Everyone present tonight, which was nice.
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Alys de Rouge (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones...
Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.
Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good
Ser Adon of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good.
November 11th
In the morning, Kelwarin was looking more pale and interesting than usual, and the puncture wounds on his neck were obvious; Ser Adon laid on hands and brought the sorcerer back to his normal chipper self. Ismark discussed with Ser Alys and Gaddock whether he should stay behind to protect the people against the Devil Strahd with Father Donovich and his own father being dead, but they soon persuaded him that this was foolhardy; he should protect his sister and if he stayed behind he risked that he could be used against her. Chastened by the fact that Strahd had ensorceled him the evening before, Ismark agreed, and by 9am in the morning they were all on the cart, heading west out of town, with Gaddock driving.
As they left town, they came across an old lady selling pasties from a cart. She was knocking on doors in town to sell her wares. Ser Alys visibly brightened up and bought eight of the pasties, even though they cost her eight gold pieces. The lady promised that they would give her sweet dreams. Enthused, Ser Alys started to munch on one immediately and - soon after they left town - she fell asleep. Ser Adon managed to get her in the back of the cart. The others wondered if these were healing pasties.
Gaddock had other suspicions, as he had overheard the conversation that the seller had at the house in the next street. It seemed like the people there wanted a pasty, couldn't afford cash, so there was a scuffle and she may have taken a girl or a boy in lieu of payment. Certainly, he'd heard the cries of both. He didn't mention it because he wanted to ensure that they all got to Vallaki safely in daylight. He knew that Sir Adon would want to investigate and that this would delay them, so he took the call not to tell.
The Old Svalich Road wended it's way up out of the valley towards the Tser Falls bridge. As they reached the fork in the road that led to the Vistani encampment, the mist revealed a corpse hanging from the gallows. Ser Adon realised that it was a woman, so he and Kelwarin got down to investigate. Kel found a necklace, torn off, made from intertwined holy symbols of good deities, including those from the Sword Coast. The woman appeared to have died horribly; blood had been sucked from her wrists and her throat and she may have been tortured. Ser Adon cut her down and soon realised that she had actually been killed by slashes to her chest with what could have been a scimitar. Perhaps the same blade that Strahd's ally had used on Father Donovich. They realised that the victim's hair had feathers growing from it, as did her arms and back. The nails were part turned into talons. The party realised that the woman could be a lycanthrope, perhaps a were-raven, and she had died as she tried to transform. They'd never know which way.
After a short discussion, the body was wrapped in the tarpaulin to save time and slung in the back by Ser Alys (still sleeping with joyful dreams). They pressed on, passing a junction which led up towards an old windmill. They soon crossed the high bridge above the falls some thousand feet below and then reached another set of gates like the one that they had passed when they originally entered Barovia. This time they were let through and the gates remained open. Ser Alys awoke as they approached this, fortunately. She spotted two mountain people watching the cart and suspected they had planned a robbery. However, when they realised that she had seen them they decided to turn and leave.
The cart descended and the crag with Castle Ravenloft in was lost from sight. For the first time since they arrived it didn't dominate the landscape. The sun was starting to go down as they passed along the south shore of what they later found to be called Lake Zarovich. It's dark, still, waters looked attractive and calming. They passed on to the town.
Approaching the gates of Vallaki, Ser Adon and Lady Ireena got them safe conduct to the pub and the church, although the guards were very concerned at the mention of the corpse. They were told to go to the Church of St Andral quickly so that the body could be laid to rest safely. Ser Adon and Ser Alys undertook this, while everyone else check-in at the Blue Water Inn. The welcome was much warmer than Barovia, and the Innkeeper, Urwin Martikov was much more interested in the character's and looking after them. They soon had rooms - Gaddock and Kel sharing one, and Ser Alys and Ser Adon the other (so they could play late night games of... chess(?) or so they said). Martikov had two boys and a wife. The party also saw a strangely dressed gentleman reading and drinking wine at a table, and two hunters who were responsible for the wolf steaks which were on the menu.
At the Church, the warriors met wit the groundkeeper, a dour young man called Milivoj, He directed them to Father Lucian inside the church. The priest was preparing the evening service and the Church, dedicated to St Andral (whose relics were there), was in good order and seemed to be well attended. Explaining the situation, Father Lucian blessed the body, but also noted that it looked like one of the innkeeper's relatives. He directed the knights to take the body to the undertaker - Henrik van der Voort - to get the body in a coffin; the altar boy Yeska went with them to show them where to go. Ser Adon said he would inform the innkeeper.
The undertaker - or more accurately 'coffin-maker' - was hidden away in his shop which was in darkness despite night having fallen. Ser Adon banged on the door and yelled intimidatingly until he came out. He looked very nervous, measured the body and brought out the coffin before returning into the shop and bolting the door. The two knights and Yeska got the body into the coffin and took it back to the church. They then returned to the Inn and told the innkeeper, Urwin, that a member of his family may have been killed. They went with him to the Church, and he identified the body as his cousin, Alana Martikov, who had been to Barovia 'on business'. He was clearly upset and arranged a funeral the next day.
Once they got back at the inn, they had a hearty meal in a place of warmth and light. The guards from the gatehouse arrived and took their details, registered their weapons and explained about the festivals where attendance was mandatory if you were in town. It was mentioned in passing that the Vistani had an encampment south-west of the town, but they were especially welcome. The conversation and wine flowed, and the odd-looking gentleman, a half-elf called Rictavio came over and talked to them to find out about their journey. He was a circus ringmaster who had been out to recruit new actors when he was drawn into the mists, entering from the west. He'd not found a welcome at Kresk, and ended up staying at Vallaki, paying his way with tales and some of the money he had in reserve. After they'd exchanged stories, he headed up to bed, leaning on his silver-handled cane.
Ser Alys and Ser Adon retired to bed to play chess. Kel and Gaddock went up to their room. Gaddock had found a print of a Barovian town that they hadn't heard of (Old Berez) when they asked about settlements. He also pondered that although Rictavio didn't seem to be lying, he also seemed to be holding something back. There were tells in the way he made his story. Just before they settled for the night, Gaddock told Kel about the old woman in Barovia; they both concluded that she could have been a witch or a hag, and they were lucky not to have encountered her, as Ser Adon would have wanted to make a point.
GM Notes: We reach a transition point; today was a change of scene as they left the first major location of the adventure and headed to another. The characters levelled up to Level 4 now that Ireena has safely reached Vallaki. But is she really safe? They've decided to stay a few days in town, check out the festival and perhaps decide whether it's okay to leave Ireena here. Gaddock plans to work the shops the next day and find out about Baron Vargas and why he's organising all these festivals. Whatever could go wrong.
Vallaki is a pretty complex sandbox in a sandbox with multiple plot threads which bear several visits. I've enjoyed mining the subreddit for Curse of Strahd for inspiration. The players will need the fourth level going forward and were genuinely surprised when I told them they could level up. Of course, all the big fights happened last session and they have learned a lot, they just don't understand it yet. They have already drawn the conclusion that they may be safe from the Count here... this may be optimistic.
There are a lot of balls in motion now.
Curse of Strahd will return on 18th November 2020
4 November 2020
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