<< [[CoS Summary 3|Previous Session]] | [[CoS Summary 5|Next Session]] >> # Curse of Strahd: Session 4 ## Bea’s Nuts ### Players [[Arbane Elkhorn]] [[Bea Boglak]] [[Destry]] [[Pip]] [[Squan Dron]] Below the haunting manor of the Durst family, the group of adventurers found themselves in a perilous battle with a hulking Shambling Mound in a damp Ritual Chamber. After refusing to indulge the cultists' dark apparitions with a sacrifice of blood, they summoned this disgusting monster, "Lorghoth the Decayer, we awaken thee!". Arrows from Squan's bow slipped through the damp air, while the axes and swords of Bea and Pip brought an onslaught of slashing, separating limbs of twisted roots, refuse and human remains which splashed into the murky pool filling the chamber. Violet focused her efforts on inspiring the others, while getting in a few stabs with her longsword on the beast. Bol attempted to use his acrobatic skill from his years in the trapeze to leap up onto the monster, failing twice to grab on. While shaking himself off from an unusual lack of grace, Squan rooted him on to try swinging from the chains up above the altar. Heroically sprinting through the knee-high water, bounding up the stairs of the dais, Bol launched off the altar straight up, slipping on blood and swiping at empty air. The cultist's apparitions gleefully watched as Bol landed flat on his back on top of the altar, continuing their chant "The end comes! Death, be praised!". Arbane slung bolts of fire through the air, consistently hitting the vile creature while also coming up close to slash with his scimitar. The scimitar was casted with booming blade, setting the monster in a booming sheath which was activated when the beast shoved forward out of the alcove, triggering thunder damage on it. Bea was repeatedly slammed and shoved by the monster, even falling seemingly unconscious, for only but a moment as her relentless endurance brought her back to her feet so she could continue her rage against the shambling mound. With a final thrust of her great sword, she stabbed it into what looked like a human butt, ending whatever dark magic was forming the beast and slumping its components into a disgusting pile. The shambling mound's defeat wasn't the end of the immediate danger facing the party however, as the ground trembled with the pillars and walls shaking dangerously. The party had to escape this awful manor quickly as it was intent on claiming a sacrifice. Dodging falling rocks and running up to the next floor of the cellar, the party tried to dodge through a swirl of bones clattering around the cult's dining hall, but it was too dense and smacked Bol in the head so they tried a different way back to the stairs. Heading through to the cultist's quarters, the well had overflowed and flooded the room. The party had no problem swimming through with an olympic display of backstrokes and butterfly strokes, pushing aside the body parts and garbage floating about. Finally making it to the secret spiral staircase they descended earlier, they were surprised to see the stairs had slanted to form a ramp. Bea didn't hesitate, thrusting her hand axes into the walls and powering her way upwards while the party formed a conga line behind her, while Pip used his sticky Grung feet to easily scale the spiral slide up to the attic. In the attic, they powered through some thick smoke filling the space, noticing that the ghosts of Rose and Thorn seemed to be absent. Running downstairs, they were met with the alarming scene of a broom on fire, flying clumsily around catching things alight. They were able to scoot past quickly, sliding down to the 2nd floor where they were met with more fire spreading. Finally, on the first floor they sprinted through, noticing the stuffed wolves in the study looking their way. Stained glass shattered and windows and doors were bricked up as the house seemed to have a mind of its own, intent on trapping the party here forever. They jumped through a door set with swinging scythes, and finally busted down the front door being sealed with bricks. As they ran out to the road, behind them the house seemed to scream as it collapsed floor by floor and crumbled into a swirl of fire and mist. The party escaped Durst Manor intact and could continue on their quest to find out how and why the mists have taken them to this awful place. Mysteriously though, Violet suddenly and inexplicably vanished in a swirl of smoke. When they looked at the items taken from the manor, they realised that a lot of them had aged what seemed like decades. Walking into town among the boarded up shacks and run down buildings, the team came across a lit building near the center of town. "Bildreth's Merchantile" read an old creaky sign above the lit doorway. After taking a peek inside, Arbane saw that the shop seemed to be normal enough, so they walked in. Bildreth is a pudgy grumpy man with a moustache, who has little patience for the players' incessant questions about Strahd, the burgomaster, and details about the town. He calls to his nephew Parriwimple, a towering and heavily armored simpleton to pressure the characters into buying gear or leaving the shop. To Bildreth's dismay, Parriwimple is more than happy to gossip with the party about rumors going around about Ireena, Strahd and Ismark. They learn that Strahd is indeed the lord of this land, he is obsessed with Ireena and has visited her so the townsfolk keep their distance and the Burgomaster passed a few weeks ago. Bildreth's patience was spent and he ordered his nephew to escort the loiterers back out into the cruel night in the Village of Barovia. Following Bildreth's advice, the players followed the road north up to the town's tavern, "Blood of the Vines". On the way there they noticed an old woman pushing around a cart in the empty streets. They entered the bar and grabbed a table, while Arbane went up to the bar. The frumpy bartender sleepily responded to Arbane's requests for drink and food, charging him a few gold for the round of drinks and pheasant stew. Bea catches the eye of a man sitting alone in the corner, who then approaches the party and asks to join them. He reveals he is the son of Burgomaster Kolyan Indirovich who recently passed, and his name is Ismark Kolyanovich, and he shares the legend that most Barovian's don't have souls, as no souls can leave this land, and many if not most of the citizens of Barovia don't have souls. When the adventurers share the 2 letters they found signed by his father, he notices that one of them isn't from his father at all. He suspects this was Strahd's doing to lure the group here. In any case, he's very glad to be talking to this fresh group of adventurers, as he desperately needs their help. As they had already learned, Strahd has been pursuing Ireeena incessantly, visiting her in the night twice and biting her. On top of that, the burgomaster's mansion where they live is sustaining constant attacks from wolves every night. Kolyan's heart couldn't take the stress and this is how he died. Ever since he passed the attacks aren't happening every night but are still occurring frequently. He needs the adventurer's to help escort her to Vallaki where she will be safe. The group expresses interest and tells him they'll chat tomorrow after they rest for the night to recover from their ordeals. That night, Squan had a vivid dream. He saw a snowy mountain, with a large fortified building with a tower. Streaks of lights emerged from the vision, silhouetting a man. The figure had a tall hat, and reached out to Squan. "Ah, my child has arrived. I'm pleased to see you here. There is so much work to do, your help will be greatly appreciated." In the morning, the party reconnected with Ismark in the tavern and set out to talk to Ireena at the Burgomaster's Mansion, while Bol and Pip remained at the tavern. On the way, Ismark explained to them that several villagers have been going missing over the last few weeks. They passed by a house where sobs could be heard, Ismark explained that this was where Mad Mary lived, a poor soul whose daughter recently went missing. Arriving at the Burgomaster's mansion, the heroes noted that the place had been taking a beating. Fences were torn and twisted and footprints of wolves and humans could be seen all around the exterior. The mansion's windows were boarded up and many scratch marks could be seen all around the house. Ireena, hearing knocking and her brother's voice, cautiously opened the door for the party. After some introductions, Ireena filled the adventurers in about the terror they've endured for months. Strahd has visited and bit Ireena twice. She says she doesn't remember much, and sometimes felt like she was in love with Strahd. She mentions that she remembers Strahd calling her Tatyana and she thinks he is mistaking her for someone else. Kolyan's body has been in a coffin in the main room of the mansion for a while, and Ireena told the party that she would not be going anywhere until someone helps them bury her father in the church cemetery. The party agreed to help, and were on their way to the cemetery when they encountered the old lady wheeling around her cart again. She offered them some "Dream Pastries", giving them a free one. Arbane took a bite and found it delicious. Squan bought a pastry as well but has not eaten it yet. They continued on to the church. At the church, Ismark Ireena and the party were met with a locked door with no one responding to their knocks. Arbane took a look inside, not seeing much at all but could hear repetitive whispers inside. Squan picked the lock, and they entered the church. Inside, they found the priest, Father Donavich, kneeling behind the altar. The chapel was in shambles, with benches splintered across the floor. Donavich would not respond to the party, repeating whispered prayers to himself. Once he was approached he snapped out of it and was startled. When asked to help them bury the body, the father insisted they go ahead and do it themselves. Ismark was concerned and pressed further. After some discussion they heard a scream from down below, "FATHER, I'M STARVING!!". After some pressure from the group, Donavich fessed up to what was happening. His son, Doru, was in the undercroft. He and an angry mob had stormed castle Ravenloft about a month ago, only to be completely wiped out by Strahd and the dangers of the castle. Donavich was sure his son met his demise, only to see his return a week later, tired and hungry. This must be a blessing from the Morninglord, Donavich thought. Though he soon realised his son was afflicted with a horrible curse. He was turned into a Vampire Spawn, and hungered for human blood. Donavich would do anything to protect his son, so he helped guide villagers to the church under false pretences of spiritual guidance, only to throw them in the undercroft to be fed upon by Doru. He begged the party not to hurt Doru. After some convincing, Donavich led them to the trapdoor, leading to the dark undercroft below... Before heading down, Arbane sent his raven to the tavern to retrieve the help of Pip in case things got out of control here. Below the church, in the darkness, the heroes spotted a figure scurrying away in the darkness. Arbane offered some of his own blood to the spawn, relieving his hunger for a moment where they were able to ask him questions about the storming of the castle. It wasn't long before Doru's hunger returned, and Arbane attempted to swiftly end his suffering. This led to a scrap with Doru and the players, he slashed and bit at the party as they tried to get in attacks, while noticing that their weapons weren't dealing as much damage as they hoped. Doru seemed to regenerate after each flurry of blows from the party, and was able to jump on the ceiling attempting to escape the party. He wasn't quick enough though, Squan was able to grab hold of the creature while Bea made the final blow on the desperate vampire spawn. Emerging from the undercroft, Ismark was holding back Father Donavich. Pip arrived at the church and joined the party. The heroes informed him that they ended his suffering. Donavich was devastated, but in an unusual flash of clarity, he came to realise the gravity of his actions. He told Ismark he was ready to face any consequences, and that he would be happy to help give their father a proper burial as it's the least he could do to atone for his sins. They proceeded to bury Kolyan Indirovich, the great burgomaster of the Village of Barovia. After the burial, Ireena was ready to embark on the journey to Vallaki, but she needed to swing by the mansion to retrieve a necklace her father gave her. The party was weary about returning to that place, but decided they could quickly swing by before heading out as afternoon was approaching and they were hoping to get going as soon as possible. On the way there, they see the old lady at someone's house, Bea notices that she takes a young boy by the hand and walks away with him. The party confronts her, eventually convincing her to hand over the child. She walks away with her cart, and the party goes to the house the boy came from. After getting no response at the open door, they entered the house. Inside they found one of his parents passed out in his chair, grinning from ear to ear. Pip used his Nothic Eye he found in the cellar of Durst Manor to peer into the mind of the parent. He saw them frolicking in lush green fields in the sunlight of a bright blue sky. It was apparent that the parents sold their child Lucian for these pastries as some kind of escape. They decided it best to take Lucian with them to Vallaki, where Ireena said he would be safe. They had Lucian leave a note for his parents, telling them he's okay and would be in Vallaki. Arbane stayed behind as they left the house, adding to the note; "Don't look for him. If you do, I will find you". After swinging by the mansion without any trouble, Ireena had her necklace and they set forth out of the Village of Barovia to the west! Ireena shared her map with the players, giving them a lay of the land as she knew it. They crossed river Ivlis, and found themselves at a crossroads. There was a gallow here, with some graves next to it. As they turned to leave, they heard a creaking behind them. To Pip's horror, he saw himself dangling from the rope. Others in the group saw a barovian man. They threw a rock at it and it melted away. Shaken by the encounter, the adventurer's faced a choice at the crossroads, either to go straight to Vallaki, or to go to the Tser pool encampment where they would find Madam Eva, the one who they were told by the Vistani would answer all of their questions about why they are here. Explaining this to Ireena, she told them the camp would be on the way to Vallaki. They decided to head north to the camp. We left our adventurers as they arrived there, approaching this camp of tents and wagons and hearing the familiar mournful strains of accordion music of the Vistani. Perhaps, soon they would discover their purpose in this terrible place.