Curse of Strahd 12 – The Cold Light of Morning

In which the party’s druid Fitzworth writes a few words of wisdom after the sudden disappearance of Sumu after the fight against Strahd and his minions at the church in Vallaki. In which the group loses their regular scribe as Sumu’s player leaves the group.

Sumu is gone. Umus, too, but that makes me less sad.

I woke up and found a note from her which I will share later, but she is gone. Yesterday, it seemed that she might have found some of her family among the bodies and maybe that had something to do with it. I also noticed that she left something with Samael, but that is his story to tell or not tell.

But the last 36 hours have been hard.

The priest had repeatedly asked us to recover some bones (likely the remains of the patron saint of the church) and return them to their resting place, because their presence protected the church and possibly the entire town. We put it off to get involved in the political machinations of the Burgomaster and his rivals, the Wacher family.

As a result, the church was personally attacked by Strahd and six vampires (and also a set of animate pews… but that’s neither here nor there).

While we killed the six and drove Strahd back, the priest, his acolyte and much of the congregation at evening mass was slaughtered. Also, there’s a hole in the roof of the church.

We recovered the bones and found that the mastermind behind this plan to steal the bones – and the man who who also smuggled six vampires into town – is Vassily Von Holst. He’s a human male of medium height, clean shaven with black hair. Based on his clothing, he is possible noble. We didn’t see him, but we got his description.

Some members of the town who, frankly, owe a debt, will be working to restore the church and possibly take up vocational duties.

The Burgomaster, who was also brother-in-law to the late priest, will help.

We killed Izek Strazni, the Burgomaster’s right hand man (the one with the monstrous… right hand), but have set up the Wachter family to take the fall. It was Fiona Wachter who asked us to take out Strasni, so she could launch a coup. There will be a parade tomorrow and shit is likely to go down.

Also, the Martakov family of were-ravens seem ready to help, but not yet openly. Either one of them or, possibly, Ireena, could be installed as the new burgomaster. I see the reason behind installing Ireena, but am unsure as long as we know Strahd seeks her.

I got a little heated yesterday and I, at least, am ready to cleanse the earth of evil, though I’m also cooling down a bit. Ismark is seeming ready to take on the mantle of power to which his blood entitles him. Chand is seeming downright moral and is notably protective of children. Sumu was always our moral compass, but now she’s gone. I don’t know what’s up with Samael, but our sailor friend has a serious drinking problem and we might need to consider an intervention and a restoration spell to cure him of the disease or moral failing (not sure how everyone comes down on this issue) of addiction.

Curse of Strahd – 11 – A Fire in the Night

In which the party fails to realize the significance of missing bones and gets embroiled in local politics more than they would like to.

It is the night’s darkest hour. Midnight has come and gone, taking with it its vicious bats and hysterical screaming, leaving behind the bitter dregs: tired adventurers and piles of rubble in the church yard.

Fillegan sits at a table in the Blue Water Inn, looking crumpled and miserable. Every now and then he pulls out a handkerchief and hacks a loogie into it. After the third time, Ireena moves her chair a little further away, causing Ismark to give her a stern glance. “I am trying to bandage this cut, sister. Sit still.” She huffs a little, but stops moving. “Shouldn’t you be keeping an eye on other things, brother? Like the mayor’s mansion? You seemed so keen on it before.” Ismark scowls.”Irinka, it’s hardly fair of you to lay all that at my feet. Yes, I think you would make a better burgomaster than whoever has the job know, and I certainly trust you over Fiona Wachter. But if I had known… If any of us had known the danger that the town was in…” Ireena sighs. “You’re right. Sorry. I’m just angry.” Ismark smiles begrudgingly, then ruffles her hair. “Me too.”

Chand and Fitzworth arrive at the table carrying wine for everyone. Fillegan turns towards them and grins cheerfully. With a voice like a rasp he says “So, what did you light on fire? It lit up the bedroom and woke me up, and neither Ismark nor Ireena has seen fit to tell me what wind we’re sailing with, here.” Fitzworth sits down, takes a deep draught of wine, wipes his mouth on his sleeve, then says: “Nothing burned. Well, the bodies did, but you wouldn’t have seen that. You may have seen Sumu, who used that little trinket we picked up a while back. It’s quite spectacular, the amount of light that thing gives off.”

Fitzworth gulps more wine. “What happened is that Father Lucien is dead, as is his altar boy. They were torn apart by Strahd.” Fillegan turns pale. “Strahd was here? He attacked the priest?” He sounds incredulous and looks at everyone in turn. Ireena frowns and rubs her forehead. Ismark picks at a fraying edge on the bandage he just tied off. Fitzworth stares into his wine with chagrin and Chand grips his cup like he wants to throttle it. “We could’ve prevented it.” Chand says, after a strained pause. “We could have… should have… marched straight down to that coffin maker and wrenched those bones out of his damned hands. Instead, a bit of wine and conversation distracted…” “You mean,” Fitzworth interrupts “a bit of wine and conversation, a cheap magic trick and an offer to assassinate someone and hand the burgomaster’s seat to that overly-perfumed old biddy and her good-for-nothing drunkard sons.” Chand chuckles at Fitzworth’s unflattering description. “You better make sure she does not hear you say that.”

Fillegan’s stares wide-eyed. “We’re going to assassinate the burgomaster? And that caused Strahd to come and kill the priest?”

“Not quite,” Chand says “Remember, when we first entered Vallaki, the priest at the temple asked us for help. Something to do with grave robbery. In our hurry to get to Krezk, we ignored his pleas. When we returned here, we asked the priest to take in the children we had found in the windmill. The priest then insisted that the church would not be safe without these bones, so we took some time to ask questions of he boy he suspected of the theft. The culprit admitted straight away, but we chose to keep our dinner invitation with Lady Wachter rather than chase down the man who ordered the boy to steal the bones. It seems this may have allowed a way for Strahd to attack the church.”

The little sailor nods. “And the assassination?” Ismark looks up. “Lady Wachter takes issue with the way the town is run. She’s asked for our assistance in ensuring that the Burgomaster’s right-hand man – that fellow with the misshapen arm – is not a concern when she allows her sons to move on the Burgomaster himself.” Fillegan makes a mouth like he bit into a lemon. “We’re going to let them do that?” “I proposed otherwise,” Ismark responds, “as you might have gathered from my sister’s words. Perhaps we can foil the Wachters and let my sister assume control of the town.” “And place her not just under scrutiny of Strahd, but in direct opposition of a powerful family that makes no bones about their service to him? I thought you cared for the lass, Ismark.” Chand’s tone is light when he says this, but the look he sends to the fighter is not.

###

Samael slides his hand down Dusk’s leg. “No real heat here.” he says hoarsely. “Legs and hooves all seem fine. She certainly doesn’t have colic or anything of the sort.” From the other side of the big warhorse, Sumu responds “No, but s-she seems a little out of sorts, right? I’m not imagining that?” “No, you’re not. But did it warrant dragging me out to the stable in the dead of night? You don’t seem that concerned.”

Dusk snorts, as if to underline the point. “True.” Sumu says “I… well, there is something else. I’d hoped to talk.” This time, it’s Samael who snorts, then coughs a little. “Why talk to me, sister? We’ve barely met.” “It’s maybe s-something that… I mean… They’re not god-sworn, like you or I. Can we talk under the seal, Samael?” The paladin thinks for a second. “We can, if you need to.”

Sumu sinks down onto a bale of straw, and Samael does the same. “You’ll recall that we dug up those graves underneath the gallows?” Samael nods. “Dirty business, if you ask me.” “You’ll also recall that we… f-found something there – a holy symbol – and that I have carried it since.” Another nod. “I had reason to use it tonight. It worked, b-but not willingly. Not like I think it should.” Sumu reaches up to untie the ribbon that’s kept her hair tied and shakes her head.

Samael looks at her. “Why would that be? Is it…” He nods at the back of Sumu’s head where Umus, now free, begins to mutter to herself. It sounds as depraved as ever. “Maybe. I t-think so. The amulet seems determined to only serve those to fight for good and dedicate their lives to a divine force. That leaves precious few people capable of wielding it, and if it deems me unworthy…” “What do you intend to do?” Sumu shakes her head. “I was hoping you had any ideas. Beyond prayer, I mean.” Samael laughs, then coughs. “I am a champion of Kelemvor who is the Judge of the Damned, sister. Redemption may not be entirely within his remit.”

Their conversation continues while Dusk picks at her hay. Once the big mare falls asleep, the two get up to join their fellows at their drink.

Curse of Strahd – 9 – A Random Encounter

In which the party finds a new ally (Samael, by the player of Kurwin), and gets a deeply intriguing invitation.

It turns out I never did write a summary for this session 🙁

In brief:

The party takes a shipment of wine from the Wizards of Wine to their brother the innkeeper in Vallaki, while promising to request that the brother visit the winery, in the hopes of reconciling with the patriarch.

While on the road, the party meets Samael, who is at that time, beset by undead. When he hears just what the stakes are, he is quick to throw in his lot with the party.

Fitzworth and Ismark receive a dinner invitation from Lady Wachter as they try to leave Vallaki after delivering the wine.

Curse of Strahd – 5 – All in a Day’s Work

In which the party keeps up their forced march to Krezk, and Sumu admits to seeing things she shouldn’t.

Vallaki’s gates close behind us. Chand and Fillegan appear to exchange some banter with a guard, who calls after us “Yeah, but only IF you come back at all.” His colleague laughs uproariously, and Grismar chuckles too.

We walk with minimal conversation, all the while keeping a mistrustful distance from the edges of the road. “Let’s keep an eye out for wolves,” we tell each other , but “let’s not be found by strange disappearing things with tails and large paws” we quietly think. Or maybe it’s just me who thinks that. I’m unnerved anyway: hearing faint echoes of my mother’s voice since we left that strange apparition on those gallows that stand in the road between here and the town of Barovia. ‘You mustn’t make a sound! And don’t move! Not even a finger!’ It is no surprise that the nightmares left me feel shaky and nauseous this morning. I shake my head to myself. As Lliira teaches us: the day’s best start is gladness of heart. I let go of the key under my shirt, lift my head and try for a hopeful smile. The fog is not so bad, after all, and breakfast was quite tasty.

Fitzworth catches up with me. He looks much better since Father Lucien ministered to him. “You agree with me, though, right?”, he says. I give him a puzzled look. He smacks his head with his fist. “Of course! No. I mean… Yes. I mean… I am sorry.” Another smack. “I mean to say: you’ll come with me, right, when we go to Yester Hill? To restore balance to the woods there?” I try to give him an encouraging smile and I nod. It must mean a lot to him, to bring it up again, after all that happened in Vallaki. He continues “And also help me do something about the… the cruelty that the burgomaster of that creepy town perpetrates upon children.” I nod again.

A gravelly sound comes from the cloaked and hooded Kurwin, who goes ahead. “Seems to me, we’ve got a lot more work here than we bargained for, between the strange creatures sneaking through towns and the monstrous cronies of a local lord.” Chand finds this amusing. “Come now.” he says, as he nods to Ismark and Ireena “All we need to do is deliver these two to their monastery, do a little tour of that doubtlessly delightful winery run by the Martakovs from the Blue Water Inn to see where that next shipment is, and stop by that old windmill on our way back to Barovia. Thats it!” He shrugs eloquently. Grismar, who convinced our friendly innkeeper Danika to fill up his waterskin with wine, almost chokes on his drink. “Ye’d let the people of Vallaki continue to live under this repugnant regime of forced merriment? And ye’d let this Strahd figure keep all these people trapped here in this landlocked hellhole full of pea soup fog?” “Worse yet!” Fillegan adds “You think we can just walk out of here if and when we please?”

An awkward silence falls over the group. Ireena pulls up the hood of her cloak.

“Well, and… Well. I really think we should stop the corrupting magic of the trees near Yester Hill. It is clearly making people suffer.” Fitzworth says, just as the silence started to feel natural again.

I swallow. It needs to be said. “W-what puzzles me is that none of you seem to want to know what that poor hanged corpse was pointing at.” Apparently, this was not a wise thing to say, for now everybody stares at me. A fiery heat begins to rise from my toes. Chand narrows his eyes. “What do you mean, pointing at?” The heat has now reached my throat. “The – the corpse. On those gallows. That we saw, yesterday. It was pointing.” “It wasn’t pointing. It was dead. Not undead. Dead. It was quiet. It did not point!” Kurwin sounds very sure of himself as he says this. I am now probably the shade of a ripe wispberry, and I feel like I am steaming.

My boots are scuffed. I should polish them.

It isn’t smart to inadvertently admit to seeing things others may not have seen. Best to ask a question. “What d-did the corpse look like to you?” The silence lasts too long. “I – I thought it might look different to all of us.” The silence continues.

Eventually Chand says “I think you should tell us what it looked like to you.” I just make it to the side of the road before I throw up my breakfast. Too bad. It really was quite tasty.