We return to the game on the wedding night of our two knights as they and the rest of the party are in a desperate battle on the roof of the Blue Water Inn against three vampire spawn.
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Alys de Rouge of House Starbright (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... Married to Ser Adon.
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. Married to Ser Alys.
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
Roscoe Tosscobble (a halfling Cleric of Life, a follower of Diancecht, god of medicine and healing, former hermit and companion of Ser Adon), played by Jag (Jagusti). Lawful Good.
November 14th. The Feast of St Andral. Late evening.
A desperate fight developed on the roof edge, as one of the vampire spawn grabbed Ser Alys and dragged her up the slippery roof to the apex. Ser Adon, lashed out, called on the power of his god to hold the other spawn in place and chased his lover and her captor up the treacherous slope. Catching up, he smite the fell creature twice with a radiant blade, and then it was blasted to ash by Gaddock with a burst of magic missiles. Ser Alys swayed but caught herself before she fell. Meanwhile, Kelwarin continued to blast his witch bolts, arcing through the night like lightning into the minion of Strahd. The party's eyes were seared with the blast of a bolt of radiant energy from Roscoe, shoving the creature off the roof and blasting it into ashes as his spiritual weapon punched through it.
Seeing what had happened, the third creature of darkness fled across the roof into the night. The party briefly considered pursuing the spawn, but decided that they didn't know what else was out there. Strahd himself could be around.
Rictavio gave Roscoe a start as he found him trying to collect up ashes from the creature that he had killed in case they had some value. Ser Alys picked up a brass key that had tumbled from the spawn that had tried to kill her as it dissolved into ashes. They all returned into the bar for drinks, and Gaddock soon established that the key had been lifted from the spares in the Inn's kitchen. A worrying situation; had someone let the vampire's in or could they get in because it was a public house and all are welcomed?
The party celebrated and drank to the small hours. At 5am they retired to bed, drunk, but happy that their friends had married safely.
November 15th.
A lazy start to the day, and some ribald but good humoured joshing for the newlyweds. Gaddock heads into town and manages to sell off some of the items that the party found in Graenseskov at the Hag's house to raise funds. He fails to understand the content of the two scrolls that he has beyond that they have conjuration magic and are written on tanned human skin. Roscoe - still disguised - tries to find out more about Lady Kosti, who had him arrested for mentioning Strahd against the local rules. He draws a blank beyond the fact that she's not from here and she may be one of Lady Wachter's posh friends who sometimes visit.
He does find out that Strahd destroyed the nearby town of Berez in the last two hundred years because the people there had resisted his courtship of one of the young women who lived in the town. They'd killed her to stop her being turned, and Strahd had flooded the town and fallen upon it with wolves and creatures of the night, killing in discriminately to avenge Marina, who he appeared to have loved. Berez has been deserted ever since, sunk in a marsh. There is a standing circle there, and a monument to Marina in the marshland, raised by Strahd to remember his lost love. No-one goes there because it's dangerous. Those that do try and visit do tend to never return.
After a leisurely lunch, the party head to visit Milivoj's family in the poorer part of town, to hand over the collection that they'd made for them. On reaching their house in the eastern end of Vallaki, they discovered the windows part boarded up, but the door a little ajar. Kel's keen elven senses picked up the smell of blood, so he cast a light spell on his staff and slowly and carefully entered. There were three small children asleep in the bed. On closer examination he realised that they were dead, drained of their blood. He gestured to the knights, who followed in quietly. Hearing a noise from the next room, he saw the young girl he'd talked to the night before. Gently, he talked to her. She looked dazed and asked him to help her younger siblings, who wouldn't wake. She couldn't find her big brother.
Breaking the news gently, the girl responded almost calmly, in a dazed manner. They realised that there was something else in the room. Sending the girl outside to the two halflings and the gathering crowd, the two half-orcs moved the bed, revealing the vampire which had escaped the night before. It started to wake, and Ser Adon cut its head off in a mighty blow. The head started to try to move towards the body, so Ser Alys broke a broom handle in half, and stabbed the creature of darkness through the heart. It woke, wailed and expired, turning to dust. They all trudged back to the Inn and Kel persuaded the Innkeeper, Urwin, to take the girl on as a servant. She was distraught once the creature died; it was as if her senses had returned. A few quiet words had the Church taking appropriate steps to bury the bodies with precautions. Gaddock suggested that next time they find a vampire, they peg it out for the sun to deal with.
That evening, the two newlywed knights had their dinner invitation for them and their retinue with Lady Fiona Wachter. They arrived promptly and were ushered into to the parlour where they had drinks with their host. She had the arrogance of nobility and a contempt for those without royal blood. And yet she seemed more sane and organised than Baron Vargas. She was extremely polite to the retainers, and took Ser Alys' more coarse ways without once looking shocked. Still, Ser Adon did check to see if she or any of her retainers were undead, drawing on his god's powers. Fortunately not.
The conversation soon moved to the situation that Vallaki was in, with an incompetent Burgomaster who held ridiculous festivals that did nothing to save people from Strahd. In her view, a more competent administrator with noble blood should be installed in his place. The key to this was removing his enforcer, Izek Strazni, who the guard and people of the town were terrified by. If the characters could help, she could assure them that they could have a safe base to work from in Vallaki and the town's thanks.
Ser Adon seemed to think that this made sense, and promised that they would think over the suggestion and give her an answer the next evening. They were promptly asked back for drinks the next evening starting at 6pm. Lady Fiona would have a friend around - Lady Karelova - and it would be splendid opportunity. She promised to introduce them to her sons the next day, assuming that they weren't drunk. Roscoe again tried to find more out about Lady Kosti and why she would have a grudge, but draw a blank on a good reason why. It was clear Lady Fiona felt that reporting a commoner who broke the law would be her friend's duty.
Meanwhile, Kelwarin had a feeling in the back of his head that something dark was close by. He could hear screaming in his mind, from behind him. He excused himself and went outside, only to see a dark, elf like figure disappearing into the gloom. He recognised him as the elf that had been with Strahd. Kel messaged a threat to the agent of evil, then went back into the warmth of the house. He was back in time to hear Ser Adon thanking Lady Fiona for the meal and promising an answer once he'd discussed the proposal to topple the Baron to save the town with his wife and retinue. Lady Wachter seemed happy with this, and promised to introduce them to her wastrel sons if they weren't worse for wear. The party failed to mention that they'd met them already at the Blue Water Inn in the public salon. Then they all headed home to the pub for a good night's rest.
GM Notes: The fight was over much faster than I expected. The party focussed down opponents; I nearly got away with dragging Ser Alys off but it failed at the last moment. The visit to the Milivoj family home reminded the party of the stakes that they are playing for and the threat that the creatures of the night present. They're now getting drawn into politicking for the control of Vallaki. Is Lady Wachter - who would probably be ruthlessly efficient but unwilling to challenge Strahd - a better candidate for the role of Burgomaster than Baron Vargas (who is clearly losing his grip)?
27 January 2021
Curse of Strahd will return on 10th February 2021.
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