15 October 2022

Curse of Strahd - S5E10 (51) - Forbidden knowledge

 

Our heroes have split the party in three! Gaddock continues to study in the library with Exethanter the Lich, while Kelwarin, Ireena and Muriel have travelled deeper into the Amber Temple to consult a model of Castle Ravenloft to give them some ideas on how to successfully penetrate its defences. Meanwhile, Sers Adon, Alys and Kasimir the Dusk Elf are hunkered down in a room near the entrance having broken Neferon's instructions not to interact with the Dark Powers. They're kind of certain that he knows and won't be happy.

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.

and introducing:

Muriel Vinshaw (a member of the Keepers of the Feather, travelling with the party to repay them for rescuing her),  a wereraven upgraded to a sidekick (yes, I know that breaks rules as she started at CR2 but frankly I don't care)!

All characters and sidekicks are level 8. This was the first game in a few sessions with all the players back.

__

18th December, Afternoon.

Muriel, Ireena and Kel tried their best to memorise as much of the layout of the Castle as possible. A moment of euphoria turned to disappointment when they found a portfolio marked as containing the plans of the castle, only to find that time had aged them to the point of illegibility. The paper was breaking up as they exposed it. A brief conversation followed as they considered exploring a bit further into the temple, but after discussion they decided that it was more prudent to return back to the library. 

Setting off quickly, they made their way through the dark abandoned halls, amber hues reflecting from their lights. They soon reached the collapsed landing, and crossed into the back of Exethanter's chambers. As they came in, their eyes were drawn to the serene statue of the hooded god of secrets. There was something fascinating about it, especially the darkness within the hood. Soon they found themselves seated in front of it, along side two long desiccated bodies, contemplating the secrets hidden within. If only they could learn what they meant! Fortunately, Muriel managed to resist being drawn into this long enough to call out to Exethanter and Gaddock, before they too were ensorcelled. Exethanter arrived soon after, and broke them from their trances, apologising that he hadn't warned them about the need to call out before they reached this room. Kel recalled that the Lich had indeed warned them of this, but was just happy to be freed.

It took a further few hours of study for Gaddock to complete the annotations on how to carry out the rituals, and then they prepared to depart. Exethanter offered Gaddock an opportunity to join the Order; there was much he could learn and the death benefits were excellent. Gaddock declined again, gracefully.

Kelwarin reached out to Adon and Alys with a spell to find out where the were. The warriors explained their predicament; they were pretty certain that Neferon knew that they'd tampered with one of the dark powers and that the temple's guardian would feel obliged to attack. They agreed to move as quickly as possible out once the others had got clear.

As the group left Exethanter's study and reached the bottom of the stairs, the door at the base of the huge statue where Neferon lived cracked open and light washed out. Neferon looked at the group, shaking his head; he told them that they were welcome to leave and return, but unfortunately their friends weren't. They'd meddled with things best left untouched and had been warned - as result they weren't allowed to leave, it was too dangerous. Our heroes made their goodbyes and headed across the temple, quickly climbing to the balcony. They headed out, up the stairs. 

As they headed out, Adon, Alys, and Kasimir used magic to escape. Between the warriors, they carried Roscoe's body. The spells brought them out of the entrance. They heard Neferon calling out "Oh no you don't", and another ball of fire burst around them, with Muriel taking the brunt of it. They ran. 

As the sun was dropping, they reached the perilous bridge near the spire, but crossed it carefully, with most of the party on hands and knees to avoid slipping and falling to the depths below.

As they exited the canyon, they came across a group of Mountain Folk hunters who warned them that the giant bird was aloft, and the wolves were running. Word seemed to have spread through the folk that the party weren't a threat.

Pressing on into the falling light, they soon reached the section of path the avalanche had buried. They fitted the snowshoes and got out the walking sticks that Adon had insisted that they bring. Gaddock used the levitate spell he had to remove the weight of Roscoe's body. Kel, moving ahead used his dark vision to scout the path and dropped pebbles to mark the right route. He kept up a constant patter of encouragement to the rest of the party. Perhaps it was this constant chatter that distracted Ser Alys; somehow, the surefooted warrior lost her balance and slipped. If it hadn't been for Ser Adon's insistence on the walking sticks she'd have surely gone over the edge of the mountain.

It was close on sunset as they reached Tsolenka Pass; the guarded gate and bridge were ahead. They spotted a shadow crossing the sky and realised that the Roc was hunting. The plan was simple; run across the bridge then use the magic spells they'd used the previous time to get quickly past the gate and any guardians that it may have. As they hunkered down, planning, Kel was startled by the nuzzling he felt in his ear. It was the large goat they'd encountered previously. It seemed to have some retained affection for them.

They ran, the goat following. Behind them they could hear the beat of wings and a cawing. The Roc had seen them. Putting on a burst of speed, they reached the clearing as the Roc plummeted. The spells worked, and they looked back to see the Roc rising into the darkness, with the goat hanging from its feet. Somehow, it had been distracted by their use of magic and the giant bird bird had struck.

They pressed on, in the end stopping at the point they'd rested previously, near where the vampire spawn had attacked the mountain folk family. They planned an early start the next day to press on and, after some discussion as to whether to go to Vallaki or not, they decided to head to the Huntresses' shrine at Berez instead and to immediately start the reconsecration of the banes.

GM Notes:
The section through the Avalanche was run as a skill challenge (3/4 needed for no consequences and success). The player's have made a serious error here. The Huntresses' shrine is at Yesterhill, not Berez. Alex read the notes wrong and everyone else is looking to him (Gaddock) for the next steps. I had to keep a really straight face when this happened.

The decision to go to Berez not Vallaki or the Vistani encampment was made by the players in the knowledge that although they've reached the milestone for levelling up, they can't do it until they reach a place of safety.

Roll20 has had further improvements; as a GM or player you can now whisper using the audio to a single player. The interface continues to be sharpened up. 

This is being written up a fair bit later than I wanted, due to work and convention preparation for Furnace. I've another two to follow up with.

15 October 2022

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