#vallaki is fucking giant

[raviollies]

“The magic you feel is strange  — there’s an edge of what feels like your ancestors.”

Did someone say Eldritch Blast

[glassblossomsthunderstorm]

Well, the High Rollers Crew asked for it, so I decided to deliver🐛🍂🎲

We Didn’t Start The Mire based on their Curse of Strahd campaign and Billy Joel’s We didn’t start the fire.

This is pretty much a summary of the events of HR COS up to episode 33, so obviously beware the spoilers!

Disclaimers: As much as I would like to be a kickass Alto, a kickass Alto I am not. Instead I’m one of dem High Sopranos, so the pitch of this song is... not exactly ideal for my voice. I’m also not a native english speaker, so please let me know if you find anything gravely wrong with the lyrics! I also don’t know the first thing about mixing music, so I’m aware that this is very amateurish, but despite my terror of the whole fandom laughing at this, somebody might end up liking it, hopefully, so here we go! The ending part was a last minute idea, but I like it :) I’m sure other’s have done something like this much more successfully already, but I’m actually pretty proud of how my lyrics turned out, so I wanted to share it anyways😊

Anyways, enough excuses, lyrics can be found under the cut, background track by ProSound Karaoke Band! Headphones probably help and check out High Rollers!

Travellers in Barovia,

Ravenloft and Bonegrinder,

The Kolyanas, Madam Eva, and Taroka Decks.

Shadow beyond the Veil,

Rose summons thorn and hail,

Yesper and the Dragonborns,

Vallaki is not safe.

Xiiki comes back from the dead,

But there’s something that she lacks,

Shadow figures, giant snail,

Bones of St. Andral.

Silver Dragon, He-Who-Grins,

Don’t you trust the Mystan-Twins,

Pacts made with Asmodeus,

Ireena is Tatyana.

We didn’t start the Mire,

It has always been here,

Before Strahd had sowed fear.

We didn’t start the Mire,

No, the earth is rising,

And it’s socialising!

Sunsword and Mad Mage,

Strahd is full of rage,

Towers are collapsing,

And Xiiki’s down again.

Shadow dies and Rose is grieving,

Yesper’s mad and Xiros’ scheming,

Ismark is a himbo,

And Strahd just fucking sucks.

Mistrust, secret deals,

Giving Xiiki guilty feels,

Dogsbody gives some hope,

Turns out he’s a lycanthrope,

Yesper-Xiros-heart-to-heart

Helps drawing another card,

Ezmerelda joins the Gang,

But she’s too intolerant.

Chorus

Scarecrows, Wereravens,

Vineyards and green gems,

Dragons walk their own way,

Nearly ends in TPK.

Xiros, Xiiki are no more,

Living in Avernus lore,

Tom and Rhi make new plans,

Coming back as the lands.

Party is completely torn,

But therefore the Mire’s born,

Bugs and shrooms are everywhere,

Lysaga isn’t fighting fair,

Flying skulls and kidnapped kids,

Snakes are being little shits,

Grasping vine and darkness cast,

Yesper isn’t made to last.

Chorus

Nope-ropes are cut in twain,

House is in rock throwing range,

Strahd owes me money now,

Yesper’s taking his last bow.

Finally the zombie dies,

Ireena makes a sacrifice,

Hut’s defeated, Rose is sad,

Ding dong the witch is dead.

Second relic is unveiled,

The party’s plans are derailed,

Because Ezmerelda’s back

In the town of Krezk.

  Chorus

Crystal ponds, abbey bells,

Alvaski versus truth spells,

Shadow’s breaking all our hearts,

Dead ducks don’t fly backwards.

Tracking down Vasilka,

Ismark of the Opera,

Stitched together angel pricks,

Silvered weapons, magic kicks.

Vasilka’s tearing wolves apart,

Alvaski’s story hurts my heart,

Rose’s quest is Shadow’s rest,

Mark, we all are fucking stressed!

Mirewolf and werewolf dens,

Laughing fits and opened cans,

Tom and Trotty ship their boys,

HR fandom make some noise!

[canadiankazz]

The Adventures of Haiku the Tiefling Bard

So, I have a bard, Haiku, who goes on adventures with her sister Moku (played by @cravatfiend ) They are tiefling orphans who grew up on the streets and are trying to get enough funds together to open a tiefling orphanage. haiku named herself after her chosen method of giving bardic inspirations through haiku poems.

Their first adventure was in Barovia taking on the famed Shrahd von Zarovich. They were traveling with a halfling ranger named Tosswinkle, a grave cleric named Malcom, a paladin named Bethan and a barbarian dragonborn named Kava.

Tonight, Haiku and Moku join a new group to take on The Dead in Thay. :)

Below the cut are all of Haiku’s bardic inspiration poems for that first campaign. (Contains spoilers for the Curse of Strahd module.)

Strahd Campaign Inspiration Poems:

1. Monsters under ground I am way too scared to fight Malcolm, kill that thing!

2. Tosswinkle is brave I am still too scared to fight Kill all the ghouls, please

3. Shambling mound fight This dungeon sure is creepy Hit the mound better!

4. We have to kill this I think it's nearly dead Come on, sis, kill it!

5. Now we are fighting These stupid things, God dammit I hate this house a lot!

6. In the church basement Is a hungry vampire. He will die hungry.

7. Werewolves can suck it. Surprise attack on the path. Wizard wine can wait.

8. Fuck these fucking trees Druid shit at the winery Tosswinkle, finish it!

9. Kava is on fire. Going to finish this shit soon. Burn, you stupid trees!

10. Wizard wine battle Druids and tree things, oh my! Hope this job pays well.

11. Thunderwave again? Damn these druids and their sticks! Thunderwave's a bitch.

12. Strahd cast polymorph Turned me into a squirrel. Hey, Mal, fight better!

13. Tosswinkle was great Shooting all the druids dead Best halfling around

14. Moku's new stick Biter I thought it was cool at first, But it's evil. Oops!

15. Kava, back from death Chopping fools with her great axe I pity them not

16. Strahd shouldn't have put So much investment in twigs Twigs make poor bad guys.

17. Fighting scarecrows now I knew those scarecrows were suss Always trust your gut.

18. Arrows going through Straw makes a sound like crunching Scarecrows hard to kill.

19. Time to put to rest The zombie horde wandering Outside the small yurt

20. Zombies, oh zombies The dead still walk, that's not right We shall make them sleep.

21. Spooky dragon house We are here for a good cause Fighting the good fight

22. This is a hard fight But we have fought hard before And will win somehow

23. Who ya gonna call? Ghost bustin' makes me feel good. Da-na-na-na-na

24. You want to kill Strahd And we want to kill him too But now we're fighting

25. Vlad, just F.Y.I. You suck serious balls, dude Get a life, asshole.

26. Some call her a hag Others may call her a witch Either way, she's toast.

27. I can't believe this. We are fighting a witch house. But which house is which?

28. Scarecrows come marching Like stupid goons made of straw They burn up real good

29. How can anyone Get a decent night's rest with These god damn vampires?

30. Apparently, we Are the worst thing to happen To vamps since sunlight

31. Round two of hag fight We are not going to let Them get away now!

32. Hey there, Tosswinkle Looks like *spelling* was these hags' Best subject in school

33. Hey Vallaki folks, The burgermeister's not great, but hags are worse, yep.

34. We thought the giant Goat was bad, but now we are Gonna Roc and roll

35. Yet another day, Another awful castle Trying to kill us.

36. Little cowardly Hiding and shooting In your statue tomb.

37. Tosswinkle is the Best archer in the party Aim true, Tosswinkle!

38. I can not get through So this poem will have to Suffice. Gooooo Bethan!

39. Ugh, yet more spectres. I've had it up to HERE with Spectres and the like.

40. Hey, guess what I found? It's the golem they mentioned Now we fight it... yay?

41. Strahd is dashing, true. But he is also evil And will kill you soon.

42. Had it up to here! Fuck this invisible thing! Someone kill it, please!

43. Sythe through the heart, and You're to blame! Darlin' you give Love a bad name, yeah!

44. Gotta keep one jump Ahead of this duche, and one Skip ahead of death

45. Castle Ravensloft is full of dust, cob webs, and Bitch ass vampires.

46. Strahd would like you to Think that he's a tyrant king I'll show you a king

[ask-the-crimson-king]

Tales from D&D: The Campfire Song Song

[It is I, your friendly neighborhood Hermit back with another tale from D&D. And this one is... Certainly a saga. LONG POST AHOY.

IT IS ONCE AGAIN FROM MY CURSE OF STRAHD CAMPAIGN! The characters, in brief, are:

AETERNUS -- Goliath wild soul barbarian, played more like a golem than a goliath. Stoic, remembers almost nothing of his past. ARAZEL -- Blood angel (aasimar x tiefling hybrid) bard, has a patron because he used to be a Warlock and the player wanted to keep the patron. Very much a Bard. Has tamed a fucking dire wolf who is now named Boris. He is a good boy. LEON -- Human time domain cleric, worships a god of time called Tempus. Old retired soldier sent out into the world because his god has plans for him. CALEB -- Vampire desperado gunslinger, a vampire hunter who wants revenge against the creatures who turned him and killed his family. 

In the last session, the players had made it to the Old Bonegrinder and met the three hags living there. Thanks to a Fifth Nat 1, the hags became hostile because Arazel mentioned how he had a pet dire wolf and the hags thought he was sent by Strahd. 

I told them at the beginning of this one,  “If you can talk your way out of this encounter, I’ll let you level up right now instead of waiting for Friday.”

What the fuck happens right after I say that?

Arazel fucking crits on persuasion and the party is now LEVEL FOUR! HURRAY!

Caleb is dealing with the two sisters upstairs, his gun is mentioned, and then Arazel’s player says, and I quote,

Arazel had also purchased a pastry, and Aeternus ends up charging upstairs and Arazel turns to him and says, "Hey Pebbles, eat this okay?" Aeternus made the con save, so instead of having weird dream visions, he instead felt this weird sense of nostalgia that he cant place his finger on. Seeing the cakes were safe, the rest of the party all pay for a cake themselves and they all. fail. the save.

So they get to fall into a pleasant, dreamlike state, for 1d4+4 hours... and OF COURSE I roll a 4. So eight hours of them being in this trance. Arazel, Leon, and Caleb, all conked the hell out. Which meant Aeternus was alone with this Night Hag who was now cackling. 

And so he asked the witch what was in the cakes, and she simply said “some very rare and exotic ingredients. it is an acquired taste.” aeternus then took many hints, scooped everyone up, and left with Ismark (Kolyana and Ireena were waiting outside in a cart, not trusting that place one bit, but Ismark went in to help guard the party and keep an eye on Caleb.) 

They run back to the cart and Kolyana is asking what happened. Aeternus explains the situation with the cakes, and Kolyana then facepalms. He says,

"You didn't eat any, did you?" "I did, why?" "Those are dream cakes. they're popular in Vallaki -- you'll see why." "I do not dream." "Everyone dreams, my boy. daydreams, plans for the future, or-" "I have nothing to dream about."  The cart goes quiet before Ismark speaks up. "What do you mean?" Aeternus then says, "I remember nothing but war from my past." "A miserable existence, then." "Heh, makes you sound like a barovian," Kolyana says with a snicker. "We're all miserable bastards." 

More silence. 

"You really don't remember anything?" Ismark then asks. "Nothing but war." Aeternus shakes his head. "How old are you?" "... I do not know. I have been wandering for some time, but I know I am quite old." "I don’t remember any wars in our recent history. You don’t seem to be old enough for any of those." "Definitely not," Kolyana agrees. The cart is silent, and Aeternus goes quiet.

Hours pass, and the cart is pulled off to the side of the road. Ireena and Valerie, a Vistana woman they had met, (who owned the cart), go off to build a fire, while the rest stay back in order to wait for the others to come out of their trances. 

When they do awaken, the world is darker. More grim, more miserable. The mists seem to cling to them, and they long to be back in their dreams.

Arazel awakes with a start, drawing out his magic string and wrapping it around Leon's neck while a thin knife hovers at Caleb's throat. Kolyana, Ismark, and Aeternus all stand to try and apprehend him as he asks, "What the HELL happened to me?" "You were dreaming," Aeternus tells him. "We didn’t do anything to you." "Put the weapons away, you're around friends here," Ismark says, his sword half out of its sheath. Slowly, Arazel backs down, checking his wings to see if any feathers are out of place. Boris looks up at him expectantly, and Arazel takes him to the fire as the rest of the party files out of the cart.

They all go and head down to the fireplace, and enjoy a nice thick stew. Some of the vegetables are freshly picked from the lands around them, although they are thick mountain-dwelling plants. They are a bit higher up in elevation, though more surrounded by foothills instead of mountains. 

They enjoy their dinner and Kolyana asks them what they saw in their visions. Leon goes first, recalling his home. recalling the people he loved, the community fostered, everything. It felt warm. It felt safe. But that wasn't here anymore. Kolyana gave him a small reassuring pat on the shoulder before Arazel spoke up.

"I saw my mother." "Your mother?" Aeternus asks. "Okay, well, here's the thing. My mother was this holy angel, and my father was a damned and hated tiefling. And my father kinda dipped on me when i was younger. My mother served a very holy god who didn't want to be sullied with such a sinful abomination," he then gestures to himself, "and so my mum had to leave me." "Wait, wait, your mom left you because her god said so?" Caleb asks. "Well yeah but I mean I get it. if she didn't then she would've lost her powers, and-" "That’s pretty selfish of her." Caleb shrugs. "sorry, man." "Not really. I’m sure any parent would do that." "I can tell you, as a father myself, I would never do that to my children. No matter who the god was. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Kolyana tells him, giving Arazel a meaningful look.

“And what about you, vampire?” the old man asks. “What did you see?”

"I saw my home. I saw the old homestead. I saw my parents, and my siblings. It was nice." Before Kolyana responds, a conspiracy of ravens descends from the sky. one lands on each of Aeternus' shoulders, cawing.  The three Barovians all gasp. 

"What fantastic luck," Kolyana mutters. Arazel is tempted to have Boris pounce on them, but Kolyana quickly says "DO NOT ATTACK THEM! That would bring nothing but doom and misfortune. Ravens are symbols of good luck, not evil. At least not here." 

Arazel shrugs, and tosses a piece of his stew at them. They caw and hop off the giant's shoulders, peck at the food, then flutter off into the night. The party all decides to settle in for the night, and this comes my FAVORITE fucking part of the session;

Dream Chats with Strahd!

(Yes I’m bending the lore a bit but it’s for the rule of cool okay)

I bring each of the players into the Special Corner (Discord call, we have a D&D voice chat and then Special Corner for 1-on-1 with the DM) one by one.

First in was Arazel.

Arazel feels the presence of his patron. He feels a warm, golden glow about him, even if he cannot visualize Sanguinius himself. He soon finds himself within a hall. It seems to be that of a cathedral. Polished stone, nearly gleaming, is under his feet. But everything feels... a bit fuzzed out. Just barely out of focus. He sees a lectern at the end of this great hall, with, what 40k fans would recognize, as the BA symbol, inscribed into it.

And then he hears a very familiar voice, and sees a very familiar figure walk out from behind a pillar.

Familiar dark clothing, familiar face, familiar dark eyes. 

It is Strahd von Zarovich, and he has come for a chat. 

And he doesnt greet arazel with hostility. He says that he is impressed with this place of worship, and that he knows very little about Arazel’s patron. But he would love to learn more about him, and about Arazel himself. Arazel asks “why are you here?”

Strahd takes a sip from his glass before he says, “You and your compatriots all fascinate me. So I want to learn just a little more about you. How you think, what your morality is." He shrugs, and then explains that he does not have too much time to speak. An invitation will be given -- soon, though he does not know when -- and tells him it is within Arazel’s best interests to accept it. He wants to be able to have an open, honest chat with him and his friends.

He also asks that he does not discuss this meeting with anyone. A measure of trust. Arazel agrees, and Strahd disappears.

Next up, Caleb.

Caleb is dreaming of his homestead. He feels grass beneath his feet, but none of his family is here. Everything around him feels fuzzy, blurry. The only crisp image is of the homestead itself. Strahd appears to him as well, coming out of the homestead, and says similar things to what he told Arazel, namely the reason for his arrival and his interest in him and his friends. However, he also remarks on how similar the two of them are, referring to their shared vampiric nature. Caleb says,

"Actually we're probably very different. I think we became who we are through very different ways." 

Strahd agrees, but he offers a solution to Caleb's little bloodthirst-issue, (which luckily has been able to be curbed thanks to Leon being generous), and potentially knowledge about his abilities. Caleb recently gained the ability to be able to shift into bat form, and he thinks he may have other skills locked away.

An invitation is mentioned, along with the same condition. He cannot tell anyone of this meeting.

Caleb, begrudgingly, agrees. Strahd vanishes once more. Interestingly, Strahd does not mention how one of Caleb’s current goals is to go into van Richten’s tower to find the old hunter in order to find a way to kill Strahd. 

But we’ll get to that.

Then we go to Leon.

Leon appears within an old library. The books around him are nothing more than vague shapes, and there is a musty smell from the bookshelves. Ahead of him is a strange device, a piece of machinery made of many different concentric rings, which he realizes must represent the different planes of reality. It slowly moves, casting around shadows as an unknown light source dances around the room. This is a representation of how Tempus views reality and its many potential timelines, he realizes. Just a very, very simple model, but it resembles the one from his own church. 

Enter Strahd, a warm smile on his face.

“I’ve been waiting to speak with you for some time. You and I have much to discuss.”

Leon asks why he is here, and Strahd explains what he had told Caleb and Arazel -- though he also adds he wants to learn a little more about him, here and now. He wants to also extend the offer for Leon to learn more about Strahd himself in a sort of private talk, and expresses interest in learning more about Tempus and Leon's nature and relationship. He asks Leon to tell him a few things, and Leon agrees to tell him a bit about his past -- his life as a soldier, the village he had settled within, how he found Tempus, that sort of stuff. 

Then Leon cuts right to the point, saying, "Why are you really asking me this? I don’t like to associate with bad people."

"Well I wouldn’t call myself bad. I have made my mistakes, and I am no saint, but I’m not a horrible person." Strahd shrugs. "I ask because I’m fascinated by you. By all of you, honestly. You're quite the interesting little crew."

He mentions the invitation, but also gives a different message.

"I know Caleb is going to be going to van Richten's tower. I want you to stay behind in Vallaki when he does. I will send my invitation then. Our conversation will be a little more... private, for lack of a better term, then the one I shall have with all of you."

He gives the same terms -- that Leon cannot tell anyone of this meeting -- which Leon agrees to, and Strahd disappears once more.

Last but not least...

Aeternus.

Aeternus doesn't dream, but his mind does come to a daydreaming-state. He comes to one of the few scenes he remembers. A field, with the rubble of a broken house nearby. Nothing else is clear, or even blurred. It feels like he’s standing on the edge of a vast void.

Strahd appears once more, commenting on how grim this place was. Aeternus is on edge at the appearance of the vampire, but simply replies, "this is all I can remember."

"Oh, I know. All you remember is warfare. But even then, of no clear battle. Just fragments of death and misery. A shame, really." Strahd sighs. "I know of a way for you to begin remembering all you had lost. My libraries may hold some of the answers you seek, as do I."

Aeternus is quiet. Before he speaks, strahd smiles. 

"Petting that wolf made you remember something, didn't it? And the cake you ate? You remember something about a raven, too."

Aeternus is caught way off guard. Strahd has, somehow (rule of cool and plot reasons) gotten into his head. He goes on guard, but Strahd puts his hands up. 

"I can offer answers. I will be sending an invitation, soon. I do not know when. But I need to be able to trust you. Tell no one of this encounter." 

"How can i be able to trust you?" Aeternus responds with a grunt. One hand is on his axe. Strahd chuckles. "Caleb wants to go to van Richten's tower. Go with him. There is something waiting for you there." 

And then he disappears, and that is where the session ended.

[wh1skyd1ck]

Yeah, it's been a while.

So, in case anyone cares to subscribe and give a shit about this blog, I don't update often. Maybe that'll change, but as of now with my job, wife, kids, and games I run, it ain't gonna be weekly updates. I'm sorry if this ruins our relationship.

In any case, a LOT has happened with CoS. The character's left the Death House, met Ismark and Ireena Kolyana, and made their way through the valley to the city of Vallaki. However, not before ruining their chances to go unnoticed by Strahd.

Firstly, when in Barovia, the party decided to help with Kolyan's funeral. However, they neglected to inquire about the screaming madman bashing around in the basement, and instead gained the priest of the church's aid by threatening him bodily. That worked fine for them, so once Kolyan was buried (and after hiding inside while the March of the Dead passed), the players left without any worry as to what they were leaving behind.

The next day, they found Donavich's severed head in a burlap sack on the road to Vallaki. So that's a thing they have on their consciouses.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. They came across the Vistani at Tser Camp and got their reading from Madam Eva. I won't get into their reading just yet, as they've yet to find out the interpretation themselves. They were invited to stay the night, and awoke to find only one Visitani wagon remaining. Before parting, he gave the party a gift from Madam Eva; a magic mirror reeking with divination magic. It took them until the end of the session to care enough to identify it, but they eventually discovered it was a Mirror of the Past (which I stole from the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan), which I figured was a good way to give them carefully tailored hints as they ask for specific things.

After the went about their way, they came across the common landmarks of the setting, getting surrounded by ravens, finding the head, and eventually coming across Old Bonegrinder.

Now, as I stated previously, they checked just about everything they could while in the Death House. However, they never found the secret room in the library. Instead, in an attempt to catch him up to the other players and explain his absence, I had a one-on-one session with my break-taking friend. HE did find the secret room, and left the deeds to the manner as well as the windmill where the other players could grab it. So they knew this windmill was the one mentioned in the deed. (On a side note, my friend died attempting to bruteforce the makeup session, officially being the first character dead in the campaign. Also, the first time a killed a character.)

Now, my friends aren't dumb. They knew something was malevolent about this. They noticed the crow above the door that seemed to be warning them. Ireena and Ismark straight up refused to go near the place. But our dear sweet bard (who is our lieutenant in the guard) says to the group, "Yeah, but this is what adventuring is all about."

Indeed it is, sir. Indeed it is.

Heading inside and quickly noticing tiny, child sized bones litter, regret washes over the party. They are quickly greeted by the hideous old lady inside, quickly piss her off, and are quickly ushered out. Seemed like a close call, everyone gets to leave without weapons being drawn or grudges being birthed. Good job team.

"I wanna tie a cloth around the door handle and affix it to the mill with a javalin."

Fuck dammit, you guys.

After stopping the door and pouring oil into a now empty wine bottle, the bard decides to whip a molotov cocktail at the mill. After a roll of 22, the bottle caraines through the air. The hags upstairs try to catch it or bat it away, but to no avail. The aged, dry-rotted windmill catches quickly, but three giant bats erupt from the burning wreckage just before the millstone breaks through the floor into the kitchen below. Once again, the intrepid heroes walk away from another job well done, with absolutely no repercussions that could possibly come back to haunt them.

Until the rogue is literally haunted by visions of two children burning to death in the windmill once they go to sleep. You know, like heroes do.

In any case, they reached Vallaki and made their way to the Blue Water Inn. The session ends there and picks up with the barbarian (who has at this point forwarded me his backup character) hearing the rogue screaming in his sleep. Unfortunately, our LT had to also leave the group, as moving and getting married are apparently more important then playing complicated make believe over the internet (he may come back, though). So I got to find a way to displace his charatervwithout straight up killing him in case he came back. When the barbarian went to check the rogue, the bard's bed was empty she for a bunch of straw and feathers.

I'd continue on, but my sinuses are killing me and I could use a nap before setting up for tonight's game. More to come in time.

[esmereldaschicken]

Curse of Strahd spoilers

So I’m running Curse of Strahd last night. My party leaves the Wizard of Wines and heads over to Yester Hill.

And as they approach the top of the hill, Strahd arrives on his lovely flying Nightmare.

[At this point, my party has faced him once as a big fuck-off direwolf and once in the Baron’s house in Vallaki (where he took Ireena). So they aren’t fans of him and know he can kick their asses six ways to Sunday.]

So they start to run. 

Well, the Druids and Berserkers leap up from the ground and start their chanting. And Strahd sees the party running away but doesn’t bother with them because he’s here for more important things.

Then the little gnome druid decides to yell something at him.

Then the half-elf warlock decides to yell at him, “Why won’t you leave us alone you asshole?”

So he calmly dismounts from his horse. 

And calmly begins walking towards them.

And the druid has turned into a horse and is waiting to pick up the warlock so there’s a nice gap in the party.

And Strahd calmly Polymorphs into a Giant Eagle. And calmly flies over. And calmly lands, cutting the horse and warlock off from the rest of the party. And calmly turns back into himself. 

And calmly Charms the warlock. Afterall, “I only came here to invite you to my wedding.”

So the druid tries to carry the warlock off, but she dismounts and starts heading over to take Strahd’s hand. (cause WEDDING!). And everyone else is trying to stop her/distract him. There was a failed Hold Person attempt on the warlock. One of the paladin’s got a bite taken out of him and now has 3 max HP. And this whole time the chanting from the Druids’ Ritual is echoing out over the hill.

And, finally, Strahd and warlock sit astride the flaming Nightmare and take off into the sky.

Just in time for the ritual to complete and Wintersplinter to burst into life.

[My other favorite part was the warlock handed over control of her imp to me, since she wasn’t really paying attention to giving him instructions. So as the Nightmare takes off into the sky, she feels her familiar nestle in under her hair and whisper “I hope we’re going someplace nice.”]

P.S. Now the warlock and I get a special one-on-one session while she’s a “guest” in Castle Ravenolft. And she’s the kind of player who wants to explore EVERYTHING even if it seems like a bad idea. So we’re gonna have fun.

[johanna-banana-dnd]

Session Eight: Burials and Bats

We opened the session to the party just hearing the blonde man in the church (Ismark) claiming to be the son of Kolyan, the Burgomaster of Barovia, and furthermore that Kolyan is dead. They ask Ismark some questions about his sister’s (Ireena) history with Count Strahd, and Ismark quietly admits that his sister willingly went to the castle a few months ago. He only knew because their father had sent a messenger to request him to return home. By the time Ismark got to the village, Ireena had already returned home from the castle, claiming she escaped after he had bit her. Ismark and Kolyan decided to gather materials and prepare to take Ireena as far away as they could from the castle, but were attacked by Count Strahd’s beasts on their way back to the mansion. Kolyan was killed by a wolf on their front porch and was quickly dragged into the abode by Ireena. Ismark fled to the church for help, as he was badly wounded as well. The party deliberates and decides ultimately to help him bring his father’s body back to the church grounds to be consecrated and buried. Since it is still the middle of the day, the likelihood of Strahd’s beasts prowling about is slim. The party approach the Burgomaster’s large abode and from a distance, see two large, well-groomed wolves flanking the front doors, laying peacefully. As they arrive at the house gates, the wolves open their deep red eyes, sit up to attention, and watch the party closely. Both wolves have ornate golden collars- one with a black stone and one with a dark red stone. Goon warily approaches the door and knocks, as the wolves simply watch. With Ismark in tow, Ireena feels safe enough to open the door and allow the party entry. The home is well made and contains beautiful, albeit old, furnishings. Ireena leads the party to her father’s somewhat bloated body, next to a make-shift coffin. The siblings place their father into the coffin, close the latch, and everyone figures out how best to carry the Burgomaster back to the church. Goromar keeps a look out before opening the door and Obmar is tossed the keys to lock up. As the party makes their way slowly back north to the church, a few members look back and notice that keeping pace, about 30 feet behind them, are the two wolves. The wolves follow the party until they are a few houses away from the church and then sit. A short ceremony is held for the Burgomaster, as he is anointed with holy oils and prayed over. The party partakes in the ritual and helps to bury Kolyan. Afterwards, Ismark and Donavich (Priest) deliberate which town would be best to take Ireena to. Hearing some of the same towns the party is considering venturing to, they offer the siblings to join them in their next travel. The siblings agree and the party departs in a northwestern direction towards Vallaki, utilizing the grandiose carriage provided to them by Angelo (Part owner of The Blood of the Vine Inn), for an expected journey of three days. On the last night of their journey, about half a day’s expected travel from Vallaki, Goromar hears high pitched noises during his watch. He can’t decipher what they are nor their trajectory, so he wakes Obmar- who unfortunately can’t hear the noise at all. At the last minute, Goromar notices the noises getting louder and he shouts to wake the party. A swarm of giant bats swoop towards the party, attacking any who are in their path. Although large, they do appear to be bestial in nature, and the party gets the sense that they must be close to a cave. The bats attack recklessly, even rendering Obmar unconscious for some time, until their numbers begin to dwindle. Some begin to flee. Notably, Ozborn tells one of the still aggressive bats to essentially “fuck off” and it absolutely does. Springfield heals their wizard. Ismark fusses over Ireena who appears to be bleeding from her face and neck.

(ART: https://www.tumgir.com/tag/ireena%20kolyana)