When we left our heroes, they had followed a trail of evidence to the home of the coffin maker of Vallaki, looking for the sacred Bones of St. Andral which had been stolen from the church. They located the bones in the coffin maker's bedroom, where they also found the coffin maker's very dead body. Just as they found the bones, there came several crashes from the first floor of the building. Upon fleeing through the window, pale figures emerged from the broken windows, demanding the bones.
Note: For this session, Arf's player was absent. And Rek's player was absent the session before, so we begin with Red arriving on the scene of the imminent fight...
Rek had woken that morning to the sounds of Father Lucian and his assistants cleaning the church. After the long journey from Barovia, the fight in the windmill, and arriving at a new place full of humans, accompanied by several human children, she had needed the rest. Her friends, however, were not nearby. After inquiring with the priest, who bemusedly explained that Eld had shot a man the night before, and the group were tracking down a thief, Rek set off after them. It had been a good long sleep, and she felt very well rested, but it was still no good for her friends to leave without her. Well, how much trouble could they have gotten into without her? Surely, not too much trouble.
As she strolled along the streets under the dim light filtering through the constant cloud cover, Rek observed the humans of the town (all of whom kept their distance from the half-orc), going about their business. Some armored town guards were pulling down and replacing various posters, but Rek paid them little heed. She soon arrived on the street Father Lucian had described as containing the coffin maker's house, where her friends had gone. Looking down it to locate the house itself, she soon heard the sound of breaking glass. "Ah, sounds like they started the fun without me," Rek thought, and began jogging towards the sound.
----------------------------------
Two vampires emerged from the broken windows of the coffin makers house, and approached slowly, hissing "Give usss the bonesss!" Turning to run, Arf saw three more vampires approaching from the direction of the main street. Tucking the bag with the bones under his armor, Arf took a swig of brandy from his hip flask, sat down next to a spindly tree, and huddled close to himself, looking small. Seesil, seeing this, nodded. The lizard person raised his hands, and in a loud voice, said "I call upon your power and protection, guardian ssspirit of nature!" With a flash, a translucent image of a roaring komodo dragon appeared above the group as they gathered in the grass, sending a surge of energy to each of Seesil's friends which formed a shimmering barrier against the vampires.
Seesil observed the vampires focusing on him, clearly distracted from the small form of the dwarf nearby, and allowed a 'siss' of laughter to escape his mouth before conjuring a blast of cold energy which chilled the claws of one of the vampires coming from the building.
Two of the vampires approaching from the street rushed closer, the first swinging wildly at Eld with its claws, which Eld easily side-stepped. The other vampire landed a powerful blow on Seesil while his back is turned, and the komodo dragon's light around the lizard druid dimmed noticeably.
Colin, cleric extraordinaire, immediately rushed the vampire Seesil had inflicted with frostbite, shouting words of holy power against the undead. A shimmering, spiritual hammer appeared and swung over the vampire's head. Colin himself reached forward, attempting to grab the vampire's arm (presumably to Inflict Wounds) but the undead fiend jerked away from the unwanted contact.
Sagira summoned a bolt of chaotic energies and hurled it at the vampire assailing Seesil. The bolt struck true, leaving a cash of weeping poison flowing down the vampire's arm. Out of the corner of her eye, Sagira saw Rek run around the corner, battle-axe at the ready, only to be slashed by the second vampire before the half-orc could get her bearings. Turning, Rek let loose a cry of rage and buried her axe in the offending vampire's shoulder.
Eld, miffed that a vampire would dare attempt to strike him, raised his rapier and plunged it through the vampire's left eye. Stepping closer, he then plunged his dagger up into the vampire's gut. The fiend hissed in pain, and staggered back a few steps from the ranger, but the third vampire approaching from the street moved into the place of the first, scoring Eld's side with a swipe of its claws. Meanwhile, Seesil turned to face the vampire that had hit him, but failed to land a blow with his own claws.
In the melee by the building, Colin drew his longsword and swung at the vampire, who stepped around the blow and landed a solid riposte. The vampire did not see the spiritual hammer however, which floated around behind its head and smacked down hard. The vampire attacking Rek shrugged off the hit from her axe and clawed the barbarian again in return.
Sagira turned her attention to the pair of vampires assailing Eld, and raised her hands. A jet of fire burst forth at the same time the sorceress was shrouded in a Mantle of Flames, the fires surrounding her strengthening the fires she directed at her foes. The vampire Eld had stabbed was able to duck away from the flames, suffering only minor scorching, but the other vampire took the full force of the fire. Eld took advantage of the vampires' distraction to step next to his original target's blind spot and stab it again with both his rapier and dagger. The vampire fell to the ground, and its body evaporated into a cloud of mist which rapidly moved away from the battle. The remaining vampire ignored the fiery sorceress in favor of slashing its claws down Eld's exposed back.
Seesil continued to struggle with the vampire next to him. The vampire landed another blow on the druid, who retaliated by elongating his body and shapeshifting into an 18 foot constrictor snake that immediately bit the vampire, removing chunks of dead flesh and consuming them. Sagira followed Seesil's attack with a bolt of fire, burning away more of the vampire's flesh.
The vampire attacking Colin, distracted by the fireworks display, failed to land blows with either of its claw attacks. Colin's spiritual weapon continued the distractions, swinging over the vampire's head and knocking a wall hole in the side of the coffin maker's house. Colin took advantage of this to summon a pillar of Sacred Flame onto the vampire, scorching vampire's face and arms.
The other vampire by the house stepped too far forward in its effort to hit Rek, who promptly took advantage of the opening to plunge her axe into the vampire's side. The vampire, howling in pain, turned back and landed a heavy blow to Rek's chest, and sprung away, circling for a better opening. Rek immediately provided the opening, turning from the vampire and moving to help Eld. The vampire repaid her act of kindness by raking its claws down her back as she moved away.
Eld turned his attention to the remaining vampire even as Rek smashed it in the back with her axe, and continued his impressive display of swordsmanship, landing blows with both rapier and dagger on the confused fiend. The vampire Rek left behind follows her, intent on its prey, but is unable to land a blow, distracted by the sudden appearance of a horde of ghostly human and orc barbarians shouting insults at all and sundry. The vampire attacking Eld does land a blow, but because a ghostly barbarian was momentarily in the way, its claws do not dig as deeply as the vampire intended, and the fiend hisses in frustration.
The vampire facing Seesil found its claw swiping through empty air where a lizard person had been moments before. Recovering quickly, it scored its second claw along the snake's flank, drawing long lines of blood. The Seesil-snake retaliated by wrapping his heavy coils around the vampire and squeezing, breaking several of the vampire's bones in the process. Sagira capitalizes on the restrained vampire with another bolt of fire, searing a dark burn across the vampire's cheek.
Colin's opponent, grimacing from the still burning wounds it suffered, manages a single hit on the cleric. Colin himself is distracted by the fight nearby, and chants a Healing Word that restores some of Eld's stamina, before turning back and missing the vampire with his longsword. The vampire retaliates by scraping both its claws down the cleric's sides.
Eld stabs his opponent with his rapier again, and follows up with an elbow to the vampire's face that knocks the fiend to the ground. Rek, deciding Eld has the vampire under control, turns back to her initial foe and once more plants her axe in its shoulder.
The vampire wrapped in snake struggles to find purchase to launch an attack against its captor, but in vain. The snake considered his bound opponent, and then darted in with his jaws, taking another bite out of the vampire's exposed bicep. Sagira again sent a bolt of fire into the vampire's face.
Rek's opponent ducked around the taunting barbarian ghosts, scratching the half-orc with one of its claws. Behind Rek, the prone vampire staggered to its feet and managed a shallow scratch on Eld's thigh as it does so, only to find Eld's rapier plunging through its face. The vampire slid backwards off the blade, turning to mist as it does and flowing away from the fray. Eld transferred his Hunter's Mark spell to the vampire facing Rek, and slipped behind it to provide Rek flanking support. Rek took the opportunity to slap the vampire with the flat of her axe, knocking the creature away from her. Staggering from the hit, the vampire flailed about it, hitting nothing.
Seesil's victim struggled free of the snake's coils and started crawling away, clearly out of its depth. Seesil-snake calmly wrapped the vampire again in his coils, crunching more of the vampire's ribs. Not content to let the vampire slowly be crushed, Sagira send yet another fireboat to cook it.
Colin lunged towards his opponent, once again attempting to Inflict Wounds, but again the vampire dodged out of the way, throwing off the aim of the spiritual hammer as well, before returning a light slash of its claws to Colin's forearm. Colin summoned holy energies to heal his own wounds, while his spiritual hammer beat ineffectually at the vampire as a distraction.
While Colin was having a bad day, Eld felt on top of the world. Rek buried her axe in the vampire's head, and Eld was able to plunge the blade of his rapier through the vampire's ear. The creature fell through the blades piercing its head as it evaporated into a mist and fled. Seeing Colin's struggle, Eld again transferred his Hunter's Mark and moved to flank the remaining unrestrained vampire.
Seesi'ls victim again attempted to free itself from his coils, but only struggled in futility against crushing fate. Seesil again bit a chunk of undead flesh from the vampire's shoulder, and Sagira's incoming firebolt finally turned the vampire to mist. Seesil relaxed his coils, and began returning to his normal form.
The final remaining vampire found itself surrounded by Colin and Eld, and looked desperate. It swiped at Colin, but missed. Colin replied by failing to Inflict Wounds again, but the distraction allowed his spiritual hammer to land a crushing blow to the vampire's shoulder. Eld moved in, stabbing the vampire in the back with his rapier, although his dagger stabbed through the vampire's clothing rather than doing damage. Rek piled into the fray, smashing her axe into the vampire's chest. The vampire, increasingly desperate to escape, managed to scrape Colin's wrist but could not get by the cleric. Seesil, reverted to his Lizardfolk form, summoned a frostbitten chill to hinder the vampire's movements, and then Sagira sent a bolt of fire into the vampire's face. Blinded, the vampire was unable to avoid Colin's longsword strike, and Eld finished the job with another stab of his rapier. The final vampire turned to mist and vanished.
---------------------------------
As the group dusted themselves off and cleaned their blades, Seesil helped Arf to his feet. Eld approached the druid. "That was quite the show you gave us," the ranger said. "WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU COULD TURN INTO A GIANT SNAKE? That would have been so helpful earlier!"
Seesil shrugged. "Before, I could not. But the image appeared to me. I feel some of my memoriesss are returning, perhapssss. But alsssso, I am finding better connectionssss to thisss land."
"Well, maybe let us know next time you remember something like this," Eld said.
"We should take the bones back to the church," Colin suggested, as the group gathered around again. "It's not safe to keep them out here, and Father Lucien will be glad to see them I'm sure."
With that, they departed for the church.
------------------------------
As the party rested from their ordeal, Father Lucien reinterred the bones in St. Andral's crypt. Eld approached the priest when the task was complete. "What do you know about vampires father? We fought a number of them just now, and I was thinking about getting my weapons silvered to help if we run into more."
"Well, there aren't supposed to be vampires in town because of the burgomaster's festivals, but I am not surprised that they do not work. If you are looking for a smith who can silver your weapons however, you are in the wrong town. We do not have much as far as smiths go. Besides, silver is for shape-changers. You need stakes and holy water for vampires."
"Do you know where the vampires are resting? They didn't seem to... die, when we killed them," Sagira asked.
"Based on your description, they must be in town somewhere," Father Lucien replied. "A vampire cannot last indefinitely in its mist form, it will need to return to its resting place."
"Could you make us holy water so we can better fight these threats?" Sagira asked.
"Certainly I could," Father Lucien said. "It will take me some time to do the rituals, but I can provide you several vials if you return tomorrow. You may want to get rooms at the inn though. While I'm happy for you to rest here, we aren't prepared to house so many long term visitors."
Sagira and Seesil sat down and began whittling wooden stakes while the others finished their rest, and then the group headed out of the church.
"I think we should go find the vampires and stake them while they're weak," Sagira said.
"I'll take care of that, I have a feeling of where they headed from my Hunter's Mark," Eld said. "Rek, you should come along as my backup. And bring Arf, we can use his evil detection abilities."
"Sounds good to Rek," Rek said, lifting Arf onto her shoulders and following Eld."
"And we'll go talk to the burgomaster, see what he knows about the festivals," Sagira said. "Maybe he needs to know if they're failing. Shall we meet at the inn in an hour?"
"Sounds good," Eld replied.
-------------------------------------
Eld leads Rek, with an obliging Arf on her shoulders, towards the east gate, where he had last detected the vampires. As they passed the coffin maker's house, they observed there was no indication of the fight they had experiences that very morning, except for the broken windows.
"I'm detecting no evil so far," Arf said.
The trio continued to wander the streets, looking for any sign of the vampires, while Arf kept his evil sensors active, but nothing stood out. Frustrated, Eld approached the guards at the east gate. He remembered the two guards on duty, and walked up to the woman who had appeared more intelligent than her companion.
"Do you mind if I have a word with you?" Eld asked her.
"Sure," the guard replied. "Don't leave your post," she said to the other guard, who nodded. The woman followed Eld a few steps away, out of immediate earshot of the first guard while Rek and Arf wander out the gate and look around for vampire tracks.
"Thanks for your assistance yesterday," Eld began. "We had a run-in with some unsavory people today."
"How unsavory?" The guard asked.
"Well, we defeated them, but nobody was murdered, if you get my meaning."
"I'm afraid I do not get your meaning," the guard said, looking at the ranger suspiciously.
"They can't be killed in the normal way," Eld hedged.
"You mean they were imaginary monsters?" The guard asked, after some thought.
Eld chuckled. "No. I mean they were vampires."
"Vampires? In town? No, they weren't vampires."
"Sure. They weren't," Eld said cautiously. "But let's say they were. We are trying to find out where they went back to. Do you know where any vampires are in these parts?"
"Sir, I would direct you to a bed, because you obviously need some sleep," the guard responded. "The burgomaster's festivals keep vampires away, so there could not be any here."
"How exactly do the festivals keep the vampires away?" Eld asked.
"We just trust him when he says they do," the guard replied. "He believes strongly that the festivals work."
"I thought you were smarter than this," Eld said. "That's why I came to you and not your other oaf."
"I am a smart individual, and I do believe that the festivals work."
"So no creepy areas this side of town where people disappear?" Eld pressed.
The guard looked around the street, making sure nobody else could overhear. "Look, I would advise you not to ask the questions you are asking."
"That's why we're having this conversation away from everyone else," Eld pointed out.
"We are not having this conversation," the guard said. She sighed. "Nobody is talking to anybody. Trust me, you do not want to have this conversation."
"It's too late," Eld said. "They already tried to kill us. Anything you could tell us..."
"Look, being the daytime city guard is not a mark of great respect in this town, and that is why I am placed in the outskirts. But if you ask these questions to anyone guards towards the center of town, you will get thrown in prison."
"That's why I'm not asking them! I don't want to cause a commotion!" Eld said, exasperated.
"I do not know about any place like you might be looking for. But please be careful, or you could end up like the people in the town square."
"What did they do?"
"They asked the wrong questions. Asking the right questions is asking the wrong questions."
Eld finally got the impression that the woman was more afraid of the conversation than the possibility that actual vampires were in the city, and left the conversation to get his companions, deep in thought.
-------------------------------------
Meanwhile, Sagira, Colin and Seesil approached the burgomaster's mansion, a few blocks from the town square. The mansion stood three stories tall, and had well kept gardens around its perimeter.
"Should we go to the front door or the back door?" Sagira asked out loud, as they walked up the path leading to the mansion. "Would it be better to be seen in by the butler, or try the tradespersons entrance?" She considered, while her companions were silent. "Let's do the front door," she concluded after a moment. "We do have questions for the burgomaster himself after all." Under her breath, Sagira said to herself "I will not burn it down, I will not burn it down, I will not burn it down..."
Striding up to the front door, Colin knocks. A guard opens the door. The three immediately recognize him as the officer in charge of the guards taking down old festival posters and replacing them with new posters. The man had a murderous set to his expression, emphasized by a network of scars across his face. Two large mastiffs stood at the man's feet.
"What do you want?" The guard asked bluntly.
"We're new in town," Sagira said. "We were hearing about these festivals you do and they sounded intriguing, and people said if we had questions we should come here, so here we are! We want to know what we need to fully participate!"
The guard looked the trio up and down. "I don't have time for this," he said. The man began to shut the door in their faces when a voice called from behind him calling "Izek! We don't want to turn away friendly visitors! Please, let them in!"
"Fine." Izek said, and let the adventurers into a spacious and well decorated entrance room. Stairs leading to the second floor were located at the north end of the room, and lush couches sat under large portraits hung on the walls. Piles of twigs were stacked against the wall.
A second man entered the room behind Izek. "You must be looking for me," he said. "My name is Vargas Vallovich, baron of Vallaki. Please, come in! You said you would like to help with my festivals, I am always happy to talk to people who are just as enthusiastic about them as I am!"
"Oh good, I'm glad we came to the right place!" Sagira replied, plastering her best fake smile across her face."
"My family founded this town, and we have been in charge for a long time. It is always nice to have visitors. What is your name sir?"
"Colin," Colin said, shortly.
"Colin, fantastic. And," Vargas looked at Seesil, and hesitated. "I'm sorry, we don't get a lot of, uh..."
"Seesil," Seesil said.
"Not very talkative are you?" Vargas said, recovering. "It is great to meet you Seesil."
"Ha ha ha," Seesil said. "Yes, meetings."
"Yes... and what is your name?"
"Sagira," Sagira replied, still smiling.
"Wonderful! Izek, bring us some tea!" Vargas said jovially.
"You mean, have the butler bring you some tea?" Izek said, with a scowl.
"Yes, it doesn't matter, so long as we have some tea."
"Ok," Izek said simply, and walked away.
"So what brings you here?" Vargas asked, turning back to the group.
"We were traveling, helping some friends arrive safely, and we thought that while we were here we would check out the local culture." Sagira explained.
"Wonderful!" Vargas said again. "I take pride in being baron of a town with a lot of local culture! As you can see, not a lot of areas in Ravenloft have much to celebrate, but we do! That is why everywhere you go you see only smiling faces! The Festival of the Blazing Sun is occurring in three nights to bring more joy to the people of Vallaki. Participation is mandatory, but that doesn't seem to be a problem for you."
"How do people participate in these festivals?" Sagira asked.
"You participate by showing up!" Vargas replied.
"And what was the last festival you had?"
"Oh, the Wolf's Head Jamboree! You heard about it perhaps. That was a lot of fun, the local hunters went out and killed a number of wolves, and then we beheaded them, mounted the heads on pikes, and paraded them through the streets. The people loved it."
"What will happen at this coming festival then? Blazing Sun, it sounds exciting!"
"We have the children making a beautiful recreation of a sun, and we are going to light it ablaze in the town square at night," Vargas said. Sagira's expression became genuinely interested at this. "There will be food and singing and joy afterwards."
A well dressed man entered the room, laying out tea on a nearby table. Izek also returned with his dogs. "Oh, Izek, you can go about your business," Vargas said, over the low growls of the dogs.
"Ok," Izek said. He stood back and leaned against the wall, looking unhappy.
"So how did you come up with the idea for these festivals?" Sagira asked, as the others poured themselves some tea.
"We have continuously held these festivals since the town's founding. They keep Strahd at bay." Vargas said.
"Oh, that sounds useful," Sagira said.
"Yes, if we stopped the festivals, Strahd would probably turn his attention to us and slaughter us all." Vargas said, with a sigh.
"Then let's do the next festival!" Sagira said.
"How do the festivals work?" Colin asked, speaking for the first time.
"Well, they are traditions passed down through my family for generations, so I do not know the details of how they work, I just uphold the traditions passed down to me. And they work, I know they work because we are all still alive."
"And what is your story?" Vargas asked, turning to Seesil. "I'm very interested to hear about you."
Seesil sipped his tea thoughtfully, as Vargas sat in evident suspense. "I don't have a story," he said finally.
"Oh, ok," Vargas said, bemused.
"I am writing it? As I live," Seesil added, helpfully.
"Interesting, interesting," Vargas murmured. "Well, you know, I hate to cut our conversation short, but I have important things I need to return to. I won't keep you further, but thank you for coming by and I look forward to all of you participating in this festival!" With that, the burgomaster stood, straightened his jacket and walked into the mansion.
Izek walked to the front door, opened it, and said to the trio "Bye."
As they left, Sagira turned to the other two. "So he actually believes in these festivals, doesn't he?"
"Yes, he certainly is a true believer," Colin replied.
"I did get a sense that there are magical things inside the mansion, in case we need to come back and loot it," Sagira said thoughtfully, eliciting a startled look from Colin.
---------------------------------
The group reconvened in front of the Bluewater Inn. Grey smoke issued from the chimney in the fading light. Several ravens perched on the sign above the door which depicted a blue waterfall.
"Dorin?" Eld asked of the ravens. "Caw twice if you're up there!" The ravens ignored him entirely. Eld pulled out an arrow. "If you're one of Dorin's friends, caw twice," he said, threateningly knocking the arrow. Still no response. "Spies?" he asked.
Seesil looked at the ravens. "Have you seen anything interesting?" he asked of the ravens, using his beast speech.
The ravens looked at the lizard person. "No good scavenging today," they replied.
"They're just ravens," Seesil said to Eld. "Let them be."
The group entered the inn. Inside the entrance hung several damp cloaks. Staircases leading to balconies were located in the north and east, next to the bar. The tavern patrons were mostly nondescript townsfolk, served by two humans behind the bar, a man and a woman struggling to balance their work with watching two young children playing there. Two dour individuals in particular caught the group's attention, looking grim and haunted. Two others sat on the other side of the room, drinking and bragging loudly of their exploits. Near the bar, a brightly dressed man (though not dressed in Vistani fashion) was telling stories of his adventures to anyone who would listen.
The group sat at a table near the entrance to exchange their findings.
TO BE CONTINUED
At PetSmart, we by no means promote dogs or cats.
ReplyDelete