#ireena: take care of ismark

[squeeneyart]

[Image description:

First image: Digital colored drawing of Ismark Kolyanovich from Curse of Strahd and a satyr character Tomas kissing before dawn. Ismark is holding Tomás by the shoulders and leaning slightly down to kiss him.

Second image:

A digital sketch comic continuing the last image. Ismark is still holding Tomás by the shoulders while talking. Ismark: I know it is not wise to hope for things. But I hope to see you again.Tomás: Uh Tomas, blushing harder and looking slightly off balance: Yeah you too In the corner of the last panel: CHA: +0

End ID]

by talos this cannot be happening i cannot let ismark have more game than me

anyway unintentional romance route unlocked and my trickster cleric is gonna lie to himself about it, but i do need to emphasize that my character was so fucking smooth up to the point where my dm decided to give ismark a good parting line. i got him in bed by asking him to check me for extra eyeballs

[shrimpari]

Every PC failed their wisdom saving throw to not have dreams during the second night at the Amber Temple

Descriptions below:

Adino is just a child. He really shouldn’t be here, but he is an asset to the team. He doesn’t want to be left behind. He doesn’t want to be forgotten. While caught in a time loop, everyone got to experience what lurks amongst the mists. Adino was the last to survive and saw them. Their visage still haunts him. In his dream he got caught in a trap and everyone left him. He tried to message us but we didn’t remember who he was. The mists consumed him and he tried to run only to be met face to face with entities that have been burned into his memories. He would die, screaming, crying, and alone.

Ireena is desperately trying to convince herself that her friends and brother aren’t just here on this mission for her. Of course she’s having a hard time. If they died, it would be her fault. They’re here for her, to help her, to free her. She dreads the day Ismark will wake up and blame her for everything that has happened to them. He will finally say what’s been bothering him deep down and hurt her deeply. He will insult her that despite everything, she still loves and cares for Strahd. Ismark and everyone else will be killed and devoured by Vampyr, just like her. And they are. Ismarks heart is ripped out. And she alone with her captor.

Verna has had a destructive streak lately. She’s also had a hard time filtering herself in front of town leadership. After the incident at the Abbey, she fears she’ll burn down something she truly cares about. She also fears Fiona Wachter will ruin the lives to those she cares about in Vallaki. She did threaten Fiona after all. She’ll return to Vallaki where her girlfriend’s home was burned to the ground and the blue water inn was on fire. Did Fiona do this? Or did Verna do this? Ezmeralda was insinuating that it was Verna’s fault. Muriel is dead on the ground… she should take her small raven corpse to the winery…

Everyone is haunted by the events of the Fidatov time loop. Saoirse has probably had the hardest time grappling with it. Everyone that was there woke up outside the manor, dressed how we were then. Everyone was mortified. Saoirse tried to tell everyone it would be fine and that we know what to do. Marilena would tell Saoirse there’s no way out anymore. And she was right. Everyone would go through it all over and over and over again for what felt like years. One by one, every gives up. Saoirse keeps trying. The sound of Marilena’s grandfather clock resonates in her mind as she wakes.

Ji is used to nightmares. The temple recognizes this and uses his desires against him. Deep down, he wants Strahd to make the decision for him, to take Ji away to Ravenloft. Strahd would never do that but … what if he did? He would take Ji away from the freezing temple to his warm home. Ji would be upset, he would cry, he would yell, but he would also be relieved. At first, Ji didn’t believe it was real, that the temple was doing this but Strahd kept telling him it was. Strahd never stopped reassuring him. They would hold each other and cry and kiss and whatnot. Ji would feel safe. He would feel wanted. He would feel loved. Everything felt so real.

[raviollies]

Hey! I love what you've done to characters and Lorelei is now living in my head rent free! Raha and Blythe are amazing and adorable!

It's very inspiring the way you keep yourself together even when everything falls apart! Keep it up!

If my question is annoying or if it bothers you, you may not answer on it.

Originally I followed you when I saw your Ireena and Blythe art. It amazed me how much both of them and Ireena in particular got fleshed out!

In my dnd game and tbh in many other games, players don't get invested in Ireena's journey, they don't fall for her and don't care for her sadly. That's why many DM's usually replace her with a player character, in order to raise the stakes. In half a year I will be running a new cos game, for the group of three and I am honestly considering to replace Ireena with the PC, but don't really want to (especially fearing how the game might go, if the player will turn into strahd-simp).

Could you please describe Ireena's character in your game? Perhaps her bonds and flaws? So other DM's and I can do a better job of her portrayal!

Thank you for the kind words! Here is an updated Lorelai WIP for your to pay rent

(and Blythe and Raha are very married yes)

So rather than referencing my game, as I am not the DM, I will provide my own suggestions as I was planning on running CoS as well. Spoilers for the campaign

I will also suggest against a Tatyana PC. Everyone is very much free to write and interpret the character however they want but to me it is very important that the Tatyana reincarnation does not want Strahd. In fact I would remove the interaction with Sergei too. Having her instantly forget herself as this new person in favour of Tatyana erases the entire point and kind of proves Strahd right in him refusing to see Ireena as her own person.

The way I would approach Ireena; she is her own person. She grew up with her family that wasn't Tatyana's. She lived a life that wasn't Tatyana's. She's met different people. It doesn't MATTER if she's a reincarnation of someone else, after all everyone in Barovia is a reincarnation of someone else. It's very important to establish that the main crux of the issue is that Strahd does NOT see her as Ireena, but Tatyana. He does not know Ireena. He only knows Tatyana. I would even have him call her that rather than "Ireena".

Ireena's story would be one of becoming independent and confident in her identity. To no longer be just Ismark's sister, Burgomaster's daughter, Tatyana's reaction, Evil's bride --- she is Ireena Kolyana. Nothing more, nothing less. I would start her off as unsure of herself, and being hesitant to take up space and over the course of the story become more confident in standing up for herself, with an eventual climax of expressing extremely clearly to Strahd that she is not Tatyana. She never was. He doesn't know her. That that person is gone, and she will never be back. He can chain her, do whatever but that will never make her Tatyana nor will it make her love him or know him. She is a woman who is constantly assigned identities by other's, but she want's to just be Ireena, she wants to do her hobbies, decide on where she wants to go, what books to read, what food to eat.

The relationship between Strahd and Tatyana is irrelevant. It could have been real, or a figment of his imagination, but the point is that...she is gone. If he had a soul of someone else, would it be fair for them to lay claim to him?

As for personality wise ; I would write her as sheepish at first, she is someone taking their first steps into adulthood in a way, outside the comfort of their home, their village. She should be curious and wonderstruck, curious and wishing to explore every nook and cranny. Because of that she would be unfortunately naïve to the problems that arise in bigger cities as Vallaki. A village and a town are very different - a big thing she's be stupefied by how impersonal everyone is. Rural villages often have people knowing everyone, it's commonplace to help your neighbor because you KNOW them. Vallaki is different...people go about their day and do not care, after all there is so many people. You physically can't know everyone.

She is down to earth and finds camaraderie with someone simpler than a noble, providing practical suggestions and being very handy with most tools and identifying local flora. On a flipside, I would say she struggles when dealing in very formal settings where it's less about honesty and more about saying a lie by omission to get what you want. When interacting with Vargas or Lady Wachter, she's visibly uncomfortable and stumbles over her words; they speak in such a way to purposely confuse her, like a lawyer would. Not only that but she most likely would refuse to do anything morally questionable, her heart is very pure!

So in all, a kind hearted, down to earth little lady who values honesty, hard work, and family but is naïve, stubborn and socially awkward. She will support and protect the party, even to her detriment but she will not stand with them to commit Crimes (so RIP if your party is murder hobos)

[syrips]

Yes it was a threat, soooooo

Following Secret Strahd Summer theme, do you have any thoughts what would any CoS characters do at their summer vacation? Maybe someone really likes swimming or building sand castles or anything else? :DD

ooh this would be so funny kJADSJBND

strahd would be building a grand sand castle and at the very tippy top is a sand figure of him and his beloved (bonus points if another char knocks his beloved off-)

rahadin would be adding actual weapons/daggers around strahd's sandcastle, not caring if ppl actually get hurt

ireena is burying ismark in the sand, just his head or a straw for him to breathe is visible

vargas is bbqing, and severly sunburnt because he doesnt believe in sunscreen. lydia is having a well deserved affair ft. fiona staying in her hotel room to relax

escher is doing summer photoshoots while anastrasya is taking nice angles

ludmilla is surfing with doru, bonus points if doru is screaming or falling off his board

the mortikovs are all under a large black luxury tent, gothic and cool (pun intended). they serve soft/hard drinks, have the radio on, and the CoS kids are either running around or relaxing in the shade

the members of religions/cults are circled around those built in beach bonfires

kasimirs just a soggy dog in the shallow part of the water

[godfreygwilym]

some notes on how i've been running the brides

when i first set out to dm cos, one of the first things i was really determined to do was give them more in-depth backstories, since— with the exception of escher getting like one paragraph lol— they're basically just. creepy dolls. which i GUESS works with gothic horror but man i would really like to have female characters with personalities!!!!

*combination of my own interpretation as well as concepts ive integrated from other dms, so if you recognize something specific i probably got it from elsewhere

ludmilla vilisevic

physically in her mid-30s, and is aged roughly 230. i play her with an rp english accent, although in my mind she has a nigerian affect. she is very poised and calculating, and always tries to be the one in control of any situation. has a talent for shadow magic, and her own sentient shadow is the closest she has to a best friend. she also has a barn owl familiar named amicus and a cat named eupraxia. when she takes a human disguise, she goes by the name of filena voltanescu.

before ludmilla married strahd, her name was lumina. she is a wizard apprentice who was lost in the mists and stumbled into barovia. naturally very curious, brave and shrewd, she marched up to ravenloft despite all the warnings. her and strahd ended up having a very romantic relationship (despite lowkey reflags from strahd the whole time lol) for a long time since there had been a long spell of no tatyana reincarnation, although they eventually began to fall apart, partially spurred by her feelings of isolation and longing for her family outside of barovia.

at the point that cos takes place, ludmilla is very distant from strahd and is really only going through the motions/trying to stay useful, though she is determined to remain a step above his other partners in terms of superiority. she spends a great deal of her time researching and experimenting on mostly-unwilling test subjects (she is well aware at this point that what she is doing is cruel, but after two centuries she's become rather indifferent). she's very fascinated by the abbot's work.

in my game, strahd has given her emil toranescu, who is imprisoned in tsolenka pass. she is working on developing a method to transfer souls from one body to another— in my game, ismark is the true reincarnation of tatyana, and ireena merely looks like her.

anastrasya "anya" karelova

physically in her early 30s, anya is just over a century old. barovian accent, and extremely flamboyant and charismatic, she loves being the centre of attention. she has a natural talent for communicating with ghosts, who are often her captive audience. not much combat skill beyond what abilities she has as a vampire, but she has a wicked skill for charming people. in human disguise, she goes by ekaterina bogdana.

anya is from minor vallakian nobility, which comes with all the trappings of petty inter-family squabbles. she has had a terribly unfortunate string of bad luck with marriages, all of her betrotheds have met poor fates or ran off. on a fourth attempt, her parents arranged for her to be married to an older landowner who she did not care for at all.

while she was engaged, anya ran into ludmilla (in human disguise) by chance. they grew close quickly and began having an affair. eventually, ludmilla introduced her to strahd, and she was instantly enamoured. before the wedding, anastrasya's betrothed "mysteriously" died, and she was whisked away to ravenloft. at this point, ludmilla and strahd's relationship was very cold, and he became preoccupied with anya.

volenta popofska

physically in her mid-20s, and is about 65 years old. barovian, and has a very floaty and whimsical way of speaking, though very soft spoken and rather self conscious. she often comes off as eerie. her vampiric abilities are amplified, making her a very good rogue/assassin. in "human" disguise, she is called violet spivakhofska.

volenta is a tiefling who was born in a small fishing village on lake zarovich. her parents did not want her, and so she was raised by the village elder. when she passed away when volenta was a teenager, she no longer had any protection from the animosity of the villagers, so she fled. eventually she was picked up by a small group of bandits, who would've attacked her, but she convinced them to let her join.

she bounced around various groups of bandits and thieves for several years, finding a place but never truly fitting in. after one traumatic rejection, she went to ravenloft in search of strahd, who she had heard stories of since she was a child, and had often wished would come and take her away. to volenta's joy, strahd took a liking to her and made her his bride.

even still, volenta is an outcast due to her awkward and sometimes unsettling behaviour and knack for the macabre. strahd enjoys her, but does little to try and ingratiate her with his other partners, and so she remains self-conscious and eager to win his favour.

escher gerst

physically in his late twenties, escher has been a vampire for just over a decade. i play him with a german accent. he is usually very distant and melancholy, though he becomes much more playful when not around strahd. a bard by trade, as a vampire he discovers a natural aptitude for shapeshifting, spurred by a bit of neuroticism over not being able to see his own reflection. in human disguise, he goes by claudius belasco.

escher is also from outside the mists, the son of poor farmers who ran off to join a bard troupe. he loves stories and music, and has a knack for various instruments, but particularly enjoys the lute and the violin— strahd has gifted him two exquisite models. his troupe was caught in the mists, and unbeknownst to him, strahd began spying on them. outside the village of barovia in the svalich woods, strange orchestrated a wolf attack on the group, sparing escher so that he could swoop in and save him. when escher awoke in a plush bed in ravenloft, he became deeply enamoured with strahd, who he saw as a fairytale prince. they had a very passionate relationship with strahd lavishing many gifts on escher before convincing him to let him turn him into a vampire.

despite not being together long, however, strahd has quickly become rather bored of escher's antics, who became desperate to stay in his good graces to avoid being sealed into the crypts. after the revolt in the village of barovia, strahd took doru as a vampire spawn. escher and him would have been close friends, if escher wasn't so deeply self-conscious and paranoid over his own status. eventually, he convinced strahd to starve doru to the point of madness and return him to his father at the church. escher would feel guilty over this, were he not so deeply concerned over his own self-preservation.

also due to strahd's coldness toward him, escher developed a fascination with vallaki, where he often goes in human disguise. here, he took a human lover, a painter named anton. anton became involved with the feast of saint andral, when escher gave him a bag (secretly containing the bones) and had him deliver it to the coffin shop. during the chaos of the feast, unfortunately, strahd had anton killed— escher beseeched the party to bury him properly and behead him so he would not return as a vampire spawn.

[tea-with-eleni]

Captured Outside the Amber Temple

Things are looking grim for Ireena Kolyana. An hour ago, she and the party were on their way to the amber temple. Upon arriving, Strahd and almost everyone who is anyone from Castle Ravenloft were waiting out front. They threatened to kill Ismark Kolyanovich and anyone else Ireena cared about unless she did the sensible thing, accepted their hospitality, and left with them. She gave the sunsword to the party rogue and felt she had no choice but to agree.

You feel like throwing up. You hate that he can manipulate you like this. You wish you could do anything else, but Ismark is the only family you have left. You cannot let him die.

You do not let yourself look back at your companions, at the people who have literally traveled your soul. You do not let yourself look back where Doru still hides. You cannot be the reason that he is hurt again. You suspect you have already been the reason why he was hurt at all. You suspect you are the reason why this entire country is hurting. Why? What did you do, in a part life? You must have done something horrible, to deserve this. Or perhaps the gods are cruel.

Perhaps, nothing — you know the gods are cruel. The vampire with the horns, the deranged one who likes demons, smiles when you reach her. She is hard to see in the dim light of early evening, especially backlit by the eerie glow of the amber statues. She puts an arm around your shoulders. “Thank you for being reasonable, sweetness,” she says. Her tone is different than you remember, from either the dinner or the tense negotiations of a few minutes ago. It’s like a mask has slipped away. “We would never want to hurt you. Can you ride?”

She nods to the horse. You want to scream at the question. Strahd dismounts and kisses the vampire. There is something strange about that, too — you do not want his affection, you have never wanted his affection, but he has kissed you before. This isn’t just strange. This is… wrong. He turns towards you, one arm still around the vampire woman, and cups your cheek in his hand. His hand feels wrong. He smiles. “It’s easier to teleport from the gatehouse,” he says. “Although we don’t have to, if you don’t want to ride.”

You would rather stab his stupid nightmare horse with Sergei’s sword. You no longer have Sergei’s sword. You wish you did. It would have been nice to sense the blade’s fury at your hip. ��Don’t touch me!” you yell. Strahd steps back, eyes wide. The vampiress with the horns raises an eyebrow. Her hand slides off your shoulder, down your arm. In another context, it would be a comforting gesture. You refuse to acknowledge that. “You didn’t want me to go in the temple. Fine. You threaten my brother. Fine. I will listen to you, I will go with you, in this matter I will agree to your demands. But please, milord, do not touch me. Give me this one thing, ladies take you.” You’re almost panting. You can’t quite look at him. You don’t want to look at him. You know all too well what his face will look like. You can picture the rage. You have seen it before, although you can’t precisely recall the circumstances. You have likely caused it before.

“I’m sorry,” he says.

Have you ever heard him apologize before?

You take the deepest breath you can in the icy air. You force yourself to look up at him, to really look up at him. He looks shocked, but the lines of the shock are wrong. The expression doesn’t sit right. Something is wrong. This… this isn’t Strahd. You inhale, too sharply, and the shock of cold in your lungs makes you cough. “Who are you?” you choke out.

“It doesn’t matter,” the horned vampire says, crisply. She pats your arm, then sets off to where Rahadin has your brother. “It’s time to go!” she calls. “We need to get Ireena and Burgomaster Kolyanovich somewhere warm. A meal would also be a good idea.” You see Rahadin bow slightly and wince at how easily he is able to pick up your brother. He asks if you’ll be returning to the guardhouse or making the trip from here. “We won’t ride anywhere,” the vampire says. “Ireena doesn’t want to ride and I don’t want to cause her any additional distress. It’s been a long few weeks for everyone. Can you make a fire while I draw the circle?”

Rahadin keeps his distance from you, almost respectfully, as he leads you back towards the trees. Strahd and the horned vampire clear the snow from the ancient roadway. You try not to enjoy the warmth too much as you sit near the fire the horrible dusk elf builds. The horned vampire draws an arcane circle on the roadway in chalk. She pays little attention to the golden fabric of her skirts. Its hem picks up all manner of grime and dirt. You would be appalled to let something so pretty fall into such shape. Strahd fidgets as he watches her, standing alone on the far side of the circle. Some detached part of you recognizes it as a teleportation circle. You have seen similar before, in a bedroom that was once yours.

You’re glad you reclaimed your hidden letters before the Wachter boys burned your old house down. It’s nice to think that, at least once, at least for a little while, you were happy in love.

The dark haired vampire spawn, whatever her name was, the one in the red dress that the bard keeps calling “pretty lady”, shouts a warning from the temple doors. Wind blows through your hair and you turn back to the fire. Strahd materializes on the other side of the flames.

This time, you know it is him. Your pulse spikes. You aren’t sure how the false Strahd near the circle fooled you before when the true one looks so different. He looks the same, but his expression is sharper. His stands straighter. His eyes have a fire that the false Strahd’s lacked. His smile towards you is cold. Feral.

“Thank you for joining us, my dear,” he says. “I am sorry your friends did not see reason, but that is a problem for them, not you. You made a wise choice.”

You look away, back towards the horned vampire an the false Strahd. Whatever illusion he’s using, it’s still in place. You can’t quite see through it. The magic is just a shade too powerful. You refuse to look at the real Strahd. Your mind and heart race.

Your anger couldn’t last against the false Strahd, not without the real one there to hate, and now all you feel is terror. He could kill you. You can still feel the icy pain of his fangs if you let yourself remember.

The false Strahd looks at you with a very different and much stranger smile. He seems to vanish, then reappears a few feet from you. “We will not hurt you,” he says, echoing what the horned woman said earlier. “We will protect you.” He offers a hand. He does not step any closer. He seems to be respectful of your outburst earlier. You do not take it, but he nods anyways and lets his hand fall back to his side.

“You could ask for the moon and stars and we would at least try to give it to you,” the false Strahd says. “Ask Strahd.” You would not want to give him the satisfaction, but you hear him laugh behind you.

“You are the moon and stars, dearest,” Strahd says. Your spine stiffens. Your head aches. Your jaw clenches. You feel as if you’ve heard him say those words before.

“I am not your moon or stars,” you grind out. He only laughs again. The person who pretended to be Strahd only shakes his head. If not for the amused smile on his face… he almost looks like Sergei, with that expression. You frown. You hadn’t entirely seen the family resemblance until now.

Your hand goes to your hip, to where you had, until an hour ago, belted what remained of Sergei’s crystal sword. You close your eyes and shake your head. It is useless to protest against him now. It has been useless for centuries. But this time might be different. This time, even without the sword, you can feel the echo of Sergei’s teachings from when the sun still shone. You can feel the echoes of the arcane magic you practiced with Vaclav in the attic of Vallakovich mansion. You can feel Ismark’s training in your muscles. You have been loved, truly and deeply, by friends and family who actually knew the meaning of the words.

Your traveling companions might help you, or they might die. You will most likely die, as you have died time and time again. You are literally surrounded by vampires who would drain you dry and a dusk elf who has killed countless innocents. You’re doomed and you don’t even know why. The mists will almost certainly reclaim you as they have so many times before.

You hate him.

You want to kill him.

The intensity of the sentiment is almost shocking. You pray to anything that is listening that you get the chance to do just that.

You do not know if anything hears you.

Something hears you.

[afolderfullofstories]

Whumptober 2023: Day 28

Elyndria could only stand back and watch numbly as Ismark ran up to the Abbot, Ireena cradled in his arms.

“Please. If there is a way, you have to save my sister. I beg of you.”

Guilt grew in Elyndria’s gut and she could only stay silent and pray the Abbot could do something.

The Abbot looked at Ireena and there’s something in his eyes that Elyndria didn’t like. But she didn’t care. If he could help Ireena, it wouldn’t matter.

“This is…” The Abbot stopped himself, sending all sorts of red flags to Elyndria but she kept silent. “I can bring her back to life.” The Abbot seemed to be thinking to himself, plotting something, but Elyndria didn’t care. Hope began to fill her at the Abbot’s words. He could fix her mistake. He could save Ireena.

Ismark’s eyes widened at his words. “Thank you. Please, save my sister.”

The Abbot held up his hand before him, eyes still calculating. “However, you have to understand something. Life cannot be returned like that, not in Barovia. Something has to be paid in turn.”

“I will pay. Whatever it is, I will pay the price.” Ismark said desperately, still cradling his sister to him.

“The price,” The Abbot said with an air of sorrow, “Has to be equivalent. A life for a life.”

Elyndria’s heart dropped.

“I will do it. I will pay whatever price that is needed. Just save my sister.”

“No Ismark, you can’t.” Elyndria cried out before she could stop herself.

Ismark barely glanced at her, “My sister is everything to me. Do not stop me from saving her.”

“There…there has to be another way. We will find another way.” Elyndria grabbed his arm, begging him. She couldn’t lose him. She didn’t want to lose him.

Ismark pulled his arm away from hers, a dark look in his eyes. “You have already done enough harm, Lady Elyndria, please do not cause any more.”

Elyndria felt her heart shatter at his words. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I was trying to help. I-”

Ismark glared at her, his gestured towards his sister in his arms. “You call this help? You were supposed to keep her safe.”

Elyndria couldn’t breathe. Tears burned her eyes. She never wanted this.

Ismark turned away from her, “Please. Do whatever it takes to save my sister, even if it means taking my life, I will gladly give it.”

Elyndria couldn’t breathe. She was going to lose him. Because of her mistake, she was going to lose him. “Wait.”

“Please, Lady Elyndria, do not stop me.” Ismark’s voice was cold. “Do not try to take away my chance of saving Ireena.”

“No. Wait. Take me.” Elyndria looked at the Abbot, desperation in her eyes. “Take my life.”

Silence descended over the party.

“Elyndria, think about this.” The fighter said slowly.

“You just need a life, right? Take mine.” Elyndria cried out.

Ismark’s eyes bored into her but she could not meet his gaze. “Lady Elyndria, what are you doing?”

She pushed past him and approached the Abbot. She saw how the Abbot seemed displeased by what was happening but she ignored the signs. “Take my life. My life for Ireena’s.”

“Lady Elyndria, you don’t have to do this.”

A hand grabbed her arm but she pulled away, still unable to look at him. She didn’t want to see the hate in his eyes. “You blame me right, for what happened? Then let me fix this. Use my life to fix this.”

“I…I hadn’t meant… It was wrong of me to…”

“It doesn’t matter.” Elyndria said coldly, her heart long shattered by Ismark’s words. “You need a life. I’m giving it willingly.”

“Let’s everyone calm down. We have time to talk this through. Let’s not make any rash decisions.” The sorcerer said.

“There’s nothing to talk about.” She couldn’t look at anyone. “I’ve made my decision.”

“Lady Elyndria, I’m not asking you to-”

“I’m not asking your permission!” Her eyes fixed on the Abbot’s, who still seemed to be pondering, calculating.

“Please, help me.” Ismark asked. She heard the fighter’s clanging armor behind her but she said nothing.

“Is this really what you want?” The fighter asked.

Elyndria gave a sideway glance to see the fighter now had Ireena in her arms. The sight of Ireena sent a pang of guilt in her gut. “Yes.”

“Lady Elyndria,” She felt a strong hand on her arm and she pulled away. “In my grief, I have clearly said the wrong thing and misplaced my anger. I did not mean to blame you.”

“Enough, Ismark. Let me do this. You’ll get your sister back. And we’ll all get what we want.”

“Lady Elyndria, I will die for my sister but I cannot ask you to do the same.”

“You don’t have to ask.” Her voice cracked. There’s so much she wanted to say but all she could see were Ismark’s cold eyes so similar to Aric’s, that it crushed her and kept her silent. He hated her. He clearly hated her. Why was he stopping her now?

“Please, Lady Elyndria, forgive me. I have clearly hurt your feelings. I don’t want you to do this.”

Finally, Elyndria built up her courage to look at Ismark and the dark look is gone, only pain and guilt. And she realized she couldn’t leave him with the guilt thinking he forced her to do this. “You misunderstand. I want to do this. I can’t… I can’t bear the guilt of what happened. Please let me fix my mistake. Let me fix this.”

“You tried to stop her. You did what you thought was right.”

“It doesn’t matter. It still killed her.” Elyndria choked out as tears streamed down her face. “Please Ismark. Let me assuage my guilt. Let me do this. I can’t live with the guilt.”

“You don’t have to. I will save my sister. She will be alright. She-”

“I can’t lose you!” Elyndria cried out. “I can’t… I can’t…” She loved him. She wanted to cry out, wanted to tell him. But she couldn’t. It would just put more guilt, more pain on him. She didn’t want that. She needed to reason with him, she needed him to accept her decision. “Think of Ireena. If you do this, she will never forgive herself. She will be burdened with that guilt for the rest of her life. But if I do it, it wouldn’t matter. I’m no one.”

Ismark approached her and when she didn’t pull away, he placed a gentle hand on her cheek. “You’re not no one, my lady. I can’t lose you either.”

Elyndria froze, she looked into Ismark’s eyes and found no lies in them. She asked in a quiet voice, childish almost, “You don’t hate me?”

“No. I don’t.”

Elyndria let out a sob. She embraced Ismark tightly, not wanting to let him go. He was everything she wanted and needed. She couldn’t lose him. She would not lose him. She held him tighter. She wished they could stay like this forever.

Finally she released Ismark and shoved him back gently towards her party. She took out her Lyre and played a soft lullaby.

“Lady Elyndria, what are you doing?”

Elyndria just smiled at him. “Thank you. Thank you for everything.”

“Stop.”

She shook her head as the lullaby continued. “When you wake up, you’ll have your sister back. Everything will be alright again. Just forget about me. I am but a distant dream, nothing more.”

Ismark took a step towards her and stopped. His eyelids began to droop as the magic began to take hold of him.

“I love you.” Elyndria whispered.

The sorcerer caught Ismark as he collapsed into a deep slumber.

Elyndria turned towards the Abbot.

“Elyndria, are you sure about this?” The fighter called out once more.

Elyndria just smiled sadly at them and nodded. There was no way around this. She won’t let Ismark die. She can’t. She approached the Abbot. “I’m ready.”

[astral-dragons]

Oh MAN. Okay, here's what happened this last session:

Sylviel awakes in Castle Ravenloft, cold and with a hunger they've never felt before, but otherwise alright. Strahd attempts to ease them into their new state of being, but Sylviel has a hard time wrapping their head around how they came back from the dead. Eventually Strahd has to outright tell them they're a vampire, and Sylviel takes the news quite poorly.

When they ask Strahd why he would revive them, he explains that he thinks they have potential. When he and Tatyana are reunited, he wants to step down as Barovia's leader, and someone will need to take his place, who better than the Hanged Raven. Sylviel finds the idea laughable, but Strahd remains undeterred, though they still have a long way to go to prove themself to him.

He allows Sylviel to leave, but not before giving them a gift, a sign of his good will: a sending stone, should they choose to contact him. Sylviel reluctantly accepts the gift. Rahadin escorts them back to the Abbey via the Brazier Room.

Meanwhile, Fenro has a bit of a breakdown at seeing his dead father, and asks to be left alone. The hallucination obliges, for now. Now finally having a quiet moment, Ireena asks what happened to Fenro's eyes. Not only does he tell them the story of what the Abbot did, but also informs her, as well as Ismark and Izek, of his curse. Ireena is worried, Izek sympathetic, and Ismark even more scared for his sister's well being. Fenro manages to convince him that if he does become a danger, Ismark has his permission to kill him.

It's at this point that everyone hears a thud from the other room, Fenro and Ismark go to investigate, and find Sylviel. The two of them share an irritated but heartfelt conversation, chastising the other for their actions. Marcus is confused, just frankly wanting to hit something. Dimitry gives Sylviel a hug, just glad to know they're alright, even if their undead state sets him a little on edge.

None of that matters though if they can't find a new safe haven. With everyone back together, they discuss their options. Ismark wants to leave Vasilka, Izek, and Victor in Krezk, safe but far from the rest of the group while they make the trek back to Van Richten's tower. Izek explains that Krezk isn't allowing anyone in, hence why he came to the Abbey in the first place. He argues they should all go to Van Richten's tower, until Ismark points out they have a vampire spawn and flesh golem with them now.

Tired, and frustrated, they all decide to rest in the Abbey tonight, and decide a plan in the morning. Fenro and Izek take a watch together, and they talk about their mental damage, and the people they care about, it's a nice little moment for them both.

The next morning the arguing begins again, no one knows where to go. That's when Sylviel spots something odd, a streak of what appears to be paint trailing down a hall. They follow it, noticing it has a strange iridescent quality. At the end of the hall, they find only three words written on the wall in the same paint-like substance: "Davian Martikov, Vineyard." They go back to the party, and tell them what they found, asking if anyone knows what it could mean.

Ireena mentions the Wizard of the Wines, though it's been a while since anyone's gotten any wine out of there. Ismark finds the idea of following instructions painted on a wall ridiculous, but with few other options, they all agree to at least check it out.

The party leaves the Abbey, hopefully for the last time, and heads off for the Wizard of the Wines. They arrive, and find a hooded man, beckoning them forward...

IT'S WERERAVENS TIME BABYYYYY. Also, excited that I finally got to sort of introduce Erasmus to the party, even if it was just like. a little teaser.

I also have to add that it was SO funny to watch Fenro's player have this slowly dawning horror as I describe Sylviel's new state of being to them. Wish I got to play with these guys in person more often

And of course, bonus out of context quotes:

"I leave for ONE session, and Fenro has daddy issues"

"Cool, free cremation!"

"You're not really alive, anymore, just... undead" "So I'm a zombie?? D:"

[curseofsergei]

Sympathizing with Strahd (Tips)

Say you're running Curse of Strahd, and you'd like to make Strahd more sympathetic in the PCs eyes. Whether that's because you are open to the idea of redemption, or maybe as a way to manipulate the players...here are some tips on how to make your players pity Strahd in some way. As a heads up, this takes lore into account--so...spoilers! Also, there is some personal interpretation here. If you do not like something, there's no need to include it!

The tips go more into depth below, but include the following: his shitty relationship with his parents, his jealousy for Sergei, the Baba Lysaga, and other misc changes I've made before. Enjoy!

1. Abuse from his father

Strahd was the oldest son to a warlord, and likely got dragged into messy politics and desensitized to horrors at a young age. His father was a scumbag that rarely showed affection to his wife or either of his sons. In fact, Strahd being the oldest son meant a lot of pressure was on him from his father--and with that, some likely forms of abuse or neglect. Strahd's father was focused on making Strahd follow him in his footsteps. His emotional needs were not met by his father, and he witnessed his father's lack of love towards the rest of the family, too.

Emphasizing this relationship brings about the Nature vs Nurture argument--Strahd was a victim of abuse and neglect from his father, and internalized the "warlord" mentality at the cost of his relationships with everyone around him. He's putting on a facade of emotional strength.

2. Neglect from his mother

Not only was his father neglectful, but his mother was, too. Strahd is a momma's boy. He loved his mother. But his mother was scared of his father, and as a result, scared of him. Emphasize the fact that his mother gave up on him, and favored Sergei instead. His relationship with his mother was also strained due to the Baba Lysaga...which we will get into next. When roleplaying the mother, think about how she could only see his father and the Baba Lysaga in him.

3. The Baba Lysaga (Grooming CW)

The Baba Lysaga was the Queen's midwife--she was delusional, and fed an infant Strahd her very blood. She saw Strahd as her own child, and is the reason Strahd's mother eventually passes away. Strahd has never met her--to his knowledge. Emphasize her metaphor for grooming. She, with other parts of Strahd's upbringing, helped turn Strahd into who he is. She infused evil in him, secretly--and when caught, was exiled.

4. He wanted to be Sergei

Yes, he yearned for Tatyana. But why? Make it bigger than that. Strahd wanted what Sergei had: love. Strahd's father abused him--but since Sergei wasn't the oldest, he didn't face nearly as much as Strahd. Their mother favored Sergei, as he wasn't "corrupted" by the Baba Lysaga. Sergei had the choice to do as he pleased, and yet he was still loved. Strahd was not given those same choices, and yet, was never loved. Strahd wanted to BE Sergei (hence Vasili)--and that meant having Tatyana, too.

5. Misc Lore/RAW Changes

Change some bits of the lore here and there. Here are some changes I've made/recommend:

Gertrude. You can remove her completely, but I kept her in. What I did was make it obvious to the party that Strahd wasn't interested in her--but the bride enjoyed her company, and took her in as a "daughter" (since Strahd won't have children with them). Eventually, make Gertrude realize that her obsession with Strahd was more of a desire to escape her abusive mother. Don't make her a vampire.

Sergei's tomb. I emphasize the fact that Sergei's tomb is the most elaborate. And his body is still there--frozen in time. Make the party see Strahd cry in the tomb. Or even better, make it the final battle, too.

Use Ireena and Ismark as a metaphor for Strahd and Sergei. Ireena and Ismark have the sibling relationship that Strahd and Sergei wish they had. While Strahd cared for Sergei--he could not show it in the way Ismark shows his care for Ireena. Make Strahd jealous of it, and have him "test" Ismark to see if he "truly cares" (and be sure that Strahd's idea of "caring" for Ireena reflects on his own relationship with Sergei. Make him PROJECT.)

Make Rahadin care for Strahd. While Rahadin would never betray Strahd, make it obvious to the party that Rahadin cares for him. Rahadin was raised alongisde Strahd for much of his life and saw the brunt of his father's abuse. That scene in the Amber Temple should not be the first time your party sees Rahadin care for Strahd. In my campaign, Rahadin observes the party in hopes that they can find a cure for Strahd, but also protects Strahd from them.

Give character and motivation to his brides. In my campaign, Strahd saved each of his brides in some regard, and have his marriage circumstances be symbolic in some way. It does not always have to be good symbolism, but giving character to the brides (and Rahadin) should show your characters that Strahd has people who care for him--but Strahd can't see it.

If you include Sergei--let him forgive Strahd. This should break Strahd. Sergei was the reason Strahd was turned, and ultimately is what makes Strahd chase after Tatyana all this time (again, he wants to be Sergei). Sergei forgiving him, or even saying he still loves him, should cause some sort of breakdown within Strahd's character. In my campaign, Sergei reincarnates alongside Tatyana. Rahadin tasks himself with disposing of his reincarnations before Strahd notices them. One has slipped through Rahadin's fingers by being adopted into Madame Eva's camp. NOTE: Forgiveness doesn't mean that Sergei won't kill Strahd, or be the cause of his death in some way. He may forgive Strahd, but see that he needs to be given mercy (death).

[palidoozy-art]

as a note: while I'll be trying to draw, some things will be slowing down (like speedpaints) because I will be REALLY BUSY the next few weeks. work is kickin' up like crazy and I have so so much to plan for my D&D campaign.

im real fuckin' excited for the campaign though. cut containing my ramblings below.

I had to write five years of summary for my players, randomly generating what happened to their town, to them, and to the world around them. The war progressed around them, leading to the Twilight Woods growing at a surprising rate. also tying more Curse of Strahd shit in -- the queen of the neighboring region is trying to bring Barov's old homeland back, uniting some of the regions. It took hours of work haha. but some of the things that happened:

- As mentioned above, the war started fuckin' shit up. I went ahead and changed their world map to reflect that (lol I actually don't think I've ever shown the world map, but, well, here you go)

- All the players had children. I gave the players control of their kids and they're fuckin' hilarious. I am so fortunate to have good players who enjoy lots of roleplay. I drew their tokens, and they are adorable.

- Their town, Ismarkova (yes, they absolutely named it after Ismark) has grown to a city of about 2000 people. They built a magical academy that Kasimir currently headmasters. The town is lead by Ireena, with Ellerian and Kelogul helping lead. They set up a monument at the ruins of Castle Ravenloft to everyone they lost in Barovia.

- Since Nelke died last session, the player brought back her OG CoS character, Miharu. So the gang's all together again!

- Kasimir is usually the guy in charge of taking care of the kids when everyone is busy, and has basically adopted the nymph twins. It is very cute watching them all interact.

- As mentioned earlier Ireena and Rahadin got married. It was very sweet. One of my players mentioned she cried during the ceremony. They opened a bakery together.

- I have totally not hinted at the Carnival dread domain visiting their land. They've been getting visited by a circus for the past like three years. It's absolutely not a ploy by Strahd to get someone to kidnap Ireena and drag her back into Barovia. why would i, a dm that loves suffering, ever do that.

Now that the 5 years are over the party's gonna go adventuring into fuckin' Twilight Woods, i.e. the ruined area of the former dusk elf civilization. I've been planning a lot of cool shit with it. Making a tier 4 area is hard though.

They're going to bring Rahadin with them, but sadly will likely be unable to bring Ireena... because at the latter end of the 5 years rolls determined they're having a kid. Nobody knows that yet, but likely by the time they start their adventure they will.

anyway thank you for listening to my excited nonsensical ramblings about my campaign. i very much enjoy how my players are all onboard "campaign full of suffering, horror, and dread, but also occasionally it turns into stardew valley, just with more people losing limbs or getting psionically tortured."

[nevermoretoleave]

SESSION XIII. pity and mercy.

in-game date: 22nd day of 11th moon

the conversation continues between the siblings and the party. ismark gives the party a handsome sum of gold — a fraction of the gratitute he feels — and hands them a letter he wrote to baron vargas, asking him to offer them sanctuary when they arrive. ireena has a small conversation with vane and valar, and then thanks the party for their assistance — she doesn't like admitting to needing help, but she knows her limitations. elya returns from the kitchen with a white dove familiar, which he releases on their way to the church, towards ravenloft, with a letter addressed to strahd, and sets up an alarm around the burgomaster's manor.

the covenant makes their way to the church. it's a sad state they find father donavich in, but they inform him of kolyan indirovich's passing. they do not have the means to save doru, but they offer to watch over doru to allow him a moment of respite. the priest reluctantly agrees, and the party learns that doru has been in this state for a year, ever since a mage, mordenkainen, incited an incursion on castle ravenloft after gertruda's disappearance. elya asks what to do if and when doru attacks them, and donavich implores them to lock doru back up.

once father donavich leaves the church in their care, they set to the undercroft. it's an angry vane that leads the charge, even if the group at large is preparing for a fight. the mood deescalates the minute they lay eyes on doru, curled up on himself in the farthest corner of the room, in an attempt to make himself look as small and non-threatening as possible. he pleads with them, promises that he'll be good, that he just wants something to eat and to leave the undercroft.

vane almost offers him her blood right there and then, but lev and elya stop her from doing it in front of him. at valar's suggestion, she and lev head upstairs to draw some of their blood to feed him. doru pleads with the rest of them to believe that he means no harm. kai asks him what he remembers of castle ravenloft, but it's all a blur to him. it's elya that offers doru the blood vials, but it's not enough to satiate him. he's grateful, but wouldn't dare ask more of them. still he pleads to be let out, promising he'll live off rats and animals. vane sits with him, and elya promises he won't be alone for the night. vane lets ismark and ireena know to not wait up for them through their telepathic bond, and ismark reassures them that whatever their decision is, they'll stand by it — this is what strahd does, give good people impossible choices. to prevent him from attacking any of them during the night, elya offers him his arm to feed from.

doru curls up to sleep after that, with his head on vane's lap, and she decides to stay up through the night. valar takes first shift with her. she asks him about what he saw on the gallows, and tells him she saw her own lost arm in the golem-in-progress at the abbey. the two of them discuss strahd, and valar makes no promise that he'll be able to be diplomatic with him. they discuss what to do about doru, and vane wants to give him a choice about his fate. kai joins her for the last shift, and expresses his condolences for hers and elya's deaths. he wonders if he'd rather not know the atrocities his clan has committed in his name, but she assures him it would have come up eventually. morning comes, and we call the session.

[barovian-dawn-seekers]

Forest Findings

Hooves pounded against the forest floor as Friend of Foe and Ismark took the risk of a shortcut. It would either save them valuable time in their attempt to catch up to Ireena on her way to Ravenloft or any matter of nightmare could cross their path and prevent them from reaching her altogether. What they would encounter before long was something entirely else as Friend caught sight of a familiar large, black four legged silhouette in the distance.

Time was of the essence, but.... wasn't that Yavis's horse? Or, well, the horse she'd taken claim of after they defeated one of Strahd’s lackeys, Gregor, back at the Tser Falls. In their haste to escape Vallaki under the cover of the night they had not been able to take Shadowfall with them and had left him in the care of the wereravens, so what would he be doing out in the woods?

Friend pulled on Mudpie's reigns, bringing the horse he'd hastily borrowed from the Vistani to a halt before hopping off and hurrying over to the out of place war horse. Scooping Shadowfall's reigns in one hand he gave the behemoth a soothing pat on the cheek with the other. After confirming that their horse was alright his eyes began to gaze about the surrounding area, eventually drawing upward.

"Assistance," a mildly mechanical voice called from the trees above.

A girl - no, upon closer inspection, specifically a female presenting Warforged appeared to be stuck in the branches of the trees. After helping her make her way down the two discovered that she had taken Shadowfall from the stables after a series of events that included, but was not limited to, stealing from Rictavio and bribing ravens in the loft. She hadn't been able to fully control the war horse though, and eventually he'd bucked her off into the trees.

Still in a hurry, the boys kept the discussion brief. By the time all was said and done though they had an additional member on their trek to Ravenloft - she had to ride Mudpie though.

And that's how Friend and Mistake met! She's been part of the party ever since, though she's had a few adventures on her own. You make a tough choice that you know your character would make, knowing fully well that you might not be playing them much longer (you don't expect surviving walking into Ravenloft alone) and instead he just gains a best friend. I for one am glad that Friend took the risk of splitting the party.

[strahd-von-asthmavich]

The Dread Lands of Ravenloft - Mod Van Richten’s New England In-Table Campaign [Session 5]

Session Highlights

What a wonderful impression they’ve made! They’ve done quite a bit to establish themselves in town!

Side Note: Any art that I share of NPCs within these highlight posts is my (Mod Van Richten’s) original and fan art. Any art that I use for my players that wasn’t created by myself but by other artists is kept private and within our friend circle.

Abrascus Barbarian (4) Path of the Ancestral Guardian Race: Tortle Background: Haunted One

Direthorn Rogue (4) Swashbuckler Race: Drow Background: Urchin

Flopsy Barbarian (4) Path of Wild Magic Race: Rabbit Man Background: Experiment

Mangus Monk (4) Way of the Open Hand Race: Half Elf Background: Urchin

Neracahne Wizard (4) School of Evocation Race: Eladrin Background: Noble

Nyra Rogue (4) Phantom Race: Fairy Background: Noble

CW for sexual themes

The events of the day start under the cut.

Out of desperation, Direthorn ran off to try and get more pie. This is when the others decide that now is a good time for lunch. For that, they go to the Blue Water Inn at the center of town. They order food from the owner, and while they do, they meet an interesting individual.

Rudy is a half elf bard with an ornate pan flute around his neck, and he’s playing his lute when they all come into the inn. Flopsy takes interest in him, since he’s been thoroughly convinced that he’s a bard, as well. He insists that he should show Rudy his talent, and he does. Rudy’s reaction isn’t quite what Flopsy expected.

The bard tells him that there can be ways to improve the sound of his music. He can see that he really enjoys playing his banjo, so Rudy wants him to get better. He teaches Flopsy how to play the strings of his banjo using his nails as picks.

Rudy also takes a liking to Ismark, acting flirtatious with him. The feelings seem to be mutual, and Ismark decides to give Mangus another impromptu lesson. This lesson assures Mangus that love and romance doesn’t have to just be between a man and a woman. It can happen between two men, two women, or even people that aren’t necessarily men or women. With that, Ismark decides to talk it up with Rudy after that.

As they’re eating lunch, the group comes up with a game plan as to how they’re going to take care of the coffin shop investigation. Neracahne and Nyra decide that they’re going to go during the day first after lunch. Once they build a good rapport with the coffin maker and can get permission to investigate further, then they would be in great shape. They all agree that this is a great idea. The only one that doesn’t go with them in their group is Ismark, because he decides to stay behind to hang out with Rudy. The party teases him by saying he only wants to stay for the wine, but he’s defensive over that and insists that there’s another reason for him to stay behind.

Going to the coffin shop are Abrascus, Adelaide, Escher, Flopsy, Ireena, Mangus, Neracahne, and Nyra.

When the party gets to the coffin shop, Neracahne and Nyra tell everyone else to “distract the bunny,” because once Flopsy gets inside, their little ruse is over. Using this opportunity, the rest of the party does, indeed, distract Flopsy. Mangus brings up his confusion over the discussion he had with Ismark the night before, and he asks the group what he means by that.

Flopsy is more than happy to give him a more in depth lesson on “the birds and the bees.” Of course, this is from a man’s perspective, and he gets into so much detail that there are hand gestures. Escher is so horrified that he covers Adelaide’s ears so that she couldn’t hear what Flopsy was saying. However, Ireena gets to hear everything. Her response to this awkward talk is, “I don’t think that’s how that works.”

Adelaide looks up at Escher after the talk is over, and tries to ask about one of the gestures that Flopsy made. Her eyes weren’t also covered, after all. Flopsy tells her that he can show her, which hopefully was a bluff. In response, Escher is so furious that he glares at Flopsy. Unfortunately for Escher, he suddenly reveals to Flopsy that he has fangs in the process. Through what Flopsy knows about vampires, he comes to the conclusion that Escher is one.

Flopsy tells Escher that he knows, in a way that won’t rouse too much suspicion. Escher’s a little paranoid and doesn’t want him to tell anyone. There’s a little bit of blackmail involved, however. Flopsy tells Escher that he won’t tell, if he tells him how Flopsy can become a vampire, himself. They agree that they will talk further later on in the day.

Meanwhile…

Neracahne and Nyra are able to get a successful introduction with the coffin shop. Henrik van der Voort is the owner’s name. He has great slogans, such as, “Welcome to my coffin shop. Who died?” in a rather deadpanned voice. They tell him that they’re here to investigate and need to come back at night. Henrik looks a little nervous about that, but he agrees. They’re so nice to him that he complies. Besides, this investigation was initiated by Izek Strazni.

The Baron’s Dinner.

Next on their agenda is having dinner with the Baron. Only the player characters went to dinner, save for Direthorn. Direthorn will be given a sort of “to go” version of what the others had for their meal. There, they meet Vargas’ wife, Lady Lydia Petrovna, and his son, Baronet Victor Vallakovich.

Vargas seems very pleased to be ostentatious with his meal choices for them. They’re given a four-course meal, with the prized course being a uniquely crafted goulash. This stew was used with “locally sourced” venison. The Baron got a special treatment for his plate, for he also had a heart. It was his favorite part of the meal.

The only people that didn’t have the goulash were Victor and Flopsy, who instead had salad.

Flopsy has been sitting beside the Baron’s wife, who’s at the other end of the table. He notices that she’s acting strange, laughing at whatever her husband says and making small talk with the others. She doesn’t quite seem to be fully engaged. So, Flopsy talks to her through napkin notes, asking if she’s happy and if her husband is good to her. She answers “no” to both of those. Flopsy manages to successfully communicate with Neracahne about the situation, and he wants to try and see if he can help her while the Baron doesn’t notice. This will have to be something for a later time, though.

During this course, Abrascus is picking at the meat in his stew, taking it out but eating the rest of it. The Baron questions this, for if he didn’t want the meat then he should’ve just gotten the salad. Abrascus tells him that he didn’t want a salad and just wanted the stew. Vargas seems to be delighted when offering to eat the meat that he didn’t want. However, Abrascus takes this offer to throw the bits of meat at the Baron. Appalled and irritated over that response, Vargas looks like he’s showing restraint when he tells Abrascus, “I really don’t like you.”

Izek during dinner gives Vargas a letter, which seems to be notifying him of what the adventurers are about to investigate. He’s pleased by this, but he tells them that if they don’t figure out what’s disturbing the peace before the festival, then they will be arrested. There’s then a debate between him and Mangus over whether saying “retire” for resting was appropriate or not, and he leaves them with his son.

Now that they are alone, this is when Victor really talks to the adventurers about being from outside of Barovia. He tells them that he wants to leave, and he’s been trying to work on something to help him get out. The magic users (as well as Flopsy) are able to discern that he’s been working on a teleportation circle. Under the guise of wanting to see Lady Lydia, Flopsy agrees to stop by to help. Victor assures them that they will probably be more than welcome to join one of her tea parties, which she throws rather frequently. Victor also tells them that Lady Lydia is his stepmother, and he suspects that she’s unhappy, too. If his own brooding wasn’t anything to go by, the general consensus around the Baron is “not an okay dude.”

After dinner, the party goes back to the Von Holtz manor first. They grab Escher so that he can help them, and then they set out to the coffin shop. Direthorn still has not reunited with the group yet. Despite that, they all continue without them.

First, they debate over how they’re going to go inside the shop. Mangus asks Flopsy to throw him through one of the second-story windows. Flopsy refuses, thinking that Mangus will just hurt himself. Neracahne and Nyra are ready to go through the door. Since Henrik knew that they were coming, the door was unlocked. Abrascus tries to look around on the ground floor, but the search turns up nothing. There are no incriminating things on the ground floor. During this, they also mull over going upstairs.

Escher suddenly tells them all to be quiet, since he hears something. The only one that doesn’t quite hear the conversation is Mangus. They hear Henrik and another mystery voice conversing briefly. Paraphrasing, the conversation goes as follows:

Unknown: “You need to lie low.” Henrik: “Please. They’re onto me. I can’t keep this up!” Unknown: “Lie. Low. Three more days.”

Abrascus leads the way upstairs, blocking the entryway to the other rooms at the stairwell. He corners Henrik, who is startled at seeing him. He claims that there was no one else here with him. And, sure enough, there’s no one else in here with him. However, Flopsy was able to detect schools of magic from downstairs. He tries detecting it up here. He does find six very clear pings of necromancy from different areas of the second floor. Henrik tells them that he has no idea what necromancy even is, but he does look nervous.

The interrogation turns to Escher, for a brief moment. He’s a necromancer, after all. He’s even mentioned that he was in a previous investigation, though they didn’t find anything at that time. However, Escher immediately shuts that theory down. The last time he was here was twenty-two years ago, and a lot can change in twenty-two years. His reasoning takes a little too long for them to accept.

Flopsy has had enough of the meandering, so he decides to take action. He goes to the nearest crate that he sensed necromancy and yanks it open. When he does, out springs a very hungry vampire spawn. When one does, the other six do, as well. When they all come out, Henrik suddenly panics and tries to persuade the spawn. “Stop! It’s not time yet, it’s not time yet!” However, there’s no trying to persuade six hungry vampire spawn when there are many different food sources right in front of them.

[blccdbcnded-archive]

This one needs some explanation!

So I was always planning on extending our campaign past the end of the module, with the intent that after Strahd was eventually slain, the party would then have access to the other Demiplanes of Dread. So I threw in some new twists and turns, including a Bigger Badder Eviler Guy (Azalin, though the party still has yet to meet him. They have thus far only seen illusions of him and encountered his cohorts). What resulted was the party working with Strahd to take out some of Azalin's agents, as they posed a far greater threat to Barovia at the time.

It became clear that Azalin had plans for Strahd, though just what those plans were, none of them could discern. And while the party didn't exactly have any warm feelings towards Strahd, it was also made crystal clear that Azalin would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. The leader of this sect of the Kargat, Arabella, even went so far as to lead a number of vampire spawn and werewolves to sack Vallaki.

Eventually, Arabella crossed a line by kidnapping Ireena, Ismark, and the two children the party had rescued and left in their care. That was something Strahd could not let stand, so he enlisted the help of the party and, together with them and his own small army of vampire spawn, marched out to meet Arabella. The party was to rescue those held hostage while Strahd served as a distraction.

What resulted was a grueling battle in which no one was left unscathed. Not even Strahd, who very nearly died a long and torturous death, if not for the party intervening on his behalf.

I may expand on this further at a later date. I do hope to one day write up the events of the campaign in like a fan fiction for myself and my players to read and reminisce. Perhaps I'll post it here for those who are interested.

[bruno-in-barovia]

Session Three

We reached the village of Barovia after about a day’s walking. The place looked deserted around its outskirts. All was quiet, except for the faint sound of someone crying in the distance. We hurried along the main street until we reached a tavern called Blood on the Vine. There was a huge raven perched in the square. Come to think of it, there was raven imagery all over the place.

Anyway, we headed into the tavern and Elliott made a beeline for the bartender to find us somewhere to stay… and to buy clothing. He’d gotten some from Vasili, which meant that Opal and Haku and me were the only ones left in our skivvies.

The place was pretty empty. There were three women ogling Haku from their table and one man nursing a pint in a far corner. On that subject. My gods. This guy was the most gorgeous twunk. I cannot stress that enough. Rugged jaw, soft-looking hair to his shoulders. Oof.

Naturally, I started in his direction before remembering that, oh yeah, I’m in my underwear and the people look kind of spooked. Elliott sidled back over and suggested I step out to ease the atmosphere. I had to agree. I need clothing so badly. I notice that no one needed Haku to leave, though. They were too busy leering at him to be intimidated.

After a while, Opal came out of the tavern and suggested we scavenge through the abandoned houses in town for clothing and other supplies. I was skeptical, but she explained that it was the bartender’s idea. Off we went.

As we entered the first house, I was still miffed that Haku didn’t have to leave and was trying not to dwell on it, and maybe that’s why it didn’t register in my head right away when Opal’s foot went through a step and hits the motherlode of rat swarms. They came pouring out of there, hissing and biting, and we ran for it out of the house and down the street. I got bit up pretty bad almost right away, and the swarm followed us in this terrible furry wave as we ran for the tavern, screaming for the party as we got closer. Elliott, Lith, and Haku came running out and Lith threw a few fireballs into the swarm, which scared it off. I was feeling a little lightheaded from the blood loss. There were so many of them. Great chasm, we could have died. We could have died right then and there. I got kind of overwhelmed the more that the idea sank in. It wasn’t until Haku suggested we try the nearby store for clothes that I snapped out of it.

Five of us went to the store while Elliott headed off to do some promotional work for the tavern in exchange for a better rate on our rooms. The owner was a dick, though, and I wasn’t sure I could haggle with him over clothing. Zazear actually tried to steal some clothes off of a rack and got caught, the dingbat. Haku befriended his nephew and offered to take him with us back to the tavern for a drink. How does he do that? Well, we gave up on bargaining and headed back to the tavern.

Elliott met us on our way and handed out some pies that he had gotten from an old woman selling them in the town. They were delicious.

In the tavern, that hot twunk from before approached us. And there’s me, still bare. Ugh. I am so not on my game lately. He introduced himself as Ismark Kolyanovich. And then he said he’d like to hire us to escort his sister to another village. I guess she’s in some kind of trouble with the lord of the valley? Plus he says he’ll have clothing for us! Thank the gods!

Elliott got us three rooms in the tavern for that night, so Opal and I paired up for one of them to tend our bites and sleep. I feel pretty bad for Elliott stuck in his room with Zazear. Lith was all too eager to bunk with Haku, of course. In the morning we all headed over to the Kolyanovich house. People and wolf footprints were all over the ground.

Hot Twunk’s—I mean, Ismark’s—sister Ireena let us in, and we got some plain clothes. It’s not as good as armor, but hopefully Athros will protect me, if I’m careful.

Ireena only agreed to let us escort her like Ismark wanted if we also helped to bury their dead father beforehand. Ismark showed us to his father’s coffin, and we talked through how we would get it to the local chapel and then our party would leave with Ireena for the larger town of Vallaki. Neither of them have ever been outside of the village of Barovia before, so Ismark is operating on the idea that Vallaki will be safer for Ireena because it’s bigger, and they have no plan for any specific place for her to stay in there. I don’t think that’s going to hold up, but it sounds like these people have more pressing problems than finding a specific place for Ireena to go. The tracks outside of the house make that clear.

Ismark put on a set of leather armor while we arranged our marching order. I tried not to stare, but oof.

Haku and I carried the coffin on our walk to the chapel while the others flanked Ireena. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary on the way, though. If Ismark and Ireena weren’t acting so skittish, it would feel unnecessary, but they’re terrified of this Strahd guy. Which makes sense, just going off of the things we saw in that death house and assuming they’re linked. Y’know, what with the statue of “Dread Lord” Strahd and all. 

The local chapel was a mess. The outside was battered, and once the priest, Father Donavich, lets us in, we could see the sanctuary was torn up as well. Yeah, that wasn’t foreboding at all. Father Donavich’s deity is a sun god he calls the Morninglord. He was acting really nervous and came across a little shifty, but it had been so long since I was in a chapel that I didn’t care.

Ismark headed out back to dig the grave for his father. Zazear ran around opening doors, while Elliott and the others worked on clearing the debris in the sanctuary. I helped Father Donavich prepare the body for burial.

Someone was making sounds under the floor. Screaming, whimpering, generally horrible sounds. Before I could ask, Elliott pulled Father Donavich into a side room. When they came back out, he looked pretty disturbed. I felt like I should investigate, but he indicated that it was better to ignore whatever was going on. For now, I agreed.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly right up until Father Donavich finished the funeral rites. Then a pack of wolves and dire wolves padded out of the mist, and this man on a fiery horse rode up out of thin air. Strahd. He looked just like the statue we’d seen in the death house.

Strahd started talking to Ireena from up there, but he kept calling her by a different name. Tatyana. Weird. Ireena replied all angry and afraid and refused to go to him, and the rest of us circled a little closer around her, ready for a fight. Then Strahd poofed into mist and reappeared by Father Donavich. He whispered something to him and then bit him on the neck. What in all that is holy? Donavich fell down as soon as he let go. Then Strahd turned his attention back to Ireena. He commanded her to come to him, and something was different this time. Ireena started forward, looking dazed. Elliott grabbed her to keep her from obeying, but Strahd poofed over, tore her away from him and poofed back to his horse with her in tow.

The wolves attacked as soon as Strahd got out of the way. I sent up a prayer and unleashed a bolt of magic at Strahd. The clearest sense of Athros’ guidance I’ve ever had came upon me and the magic tore through his chest. I almost celebrated, but the hole closed right away and Strahd just looked at me. Damn it. 

Elliott was knocked out in the fight. Strahd poofed a few more times, biting Haku and Lith. Seriously, what’s with that move? Unlike Father Donavich, though, they kept on their feet. 

Finally, Strahd returned to his horse, bit Ireena, and set her down. He turned toward us just before he left and told us to “take care of Tatyana” for him. 

We were left with our group in tatters, Father Donavich dead. I healed our wounded members. Thank the gods none of them died or I wouldn’t have been able to help. Ireena woke from her trance and claimed not to remember anything from the moment Strahd showed up.

What are we going to do now? The mission is still on, but this really proves how incapable we are of facing Ireena’s enemy to protect her. He could have killed her or taken her back to his castle, and we couldn’t have stopped him.

[afolderfullofstories]

Whumptober 2023: Day 10

The party was silent as they sat in the Tavern. They were still reeling from what happened. No one said a word. Elyndria just stared at her hands; she could still feel Ireena’s hand heavy in hers.

“What do we do now?” The sorcerer said, his eyes also unable to meet any of theirs.

What do they do? Everything they’ve done was for nothing. They had one simple job and they fucked it up. She fucked it up. This was her. They had nothing to do with this. This was her. Her stupid decision. Her mistake.

“We still need to find a cure for the werewolf bite.” The Rogue said, showing the healing mark on her forearm.

Elyndria’s own bite burned. But she didn’t care about that now. She couldn’t think about anything else. Just the dead body lying upstairs in one of the rooms. Her gut turned, she was going to be sick. “Don’t want to think about that right now.”

“Well, sister, if you’ve forgotten, the full moon is in a couple of days. If you want to turn into a werewolf, be my guest.”

Elyndria looked down at her bite. It would be what she deserved, wouldn’t it? What right did she have to be saved when she couldn’t save anyone? When she murdered… A sob escaped her lips.

“Ms Elyndria, I can’t say I wouldn’t have grabbed her if you hadn’t. You mustn’t blame yourself.” The artificer said kindly.

Elyndria shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. She’s still dead and it’s still my fault.”

“No it isn’t.” The fighter said firmly.

“I want to go to bed. Can we have this conversation in the morning?”

“You joining us tonight?” The rogue teased.

The fighter elbowed the rogue hard in the ribs.

“What?”  

Elyndria didn’t say anything and just headed up the stairs.

“You’re a real bitch sometimes.” She overheard the fighter said.

Elyndria approached the room Ismark took. She placed a hand on the handle but she couldn’t open it. She heard muffled sobs behind the door. She wanted to call out to him, to comfort him. But her voice caught in her throat.

Her hand pressed onto the door, desperately wanting to comfort him, to touch him, to hold him. But she couldn’t do anything. She slid to the ground, pressing her back against the door, hugging her knees towards her chest. “I’m here for you.” She tries to say but her voice is barely a whisper.

She couldn’t imagine how Ismark was feeling. If she had died, her brother wouldn’t care. He would probably feel happy. And if Aric died… she would feel relieved. And that thought made her hate herself even more. She wondered numbly if anyone would grieve her like this if she was gone. No. No one would. Not her. Not a murderer. She didn’t deserve it.

*

The rogue smirked at her when she came down for breakfast, “Well someone didn’t come to bed.”

Elyndria didn’t say anything. She just stared at the food, sick at the sight of it.

“Did you sleep at all last night?” The fighter asked in concern.

“I’ve replenished my magic. That’s all that matters, right?” She said harshly. She hadn’t meant to sound cruel but she was spent.

Silence fell over them when Ismark came down the stairs and joined them. He didn’t touch the food either, Elyndria noted numbly, nor did he meet her gaze.

“Thank you, my friends, for all you’ve done. I will take my leave of you now. I will bring Ireena back to Barovia to bury.”

There’s pain in Elyndria’s chest as she realized Ismark was leaving them. But he was going to bury his sister, it would be expected. “Maybe we should escort you back to Barovia.”

“No.” Ismark’s voice was strained. “No.” He repeated, calmer, again refusing to meet here gaze. “This is something I must do myself. And Strahd has no reason to come for us…me anymore.”

“Will you be joining us after?” Elyndria asked quietly, her gaze fixed on him, begging him to meet her gaze.

“No.”

It sounded so final and Elyndria understood what it meant but she couldn’t accept it. Selfish as it was, she couldn’t lose him. “You said you’d never leave.”

“Things change.”

She could feel her heart shatter. Why did she expect any different? After what she did, after failing to protect his sister, after killing his sister. But she still had to ask. She needed an answer, even though she knew the answer would break her heart. “Do you…do you think you could ever forgive me?”

“No.” The answer was so final, so sure.

Elyndria couldn’t breathe, her heart twisted and cried out in protest. But she kept calm, she held it in. She didn’t want Ismark to see the pain he caused her. He didn’t deserve it. “I understand.” She doesn’t understand, she wants to scream. She didn’t do this on purpose, this wasn’t her intention. She was just trying to help. “Take care of yourself.”

Ismark doesn’t say anything, still refuses to look at her.

Elyndria stood, “We should take our leave.”

Ismark doesn’t stand, doesn’t say anything. And she wants to scream, beg him to look at her just one more time. She can’t lose him, not like this. She needs him.

Elyndria removed her Cloak of Protection and gently draped it over Ismark. She carefully ensured she didn’t touch him. She didn’t think she could bear him recoiling from her touch. “Please be careful.”

Ismark looked down at the cloak. And finally, finally, he looked at her. “You will need this.”

“No I don’t.” Not anymore.

Elyndria watched Ismark’s eyes dart to the uneaten food before her and he looked like he was going to say something. Hope filled her for a second, that maybe they could still salvage this. Instead Ismark stood and gave them a half bow, “Then I wish you and your companions a safe journey as well.”

Elyndria returned the half bow. “Farewell.” Her voice cracked at the finality of the word. She watched as Ismark walked back upstairs, never once turning back.

“Right. Back to the matter at hand, werewolf bite cure?”

Elyndria just stared at the wound on her hand. She numbly wondered if this pain in her chest would disappear if she turned into a werewolf.

“Elyndria? Hello?”

“Yes.” She said, her eyes still focused on the bite. She would help her friends find the cure but… She looked at her hand and she could once more see Ireena’s charred hand in hers. She didn’t deserve to be cured. Why does she get to live when she’s caused Ireena’s death? She saw Ismark’s eyes full of hate and she realized she doesn’t want to be cured.