In which we meet a new, and possibly old party member, and set off on a quest for the innkeeper.
In our last session, the group had fought a group of vampires and retrieved the Bones of St. Andral for Father Lucian. They scouted the town a bit and discovered people do not like the asking of questions in Vallaki. The group ended up at the Bluewater Inn, looking for rooms and food, and taken note of a colorful entertainer, some dour individuals, and some raucous drunkards as well as the overworked family running the inn. We pick up in the inn.
The adventurers entered the Bluewater Inn. A man in colorful clothing regaled several nearby patrons with tales of his exploits. His audience included two obviously drunk men paying rapt attention, and another man in a flashy leather coat and a bright scarf. The flashy jacketed man was a half-elf, and each member of the party felt upon seeing him that they knew him somehow, though they could not recall how or why.
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Xandril the half-elf bard looked up at the new arrivals, momentarily distracted from the tales he was listening to. The new people were a mostly collection, a pair of half elves, a dwarf, a half-orc, a tiefling, and... a lizard? Oddly, Xandril felt he knew these people. They obviously weren't from around here.
Xandril had woken in the woods surrounded by a strange mist. He had wandered for some time upon a path in the woods before he found a camp full of colorfully dressed people called the Vistani. The only thing that kept him going was the feeling that he was not alone, and that he had some purpose. In the camp he had met a woman named Madame Eva who seemed to know who he was. She directed him east to the town of Vallaki, where he would meet his friends. Maybe these people were the friends she had spoken of.
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Rek glanced at the oddly familiar half-elf, waved, and then walked up to the bar to order a drink.
"Welcome to the Bluewater Inn. We offer complimentary bread and hot beet soup," the bartender said, placing the food in front of Rek as she spoke, "if you would like some. If you are looking for a heartier meal, one electrum piece will buy a sixteen ounce wolf-steak, our fine selection of drinks include a glass of Purple Mash #3 wine for three coppers, or a pint of our superior Red Dragon Crush will be a silver piece. A bed for the night is an electrum piece."
Rek plopped a gold piece on the counter. "I'll eat and drink however much this gets me."
"Is this for a room as well?"
Eld leaned over Rek's shoulder and put a little more money on the bar. "Three rooms please, and she can drink as much as she wants."
"Ok, let me see what rooms are in use and I'll get you a key."
As the bartender turned away, Eld casually attempted to pick Rek's pockets, only to realize she does not have pockets. Rek turned and put her hand on Eld's head, saying simply "No."
Seesil walked up next to them and helped himself to the complimentary stew.
Sagira ignored her friends' antics and walked over to the colorful people. She addressed herself to the half-elf with a hesitant wave. "Hey. I haven't recognized anyone here before but you seem familiar. Who are you and why are you familiar?"
Xandril looked at the tiefling in the red robes. "I don't remember, but there is definitely something familiar about you as well. You also seem to be the only other strangers in this strange town."
"Why don't you come with us then? I feel like you may be one of us, and we need more allies in this place anyway," Sagira suggested.
The drunkards turned to Sagira and Xandril and draped their arms around the pair. "You two must have some interesting tales!" one declared.
"You certainly don't hang around weird people like them without getting some interesting stories," the other said, gesturing at Seesil. "Let's hear a story!"
Sagira, extremely uncomfortable at the unwanted closeness, set both men's hair on fire.
Are the dwarf rushed over to the two men and starts jumping up and attempting to put the mens' hair out.
"We just wanted to hear a story!" one of the men slurs.
Eld walked up to help Arf put out the smoldering hair and also picked the men's pockets of their few remaining copper pieces. "Calm down, calm down, take a seat, we'll certainly tell you a story!" the half-elf declared.
"Alright," one of the men agreed as they sat down. "Let's hear a story."
"Hold a moment, I must retrieve something from my room," Eld said. "the story will be much better with that."
And with that, Eld walked back to the bar. "What room is mine?"
"I'm sorry," the bartender responded, "I have not had time to get your keys yet."
"Don't worry about the key," Eld said. "What room is mine?"
"I'm sorry, if you don't mind-"
"You can deliver the key later, what room is mine?"
"I need to see what rooms are avail-"
Eld places a copper on the bar. "Will this help get me there faster?"
"Very well sir, let me go see what we have." The bartender walks into the back room behind the bar.
As all this went on, Colin grabbed his complimentary bread and stew and sat in a corner of the room, observing the occupants in silence. The two gruff looking men were seated nearby, one with a great axe leaning against the wall and the other with a longbow resting next to him. Both of them had multiple scars running across their faces.
Sagira laughed at Arf's attempts to extinguish the mens' hair. "Very well, I will tell you a story." As she said this, Seesil walked over and sat down nearby. "Let me tell you about a haunted house my friends and I investigated recently..." and she began telling the tale of the beginning of the group's adventure. After a moment, Seesil began to summon animated images from the mens' drinks to illustrate the story with his Shape Water cantrip.
The drunks were impressed. They leaned in and one said in too loud a voice "Haunted mansions and spooky kids? Are you lot here to save us from that burgomaster and his damn festivals?" The entire room went dead quiet and stared at the table.
"Nico!" the bartender shouted. "We don't talk like that in my inn. Do you want to end up like those souls in the town square? You'll get us all in trouble!"
After another moment the room began resuming the interrupted conversations from before.
As this went on, Arf sidled up to Xandril and whispered "have you met Strahd?" Xandril gave the dwarf a look but did not respond.
At the bar, Rek turned to the bartender and said "There are a lot of festivals around here, aren't there?" The half-orc was entirely innocent in this question, having only now taken note of the fact.
The bartender leaned closer and said in a low voice "You don't know about the festivals?"
"No," Rek said.
The bartender looked around, making sure nobody was listening, and said "the burgomaster is out of his mind. He thinks if we keep having these festivals they will protect us from Strahd, but I tell you one day they will be the end of us. We all have to participate, and any who fails to participate or speaks against the festivals is thrown in the stocks in the town square. So you have to participate in the festivals."
"The festivals protect the town?" Rek said in surprise, a little slow on the uptake and speaking a little too loudly. The bartender shushes the half orc. "That is a good trick," Rek said in a lower voice.
"Yes, good enough. We all love these festivals," the bartender said. Her voice a little dull.
Rek walked to where Sagira, Seesil, Arf and Xandril were sitting, and said "Did you know the festivals protect the town?"
"That's what the burgomaster says," Seesil said.
Xandril walked to the other bard and pulled out his lute. "Would you like to perform a duet?"
The colorfully dressed man pulled a hand harp from his bag. "Yes, I would, what song should we play?"
"How about the classic 'Grog the Slayer'?" Xandril suggested.
"I love that one," the other man said. The pair began playing. It soon became obvious that Xandril was out of practice, and the other bard carried him through the ballad. Xandril improved a bit towards the end of the song, finding his ear again.
"Well, you're not terrible. Would you like some pointers?" the bard offered. "It is always fun to perform with a fellow bard though. My name is Riktavio." Riktavio proffered his hand.
"I am Xandril."
"Pleasure to meet you Xandril. What brings you to these parts?"
"I had a sense that this is where I was meant to be."
"Don't we all!" Riktavio set a mug in front of Xandril and poured some of the Purple Mash #3 from his pitcher. "I have been here awhile. I run a bit of a carnival."
"Ask him where his monkey is," Arf whispered to Xandril urgently from waist height.
"What do you do in the circus?" Xandril asked, ignoring Arf.
"I travel around, bringing my circus to different locations," Riktavio said. "Though recently I've found myself here fairly often. I can't lie, Erwin runs a fantastic inn. And the hospitality he and his wife provide is hard to beat. I set up my circus about a month ago, but I've shut it down since then. My cart is in the storage area right now."
"Do you ever perform at these festivals?" Xandril asked.
"They're not my type of performance," Riktavio replied with a wary sigh. "What about you, are you here to perform at the festivals?"
"I've only just heard about them since I've arrived. I'm waiting to see how they play out."
"Oh, so you weren't here for the Wolf's Head Jamboree?"
"No, I arrived after that."
"Oh, it was fantastic," Riktavio said in a choked voice, obviously forcing the words out. "It was... great."
"Ah, well I'm looking forward to the next one," Xandril said.
"Aren't we all," Riktavio muttered.
"Ask about the monkey!" Arf said again, nudging a very confused Xandril in the side. Getting no response from the bard, Arf looked at Riktavio directly, and said bluntly "What about your monkey?"
Riktavio immediately looked at Arf. "How do you know about my monkey?"
"Uh, this old lady had some cards, fortune telling I guess? Tell him Bard."
Xandril just looked confused.
"Nobody knows about my monkey," Riktavio said in a serious voice. "His name is Piccolo. The innkeepers don't let me keep live animals here, so the local toymaker was nice enough to take care of Piccolo at his shop for me while I'm in town."
"Are you Vistani?" Arf asked.
"No," was the simple reply.
"Sorry, navels all look the same," the dwarf muttered.
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Meanwhile, at the bar, the bartender returned and handed Eld a key. "We'll give you room number three," she said.
"Thanks!" Eld said, taking the key. He immediately disappeared upstairs to go to sleep. He was tired after the day's adventures, so he only checked for traps on the door, not the bed inside the room.
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As they finished telling the story, Seesil looked around the room for a hearth or fire of some kind. Sagira went to the bar and got a key to a room and headed upstairs as he did so. The damp chill of Ravenloft was beginning to get to the lizard, and he desired warmth, but the room was only lit by wall sconces. Walking quietly out of the tavern, Seesil began foraging for twigs and other kindling, and digging a fire pit in the yard in front of the tavern. He would never understand those soft skins.
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At the bar, a man walked up to Rek, emerging from one of the rooms behind the bar. "How is everything tonight? How is the service?" he asked.
"Good," Rek said.
"Enjoying your food and beverage? Well, if you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask." As he spoke, he put his hand on the bar, sliding a napkin to the half-orc. Rek picked it up as he walked away and looked at it. There was a note on the back of the napkin. Rek looked around. She did not see Sagira. She did not see Seesil. She decided to take the note to Colin, who remained in the room. She walked up to Colin and handed the napkin over, interrupting his study of the two heavily armed individuals nearby. The note read:
I need your help. When you can, find me in the kitchen. My wife can direct you.
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On the other side of the room, Xandril tired of his conversation with Riktavio and returned to the bar. Arf, seeing the bard leave, awkwardly backed away from Riktavio as well, maintaining eye contact and a rictus grin as he did so.
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Colin got up after reading the note. He sent Rek outside to get Seesil just before the druid lit a fire in the yard. Coming back inside, Colin decided not to get Arf and Xandril, trying to be less conspicuous. When Rek and Seesil returned inside, Colin motioned them to join him as he went back to the kitchen at the bartender's directions.
The kitchen had tables piled with pots, shelves lined with ingredients, and all manner of pleasant odors wafting from the ovens. A pot of soup bubbled on the hearth. The man who gave Rek the note was standing at a table, preparing some food. He turned as the trio entered and said "Oh good, you made it back here. Where are the rest of you?"
"Various places," Colin said vaguely. "We can get them if you need us to."
"No, no that's fine, as long as they are here." The man motioned to his wife to close the door and motioned the trio closer. "I have a friend who said a group looking similar to you might come by. He said you would be Rek, a half-orc, Seesil a lizard-person, Colin and Eld, Sagira and Arf the dwarf. He said you had talents and are friendlier then most. I could use your help. My wine supply is running low."
Rek perked up at the mention of wine.
"I have some stores left, but they are nearly gone. If you can help me I can pay. The vineyard and winery is a few miles west of here, just follow the old Spalding Road. My sources say the winery has been overrun." The man continued.
Rek gasped at the tragedy of the situation.
"Can I count on your help?" the man concluded.
"Yes!" Rek said immediately.
"Seesil, do you have any questions?" Colin asked.
"If it gets us out of town, I am all for it," Seesil declared.
"Then yes, we will help," Colin said.
"Thank you. If you can retrieve my wine order, there will be money and some other helpful items for you on return. You should leave here now though, I don't want to draw undue attention to this."
The trio left the kitchen and returned to the main room, deciding to depart for the winery in the morning. Colin fills in Arf and Xandril on the situation, and then the group retire to their respective rooms except for Seesil, who goes outside and lights his campfire for the night.
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The next day dawned dull and overcast as usual for these lands. The party set out along the road heading west and north. About an hour out of town, Seesil and Sagira began to smell something rancid. The odor was almost unnatural, something in the forest corrupted.
"Does anybody else smell that? It smells bad," Sagira asked. As soon as she spoke, the rest of the party also noticed the smell.
"It doesn't smell natural," Eld said, "but nor does it smell of the undead."
The group pressed on. The smell did not seem to get stronger, but neither did it weaken, instead remaining about the same as they walked. A few yards further on, Seesil became too bothered by the presence of the odor, and shape-shifted into a wolf to attempt to discern its origin. As soon as he assumed the wolf form, his sense of smell was entirely overwhelmed by the odor. Something that was natural nearby had been warped into something else, but the smell began to burn before Seesil could determine more, and he soon rolled onto his back, whimpering before resuming his normal form for relief.
Eld drew his bow. Lacking other options, the group continued on, wary but determined. After another few yards, Seesil began to notice a carpet of dead insect on the ground. Butterflies, bees, beetles, all sorts of insects. The group had been crunching through them for a little bit. There were no sounds of birds either. Seesil was very unnerved by the sight of so many recently deceased insects. He pulled out his jar of living insects to check on his snack foods. The insects in the jar were looking a little lethargic, though they were still alive. He checked in on his chickens. The chickens were also looking sickly. "It appears that whatever this smell is affects animals more than sapient life," Seesil mused. "Thus the stronger affect when I was a wolf. If we can find it I would destroy it so that it does not cause such needless wasteful death."
Eld began to move forward again. About a mile ahead, the road made a sharp turn. As he walked off, Arf turned on his Divine Sense. An evil, infernal presence immediately stood out to the dwarf. "There's something bad here!" Arf shouted. "It's coming from the forest, on both sides of the road!" The paladin got the feeling the presence knew he had used Divine Sense and was unhappy with him about it. "Sagira, do you want to burn down the forest?"
"Yes? What? Yes?" Sagira perked up. Seesil put a hand on her arm.
Eld looked more closely at the trees and realized several trees were covered in a spray of viscous yellow goo. "Anyone else see this goo?" he called out.
Seesil summoned the spirit of a Flying Lizard, which hovered over his head. The spirit let off an aura that helped the rest of the party to see the goo.
Sagira immediately shot a bolt of fire at the goo. As soon as the bolt hit the goo, it was extinguished. With the help of the spirit, the party began to notice more goo covered trees. In fact, some of the insects dead on the ground also had goo on them. As the party watched in horror, two piles of goo began to drip into growing piles on the south side of the road, while a third pile begins to form on the north. Eld ran further up the road away from the goo monsters. "Just looking for a good vantage point!" he called over his shoulder.
Rek walked up to the single pile of goo on the north side of the road, and poked her axe into it. The axe became briefly stuck in the goo, and Rek had to pull very hard to get it out again.
The goo piles continued to grow until they were almost nine feet tall, sprouting branches as though they were gooey trees. Finally, a single red eye appeared in the center of the "trunk" of each creature, glaring balefully at the party.
Rek immediately began swinging her axe at the goo-tree-demon creature in front of her, attempting to smack it in the eye. The axe landed home twice as she roared a challenge and the spiritual forms of her ancestors faded into view. Colin followed up her attack with a crossbow bolt to the creature's eye, then summoned his spiritual hammer, which swung but failed to connect with the demon. Sagira piled onto Rek's target as well, her fire bolt hitting home with a wet splorch sound as it sizzled out against the creature's gooey flesh.
Roaring with fury, the demon tree struck back at Rek. One of its branch-like limbs reached out, clawing at Rek's armor ineffectually, but a second branch caught her a nasty hit on her leg. Barbs from the demon branch lacerated her shin, and Rek began to feel nauseated as poison infiltrated her bloodstream. On the other side of the road, one of the as yet untouched demon trees clawed at Colin from behind, its barbs similarly latching on to the cleric's back and unleashing their venom, but Colin's immune system was able to fight off the effects. The other demon lashed its limbs at Arf, grazing the dwarf's cheek with a barbed twig. Arf doubled over a moment, holding his stomach in pain from the poison.
"A handsome dwarf like you isn't going to let a small wound like that stop him, right?" Xandril sang out, inspiring Arf to regain his feet. "And you call that bark? You're so course!" Xandril shouted at the demon that had hit Arf, causing the demon to howl in rage and psychic pain.
Seesil raised his hands and chanted an incantation, and from nowhere a tidal wave of water smashed into the two demon trees in the south. The one that had attacked Colin took the brunt of the wave and fell on its side, while the other weathered the wave. Arf took the opportunity to swing his axe in a pair of overhead swings, channeling the divine power of his god into each swing and causing the demon to cry out in pain as each swing bit home.
On the north side of the road, Rek found herself retching from the poison, and was unable to land a hit. Her ancestors faded from view again as the half-orc's fury was left leashed by nausea. Colin, seeing the success of Arf's holy attack, pulled his sword and shield out and summoned a pillar of Sacred Flame on the tree demon in front of Rek. The demon howled in agony as the holy fire scorched it, and when the flames subsided, the tree was noticeably shorter than it had been. Colin's spiritual hammer again failed to connect.
Sagira, deciding that her usual method of burning everything to the ground is less than effective in this instance, cast a cantrip she had picked up in Revenloft and summoned a skeletal hand that grasped and clung to the northern demon. The hand's Chill Touch leached the demon's life essence and parts of the goo crusted over and broke off at the touch.
The demon in the north retaliated against Rek, its first branch scratching Rek's cheek, though the half-orc was able to shrug off the effects of the poison this time. The tree tried again to hit the half-orc, but with its shortened stature overextended its reach, and managed to scratch its own branch with its barbs. In the south, the felled demon righted itself and swing a branch at Colin, who blocked the blow with his shield. The final tree managed to land another hit on poor Arf, who bent over and vomited from the effects of the poison.
From his vantage point down the road, Eld fired an arrow at the only demon he could see. The tree attacking Colin paused a moment as an arrow slammed into its gooey flesh, but then continued attempting to hit the cleric.
"Arf, I like your cut of your boots!" Xandril sang out to inspire the dwarf again. "As for you, what are those, branches or twigs?" Again the tree attacking Arf roared in pain, though whether from the poor insult of the magical psychic attack behind the bards words, none could say.
Seeing his friend in trouble, Seesil summoned another spirit, this time the floating form of the Cobra of Healing, which floated over Arf, restoring his stamina. Seesil attempted to follow this up by channeling the chill winds of winter, but the tree resisted his attempt to give its branches Frostbite.
Arf, feeling his stamina returning, stood and raised his shield high. "Begone foul creatures!" he shouted. The tree demon in front of him resisted the holy aura channeled through the dwarf's shield, but the one by Colin turned and fled into the forest.
Inspired by the odds turning in their favor, Rek struck a mighty blow on the diminished demon's form with her axe. Colin approached behind the creature and slapped its back, channeling the necrotic energy of Inflict Wounds through his palms and curdling the goo beneath his hand. The spiritual hammer finally found its range and bashed the demon in its crown. Sagira tried to repeat her success with Chill Touch but this time the skeletal hand failed to find purchase on the goo flesh.
The fleeing demon continued to run into the woods and away from the scary dwarf, but the northern demon landed a telling blow on Rek. The half-orc heroically resisted the poison again. The southern tree, apparently unnerved by the loss of its companion, failed to land any hits on Arf, and took an arrow from Eld in return.
"Your bark is gooier than your bite!" Xandril mocked again, perhaps running low on material. The tree cried out in pain nevertheless. Seesil manages to get the wind currents correct this time, and the air around Xandril's target chilled, and bits of the goo froze. The cobra of healing moved towards Rek, intent on helping her as well.
Arf swung his greataxe at his target yet again, missing the first blow but biting hard into the tree trunk on the second. He channeled more divine energy into the axe blade, scorching the corrupted tree where it landed.
Rek found her rhythm, striking her opponent twice more in the eye, and Colin again managed to Inflict Wounds, though the spiritual hammer missed.
The third demon, still fleeing from the battle, disappeared entirely into the trees. Rek's opponent managed another hit, and this time the poison knocked the half-orc back a step. Arf's foe likewise managed a hit, but the dwarf had mastered the poison and was unaffected by it.
"Spawn of a birch!" Xandril shouted. Again the demon fighting Arf yelled in pain, and again the party could not tell if it was Xandril's spell or his bad insults causing more pain. Seesil failed to land another Frostbite cantrip, but the healing cobra found Rek and began restoring the barbarian's life force. Arf landed two more blows on his enemy, channeling the last of his daily divine energy into one of the blows.
Rek, staggering from the effects of the poison once again, failed to connect with her axe. Colin attempted to compensate with a Sacred Flame, but the magic went wild as he cast it, and where there had been one demon tree there now stood five. Four were obvious illusions, as the trees were identical in size and location of wounds inflicted, but it was very difficult to determine the correct target. The five trees all swung in on Rek, who managed to dodge all but one of the blows. Unfortunately the blow that landed was real, and the half-orc staggered back a step with fresh blood trailing down her arm.
Arf's opponent likewise landed a hit, and the dwarf once again doubled over in pain as poison surged through his veins. Eld takes revenge with a very well placed arrow that nicked one of the tree's xylem, and black sappy blood oozed forth. The tree demon toppled over and died on the spot.
Xandril turned his attention to the remaining (and thus far uninsulated) tree. "Your branches are bare, you're obviously failing as a tree!" he shouted, to the pained groans of the demon. Behind Xandril, Arf lay on the ground, throwing up what was left of his breakfast as his system once more fought off the poison.
Seesil, seeing the five tree images, conjured a downpour of rain, allowing Rek to see which of the visible trees the rain passed through and which one the rain clung to. Using this information, the barbarian landed two more blows with her axe on the ever shrinking demon. The demon is able to step out of the way of Colin's Sacred Flame, but then with guidance from the Flying Lizard, the spiritual hammer struck a telling blow to the tree's head, energy coursing down the ooze and causing the true enemy to glow brightly. Sagira summoned another skeletal hand which again sapped the demon's energy, and the tree shrank to a two foot tall bonsai demon. As it shrank, Rek's axe flew over its head twice.
Finally, Eld fired a long range arrow which pierced the demon eye and caused the tree to explode in a splatter of goo. Seesil checked on his chickens, which seemed to be recovering as the unholy presence faded from the woods.
"I wish we'd gotten all three of them," Seesil said, "but at least we have stopped most of the rot here."
The group continued on down the road. After a few more minutes, they came to a clearing. The clearing was fenced in, and vines grew over tall trellises throughout the area. In the midst of the vineyard sat an old two story building. Thick ivory covered every wall, and iron fences lined the roof. The trail ended at an open loading dock on the ground floor. A wooden stable of more recent construction was attached to the building to the east of the loading dock. West of the building itself stood a crumbling well and a wooden outhouse. The windows of the building have all been boarded up.
As the group approached, they began to hear rustling noises in the woods around the trail. Limbs crackling as they trudge through the mist, a number of shadows move around the adventurers. Small inhuman shapes begin to emerge. Basically tiny sticks with arms, the group sees one, then four, then ten, then twenty, then hundreds.
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