Having encountered snakes, a small coven of witches and waded through chest deep swamp water, our heroes located the hut of Baba Lysaga, dark witch of the swamp. Hiding in the undergrowth perhaps a hundred feet away, they made a plan to overwhelm her with fireballs blasted into the hut. It was a fine plan, but Kel insisted that they abandon it when he saw her comforting a child in there. A more complex plan of the sorcerer stepping through a door between dimensions into the hut and grabbing the child, while the others rescued the caged ravens (suspected as being allies of their friends the Martikovs), and then doing the fireball thing was formed. Whatever could go wrong?
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Adon de Rouge 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
Ser Alys de Adon-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.
also featuring:
Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.
with :
Alexei the Vistana (a young human expert, sent to pay off his debt to the party by his Vistani elders after they rescued Arabelle from certain death when Alexei lost her in town. A late teenager who is so taken by Ireena and the excitement of the adventure that he's forgotten he planned to be sulky and surly for his 13 moon exile) - upgraded as a sidekick.
All characters have recently levelled up to 7th level, including the sidekicks.
10th December, 11 days to the Solstice.
The body wrapped lovingly in the taupaulin let out a low moan and stopped struggling as Ser Adon's blade, Deva's Redemption, ignited with holy fire and pushed through cloth and flesh, burning away the undeath that the witch had tainted poor Alexei with when she responded to his brave archery with a wave of necrotic energy[1]. Not for him resurrection through the powers of the Morninglord vested in the Abbot of Krezk, but hopeful rest of a kind. Gently, laying down the corpse of his friend on a tussock only a little over the surface of the water, Adon whispered a prayer for the teenager's soul.
Why was it always the youngsters? Instead of having a heroic tale to tell of slaying Baba Lysaga, a cruel witch who had haunted Barovian dreams for centuries, he lay there lifeless, when half an hour before he'd been grinning and cracking jokes, never letting the fact that his people had exiled him to travel with the party get him down.
Twenty minutes before, Kelwarin had drawn upon his sorcery, creating a doorway through space to the interior of the hut, and it almost immediately went wrong.
The child was an illusion, something that the witch used as a comfort, making the entry into danger futile.
Pinned to the ceiling with twisted dark iron hooked rods was a once beautiful and naked woman. The scars told their own story; she was being drained of her blood by the witch, into the bathtub below. Somehow, she was still alive.
Both Alexei and Ser Alys tried climbing up the hut onto the arms that the ravens hung from. Alexei tumbled as the hut lurched, Ser Alys almost fell, but managed to release the ravens crying "Fly my beauties, fly".
Baba Lysaga tried to dominate Kelwarin's will as she summoned a crown of iron onto his head, but somehow he resisted, and then stepped back out of the hut. Ser Alys was spotted by Baba Lysaga, who cackled, and she shot a wave of darkly necrotic energy at her. Somehow, it mostly washed over Alys.
Gaddock and Kelwarin responded with fireballs that only served to wake up the hut. After they hit, the witch turned herself into a swarm of flies, merging with other swarming insects, circling the skull embedded in the swamp beside the hut, then reforming in her natural form sitting in it. She cackled and it rose into the air.
Gaddock hit the hut with another fireball, but then was struck by one of it's tree-like legs, knocking him head first into the water, out of the combat. [2]
Ser Adon misty stepped into the hut, Materialising, he checked the room and decided to try and break through the floor rather than rescue the woman; he noticed a glow there, not unlike the glow on the gemstone at the Wizard of Wines vineyard. He suspected it was either one of the missing gems or the heart of the hut. Breaking through the floorboard, he strained, trying to get hold of whatever it was. The opening tried to close like mouth, but finally, somehow he reached the gemstone and desperately pulled it clear. The floor lurched and the hut became motionless.
Outside, the witch laughed into the wind, trying to turn Ser Alys into a goat. Somehow, once again she resisted. Meanwhile, strange scarecrow creatures appeared and started to attack the rest of the party. The battle became more desperate.
Baba Lysaga swirled around on the unturned dragon skull, swinging down at Kelwarin and Ireena, who combined firing firebolts and arrows at her. The witch dropped low, hurtling towards them, spray flying up, only for Ser Alys to leap aboard and finish her with a mighty blow. She crashed into the swamp, finished by the brave orc warrior just before she blighted the lives of the young couple who had become increasingly attracted.
Stillness fell upon the field of battle. The witch was dead. Argynvost's skull was theirs. The gemstone stolen more than a decade ago from the vineyard was recovered. But Alexei was gone, forever. Killed in a mercy killing.
They freed the woman from the hut ruins; she screamed in pain as they pulled the hooks out one-by-one, blacking out, near death. But her powers of healing were supernatural. She soon healed over, but was weakened. She introduced herself as Laura Stoneheart. A hunter. Talking to her, Gaddock soon realised that she reminded him of Jeny. He mentioned her, and Laura looked sharply at him, and asked to be taken to her sister.
One of the ravens they released transformed into an attractive woman, who introduced herself as Muriel Vinshaw, a friend of the Martikovs. She'd been trapped by Baba Lysaga who'd put her in a cage while she caught enough black birds (ravens) to make into a pie.
They found a small chest full of loot in the hut, which they recovered [3]. They then improvised a sled from wood to pull the bodies and skull and headed back out of Berez to Vallaki to recover, publicly burn the witch to show the threat was gone and reintroduce Laura to Jeny.
GM Notes:
[1] Finger of Death spell, which instantly killed Alexei and did enough necrotic damage to bring him back subsequently as a zombie.
[2] Gaddock took enough damage to be out of action and making death saves
[3] The loot.
- 1,300 gp
- Five 500 gp gemstones
- A vial containing oil of sharpness
- Two spell scrolls (mass cure wounds and revivify)
- A pouch containing ten +1 sling bullets
- A set of pipes of haunting
- A stone of good luck (luckstone)
- A public burning of the body of Baba Lysaga
- The return of Alexei to his family for funeral rites
- The reuniting of Jeny and Laura, who the party are convinced are the embodiment of the Fanes
- The opportunity to return and lay Argynvost to rest in the tower of Argynvostholt as they promised his spirit
- The chance to check in on Lady Wachter and her husband, now he is resurrected.
- The chance to return the gemstone to the Martikovs, perhaps to Urwin and Danika who left the family home when he was accused of failing in his duty to protect it
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