The party returns to the library to take a long rest. They hatch a plan to confront the amber golem from two fronts. The paladins will go to the great hall and attack the golem after busting through the door while Roger will fireball him from behind through one of the fissures. Lideydri recalls seeing Kasimir communing with one of the sarcophagi after she reconed the fissures from the day before.
The party splits up and Roger waits for the signal, being the paladins entering the room. When Bjorn attempts to open the door he finds it locked. Lideydri attempts to push the door open with brute strength but fails. Bjorn gets impatient and begins pounding on the door with his warhammer. He smashes down the door which causes the amber golem to disappear. Roger enters the room and looks around. He is smashed back into the fissure by some unseen force. Bjorn hears something heavy approaching him and he takes a blow to his beard.
Gilly gives Roger a healing potion and Kasimir uses a firebolt in an attempt to find where the golem is within the room. Roger returns with a fireball in hand. Bjorn and Lideydri attempt to fight the golem but find him difficult to hit. Bjorn takes a couple more hits (crits) and backs away. Lideydri steps up and attempts to fight the invisible menace. The golem changes position and Lideydri searches for it. Bjorn is hit a few more times but stands his ground. Lideydri flanks the golem and the paladins make some solid hits with Bjorn knocking some amber off the golem with a crit. Kasimir crits the golem with a firebolt. Gilly springs into the room over Kasimir's head and searches through a pile of treasure. Bjorn is hit again and goes down. The golem turns his attention to fighting Lideydri. Roger and Kasimir continue to cast firebolts at the invisible creature to learn its whereabouts. Gilly searches two more piles of treasure before giving the dwarf a healing potion (and gains inspiration). The golem appears in the room, its spell concluded. Lideydri lands a final blow and the golem falls to the ground.
A quick search of the room reveals a obsidian sceptre, a golden chariot, a skull with red gems in the eye sockets, some jewelry, many coins, a rapier with a pink crystal hilt and 15 copies of Snow Dwarf and the seven Wights. The paladins urge a long rest after this brutal fight as they have cast all their healing spells to make it through the battle.
Refreshed and regrouped in the library, the party heads back down the stairs and into the great hall. They take the western hallway and find a large corridor with an open door to the north. Inside they find 4 one-eyed Nothics. Bjorn attempts to communicate with them and then feels as if they are trying to enter his mind. Roger blasts them with two fireballs and Kasimir adds another which quickly dispatches the creatures. They find two amber sarcophagi and one destroyed. They communicate with the two remaining tombs and decide not to accept their dark offers. They head out to explore more here.
Bjorn finds the closest door, opens it, find three more sarcophagi and closes the door. He heads on down the hall to check on the next door. Gilly, however, reopens the door and goes in. Something sinister slashes her two times causing dark necrotic wounds. Before she can react a large toad like creature, black and evil, appears and slashes her two more times before she falls to the ground. Roger casts a lightning bolt at the fowl creature. The lightning hits its mark but the Death Slaad just turns its gaze from Gilly to Roger and seems to make a toothy smile.
Lideydri readies her action, then Bjorn and finally Kasimir rounds out the first turn order.
Monday, November 21, 2016
Thursday, November 17, 2016
Chapter 12: Roger and the secret doors
The party takes a rest in the ancient lecture hall. Victor, after paging through his black tome, decides that it is possible to restore his arm, even if it will never be the same. He thinks if he finds the right components, he can "heal" his missing appendage. Vannan and Grimtooth offer to aid him in his quest to find the necessary ingredients for the ritual.
The party then decides to tackle the door they've been warned not to open at the initial room they entered in the temple. Lideydri opens the door to find three more green flaming skulls floating in the air. She quickly closes the door. They then decide to inspect the large statue in the great hall at the center of the temple. They descend the stairs sticking close to the wall so as not to draw the fire of the flaming skulls from up above.
Lideydri is hit by rays of fire coming from the great statue's head. The party takes cover as Roger casts a fireball at the statue's face. His wild magic causes him to teleport at will. The party takes cover as Bjorn yells to move forward. More flaming rays come from the statue. Roger casts orbs of force that go streaking toward the menacing granite form. Again, his wild magic manifests. This time as a happy little flumph pops into existence quite confused and scared. Pop, pop, pop! Three fire balls turn the flumph into cinders.
Lideydri takes the opportunity to charge the statue and get behind its flanks. Roger sends more magic missiles at the head of the statue. Bjorn takes cover in a hallway behind a pillar and sees his reflection on the walls, not reflecting his actions but silently urging him to leave. Gilly enters the hallway and sees the same sight. Roger makes his way to the hallway. Lideydri ponders what to do. Bjorn joins Lideydri behind the statue and notices the outline of a door. Lideydri opens the door and finds a stairway spiraling upward inside the statue. She ascends and finds the smoking carcass of some sort of fox like humanoid wearing a robe (of many things). A pair of gold spectacles lay on the floor next to the dead things head.
She returns to the base of the statue. She investigates a room with open doors. As she enters, four specters begin to take shape. The two paladins turn the spirits and dispatch them as they attempt to flee one by one. While the paladins are doing their thing, Roger notices a secret door. Gilly attempts to open it but Roger believes arcana has sealed it shut. As they decide what to do next, Bjorn comes walking by singing a song. The lyrics just happen to contain the command to open the portal, "Knock, knock, knock(ing on heaven's door)."
They find a stairway going upward that leads to a library. Many books fill the room but they all are untitled and contain blank pages. Roger inspects the room and finds another secret door. This time it leads to an empty closet more or less. Until they find yet another secret door. Lideydri pushes the door open to reveal a room filled with old royal furnishings. Standing in the center of the room at a table they see a skeletal figure, its eyes glowing red. It says, "Do I know you?" in a slow questioning manner. The party find that this undead thing lives in this room and is very limited on knowledge. He remembers some vague things but not its own name. He is reading a book titled "The Incants of Exethanter" but will not let the party read it. He tells a tale of how ancient wizards built this temple to imprison the evils of old. However, other things came to the evil thing's beckons and over the years the wizards were eventually defeated. The amber sarcophagi are the bottles that hold the evil spirits still but the spirits can still interact with the world. If one touches the sarcophagi, the spirit may propose a dark gift upon the mortal. They communicate telepathically and only if the offer is agreed is the dark grant fulfilled.
The lich also describes how Strahd had come to the temple, seeking power and enticed by the evil spirits. He makes a pact with the evil that if he kills his brother, the evils will make him the ruler of Barovia and give him eternal life. The lich also says the evil spirits will betray Strahd if another evil force takes his place. Strahd's lust for pain and death feed these evil spirits and so they support Strahd.
After learning enough the party leaves telling the lich they will return if they have further questions. They go down another staircase that leads to a large vault with three sarcophagi and some crates. Lideydri correctly pieces together that these are similar crates as in the coffin maker's cottage. Lideydri and Bjorn pummel the vampiric spawn inside the crates, Roger summons a tiger while Gilly and Kasimir fire on the spawn from above. Bjorn takes a nasty bite from one of them.
Once the spawn have been dispatched Lideydri traverses a fissure and finds another amber golem protecting a hoard of treasure. She returns to tell the party of the golem. The party feeling depleted of spell and strength decide to take a long rest in the temple.
The party then decides to tackle the door they've been warned not to open at the initial room they entered in the temple. Lideydri opens the door to find three more green flaming skulls floating in the air. She quickly closes the door. They then decide to inspect the large statue in the great hall at the center of the temple. They descend the stairs sticking close to the wall so as not to draw the fire of the flaming skulls from up above.
Lideydri is hit by rays of fire coming from the great statue's head. The party takes cover as Roger casts a fireball at the statue's face. His wild magic causes him to teleport at will. The party takes cover as Bjorn yells to move forward. More flaming rays come from the statue. Roger casts orbs of force that go streaking toward the menacing granite form. Again, his wild magic manifests. This time as a happy little flumph pops into existence quite confused and scared. Pop, pop, pop! Three fire balls turn the flumph into cinders.
Lideydri takes the opportunity to charge the statue and get behind its flanks. Roger sends more magic missiles at the head of the statue. Bjorn takes cover in a hallway behind a pillar and sees his reflection on the walls, not reflecting his actions but silently urging him to leave. Gilly enters the hallway and sees the same sight. Roger makes his way to the hallway. Lideydri ponders what to do. Bjorn joins Lideydri behind the statue and notices the outline of a door. Lideydri opens the door and finds a stairway spiraling upward inside the statue. She ascends and finds the smoking carcass of some sort of fox like humanoid wearing a robe (of many things). A pair of gold spectacles lay on the floor next to the dead things head.
She returns to the base of the statue. She investigates a room with open doors. As she enters, four specters begin to take shape. The two paladins turn the spirits and dispatch them as they attempt to flee one by one. While the paladins are doing their thing, Roger notices a secret door. Gilly attempts to open it but Roger believes arcana has sealed it shut. As they decide what to do next, Bjorn comes walking by singing a song. The lyrics just happen to contain the command to open the portal, "Knock, knock, knock(ing on heaven's door)."
They find a stairway going upward that leads to a library. Many books fill the room but they all are untitled and contain blank pages. Roger inspects the room and finds another secret door. This time it leads to an empty closet more or less. Until they find yet another secret door. Lideydri pushes the door open to reveal a room filled with old royal furnishings. Standing in the center of the room at a table they see a skeletal figure, its eyes glowing red. It says, "Do I know you?" in a slow questioning manner. The party find that this undead thing lives in this room and is very limited on knowledge. He remembers some vague things but not its own name. He is reading a book titled "The Incants of Exethanter" but will not let the party read it. He tells a tale of how ancient wizards built this temple to imprison the evils of old. However, other things came to the evil thing's beckons and over the years the wizards were eventually defeated. The amber sarcophagi are the bottles that hold the evil spirits still but the spirits can still interact with the world. If one touches the sarcophagi, the spirit may propose a dark gift upon the mortal. They communicate telepathically and only if the offer is agreed is the dark grant fulfilled.
The lich also describes how Strahd had come to the temple, seeking power and enticed by the evil spirits. He makes a pact with the evil that if he kills his brother, the evils will make him the ruler of Barovia and give him eternal life. The lich also says the evil spirits will betray Strahd if another evil force takes his place. Strahd's lust for pain and death feed these evil spirits and so they support Strahd.
After learning enough the party leaves telling the lich they will return if they have further questions. They go down another staircase that leads to a large vault with three sarcophagi and some crates. Lideydri correctly pieces together that these are similar crates as in the coffin maker's cottage. Lideydri and Bjorn pummel the vampiric spawn inside the crates, Roger summons a tiger while Gilly and Kasimir fire on the spawn from above. Bjorn takes a nasty bite from one of them.
Once the spawn have been dispatched Lideydri traverses a fissure and finds another amber golem protecting a hoard of treasure. She returns to tell the party of the golem. The party feeling depleted of spell and strength decide to take a long rest in the temple.
Tuesday, November 1, 2016
Chapter Eleven: Amber as far as thy can see
The party rests at the campsite of the defeated Mountain Folk. They take heed of the dead prisoner's warning and stay clear from the doors to the north of the room. They venture out into the great hall and enter the doors directly across from their room. They find a large room with a hole dug into the floor. They notice hand holds have been cut to make traversing the pit easier. Bjorn investigates a room to the south and finds an old barracks. Roger looks down the hole.
Gilly, Vannan and Lideydri search a corridor to the north, passing a closed door, and reach a set of open double doors at the other end. A large amber statue turns toward them and clenches a fist. Gilly attempts to shut the door but the amber golem is able to push its way into the door way. Vannan rushes forward to attack but his sword is ineffective. Lideydri moves forward and attacks with her sunsword. Gilly asks others to come and help. Roger dashes to see what the halfing needs. Bjorn slowly makes his way to the corridor. Vannan and Lideydri continue to stave off the statue until Bjorn can get into place alongside Lideydri. Gilly springs in to attack and sneaks back. Roger hurls magic missiles. Gilly convinces Vannan to throw his spear. Lideydri fumbles her sword attack and becomes slowed by the statues thunderclap. Bjorn picks of the slack and crushes the statue with his hammer. Gilly pockets some of the broken pieces of amber.
Roger wanders away to the north onto a balcony. He continues into a room with a broken obsidian statue. Bjorn and the other follow. Roger also finds a secret door and the party deliberates whether to follow the smell of death or not. They decide to find the source of the stench and descend a stair case. Lideydri peers into a room and finds seven undead humanoids with three eyes, climbing walls and ceilings. She and Bjorn take up positions around the doorway to outmaneuver their foes. Roger sets off a fireball in the room. The ghasts are dispatched in short order with the hammering from the paladins with Vannan and Gilly offering missile fire from behind.
Inside they find three glowing amber sarcophogi. Lideydri attempts to destroy one but is unable to affect the standing amorphic tombs. Roger and the paladins feel like the sarcophogi are beckoning to them but resist any urges. Kasimir enters the room and touches one of the tombs. He seems to be communicating with something inside the amber. The paladins pull him away. Kasimir wants to continue his conversation but the party convinces him to leave these evil pods alone.
The party then enters the closed door from the corridor. They find a auditorium with lit lanthorns. Gilly investigates the podium and finds a burnt human man. He said his name is Vilnius and he is very scared of the evil in this temple. He has been eating vermin to survive. He talks of flaming skulls that killed his master and other constructs that lurk the halls. When the party tells him that they have defeated the amber golem he asks if he may leave. The party makes way for the man and allows him an easy exit.
When he is gone, the party returns to the hole in the floor. Lideydri goes down a rope but quickly comes back up after seeing more sarcophogi and floating skulls alight with green flame. The party prepares for battle and are hit by fireballs. The paladins do as much healing as they can as the skulls continue to hit them with fire spells. Roger casts some cold orbs at them, Bjorn attempts to turn them and the others use their ranged weapons. Then Roger's wild magic causes Lideydri to rise into the air and she is launched toward the final skull, crushing it into a wall. The party decides to return to the auditorium and heal up for a while. Vannan recalls that he remembers that these evil sentries are able to reform after a short period unless holy water is poured over their crushed remains. The paladins are happy to douse the bones with their mandatory stash of holy water.
Gilly, Vannan and Lideydri search a corridor to the north, passing a closed door, and reach a set of open double doors at the other end. A large amber statue turns toward them and clenches a fist. Gilly attempts to shut the door but the amber golem is able to push its way into the door way. Vannan rushes forward to attack but his sword is ineffective. Lideydri moves forward and attacks with her sunsword. Gilly asks others to come and help. Roger dashes to see what the halfing needs. Bjorn slowly makes his way to the corridor. Vannan and Lideydri continue to stave off the statue until Bjorn can get into place alongside Lideydri. Gilly springs in to attack and sneaks back. Roger hurls magic missiles. Gilly convinces Vannan to throw his spear. Lideydri fumbles her sword attack and becomes slowed by the statues thunderclap. Bjorn picks of the slack and crushes the statue with his hammer. Gilly pockets some of the broken pieces of amber.
Roger wanders away to the north onto a balcony. He continues into a room with a broken obsidian statue. Bjorn and the other follow. Roger also finds a secret door and the party deliberates whether to follow the smell of death or not. They decide to find the source of the stench and descend a stair case. Lideydri peers into a room and finds seven undead humanoids with three eyes, climbing walls and ceilings. She and Bjorn take up positions around the doorway to outmaneuver their foes. Roger sets off a fireball in the room. The ghasts are dispatched in short order with the hammering from the paladins with Vannan and Gilly offering missile fire from behind.
Inside they find three glowing amber sarcophogi. Lideydri attempts to destroy one but is unable to affect the standing amorphic tombs. Roger and the paladins feel like the sarcophogi are beckoning to them but resist any urges. Kasimir enters the room and touches one of the tombs. He seems to be communicating with something inside the amber. The paladins pull him away. Kasimir wants to continue his conversation but the party convinces him to leave these evil pods alone.
The party then enters the closed door from the corridor. They find a auditorium with lit lanthorns. Gilly investigates the podium and finds a burnt human man. He said his name is Vilnius and he is very scared of the evil in this temple. He has been eating vermin to survive. He talks of flaming skulls that killed his master and other constructs that lurk the halls. When the party tells him that they have defeated the amber golem he asks if he may leave. The party makes way for the man and allows him an easy exit.
When he is gone, the party returns to the hole in the floor. Lideydri goes down a rope but quickly comes back up after seeing more sarcophogi and floating skulls alight with green flame. The party prepares for battle and are hit by fireballs. The paladins do as much healing as they can as the skulls continue to hit them with fire spells. Roger casts some cold orbs at them, Bjorn attempts to turn them and the others use their ranged weapons. Then Roger's wild magic causes Lideydri to rise into the air and she is launched toward the final skull, crushing it into a wall. The party decides to return to the auditorium and heal up for a while. Vannan recalls that he remembers that these evil sentries are able to reform after a short period unless holy water is poured over their crushed remains. The paladins are happy to douse the bones with their mandatory stash of holy water.
Monday, October 10, 2016
Chapter Ten: Grendel and the Amber Temple
The party returns the gems to the Wizard of Wines and then returns to Vallaki to gather Kasimir. Everyone then begins the journey into the forest toward the mountains. Kasimir suddenly stopped and the party finds that they have come across an injured angel named Harune. His throat has been torn out as he lies dying next to a tree. The paladins attempt to heal him but he telepathically relays that their divine magic will not work on his extra-planar body. He has been searching for another like him, Baoul, who came to Barovia many years ago but has not been heard of since. Harune had attempted to come to Barovia many times but the dark mist would not let him enter until today. When he did arrive, something dark and fast attacked him, he could not tell what it was. He then rewards them for offering to save him and gives the party a golden feather that will heal wounds, diseases, poisons and curses. He then dies.
Kasimir thinks Strahd lured Harune here and then killed him. He could still be near and might know of their plan to go to the Amber Temple to find a way to destroy Strahd. He suggests going through the Sullen Vale, a place where Strahd, nor his minions ever go. There are rumors another terror lurks in that area that even Strahd does not poke with a stick.
The party venture in the Sullen Vale and begin to hear horrific waves of sound. The feel sluggish and foggy in the brain. A form of black smoke bamfs from spot to spot out of the woods toward the party. Unable to react, the party watches and the smoke bamfs toward Victor and grabs him. Victor looks horrified as the things clutches him and bamfs off into the darkness. The sounds reside and the party can move again. They notice Victor's bag and let the cat out. It senses its surroundings and begins to walk down into the valley. It leads them to a large cave with a kobold eating something at the entrance. Vannan discerns that it is eating Victor's arm. Gilly scurries up a tree to see if there are other creatures about. Bjorn walks up to it and smashed it up against the rock face.
The kobold transforms into a huge hideous monstrosity and attacks. It bamfs behind Bjorn and casts a fireball. Lideydri and Bjorn attack the creature as moves around. Vannan fires off some arrows and sends Grimtooth in to attack. The creature mauls Grimtooth who retreats. Gilly shoots an arrow and then runs into the cave to search for the rest of Victor. The creature sends another fireball at the paladins and then goes after Vannan. The stench of the creature is horrible but the party pushes the attack. Bjorn called on his god to assist him and he smites the creature low.
Lideydri heals Victor but he is still in shock. The party rests for the night in the dark cave. In the back of the cave they find a pile of human bones and also a potion of frost giant strength, a potion of superior healing, a potion of greater healing, a potion of gaseous form, a ring of evasion and a scroll of Slow spell.
After a good long rest Kasimir states the obvious, that they should stay in the Sullen Vale any longer, and the they head to the Amber Temple. Upon reaching the outer fascade, they notice a flickering of light toward one end of the ruins. Bjorn hears voices talking and Lideydri tries to persuade them to come out peacefully. A berserker attacks her and the other wild folk come running out the main entrance and begin to pound on Grimtooth. After some intense fighting, Lideydri knocks one unconscious and helps Bjorn defeat them as Gilly begins to master her stealth and sneak attacks.
Grimtooth survives with Victor's necrotic powers. Vannan convinces the sleeping dire wolf to wake up and vacate the temple. It runs away. The party take over the wild folk's campsite. When the prisoner awakens he tells them he serves Strahd, there is much evil this temple and that he was told never to open the north doors in the room. There is some discussion as to what to do with the prisoner until Kasimir sticks an arrow head into his throat.
Kasimir thinks Strahd lured Harune here and then killed him. He could still be near and might know of their plan to go to the Amber Temple to find a way to destroy Strahd. He suggests going through the Sullen Vale, a place where Strahd, nor his minions ever go. There are rumors another terror lurks in that area that even Strahd does not poke with a stick.
The party venture in the Sullen Vale and begin to hear horrific waves of sound. The feel sluggish and foggy in the brain. A form of black smoke bamfs from spot to spot out of the woods toward the party. Unable to react, the party watches and the smoke bamfs toward Victor and grabs him. Victor looks horrified as the things clutches him and bamfs off into the darkness. The sounds reside and the party can move again. They notice Victor's bag and let the cat out. It senses its surroundings and begins to walk down into the valley. It leads them to a large cave with a kobold eating something at the entrance. Vannan discerns that it is eating Victor's arm. Gilly scurries up a tree to see if there are other creatures about. Bjorn walks up to it and smashed it up against the rock face.
The kobold transforms into a huge hideous monstrosity and attacks. It bamfs behind Bjorn and casts a fireball. Lideydri and Bjorn attack the creature as moves around. Vannan fires off some arrows and sends Grimtooth in to attack. The creature mauls Grimtooth who retreats. Gilly shoots an arrow and then runs into the cave to search for the rest of Victor. The creature sends another fireball at the paladins and then goes after Vannan. The stench of the creature is horrible but the party pushes the attack. Bjorn called on his god to assist him and he smites the creature low.
Lideydri heals Victor but he is still in shock. The party rests for the night in the dark cave. In the back of the cave they find a pile of human bones and also a potion of frost giant strength, a potion of superior healing, a potion of greater healing, a potion of gaseous form, a ring of evasion and a scroll of Slow spell.
After a good long rest Kasimir states the obvious, that they should stay in the Sullen Vale any longer, and the they head to the Amber Temple. Upon reaching the outer fascade, they notice a flickering of light toward one end of the ruins. Bjorn hears voices talking and Lideydri tries to persuade them to come out peacefully. A berserker attacks her and the other wild folk come running out the main entrance and begin to pound on Grimtooth. After some intense fighting, Lideydri knocks one unconscious and helps Bjorn defeat them as Gilly begins to master her stealth and sneak attacks.
Grimtooth survives with Victor's necrotic powers. Vannan convinces the sleeping dire wolf to wake up and vacate the temple. It runs away. The party take over the wild folk's campsite. When the prisoner awakens he tells them he serves Strahd, there is much evil this temple and that he was told never to open the north doors in the room. There is some discussion as to what to do with the prisoner until Kasimir sticks an arrow head into his throat.
Monday, September 12, 2016
Chapter 9: Yester Hill People and the Blight Tree
The party finishes their conversation with a ghost in the ruined manor in Berez. They head back to Muriel's hideout and return to Wizard of Wines. They give the magic gem to the Martikov family and continue on to Yester Hill to seek out another gem that the evil druids are said to have taken.
Upon reaching the foul hill, the party sees atop the mound a black circular stone wall with a fifty foot statue of a vampire inside. The hill is ringed with paths and trees with burial places at their bases. Gilly climbs up the nearest tree to see into the wall. Lightning strikes the wall and energy pulses through the rocks. Gilly sees six druids facing the statue, chanting something about Wintersplinter. Lideydri and Roger both spot a hellish horse floating in the sky along with a rider who they believe to be Strahd. The vampire appears to be watching the druids complete their ritual. The party discuss sneaking up on the druids. However, the ritual is completed before they can act.
The final lightning strike hits the stone wall and a thirty foot plant creature with green light seeping out of its core bursts out from the statue's shell. Strahd, in a booming voice, commands the creature to destroy the Wizard of Wines. The hulk begins to lumber (hee hee) its way down the path toward the party's location. Strahd turns his mount, pauses, and then returns to his castle.
Roger blasts the monstrosity with a fire ball that lights up the area. Then a wave a missiles impact the spongy wooden flesh. More druids undig themselves from some of the burial spots and cast spells that causes their flesh to become hard and bark-like. Bjorn goes into critical hit mode and drops many druids. Roger casts a lightning bolt through the monster causing a big hole through its gut and drops more wizards behind the creature. One druid then begins to float into the air which Gilly promptly slices in half. Vannan breaks his long bow. Lideydri and Bjorn go on an evil druid killing spree which causes the two remaining druids to flee. Vannan drops one but Grimtooth is unable to dispatch the final druid that escapes into the thick woods. Roger retrieves the final gem.
The party go to investigate a dread looking tree in a grove behind the stone wall. They see Needle Blights surrounding the evil tree. Bjorn casts some protection and attacks the blights head on. He is quickly flanked by some Vine Blights. Vannan quickly begins to restring his long bow. Lideydri uses her sunsword and tears through the vine creatures. Roger casts rays of flame and then promptly pops out of existence. Bjorn and Lideydri continue to press against the evil plants with Vannan and Gilly sniping from afar. Roger reappears and showers the remaining blights with arrows of pure force. Eventually the remaining blights are defeated.
They find a skeleton at the base of the evil tree clutching a silver warhammer. Lideydri suggests destroying the tree and burning it down. While this takes place, Vannan hears voices telling him he is worthy of the Blood Spear. He is drawn to one of the burial plots and finds a spear, untarnished by time.
To the west they see a wall of thick fog with a fortress overlooking a great city. Victor says this is the Whispering Wall. It is said that it is all that remains of a long forgotten god. The story goes that an ancient god gave up his divinity to preserve the world from destruction and that his last exhalation as a god produced the mist. Within in were all his memories of the world and all his visions of its possible futures, and with proper preparation, a seeker could go on a vision quest within it. Others think what they see in the fog is the real world and that it is in fact that Strahd's domain is just a dark memory in the Whispering Wall.
They ponder this and then return the gem to the Wizard of Wines. The Martikov thanks them promises to share the first batch of wine that comes with the next harvest with the party.
Upon reaching the foul hill, the party sees atop the mound a black circular stone wall with a fifty foot statue of a vampire inside. The hill is ringed with paths and trees with burial places at their bases. Gilly climbs up the nearest tree to see into the wall. Lightning strikes the wall and energy pulses through the rocks. Gilly sees six druids facing the statue, chanting something about Wintersplinter. Lideydri and Roger both spot a hellish horse floating in the sky along with a rider who they believe to be Strahd. The vampire appears to be watching the druids complete their ritual. The party discuss sneaking up on the druids. However, the ritual is completed before they can act.
The final lightning strike hits the stone wall and a thirty foot plant creature with green light seeping out of its core bursts out from the statue's shell. Strahd, in a booming voice, commands the creature to destroy the Wizard of Wines. The hulk begins to lumber (hee hee) its way down the path toward the party's location. Strahd turns his mount, pauses, and then returns to his castle.
Roger blasts the monstrosity with a fire ball that lights up the area. Then a wave a missiles impact the spongy wooden flesh. More druids undig themselves from some of the burial spots and cast spells that causes their flesh to become hard and bark-like. Bjorn goes into critical hit mode and drops many druids. Roger casts a lightning bolt through the monster causing a big hole through its gut and drops more wizards behind the creature. One druid then begins to float into the air which Gilly promptly slices in half. Vannan breaks his long bow. Lideydri and Bjorn go on an evil druid killing spree which causes the two remaining druids to flee. Vannan drops one but Grimtooth is unable to dispatch the final druid that escapes into the thick woods. Roger retrieves the final gem.
The party go to investigate a dread looking tree in a grove behind the stone wall. They see Needle Blights surrounding the evil tree. Bjorn casts some protection and attacks the blights head on. He is quickly flanked by some Vine Blights. Vannan quickly begins to restring his long bow. Lideydri uses her sunsword and tears through the vine creatures. Roger casts rays of flame and then promptly pops out of existence. Bjorn and Lideydri continue to press against the evil plants with Vannan and Gilly sniping from afar. Roger reappears and showers the remaining blights with arrows of pure force. Eventually the remaining blights are defeated.
They find a skeleton at the base of the evil tree clutching a silver warhammer. Lideydri suggests destroying the tree and burning it down. While this takes place, Vannan hears voices telling him he is worthy of the Blood Spear. He is drawn to one of the burial plots and finds a spear, untarnished by time.
To the west they see a wall of thick fog with a fortress overlooking a great city. Victor says this is the Whispering Wall. It is said that it is all that remains of a long forgotten god. The story goes that an ancient god gave up his divinity to preserve the world from destruction and that his last exhalation as a god produced the mist. Within in were all his memories of the world and all his visions of its possible futures, and with proper preparation, a seeker could go on a vision quest within it. Others think what they see in the fog is the real world and that it is in fact that Strahd's domain is just a dark memory in the Whispering Wall.
They ponder this and then return the gem to the Wizard of Wines. The Martikov thanks them promises to share the first batch of wine that comes with the next harvest with the party.
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Chapter 8: A Giant Giant's Skull
Kasimir arrives at the winery shortly after the party finishes breakfast. He says that Luvash and Arrigal request their presence for returning Arrabelle. The party escorts the wine from the winery back to the Vistani camp. Luvash is overjoyed to have his daughter back and Arrigal is doubly overjoyed to see the casks of wine heading toward his camp. They offer the party items as a reward. The party divvies out the loot. Bjorn receives the shield (+1 and fire resistance); Gilly takes the gloves (of swimming and climbing); Roger gets the tan bag (of tricks); Vannan is given a dagger (of warning) and a pendant (periapt of wound closure); Victor is given a staff (of the python).
They tell Kasimir they have to restore the flow of wine in Barovia and head out to the ruins of Berez. After traveling through the marsh for a few hours, Vannan detects they are not alone. Skeletons begin to rise out of the muck, some with devil-horned helmets. These seems unusually resilient as they continue to rise after being knocked asunder. The party defeats the opponents after achieving advantage with their tactics.
As they approach the ruined town of Berez, a light can be seen on the other side of the stream next to the trail. Gilly swims across to find great menhirs set in a circle with a WARY-looking woman behind the largest stone glaring at the party from afar. She returns and the whole party (sans Victor) cross the stream and talk to the WARY woman. She says she spies on the witch, Baba Lysaga, on behalf of the Raven worshipers in Vallaki. She talks about how the witch has scarecrows as sentries, has goats that she eats or does rituals every Sunday, that she flies around in a giant's skull and that she periodically sends her scarecrows to skirmish with the Martikov family at the winery. A few weeks past they brought back a green glowing gem and since, Baba Lysaga's hut has sprouted tree trunk legs and walks about. She also tells a myth that Baba Lysaga was once Strahd nursemaid and bestowed magic power unto him in the name of Mother Night. She was banished by the queen but still seeks to aid Strahd however she can. She wages war against the Raven folk.
The party ask the Book of Answers on how to defeat the witch. It replies that they cannot defeat the witch as things currently stand and that the gem is under the rug. Also the witch is weakest while she performs the ritual that has given her such longevity of life. The party comes up with a plan where Gilly will sneak into the hut when she flies over to the goat pen. Victor casts a spell and Gilly becomes invisible.
She easily eludes two scarecrows and climbs up the legs of the hut. She cannot open the door and climbs to a window. She pries open the window. The hut seems to look around. She finds an illusion of a baby in a crib on top of the rug. She moves the rug and pries the nails out of the floor boards. The gem rests in a hole with teeth ready to chomp on any intruding limbs. Gilly thinks she can hear her party members offering advice but eventually reaches in. She fails! She inspires herself to succeed. She succeeds! She quickly scurries out of the hut, freeing two cages of ravens that are hung by the front door and escapes just as the flying skull returns. "Nooooo!" Baba Lysaga yells.
The party then decides to kill to the old lady as she takes a bath. They hear Baba Lysaga kill the goats and then peep through the window and watch the old lady get in the bathtub (ewwwww). Gilly picks the lock on the door and Roger unleashes a fireball into the hut. The rest of the party charge in to attack the scarecrows. A bloody Baba Lysaga comes out of the burning hut and raises her arms. She makes a gesture and transforms into a swarm of flies and disappears into the night. The party quickly dispatch of the scarecrows after learning they are susceptible to fire and look through the hut. They find a chest but do not open it after noticing a glyph of warding upon it. They torch the hut to the ground.
They tell Kasimir they have to restore the flow of wine in Barovia and head out to the ruins of Berez. After traveling through the marsh for a few hours, Vannan detects they are not alone. Skeletons begin to rise out of the muck, some with devil-horned helmets. These seems unusually resilient as they continue to rise after being knocked asunder. The party defeats the opponents after achieving advantage with their tactics.
As they approach the ruined town of Berez, a light can be seen on the other side of the stream next to the trail. Gilly swims across to find great menhirs set in a circle with a WARY-looking woman behind the largest stone glaring at the party from afar. She returns and the whole party (sans Victor) cross the stream and talk to the WARY woman. She says she spies on the witch, Baba Lysaga, on behalf of the Raven worshipers in Vallaki. She talks about how the witch has scarecrows as sentries, has goats that she eats or does rituals every Sunday, that she flies around in a giant's skull and that she periodically sends her scarecrows to skirmish with the Martikov family at the winery. A few weeks past they brought back a green glowing gem and since, Baba Lysaga's hut has sprouted tree trunk legs and walks about. She also tells a myth that Baba Lysaga was once Strahd nursemaid and bestowed magic power unto him in the name of Mother Night. She was banished by the queen but still seeks to aid Strahd however she can. She wages war against the Raven folk.
The party ask the Book of Answers on how to defeat the witch. It replies that they cannot defeat the witch as things currently stand and that the gem is under the rug. Also the witch is weakest while she performs the ritual that has given her such longevity of life. The party comes up with a plan where Gilly will sneak into the hut when she flies over to the goat pen. Victor casts a spell and Gilly becomes invisible.
She easily eludes two scarecrows and climbs up the legs of the hut. She cannot open the door and climbs to a window. She pries open the window. The hut seems to look around. She finds an illusion of a baby in a crib on top of the rug. She moves the rug and pries the nails out of the floor boards. The gem rests in a hole with teeth ready to chomp on any intruding limbs. Gilly thinks she can hear her party members offering advice but eventually reaches in. She fails! She inspires herself to succeed. She succeeds! She quickly scurries out of the hut, freeing two cages of ravens that are hung by the front door and escapes just as the flying skull returns. "Nooooo!" Baba Lysaga yells.
The party then decides to kill to the old lady as she takes a bath. They hear Baba Lysaga kill the goats and then peep through the window and watch the old lady get in the bathtub (ewwwww). Gilly picks the lock on the door and Roger unleashes a fireball into the hut. The rest of the party charge in to attack the scarecrows. A bloody Baba Lysaga comes out of the burning hut and raises her arms. She makes a gesture and transforms into a swarm of flies and disappears into the night. The party quickly dispatch of the scarecrows after learning they are susceptible to fire and look through the hut. They find a chest but do not open it after noticing a glyph of warding upon it. They torch the hut to the ground.
Friday, August 5, 2016
Chapter 7: Just Jump on the Crazy Bastard
Lideydri and Bjorn wake up early and summon mystical mounts for their oncoming journey. Bjorn summons an undead moose. Lideydri, and undead warhorse. They both seem sad but reluctantly accept what their gods were able to provide.
The party awakens, checks on the saber-toothed tiger, make arrangements and then head toward the Vistani camp. They gather Kasimir and some horses from Arrigal. Kasimir leads them through the woods toward the Wizard of Wines. They come upon three row boats at the shore of a large lake. A lone boat sits at the center of the lake, a figure with a fishing pole occupies the vessel. The party call out but receive no reply. The party discuss the situation and decide to move on. Lideydri then notices the figure stands up, picking up a bag and tumbling it into the water. She thinks it might be Rictavio. Roger hears a little girl's murmur. Bjorn immediately guides his moose into the water. Roger juggles. A natural 20! The others jump into row boats and begin paddling. Bjorn has the moose dive into water but is unable to find the body bag. On his second attempt he swoops up the body in the moose's antlers and brings it to the surface. Gilly and Vannan pull the bag into their boat and untie the rope freeing the girl inside. After a high Medicine check, the girl begins to make demands. "Take me home now!" Lideydrii questions the fisherman who admits to taking the girl from the camp explaining Vistani are good luck. He hasn't caught a single fish for a week and he hoped offering a sacrifice to the lake would result in catching fish. He could then trade the fish for wine in Vallaki. Lideydri lashes up the two boats and drags the fisherman back to shore.
Kasimir directs the party to the road that leads to the Wizard of Wines and takes Arabelle back to the camp. The party, with fisherman in tow, head to the winery.
When they reach the vineyard, a man beckons them from nearby trees. He says he is Davian, the owner of the winery. He says that evil druids and blights overtook the winery and forced ha and his family to escape. If the adventurers can retake the winery, he will gladly share what wine is left with them. The party skirts the building and finds a side entrance near an outhouse. They tell the fisherman to knock on the front door, for those inside will give him wine. The fisherman goes up to the door and begins making a racket.
The noise appears to alert some magical creatures as bushes and small trees begins to animate. Thirty plant humanoids form and begin making their way to the winery. Vannan enters the winery and finds a small closet room and a beam that is used to bar the door shut. The others follow suit, Victor reluctantly follows after unleashing a powerful spell. The plant creatures hurl spikes from their hands like javelins but are ineffective. Inside, Lideydri spots a wild looking druid pouring a thick syrup into a vat. She cackles and more, smaller, plant creature begin lurching from within another vat. Vannan and Gilly hit the druid with missiles. Roger blasts her into oblivion with a lightning bolt. Bjorn and Lideydri flank the twig blights and push them back. Roger and Gilly go up to the balcony and pelt the blights still in the vat. They quickly dispatch the twigs and search the winery. They find three stairways up and down. They chose the central stairs and find a kitchen and a master bedroom on the second floor. Bjorn looks out the window to see the fisherman's body being pummeled by blights. They find a wine manifest and see that regular shipments to Vallaki and the Vistani have recently stopped. Also, at one point, shipments were made to Strahd but that was very long ago.
They go down a dark hallway and open a door. Vannan sees a man with wild hair and blood painted on his skin standing on a winch. He babbles at the party, "Nature bows to my every whim, for I have the vampire's staff!" He jumps through the hole in the floor onto a barrel in the wagon below. Bjorn pushes past everyone and jumps down upon him doing a critical hit with his hammer. Literally death from above. Lideydri inspects the staff. Everyone is puzzled as to what to do with it. Gilly then prods Victor into revealing that legends has it that destroying the staff breaks the enchantment on its minions. Lideydri and Bjorn smite the staff and all the blights in the area fall prone.
They return the winery to Davian who gives them wine. He says his sons can deliver the wine to where ever they choose. He also tells them how the winery was bestowed long ago with three magical gems, the size of pine cones, that magically enhanced the harvest of grapes in this region. Ten years ago, one of the gems was dug up and disappeared. The Champagne version of wine could thus not be produced. Three weeks ago, blights found a second gem during an attack on the winery. Davian believes Baba Lysaga was behind the attack. Five days ago, evil druids overran their defenses and forced the family to flee. He thinks they found the final gem and have taken it back to their lands at Yester Hill. The party inquires as to who Baba Lysaga is. Davian says she is a witch who resides in the Berez ruins. He implores the party to find the gems, "For the good of all Barovia!" Both Yester Hill and the ruins are back by Vallaki. The family hosts the party for the evening. Gilly says they should not drink the wine from the vats because they are probably poisoned.
The party awakens, checks on the saber-toothed tiger, make arrangements and then head toward the Vistani camp. They gather Kasimir and some horses from Arrigal. Kasimir leads them through the woods toward the Wizard of Wines. They come upon three row boats at the shore of a large lake. A lone boat sits at the center of the lake, a figure with a fishing pole occupies the vessel. The party call out but receive no reply. The party discuss the situation and decide to move on. Lideydri then notices the figure stands up, picking up a bag and tumbling it into the water. She thinks it might be Rictavio. Roger hears a little girl's murmur. Bjorn immediately guides his moose into the water. Roger juggles. A natural 20! The others jump into row boats and begin paddling. Bjorn has the moose dive into water but is unable to find the body bag. On his second attempt he swoops up the body in the moose's antlers and brings it to the surface. Gilly and Vannan pull the bag into their boat and untie the rope freeing the girl inside. After a high Medicine check, the girl begins to make demands. "Take me home now!" Lideydrii questions the fisherman who admits to taking the girl from the camp explaining Vistani are good luck. He hasn't caught a single fish for a week and he hoped offering a sacrifice to the lake would result in catching fish. He could then trade the fish for wine in Vallaki. Lideydri lashes up the two boats and drags the fisherman back to shore.
Kasimir directs the party to the road that leads to the Wizard of Wines and takes Arabelle back to the camp. The party, with fisherman in tow, head to the winery.
When they reach the vineyard, a man beckons them from nearby trees. He says he is Davian, the owner of the winery. He says that evil druids and blights overtook the winery and forced ha and his family to escape. If the adventurers can retake the winery, he will gladly share what wine is left with them. The party skirts the building and finds a side entrance near an outhouse. They tell the fisherman to knock on the front door, for those inside will give him wine. The fisherman goes up to the door and begins making a racket.
The noise appears to alert some magical creatures as bushes and small trees begins to animate. Thirty plant humanoids form and begin making their way to the winery. Vannan enters the winery and finds a small closet room and a beam that is used to bar the door shut. The others follow suit, Victor reluctantly follows after unleashing a powerful spell. The plant creatures hurl spikes from their hands like javelins but are ineffective. Inside, Lideydri spots a wild looking druid pouring a thick syrup into a vat. She cackles and more, smaller, plant creature begin lurching from within another vat. Vannan and Gilly hit the druid with missiles. Roger blasts her into oblivion with a lightning bolt. Bjorn and Lideydri flank the twig blights and push them back. Roger and Gilly go up to the balcony and pelt the blights still in the vat. They quickly dispatch the twigs and search the winery. They find three stairways up and down. They chose the central stairs and find a kitchen and a master bedroom on the second floor. Bjorn looks out the window to see the fisherman's body being pummeled by blights. They find a wine manifest and see that regular shipments to Vallaki and the Vistani have recently stopped. Also, at one point, shipments were made to Strahd but that was very long ago.
They go down a dark hallway and open a door. Vannan sees a man with wild hair and blood painted on his skin standing on a winch. He babbles at the party, "Nature bows to my every whim, for I have the vampire's staff!" He jumps through the hole in the floor onto a barrel in the wagon below. Bjorn pushes past everyone and jumps down upon him doing a critical hit with his hammer. Literally death from above. Lideydri inspects the staff. Everyone is puzzled as to what to do with it. Gilly then prods Victor into revealing that legends has it that destroying the staff breaks the enchantment on its minions. Lideydri and Bjorn smite the staff and all the blights in the area fall prone.
They return the winery to Davian who gives them wine. He says his sons can deliver the wine to where ever they choose. He also tells them how the winery was bestowed long ago with three magical gems, the size of pine cones, that magically enhanced the harvest of grapes in this region. Ten years ago, one of the gems was dug up and disappeared. The Champagne version of wine could thus not be produced. Three weeks ago, blights found a second gem during an attack on the winery. Davian believes Baba Lysaga was behind the attack. Five days ago, evil druids overran their defenses and forced the family to flee. He thinks they found the final gem and have taken it back to their lands at Yester Hill. The party inquires as to who Baba Lysaga is. Davian says she is a witch who resides in the Berez ruins. He implores the party to find the gems, "For the good of all Barovia!" Both Yester Hill and the ruins are back by Vallaki. The family hosts the party for the evening. Gilly says they should not drink the wine from the vats because they are probably poisoned.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
Chapter 6: Piccolo Rides Again (if only)
The party hangs out at the Arasek stockyards until evening. They then search the wagon. Vannan communicates with the beast within to learn it was trained to kill and eat Vistani. They feed it some boar meat as Rictavio has not been around for a few days now. Gilly searches the wagon seat as Piccolo mentioned and finds nothing. Lideydri assists and they find a hidden compartment. They see a lot of werewolf and vampire hunting gear along with the Sun Sword. They leave most of the contents beside the Sun Sword and a prayer book. The party also includes a note for Rictavio with various comments made in a haphazard way.
They head back to the Inn and have an uneventful night other than learning there is another crossroads just outside of town they might want to check out.
In the morning they head toward the Luna River and find a crossroads with a broken sign. They mended the sign. Lideydri found a slab stone mysteriously by itself in an otherwise grassy area. It bares the name "Elisabeta" upon it. Lideydri learns that she can now active the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which now creates sunlight. After much debate the party allows Victor to dig up the site and they found a coffin inside. Gilly opened the box up and found a book with a thick leather cover. The pages are very brittle and the writing is mostly illegible. Victor noticed a passage and reads it aloud as best he could.
Victor said the book is the Tome if Strahd. Written by the vampire himself it chronicles how he killed his brother Sergei so he wouldn't marry Tatyana. Strahd wanted Tatyana for himself. Tatyana flung herself off a cliff and was never seen again. That is when Strahd became undead.
"I am ancient. I am the land... I was the warrior, I was good and just...
I still lust for life and youth, and I curse the living that took them from me. Even the sun is against me. It is the sun and it's light I fear the most, but little else can harm me now. Even a stake through my heart does not kill me, though it holds me from movement. But the sword, that cursed sword that Sergei brought! I must dispose of that awful tool! I fear and hate it as much as the sun.
I now reside far below Ravenloft. I live among the dead and sleep beneath the very stones of this hollow castle of despair. I shall seal shut the walls of the stairs that none may disturb me."
The party stopped by the Vistani camp on their way back to Vallaki. They found a hill with buildings around the base and wagons and a tent at the top. They heard a whip and a scream from the top of the hill. They found gray elves (dusk elves) living in the buildings and are told to speak with Kasimir, the chief dusk elf. He is an emotionless old elf who speaks about how Strahd came to Barovia and trapped the dusk elves along with the Barovians. Strahd took his sister, Patrina, as a bride. Kasimir killed her to spare her from Strahd. In return Strahd had all the female dusk elves killed. Now the dusk elves are a broken people that keep a low profile and have no desire to incur Strahd's wrath again. He says that he had heard of Elisabeta, the only bride of Strahd to have escaped Ravenloft many years ago.
The party told Kasimir that they are also no friend of Strahd. Kasimir invited the party to accompany him to the Amber Temple. The secret to breaking Strahd's pact and freeing Barovia from the curse might be hidden there. Also, a way to bring his sister back to life may be possible. The party asked for a rain check and learn that Arrigal is in the tent above.
They go by the passed out drunken Vistani around the wagon and go into the tent. They found a huge man whipping a teenage boy tied to the center pike of the tent. "Easy brother," a smaller Vistani said to the brute. "I think Alexi has learned his lesson." This turns out to be Arrigal and the larger man is Luvash. Luvash is upset at Alexi for allowing his daughter, Arabelle, to be taken while they were away. Many Vistani and dusk elves were out searching for her. Arrigal also mentions that their shipments of wine had stopped from The Wizard of Wines. He would pay handsomely if the adventurers could bring them wine. That is what keeps him in power at the camp and without wine the Vistani could become hostile. Luvash also says he will reward the party if they find Arabelle.
The party headed back to Vallaki and stop at the church. They talk to Father Lucian who takes them aside and tells them that bone relics had been stolen from the church a few days earlier. No one besides himself knew the bones were even in the church. He may have mentioned them to the alter boy, Yeska. Yeska admits that he told someone of the bones existence but wouldn't divulge a name. The party convinces the boy to share who he told as recovering the bones was good for the parish. Yeska said it was Graves Keeper Willie that he had told. The party confronts Willie in the graveyard. After some defiance, Willie admits that Henrik the coffin maker had paid him to take the bones. Willie only did it to feed with sister and brothers. He took the party to the coffin maker's shop and was sent home.
Bjorn immediately slams his warhammer upon the door and bashes his way in. Henrik cowers in fear. He says that Strahd tricked him into allowing his shop to be used as a lair for dark creatures. When Willie told Henrik about the church relics, the creatures commanded Henrik to retrieve them.
The bones were up in his wardrobe and the lair was also on the second floor. The party sent Henrik to go to the church. Henrik then disappears, maybe following their orders.
Bjorn leads the way through the house until Lideydri rushes past them once they find the source of evil. She opens a crate which was filled with dirt. Vampire spawn burst out from the crates creating plumes of dust. Bjorn takes the brunt of the damage in the fight. Lideydri can now also activate the SunSword, "Lords of light!" Many vampires spawn fall prone in the fight and are quickly dispatched. Gilly and Bjorn get some critical hits and the spawn are quickly dispatched. The relic bones are returned to the church.
After recovering the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, the Sun Sword and the Tome of Strahd, along with recovering the bones of St. Andral, the party member each advance two levels. Everyone may update their characters to Level 5.
They head back to the Inn and have an uneventful night other than learning there is another crossroads just outside of town they might want to check out.
In the morning they head toward the Luna River and find a crossroads with a broken sign. They mended the sign. Lideydri found a slab stone mysteriously by itself in an otherwise grassy area. It bares the name "Elisabeta" upon it. Lideydri learns that she can now active the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which now creates sunlight. After much debate the party allows Victor to dig up the site and they found a coffin inside. Gilly opened the box up and found a book with a thick leather cover. The pages are very brittle and the writing is mostly illegible. Victor noticed a passage and reads it aloud as best he could.
Victor said the book is the Tome if Strahd. Written by the vampire himself it chronicles how he killed his brother Sergei so he wouldn't marry Tatyana. Strahd wanted Tatyana for himself. Tatyana flung herself off a cliff and was never seen again. That is when Strahd became undead.
"I am ancient. I am the land... I was the warrior, I was good and just...
I still lust for life and youth, and I curse the living that took them from me. Even the sun is against me. It is the sun and it's light I fear the most, but little else can harm me now. Even a stake through my heart does not kill me, though it holds me from movement. But the sword, that cursed sword that Sergei brought! I must dispose of that awful tool! I fear and hate it as much as the sun.
I now reside far below Ravenloft. I live among the dead and sleep beneath the very stones of this hollow castle of despair. I shall seal shut the walls of the stairs that none may disturb me."
The party stopped by the Vistani camp on their way back to Vallaki. They found a hill with buildings around the base and wagons and a tent at the top. They heard a whip and a scream from the top of the hill. They found gray elves (dusk elves) living in the buildings and are told to speak with Kasimir, the chief dusk elf. He is an emotionless old elf who speaks about how Strahd came to Barovia and trapped the dusk elves along with the Barovians. Strahd took his sister, Patrina, as a bride. Kasimir killed her to spare her from Strahd. In return Strahd had all the female dusk elves killed. Now the dusk elves are a broken people that keep a low profile and have no desire to incur Strahd's wrath again. He says that he had heard of Elisabeta, the only bride of Strahd to have escaped Ravenloft many years ago.
The party told Kasimir that they are also no friend of Strahd. Kasimir invited the party to accompany him to the Amber Temple. The secret to breaking Strahd's pact and freeing Barovia from the curse might be hidden there. Also, a way to bring his sister back to life may be possible. The party asked for a rain check and learn that Arrigal is in the tent above.
They go by the passed out drunken Vistani around the wagon and go into the tent. They found a huge man whipping a teenage boy tied to the center pike of the tent. "Easy brother," a smaller Vistani said to the brute. "I think Alexi has learned his lesson." This turns out to be Arrigal and the larger man is Luvash. Luvash is upset at Alexi for allowing his daughter, Arabelle, to be taken while they were away. Many Vistani and dusk elves were out searching for her. Arrigal also mentions that their shipments of wine had stopped from The Wizard of Wines. He would pay handsomely if the adventurers could bring them wine. That is what keeps him in power at the camp and without wine the Vistani could become hostile. Luvash also says he will reward the party if they find Arabelle.
The party headed back to Vallaki and stop at the church. They talk to Father Lucian who takes them aside and tells them that bone relics had been stolen from the church a few days earlier. No one besides himself knew the bones were even in the church. He may have mentioned them to the alter boy, Yeska. Yeska admits that he told someone of the bones existence but wouldn't divulge a name. The party convinces the boy to share who he told as recovering the bones was good for the parish. Yeska said it was Graves Keeper Willie that he had told. The party confronts Willie in the graveyard. After some defiance, Willie admits that Henrik the coffin maker had paid him to take the bones. Willie only did it to feed with sister and brothers. He took the party to the coffin maker's shop and was sent home.
Bjorn immediately slams his warhammer upon the door and bashes his way in. Henrik cowers in fear. He says that Strahd tricked him into allowing his shop to be used as a lair for dark creatures. When Willie told Henrik about the church relics, the creatures commanded Henrik to retrieve them.
The bones were up in his wardrobe and the lair was also on the second floor. The party sent Henrik to go to the church. Henrik then disappears, maybe following their orders.
Bjorn leads the way through the house until Lideydri rushes past them once they find the source of evil. She opens a crate which was filled with dirt. Vampire spawn burst out from the crates creating plumes of dust. Bjorn takes the brunt of the damage in the fight. Lideydri can now also activate the SunSword, "Lords of light!" Many vampires spawn fall prone in the fight and are quickly dispatched. Gilly and Bjorn get some critical hits and the spawn are quickly dispatched. The relic bones are returned to the church.
After recovering the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, the Sun Sword and the Tome of Strahd, along with recovering the bones of St. Andral, the party member each advance two levels. Everyone may update their characters to Level 5.
Monday, July 11, 2016
Chapter 5: Madame Eva
The party reunites and Roger is given the Wand of the War Mage. They continue on to the Tser Pool and find a bonfire with some gypsies sitting near tents and wagons. They greet the Vistani and share boar and wine together. A story teller tells them a tale about a wizard who attempted to defeat Strahd but failed. His body however was never found. He then invites the party to visit Madame Eva who sits in the largest tent.
They find an old crone with a crystal ball and a crackling voice. She welcomes them all and says their names and mentions some of their deeds. They she pulls out a deck of cards and reads their collective futures.
1. "This card tells the history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy. Ewww... They seven of coins, the Thief. What you seek lies at the crossroads of life and death, among the buried dead."
2. "This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope. It is the two of stars, the Diviner. Look to the one who sees all. The treasure is hidden in her camp. Ha ha! I think the treasure is under my very nose!"
3. "This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight! The seven of stars, the Illusionist." A hidden smile can be slightly detected. "A man is not what he seems. He comes here in a carnival wagon. Therein lies what you seek."
4. "This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness. Oh woe! It is the Horseman Joker. A man of death named Arrigal will forsake his dark lord to serve your cause. Beware! He has a rotten soul."
5. "Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him! Ahhhhhh... The king of Spades, the Darklord himself. He lurks in the depths of darkness, in the one place to which he must return."
"Welp, there you have it. Be on your way and good luck." She quickly falls asleep.
The party returns to the bonfire and asks some questions. Roger searches the camp and find the holy symbol hidden in the wheel of one of the wagons. They learn the Vistani have an ancient agreement with Strahd and Arrigal resides in the camp outside of Vallaki. They stay the night and head back to Vallaki in the morning.
They come upon the crossroads with the gallows once again now noticing the small graveyard next to it. They inspect the gravestones and search the walls. Gilley digs up one of the graves and finds bones. Bjorn believes the area is blessed. After further discussion they give up their search in this place and head back to Vallaki. They find a body, mauled by dire wolves. Grimtooth shrugs. While burying the remains a group of Barovians approach them. They were apparently looking for Harold who had gone missing. They are peasants and thank the party for starting a hole. Bjorn asks if they know anything about the graveyard at the crossroads. The farmers say that it is a place of the ancients who fought Strahd when he first arrived and they nearly defeated them. It is a holy place and Barovians are unfit to be buried next to those valiant ones.
The party reaches Vallaki and inspect Rictavio's wagon. Some inside growls and shakes the wagon fiercely. The party decide to sleep on it after learning Rictavio is absent from town. The next morning they go to Blinsky's Toy Shop. Blinsky is alone there with only Piccolo as company. He welcomes them again and offers his toys to Lideydri. She buys a little gallow figure. He says he knows not where Rictavio might be. Vannan talks to Piccolo who becomes excited when he hears the name Rictavio. Vannan learns that there is a saber tooth tiger in the wagon that has been trained to kill Vistani. Rictavio is a spell caster. There is a sword in the seat-case of the wagon.
The party heads over to the stockyard where the carnival wagon is and meets Gunther and Yelena. They rent a shed next to the wagon and decide to wait until later to see if Rictavio shows up to feed the tiger.
They find an old crone with a crystal ball and a crackling voice. She welcomes them all and says their names and mentions some of their deeds. They she pulls out a deck of cards and reads their collective futures.
1. "This card tells the history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy. Ewww... They seven of coins, the Thief. What you seek lies at the crossroads of life and death, among the buried dead."
2. "This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope. It is the two of stars, the Diviner. Look to the one who sees all. The treasure is hidden in her camp. Ha ha! I think the treasure is under my very nose!"
3. "This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight! The seven of stars, the Illusionist." A hidden smile can be slightly detected. "A man is not what he seems. He comes here in a carnival wagon. Therein lies what you seek."
4. "This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness. Oh woe! It is the Horseman Joker. A man of death named Arrigal will forsake his dark lord to serve your cause. Beware! He has a rotten soul."
5. "Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him! Ahhhhhh... The king of Spades, the Darklord himself. He lurks in the depths of darkness, in the one place to which he must return."
"Welp, there you have it. Be on your way and good luck." She quickly falls asleep.
The party returns to the bonfire and asks some questions. Roger searches the camp and find the holy symbol hidden in the wheel of one of the wagons. They learn the Vistani have an ancient agreement with Strahd and Arrigal resides in the camp outside of Vallaki. They stay the night and head back to Vallaki in the morning.
They come upon the crossroads with the gallows once again now noticing the small graveyard next to it. They inspect the gravestones and search the walls. Gilley digs up one of the graves and finds bones. Bjorn believes the area is blessed. After further discussion they give up their search in this place and head back to Vallaki. They find a body, mauled by dire wolves. Grimtooth shrugs. While burying the remains a group of Barovians approach them. They were apparently looking for Harold who had gone missing. They are peasants and thank the party for starting a hole. Bjorn asks if they know anything about the graveyard at the crossroads. The farmers say that it is a place of the ancients who fought Strahd when he first arrived and they nearly defeated them. It is a holy place and Barovians are unfit to be buried next to those valiant ones.
The party reaches Vallaki and inspect Rictavio's wagon. Some inside growls and shakes the wagon fiercely. The party decide to sleep on it after learning Rictavio is absent from town. The next morning they go to Blinsky's Toy Shop. Blinsky is alone there with only Piccolo as company. He welcomes them again and offers his toys to Lideydri. She buys a little gallow figure. He says he knows not where Rictavio might be. Vannan talks to Piccolo who becomes excited when he hears the name Rictavio. Vannan learns that there is a saber tooth tiger in the wagon that has been trained to kill Vistani. Rictavio is a spell caster. There is a sword in the seat-case of the wagon.
The party heads over to the stockyard where the carnival wagon is and meets Gunther and Yelena. They rent a shed next to the wagon and decide to wait until later to see if Rictavio shows up to feed the tiger.
Side adventure: Tower of the Mad Mage
After defeating the wolves, LaDeidre realizes she has left her whet stone at the Blue Falls Inn. Her and others from the party decide to head back to town to retrieve it and other supplies. Vannan and Gilley decided to stay and learn more about the huge creature Vannan seems to have bonded with. They notice a few building up the road and decide to investigate. One is a tavern which Vannan is very pleased to find. They enter and are greeted to much drinking and gambling. Shortly into their drink a goblin bursts in, bloodied and exhausted. He ask for help and promises great riches. The bartender demands the adventure-ers take him to the constable. Instead, Vannan heals the goblin and they learn his name is Sqwelch. They run into the constable that demands that the goblin be turned over to her. Vannan questions the officer of the law and Gilley eventually brides the constable. They find a room to sleep in for the night. Sqwelch talks about how his tribe found a tower and Sqwelch was told to scout it out. He found a dragon at the top laying on a hoard of treasure. Glubnose, the goblin chief, decides to attack the dragon. They defeat (kill) the beast and take the tower as their castle. However, Glubnose does not share the booty equally and Sqwlech puts up a fuss. He is beaten and nearly killed for doing so.
Sqwelch asks the two if they will assist him at rooting Glubnose out for an equal share of the treasure. Gilley tries to negotiate the split but quickly finds that Sqwelch is really bad with numbers. They agree to take on this adventure as it should not take long. They make their way to the tower and kill so boars along the way. They find a naked man, Jai Copperstaff, trapped under a tree. They free him. Later that night Jai transforms into a wererat and scampers away when the party does not attack him.
They reach the tower and surprise two goblin guards badly guarding the entrance. The continue in and find many wolves guarding the next room. Vannan has Grimtooth attempt to dominate the wolves but fail. They lure the wolves out of the room with boar meat and after the feast the wolves run off into the wild.
They enter another room and find axe beaks, strange ostrich creature with clever-like beaks. After defeating these foul fowl, they go up to the next level and find a room with eerie pipe music and a desk with a locked drawer. When Gilley tries to unlock the desk, the air elemental stops playing the pipes and manifests. They are able to defeat the swirling dervish of dust and cobwebs. They find some gold pieces and magical goggles in the drawer.
They continue on to the next room, a study of some sort. Here they find a book shelf with a diary for Hugo Harpwell. When they try to open the book it spring for spider-like legs and begins running around the room yelling, "No, no, no, no!" Vannan captures the diary and it screams, "Noooooo!" and turns to dust. They also find boring books of no interest until they see one called The Book of Wondrous Answers. A few pages have scribblings of questions with a fancy scripted reply. Three pages remain blank.
They enter the third floor and a kitchen with a dead goblin. They investigate the room. Vannan seems suspicious and soon the pots and cleaves on the wall begin to rattle. They escape the room before they must fight the cutlery.
They reach the top floor and Gilley runs in to find the goblins led by Glubnose. As the sides are about the fight a great crash can be heard overhead. "The dragon has returned!" exclaims one of the goblins. A count down begins as the dragon begins to bust its way through the roof. Gilley decides to capture some of the dragon's treasure and grabs a handful of loot. She is attacked. Vannan and Grimtooth decide the dragon is too dangerous and begin exiting the castle. Sqwelch is badly damaged and flees. Gilley is barely able to escape the room and they barricade the goblins to the top floor to meet their fate.
On the way out Gilley convinces Vannan to explore one more room since the dragon is occupied. They attempt to open one more door that is actually an ooze that attacks them. They are about to flee when Gilley thinks she sees some in the room behind the ooze. Grimtooth bites the ooze and her mouth begins to sizzle from acid. They are able to destroy the slime creature and find an invisible chest. Here they find much treasure including a magical longsword called Whitherbrand and a Wand of the War mage.
They count themselves lucky and leave the tower. They make their way back to the Gambling Golem to wait for their fellow party members to return.
Sqwelch asks the two if they will assist him at rooting Glubnose out for an equal share of the treasure. Gilley tries to negotiate the split but quickly finds that Sqwelch is really bad with numbers. They agree to take on this adventure as it should not take long. They make their way to the tower and kill so boars along the way. They find a naked man, Jai Copperstaff, trapped under a tree. They free him. Later that night Jai transforms into a wererat and scampers away when the party does not attack him.
They reach the tower and surprise two goblin guards badly guarding the entrance. The continue in and find many wolves guarding the next room. Vannan has Grimtooth attempt to dominate the wolves but fail. They lure the wolves out of the room with boar meat and after the feast the wolves run off into the wild.
They enter another room and find axe beaks, strange ostrich creature with clever-like beaks. After defeating these foul fowl, they go up to the next level and find a room with eerie pipe music and a desk with a locked drawer. When Gilley tries to unlock the desk, the air elemental stops playing the pipes and manifests. They are able to defeat the swirling dervish of dust and cobwebs. They find some gold pieces and magical goggles in the drawer.
They continue on to the next room, a study of some sort. Here they find a book shelf with a diary for Hugo Harpwell. When they try to open the book it spring for spider-like legs and begins running around the room yelling, "No, no, no, no!" Vannan captures the diary and it screams, "Noooooo!" and turns to dust. They also find boring books of no interest until they see one called The Book of Wondrous Answers. A few pages have scribblings of questions with a fancy scripted reply. Three pages remain blank.
They enter the third floor and a kitchen with a dead goblin. They investigate the room. Vannan seems suspicious and soon the pots and cleaves on the wall begin to rattle. They escape the room before they must fight the cutlery.
They reach the top floor and Gilley runs in to find the goblins led by Glubnose. As the sides are about the fight a great crash can be heard overhead. "The dragon has returned!" exclaims one of the goblins. A count down begins as the dragon begins to bust its way through the roof. Gilley decides to capture some of the dragon's treasure and grabs a handful of loot. She is attacked. Vannan and Grimtooth decide the dragon is too dangerous and begin exiting the castle. Sqwelch is badly damaged and flees. Gilley is barely able to escape the room and they barricade the goblins to the top floor to meet their fate.
On the way out Gilley convinces Vannan to explore one more room since the dragon is occupied. They attempt to open one more door that is actually an ooze that attacks them. They are about to flee when Gilley thinks she sees some in the room behind the ooze. Grimtooth bites the ooze and her mouth begins to sizzle from acid. They are able to destroy the slime creature and find an invisible chest. Here they find much treasure including a magical longsword called Whitherbrand and a Wand of the War mage.
They count themselves lucky and leave the tower. They make their way back to the Gambling Golem to wait for their fellow party members to return.
Friday, June 24, 2016
The Streets of Vallaki (chapter 4)
The party heads to the West side of town. They do not find the siblings but they do find a large chapel with a small crowd of people entering as the sun begins to set. Gilly spies a grave digger and decides to start a conversation. Grave Keeper Willie is gruff and grumpy. He talks about how foolish the burgermeister is with his empty beliefs that everything is well. Gilly hands him some coin and Willie offers to dig her a grave twice as deep as most.
The party eventually heads back to the tavern and meets with some locals. They invite Lideydri to join their party raising the number of paladins to two. They speak with wolf hunters, Szoldar and Yevgeni. One speaks clearly and the other slightly repeats comments. They talk to two drunk brothers, Nikolai and Karl, who talk of their mother's hatred of Ivanovich. They ply Victor with booze which quickly goes to his head. He talks of his wondrous power and his lofty plans but then passes out. Bjorn takes the boy up to a room. They talk to a traveler, Rictavio, who tells them he gave Picollo to Mr. Blinsky. He also talks about a mystic that lives near the Tser Pool. He suggests that the party visit the fortune teller as that may help them uncover why or how they have come to Barovia.
As the evening wears down the party retire to their rooms. The girls have individual rooms and the boys share a large chamber. Bjorn carries Victor into the large chamber. As the night slowly passes, Gilly wakes up and hears scraping noises. She thinks it's coming from a sack that Victor had been carrying earlier. She goes to wake Lideydri but is unable. She goes to wake the boys. She picks the lock. The boys magically all roll natural ones and continue to snore. Suddenly, something leaps out of the bag and runs out of the room and down the stairs. Gilly quickly runs back to her room and locks her door. For the rest of the night the boys room door is wide open.
As the morning arrives Gilly explains what happened overnight. Victor runs down the stairs and the party follows. Eventually they corning the foul beast which turns out to be Victor's cat... which is a skeleton. Victor explains that he loves Spindle and when Spindle passed away, he couldn't bare the loss. He reanimated the cat. Spindle is the only thing in Barovia that keeps him from taking his own life.
The party takes off toward the Tser Pool. They hear howling and are of course surrounded by wolves, one in particular is larger than the others. After defeating most of the pack, Vannan notices the dire beast is the alpha and is female. He holds out his stuffed toy and the wolf instantly bows to the ground. Vannan communicates with the wolf and learns the wolf was under the influence of Strahd but is now free. Vannan convinces the party to cease their attack and finds he now has a undead dire wolf as a companion, Grimm Tooth. He has mixed feeling about this.
The party eventually heads back to the tavern and meets with some locals. They invite Lideydri to join their party raising the number of paladins to two. They speak with wolf hunters, Szoldar and Yevgeni. One speaks clearly and the other slightly repeats comments. They talk to two drunk brothers, Nikolai and Karl, who talk of their mother's hatred of Ivanovich. They ply Victor with booze which quickly goes to his head. He talks of his wondrous power and his lofty plans but then passes out. Bjorn takes the boy up to a room. They talk to a traveler, Rictavio, who tells them he gave Picollo to Mr. Blinsky. He also talks about a mystic that lives near the Tser Pool. He suggests that the party visit the fortune teller as that may help them uncover why or how they have come to Barovia.
As the evening wears down the party retire to their rooms. The girls have individual rooms and the boys share a large chamber. Bjorn carries Victor into the large chamber. As the night slowly passes, Gilly wakes up and hears scraping noises. She thinks it's coming from a sack that Victor had been carrying earlier. She goes to wake Lideydri but is unable. She goes to wake the boys. She picks the lock. The boys magically all roll natural ones and continue to snore. Suddenly, something leaps out of the bag and runs out of the room and down the stairs. Gilly quickly runs back to her room and locks her door. For the rest of the night the boys room door is wide open.
As the morning arrives Gilly explains what happened overnight. Victor runs down the stairs and the party follows. Eventually they corning the foul beast which turns out to be Victor's cat... which is a skeleton. Victor explains that he loves Spindle and when Spindle passed away, he couldn't bare the loss. He reanimated the cat. Spindle is the only thing in Barovia that keeps him from taking his own life.
The party takes off toward the Tser Pool. They hear howling and are of course surrounded by wolves, one in particular is larger than the others. After defeating most of the pack, Vannan notices the dire beast is the alpha and is female. He holds out his stuffed toy and the wolf instantly bows to the ground. Vannan communicates with the wolf and learns the wolf was under the influence of Strahd but is now free. Vannan convinces the party to cease their attack and finds he now has a undead dire wolf as a companion, Grimm Tooth. He has mixed feeling about this.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Blinsky in Vallaki (chapter 3)
After escaping the Death House, the party hears more sobbing. They investigate the sound. On their journey they notice a couple of building are emanating light but they ignore them at first. They find a house, boarded up. They knock upon the door but no one answers. The party they decides to head to the building that has a sign distinguishing it as a tavern. Inside they find a barkeep, three jovial guys at a table and a lonely depressed looking man, drinking his despair in isolation. The party asks the barkeep a few questions and are met with a drab, hauntingly absent visage of a human. His answers are like stone. Emotionless other than despair and apathy. The barkeep does point the party in the direction of Ismark, the Lesser.
The party decides to engage with Ismark who gladly invites them to sit with him. He orders more wine and then asks the party if they will escort his sister to a different town. He says Vallaki is said to be beyond to grip of Strahd, the devil. The ruler of Barovia has taken interest in his sister and Ismark wants her to be safe. The party agrees and they head to Ismark's mansion.
At the mansion, the party finds the house dilapidated and overgrown with weeds. They find tracks made by large wolves and humanoid foot prints, the walls of the house scorched with black soot. When they knock on the door they hear a frightened female voice. Ismark asks Irevena to open the door. She does and the party finds a body lying in a poorly made wooden coffin in the nearby drawing room, the room rank with decay and rot. The body is of the Burgermaster of Barovia, their father. She talks of how Strahd had visited her, showing fang marks upon her neck. Wolves and Strahd's men then began attacking the mansion, night after night. Two days prior, her father succumbed to the stress and died. It is decided that the body should be buried at the abbey just outside of town.
The party makes their way to the church and hears screaming. As they enter the holy site, they hear the screaming of something from beneath the floor. They also hear someone praying in the main hall. They investigate the main area to find a priest desperately praying for help from his god. The party asks what is in the basement. The holy man, Danovich, says it is his sone. A year ago, a wizard in a black coat had gathered some of the townspeople to march upon Strahd's castle and destroy him. Instead, Danovich's son had returned, changed. He locked his son in the basement and has been trying to save his son's soul ever since. The god of light has forsaken Barovia. The town brought the curse of Strahd upon themselves. The voice from below yells out how hungry it is. The party decides best to not provoke the thing. They instead turn to burying the body they had brought. The carry the corpse to the cemetery and Danovich makes a prayer asking the gods to protect the mayor's soul into the afterlife.
The party returns to the mansion, gathers a few items and heads out of town on the road to Vallaki. They come to a crossroads with gallows on one corner and a sign on the other pointing out directions. When they head toward Vallaki, the party notices there is now a body hanging from the gallows. Upon inspection it is the dead body of Irevena. The Irevena with the party screams and shrinks away in horror. Bjorn goes to let down the body and it evaporates as if a cloud dispersed by wind.
The party continues on and finds another massive gateway similar to the one when they first entered the domain of Strahd. The take camp next to the wall to have one side defended. They take watches and all is uneventful until the last watch with Gilley on duty. She sees a figure come out of the mist and slowly looms toward her. She alerts her allies and they begin chopping at the dead lumbering thing. An arm comes off, then another, then a leg and then it stops moving. The DM dismayed that it did not get a chance to make an impact on the setting.
Eventually morning comes and they reach Vallaki soon after passing a waterfall. They make their way to the Blue Water Inn and book some rooms. They head to the drinking room only to find a cranky woman and her two kids cleaning up the room. They ask for whiskey and ale but wine is the only selection on the menu. They find wolf steak is also available and how two hunters have successfully brought back the flanks of the dire beasts. They are told wolves and bats are the servants of Strahd and that ravens are their protectors. The old woman then says maybe more people will be in later in the day and to come back later.
The party strolls through town, past a depressed house than sighs with sadness. The come to a toy makers shop and decide to go in. Poor Blinsky is there to greet them. He recites a greeting that sounds rehearsed ad nauseam. Then he offers the party a selection of his best toys. Gilley decides that she would like small dummy of Strahd. Blinky has his pet monkey retrieve other toys. Bjorn takes a tiny dwarven warhammer set into back of a baby's skull. Vannan reluctantly purchases a stuffed animal of a dead wolf pup, tongue hanging out, missing tufts of hair and its guts splayed out underneath its belly. They learn of a traveler who helps Blinksy, a henchman of Vallaki's burgermaster who threatens Blinsky and also has him make dolls. He has hired Blinsky to make a doll that matches Irevena.
They leave the toy house, suddenly realizing they should not have separated themselves from the siblings. They make their way to the burgermaster's mansion and meet with Ivanovich. He says he saw the siblings and suggested they look for a dwelling on the far west side of Vallaki. He says that the wall around Vallaki protects the citizens from Strahd as doing hope. "All is well" he drones over and over. He tells the party that a festival will take place in three days. He also asks the party to take his son out into the real world. This teenager refuses to leave the house and the mayor thinks the party could teach him a few lessons. He pays them with a bag of gold and wishes them the best... and to return his son alive or pay the consequences. Though he does show a sign of relief seeing his son leaving the mansion.
Up next... Here comes the Grim.
The party decides to engage with Ismark who gladly invites them to sit with him. He orders more wine and then asks the party if they will escort his sister to a different town. He says Vallaki is said to be beyond to grip of Strahd, the devil. The ruler of Barovia has taken interest in his sister and Ismark wants her to be safe. The party agrees and they head to Ismark's mansion.
At the mansion, the party finds the house dilapidated and overgrown with weeds. They find tracks made by large wolves and humanoid foot prints, the walls of the house scorched with black soot. When they knock on the door they hear a frightened female voice. Ismark asks Irevena to open the door. She does and the party finds a body lying in a poorly made wooden coffin in the nearby drawing room, the room rank with decay and rot. The body is of the Burgermaster of Barovia, their father. She talks of how Strahd had visited her, showing fang marks upon her neck. Wolves and Strahd's men then began attacking the mansion, night after night. Two days prior, her father succumbed to the stress and died. It is decided that the body should be buried at the abbey just outside of town.
The party makes their way to the church and hears screaming. As they enter the holy site, they hear the screaming of something from beneath the floor. They also hear someone praying in the main hall. They investigate the main area to find a priest desperately praying for help from his god. The party asks what is in the basement. The holy man, Danovich, says it is his sone. A year ago, a wizard in a black coat had gathered some of the townspeople to march upon Strahd's castle and destroy him. Instead, Danovich's son had returned, changed. He locked his son in the basement and has been trying to save his son's soul ever since. The god of light has forsaken Barovia. The town brought the curse of Strahd upon themselves. The voice from below yells out how hungry it is. The party decides best to not provoke the thing. They instead turn to burying the body they had brought. The carry the corpse to the cemetery and Danovich makes a prayer asking the gods to protect the mayor's soul into the afterlife.
The party returns to the mansion, gathers a few items and heads out of town on the road to Vallaki. They come to a crossroads with gallows on one corner and a sign on the other pointing out directions. When they head toward Vallaki, the party notices there is now a body hanging from the gallows. Upon inspection it is the dead body of Irevena. The Irevena with the party screams and shrinks away in horror. Bjorn goes to let down the body and it evaporates as if a cloud dispersed by wind.
The party continues on and finds another massive gateway similar to the one when they first entered the domain of Strahd. The take camp next to the wall to have one side defended. They take watches and all is uneventful until the last watch with Gilley on duty. She sees a figure come out of the mist and slowly looms toward her. She alerts her allies and they begin chopping at the dead lumbering thing. An arm comes off, then another, then a leg and then it stops moving. The DM dismayed that it did not get a chance to make an impact on the setting.
Eventually morning comes and they reach Vallaki soon after passing a waterfall. They make their way to the Blue Water Inn and book some rooms. They head to the drinking room only to find a cranky woman and her two kids cleaning up the room. They ask for whiskey and ale but wine is the only selection on the menu. They find wolf steak is also available and how two hunters have successfully brought back the flanks of the dire beasts. They are told wolves and bats are the servants of Strahd and that ravens are their protectors. The old woman then says maybe more people will be in later in the day and to come back later.
The party strolls through town, past a depressed house than sighs with sadness. The come to a toy makers shop and decide to go in. Poor Blinsky is there to greet them. He recites a greeting that sounds rehearsed ad nauseam. Then he offers the party a selection of his best toys. Gilley decides that she would like small dummy of Strahd. Blinky has his pet monkey retrieve other toys. Bjorn takes a tiny dwarven warhammer set into back of a baby's skull. Vannan reluctantly purchases a stuffed animal of a dead wolf pup, tongue hanging out, missing tufts of hair and its guts splayed out underneath its belly. They learn of a traveler who helps Blinksy, a henchman of Vallaki's burgermaster who threatens Blinsky and also has him make dolls. He has hired Blinsky to make a doll that matches Irevena.
They leave the toy house, suddenly realizing they should not have separated themselves from the siblings. They make their way to the burgermaster's mansion and meet with Ivanovich. He says he saw the siblings and suggested they look for a dwelling on the far west side of Vallaki. He says that the wall around Vallaki protects the citizens from Strahd as doing hope. "All is well" he drones over and over. He tells the party that a festival will take place in three days. He also asks the party to take his son out into the real world. This teenager refuses to leave the house and the mayor thinks the party could teach him a few lessons. He pays them with a bag of gold and wishes them the best... and to return his son alive or pay the consequences. Though he does show a sign of relief seeing his son leaving the mansion.
Up next... Here comes the Grim.
Monday, May 2, 2016
The Death House (chapters 1 & 2)
The party begins in a tavern. Each player gives a brief description of their respective character. Gilly Heathertoe is a halfling that proudly proclaims to be a rogue. Bjorn is a dwarf that speaks kindly to matters of divinity. Vannan is a half elf with a cloak and a longbow, his mind focused on the nature about them. Mumbles is a... that mumbles and passes out.
The various characters ask the barkeep if there is any work to be had and he/she directs them to a stout dwarf sitting at a table by his lonesome. When the party ask him for employment, the dwarf quickly offers them a transport job. To take a crate of raw gems to his brother in a city a few days to the northwest. The party haggles prices for a while and then agrees to start the jaunt the next morning. Gus, the dwarf, gives the party an ox with a crate counter-weighted with a bag of rocks and directions to his brother, Russ, who owns a jewelry establishment in Neverwinter (city).
The party heads off for the city and encounters some goblins. The ambush goes painfully bad for the goblins as a few quickly die. These characters are not mere pushovers, but seasoned veterans of destruction, slashing vengeance and spitting death... from the goblin's perspective.
The party pitches tents and hobbles the ox. A thick fog rolls into the valley they are traversing. The next morning seems eerily quiet and dim. The party finds the ox has gone missing and their crate of gems now contains only ordinary rocks. The road has changed to a unused path. The trees seem different as if they are in a new world. A new, older, world.
The party, as every paragraph appears to begin with, heads down the path and eventually comes upon a sleeping village. Some houses are boarded up and all are dark. The only activity in the town seems to be two children sobbing in the street. When the party approaches the kids, they stop sobbing and explain that there's a monster in their basement. The party asks about their parents and the children think they are also in the basement. They also say there is a baby on the third floor. They seem confused when other questions are asked about the situation. They also seem confused when asked general questions. They refuse to go back in the house but will stay near the front stoop.
The party enters the house. They see a grand staircase heading up to the second floor and continue on to the third. A suit or armor attacks Bjorn as he tries to open a door. The armor is quickly dispatched. Its hollow shell falls to the ground and shatters apart. They enter the nursemaid's bedroom. Bjorn goes to a balcony and sees the children staring up at him from the street. Vannan looks at himself in the mirror and then looks behind the mirror. He finds a secret entrance that leads upward.
The party climbs the secret passage and check the rooms of the attic. One room has two beds, a doll house, a toy chest and... The two children, manifested as ghosts. The children do not recognize the party and get upset when their toys are disturbed. They explain that their parents locked them in the room to protect them from the monster in the basement. But the parents never came back. The children starved to death, locked up with the windows bricked shut. Upon inspection of the doll house, another secret passage is found that goes from the attic down to the bottom of the replica. No other stairs lead downward from the first floor.
Bjorn marches off to find this passage while Vannan and Gilly become possessed by the children when they attempt to leave the room. Mumbles mumbles something. Bjorn turns around and demands the children go back to their room. The frightened kids obey his command and once again, sadly trap their souls back in their room, terrified. Bjorn finds a room filled with covered furniture. Gilly finds a skeleton wrapped up in bloodied sheets. The secret passage is found and the party descends into the dungeon below.
As the party reaches the basement, Mumbles announces his name is Roger. He is a mighty juggler and sometimes a sorcerer. He also has a magic eight ball. Unworldly chanting can be heard but not understood. Bjorn begins exploring the twisting passages and discovers a room. A large table sits at the center of this room with chair shaped benches at its sides. Moldy bones of a goblin rest upon the table. Vannan discovers dirt under the table. Bjorn notices an alcove and investigates. A large snake-like worm with four tentacles protruding from its face lashes out at him. A powerful beak also pecks at his face. The party tries to assist but Bjorn shields the creature from their attacks. Roger casts orbs of force that magically zoom around Bjorn and hit their target. Gilly darts in and stabs at the monstrosity and then nimbly retreats back to the table. Vannan attempts to shoot arrows past Bjorn but the grick has too much cover. Roger cast a bolt of fire that sails over everyone's head and splatters flame on the wall behind. Bjorn slams him hammer down and flattens the beast. He then wonders if its carcass is tasty.
Bjorn continues on through a passage way and is immediately bitten by humanoid fiends that rise from the ground. Another rises in front of him and slashes out. Bjorn requests a tactical retreat back into the room. After some meta-gaming, the party forms a kill zone and defeat three of the frenzied undead walkers. Roger goes to search the bodies for pockets. He loves pockets. Gilly, strangely, just sits back and watches Roger loot the remains. He finds nothing other than another attacker that swings at him, narrowly missing as Roger squats down to look at the dead bodies. Roger reaches out and magically shocks the undead thing and runs back to the room. The walker walks into the kill zone and takes damage, falling limp.
Gilly takes this opportunity to disappear down another hallway. Luckily, Vannan feels Gilly go by and follows. Without any conversation, Roger follows suit. Bjorn announces he is hurt. Perhaps they should rest. The party sits among the remains of the dead worm for an hour and decide to take another passage. The chanting appears louder in the northerly direction but the party heads south. They find a room, skeletons shackled along the walls, and two statues in another alcove. One of a dark humanoid holding an orb and the other of a large wolf at his side. Gilly gleefully skips up to the statue and seeing the orb is not actually part of the statue, takes it.
Five misty shadows pour out from the walls and take shape as semi-solid forms of dark smoke. Vannan recalls from the stories of her people that these are most likely hellish shadows. These shadows drain the strength from their victims and especially hunger after goody two shoes. This theory is proven when Bjorn is struck. He is buckled and goes down to one knee. He composes himself and calls upon his over-watching diety to assist him in smiting his foe. His warhammer connects with the dark form and light, sparks and rays of radiance explode leaving only the afterglow and divine embers where the wraith had been. Gilly unsheathes her long sword, black steeled with a golden hilt, it's blade lashing like a snake's flickering tongue. She slashes at another shadow who is cleaved in two, with both have evaporating into nothingness. Roger sends forward orbs of force that streak out and badly damage another shadow. Vannan rushes forward and takes the orb from Gilly and places it back upon the statue. The remaining shadows converge on Bjorn but fail to land any blows. (The DM forgot about flanking...) Bjorn smites another shadow, Gilly's blade disintegrates another and Roger once again send mystics missiles that vanquishes remaining foe.
Gilly contemplates taking the orb again. Bjorn once again suggests resting, this time up in the house. Roger leans against the wall revealing yet another secret passage, this time a convenient stairway that leads to a trap door on the first floor. The party relaxes in the den for an uneventful night.
The party rises in the dark morning and this time heads directly for the chanting in the basement. They discover stairs that lead down to yet another sub-level. Bjorn moves to the front and enters a room filled with non-valuable relics along the walls. The chanting grows louder from one of the passageways. "He is ancient! He is land!" Over and over the words are repeated. Gilly can smell the damp and dank odor of stale water from the passage.
Bjorn enters the breach and finds a huge pool of water flanked by ledges, a dais in the center and a cave at the far wall. The dais has an altar with chains suspended above it. Stairs go up to the encircling ledge from the water. Bjorn goes to explore the dais. Upon reaching it the chanting stops and now, "One must die!" becomes the new chorus of voices. Roger goes to look in the cave and finds a heap of organic matter piled in the small alcove, also jutting out in a pool of water. Bjorn heads back to the entrance and the chanting stops. Thirteen dark hooded spirits appear floating overhead, faceless yet daemonic. "Lorgoth the Decayer, we awaken thee!"
The mound within the cave begins to stir and rises from the water. Like a tidal wave, it engulfs poor Roger and sucks him into its body of animated mossy matter. Bjorn turns around and marches upon the aberration. He lands a mighty blow. Gilly fires off and arrow which causes the mass to shutter. Vannan starts to lighten her quiver. Kerplunk, as a missile clicks off the wall. Roger, horrified, releases a shot of acid and gets ejected from the mound. The mass once again turns tidal and swallows Bjorn. The dwarf attempts to power his way out and swims through the body of the beast and back into the pool of water. Gilly fires off another arrow and then begins to talk about round-abouts. Vannan marks off another arrow from her diminishing ammunition list. Roger blasts the bulky hulk with a burst of flame. A psuedo-pod lashes out and strikes the dwarf. Roger once again is engulfed by the mound. Bjorn climbs to his feet and slams his hammer upon the organic heap. Gilly throws some bat guano that she got from the relic room into the pool of water. Vannan... hits the side of a barn, I mean the mound, with an arrow! Roger this time burns the beast from within and is able to exit the pile. Bjorn swings away. Gilly nocks another arrow, takes a deep breath, focuses her mind, concentrates on the target and releases the killing blow to the mound. Its motions cease as it collapses into the water.
The chanting stops, the dark figures dissipate, and the ground begins to rumble. Darting mists of dust begin to fall from the ceiling. Pieces of rock splash in the pool as they fall like rain drops. The party dashes out of the dungeon, dodging larger and larger pieces of rubble as they run. They run to the secret stair case and find themselves in the den once again. However, the windows have been bricked up and the doorway has become rotated sickles spinning at high speeds. Black smoke begins to billow out from the fireplace as if the house itself was breathing death into the room.
Vannan notices the interior walls seem to have rotted and became brittle. He takes his axe and cleaves through the wall toward the main hall. Rats pour out of the walls and begin attacking the party. Bjorn flattens a few, Gilly slashes some with her dark sword, Vannan hacks away and Roger tries to snipe at them with a light crossbow. Eventually Vannan fights her way into the main room to find the windows are also bricked up and that all the doorways have become scythes of death. Gilly suggests going up the stairway. Smoke has also filled this room as the characters begin to choke. Bjorn asks his god for health and remains conscious. Vannan goes back to the den and breaks down another portal to the foyer. More rats fall from the breach in the wall. More stomping, pounding and chopping of rats takes place. Roger continues to pluck away with his light crossbow. Bjorn slams against the wall, this time attempting to get to the stoop of the house. Four points of damage are done, five were needed. The smoke has become so thick, vision is almost impossible. Gilly darts between the dwarf's legs and torpedoes herself through the wall with her short sword protruding forward. She is met with fresh air as the party exits the house.
The children are gone and a minute later the house implodes upon itself. The plot of land is now a pile of ruins. The roof has been razed.
The various characters ask the barkeep if there is any work to be had and he/she directs them to a stout dwarf sitting at a table by his lonesome. When the party ask him for employment, the dwarf quickly offers them a transport job. To take a crate of raw gems to his brother in a city a few days to the northwest. The party haggles prices for a while and then agrees to start the jaunt the next morning. Gus, the dwarf, gives the party an ox with a crate counter-weighted with a bag of rocks and directions to his brother, Russ, who owns a jewelry establishment in Neverwinter (city).
The party heads off for the city and encounters some goblins. The ambush goes painfully bad for the goblins as a few quickly die. These characters are not mere pushovers, but seasoned veterans of destruction, slashing vengeance and spitting death... from the goblin's perspective.
The party pitches tents and hobbles the ox. A thick fog rolls into the valley they are traversing. The next morning seems eerily quiet and dim. The party finds the ox has gone missing and their crate of gems now contains only ordinary rocks. The road has changed to a unused path. The trees seem different as if they are in a new world. A new, older, world.
The party, as every paragraph appears to begin with, heads down the path and eventually comes upon a sleeping village. Some houses are boarded up and all are dark. The only activity in the town seems to be two children sobbing in the street. When the party approaches the kids, they stop sobbing and explain that there's a monster in their basement. The party asks about their parents and the children think they are also in the basement. They also say there is a baby on the third floor. They seem confused when other questions are asked about the situation. They also seem confused when asked general questions. They refuse to go back in the house but will stay near the front stoop.
The party enters the house. They see a grand staircase heading up to the second floor and continue on to the third. A suit or armor attacks Bjorn as he tries to open a door. The armor is quickly dispatched. Its hollow shell falls to the ground and shatters apart. They enter the nursemaid's bedroom. Bjorn goes to a balcony and sees the children staring up at him from the street. Vannan looks at himself in the mirror and then looks behind the mirror. He finds a secret entrance that leads upward.
The party climbs the secret passage and check the rooms of the attic. One room has two beds, a doll house, a toy chest and... The two children, manifested as ghosts. The children do not recognize the party and get upset when their toys are disturbed. They explain that their parents locked them in the room to protect them from the monster in the basement. But the parents never came back. The children starved to death, locked up with the windows bricked shut. Upon inspection of the doll house, another secret passage is found that goes from the attic down to the bottom of the replica. No other stairs lead downward from the first floor.
Bjorn marches off to find this passage while Vannan and Gilly become possessed by the children when they attempt to leave the room. Mumbles mumbles something. Bjorn turns around and demands the children go back to their room. The frightened kids obey his command and once again, sadly trap their souls back in their room, terrified. Bjorn finds a room filled with covered furniture. Gilly finds a skeleton wrapped up in bloodied sheets. The secret passage is found and the party descends into the dungeon below.
As the party reaches the basement, Mumbles announces his name is Roger. He is a mighty juggler and sometimes a sorcerer. He also has a magic eight ball. Unworldly chanting can be heard but not understood. Bjorn begins exploring the twisting passages and discovers a room. A large table sits at the center of this room with chair shaped benches at its sides. Moldy bones of a goblin rest upon the table. Vannan discovers dirt under the table. Bjorn notices an alcove and investigates. A large snake-like worm with four tentacles protruding from its face lashes out at him. A powerful beak also pecks at his face. The party tries to assist but Bjorn shields the creature from their attacks. Roger casts orbs of force that magically zoom around Bjorn and hit their target. Gilly darts in and stabs at the monstrosity and then nimbly retreats back to the table. Vannan attempts to shoot arrows past Bjorn but the grick has too much cover. Roger cast a bolt of fire that sails over everyone's head and splatters flame on the wall behind. Bjorn slams him hammer down and flattens the beast. He then wonders if its carcass is tasty.
Bjorn continues on through a passage way and is immediately bitten by humanoid fiends that rise from the ground. Another rises in front of him and slashes out. Bjorn requests a tactical retreat back into the room. After some meta-gaming, the party forms a kill zone and defeat three of the frenzied undead walkers. Roger goes to search the bodies for pockets. He loves pockets. Gilly, strangely, just sits back and watches Roger loot the remains. He finds nothing other than another attacker that swings at him, narrowly missing as Roger squats down to look at the dead bodies. Roger reaches out and magically shocks the undead thing and runs back to the room. The walker walks into the kill zone and takes damage, falling limp.
Gilly takes this opportunity to disappear down another hallway. Luckily, Vannan feels Gilly go by and follows. Without any conversation, Roger follows suit. Bjorn announces he is hurt. Perhaps they should rest. The party sits among the remains of the dead worm for an hour and decide to take another passage. The chanting appears louder in the northerly direction but the party heads south. They find a room, skeletons shackled along the walls, and two statues in another alcove. One of a dark humanoid holding an orb and the other of a large wolf at his side. Gilly gleefully skips up to the statue and seeing the orb is not actually part of the statue, takes it.
Five misty shadows pour out from the walls and take shape as semi-solid forms of dark smoke. Vannan recalls from the stories of her people that these are most likely hellish shadows. These shadows drain the strength from their victims and especially hunger after goody two shoes. This theory is proven when Bjorn is struck. He is buckled and goes down to one knee. He composes himself and calls upon his over-watching diety to assist him in smiting his foe. His warhammer connects with the dark form and light, sparks and rays of radiance explode leaving only the afterglow and divine embers where the wraith had been. Gilly unsheathes her long sword, black steeled with a golden hilt, it's blade lashing like a snake's flickering tongue. She slashes at another shadow who is cleaved in two, with both have evaporating into nothingness. Roger sends forward orbs of force that streak out and badly damage another shadow. Vannan rushes forward and takes the orb from Gilly and places it back upon the statue. The remaining shadows converge on Bjorn but fail to land any blows. (The DM forgot about flanking...) Bjorn smites another shadow, Gilly's blade disintegrates another and Roger once again send mystics missiles that vanquishes remaining foe.
Gilly contemplates taking the orb again. Bjorn once again suggests resting, this time up in the house. Roger leans against the wall revealing yet another secret passage, this time a convenient stairway that leads to a trap door on the first floor. The party relaxes in the den for an uneventful night.
The party rises in the dark morning and this time heads directly for the chanting in the basement. They discover stairs that lead down to yet another sub-level. Bjorn moves to the front and enters a room filled with non-valuable relics along the walls. The chanting grows louder from one of the passageways. "He is ancient! He is land!" Over and over the words are repeated. Gilly can smell the damp and dank odor of stale water from the passage.
Bjorn enters the breach and finds a huge pool of water flanked by ledges, a dais in the center and a cave at the far wall. The dais has an altar with chains suspended above it. Stairs go up to the encircling ledge from the water. Bjorn goes to explore the dais. Upon reaching it the chanting stops and now, "One must die!" becomes the new chorus of voices. Roger goes to look in the cave and finds a heap of organic matter piled in the small alcove, also jutting out in a pool of water. Bjorn heads back to the entrance and the chanting stops. Thirteen dark hooded spirits appear floating overhead, faceless yet daemonic. "Lorgoth the Decayer, we awaken thee!"
The mound within the cave begins to stir and rises from the water. Like a tidal wave, it engulfs poor Roger and sucks him into its body of animated mossy matter. Bjorn turns around and marches upon the aberration. He lands a mighty blow. Gilly fires off and arrow which causes the mass to shutter. Vannan starts to lighten her quiver. Kerplunk, as a missile clicks off the wall. Roger, horrified, releases a shot of acid and gets ejected from the mound. The mass once again turns tidal and swallows Bjorn. The dwarf attempts to power his way out and swims through the body of the beast and back into the pool of water. Gilly fires off another arrow and then begins to talk about round-abouts. Vannan marks off another arrow from her diminishing ammunition list. Roger blasts the bulky hulk with a burst of flame. A psuedo-pod lashes out and strikes the dwarf. Roger once again is engulfed by the mound. Bjorn climbs to his feet and slams his hammer upon the organic heap. Gilly throws some bat guano that she got from the relic room into the pool of water. Vannan... hits the side of a barn, I mean the mound, with an arrow! Roger this time burns the beast from within and is able to exit the pile. Bjorn swings away. Gilly nocks another arrow, takes a deep breath, focuses her mind, concentrates on the target and releases the killing blow to the mound. Its motions cease as it collapses into the water.
The chanting stops, the dark figures dissipate, and the ground begins to rumble. Darting mists of dust begin to fall from the ceiling. Pieces of rock splash in the pool as they fall like rain drops. The party dashes out of the dungeon, dodging larger and larger pieces of rubble as they run. They run to the secret stair case and find themselves in the den once again. However, the windows have been bricked up and the doorway has become rotated sickles spinning at high speeds. Black smoke begins to billow out from the fireplace as if the house itself was breathing death into the room.
Vannan notices the interior walls seem to have rotted and became brittle. He takes his axe and cleaves through the wall toward the main hall. Rats pour out of the walls and begin attacking the party. Bjorn flattens a few, Gilly slashes some with her dark sword, Vannan hacks away and Roger tries to snipe at them with a light crossbow. Eventually Vannan fights her way into the main room to find the windows are also bricked up and that all the doorways have become scythes of death. Gilly suggests going up the stairway. Smoke has also filled this room as the characters begin to choke. Bjorn asks his god for health and remains conscious. Vannan goes back to the den and breaks down another portal to the foyer. More rats fall from the breach in the wall. More stomping, pounding and chopping of rats takes place. Roger continues to pluck away with his light crossbow. Bjorn slams against the wall, this time attempting to get to the stoop of the house. Four points of damage are done, five were needed. The smoke has become so thick, vision is almost impossible. Gilly darts between the dwarf's legs and torpedoes herself through the wall with her short sword protruding forward. She is met with fresh air as the party exits the house.
The children are gone and a minute later the house implodes upon itself. The plot of land is now a pile of ruins. The roof has been razed.
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