#i: gulthias staff

[empresstress13]

I have made a song parody of Scared Wired Little Guys’ “Come to Australia”.

Except it’s “Come to Barovia”….

Vampire, Werewolf, Ghost, Arcanaloth Revenant, Zombie, and a coven of Hags. Tree blight, and the Gulthias staff That curses you when you pick it up! 

Come to Barovia! You're probably going to be killed!

Your life's constantly under threat; Have you been bitten yet? You're only got 3 seconds left Before total exsanguination.

Vampire, Werewolf, Ghost, Arcanaloth Revenant, Zombie, and a coven of Hags. Baba Lysaga just waiting for you to go walking towards the Berez ruins! 

Come to Barovia!  You're probably going to be killed! Your blood is sure to be spilled! With fear your hearts will be filled, Because you're probably going to be killed!

[mx-lamour]

Ezra will remember this.

Incidentally, our most homoerotic moment of the campaign.

It's well before the dinner at Ravenloft. Our party keeps moving farther westward, on a jaunty little trail of side quests, and we've met the Martikovs. We've cleared the winery, in perhaps record time, our bard and Ezra having disguised themselves as Strahd and Rahadin and successfully manipulated a creepy staff out of so-and-so's hands, bidding them to leave.

We found out about three gemstones that had once been hidden in the winery, and started off to find them. The first, we knew, would be with the druids, who were about to conduct some kind of ritual. So we raced to the old grove to stop them, hoping to run ahead of the reinforcements we'd just inadvertently sent their way.

We made it in good time. The staff we'd usurped worked well to our advantage, but it was still a hard fight--actually one of our first, I think, beyond the ghost house. We'd managed to talk and side-step our way through much of Barovia thus far.

Fire blazed on a tall effigy of Strahd von Zarovich, throwing light and shadow across the grove in hypnotic contrast. In the distance, still too near for comfort, the Gulthias tree groaned into malevolent sentience, crawling heavily on roots like twisted knees, furrowing the earth, swinging club-like branches down like spiny fists on anyone within its reach.

We fought on all sides, battling the druids, throwing what little we had at the Gulthias tree to slow its approach. And then Ezra spotted it: that first gem, in the heart of the fire. He worked to tear the effigy down, faster than it could burn on its own.

Though there was no rain, thunder rolled through the sky. Lightning flashed, out-shining the blaze in a strobe of stark white. We glanced up at the night sky and knew terror.

Strahd von Zarovich, set with a dire countenance the likes of which we'd not yet witnessed, on a dark horse with burning mane and flaring nostrils, descended from the storm.

We had seen versions of Strahd, before this. Met caricatures and disguises of an origin we could not yet understand. But this, immediately, we knew: This was the true Lord of Barovia. Our blood ran cold, faces pale as the lightning that flashed again, washing out the landscape and throwing us just as quickly back into errant darkness. Death was imminent.

When Strahd landed, sliding deftly from the nightmare's back, a glint of metal reflecting firelight as he drew his sword, it was the druids whose fate he sealed, not ours.

Shocked, but unwilling to question it, we used the reprieve to our advantage.

The effigy finally crumbled, the gemstone tumbling down in the midst of hot embers and broken kindling. Strahd and Ezra both moved toward it. Ezra reached it first. But as he stood, Strahd caught him in his gaze.

The surrounding battle fell away. Strahd reached toward him. "May I see that?" he asked, voice low and sure.

Ezra's hand trembled as he held the gemstone aloft. It was an orange crystal, the size of his heart, with an intricate weave of thin roots that seemed to have sprouted somehow from inside of it. A seed.

"What do you intend to do with it?"

Ezra felt ill; the whole time they've been here, he's been out of his depth. "I don't know," he confessed. "I hadn't thought that far ahead." He searched Strahd's face for answers. "What do you intend to do with it?"

"I wish to keep it safe, from the hands of those who would misuse it. Can you think of a safer place than with me?" His hand was still open to Ezra. Patient. Expectant.

Ezra thought. But the only thing of clarity he found in his reflection was that Strahd von Zarovich, who was ancient, who was the land, who was, if nothing else, a powerful general residing in a fortress--In a way that felt both brutal and humbling, Strahd was...

He was safe.

In a daze like enlightenment, Ezra walked across the embers. He held the crystal out to Strahd.

With only a flicker of movement, like the lick of a flame, Strahd had taken it from him. Ezra felt his presence reappear close behind. Strahd's head dipped over Ezra's shoulder. Ezra leaned into the sensation, as though he were falling. His feet were warm. The ground glowed orange around them. In a moment of utter calm, he bared his throat...

Strahd did not bite. Ezra dared to worry a moment that his blood might be wrong. But Strahd also placed the crystal back into his hand. "Remember this," he said, close to Ezra's ear.

Yes. Ezra would remember.

Then Strahd stepped away, and Ezra fumbled again with uncertainty. He groped for meaning. "Why?"

"I assume you would like to help your friends."

It wasn't what he'd meant. Sluggishly, Ezra turned his gaze back to the others, still fighting. "Friends." An unfamiliar word on his breath. The bard, injured, saw him and gestured madly at the Gulthias tree.

"The seed was used to animate the Gulthias tree," Strahd's even voice prompted. "What do you think you should do with it?"

With a last glance at the stoic figure of Strahd von Zarovich, Ezra turned, and hurried toward his companions. Perhaps Strahd expected him to destroy the seed. Ezra would not have dreamed of it.

With some effort, Ezra located the tether of magic connecting crystal to tree. "Halt!" he commanded it, and for a brief moment, the Gulthias tree obeyed. It ceased all movement, just long enough for the barbarian to rip the blade of his dark sword through its mangled maw. Severed at last, the top of the tree came crashing down.

The lightning stopped. An absence of thunder.

Strahd, too, had gone. Ezra took a step toward where he had been, like a child lost in a crowd of strangers. Corpses on the ground. A precious and unfamiliar thing in his grasp.

[survivors-of-barovia]

@thecatslug replied to your post “DM session recaps: year 2022”:

I love how intelligent and careful your party was with stealing the skull!!! When I ran the actual CoS module itself a few years ago, all my players did was stomp in there and brute force their way through. Slightly jealous- your party sounds like a riot XD

​They are really amazing! But also that means that as a dm I have to try extra hard to properly challenge them haha

So don't be too jealous

I realized that after the winery quest, where they went full swat team mode, carefully and stealthily maneuvering their way past ALL the blights right to the second floor of the winery where they immediately sneaked upon the head druid, wrestled the gulthias staff from him and broke it

Good planning, teamwork and stealth are no joke

(although right afterwards they almost died to a random encounter with a bunch of ghouls, but that's another story)

[xmoriartea]

THE LACK OF INSIGHT ROLES IS GONNA KILL ME

My fellow veteran player and I are trying to not out things, but we play a game of leading the witness where we ask the questions our lads would ask and hope someone other than us catches on

ie. The druid decided to Speak with Animals with our new raven friend, Csonka (it didn't work, he wouldn't talk, so weird and crazy). In the kitchen of the Martikovs. While a Dag was trying to help cook. So because my character is not good at people, but is paranoid and always has his head on a swivel, I vibe checked Dag while the ritual happened — dude was paniCKING into some eggs. This is now the THIRD time someone has PANICKED and FREAKED OUT A BIT at the idea of us talking to ravens —

NO ONE ASKED WHY

My boy doesn't GET people. Even if he rolls high insight, he looks at it from a general 'fear' perspective, should he be worried? should he run? His response to that insight check is to just point out the druid isn't a witch and not someone to be afraid of NOT 'hey dag what's this places deal with birds?'

Its just a wildly diff vibe from the first time I played this game with the same DM and other veteran player. We speed ran things, we were sus of fucking everyone. We knew the ravens weren't ravens the first night in Vallaki when we thought they might be working for Strahd and the artificer 'located animals' and the nearest raven was not one.

Absolutely insane difference in party style here.

We did decide to take a quick jaunt to yester hill and see what was up there though. Hurrah. It included:

A continued hatred for the yester hill scaling (the one thing shared between both fucking parties)

The artificer levitating up to STRAHD on the nightmare to ASK HIS PERMISSION in retrieving the seed from the druids

GETTING said permission, but also being warned that Strahd would protect his loyal followers if necessary

The druid half panicking because Dark Lord Uh Oh

And then getting whispered to by the wind? the rocks? a skeleton? a spear? Unclear. But we dug out the yet unidentified Blood Spear and she's vibing with it

AN ATTEMPT TO SHORT REST NEAR YESTER HILL TO ATTUNE TO THE SPEAR AND THE GULTHIAS STAFF

Needless to say, that didn't work. And next week wee get to pick up with the fact the Big Strahd is a Walkin now

absolutely wild being a second time curse of strahd player with people who don't know the level of shit that's about to go down

we just met the wizards of the wine and have:

not insighted them at all

adopted a formerly dream pastry addicted raven

still not insighted davian though he was SUS of us KNOWING A RAVEN'S NAME big WHO TOLD YOU energy

no interest in checking out the druids we just chased off

even though theyre building Something™

still planning to return to krezk immediately

to meet the abbot

with ireena, the fated ally stella, AND vitktor in tow

look my son is purposefully a timid boy who is afraid of everything even if he does good good monk hits. he doesn't know better. remi's resting heart rate is that of a small animal being hunted for sport cause he's barovian born(?) and raised

[rahadaddy]

Saturday Game: Attuning on the Fly. 2/22/22

My friends chilled with me while I typed up notes for next session, which basically means we talked about THE WORST Valentine’s Day for Rogue and Rahadin, Rouge reading “I, Strahd”, Cleric’s harem that includes Ez D’Avenir, Father Lucian (and maybe Davian Martikov). Also me making ominous commentary every now and then. 

And then we realized we could knock out a mini session as they race to Yester Hill from the Winery, since they have two magic items (Sunsword and Gulthias Staff) to check out. It was so fun!

Thunder and rain drown out much of the sound outside the wagon as they race towards Yester Hill. The storm has gotten worse - why wouldn’t it be? Strahd is planning something atop that hill and its a race against the clock. 

Fighter has the Sunsword and he was inspecting it to attune to it as Vallakovich told him to and he realized it could hear his thoughts and convey feelings and memories to him and it took him about five minutes to realize two spirits inhabited it and one of them was Tatyana. As Ireena’s boyfriend, he recognized the energy. It led him to the correct conclusion that the other soul bound to the sword is Sergei’s. He talked to the sword to learn its properties and it bonded with him on the ride. As he asked it questions, sunlight flared from it and lit up the covered wagon they’re travelling in. It temporarily blinded Vallakovich (who was driving, so they had a bumpy ride) and Ireena, who had never seen sunlight before. It also startled Rogue and it startled poor Paladin SO MUCH he fell over. Paladin is a disaster boy and we love him. Fighter attuned to the sword and then told the group that he planned to keep it a secret from Strahd. 

Cleric, riding shotgun with Ez on her special wagon, explored the Gulthias Staff. She decided it was fucking creepy, but she’s a Drow. Creepy is her second language. She attuned to it for its useful properties and decided once they kill Wintersplinter, she will destroy it. It was fun to watch her get grossed out by the spongy wood, the way it could take as much as it gave. 

Rogue is still carting the Tome around... which meant as they arrive to the hill, rain pelting the wagons and drenching the drivers, lightning streaking in the sky, an effigy of Strahd ahead, beyond a gnarled tree, it was Paladin’s turn to get something cool.

A voice called out to him - and only him - saying that he sought a champion to wield his spear, which hungers for blood and will help the user rule the valley. Paladin was overwhelmed by an urge to check out the cairns first. He thinks it might be the spirit of Argynvost, with who he has communed once, and who he swore to champion for. What a delightful bit of piecing things together!

Vallakovich and Ez just drove. That was their job tonight. Saturday, they will be casters and bad asses. 

Rahadin, known only to Rogue, is tracking the party for their safety. Because Rogue kissed him last session, the elven spirits who haunt him have decided that as long as he is working towards Rogue’s safety, they will not harm him and will let him harm Rogue’s enemies to protect her. He is also statted as an Oath of the Crown Paladin in my game (because I can!) which means he’s hiding in the trees with buffs and healing, trying to keep close to Rogue, hiding. All it will take is a significant hit to her for him to rush the fight to heal her. Because Strahd and Rahadin have a deal concerning the Rogue, Strahd may grant him permission to protect her - and only her. He will not hurt Strahd or interfere with the ritual. He is just there for Rogue’s sake. Swear to god, he will break his oath for her if he isn’t careful. Fun Date Idea: Have your semi-boyfriend rededicate his paladin’s oath to you in the ruins of a Seladrine temple.

God, the party has to defeat and survive everything at Yester Hill, get back to Vallaki. They realized they have between three and four elves (depending on whether Rahadin ends up joining them). I conceded that Ez would take a level of exhaustion to drive her wagon if they have to ride all night. I’ll probably toss a random SOMETHING their way - but not combat. Just something to make the trip eerie in the night. 

Then they have to see if they can stabilize the town (which is a shit show. They know that, but I won’t tell them what I’ve done except that it’s a lot of math.) They also know they might lose allies in the fight. It’s a truly massive encounter, because there are townsfolk they are invested in and townsfolk they hate clashing. I’ve made “half-character sheets” for NPCs who are Special Commoners but who don’t have appropriate statblocks in the Monster Manual or in any of the sourcebooks. 

If they survive that, Rogue and Rahadin are going to go on a proper date... at an Elven Temple. If he defends or heals Rogue during either battle or if he travels with the party to get them to Vallaki, he will gain an additional ability with his Deathly Choir. I also think it might be cute for him to form some kind of picnic dinner. He hasn’t been on a date since he massacred the Dusk Elves (gee, wonder why) but he used to be good at this. And he’s fallen hard for her. I think if she lets him, he may finally get to kiss her back. I’m fantasizing about an epic, in the ruins of an elven temple, inspired by mosques in Shiraz, in the twilgiht, surrounded by the dappling of colored light. 

Strahd is planning a wedding, reception, and honeymoon for them at the dinner that the whole party knows about out of character. Paladin is wounded because he and “Escher” got engaged first, but Paladin is going to have more reasons to be mad at the dinner than that. Strahd has plans for “Escher”, provided he makes it to the dinner. Cleric is also in more danger than she knows, tbh, but that’s a DM secret. Because Ireena is no longer Tatyana, Strahd’s plans to hurt her and the fighter aren’t going to be as entertaining to him, so I have to decide if he’s remotely merciful or if he does the most casually brutal thing just to be a petty bitch. Probably the latter. That sounds right. Vallakovich and Ez are also attending the dinner, but Strahd is less concerned with NPCs as anything more that knife twists.

My god. This is an endless source of joy. 

[thestalkerbunny]

I didn’t get to do last session’s chapter art but The main ridiculous fucking highlight was after we escaped the mob-we followed the Cultists again and found an underground tunnel. Diethre finally used the Gulthias Staff that he picked up off a crazed druid in Barovia and the side effect of using it is Madness. So the first time he used it-he became a self absorbed narcissist. And Riptide eventually goaded him into using it again (because he was just so insufferable to her) to kill a frog so he’d hopefully get a more tolerable form of madness......which was fucking Amnesia. Diethre repeatedly tried to wander off because ‘I don’t know these people, I’m leaving’ was his thought process and it wasn’t until the Bard did THIS that it convinced him to stay with the group albiet he was very confused about being there

We eventually found a Lizard folk village and he got his brain unscrambled. He’s fine. He just didn’t know where he was for a bit.

[apricops]

DnD day: the sequel! Spoilers below for the dumbest possible end to a major fight in Curse of Strahd!

We went south of Argenvastholdt out of curiosity to see where it led, and it led straight to Baba Lysaga and her hut-monster.

It was pure chaos for the first couple rounds, but after a while we picked up on the clue that the green gem inside was probably important. I climbed inside while our monk managed to Stunning Strike it, obligatory comment about Stunning Strike goes here.

With the gem gone, the house went down. With some help from a Vineblight (we got the Gulthias Staff), we grabbed Baba Lysaga’s skullmobile and dragged it back down to earth.

It was pretty clear the fight was over by this point as everyone rushed around and started beating the shit out of her. That’s when it came to my turn. I used Vicious Mockery. I said “I call out to her, and while holding the gem that powered her house, I do a crotch-chop.”

She failed the Wisdom save. I did three damage. Well, I thought, that was a silly little diversion until...

“How do you wanna do this?” the GM said.

The entire table gasped.

“No,“ I said.

“Yep,” the GM said.

“No! I killed her with a crotch chop?”

I did, in fact, kill Baba Lysaga with a 3-damage crotch chop. I offered everyone else if they wanted the killing blow, but I had made my bed and they told me to lie in it. I honestly felt a little guilty about it since I turned the ending of a big, scary, dramatic fight into an 80s music video.

[ashhollowart]

I’ve been going through a phase where I redesign and flesh out my d&d characters, and the second one who got that treatment is this one: my half-elf wizard Relona Milner! Here’s the finished product, along with some of my process sketches!  I only got to play her once in a campaign that we never continued after the first session, so I don’t quite remember what her school of magic was. I do remember that the staff she picked up, the Gulthias Staff, is haha super cursed and “bleeds” every time a charge is used, AND she has to make a wisdom saving throw or be afflicted with a short-term “madness”

[currycurrie]

So I threw together a homebrew boss encounter for my session tomorrow night, and I’m rather proud of it. I’ve added it on to be the climax of the Wizard of Wines chapter in Curse of Strahd instead of more needle blights and crazed druids. For context, my party are level 4 and there are 5-8 of them depending on the night. They have just finished clearing out most the Martikov homestead, and the druid with the Gulthias Staff in the upper floor managed to escape with it. We ended last session with them heading into the wine cellar, the last room they haven’t explored. 

To be read to players:

“As you approach the bottom of the stairs into the wine cellar, you can hear faint chanting from a singular voice. The chanting begins to grow louder and louder, and soon the singular voice morphs into an unholy cacophony. Many voices in unison layered on top of each other. Strangely, the smell of smoke reaches you.”

From here I’ll allow the players to decide how to breach the room. If they enter it quickly enough, the following will be read:

“As you enter the room, the site before you is confusing to put it mildly. There in the center is that same mad man you fought on the upper floor looking quite haggard from your last encounter. He stands near a small fire. You watch as this man continues his horrible chanting, taking no notice of your entry. Before you can react, he takes a single step into the fire, and the chanting immediately turns to pained screeching. Through his pain, this man takes that same gnarled staff of ashy wood and black aura, and plunges it into his stomach. Again and again. Over and over until you can see the staff protruding clear through his midsection. The man’s form slumps forward, falling face first into the fire. It seems the man is dead, but whatever ritual he was attempting is complete. The staff, now sticking straight in the air from his back, begins to grow, and soon consumes this man’s body in its entirety. And then it stands up. Roll for initiative.”

Now for the boss and its stats. The boss is essentially a heavily modified Fire Elemental Myrmidon combined with a homebrew monster I found called the Autmnal Shambler. I may or may not max out its HP depending on how many of my players show up. The size has been upped to large for extra melee reach. I’ve kept it’s attacks as is but changed it from scimitars to claw attacks for flavor. I’ve changed its perception abilities to just straight up blindsight, and added in that special bonus if it is attacked with any fire specifically to counter my one player with a super minmaxed, polearm master feat taking paladin who has dominated all combat so far. A lovely guy who really helps me keep track of rules during combat, but he is all about that minmax shit. So take that! Stat block is below. Feel free to use, and if you do please tell me how it went! 

[refulgentice]

Aftermath

“Are you sure you want to leave?”

This was the third time Kinsey had asked Aramaris since she decided to leave with the Mordikav family, beyond the borders of Barovia to establish trade routes. She rolled her eyes, walking out of the main hall of Argynvostholt and slinging her pack onto her back.

“I am sure. I am no use to you here in the midst of political strife and construction work.” She turned to face him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “I leave this place in your more than capable hands, my friend. I must ask my order to aid in the relief effort. Given that they are also followers of Lathander, I do not think I will have to fight them much. I should be back within two months’ time.”

Kinsey huffed, turning away and snatching up her Gulthias staff and handing it to her. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. Besides, Thaelyn is already gone. Losing you for gods know how long isn’t something I’m too keen on.”

“Carric is back, now. You will not be down too many bodies.”

“Oh, please, Maris.”

The monk laughed, making her way towards the entrance hall. The keep still had a very long way to go; some of the walls were all but rubble, and the southern towers had decayed to nothing. But even so, through the broken ceiling, the sun shone down on them. Barovia was free and this was to be her new home, and Aramaris needed to do something to help it.

“All I’m saying is,” Kinsey sighed, following her through the halls. It still surprised her how each of his steps echoed through the halls against her almost silent ones. “Having you here would deter a lot of people from trying to argue with our decision.”

“The more you beg, the less likely she is to stay, you know.”

The voice came from the shadows next to them, making Aramaris jump a little. Kinsey’s eyes narrowed as Avar stepped into the light, giving a small wave. He was back to his normal self—the curse being lifted seemed to have removed all of their “gifts” given by the void shards in the Amber Temple, including the more…beneficial ones. She sighed, puffing her cheeks out a bit. “Must you hide, Avar? There are no enemies here.”

His eyes flicked to Kinsey for a second, then he forced a smile. “Of course. I suppose it is simply a force of habit.”

“What do you want?” Kinsey crossed his arms, staring him down. Aramaris punched the man’s arm, frowning. He grumbled something under his breath, but relaxed his stance a bit.

“I wanted to speak to my fellow tiefling about her expedition. I wish to come along.” The friends both raised their eyebrows at the rogue. He gave a slight shrug. “I have lived here all my life. I was told that I was the only of my kind and suffered for many years because of it. Knowing that there is more out there, that I have a people? It has me curious.”

Kinsey shot Aramaris a Don’t You Dare look, and she shot back a You Can’t Tell Me What To Do. She turned to Avar and gave him a genuine smile, holding out her hand. “I would be happy to have you along, my friend.”

Avar grinned back, and took her hand graciously.

  ------------------------------------------------------------

It took an over two hours to get everything settled. Kinsey and Aramaris agreed to frequently send ravens to each other to ensure a swift return if the need arised. If the pair stayed in an area for more than two days, a letter would be sent to the group to notify where they were and where their next destination was. And with the bit of unrest that arose after Dimitri Krezkov lost the bid for ruler of Barovia, Maris wanted as much information as the group could give.

While Avar’s goodbyes were a quick, simple nod to his fellow party members, Aramaris took her time. She didn’t think leaving would put such a heavy knot in her stomach, nor that Thaelyn’s absence would be so noticeable and poignant. She took her time, even bothering to say her farewell to Carric who was brooding in the back of the group. Despite them never getting along or seeing eye-to-eye, they still shared a bond that would hopefully grow stronger with time. She doubted it, but she could hope.

“Stop sulking,” she said as she approached Kinsey. He rolled his eyes, body sagging just a bit. If Aramaris didn’t know any better, she would have accused him of pouting. She opened her arms wide, expectantly.

The man looked down at her, then wrapped her up in a quick bear hug. “You let me know if he gives you any trouble.”

“I am sure you would be able to get to me in record time,” she said dryly as Kinsey let go. She lingered for a bit, looking at the faces of her friends and the people she saved from Strahd’s curse. With only a little hesitation, she got up on her horse.

Caerius approached them as they were about to set off, benevolent and kind as always. “Mystra guide you through your travels.” He gave the riding party a small blessing, then handed an icon of Mystra to one of the Mordikavs. He then turned to his friends, smiling wide. “Remember if you get lost, a dropped sword always points north.”

Aramaris stared at him for a moment, stoned-faced, then turned her horse away with a wave. “Thank you for reminding me why I had to leave, Caerius,” she called out. The rest of the riding party began to follow her.

Avar grinned, leaning down to clap him on the back. “I will, do not worry. I’ll make sure to remind Maris, as well. I’m sure it will come in handy during our time on the road.” He then kicked the sides of the horse twice with a click, trotting up to ride beside his fellow tiefling into the unknown.

[ratkingdnd]

Chapter Thirty Four - 100 days

The heroes walk south of the Wickerman Village walking through some shrubbery and trees and almost as if something had crash landed on earth, they come across a giant crater. It was about 3-4 feet deep and seemed to be filled with black soot. There was no clearing of trees, no sand or indication of it’s existence beforehand, just the forest like everywhere else and then a sheer drop into the crater. In the center of the crater was a large black smooth stone, about 50 feet away from the heroes. Dolgan stands at the edge and picks up a leaf, lifting it up and then letting it drop over the edge of the crater. The leaf falls like a feather, twirling as it goes down and turning into ash before it hits the ground. “Hmm” he says, as he pulls out his necrostone and hold it up. It starts to quiver in his hand, almost pulling him towards the crater. Dolgan extends his arm further, hanging it over the edge of the crater with the necrostone in his grasp. Nothing happens. Buffalo holds his hand over the edge of the crater and suddenly his arm starts to turn black, starting with his fingertips. He quickly pulls his hand back.

Dolgan turns around to face the group and says “I’m gonna walk in”, he turns back to the crater and climbs down into it. Soot flies up around him as he sinks about a foot down, the ash falls like snow around him and slowly starts to make a clearing for him. As Dolgan continues to walk to the centre the ash starts to fly in little tornadoes circling him as he goes, all the while almost a path appearing in front of him directly towards the large stone in the middle. Dolgan has his necrostone in his hand and can’t help but raise his arm up as he walks towards it, feeling the necrostone draw him closer and closer. Finally at the large stone in the middle of the crater, Dolgan’s necrostone flies out of his hand and lands onto a small dimple in the middle of the rock, fitting in snug. On either side of Dolgan’s necrostone lie two more small dimples that look like they would fit another two of the necrostone’s. Dolgan places his hand on the large stone and feels an immense well of power surge through one arm, through his body and back out his other arm. 

Back on the edge of the crater, the heroes hear the lid of the chest open behind them as Kalgrin slowly gets out. “You’re up” says Scaly to Kalgrin, but he pays no attention, only staring wide eyed at Dolgan in the middle of the crater. Kalgrin walks over to the edge of the crater and starts to climb in, but the ash flies up and around him, forcing him back onto the edge. Dolgan picks up his necrostone from the larger stone and walks back to the heroes and Kalgrin. Kalgrin asks “Did you touch it?”, “Yeah” says Dolgan “I have never felt power like that in my life, it had three dimples and my necrostone sank into the middle one before I removed it”. Kalgrin immediately drops to the ground on his hands and knees, muttering something under his breath. “Immortuus factus est deus, ego fidem meam en proferam vobis spiritum nigrum” (God of Undeath, I pledge my black heart to you). Kalgrin gets up, looking at Dolgan with an intense stare, “That is the eye of Purgo. Our god of undeath. This is a wondrous rarity, his eye only ever appears when and where it needs to, this must be some sort of message to you. Your necrostone is a lost power, you need to find the other two”. Meanwhile the heroes watch on as Raissh walks away back towards the forest, standing strangely still just in front of the trees. A small breeze passes them by and Raissh raises her quarter staff and smashes it into a bunch of vines. The vines wobbles and fall from the tree, standing upright like a humanoid. Raissh yells “Vine-blights! Everywhere, arm yourselves!”

Scaly reels back his head drawing in little sparks from the air around him and unleashes his breath weapon in a straight line hitting three of the vine-blights in one row, Buffalo yells out “Fuck off” whilst grabbing an arrow from his new endless quiver and running directly at one smashing the arrow into it’s head. The vine-blight says nothing, but pushes his head further into Buffalo’s arrow, staring him straight in the eyes as he does it. Ned grabs one of the vine-blights and flings it over the edge of the crater, the creature turns into ash before it even hits the ground, adding to the pile of ash already in the crater. The vine-blights move closer, surrounding the heroes - Kalgrin gets back into the chest as the monsters wrap their vines around the heroes one by one. Raissh runs to the back of the vine-blights, dodging their attacks by ducking and weaving. Raising her arms she yells “Gust en’ sul” as a cylinder of wind erupts from her hands, spiraling out and pushing the vine-blights backwards into the crater. Scaly attempts to push two of the blights into the ash, but can only manage to best one of them in the shove, as it falls back melting into nothing but black soot.

Buffalo, almost completely wrapped up in the vines, struggles to get out but cannot break the constricting strength of the animated vines. Ned grabs another vine-blight and spins in a circle, throwing him at just the right time to hit another vine-blight and knock them both into the crater. They dissipate into nothing. Another vine-blight grabs Ned from behind, wrapping it’s vines around him, but Ned notices quickly and breaks away from the hugging creature. Dolgan grabs his rock and swings his arm at one of the blights, rock in hand, but the blight is too fast for the short cleric and he falls forward missing it completely. The heroes suddenly hear the sounds of feet stamping through the forest, almost in a marching style fashion. Dolgan manages to get himself up just as a flurry of arrows rain down onto the fight with the blights, but only seem to hit the vine-blights. The heroes use the moment of stupor to unleash a multitude of attacks on the vine-blights - smashing, slicing, stabbing everything they could that even closely resembled the viney beasts. The vines in the chaos, manage to tackle and grapple Raissh to the ground, knocking her out cold. More arrows fly out of the trees, but on closer inspection they seem to be javelins, not arrows. The javelin throwers were still nowhere to be seen. Dolgan rushes to get Raissh up, the heroes continue swinging and shooting their weapons, as Raissh awakens bleary eyed, she raises an arm pointing towards the forest and Dolgan turns around seeing small alien looking creatures emerging, javelins in hand and a shield in the other. They throw another round of javelins, pinning the last remaining vine-blights to the ground as their life escapes them. The heroes look towards their saviours, confused looks on their faces. “We are the vegepygmies, we want to thank you for taking on this arduous task of destroying the blight taking over this forest” says one considerably blue one, it had a long head with a small branch wrapped around the top of it. It was dressed similarly to Ned, in that other than it’s small head piece, it wore only a loin cloth. “My name is Sssgush, and I am the leader of our small village, please come let us host you for the night. We would like to show our thanks”, the heroes nod and start following the small mouldy looking creatures away from the crater.

It’s not long before they arrive at the vegepygmy village. Everything was a little too small for the heroes, the vegepygmy’s only stood a couple of feet tall and their small huts just couldn’t accommodate the large heroes. The vege’s hand each of the heroes some mushrooms and some hot tea as they relax around a fire. Sssgush starts talking “We have been battling these blights for a while now, they are taking over and corrupting the forest. Any help we can get from anybody or anything is a blessing as they’re just too much for us to take on alone”. “Where do they come from?” asks Buffalo, “The gulthias tree” responds Sssgush, he starts again seeing the confused look on the heroes faces “The Gulthias tree is a tree born from the stake, covered in the blood of a vampire. They’re not possible in the material plane, but due to the wild magic in the Fey Wild, they can grow there and the blights born from the tree spawn here”. Around the heroes, songs are being played and a lot of the little pygmy’s are dancing. They seem to be moving extremely loosely, almost like their arms were coming off of their bodies. Buffalo shakes his head, their arms WERE coming off of their bodies, and so were their legs. He turns back to Sssgush and the group, their faces were contorted and spread out. “What the fuck is going on?”, “I think we’re high” says Scaly, but his eyes were speaking, not his mouth. The mushrooms they ate earlier must’ve been hallucinogenic mushrooms. “Do you want to put this on?” asks Sssgush, handing over a small band. All of the vegepygmies seemed to be wearing them. The rest of the group already had them on. “Okay” says Buffalo, his mouth not feeling like it did anything, even though words came out. Sssgush places the band around his arm and from there on the night turns into a blur of colours, dancing, music and kaleidoscopic visions. 

The heroes awake in the morning, surrounded by sleeping vegepygmy’s. Sssgush is sitting by the embers of a fire, poking at it with a stick. Ned gets up and walks over, giving him a fist bump. The heroes have some breakfast, mainly berries and mushrooms found by some of the vegepygmy’s that had woken up. “So I guess, we’ll be spending a little more time together then” says Sssgush, “Yeah….I guess so? Hang on, why’s that?” says Buffalo. “You’re oath band” Sssgush says pointing at the band around Buffalo’s wrist, “Right” says Buffalo, “Remind me again what this is?”, “Wow you were messed up last night” says Sssgush, “It’s an oath band. It cannot be removed physically until the oath is done. If the oath is not complete within 100 days, your limb will fall off”. “What?!” says Buffalo, the rest of the group suddenly paying attention too. “We made a pact last night, that us vegepygmy’s and Con Clavi would band together to defeat the blights of the forest by destroying the Gulthias Tree in the Feywild. We set the time limit to 100 days as anything past that would allow too much of the forest to have been taken over by the blight”. “Uhhhh, okay” says Dolgan, playing with his band, trying to pull at it. “Well, I guess that’s our next task. We have 100 days so we have time, but it’s something I’d rather get out of the way” says Buffalo, “Let’s find a way into the Feywild then”. 

[desdemere]

The Paladin 1v1s an Incarnation of Death

In which the party is ambushed while resting at camp, and Kallias is challenged to a duel for their escape.

Word Count: 3170 Rating: T for language/violence Genre: Fantasy/Action Fandom: D&D (OCs)

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Perhaps it wasn’t the most dignified choice – but Kallias didn’t regret trying. There was no shame in tactical retreat.

“I was beginning to think no one was here. Are you leaving, friend?”

Kallias wove Zachriel in tight figure eights, his jaw locked and fingers aching from his grip on the reins. He withheld a response, instead daring to delay just a few more moments. The goliath took this as a sign to go on, a sinister loftiness lacing his strained, raspy voice.

“Let us settle this in the way of the warrior. Champion versus champion; in the circle with shields at our backs.” The pale giant gazed around and smiled from beneath his dark mane. “We don’t have shields, but our friends will do.”

Kallias gritted his teeth. “I would be a fool to fight against these odds.” The paladin paused before continuing, his eyes straying to the side before they landed squarely back onto wild-haired warrior, remaining there. “Let us fight alone.”

“No.”

Kallias drew back. “Why not?”

“I don’t want to.”

He scowled, realizing that arguing would be pointless. Unfortunately, he now had to make a decision: fight this otherworldly behemoth or continue to be hunted by this collection of men and monster. Some of which were possible demigods. 

“If I win, you will no longer pursue us?”

“I will no longer pursue you. I cannot speak for my companions.”

“Not good enough,” he replied. “You will all leave us in peace tonight.”

“They will go too, yes.”

“And if I refuse?”

“You cannot hide when death follows. We will find you.”

With a frustrated snarl, the paladin dismounted his warhorse, stroked his broad muzzle, and sent him off with nothing but a light flick of his head. Zachriel would disappear beyond the murky darkness encompassing them as unflinchingly as he’d entered.

The terms of the duel worried him, and the goliath didn’t seem to care about the issue of fairness. Unwilling to fight him alone, the warrior outlined his desired conditions. “Champion” versus “champion.” Allies could help but not hinder. Looking around, however, Kallias did not see many of his companions at all. Not to mention, his comrades didn’t exactly measure up to the barbarian’s company.

“Careful, Caul.” Ishra’s warning drifted softly from behind. “Dead men can’t obey.”

Kallias marched forward, the eerie bluish light dancing along the curves of his armor, his cloak fluttering languidly behind him. Re-entering the clearing in which they’d made camp, Kallias set himself a good twenty feet from his opponent, who now tore off his clothing to reveal a constellation of open wounds decorating his body, including a massive laceration criss-crossing below his ribcage. They neither festered nor wept; they simply gaped.

“But broken men can kneel.”

The man could barely speak now, his body trembling with adrenaline, veins rising from beneath his skin. The metal sphere lodged in his eye socket began to turn, slowly, as it changed from dark grey to a dull orange to a red hot, the skin sizzling around it. A look of mild disgust swept Kallias’ features – at least, one more pronounced than his usual expression – but he otherwise maintained his impassivity.

Eirian watched as the last enemy—Jaqon, that smug bastard—stepped forward and the ring of black shadow spread to close the dome all around them. From where she knelt on her darkly leaf-obscured bough, the blade at the girl’s side began to sing its agitation, the Song suddenly rising up to thrum insistently in her chest. Her form startled in alarm; was it the call itself or fear of it that threw her heart to racing? 

None below seemed to have spotted her. Balancing tightly-wound, she wrapped one hand on the blade’s hilt, the other palming the rough bark of the tree trunk to ground herself as she observed the field.

From behind the veil of darkness a sickening knot tightened in Valanthe’s stomach. Witch-thorn felt hot in her grip, and the drowess could not quite tell if it was merely her imagination. She could not lose the spear; it was not an option.

Her leg twitched backwards, instinctively. Their pursuers were occupied. All it would take was a new form, and she could be gone…

“Unless you desire to be some collector’s toy, Gulthias, I suggest you find a way to help my companion win this duel,” she thought, channeling the magic of the spear. Her heartbeat echoed across her body, and she felt some part of the vampire throb in tandem.

Valanthe emerged through the shadows of the dome, Witch-thorn posted at her side.

“You will not stand alone, my friend. I am with you.”

Her brow formed a hard line, and it was all Valanthe could do not to tremble at the sight of them.

Kallias felt a tug at his sword, he looked down and saw it being coated with poison. He heard a small whisper in Gordon’s voice come from the side. “To give your swings a little more bite, my friend.” Kallias quickly looked away, not wanting to compromise Gordon’s invisibility. Though something in his chest swelled.

Cordylia stood, and from the rose on her staff, frosty mist began to emanate. In a blink, it formed around Kallias’ armor and shield, a swirling, spectral frost. But as Cordylia cast her spell, she changed. Her skin, already frozen and blueish, fell even paler and more icy. Her purple lips were wicked of their color, nearly fading the same shade of blue as her face. Her shining auburn hair faded, muted to a duller brown. It was her eyes, however, that transformed most radically. Cordylia’s once somber, brown gaze flashed a vibrant, magical blue. They glowed unnaturally, bright but cold. Her gaze fixed on Kallias. She bowed her head low to him. [Armor of Agathys @ level 6]

It was difficult to hide all of his surprise when frost began to coat his armor, spreading and growing, until the ice lay thick and jagged across the metal. He glanced over his shoulder to observe Cordylia, her transformation a startling development.

“This power, to you. You have my aid as well,” she offered softly.

He merely gave a deep nod in gratitude before turning back to their pursuers. Kallias did not want to keep his eye off of them for too long.

Valanthe then stepped forward then and stowed the spear at her back, asking, “May I approach to observe your weapon, Caul?”

Caul growls like a wild animal and steps forward menacingly, but stops as Nanna-Sin extends an arm in warning. The man's voice is clear and strong, with a hint of chiding. 

"These are your terms, Caul. Each selects his shield bearers, the weapons are inspected, and then the challenged gets his pick." He gives an amused smile. "As is your way." 

Caul spit into the dirt and then wedged the head of his axe into the ground, suddenly all smiles. He said in his chipper, raspy voice, "Right you are, Chief." He walked over to sit at the base of a tree, whistling tunelessly. His iron eye ceased its rotation and began to cool. Valanthe strode across the clearing, crouching down to inspect the axe in depth.

The axe was incredibly heavy and its metal was jagged along both blades. She stood and turned to face Kallias, then closing the distance between them. She reached up to cradle his face in her hands, chanting as primal energy poured through his body and limbs. “May your feet move faster, your jumps take you farther, your blood be hardy, and your strength be as the Bull's. My faith fights with you... His axe is designed to do something in particular, though I cannot determine what,” she whispered. Valanthe gave him one last look before returning to her party line. [Enhance Ability: Bull’s Strength; Jump; Longstrider; Protection from Poison]

Flinching slightly at her touch, Kallias watched as Valanthe murmured her arcane words, not knowing what to expect. It wasn’t until he felt the multiple magicks flow through him, in rapid succession, that a shiver skittered up his spine. He had never quite been affected to this degree by magic before, and it was an entirely new – though not unpleasant – sensation. 

Eirian strained to miss nothing exchanged below over the pull of the Song’s call. In the quiet moments Valanthe convened with their ‘champion’, she reached out, (not without some trepidation) to let in some of the blade’s power. It was abstract but she could feel it, like a primal voice whisper-shouting, Fight, damn you! over and over. The hair at the back of her neck stood on end and prickled as little flickers of its urging shot through her. 

She took in a deep breath, pressing her will desperately back toward Rip’ilsme, We can’t interfere yet. He agreed. The terms—we’d risk causing him to forfeit. Please. Not now. There was a rush of upset and confusion for her restraint but it soon calmed, the Song settling into a duller hum.

I’m no happier about this than you. She felt again along their connection, searching, but knowing there was nothing here she could offer Kallias; its power wouldn’t affect anyone else no matter how she desired to help protect him. Eirian’s lip curled into a miserable snarl; she was useless. Nothing in an entire bag of holding that could be of any use to him. Nothing in her. 

But she did have this vantage point. From her perch she was very nearly above their enemies, she would be able to study them and keep an eye on the whole field. If someone else broke rank or...things took a turn, the blade would allow her to reach them from here. That might be worth more than any paltry words of encouragement she could give her companion if she were to abandon it. Resigned, her hand still ready on the songblade’s grip, she settled in to do what she knew best: watch. Jaqon stepped forward and held his hand out for Kal's sword with a wide grin. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Kallias scoffed, two streams of steam unwittingly funneling from his nostrils, before moving forward as well, flipping his blade in the air so that its hilt pointed towards the devil.

Jaqon grabbed the hilt for a few seconds before his eyebrow quirked up and he loudly asked, "A Paladin with a poisoned blade? Now I truly have seen everything. That will need to come o..."

"Leave it." Caul barked almost urgently.

Jaqon turned to Nanna-Sin, who only nodded. The devil turned to Kal and shrugged. "And what weapon do you choose?"

The paladin held out his hand to Jaqon for his sword back. The devil obliged.

"I have chosen," he stated as he made his way back to the other side, approaching Valanthe and Cordylia. He got close, his gaze settling on each of them for a moment at a time. "Whatever happens, do not interfere. Do you understand? Even if it looks as if I may fall. Zachriel and the other horses will be waiting not far beyond. Flee if you must. Am I clear?"

Valanthe and Cordylia both nodded.

“His eye - he seems to thrive off pain. It may make him stronger, somehow, but it is only a hunch. He did not want the devil to wipe the poison from your blade,” the drowess told him, her eyes sweeping over Caul beneath the tree.

Caul stands and claps the dirt from his hands. "So, all set then." He smiles pleasantly and walks over to heft the axe. "Time for the good work." Jaqon nods to Kal and then flicks his finger in a quick circle. In response, a 20ft wall of fire flares around the combatants. He then juts his palm at Caul while muttering in infernal. Kallias twirls the hilt of his sword in his hand before leveling it parallel to the ground, its tip pointed at Caul. He utters his own words in Draconic. "Wux re sini." His voice is deep, strong. As the goliath charges him, bathed in a reddish glow, Kallias swings his sword back to his side. "Valignat!" The oathblade erupts in roiling steam. He braces himself, boots dug firmly into the earth, shield at the ready. [Vow of the Adversary]

[Roll initiative]

—

The goliath begins monologuing. 

The warrior’s voice can barely be heard over the roar of the ring of fire around them. “I’ve fought in three campaigns, in seven pitched battles. In countless raids and skirmishes and desperate defences, and bloody actions of every kind. I’ve fought in the driving snow, the blasting wind, the middle of the night. I’ve been fighting all my life, one enemy or another, one friend or another. I’ve known little else. I’ve seen men killed for a word, for a look, for nothing at all. A woman tried to stab me once for killing her husband, and I threw her down a well. And that’s far from the worst of it. Life is cheap as dirt to me. Cheaper.” 

Caul slams his axe against Kal’s shield, necrotic energy ripples down his grey skinned arm and across the shield. As he makes contact, the ice coating it breaks into hard icicle shards that splinter and stab into his flesh. Caul laughs, none of the wounds release any blood.

Kallias swings back. The oathblade slips past the axe that opens a new wound on the man’s chest. He doesn’t so much as flinch. Kallias drags the weapon still wreathed in steam, the runes glowing back for a second swing, this one coming down hard with a radiant smite, taking the brunt of the damage. It comes down and cuts cleanly through his collarbone, digging another six inches down into the flesh, searing all the way. He doesn’t even seem to feel it, despite cutting deep into where his heart and lungs would be, he stumbles back. The rage. The x-shaped cut begins to pull and tear open, dry and gaping to expose ribs beneath. 

“I’ve fought ten single combats and I won them all, but I fought on the wrong side and for all the wrong reasons. I’ve been ruthless, and brutal, and a coward. I’ve stabbed men in the back, burned them, drowned them, crushed them with rocks, killed them asleep, unarmed, or running away. I’ve run away myself more than once. I’ve pissed myself with fear. I’ve begged for my life. I’ve been wounded, often, and badly, and screamed and cried like a baby whose mother took her tit away. I’ve no doubt the world would be a better place if I’d been killed years ago, but I haven’t been, and I don’t know why.” He grins sadly. 

“I'm made of death. There are few men with more blood on their hands than me. None, that I know of. The Great Leveler they called me, my enemies. Always more enemies, and fewer friends. Blood gets you nothing but more blood. It follows me now, always, like my shadow, and like my shadow I can never be free of it. I should never be free of it. I’ve earned it. I’ve deserved it. I’ve sought it out. Such is my punishment.” 

The metal eye burns hot and spins, the goliath going into a wild rage. He hefts the enormous axe as if it weighed no more than a toy, feinting a horizontal slash before switching to a one handed upwards arc that slips past Kallias’ shield to rend a gash in the thick plate from chest to shoulder. As this hit again collides with the frosted aura, the shards leap and shatter, embedding themselves into his flesh, and the protective energy fades. Kal looks down to see the edges of the torn metal eroding away into wisps of black smoke. Caul swings again, Kallias bringing up his blade to block the force.  Even with his ability to seemingly ignore pain, he looks poor. His eye is completely unfocused, as if he’s looking past Kal. 

Foshka is upset and frustrated and looks if he’d like to physically attack Valanthe, but is holding back. Nanna-sin is completely unarmed, wearing plain clothing, the blue light has no strange effect and he makes eye contact with Valanthe as he strides toward her, giving her a nod as if they are old friends meeting by chance. 

Ishra looks worried and anxious while she looks at the fight, eyes on Caul.

Jaqon appears to just be concentrating on his fire spell. 

Kallias swings at the sideways across cutting Caul’s belly, 

He stumbles forward, as if he can hardly hold himself up. 

The second swing hits near his neck, the blade slamming into bone. He falls to his knees, the axe falling to the ground at his side. Everyone, including Nanna-sin steps backward. The eye begins to spin furiously.

“No. I do not kneel. I am death. The Storm in the High Places. You kneel before me. The great leveler cannot die.”

The body looks dead, it seems impossible for him to continue, yet he sways and steadies himself once more in a brief lull. 

Eirian can tell this is what Ishra was waiting for. 

Nanna-sin says casually to Valanthe, “The moonlight shines well on thee.”

Valanthe gives him a look, “Thank you...I’m a bit preoccupied at the moment though.”

He nods and turns back toward the fight. “Mm. Your friend fights well. I hope he prevails.”

She side-eyes him confused, “As do I.” 

Caul stands up, the axe still on the ground, and launches himself at Kallias, grabbing at the shield and the shoulder of his plate armor and pushing him back toward the wall of fire. As he begins to be pushed back, Kallias tries to dig into the ground below him. He can’t overcome the man’s strength, and is forced back into the flames, which lick up at Caul’s arms as well. 

He then headbutts Kallias, his forehead slamming with a loud crack into the chest of his armor. 

Kallias tries desperately to break out his grip but they both remain with the range of the flames. The body holding him does slightly relent, as if it is completely falling apart.

Kallias pushes back out of the wall of fire and unhinges his jaw and sprays steam full blast into him. It enters the cuts and holes and begins to slough off all the skin it touches. The steam rises to fill the entire circle of fire. When it clears, Kallias stands, haggard but over the mutilated body of Caul, kneeling, the metal eye ceases its spin and again grows cold.

After only a few seconds his form begins to stand again, falling apart and reaching out. Ishra appears beside the form simultaneously and gives Kallias a quick nod, and all seven of them disappear. No trace of unnatural shadow or light. Just the ring of tiny embers in the grass and the blue glow of the oathblade’s runes. 

[jorius-and-co]

Session 5

Ended with the PCs in the Wizard of Wines, where Jorius used the Gulthias staff to deal with the needle blights outside and to get a shipment of wine back to Urwin Martikov.  

Davian thanks them for their trouble and offers them 75 gold pieces for their troubles. He also elaborates on the gem problem: But 10 years ago, the first gem was stolen (Davian blames Urwin for the loss). Just three weeks ago, another gem was taken. Davian believes that 2nd gem was stolen by Baba Lysaga. Five days ago, the three druids came back for the final gem, carrying it away to Yester Hill, and they returned with their blights to take over the winery. It isn't clear why they want the winery, but Davian is afraid that more druids will come unless the gems are returned. Could they send a message to his brother, Urwin, that he requires reinforcements?  

The PCs have the swarm of ravens encounter on their way back to Vallaki.  

On reaching Vallaki, they realize that there's been a complete disaster. The walls of the city are shut, they can see smoke rising as though from a large fire, and they can see the wall is guarded by five guards from a distance, with more stationed atop it at intervals. They manage to sneak through with the wine and take back roads to the inn and pass some stealth checks to avoid notice by the guards. When they get to the Inn, Urwin gets talkative and fills PCs in on what's going on.  

"Thank you for undertaking this quest on my behalf, at considerable risk. I know now that I can trust you as friends, even though this wine will do us little good with the city as it is. You know now that we are wereravens, and you should know that us and our friends all belong to a secret order called the Keepers of the Feather. We oppose Strahd and do all we can to aid his enemies in his destruction. We have fewer and fewer members now, and can't take too many risks, but rest assured if you find yourself in serious trouble, you'll find we're close by. If I can offer intel from our network of Ravens across Barovia, I will try to do so.  

Now, I don't know how you got here, but it should be clear that the minute you left town, things in Vallaki got nasty.  

As you were leaving,  there was a riot in the town square -- the people are angry that their only hope of safety has been lost, and they blame the Burgomaster for not keeping the church protected from the townsfolk as it ought to have been. The Burgomaster and his wife were dragged to the town square and stoned to death. Izek Strazni, he who has been so loyal to the Vallokoviches!, led the riots himself!  He says that he was always a spy and usurper, ready to take the town back for the people. I have always been afraid of Izek, but now I am more convinced than ever that he is behind all this. He must have been working for Strahd. What else explains it? Anyone who was loyal to the Vallokoviches is in the town stocks, seemingly left there to die. If all that weren't enough, my boy is still missing, and though I've had my ravens out searching for days there has been no sign, only a rumor that other children have been going missing in Barovia, and that hags might have something to do with it. We just don't have the power to investigate them further. AND to top it all off,  Kasimir was in here just now to tell us that a Vistani girl has gone missing from the camp by Lake Zarovich, and the Vistani have been out terrorizing the town in search of her. What are we to do?"  

Izek: PCs go looking for him, he's in the burgomasters mansion, drinking wine with his scary arm in the dining room, with several Ireena dolls on the table in front of him. In the background, they, see: the creepy spy who stole Mir's hair.  

Bavirim & Mir break into the house and discover a sad man locked in a closet, but nothing else. Later, Bavirim presents himself to Izek like he's going to do a job. He's asked to bring Ireena to him and Bavirim sets up a whole trap.  

At the Inn, everyone acts like they're about to escape and Bavirim gets Izek to come to the Inn. Then he literally stabs him in the back and they all fight.  

They fight / kill Izek & Wren Calypso, that's all well and good. Urwin becomes prime to take over as Burgomaster of the town and they have a place of safe haven.  

[innistrahd]

Curse of Strahd, Episode 09

AKA So Much Plot 

Recap

Our heroes, Claris the gnome wizard, Ileana the elf druid, Mike the human bard, and Nyx the werewolf rogue, along with their various companions Laise (Claris’s familiar), Frederick (animated armor), Magdala (a wereraven), Ash and Thorn (two wood woads), and Mistrunner (a horse) all arrived in Barovia in their own times (some being born there), and eventually all gathered together. At the start of our adventure, Claris received a fortune telling her of a few things of note in her journey, such as that “knowledge of the ancient” was to be found in a place where a dragon rested. Most recently, our group encountered the druids at Yester Hill, where Ileana was first crowned their leader, then our heroes killed the druids and burned their sacred tree since they were worshipers of Strahd, the evil lord of Barovia. As we pick back up, our heroes are on their way back to the Wizard of Wines, from which they plan on heading north to the village of Krezk. 

The Order of the Silver Dragon, and the Druids going north

As the group was perhaps a half mile away from the winery, they encountered a creature wandering the paths nearby. What appeared at first to simply be a regular old zombie turned out to be an intelligent revenant, a member of the Order of the Silver Dragon, an order of knights dedicated to fighting evil. After hearing that Ileana was indeed the folk hero the Swordstealer, Sorina the knight asked the group to come to the order’s mansion at their own convenience to convince their leader to once again take up the fight against Strahd. She agreed to wait for them at the location called Tsolenka Pass. 

After that, our heroes returned to the winery, still quite early in the morning, and spoke with the Martikovs. Claris began to speak with the intelligent crystal that she’d picked up back on Yester Hill. As the group got on the road with the younger son of the Martikovs, a man named Elvir, they were attacked by a druid and a horde of twig blights. While they fairly easily slew the horde of blights, they took the druid hostage briefly to experiment with equipping Frederick to a living creature. 

The Walled Village of Krezk

At around noon that day, the group arrived at the village of Krezk, a lonely village on a mountaintop, where they were happily greeted by the Burgomaster Dmitri Krezkov. The burgomaster told them about the village a little- that they were a secluded settlement that produced all their own goods except for wine. Additionally, after arriving in town they could hear bells chiming from the Abbey up the hill, and also the cries and screams of many crazed creatures, although they couldn’t pin down just what kind of creatures might be making those sounds. 

As they entered the burgomaster’s modest home, the group saw a dog lying near the hearth, which made Mike particularly happy, because this was Little Mike, his best friend whom he’d lost and all his searching had been for. Magdala stayed behind with Little Mike while Mike and the others traveled up the hill to the Abbey of St Markovia, where they were to meet with the Abbot for spiritual advice, a cure to Mike’s lycanthropy, and information about the world. 

The Angel and the Bride

As the group arrived at the Abbey of Saint Markovia, they found that the place seemed surprisingly empty. The sounds of the bell and the cries and screams had faded away, leaving little but a cold breeze to greet their senses. They rung a bell hanging at the Abbey’s gate, but received no answer and so began to travel into the Abbey on their own. Within, they saw a wagon that they recognized- the wagon of a certain Ezmerelda d’Avenir, a vistana woman who they met at the wizard’s tower on Lake Baratok. With noone around but the party, Claris crawled into the wagon using the secret hatch underneath that she’d learned of by watching Ezmerelda before, and took just a few of the items hidden away within, including a half-burnt page from a journal.

The group continued inside the Abbey a little more, and were greeted by a strange, deformed man and woman, who were carrying an empty cauldron from one end of the Abbey to the other. They ushered the group into the Abbey’s main hall, where they met with the Abbot, a handsome young man (probably no older than 30, but who had been about 30 for many generations, from what they’d heard) and Vasilka, a beautiful young woman in very fine clothing who seemed almost to have no mind of her own. After their introductions, the Abbot invited the party to join them in supper, and called upon the two deformed figures, Clovin and Zondra, to serve dinner. The two had barely begun to fix a new pot of stew by the time the Abbot called for dinner, so the food they did serve was hardly cooked at all, but they served it nonetheless. 

At dinner, 9 places were set at the table. The Abbot and Vasilka sat at one end of the table, with the four members of our party sitting 2 on either side of the table beyond that. The other 3 places were filled in by 3 new figures who joined: Ezmerelda d’Avenir, who seemed shocked to see this group who she suspected to be working with Strahd; Buck, a tiefling who used a weird weapon (a gun); and Aliera, or Xantha as she called herself, a human assassin. After clearing up that neither Ezmerelda nor our heroes were actually on the side of Strahd, they became a tad bit friendlier with each other. The party also got a chance to speak with Buck and Aliera, the two figures from our session 6.5 of this campaign, who had been stuck in Barovia for awhile since we last saw them. 

Meanwhile during during dinner, our party also noticed a few things rather strange about Vasilka. First, she appeared to not be entirely human, but rather to be stitched together flesh from many different women. In addition to that, she appeared to strike an eerie resemblance to Nyx, like she was made to be a cheap replica of Nyx. After dinner, the Abbot showed our heroes around the Abbey, where he revealed a few very interesting things. 

First, he revealed that Vasilka was actually a creature the Abbot created to serve as a gift for Strahd, to appease the dark lord and allow the people of Barovia to hopefully leave his domain. As such, Vasilka was created to bear a resemblance to one of Strahd’s previous desires- a woman who Strahd sought after but who met an untimely demise before Strahd was able to wed her or turn her. The Abbot also revealed his own nature as a Deva, an angel of the holy planes, who had been trapped in the land of Barovia long ago and wished simply to leave the place. He believed that offering up Vasilka as an undying gift to Strahd would appease him and allow those who wished to leave Barovia that opportunity. 

DM Notes

Whew, that was an interesting session. I felt like there might have been a lot of people not paying attention this session, at least some of which was because they were having private in-character discussions off on the side and not paying attention to the other discussions going on, but I’m not sure everyone got all of every story going on here. I’m hoping everything got through to at least one of the players, though. 

-Changed the Abbey: While I don’t think it’s the biggest change I’ve made to our Curse of Strahd campaign, I do think it’s the biggest change that the players have actually encountered, although they don’t really know this since none of them have played through the  adventure in any other capacity. But, yeah, I’ve made some changes to the Abbey, and a lot of them will probably actually be revealed next time, since the players might have a chance to explore the Abbey on their own and take a better look at some things. 

-Combat-Light: There wasn’t really a whole lot of combat this session, or a whole lot of dice rolling at all, really. I don’t think that’s really a good or a bad thing, but it’s just an interesting thing. I have no clue if that had an impact on how intently people were paying attention. Maybe too much exposition at once isn’t necessarily a good thing. Also, the one combat was all done without a map, but when the players sat at the dinner table with the Abbot I drew up a map, which I think may have confused the players a little.

-The Random Encounter: So, the druids were sort of a random encounter I’d rolled for the characters’ journey from the winery to Krezk, and I thought it might be an interesting encounter to show how the dynamic between the party (especially Ileana) and the druids of Barovia might change in response to some of the things that have happened. In theory, once the druid saw that Ileana was carrying the Gulthias Staff, she’d have called off her blights and done as Ileana asked, but that wasn’t really how things played out in practice. 

-Extra Characters: Nyx’s player made a comment about it in game and I was also thinking about it myself, and one of the other players mentioned it after the game, but the cast of NPCs in the players’ party is growing exceptionally for this campaign. I’ve been having the players control some of the other characters in combat to try to help keep them engaged, with each player controlling the other characters most related to them (like Mike controlling the horse Mistrunner or Claris controlling her familiar), this has left Nyx alone for a lot of the time. Her player’s been controlling no characters other than her for awhile now and I feel kind of very bad about that, but also I’m not sure what kinds of allies to offer to Nyx in the near future. I can think of a few in the semi-near future for sure, but nothing within the next maybe session or two. 

-Plot Hooks Ruined: Well, I was originally going to use Little Mike’s illness as a plot hook to guide the players up the mountainside to visit the Abbey, since they’d need magical healing to ensure Little Mike’s safe recovery. However, after I expressed that Little Mike looked sick, Mike immediately threw up a Lesser Restoration spell, which, hey, good for him! I wasn’t going to deny him the primary use of his spell just for a plot hook. Besides, they still decided to head up to the Abbey on their own anyway. 

-Mike’s Happy Ending: So, looks like things are going swimmingly for Mike, and he might be retiring from the adventuring life after this. He’s found Little Mike, and Claris knows a spell that would heal Mike of his lycanthropy. The only thing left that Mike might want to accomplish through adventuring would be to leave the lands of Barovia, but since he’s not much of a fighter, he probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance against Strahd. So, Mike’s story may be coming to a (temporary) close, though he might be showing up later to help out in non-combat capacities. Mike’s player is probably going to be switching over to playing Buck, the tiefling gunslinger, after all this has gone down.