Having dealt with the Gulthias Tree and discovered a shrine to the old religion in a lake below, the party returned to the Wizard of Wines overnight to rest and recuperate...
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 are presently 6th level, including the sidekicks.
1st December
The next morning, the party discussed their findings over breakfast with Davian Martikov. They came to the conclusion that the monolith altar was part of the old faith, the worship of the Fanes. It was similar to the henge that they'd seen at the Old Bonegrinder. Gaddock pulled out the charcoal rubbings he'd made of the symbols on those stones, but the message was still indecipherable.
They agreed to head to Krezk to see if the rumoured library at the old Abbey of St Markovia held any clues. Davian asked them to take the delivery of wine due to the town with them while the family continued to get the Vineyard back into production. They set off in a cart, laden with wine barrels, first heading north-east on the rough path to the Old Svalich Road, then turning west. There was an unnatural stillness to surroundings as they travelled, not unlike the previous day.
The sharper eyed amongst the party spotted something moving alongside, giving a feeling of being observed rather than being hunted. When Kelwarin used a message cantrip to try and make it show itself, it fled, with a noise breaking through the forest like a swarm of bats swirling up into the overcast skies.
The approach to Krezk cut up a switchback; the town was impressively walled, with substantially buttressed and guarded walls. A rocky escarpment rose up above them, with the monastery looming out of the snows on the side of the peak. In the distance, a bell tolled, haunting, yet perhaps welcoming. Trees could be seen over the top of the walls ahead.
They were hailed as they approached; Gaddock's owl spotted four guards, fur-capped with spears, along the wall, and the two knights noted the presence of archers covering them. Kelwarin announced that they were the wine delivery from the Wizard of Wines; the guards demanded that they prove that they were who they said they were by cutting their palms to see if they bled true. Initially, there was some resistance from the party, but they all complied and were soon let into the walled enclave.
Ser Alys was annoyed by Ser Adon's introduction of her; she felt she was being treated as an attachment, and there was some tension in the air, only broken by the arrival of the Burgomaster, Baron Dmitri Krezkov. Kreskov's title belied his approach to life; although his ancestors had established this enclave, unlike the nobility in the village of Barovia and the town of Vallaki he was content to act as a leader amongst friends. The tales our heroes brought about Vallaki didn't cause him disquiet at all; he lead Krezh more like a commune than a feudal town.
Krezh was very different to every other Barovian settlement that they had visited. Inside the walls, there was everything needed for survival except for wine! Trees for wood and fruit, livestock (although no horses) and many small gardens. There were no shops or communal facilities beyond a shrine near a small pool to the north of the settlement. The town was completely self-sufficient and well protected, a community trying to stay outside the conflict of good and evil, walking the line between opposing Strahd and supporting him, trying to be safe and neutral in a dangerous world.
Dmitri introduced our heroes to his wife Anna, and his only surviving child, Ilya, a fourteen-year-old boy. The Krezhkovs had lost three other children over the years to disease. The meal was a broth of squashes and vegetables with some wine. During the meal, Ilya piled into his food in a way that only teenagers can. He was ravenous. His mother explained that he had always had a healthy appetite, but it was even more pronounced since the Abbot had healed Ilya and brought him back from death's door. Dmitri commented that the lad was across the threshold, but the Abbot had brought him back, and that they were so grateful. Apparently, there wasn't a huge amount of interaction with the Abbey day-to-day, although the Abbot did come to pray at the Shrine of the White Sun pretty regularly, besides the pool.
The party were offered lodgings overnight with the Krezhkovs and told that they could stay longer but they'd have to help get the last foodstuffs and preparations in for winter if they did. They accepted the offer, and started to explore Krezk, all except Gaddock who was smoking a pipe and wanting faster progress to the Abbey to find the library.
The Shrine to the White Sun was a Morninglord shrine set in a fragile gazebo beside the water with an old statue reaching out to the rising sun in the east. It felt tranquil, but Kel soon headed back to the party. Along the way, a number of the party met Luca, the local shepherd. Luca wasn't the brightest lad and told them that his father was probably dead and in the dirt or eaten by wolves, but asked if they'd seen him. Apparently, his father had headed to the Wizard of Wines to see what had happened to the resupply but never made it. The party told him that they hadn't seen him, but would be sure to look.
They headed up the slope, soon meeting Gaddock and, with the sun low on the horizon, they reached the low wall outside the Monastery. They could hear faint cries, something that gelled with comments some of the townsfolk had made about cries carried on the wind at night down to town. At the gatehouse, they opened s squeaky cast-iron gate (which Kel later mended) and met two creatures, Otto and Zygfrek. The sharper eyed amongst the party realised that they weren't human or demi-human, but probing questions didn't get what they were except that they had been born after the Abbot arrived. The party asked to see the library, so Otto agreed to take them to see the Abbot. They followed the two short folks to a double-door in the curtain wall and stepped into the courtyard. As they did they hear howls and whimpers which Zygfrek explained were members of their family who were ill or suffered mentally. They cared and fed for them there.
Soon they were taken into a large room in the north wing, with a large table set for a meal. A young-looking man in a monk's habit was there; he had a wooden holy symbol of the Morninglord around his neck. Beside him was a pale, part veiled young woman who was very demure and quiet. Ser Adon immediately realised he was in the presence of something holy, something powerful and good. The Abbot introduced himself with a presence that was almost overpowering; he welcomed them all individually, charismatically, and it was hard to not feel an overwhelming sense of trust and warmth and love and purity which radiated off him.
Adon explained why they were there, and the Abbot listened. When asked, he could describe to the nearest second how long he had been there and they aim that he had to heal the division in Barovia. He wanted to heal Strahd so the dark lord could go to his rest. There was an overwhelming sense of good radiating as the Abbot talked; Ser Alys noted that there was a dark hard edge to Abbots believes, something she was fine with because you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, and hard decisions are needed to deal with intractable problems.
There was a brief strange moment where the Abbot once referred to Ireena as Tatyana, but it passed. He readily agreed that they could check his library for useful materials...
GM Notes:
Once again, I mashed together the Dragnacarta and Mandy Mod builds to the campaign to fill things out. It was an interesting session for me as a lot of it was starting to open up plot elements and foreshadowing danger. Dr_Mitch is convinced they've met a corrupted angel, so it will be interesting to see how this develops. The nature of the party is such that they brushed aside concerns about the mongrelfolk they met; they don't judge quite the same way as a fully human group may have. They're on the cusp of solving another of Madame Eva's clues. It will be interesting how this develops.
We finished early as Tom was tired and Graham needed to be up for work. All in all, a good part to break. I'm going to further go outside the core adventure in the next session to see where it takes us. I think that it is time to explore the library stacks for knowledge about Strahd and the Fanes.
27 October 2021
