#I think it was Izek and friends

[janamensch]

They may hate each other but they’re also best friends!! This one shot is so important to me

[pruneunfair]

If I were these villainesses lawyers and if I could convince court they are innocent. (The court in this case is the manhwa community so the guilty/innocent factor will be based on if I can convince the community they did nothing wrong)

Yvonne.

I mean this one would be easy. She was body-napped by a Leila follower so all the crimes would be charged on the follower not Yvonne, and shes been trapped in a mirror anyway so the poor girl has been going through enough. She's got a solid case to prove her innocence.

Rashta

Honestly with how much the fandom is growing to love her she's not as screwed as one might think. If anything she could have rights to sue the Rimwells for years of unpaid labor and wrongfully taking away her child. Still, murder and mutilation are crimes worthy of hating her, not to mention those who think stealing someone's man is somehow worse then that. The best I could give Rashta is probably 5 years with a chance of parole

Rhyse

I feel like we would first have a guaranteed innocent verdict but then someone would reveal evidence that she's the author and we'd be done for 😭 because that's essentially what happened to me when I read the newest chapters of NYTRS. Rhyse is probably gonna get sentenced to 30 years with no parole.

Isabella

I'm gonna look her right in the eyes as I say "you are screwed." Because I don't know how I'm going to convince the community that a pure evil villainess who killed her sisters, one of which was a child, that she is a good person deep down. I can't even say she's a good villain cause that sure as hell isn't true. Sorry Isabella but your gonna get life with no parole.

Diane

I think I could get her out.. maybe worst case scenario she gets 1-3 years since someone will probably point out she kidnapped and beat a maid for supposedly trying to seduce the Emperor. But she did kill said Emperor and redeemed herself plus she kinda drank poison and gave herself a death penalty already so I think she's already dealt her punishment.

Marianne

Normally if we were going by actual morality Marianne would get the lethal injection, but since we are going by fandom laws which are all based on "love" for a character Marianne is probably gonna just get 10 years since she's so well beloved as a villain and character and then the public is gonna get pissed that she got it easy for her long list of charges.

Soleia

Soleia is gonna be the reason the Salem witch trials come back in modern day BUT she has actual black magic so she'd probably never even show up to court but if she did best case scenario she can leave on bail since what she did was for revenge and the people she hurt were willing to drop the charges if she agreed to not relapse, the fandom likes her more then Yerenica so she's almost guaranteed an innocent verdict by fandom law.

Freya

I could probably defend her for wanting to be with Izek so badly since she was trying to escape her toxic family but unfortunately 2/3 community despise her existence and would call for life in prison. If I reallly put in the effort Freya would get 10-15 years with a chance of parole.

Sumin

I already know I'm gonna be stressing as her lawyer. She murdered her mother in-law and even before that she did that she was still mean to the FL and thats a cardinal sin in the manhwa world to be mean to the FL. She's got a backstory sure but it's extremely contrived and dumb and even if it wasn't she still had a multitude of other friends and help from others so there's really no excuse. I might love her craziness but I don't think I'm gonna talk her out of life in prison with no parole.

Cosette

Another easy innocent. She is possessed by a demon who used her body to break havoc on the world so Cosette herself is in the clear and ready to go, and if we go by the novel, Cosette is dead.. gonna be real hard to charge a dead girl for Ragibachs crimes.

Mielle

Definitely gonna fail her and at best she's gonna get 35 years for arranging Aria to be executed for basically no good reason, pushing her father down the stairs and in general being a horrible person with a superiority complex, not like she's even gonna see the light again after 35 years cause we all know Aria isn't gonna let that slide.

Dodolea

I'm not even gonna try. I'm just gonna take the money and let herself get the electric chair cause even though I like white lotuses. Dodolea is the rare case where I actually hate a character and my only good thoughts about her is that she's a fantastic villainess.

[bottleblondefeelingconned]

Thinking about og Rudbeckia again. Was Freya a kind person originally, or was snake like the one we know. Was og!Ruby bullied and harassed everyday too, with Freya pulling conniving tricks to isolate the original from everyone? Was the original Ruby more angry, more resentful of everything? Everyone expected her to act like a Borgia, did anyone believe in her at all?

Did she try to be good and kind, but Izek never listened to her like he does now in the current timeline? We know he loved her, but could the original Ruby ever really trust that love? She's used to being hit by the hand that also feeds her.

The original Ruby loved Izek, but didn't trust him. The original Izek loved Ruby, but didn't trust her.

If she can't be as good as the Omertas, if nothing she does will ever make her good in their eyes, why not embrace the ruthlessness and cruelty of the Borgias? If she fundamentally feels like she will never be embraced by heaven, why not willingly walk into hell? Absolution, salvation and redemption never came to her. Did she believe that Cesare robbed her of her purity? That because of his touches she was fundamentally damned, while he still got to be holy? The God she worships has rejected her, abandoned her. Did the crosses she wore burn her skin that she felt was tainted? Did the gazes from the holy statues and paintings felt all-too-knowing?

Ruby was damned and dirty, and Izek was good and moral. As much as she loved him, she must have hated him too. He could have saved her but he never tried too. How disgusting did she feel next to him, while he shined with goodness he never offered to her. He couldn't save her but he couldn't let her go. A man too much like his father.

Did she like Ellen? Were they friends? Ruby says she killed her, but was she telling the truth? Did she mourn her death? Or did she feel inferior? The beloved daughter and sister beloved by the dukedom, her position of the lady of the house stolen by a disgusting Borgia. Was Ellen frightened of her, the madness and despair in Ruby's eyes all too familiar of her mother's? Ellen would have always taken Freya's side, did she help her usurp Ruby's position? Did Ruby know Ellen could only be a false ally, their positions and personalities too different to be anything but threatening to the other?

We don't know anything about her either. She's only been a dream, a mirage.

Her dress is bright red and low cut. Did she twist Cesare's sin into herself? "I'm someone so desirable I can even tempt the son of the Pope." Would she rather be villain then victim? Someone that can even make holy men sin, so don't treat her lightly. The more she tried to protect herself, the more isolated she became.

Until the end, there wasn't a single person on her side.

[theheartslament]

I'm a Villainess

On nights, I find myself getting tortured by the thought of how I’m a Villain in everyone’s story. It’s a realization that came to me while reading the latest chapter of one of my favorite Webtoon novels, “How To Get My Husband On My Side”.

It’s a story about Ruby, a minor villain from a historical novel, who was destined to die at the hands of her husband, Izek. She was already trying hard to survive her dysfunctional family, but now she has to marry the man who is the enemy of her kingdom and who might eventually kill her. To survive, Ruby must convince her husband, Izek, and all his countrymen that she’s completely harmless and not the bad person or villain that everyone thinks she is. Yet, no matter how she tries to change the opinion of others, no matter how she tries to show good, they continue to find fault in her and see her as an unredeemable villain, and not someone who needs kindness and love.

(Webtoon: How To Get My Husband On My Side)

And it hit me — why am I so obsessed with reading Villainess stories? I've been reading it since I was 19, and now that I'm 26, Isekai-d Villainess trope is still a guilty pleasure. I realized that it was because I saw myself as one. A misunderstood villain. I saw myself in her because no one sees us for who we are, no one sees that we're hurting. No one understands the depth of our pain, everyone just assumes we are bad people. Even when I try to do something good for my loved ones, they'll take it the wrong way. Like Ruby, the minor villainess, I felt that no matter how I try to live my life as kindly as I can, it seems meaningless because people will always magnify my flaws and keep bringing up the mistakes that I’ve done in the past while the good deeds I’ve done for them are completely forgotten.

It was exhausting. It’s exhausting for me to prove to myself to other people that I mean no harm, even when I never had any intentions to hurt anybody. It hurts when your loved ones think so little of you, do not even give you the benefit of the doubt, and insist on believing that I’m a secretly bad person for hurting them. I’ve acknowledged my faults again and again, I cannot run from this because I’m a sinner who lives in a fallen world, but it’s disheartening when there are present issues, you’ll hear from them, again and again, the past mistakes, as if God's work in my life is fruitless. I’m unredeemable, and just deemed to be a villain in their story.

Like the villain, it hurt me too when I realized I have friends who have secret animosity towards me. I couldn't fathom how someone could call me their friend and yet all this time they had issues with me that they never addressed. I thought I was overthinking when someone would act strangely toward me, ignoring me and even treating me as if I were a competition or someone who'd steal their crush/boyfriend, despite assuring them I have no romantic interests. I was so hurt they thought so little of me! It hurt me that I was clueless. If only I knew my friend was hurting, I could have apologized and cleared up the misunderstandings and lies she thought of me. But she chose to address her issues with me to other people first while I was left clueless. Her prolonged dishonesty hurt me, God — that she'd defined me as my past self which prevented her from being honest to me. It's disheartening to be assumed that I'm a bad person and easily angered! Frustrating that she’d forgive the other, then put all the blame of her sufferings to me. If they were really my friend, they would choose to see the best in me and not make assumptions. If they were my friend, they would choose to communicate their issues with me, even if the things they tell me will hurt me and they know I might react badly to it. They would have the courage to love, be honest, and embrace my flaws. They would believe that more than my pride, I would apologize if I had to because I love them. But they chose to be dishonest, they chose not to communicate things with me, and not see me in the light. The lack of trust and communication has really caused our friendship to dwindle.

Once again, I felt like the misunderstood villain and she was the victimized heroine. Everyone thinks I'm the cause of her suffering, but not everyone knows or hears my side. They don't know how much I suffered too. I also couldn’t blame my friend for how she reacted for I’m aware of her upbringing. Something that I learned from therapy is that the triggers or conflicts we experienced as an adult are triggers from our childhood traumas.

Allow me God to express my distress that I kept to myself but like Ruby, I felt like I wanted to die. Maybe the world will be a better place for others if a villainess like me ceases to exist. Everyone simply forgets me or think ill of me. I tried my best to encourage myself and live kindly and privately, but I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that I’m an unlovable villain.

They said I shouldn’t overthink that I’m a bad person and see it as my identity, but how could I not? When they kept villainizing me and bringing up my past? It’s spiritually crippling that people are so obsessed to define me with my past, as if they’ve put me in a box and labeled me in how they prefer to see me. Is there really no good in me? But I know to myself that I’m not who they think I am. How they think of me is not within my control. It's much better to just let it go, and let them. Let them talk about me with other people. Let them think badly of me. Let them think whatever they want to. I am responsible for my actions but it's not my responsibility to change their feelings towards me.

Lord, forgive me for my sins.

There will always be people who’ll dislike me, but I know my true value and that I’m deeply loved. R.C. Sproul once said,

"When I think I'm unfairly hated, I try to remember that I'm unfairly loved."

I am unfairly loved by God and that’s more important for me to know. Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins and He rose again. And in Him, I’m a new creation;

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17).

I am also forgiven, and no longer condemned (Romans 8:1). If the world keeps a record of my past wrongdoings well God isn’t interested in it. He’s more interested in who I am now, and who I will be in the future. In God’s eyes, I have no past, only a great future. And just the thought of this, His patience and unconditional love and forgiveness that is as vast as the night sky, is a balm to my aching heart.

Don't let anybody remind you who you were. Don't allow your past, whatever that is to bring you down. God wants you to move on. He doesn't want you to dwell in it. When someone tries to remind you of your past, show them what kind of person you are today. Tell them boldly you are a new creation, a brand new treasure of the most High. You are God's special treasure. In His eyes you are significant; you are his treasure.

The scripture says in Isaiah 43:4, "Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you..." Wow! Isn't it amazing? Despite knowing your past God loves you! Even when God knows you are flawed, you are precious to Him. Let's read it one more time, "You are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you..."

Despite the anger and pain in my heart, my love was stronger and I could easily make a decision to forget and forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in me. Amy Carmichael once said;

If I say, “Yes, I forgive, but I cannot forget,” as though the God who twice day washes all the sands on all the shores of all the world, could not wash such memories from my mind, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I do not give a friend “the benefit of the doubt,” but put the worst construction instead of the best on what is said or done, then I know nothing of Calvary love. If I feel bitterly towards those who condemn me, as it seems to me, unjustly, forgetting that if they knew me as I know myself they would condemn me much more, then I know nothing of Calvary love.

The world may tell me to burn bridges and cut off those who have animosity, have hurt me, or no longer good for me, but God taught me differently. Jesus Christ didn't do that with me. He saw that I'm someone redeemable through His blood. He unfairly loved me, and I must do the same for the others. How can I profess I know God if I remained unfriendly and hostile to His children. How will I even experience a Kingdom marriage if I’m so quick to distance myself from those who hurt me, what more if it was my spouse? Will I divorce right away because I couldn’t stand his flaws? When my heart feels like it wants to be hardened, I will have to soften it again and again, till I can love my enemies. I thought I had no more love left to give. I thought that I forever turned cold like a true villain, my afflictions had no end! Misery was my companion. But when I truly learned to let go and accept everything. No more bargains and what-ifs with God. I found that my heart became lighter and overflowing. I had so much love to give that I could still care and give gifts (my love language besides time) to those who hurt me in the past. I have love all along, it never came from people but from Him.

God taught me that the purpose of my trials is not to learn things but to unlearn, and one of those is I have to unlearn turning my heart cold and burning bridges to those who are flawed. I will welcome and love every villain like me. I must build boundaries to protect myself but never condemn and cut off people. This was my common mistake before, and again and again, God brought me into the same situation til I learned to love. If I knew Calvary love, I would have to "Foster a spirit of acceptance, forgiveness, and opportunity for people to be redeemed. This will improve your relationships and give you emotional permission to experience those things yourself when others offer them to you."

My friend, don’t give up on loving people. Give the benefit of the doubt, and communicate. Don’t let built up resentment destroy your relationships.

“Relationships often die not because of conversations that were had but rather conversations that were needed but never had.”

― Lysa TerKeurst, Good Boundaries and Goodbyes

[tldr] Izek is actually a kind and patient husband to Ruby. He knew she had a past trauma and it was the biggest obstacle in their relationship. He can see she's twisted inside, that's why she seemed distant and cold, but he never took it personally. He loved her and the only thing he could do was to listen, be patient, and coax her. Even when Izek's kingdom tries to make him think Ruby is a villain, he doesn't care. He would still choose her. After 100 chapters, in these panels, Ruby finally realizes that all along, Izek truly loves and cares for her. She kept doubting him, pushing Izek away, but Izek was persistent to protect Ruby and He would always be on her side, so there was no need for her to try to get him on his side. As a misunderstood villain, her past made her feel unlovable, despicable, and unworthy to others, but Izek's love removed her veil of depression that was suffocating her to death huhu.

I really felt Ruby. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I’m lovable that I start to keep my distance from everyone who tries to get close to me. But I do desire that one day if it's God's will for me, I want to meet someone like Izek. A man or a friend with the courage to love me despite knowing my flaws and the darkness that lingers within me.

(Webtoon: How To Get My Husband On My Side)

[dinfern0]

some low-res doodles of my elf cleric Serissa for my friends homebrew campaign ft. Izek because I think they'd (absolutely not) get along <33

Serissa looks small on his shoulder but it's just because they're both huge, she's 7'4''ft (225cm) and Izek is 11'1''(340cm) also please ignore she isn't sitting on anything I did this at 6 AM!!!

[rahadaddy]

Session 35

Spoilers Ahead!

Our last two sessions have been wild. The party learned that Rictavio’s tiger had escaped. Izek Strazni, as captain of the guard, was ordering Vallakians to go inside, but he asked the warlock if she could help to heal Gunter Arasek, who he claimed had been mauled in the tiger’s escape. Theo agreed readily and followed Izek to Vallakovich manor while the rest of the party went in search of the tiger. They found (and healed) a nearly-dead Karl Wachter, who was responsible for the tiger’s escape. They left him to lick his wounds and Alistor, Tam, and the Kolyanaviches delved into the woods, where they ran into Ez and an old man they did not recognize, arguing about the tiger. The man was Dr. Rudolph van Richten, vampire hunter. Ez told the party (who she knows is traveling with Doru) that the tiger is trained to hunt vampires. Alistor and the Kolyanaviches slipped off in one direction. Tam made a false trail and persuaded Van Richten and Ez to follow it. (DM Note: Van Richten wasn’t fooled and was fairly sure, based on his understanding of the area, that they would loop around to be able to corner the vampire in question). Meanwhile, in town, Theo quickly learned that Mr. Arasek was not there, not injured, and that Izek would not let her go. He knocked her out and she awoke in his room, surrounded by dolls that looked like her, her “sisters” (other creations of the Abbot’s), and Ireena, and wearing a wedding dress. She sent her familiar (a homebrew creature called a “cherub” that is a celestial warlock response to the imp) to get Victor to help. However, Benny, the familiar, only has limited telepathy, so Victor didn’t have a better plan besides firebolting the door. 

He forgot that Theo is terrified of fire. This initiated combat and Victor and Theo took down Izek below half health. He realized he was losing and that the woman he loves did not reciprocate. In a moment of conscience, he delivered one of the most amazing final lines I’ve ever delivered, “There are no heroes in this room. Not even you, Theodora. But I want you to know that I never raised a hand to you in this fight.” And, hopes utterly destroyed, skin necrotic and burning with holy fire, he lit himself on regular fire as Victor and Theo fled. They managed to put out the fire, but not save Izek. It’s tragic because Theo and Izek really were friends. His obsession ruined it. Theo and Victor agreed they would tell people Izek died trying to save them from the fire and they went to find the rest of the party.

Alistor and the Kolyanaviches discovered the cabin in the woods, where the tiger had Doru cornered and planned an ambush on it. Alistor also had to explain tigers (and saber toothed tigers) to his bewildered boyfriend and Ireena. I don’t think Ismark was prepared for the tiger to be THAT BIG, but he and Alistor started to attack it and very nearly killed it. 

Meanwhile Tam, Ez, and Van Richten ran into some local farmers (people Tam knows in passing) leading a child in a muzzle and chains into the woods with intent to bury her neck deep and abandon her for having turned into a “vampire”. Tam corrected some of the farmers’ misconceptions while Van Richten inspected the girl. If she was a vampire, he would kill her, and if she wasn’t… 

She was a dhampir. Tam, the girl’s father, Van Richten, and Ez deliberated on what to do about this, whether she’d be better off mercy killed (Van Richten), taken to Father Lucian (Tam), or taken to Immol. As they talked, Theo and Victor crashed through the underbrush to find them and Tam persuaded the father to take his child to Immol. The group pressed on and Van Richten accidentally outed himself as Rictavio. Theo, who was already having a horrible day, had her celebrity crush dashed on the rocks as they approached the cabin and joined the fight. Victor used hypnotic pattern to hold Doru, Alistor, Ireena, and the tiger still. Ez and Tam moved the tiger, Durga, so she could be healed by Van Richten and taken away from the fight. Theo rushed to help Doru, but when he unfroze, he was gripped by bloodlust (emphasis on lust) and tried to rush the injured Alistor to feed. Theo pinned him to the wall and he started to flirt with her (his beloved fiancee) with no restraints before sinking his fangs into her throat and drinking. Van Richten Zone of Truth’d the party to find out why they were siding with the vampire. As he did that, however, the party all started asking Theo questions about why she was wearing a wedding dress, what do you mean there was a fire, etc. Theo struggled. A lot. 

Van Richten tried to leave without Ez (yet again) and she stopped him. The party began to interrogate him. Who is he? Is he really Van Richten or Rictavio? And what does he plan to do next, anyways?

“I,” Van Richten said with a grin, “am going to kill Strahd von Zarovich.”

End session. 

I am so pumped!! It was so chaotic and fun!! I have a lot of feelings about these characters - all the PCs and NPCs - and I want to see good things happen for them and for our story. It’ll probably be 2-3 weeks until we can play again, so I hope we can keep the momentum going!

[prose-priest-potentate]

There's a lot of fun symbolism and a lot of fun looping plotlines in our cos game that I just totally fell in love with man.

MOST recent on my mind is Marileina and Arabelle as morbid little best friends - like yeah, on the surface it's two girls of similar ages who meet and have similar powers and attitudes and get along like a house on fire. Love that.

But also Mari as Strahd's heir and Arabelle with direct ties to Madam Eva sort of just inheriting a better version of that relationship where technically the Zarovich royal line, the legitimate line, is integrated into the Vistani people again by this friendship between the girls instead of dangling by the aging remnants of Eva's care for her bro. And then Viktor! GOD I hated him at first and he IS awful but he's grown on me. And deciding that he's not Vargas' legitimate son???? That Lydia cheated with a Vistani man? WILD. Vargas Vallakovich who is OBSESSED with legacy and image, with a fucked up heir who causes problems politically who isn't even HIS and an orphan he picked up specifically to groom as a knee-breaker who he treats like a dog but doesn't adopt -because Izek doesn't deserve to be part of the family can you imagine?? But Izek's the one whose loyal and Viktor ruins an important marriage alliance. I just love seeing Vargas lose.

and IZEK AND VIKTOR and their budding romancing KILL me. STAKE to my HEART the symbolism isn't lost.

Viktor who runs to Krezk and meets Vasilka and just thinks she's the most interesting girl in the entire world who adores the fact that she's this brutish amalgamation of dead bodies given life, and Vasilka who has rarely met someone who didn't recoil in disgust at her, a young lady who meets a young man and they try to run away together and make a little life?! Adorable! Precious! They're going to grow together and make each other better! Viktor will learn to love and see the value in the world, and Vasilka will get to follow her dreams of adventure and curiosity!

Izek who meets a beast of a man who gives him the time of day and specifically is friendly to him when so few people (none) are, so he runs away from his obligations to Vallakai on a paper thin excuse and starts chasing down a future he didn't even know was an option.

Both of them as cruel, obsessive, vicious sons of Vallakai who meet people who want to see them grow and be loved.

Izek, who leaves behind a place that has crafted him from something bad into something worse, who then has a chance at a happily ever after laid out in front of him on gilded tableware; he gets his little sister back, inherits a step-brother along with her, ends up with two or three unlikely and very annoying friends that adore him, and ultimately will 1.) get his soul and 2.) see even his sitting foster-ish-brother Viktor doing better and having a second chance too.

There's just an ENTIRE generation of young people set to inherit the ashes of the world and build it back up and it's beautiful and I love it and I always wanted them to turn into this extensive dysfunctional family where they don't always see each other but Viktor and Vasilka send Christmas cards, Mari and Arabelle get their own little spin-off of high school slice of life, and Izek and Ismark get to settle down in positions as noblemen and finally have some say in their own damn lives.

[bataranqs]

5 Happy Things

July 10, 2024

saw a friend today and had a lovely time <3

one friend cancelled today and i really needed that. we rescheduled so i still get to see her so it's a win with no losses

"how to win my husband over" how izek loves his mom and believes that she will become a ghoul, so he becomes a paladin. how he is willing to kill every spectre with her face so long as he can see her face. he becomes the brightest thing in the world bc he loved the darkest. GUYSSSS

my genshin impact notebook hehe it makes me so happy to think that i have it!! and i use it!! ahh i love it

it rained today and i got to walk home in the rain!! i love rainy days, they're always such a pleasant surprise. what joy to see a drop splash against the windowsill, or to see it trickle slow down the glass, or to hear it patter gentle on your wall. loveliness all around

[tea-with-eleni]

Hello hubris my old friend...

A little disturbed that Vasili von Holtz's initial gambit of introducing my players to Fiona Wachter before they met Vargas Vallakovich is playing out so well for him. I think they're going to do in both Izek Strazni and Vargas if they can, give Fiona's revolution a real kick in the butt. They don't know about the cult. They don't know the extent of her loyalties. They're pretty sure they're in control of the situation in Vallaki.

I should point out that my players have figured out Vasili von Holtz's deal, yeah.

They also have decided that because Ludmilla Vilisevic was seen in the Blue Water Inn that the inn is now fatally compromised and they should live in Leomund's Tiny Hut in the woods.

Even though they only know about the inn because Vasili von Holtz suggested that they stay there. And helped them get rooms. And met Ireena there multiple times.

So anyway, Ludmilla's plan to hurry Fiona Wachter's revolution along tomorrow will most likely have an opening number by my players. I firmly expect Vallaki to be much more effectively under Strahd's direct control by sundown tomorrow. Dinner invitations to follow.

The only wrinkle might be that they've straight up told Victor they're gonna try to murder his father. They've also given him several hours' head start.

[astral-dragons]

OH SHIT OKAY TIME TO SHARE WHAT HAPPENED LAST SESSION (adding a read more for this one because its A LOT):

I added a short addendum to our last session, which was that Victor and Izek did not in fact join the party at the Abbey (at least not immediately), wanting to go to the town of Krezk instead.

So we started with a little "Meanwhile" of what was going on with Fenro and Dimitry while the other two were gone looking for the dress. The Abbot pulls Fenro aside and asks to try a few things he thinks might cure his curse. He tries Remove Curse, but nothing happens leaving him with the conclusion that whatever Fenro has, it isn't a curse. He thinks it may in fact be a parasite of some kind, attaching itself to a host and feeding off of it.

The Abbot offers to cast Commune for Fenro and let him speak to the Morninglord in the hope that maybe he can get some answers. Fenro's asked his three questions

Q: Is this thing a parasite?

A: A shaky yes

Q: Can I stop it?

A: Uncertain

Q: Is there any chance I might hurt the people around me?

A: A definite yes, followed by a burning raging bright light

With the final answer, Fenro is lead to the conclusion that whatever he is speaking to, it's not the Morninglord. He later goes to Dimitry to ask about the Gods here, and Dimitry obliges with what information he knows. He tells of the Morninglord and Mother Night, as well as their general domains. The answers only serve to make Fenro more uneasy.

The next morning arrives and Sylviel and Marcus with it. While everyone is sitting around eating breakfast, there is a knock on the Abbey doors, and Dimitry answers, letting the team Vallaki back in after their adventure. They present the dress to the Abbot whose very grateful, and takes Vasilka to try it on.

Sylviel relays the story of what had occured in Vallaki, and almost as if on cue, there is a knock at the doors of the Abbey; it's Victor and Izek, looking defeated and desperate they ask to come in. The party allows them to enter and Izek immediately freezes as he steps inside, locking eyes with Ireena.

A long silence follows, and as Izek attempts to take a step towards Ireena Ismark springs up from his seat, preparing to draw his sword, "Try me," he threatens, but Sylviel jumps between the two to stop the fight before it starts. Izek tries to explain himself, but even he seems incapable of understanding whats going on or who Ireena is to him; he tells them he remembers Ireena's name and her face, and the scarf that he gave her a long time ago, the same one she wears now. Ireena gets up to leave, uncertain how to deal with this information and Fenro follows not far behind.

He finds Ireena in the courtyard, looking to be on the verge of tears, and sits with her. Ireena confesses that she too recognized Izek but had no memory of who he was to her. She thinks they may be related, recalling her vague memories of being adopted by Kolyan Indirovich, but she worries what that would mean for her relationship with Ismark

As an adopted child himself, Fenro empathizes with her fears, and tells her that if Izek is related to her, that she just has one more family member. She thanks him for the comfort, and though she's still not quite ready to face Izek yet, is able to quell her fears.

Meanwhile the rest of the party has a very awkward breakfast in which Ismark keeps a very close eye on Izek and a hand on his sword, just in case. Sylviel doesn't help, attempting to cast Sending to contact a family friend from outside Barovia, Ramsley. With a few remarkably good rolls, the message goes through, Sylviel leaving Ramsley more concerned and confused.

The day goes on, and at one point the Abbot pulls Fenro aside wanting to ask him about something: alone. Fenro is uneasy, but follows anyway. The Abbot tells Fenro of his predicament. Vasilka is so close to being ready for Strahd, but there is still one thing she is missing: the eyes. And Fenro's would be perfect for her.

Fenro hesitates, and asks the Abbot what would happen if he said no, "I would hope that you wouldn't," is his reply. After further coaxing from the Abbot, Fenro turns down the deal, "Very well, if you're going to stay stuck in your selfish ways, I will have to take them by force" AND CAST HOLD PERSON ON FENRO. Abbot fight next session? Perhaps... Bonus out of context quotes for the week:

"Do NOT sit on the demon table!!!"

"DON'T SUMMON A DEMON ON THE DEMON TABLE"

"Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like the Morninglord" "Again, WHAT DID SAY--"

[survivors-of-barovia]

6 & 7 (for the Curse of Strahd asks) :)

(that's favourite and least favourite NPCs)

Sonntam (Lady Arisa):

6. I mean, for me that always depends on what is my flavor of the week. It used to be Ireena, Sasha, Richten... right now it's Argynvost, just because he is cute. And a dragon. That always helps.

7. Strahd. I honestly roll my eyes anytime he appears.

Madonna from Space (Paelias):

6. This is a tough question! Honestly, as a player I really love almost everyone because every single NPC has so much character and flavor, even the assholes! But in the end, those the dearest to my heart are the ones my PC is very close with, which are Illyria and Kasimir! But as a player, I find Strahd, Rahadin and Patrina extremely entertaining. Even if my PC hates them. But, you know.

7. I think the most hated NPC among the players is Vargas. For my PC it's Strahd and Rahadin who off'ed his family (rip)

Lokuro (Vincent):

6. Is 'all of them' a legit answer? But if I had to single out a few of those gems, I personally (the player, Lokuro) have a weak spot for The Abbot and Clovin. Especially the corrupted angel is my precious darling who did nothing wrong. EVER :3 My PC, Vincent, enjoys mostly the company of his long-lost brother Alex (formerly known as Izek) and Ezmerelda (so badass!). With special mention of his slime!friend Giselle who might one day become a real not-a-girl.

7. Vargas. It was a joy slapping killing him, and both I and my PC have zero regrets. 11/10 would do it again.

[oh-atlas]

cos session recap – the sun festival

the sun festival begins with bombastic results & the party goes toe to toe with strahd in the church of st. andral. 

song of the session: blood by the dear hunter

we open session with what ophelia got up to all night and a constitution saving throw: ophelia passes and doesn't take a point of exhaustion. She doesn't spot much until she's near the inn and sees a figure in the alley, looking up at one of the windows. Ireena's window. Ophelia gets up on a roof and perches like a gargoyle to observe Izek for the few hours he's there; she notices that he looks confused and frustrated, oddly vulnerable for a paid guard and a bully. She doesn't confront him and lingers until he leaves. 

we learn from menetrien that the bones are being moved back to vallaki-- there's something going down at the festival today.

everyone gets to enjoy a nice fancy festival breakfast. ophelia is slightly dejected that she can no longer enjoy sun festival pastries. she doesn't get the temporary hp the rest of the party gets from the meal (this was a choice i made)

at the festival, ophelia and ireena get to enjoy a brief moment of whimsy and ireena convinces ophelia to go try axe throwing. ophelia does a pretty solid job and wins a wolf plushie for ireena. 

they also talk about luce. ireena tiptoes around outright saying she and luce hooked up before (ophelia already knows but does not say that), ireena corroborates that as far as she knows, luce is there because she wants to be. she told luce when she left, but didn't tell her why she was leaving. ophelia got the sense that it was hard enough to actually leave, much less explain why. 

ireena also says "i don't know but if you need-" which i forget the complete context to but ophelia rolled a high enough insight check to realize ireena thinks she's messed something up for ophelia. but also ireena girl finish that sentence 😳

ophelia promptly starts blushing and stammering: "we were just friends. until stuff happened– not that kind of stuff, death stuff." ireena rolls a nat19 insight on that ☠️

the gals awkwardly rejoin the group when flare gets a message from lady wachter. she's holding a protest of vallakovich's leadership in the square and is trying to see if the party will take her side and back her. 

we go to the square-- vallakovich gives his funny lil speech and then sets fire to a giant effigy of strahd. wachter starts to challenge him and claims the party supports her (even though we HAD not promised her that), tensions rise in the square with the mob and vallakovich's guard. at the worst moment possible, when the crowd is just thrumming heartbeats and anger, someone jostles ophelia and she snaps. 

she rips off her mask (note: her mask is gone gone now for the rest of the campaign, trampled under the crowd) and bites the old man that bumped into her, dealing enough damage to kill him instantly & my dm specifically said the blood splattered onto a horrified ireena. win #1: i finally got to go vampage mode

the mob and soldiers start attacking each other and at the same time, rictavio's sabertooth tiger barrels into the square mauling people, and out of the flaming effigy of strahd, emerges the brides, each with fire shield protecting them, declaring they will send the strength of the lord of the land to aid the good people of vallaki. 

we roll initiative and this is where the recap might jump around a little bit and be a little less thorough. there was a ton of shit going on and i didn't really have the time to take notes; the tension was so high. 

ophelia nearly instantly gets subtle spell enemies abound cast on her and loses the ability to tell who people are. everyone looks like a threat to her, they've all transformed into her worst nightmares. ireena grabs her by her shirt and asks her what are you doing? and to ophelia-- it's not ireena. it's strahd. it's at that moment i realized i had been set up so perfectly to do the one thing i was afraid would happen in an ophelia vampage scenario. on ophelia's turn i was asked to go all out and make a bite attack against ireena and inmis. so i did. 

"hey does ireena count as undead in the context of rite of the dawn?" *silence* "i've been hoisted by my own petard." win #2: i got to figure out more of ireena's weird maybe-vampirism undead shenanigans ☠️

ophelia snapped to her senses for one second, realizing who she bit and begged ireena to please get as far away from her as she could and tried to break ireena's grapple. ophelia rolled a nat1. 

kregga starts going after wachter's guards and ends up fighting anastrasya in the most flirtatious barbarian battle. good for them. 

coco and flare were up to the most battle couple shenanigans and coco got to snipe the concentration out of ludmilla, ending enemies abound and also conceal rictavio in a cloud of darkness so he wasn't ganked by the mob. 

inmis casts calm emotions in an area centered on the mob that also catches ophelia.

at the end of the first round vampire spawn surround the outskirts of the square. (my dm moves are being stolen and used against me, i love it.) we also realize there are several sabertooth tigers in town (wildshaped druids) and the one attacking people is unarmored. it's not rictavio's tiger.

ophelia gets control of herself a bit and ireena asks HER if she's okay while rolling a nat20 to no look stab anastrasya after she took 15 points of damage from ophelia biting her. ophelia nods, ya'know, like a liar, and ireena lets go of her and spins around to help kregga out. 

ophelia books it the opposite direction and guns for ludmilla, dealing quite a chunk of damage before volenta hits her with two eldritch blasts and yanks her off the roof. for the second time this campaign ophelia was knocked unconscious not by the actual damage of the spell that was cast on her but from the fall damage she took ☠️

wachter manages to slip out of the fray at the same time red lightning starts to crackle above vallaki, and strikes, instantly incinerating the baron. (izek stepped back and did NOT save his boss). horse girl strahd appears in the sky on her flaming horse bucey and delivers an unhinged speech: "People of Vallaki for too long you have labored under this tyrant. There is only one ruler of Barovia. Only one god worth praying to. Only one worth following in these times. Once again I am here to liberate you." Spoiler Alert: She Does Not Do That which makes this speech so funny to read in retrospect. Evil Wife 😔

we spot that she has the party's bag of holding with the bones in it and she starts riding through the air towards the church. the party gets to give chase. rictavio tosses a healing potion at ophelia's head and that's how she regains consciousness. i love him and i love my pathetic vampire covered in so much blood, healing potion juice, and shards of glass. 

when we get to the church, zelma, the priestess that was super nice to ophelia and thought she was a paladin, was dead, held in a dip in strahd's arms (the exact fucking pose that ophelia was in when strahd bit her at ravenloft). 

strahd had another villain monologue about how lathander is a false god and she's going to destroy luce andral's bones, i didn't remember to write this one down but this one is ALSO super funny because she KNOWS lathander is not a false god she is fucking someone who talks to him on the reg. 

anyways it is at this point, i think: we're fucked. we're so fucked i'm not going to be able to protect luce andral's bones and it is going to crush ophelia. this is so sexy but so sick and twisted and evil. i'm obsessed.

and then the following happens.

coco has an absolutely insane slight of hand check to yoink the bag from strahd and pass it off to ireena. ireena runs downstairs to where the altar is and doesn't know how to put them in the right positions. she calls upstairs and asks ophelia for help.

strahd legendary action appears right at the top of the staircase next to ophelia.

kregga tries to grapple strahd twice and fails.

ophelia disengages instead of going at strahd, who has orchestrated something she knows would make ophelia incredibly upset, and the only reason i chose to do that over going after strahd was because the party needed ophelia's help. she's the one who knows about lathander. ophelia books it downstairs and i only have a +3 to religion. there's not a high chance I can actually do much. I roll a natural 18, total 21, and anyone trying to put the bones on the altar the correct way will have advantage to as long as ophelia's conscious. 

strahd gets down there yoinks the bones back from ireena

our bard tumbles down the stairs and tries to get them but fails the slight of hand.

barbarian gets downstairs and makes two more grapple checks against strahd. on the last one, she successfully grapples strahd.

coco rolls a nat20 to yoink the bones back from strahd and then another nat20 while going unconscious from an legendary action from strahd to toss them to ireena

on her turn strahd tries to cast fireball centered on herself which could've knocked at a good chunk of our party. i make the 50/50 gamble to bat the spell out of her hands with spell sunder and hit the exact DC on the dice and prevent strahd from exploding us all. 

ophelia tries to run next to ireena to get to the table so i could use my action to lay the bones down correctly but i took enough damage from the opportunity attack that when strahd grabbed and restrained ophelia with a claw attack, she dropped. 

flare is up and uses her bonus action to healing word ophelia, and has advantage to place the bones correctly. DC: 20. she has a +2 to religion. she rolls an 18 on the dice. 

the bones are placed and blinding light fills the room. strahd is forcibly shunted from vallaki and ophelia, who was just getting to her feet, is promptly back unconscious, all of her veins glowing bright white. and that's where we ended session.

[vancekilo]

Curse of Strahd Liveblog #3

Strahd Tree! The one with a tree!

Aspen the ??? Ranger

Ignacia the Aasimar Hexadin (aka me!)

Nadja the ??? Artificer

Stranger the ??? Rogue

NIGHTSKY the ??? Druid!

Yes, we have a new party member! She's played by a good friend of mine and I'm happy to see her. Unfortunately the other person who was going to join was unable to but 5 is an even number. I think.

Anyway.

The party decide to go to Blinsky's to check out the weird doll. I think my assumptions for this were way off?? I thought it was Strahd's main squeeze who was the doll but turns out, Izek, the Baron's righthand man is the one requesting the dolls. We all tried very hard to avoid calling him a pedophile and mostly succeeded.

After that, we went to the inn and saw our wereraven friend Miriel and a brand new very tall very cool lady, NIGHTSKY. You gotta type it in all caps. Stranger is kind of obsessed with becoming a Were and I got to have a very fun moment pointing out that since she has no memories of her past, she has no idea if she's already a wereraven.

Cue existential crisis over bad wine and decent soup.

Ignacia makes a big deal out of getting a bath, to the point of paying the innkeeper a whole gold piece for it. Time will tell if like my other characters, Ignacia is a bit of an exhibitionist. (My lawyer told me I have to state this is a joke).

The group, along with NIGHTSKY, decide to head back to the Baron's house. Stranger wants to Mission Impossible her way into the upper floors, so NIGHTSKY and Aspen stand watch in the trees outside (told ya) and Nadja and Ignacia distract Izek by asking about the pies.

Well, beyond finding a man in a loincloth chained up in the Baron's house, Stranger finds something very interesting: our first combat encounter! We kicked ass! The Baron, 2 mastiffs and Izek down for the count. But not the Count. I think?

The majority of this session was the intro of NIGHTSKY, a lengthy discussion on whether the Baron is gay, and the combat. But tune in next time where something else is likely to happen!

[lexicals]

So, a not-so-short summary of the last few strabo sessions (If you're playing curse of strahd and not blocking my strabo tag some of this does contain campaign spoilers!):

The party reach vallaki with ireena in tow. They spend One Whole Night there, decide that it's not nearly good enough for their special girl, and endeavour to leave bright and early the next morning

Ireena, despite being the reason they want to get going so fast, digs her heels in. This town is obviously suffering, and she wants to do at least one good thing here before they move on (partially because I don't want my level 4 party wandering into a lv6 area just yet lmao)

The party say "oh my god FINE" and agree to go see the baron to try to get him to release the poor people he's got locked in the stocks for no reason

On the way out, they bump into rictavio. The evening before, they were sniffing around his wagon and realised there was something alive in there, so they decide to grill him about it

Rictavio is evasive and tells them not to worry about it. It becomes the party's new purpose in life to go see what's in the mystery wagon

They basically bully rictavio into letting them look inside the wagon. They are satisfied with this result, and then realise that they were being watched the whole time

They chase down the spy, and then proceed to have a long discussion about what to do with him while the dwarven monk sits directly on his chest to keep him on the ground. They decide that the best option is to put him in the town stocks, and when ireena asks if the guards won't notice an extra person, decide to swap him out with one of the people already in there

Somehow, they manage this without the guards noticing. The same cannot be said for literally every other townsfolk in the square

Having stashed their man, they now have a new man to decide what to do with. After initially just turning him loose, they feel bad for him and decide to escort him to the church

Father lucien agrees to keep him there as long as he can, and also says "heyyyy while you're here, don't suppose you can get these super important magic bones back for me?"

The party say "ugh fineeeee"

They bully the teenage groundskeeper into telling them what he did with the bones, and he points them at the local coffin maker, henrik, who our monk already happens to have beef with because he wouldn't let him buy woodcarving tools from him

They go to henrik's house. They kick down the door. Henrik says "oh man yeah you got me, bones are upstairs. There's vampires up there btw"

The party says "AHEM IREENA WHY DON'T YOU STAY DOWN HERE OKAY. BACK IN A MINUTE."

They search the first floor. There are several human-sized boxes up there. Helpfully, a spectral glowing drawing of a sun appears above one of them, and a drawing of a skull appears above another four

The party says "cool, now we know where the vampires are!"

And smashes

One of the boxes

With a skull on it

Predictably, all hell breaks loose. The bard loses half his health in a single attack. They soon realise that none of the damage they're doing to these things is sticking. Everything is going great

Having realised that things are not in fact going great, we start the next session with a new goal: get the fuck out of here

The rogue zooms across the room to the correct box and grabs the bones. Everyone else starts to leg it, except the poor monk, who can't get out of his grapple. Fortunately, one of the vampires seems to have a sudden change of heart and starts attacking the others. Unfortunately, it fails to release the monk from the grapple. I start preparing funeral rites for him.

Some well-used paladin spells result in three turned vampires and one freed monk. The party promptly get the fuck out of there, but stop to thank their new friend, vampire #2, who says they'll hold the rest of them off as long as they can

They get back downstairs. The monk decides the only sensible option is to set fire to the house. Some other party members feel that henrik doesn't quite deserve to burn alive, and try to convince him to leave, but he doesn't really care enough. Ever the pragmatist, ireena just picks him up and slings him over her shoulder

Weirdly, this is the second time my party has fled a burning house heavily injured and carrying a bunch of old bones. I ponder what this could mean

There's some brief discussion. Two of the party decide to run the bones back to the church with ireena and henrik, while the other three insist on staying behind to ensure the vampires burn with the house. This is a great plan.

The ireena group manages to make their way through back alleys towards the church without being seen kidnapping an old man, but in the end decide to follow their possibly-friendly raven acquaintance and end up at the inn

The group at the house see three of the vampires break through the roof, realise that they're unbothered by the minimal daylight, and promptly think "oh shit" and make a run for it. The house is fully on fire, and going by the screaming, friendly vampire #2 didn't make it

They see some guards. They try to turn and fight alongside the guards. The monk is reduced to 1hp (thanks to some clutch healing and a VERY lucky damage roll), and their new friends are slaughtered in seconds. More guards, including that one big scary guy, are on their way, and they decide to just make a run for it

They're also shepherded to the inn, and that's where we left it. I now have to resolve the fight between a dozen town guards and three vampire spawn. This takes me one whole hour

(If you are one of my players stop reading here 💕)

The guards do not fare well. They do their best, but in the end izek and the single surviving guard, guard #8, decide to fall back. Izek does manage to crit fireball (not Fireball, but close enough) one of the spawn to death, but the others give chase

Guard #8 runs out of steam and is overrun. I mourn her passing 😔

Izek manages to get to the baron's mansion and barricade himself inside. We'll see how that goes for him

Final count: 9 guards dead, 2 mortally wounded and keeping their heads down having fled the fight, 2 barbecued vampire spawn, and 1 flaming coffin shop that my random roll for wind direction determined has not spread to the nearby houses just yet

Somehow, it is not yet midday

[barovian-dawn-seekers]

How many times did your party go to Castle Ravenloft? Some of our party members have been there once so far, some have gone twice, and one has never been. How? Well, some characters are bad about splitting from the party. Here I'll talk about the first trip to Ravenloft, where Mistake became a permanent addition to the party. And where Strahd received a hug. The first trip to Ravenloft; - A mysterious cloaked figure (later discovered to be Strahd himself, whom none in the party had met yet) stopped the group on their way to the Wizard of Wines and presented them with a dilemma. The ravens needed their help dealing with the druids, yes, but Ireena was on her way to turn herself over to Strahd for the sake of them. She thought perhaps if she gave into him she could provide them various protections. The solution? Yavis, having made her promise to Urwin and having fewer attachments to Ireena, was going to the winery. Nemissa, scared of losing Yavis, was going to the winery. Armory wanted to protect Ireena but was not one for splitting up; he needed to protect his group first and foremost. Friend of Foe decided; split the party. He argued without them he would be able to possibly catch her before she got to Ravenloft, being that he was so fast on foot. So long as she didn't have a horse, and to his knowledge she didn't. Plus he could swing by the Vistani camp and insist on borrowing a horse. Luvash had told them after all that he still owed them greatly for saving Arabelle. Knowing they could not stop him, the party allowed Friend to make a dash for the Vistani camp while they went on to have an arguably worse time than he did. Horse borrowed, Friend was able to meet Ismark outside of Vallaki. For.... reasons that might be described another day, the party was currently fugitives of Vallaki. The two took a shortcut through a small section of the woods, willing to take some risks to catch up since Ireena had a large lead on them. In the woods they come across a horse that belonged to the party, stolen from Martikov's stables. Stuck in a tree above the horse was a girl. No, a Warforged. She was assisted down, and after short talk she joined the party to Ravenloft. They did not catch Ireena on the way. Instead, not far from the castle itself, they ran into Izek. While not on friendly terms, Friend already knew why Izek sought Ireena, even if he himself didn't. Friend offered for him to join them, at least for now. So how do a 7 ft tall cat, a basic as fuck human, a Warforged, and a brick shithouse of a human with a demon arm get into Ravenloft? There's a broken window. Friend and Mistake are able to climb up and send a rope down to the others. They do not know it at the time, but the majority of Strahd's forces are all the way at Yester Hill. As such, with a few.... adventures they make it to Strahd's study, where Ireena and Strahd are talking. Strahd, oh so grand benevolent ruler that he is, offers to let her friends walks away unharmed if they leave. Obviously they refuse, Strahd threatens to end it all there. And probably should have. But refusing to shut his mouth, Friend put together why it was that he didn't want to leave and what it would take for him to agree to leave; Ireena had to WANT to be there. I could not remember all his words, as this was early enough in our campaign that I was not recording, but I was able to summarize the talk they had and commissioned this comic based on it. Amazing to think everyone else almost died to a tree around this time.

[rahadaddy]

CoS ask game: 3 and 19, (for either or both games!)

CoS DM Questions | Accepting!

Spoilers!!

3. What did your players do with Doru?

Remix: The question of Doru Donavich was a tense one out of character. I mentioned earlier that when my players set out to explore Barovia, I allowed each of them up to two characters to play and that the game started with three players. We had a fighter, a rogue, a paladin, a cleric, and a druid. The druid’s player was the only one who opted not to have two characters. The party was able to mist-walk into Barovia using a talisman her husband (a time-traveling Victor Vallakovich/Mad Mage) had given her: a ring, which supplied a small fountain of (his) blood. She used the blood to draw a sigil so the party could follow him into this land. Upon arrival, they reached Barovia Village and its church. It wasn’t long before they discovered Doru. The druid was a cryptozoologist, for lack of a better term. She studied monsters and felt a lot of empathy for them. She decided that she would use the ring, which supplied blood, to feed Doru. And feed Doru. And meal prep for Doru. I told her out of character that I had mechanics for how often she could do that and that continuing would have consequences. She didn’t like that those consequences included potentially killing her character’s husband. There was a whole dispute over it; we ended up with two players and four characters. However, because my players don’t like loose ends, our paladin took it upon himself to let Doru know that the Abbot of Krezk might be able to fix his predicament later on in the game. Doru was last seen booking it through the Svalich Woods, in search of the Abbey of St. Markovia. The end.

Blood Countess: What hasn’t the party done with Doru? I kid, but only a little. The warlock, Theo, allowed Doru to feed from her and they became friends, bonding over being monsters (reborn and vampire spawn), their devotion to the Morning Lord, and their desire to make the world a better place. They fixed up the Barovian church and started writing letters back and forth. Donavich was supposed to get animal blood for Doru and it seemed to work for a while. The letters were consistent and friendly, a little flirty. Doru had a crush on Theo he didn’t think was reciprocated. Then, to avoid a marriage proposal from Izek Strazni, Theo claimed Doru was her fiance. She wrote to him to propose and his consent was a little too feral, a little too horny. It was great. Lucian thought it was a little suspicious and Theo confessed that Doru was a vampire spawn. Lucian tried to forbid her from seeing him but… well… he loves his daughter and a Nat 20 will persuade even a persistent father to side with true love. True love that, of course, Theo also has for Stella Wachter. Stella, who is engaged to Victor Vallakovich. Victor, who is so ride or die for Theo he HAS to meet her fiance. The party eventually schleps back to Barovia Village once they find out Doru is the last “living” descendant of one of the revanants of Argynvostholt and they have to tell Sir Robern’s story to him so Sir Robern can rest. It turned into a chaotic group trip in which Ismark almost died protecting Stella, who also almost died from just having a noble statblock. Victor got lectured about war crimes. They met Doru because he was crawling on the roof of Kolyanavich Manor, trying to get someone to invite him in and Tam (our ranger) wouldn’t take the horror movie bait. He and Victor settled into comfortable bickering and excited conversation. Stella thinks he’s sweet. Theo is even more in love. A few comments about how Theo and Victor share everything, including fiancees, later, and something called Vallakicule was formed. Ez saved the party’s butts from a Strahd-orchestrated detour and a druid attack and now Stella is not allowed on more trips outside Vallaki just for fun, Doru is in hiding in a cabin in the woods for his own safety, and Victor and Theo are home. Except, well, Rictavio’s tiger escaped. Unbeknownst to the party, the tiger was trained to hunt vampires, so Ez is trying to stop Van Richten from killing Doru on Theo’s behalf and the party went on a wild chase, looking for this tiger and Doru. Doru, upon seeing Theo flirted with her and took a big ol’ bite out of his fiancee’s neck. That’s juuuust before we ended last session. I wanna know where they plan to keep Doru! I’ll be curious to see and I’ll keep y’all posted!

19. Who is your party's fated ally? Did they successfully meet? How do they feel about your party?

Remix: It’s rare that Remix is more controversial than Blood Countess. Oh, well. Their original fated ally was Ireena. It was more-or-less fine, but I screwed myself over. I made it so that Tatyana’s soul and Ireena’s soul were housed in the same body - the lore was muddy on my part, and that’s my fault for misunderstanding the module and then sticking to my guns - so when the party reached the pool in Krezk, part of Ireena’s soul went away forever: the part that was “the devil’s bride”. That left the party… ally-less. But they were having some weird experiences with Rahadin. For one thing, he fell head-over-feet for the party’s rogue, Scout. For another, he just kept showing up. Partially because he was in love with Scout and partially because he was a lot of fun to play. In a tarokka reading with Ezmerelda, I had her reveal that the freeing of Tatyana’s soul opened up a pathway for other souls to be redeemed and that if they sought him out, Rahadin could be brought to their side to betray his brother. The party went for it. It was one of my favorite things. Rahadin and Scout’s love story continues to live rent free in my brain. I just. Oof. It was so good. 

Blood Countess: The party’s fated ally this time is Ireena. I’m gonna get it right. The Pool of the White Sun and I are due for a rematch.