We find our heroes working their way north along the Luna River valley, having reconsecrated the shrine to the Weaver in Berez. Night is falling and they are making best speed towards Vallaki.
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 are level 9. Sidekicks are level 8. I hadn't had a chance to level up the sidekicks in the gap between session so I was prepared to cut them some slack
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19th December, late afternoon.
The party pressed forward, with Ser Adon making heavy going of it as he pulled the body of Roscoe along behind him on the stretcher. His wife would have helped him, but she had her own burden, a wolf which they'd captured to use in the ritual to reconsecrate the Huntresses shrine on Yesterhill. The weather continued to conspire against them all, with snow swirling around. They had hoped to save time by fording one of the Luna's tributaries, but when they reached it they realised that it was in full flow, cold, rushing and deep. Instead they had to track east, around the lake and double back. As they reached the far side of the lake, they noticed that - high up on the mountain road to the east - the sails seem to have been restored to the Old Bonegrinder, the coven's lair that they had previous burned down. A thing of concern.
Night had fallen, and sound was deadened by the snow around by the time that they reached the Old Svalich Road. After a quick conversation, they decided to turn west and head to the Vistani camp rather than spend longer than needed travelling to Vallaki.
They reached the camp and were welcomed with open arms and celebration. As they warmed themselves by the fire, they contemplated their next move. Gaddock focussed onto the fire, trying to draw a portent of the future through a divination. It all seemed to be going so well, right until the point that mists appeared in his vision and the voice and visage he could see in his mind's eye turned into that of Count Strahd. Could he trust this or not?
20th December, early morning
Rested up, our heroes departed to the west, towards Yesterhill. The solstice was nearly upon them and they had no time to spare for they feared that Count Strahd was retaliate against Vallaki if his awful tithe was not met. They wanted to have freed the land from the dominance of the darkness before this happened, if possible. Roscoe's body was left with the Vistani for safe-keeping so it wouldn't be a burden.
They travelled through the light snow and growing morning light, conscious that they could hear wolves calling in the distance and returning to the feeling that perhaps the land was watching them once more. Unaccosted, they reached the foot of the hill by late morning and started to climb up, the light of the beacon from Argynvostholt giving them cheer and despite the snow and light mists. Soon they could see the wall of mist that marked the western edge of the domain. They followed the path through the earthwork enclosed space with the standing stones, only to spy two of the Forest Folk druids praying in the stone circle. Swiftly, brutally, the party fell upon them lest they report their whereabouts to their patron, Strahd. The druids were consumed by a fireball cast by Kel before they had a chance to act.
The dark grove where the shrine and Gulthias Tree was located were just ahead. They noticed that there was an eery silence as they entered the half-light of the trees. Kel and Ser Adon made light with spells and the javelin, at which point the whole grove seemed to rustle, and the trees became full of movement. Suddenly the air was full of stirges, followed by Strigoi. Ser Adon rejoiced at the chance to play stirge splat again. The party became involved in the grim act of fighting off hordes of enemies, each of them weak individually, but with strength in number. Their blood draining weakened the party members when they got through their defences, but our heroes prevailed with grim determination. Ser Adon used his blood spear, exulting in the energy that it gave him. Ser Alys and Muriel were weakened by the blood-sucking monstrosities, but they decided to press on.
Heading under the remains of the Gulthias tree, they reached the shrine that they'd visited previously. Gaddock crossed to the island and started to prepare the ritual. Ser Adon dropped the wolf beside him and they slaughtered it ritually. As the blood started to flow from the predator, the tree roots in the chamber started to twitch. The Gulthias was dormant, not dead. A low moan filled the chamber, and the larger roots started to blindly reach out towards the party, hungry for sustenance. The noise and roots panicked Ireena and Kelwarin, who fled towards the entrance. Ser Alys launched herself at the root that went for the couple, hacking at it. They made it past and out. Gaddock continues with the ritual, hoping nothing would attack him. Ser Alys was grabbed by one of the roots so Ser Adon and Muriel set about it, trying to free her. A desperate fight ensued, with three of the party trying to stop the roots reaching Gaddock before he completed the bloody ceremony.
As he completed the chant, the Gulthias roots shrivelled, and the tree let out some kind of whimper. There was a cracking blast of energy; the altar was struck with lightning; outside Kel and Ireena saw the lightning connecting the shrine below to the web of darkness above in the clouds, just as it happened at Berez. The Gulthias, struck by the lightning, was shattered and burning. The second of the two shrines was cleared. Another step had been taken towards defeating Count Strahd.
Next, they had to return to the Old Bonegrinder, which had somehow returned to a better state of repair.
GM Notes:
The Old Bonegrinder glimpse was some foreshadowing of things from the past that will return to haunt the party.
The fight with the Stirges and Strigoi was designed to reduce maximum hit points. It wasn't the best tactic that Strahd could have used, but I figured that he could quickly protect Yesterhill with creatures like the Stirges. I also wanted to explore how dangerous a horde attack would be.
The Gulthias imposed a frightened condition against Kelwarin and Ireena which made them flee from the chamber; fortunately, everyone else made their save. Ser Alys was in grave risk from the root attacks; fortunately, Ser Adon's counter-attack was a critical, freeing his spouse.
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| The journey in this session |
26 October 2022
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