Our heroes have successfully made it down the mountain from the Amber Temple without significant injury, having repeated their trickery to bypass the gates guarding Tsolenka Pass. As the pre-dawn light reaches us, we find them preparing to break camp and head to Berez to reconsecrate the Huntresses' shrine.
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. They have hit a milestone, so when they reach a place of refuge they'll be able to level up.
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19th December, Morning.
The pre-dawn light was in the sky as the party were dusted with a light covering of snow as the magical hut faded away. It was still, and cold in the sheltered clearing that they'd camped in. Snow deadened sound and breath created clouds as they spoke. They broke their fast, then started along the old road. After an hour or so, they started to turn through the light brush scrub, and up the slope to head west to Berez, with Ser Adon pulling Roscoe's body up hill on an improvised stretcher.
As they climbed up the slope, Ser Alys became aware of the howling of a wolf pack behind them. A quick conversation ensued; they needed to capture a predator to reconsecrate the shrine, so perhaps one of the wolves could be the predator. They set an ambush, startling the wolf pack as it came over a ridge towards them. A short and bloody fight ensued; between them Ser Alys and Ser Adon grappled and trussed a wolf, before killing or driving off the others. There was some clever use of an Enlarge spell to give the warrior's an advantage.
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| Heading cross country. |
Alys took the wolf, and Adon continued with Roscoe's frozen corpse. The way was rough, made treacherous by the snow and ice and the wind which cut into them as they lost the cover from the slope caught it full force. Ser Adon found himself struggling with the load he carried. Was it sorrow at the loss of his friend or just the bitter environment? Either way he found that he was very tired.
Eventually, they started to make their way back down into the Luna River valley towards the swampland around Berez. The dusting of snow didn't make it much better to look at; cold, muddy, snow covered, it was a treacherous environment. Unsure of exactly where the shrine was, they first made their way the old church in the centre of town and followed the path out towards the east towards the monument that they'd seen previously.
The monument was surprisingly well preserved; they were shocked to see that the likeness on the statue was that of Ireena. The inscription read "Marina, lost to the Mists". They concluded that this was another incarnation of Tatyana, just like Ireena, her soul unable to escape the lands under Count Strahd's control. As they reflected, the party became aware of a moaning from the swamp behind them. They saw figures moving slowly out of the swamp. Kelwarin and Gaddock responded with fireballs and bolts, and the warriors cut down an unusually large snake. The threat was quickly extinguished.
Deciding that this wasn't the shrine, and that they'd need to somehow cross the river to the standing stone circle they'd seen previously, they turned back into town. As they reached the centre, Gaddock suggested that they checked out Baba Lysaga's hut in case it had some of the items they needed for the ritual (including stone jars for the predator's organs). The hut lay on its side, abandoned. There were some nerves climbing in, but it was soon apparent that the witch remained dead. After some scrambling around they found wooden bowls, stone jars and other artefacts needed for the ritual.
All set, they headed down towards the river, passing an enclosure where some goats still grazed, left behind after the party had slaughtered the Barovian women who were living in the ruins and tending them. The river was at least 300 feet across, and flowing cold and swift. They decided that wading through wasn't an option as it looked too deep. Instead, our heroes used magic to cross the divide.
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| At the stone circle shrine to the Weaver. |
They reached the standing stones and started to prepare for the ritual. Gaddock pulled his notes out, and studied the markings on the monoliths. Quietly he swore. The rest of the party looked at him. Gaddock looked embarrassed as he admitted that he'd made a mistake; this was the Weaver's shrine, not the Huntresses' shrine. They needed completely different items for the ritual. There was much cursing. They needed fruit and berries, honey and goat's milk.
Between them, they had enough berries and fruit in their provisions. Gaddock managed to find some honeycomb in his spell components, but they needed goat's milk. No-one had any. Ser Alys recalled the goats on the other side of the river and looked expectantly at Gaddock and Kel. They looked sheepishly at her and admitted that they were all out of spells. Ser Alys fumed. Kasimir then told Ser Alys that he could give her the power to fly, if only for a short while. Alys agreed, and took to the air with what seemed like an amount of glee.
She landed by the enclosure, and had to decide which of the goats to take. Which was female? Which would give milk? She had to draw on long forgotten memories from her childhood before she made her choice; she managed to subdue the right animal, then flew back before the spell faded. On landing she faced her next challenge - remembering how to milk a goat. Fortunately, it came back to her, and they had the right components for the ritual.
As they started to prepare for the ritual, the fog rose quickly up from the river. Most of the party took defensive position, concerned that they could be facing an attack from the forces of Strahd. Carefully, Gaddock carried out the ritual, chanting and marking out. As it drew to a conclusion, everyone felt their hair starting to stand on end, and a tingling. All of a sudden, lightning crackled from the shrine to the stones around then shot into the air; where it touched the sky, a dark web of energies could be seen. This roiled and moved, widening and adjusting as the lightning burned into it, tearing at its nature. And then, with a final flash of energy, the lighting and dark web disappeared and the mist fell back from the standing stones.
They rested for a while, hoping that they'd struck another blow against the Dark Lord of this domain. After a discussion, they decided to press on towards Vallaki, following the river, even if it meant that they may have to travel in darkness. The Solstice was fast approaching and time was precious.
GM Notes:
The poor weather and fatigue has Ser Adon at disadvantage, something significant if they get into combat; as he also has to carry either the body of his friend or the wolf, this won't go away until he gets some proper rest.
I spent most of the session from the start realising that Alex had misread the handout on the shrine, so was preparing for the wrong ritual. The look on his face was priceless when he realised he'd got it wrong. The other players have absolute trust in Alex (he's the only one really making notes like me) and hadn't really bothered to read the material.
Tom did take a bit of exception that I didn't make the components for the ritual immediately available, and required some work to get them. The river crossing became significant; Ser Alys having to draw on a skill that she didn't have - animal handling - caused annoyance, but she did fine. However, these rituals are really important if they want to weaken Strahd from the enhanced CR27 monster that he is, so I was happy to be the 'arsehole' DM in this case. Completing the rituals correctly is key, and I loved the ingenuity that the players showed.
The proximity of the Solstice concerns the players; they're worried that Strahd will attack Vallaki if the tithe isn't paid. They may be right. This meant they didn't want to take the time to allow Ser Adon to recover properly. Perhaps this will be an issue...
Still playing catch up with these notes, but only one behind now.
23 October 2022
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