Last week we did not have a session due to DM absence, but the previous session saw our group attempting to figure out what to do after the battle in Vallaki square. Fiona Wachter is dead, the burgomaster of Vallaki is dead, and the town either hates us or mistrusts us. We almost got into a fistfight with a teenager when purchasing horses. In positive news, Gilligan summoned a warg mount we have dubbed Poptart. We ended the session with Gilligan, Jaro and Elle exploring Fiona Wachter's house. Jaro has just found a secret door from which comes the voice of a small child.
Note: Balazar's player was absent for this session.
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"Have you come to play with me?" a small child's voice asks from behind the door.
"Yes," Jaro replied. "Yes, sure, I'm prepared to play games with kids."
"Yay!" the sound of clapping comes through the door. Silence follows. Then a half-hearted juggle of the door handle, followed by more silence.
"Are you locked in there?" Jaro asks.
"Yeah, I think so," the child replies.
Jaro pulls out his crowbar. "Ok, no problem, I can deal with this. Don't worry child, I will let you free!" With a crack the doorframe breaks, and the door falls open.
As the door opens, a small human girl leaps from the closet and hugs Jaro's leg. "Thank you!" she exclaims, nuzzling his knee. She looks to be about 12 or 13 years old, and is wearing lace socks and faded dress shoes, and a grey skirt. Her hair is long, uncombed and dusty.
"How did you get locked in that room?" Jaro inquires.
"Oh, my mom did it."
"Your mom?"
"Yeah, my mom. You're in her house," she says. As she backs away form Jaro she falls to all fours and rubs her chin against Jaro's knee, then licks her hand and rubs her ear.
"Oh, of course! Sorry, I was distracted by a child being locked in a room." Jaro observes her behavior a moment. "Is this a normal thing for human children to do?"
"Let's play!" she says, trying to drag Jaro into the room she had been locked in.
"Ok," Jaro says. Before he goes into the room however he wedges his crowbar in the door hinge to make sure it doesn't close on him.
The room is dark and musty. An iron framed bed with leather straps stands near one wall, but the room is otherwise empty. Jaro summons some minor magic which lights the candles around the room.
"I don't know how to juggle," Jaro muses, looking for toys or anything a child might enjoy. The girl watches him with wonder and adoration. "Look," Jaro says, pulling out his maracas. He shakes the maracas rhythmically and does a little dance. The girl squeals with delight and hugs his leg again.
"Gilligan, what else should I do?" Jaro calls out.
"Should we just bring her back to the church?" Gilligan calls out, from where he had been studying the paintings in the main bedroom.
"Would you like to go to the church?" Jaro asks the girl.
"Who's that?" The girl asks.
"That's my friend, his name is Gilligan," Jaro explains.
"Yes, Gilligan the goblin here!" Gilligan says, approaching the room.
"Little Kitty doesn't like the smell of you," the girl hisses as Gilligan appears in the doorway.
"I've washed, I swear!" Gilligan says defensively.
"That's kind of rude to say, he's my friend," Jaro says. "He doesn't smell. I think." The girl grabs Jaro's leg tiger and just hisses at Gilligan.
"I'm sorry?" Gilligan says.
"What did you do to her?" Jaro demands.
"Is this because I'm green?" Gilligan asks.
The girl releases Jaro and dashes out of the room.
"Elle, be careful there's a child coming!" Jaro shouts down the stairs.
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On the first floor, Elle is exploring another vacant room. Engrossed in her task she fails to hear Jaro's warning. The room turns out to be a bedroom, with a neatly made bed, a table with an oil lamp on it, a handsome wooden chest, a slender wardrobe and a window box surrounded by drapes. Presumably one of Fiona Wachter's son's room.
Wary of mimics, Elle attempts to open the chest with her sword, but fails to maneuver the blade into the lock. However, as the chest does not bite her sword, Elle pulls out her thieves tools and picks the lock. Inside she finds a small sum of money, and some piles of nicer clothing. Elle turns next to the wardrobe. Muddy boots sit at the bottom, under some good clothing.
Crossing the hall, Elle enters another room, this one appears to be servants' quarters. Running her hand absently along the wall as she paces around the room, the gnome is surprised to discover a poorly hidden secret doorway. Unwilling to explore further alone, Elle walks to the stairs and moves to rejoin Jaro and Gilligan. As she climbs the stairs, she notices a shadowy figure dart away into a distant part of the upstairs.
"Should I be concerned about the figure I just saw?" Elle asks, as she enters the master bedroom where Jaro and Gilligan are still standing.
"You mean the child?" Jaro asks.
"You didn't tell me about a child."
"I yelled!" Jaro says, defensively.
"Well I didn't hear you!" Elle shouts.
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Talna and Sadun, leaving Balazar leaning against the closed front door to the Wachter Manor, walk into the dining room where they had had a conference with Lady Wachter just two days before. A little girl is sitting on the table them from across the room, swinging her legs and singing tunelessly.
"Hello?" Talna offers. The girl ignores them, singing idly. "You see that too, right Sadun?" Talna asks over her shoulder.
"Yes," Sadun replies. "There is a small human child in the room."
"Right..." Talna replies.
"Little Kitty doesn't know you," the child says, spotting the pair. With that, she darts into another room.
"I don't think it's normal for kids to refer to themselves as 'Little Kitty'... or is it?" Talna wonders. "I haven't been around many children."
"I don't know much about human children," Sadun admits. "Some dragonborn children do refer to themselves in the third person. Some of us never grow out of it."
"I don't remember much about other drowse children," Talna says.
"The human children we found in the windmill did not act that way," Sadun points out. "Maybe human children do not normally act that way."
"True. Yes didn't act that way either, even after Jaro gave him a knife," Talna considers. "Nor have any of the other children at the church."
"Child! I have a javelin, it is not as good as a knife maybe, but will you act like other human children if I give it to you?" Sadun calls out.
"Is it safe to give children weapons? I guess they start learning early not to touch the pointy end at least," Talna says.
As the conversation went on, the child had been sneaking up behind the adventurers. She chooses this moment to launch herself at Talna's head. "Little Kitty doesn't know you!" she shouts, attempting to bite Talna's ear. Talna twists, attempting to grab the child, but the child drops and runs away. Talna again attempts to grab her as she runs away, and Sadun, caught off guard by the random attack, takes a half-hearted swipe but both miss. The child escapes into another room of the mansion, grinning wildly.
"Hello?" Talna offers. The girl ignores them, singing idly. "You see that too, right Sadun?" Talna asks over her shoulder.
"Yes," Sadun replies. "There is a small human child in the room."
"Right..." Talna replies.
"Little Kitty doesn't know you," the child says, spotting the pair. With that, she darts into another room.
"I don't think it's normal for kids to refer to themselves as 'Little Kitty'... or is it?" Talna wonders. "I haven't been around many children."
"I don't know much about human children," Sadun admits. "Some dragonborn children do refer to themselves in the third person. Some of us never grow out of it."
"I don't remember much about other drowse children," Talna says.
"The human children we found in the windmill did not act that way," Sadun points out. "Maybe human children do not normally act that way."
"True. Yes didn't act that way either, even after Jaro gave him a knife," Talna considers. "Nor have any of the other children at the church."
"Child! I have a javelin, it is not as good as a knife maybe, but will you act like other human children if I give it to you?" Sadun calls out.
"Is it safe to give children weapons? I guess they start learning early not to touch the pointy end at least," Talna says.
As the conversation went on, the child had been sneaking up behind the adventurers. She chooses this moment to launch herself at Talna's head. "Little Kitty doesn't know you!" she shouts, attempting to bite Talna's ear. Talna twists, attempting to grab the child, but the child drops and runs away. Talna again attempts to grab her as she runs away, and Sadun, caught off guard by the random attack, takes a half-hearted swipe but both miss. The child escapes into another room of the mansion, grinning wildly.
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"Who's kid was that?" Gilligan asks belatedly.
"Oh, she said her mother owned the house, so presumably she is Lady Wachter's get?" Jaro replies. "And she does look like the girl in that picture," he adds. "Anyway, I wonder if there's anything else here?"
Jaro wanders to the second locked door in the room, and produces his crowbar again. Jarring the door open, he finds a room full of cats. A desk, table, several chairs, and wine cabinet adorn the room, and each surface has a cat sleeping on it. The room has an irregular shape, and none of the angles look quite right.
"Elle, can you come over here? We need your animal talking powers!" Jaro calls out, slowly closing the door on the now meowing felines.
Elle walks into the room. "Here kitty kitty!" she calls out.
"What do you want?" one of the cats asks languidly.
"I just want to pet you," Elle says, forgetting the entire purpose of being in the house.
"How about you don't," the cat replies.
"What?" Elle gasps. She pulls out her dagger. "I'm going to pet you one way or another," she mutters, but quickly alms down and looks around. She counts eight cats in the room, all looking at her from where they had been perched. "So, what are you doing in here?" she asks, sheathing her dagger again.
"What does it look like we're doing?" a cat lounging on top of a bookshelf responds sardonically.
"Well, it looks like you're relaxing, but... do you want to be let out?" Elle says.
The cats don't respond except to start wandering towards the door. As the first few slip past her legs, Elle notices one of the cats has a key hanging from a collar around its neck. The gnome grabs for the key but the cat jumps away, shouting "What are you doing?"
"Oh, can I have that key?" Elle asks.
"No!" the cat says.
Elle slams the door closed on the four remaining cats. "Give me the cursed key you little orcsnack!" she shouts.
Outside, Jaro wiggles the door handle, confused by the noise, but Elle is holding it shut.
Breathing deeply, Elle calms herself again. She pulls out the ring of keys she looted from Fiona Wachter's body earlier, and jingles the keys together. One cat is enticed and comes forward to play with the keys, but the cat with the key keeps its distance.
Elle proceeds to heap attention on the cat that came forward, petting its head and scratching its chin. The cat rolls over and purrs with pleasure.
Jaro opens the door. "What was that? What are you doing?" he asks.
"Shh, close the door!" Elle whispers.
Jaro enters the room and closes the door behind him, extremely confused by the mixed signals he's seen.
Elle holds the keys out and jingles them again, and this time the cat with the key inches closer.
"Do you want some scritches?" Elle asks. The cat gives in and approaches, allowing Elle to pet it. The cat falls asleep to the gentle petting from the gnome, and Elle softly removes the key from its collar. Looking up, she only now notices a second door.
Jaro searches the desk but finds nothing linking Strahd to the Wachters. He then begins to remove the books from the shelves, but finds nothing of interest.
Elle scoops up the sleeping cat, puts the cat on the desk chair, and then approaches the door she noticed. Behind the door is a square room containing several shelves. On the bottom shelf is an iron chest, but the other shelves are bare. Elle walks up to the chest, and begins to pull out her thieves tools before remembering the keyring and the key she just pulled off the cat's collar. Finding the correct key she opens the chest and discovers a leather bag containing a pile of gold coins, an heirloom wooden pipe, and a number of notarized deeds turning over control of several parcels of lands to the Wachter family. The deeds are signed "Count Strahd von Zarovich," and are dated four centuries prior. There is also an unbound manuscript in the chest titled "The Devil We Know, a Poetic Manifesto" by Lady Fiona Wachter, proposing that the worship of devils can bring happiness, success, wealth, freedom and longevity.
"What have you got there?" Jaro says, peeking over Elle's shoulder. "Ooh, a pipe!" he exclaims, grabbing the pipe.
"Nothing much," Elle says, emptying the gold into her pouch and grabbing the book.
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Elsewhere on the second floor, Gilligan enters another bedroom, apparently belonging to one of Fiona's sons. Finding nothing of interest, he moves to another room, only to find it locked.
"Does anyone have a way to get in this door?" Gilligan calls out in the direction Jaro and Elle went.
"I have keys!" Elle calls out, running towards him.
"I have a crowbar!" Jaro calls at the same time.
After some trial and error, Elle manages to get the door open.
Across from the door, a fire sputters for life in the fireplace. A portrait of the Wachter family hangs over the fireplace. A wide canopy bed sits at the north end of the room. On the bed is a man dressed in formal black. The man's eyes are covered by copper coins, and he is very still.
Elle starts to call out, but Jaro slaps his hand over her mouth. "That's how the vampires keep getting you!" he whispers.
Nodding, Elle casts a spell of detection, but does not sense any undead in the area aside from Balazar in the foyer. She also senses something below ground, under the house, but it doesn't register specifically to her.
"He's not undead," Elle says. "Maybe he just likes copper pieces in his eyes."
As the trio approach the bed, they realize the man is very dead. Jaro immediately checks for bite marks on the neck, but does not see any. In fact, it looks as if the man had just died.
"I think there's a spell on the body," Gilligan says.
Elle reaches for the copper pieces on the body's eyes, but Jaro holds her back. "I want to dispel the magic," Jaro says.
"It could be feign death, or a spell to stop him from becoming undead," Gilligan points out.
"I'm curious anyway," Jaro says.
Elle pulls out her magic dagger and cuts her arms.
"Why did you just cut yourself?" Gilligan asks nervously.
"Just watch," Elle replies. The dagger begins to glow red.
"Should I dispel that?" Jaro asks, eyeing the glowing dagger.
"A cursed blade!" Gilligan exclaims.
"No, it's fine," Elle says.
Jaro shrugs, and turns to dispel the enchantment on the corpse. The body has a slight glow, now that they know to look for it, and as Jaro finishes the spell, the glow fades. And with the glow's loss, the body rapidly begins to decay.
"Oh, so they were PRESERVING the body," Jaro says.
Elle tosses a blanket over the corpse. The blanket sinks slightly as the skin tightens around the body and the musculature decays away.
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"I wonder what the others are up to?" Talna wonders aloud.
"I'm sure they're not getting into trouble," Sadun replies.
"Of course not, not them. Gilligan will keep them in line."
The two look at each other.
"Elle! Gilligan! Where are you?" Sadun begins shouting.
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"So, would you like to say a few words over this dead man, Mr. Paladin?" Jaro asks Gilligan.
"Sorry sir," Elle says, as she peers into the closet. "I didn't do the magic."
Glaring at Elle, Gilligan says a prayer to Helm over the blanket covered body.
Inside the closet, Elle pulls out a ceremonial black robe. The trio then walks out of the room, closing the room respectfully behind them.
"We did good today," Jaro says. "We let an old man pass on."
Elle locks the door behind them.
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The door to the room shuts, and the goblin under the bed heaves a sigh of relief, and begins struggling to open the chest he had found again. He didn't know who those three strange voices were, but strange voices never got between Maximiliano De Forza II, Goblin Pirate Extraordinaire and a chest full of treasure before, and they weren't about to start doing so now. Although, did one of the voices mention keys? Maybe stealing a key would help open this wonderfully enticing chest.
The goblin shifts, bumping the bed as he climbs out from under it, causing lumps of liquid... something to slosh off the top of the bed. The liquid splashes onto the goblin's hands. Looking up, he sees a very decayed corpse on the bed where there had not been one before... Maximiliano De Forza II, Goblin Pirate Extraordinaire, screams.
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As she puts the key ring back in her pouch, Elle hears a scream from inside the room they just vacated.
"Hello?" she calls out. She hears the sound of footsteps inside the room. "Did you guys hear that?" she asks Jaro and Gilligan. The other two nod at her. "Did the old man's skeleton get up? It's ok, the door's locked. Skeletons can't open doors!"
"They can if they're strong," Jaro says.
"He'd probably break a bone or two," Elle says.
"We have to banish it if it is an undead creature," Gilligan says, with only a hint of nervousness in his voice.
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Inside the room, Maximiliano rushes back and forth, looking for something to wipe the putrified remains off of his hands. He eventually decides on some very fine clothing hanging in the back of the nearby closet. Finally starting to calm down from his visceral panicked reaction to having a dead body... drip on him, Maximiliano turns to see the door opening again. On the other side, he sees a goblin in armor, staring at him through the open doorway.
"Oh Helm's Bloody Eye," the armored goblin mutters. "More of Strahd's trickeries?"
From behind the armored goblin, a gnome comes screaming at Maximiliano, dagger poised to strike. "IT'S A GOBLIN! DIE GOBLIN! DIE!" she screams, as she tackles Maximiliano to the ground.
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Downstairs, Sadun and Talna hear an echoing scream from above. "IT'S A GOBLIN!"
"Sadun, I think Elle may be trying to kill Gilligan again..." Talna says.
"We'd better go break it up," Sadun replies with a sigh.
The two turn and run for the stairs.
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"I normally don't like other goblins," Gilligan thinks to himself, "but I know there are good goblins like me out there. I wonder how this one will react to this brazen attack?" He stands in the doorway, still a little bit shocked, and watches the tussle unfold.
Elle stabs her dagger into the shocked and confused goblin on the floor. "DIE!" she screams again.
Behind Gilligan, Talna and Sadun rush up. "Gilligan, what's going on? Where is Elle?" Sadun asks.
"At least she didn't stab Gilligan," Talna says.
"Uh, goblin?" Gilligan stammers.
Maximiliano focuses through the pain. The keyring! Ignoring the stab wound he sneakily removes the keyring from Elle's belt pouch. "Get her off, get her off!" he shouts.
Sadun walks into the room, and lifts Elle off Maximiliano. "Calm down," the dragonborn murmurs, "Calm down. Take some breaths."
"GOBLIIIINN!!" Elle screams, struggling in Sadun's grasp. "DIIIEE!"
"Well, you're not human so you must not be from around here," Talna remarks, entering the room. "Where did you come from?"
Maximiliano picks himself up off the floor. Elle throws her dagger at him, and struggles to break free of Sadun's grasp.
"Hells teeth control your gnome!" Maximiliano says.
"Why are you so mad at a goblin?" Jaro asks, coming into the room again behind Sadun.
"Stop making such a mess," Talna says, presumably to the room at large. She looks at the rotting corpse on the bed. "What happened here??!"
"Yeah, speaking of messes, were you the one who cast the spell?" Jaro asks Maximiliano.
"I know nothing of magic," Maximiliano replies. He had seen a man on the bed when he entered the room, and seen an apparently sleeping man on the bed. The chest in the corner interested him far more, but when he heard approaching footsteps, he had dragged the chest under the bed to hide.
"Why is there a puddle now where a man used to be?" Jaro asks.
Talna lifts the blanket, observing the decaying body. It seems to have been dead for several days.
In the doorway, Sadun offers Elle a gold piece. "Shiney coin if you calm down?"
Elle snatches the coin from Sadun's hand. "Fine!"
"Well it was surprising to see another goblin here, but I think we've all calmed down a little bit now," Gilligan says.
"Were you here the whole time?" Jaro asks.
"Yes, I thought I was in the house alone until you guys barged in on me and I got scared," Maximiliano explains, ignoring the glare of death originating from Elle.
"Well, this is obviously not your house, what are you doing here?" Gilligan asks.
"Also, what did you do to her? Why is she so mad at you?" Jaro asks, pointing at Elle.
"Apparently I existed," Maximiliano replies. "I've never seen this gnome before in my life."
"Oh, you weren't here for that, Elle hates goblins. She tried to stab Gilligan a few times when we first met," Talna says.
"Yeah, we had this same encounter," Gilligan says. "Except I have thicker armor."
"How did you get here?" Talna asks.
"Through the door," Maximiliano replies.
"No, before that, how did you get here?" Gilligan says.
"Oh. Through the door from outside into here?" Maximiliano says.
"No, how did you get to Barovia?" Talna clarifies.
"Well, I fell off my ship, I definitely wasn't pushed or forced off in any way. I washed up on the shore of a lake. The locals were dressed in bright clothing and said it was Lake Zarovich? We were close to a town, and I headed there to look for food. There was a huge fight going on in the town center though, I stayed WELL away from that, and then I found this house to hide in, I've been trying to relax after a trying day in here. I did hear a human child's voice asking about playing, but I'm not a child's toy so I ignored it. When I heard more voices I hid under the bed, and then a gnome stabbed me! I was just using this place to rest."
"It's a weird place to rest, considering this is the home of the leader of the revolt you saw earlier," Jaro says.
"I'll put you to rest," Elle offers. "SIX FEET UNDER!"
"Does anybody have a muzzle? Where did you get this gnome anyway?" Maximiliano asks.
"In a closet," Gilligan says sadly.
"Did everybody get stabbed? Is this part of an initiation?"
"I didn't get stabbed!" Jaro says cheerfully.
"Not everybody gets stabbed," Elle says. "Just the goblins!"
"Gilligan, how is that stab scar healing?" Talna asks.
"My armor protected me pretty well, it's not even scarring," Gilligan says.
"So what is your name?" Talna asks.
"Maximiliano de Forza II. I would doff my cap to you madam but I lost it when I was thrown off my boat. I mean, when I fell overboard."
"I'll call you Max," Jaro says.
"I am Gilligan, no last name," Gilligan offers. The rest of the group introduces themselves.
"And this is Elle," Sadun concludes, "she may come around to you but she has a bad history with goblins." Elle makes a rude gesture at Maximiliano from where Sadun is still holding her off the floor.
"I will stay far from that one," Maximiliano says. "I'm just going to sit for a minute here..." he moves to sit on the bed, but Jaro pushes him away from the bed.
"That's disrespectful, a man just died here!" Jaro says. Maximiliano tries to use the momentum to roll under the bed to the chest again, but Jaro drags him by the leg and drags him back out.
"Yeah, explain the dead man," Talna says, looking at Jaro.
"Yeah, Jaro!" Elle chimes in.
"Elle! You were with them," Talna points out. "And you're supposed to be the responsible one Gilligan!"
"Oh, yeah, well... We found his body... there was magic..." Jaro mutters.
Talna crouches and mutters a Healing Word over Maximiliano to heal the wound Elle inflicted. As she does so, she notices something under the bed. "Hey what's under the bed?"
"Nothing!" Maximiliano shouts, but Jaro is already pulling the chest out. "But I found it! It's mine!"
Jaro tries to sit on Maximiliano to keep him from moving, but the goblin moves out of the way. "It's a little suspicious that we found this goblin in a room with a dead guy," Jaro says.
Gilligan shuts the door to the room, leaving Elle and Sadun outside. "Can we be serious? There is a dead man on the bed here." He looks towards the body. "Well, its mostly on the bed... The body had a Gentle Repose spell on it, when Jaro dispelled the magic he started rotting. We didn't know what the spell was before he dispelled it though."
"Sure, let me just open this chest," Jaro says, messing with the lock. As he does, a dart flies from the chest and strikes him in the neck. The satyr falls over unconscious. The rest of the room ignores him in favor of Talna's actions. The chest pops open, exposing a pile of old bones.
Talna begins waving incense over the body, muttering a spell. "Let's have a chat," she says, as the dead man's image coalesces in the cloud of incense.
"What do you want from me?" the image says.
"How did you die?" Talna asks.
"Failed ritual," the image says, taking deep gasping breathes.
"What was the ritual?"
"Contacting otherworldly beings."
"Where is the basement?" Talna asks.
"Behind servant's closet." The image intones.
"Why was your daughter locked up?"
"Madness takes her."
"Who's bones are in the chest?"
"Leo Dilisnya." And with that, the image takes a long breath, and then disappears.
Talna turns to the chest, and rifles through the bones. She pulls out a skull.
"Shall we do this again?"
Gilligan attempts to wake Jaro, but slapping brings no response. He summons the powers of Helm and removes the effects of the poison, waking the satyr.
"What happened?" Jaro asks.
"I got you back up," Maximiliano says.
"Lying in my presence..." Gilligan says, disappointed.
Once again, Talna waves some incense sticks over the skull, and an image coalesces in the cloud.
"I have mixed feelings about this," Gilligan says.
"It's not actually summoning the spirit back," Talna says. "It's just reading off the memories imprinted in the remains."
Sadun and Elle open the door and enter. Elle seems much calmer. Maximiliano attempts to return the keys he stole surreptitiously, but Elle sees him coming. She grabs his arm and moves to punch him in the face. "Wait, wait! You dropped this when you were stabbing me!" Max shouts. Elle's fist breezes past his face.
The smokey image appears livelier than the previous figure, a well dressed man in armor. He has the look of a soldier, but nobody recognizes the symbols on his armor.
"Who are you?" Talna asks the figure.
"Leo Dilisnya."
"How did you die?"
"Strahd killed me."
"Why did Strahd kill you?"
"I was one of the soldiers who betrayed and murdered Strahd on Sergei and Tatyana's wedding day."
"Who are Sergei and Tatyana?"
"Sergei is Strahd's brother, and Tatyana is Sergei's wife and the woman Strahd is obsessed with."
"Do you know someone named Irena?"
"No." And with that, the image disappears.
Talna plucks up the skulls from both bodies, wraps them in a blanket and deposits them in her pack.
To be continued!
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