrance to this unholy place.”
SUCCESS (Superb Willpower, rolled +1)
Thadeus steadies against the pain, and the Peacebringer answers in his grip. Blue light floods the aisle, washing out the red EB glow.
Thadeus Jovanović
The weapon is pulling hard.
He lifts off the floor a few inches, then higher, the force driving through him instead of past him. Dust spins in the beam around his boots.
Thadeus Jovanović
No.
A cross of blue flame bursts outward from Thadeus, slamming into the pulpit line. The Woman at the Pulpit and the two women beside her drop hard, their guard broken.
Elizabeth jerks away from him with a shout, clawed hands flinching back from the blaze. Elias and Marla duck behind the shattered entrance, shielding themselves from the flare.
The hidden mechanism groans and stalls under the shock. The funnel holds, but the pulpit defenders are down, and the opening is his.
Quest Complete
Breach the pulpit's defenses