18/07/2025 - 'Lightbringers or Liabilities?'

Short rewind to the morning the party planned to leave Vallaki:

Waking up in the morning, the party began to pack their things to hit the road straight away. Tariel still isn't looking very well and she says as much to the group. In her current state after having fought for her life against the vampire spawn and almost breaching deaths door, she feels that she mid be a hinderance to the parties travelling. She asks to remain behind, to fulfill her promise to Father Lucian and help bury the Saints Bones. The party agrees, but Ireena asks for the young boy, Alan, to stay with Tariel while she stays with the party.

Standing outside the Blue Water Inn, Tariel and Alan bid the party farewell as they head toward the North Exit of town while she and Alan head toward the church. With a heavy heart the Paladin splits the party, but Tariel believes it is for the best until she can fully recover... 

The party, now consisting of Torbin, Abe (who still hasn't managed to have a full nights rest and looks completely disheveled), Slate, Francesco and the pale Summer, all arrive at the gate leaving Barovia. Summer takes a bit more convincing than usual to pretend to be a dog so they can pass through the gates, but she relents and the group find themselves outside of Vallaki. 

Recalling that the Carnival Owner Rictavio had told Torbin to meet him at Lake Zarovich to the north of Vallaki, Torbin gives the group their heading. With Abe still not feeling well and not wanting to take the lead, Summer wanders ahead of the group as they followed a foot-worn trail that Slate suggests is from fisherman going from town to the lake.

04/07/2025 - 'When all the compasses break'

 Torbin finally arrives at the coffinmakers home, finding the door wide open and the sounds of yelling from inside. Rushing inside, the Gnome is almost bowled over by Abe who races for the door, yelling for Torbin to run! What did he miss?

Slate runs down the stairs, yelling that Summer is dead and that they need to go. What did he miss?!

Fran is next to run past Torbin, now towering over the Druid more than usual with an unconscious Tariel in his arms. Then Torbin sees two of the monsters following the Enlarged Bard. 

With his quick thinking, Torbin used his magic to Mold the Earth and block the passage between him and the undead creatures clawing toward him. Hearing them snarl and claw at the dirt wall between them, he quickly gave chase to the rest of the party.

Out in the street, Frans Enlargement begins to fail, causing him to shrink back down to normal sized. He barely manages to avoid getting stuck under the heavily armoured Paladin and with Torbins help, the two manage to carry her toward the Inn. Though, it seems that someone had seen this...

Arriving at the Inn, the two find Slate picking the Inns lock and getting them inside. With the door re-locked, Abe helped Francesco carry Tariel to their room. Ireena is in shock at the state of Tariel, helping Torbin stabelise the weakened Paladin. Despite their efforts, Tariel doesn't rouse. She's alive, but she's too worn out...

Outside their room, the party hear the shouts of guards calling that a monster had been sighted within the walls of Vallaki. They call for everyone to lock their doors and for any able bodies to join the guards militia in the city square find the monster. The Tavernkeep, Urwin, knocks on the door to the room to let the group know to lock their windows. He was planning to go to the Square and suggests that the party should to.

Slate, Torbin and Fran step out and join Urwin, Abe being too badly weakened by the Necrosis to be of much help in a fight. Urwin tells the trio that a guard had told him that a 'giant' was sighted in the city, heading toward the town square. Frans eyes dart around for a moment as the others step outside and head toward the Square. He quickly casts Disguise Self to make himself look similar to Slate before catching up. Slate looks annoyed at Fran, but they have something more important to deal with right now.

Summer sits upright in her own blood. Looking around the room, she sees the bloody remains of Henrick feet away from her. She remembers the creatures attacking her and then blacking out... There's nobody else here, what happened?

Heading downstairs toward the entrance, she stumbles across a weird wall of dirt. That wasn't here earlier, right? Hearing a bang behind her, she turns to find a door at the back of the shop swinging back and forth. There was a back door, huh?

Stepping outside, Summer can't see her companions. Maybe they were doing something with those things that she was fighting? Either way, safest place to run into the gang would be the Inn, right? So that's her first stop! Heading along the main road toward the town square, Summer sees a ball of fire being shot into the air and a loud commanding voice calling over a crowd of people. Seeing the figure of Izak, the town guard standing before soldiers and armed civilians, Summer decides that it might not be a good idea to go walking through the square... side streets it is!

Among the crowd, Slate, Torbin and Francesco listen to Izak explain the situation to the people before him: a giant figure was sighted lumbering the street, coming from the industrial district. Whatever it was, it had already killed people in their homes. A woman had also just been discovered with her throat torn out!

Lady Wachter calls out in return, calling Izak and the Barons work of protecting the city a joke. In her eyes, they have failed the city! Izak blasts more fire into the air as people begin to murmur. This was not the time to debate his work! A monster is loose in the city and they must slay it before it kills more civilians!

Torbin raises his hand and calls out, suggesting that the attack doesn't sound like the work of a giant. His query is drowned out by Izak rallying the people to get into groups to find the monster.

Slate steps down the road toward the Inn until he is in range to cast Message and inform Abe of the situation. And that the trio were going to head to the coffin makers, see if they can retrieve Summers body before it's discovered that the group had something to do with the creatures being loose in the city.

Casting Minor Illusion, Fran creates the sound of a woman screaming from further down the road into the industrial district. The entire crowd turns toward the sound, Izak ordering everyone to head that way! The massive search party barrels down into the district, a guard noticing the door to the Coffin Makers place being open and reporting it to Izak. Izak, flanked by two men, enter the building. Torbin recognizes the two men: bounty hunters that the party met at the Blue Water Inn!

Slate suggests finding another way inside, seeing a guard walk around the back to report that the back door is open. How did the party miss that door?

Fran casts Invisibility on Slate, the Rogue climbing up the side of the house to peer in a window. It's too dirty to see in, but he overhears Izak talking with the hunters:

They can tell that a fight took place in the room, the hunters immediately putting together that this was the work of a vampire. Izak snaps at them, telling them not to tell anyone that it was a vampire. 'Henrik died in an accident with his tools'.

One of the hunters tells Izak that he found some tracks that don't look human. Bloody foot prints that look... lizard like?

Slate is stunned by this: how could Summer have survived... that?!

Izak orders one of the hunters to follow the tracks, to kill what they find!

Scaling down the building, Slate finds Torbin and Fran to tell them what he overheard. Summer is alive! But she's left tracks and the hunters are after her! Behind Slate, fire shatters a window on the top floor of the house. Peering through the back door of the Coffin Makers house, Slate sees Izak using his demonic arms power to set the house ablaze. Is he destroying the house and its evidence? Slate didn't see Henriks body being carried out, did he torch the house without recovering the body?

In the Inn, Abe had finally managed to doze off as Ireena tends to Tariel. He really needs his rest after that fight. It wasn't really a fight, more like a bloody beatdown... As he finally feels sleep taking hold, a noise catches his attention. The sound of the door opening. He groans as he sits up, what n-

'Oh, hey Abe. Where is everybody?'

Torbin follows after one of the hunters, seeing that he's struggling to follow Summers tracks as the crowd had trampled over it all made it hard to pick up her trail it seemed. Just to be safe, Torbin used his Wild Shape to create some false tracks for the hunter to follow. Even then, the Hunter still seems lost...

Following Torbin, Slate and Fran find Lady Wachter talking with some of the townsfolk. Seems like she's rallying more people against Izak and Vargas. Seeing an opportunity for favor, Torbin tells Lady Wachter what was discovered in the Coffin Makers. Even that the culprit is a vampire. This information makes Wachter more elated, finally some real damning proof she can use against Vargas! She hurries away, telling Torbin that she needs to contact some others in the city right away.

Seeing Wachter leaving in a hurry, Fran, still disguised as Slate, approaches Izak as the Hunter reports back that he lost the tracks he was sent to follow in the chaos. The disguised Bard tells Izak of Wachters attempt to cause an insurrection. Izak turns to the Hunters and orders them to find and arrest Lady Wachter before she escalates things even further tonight. Fran offers to go with the Hunters, Izak telling them to take him with them.

Walking past Torbin, Fran suggests meeting at Blinskys. They might need to leave town soon, so Slate better pick up his brazier from the toymaker before they go.

Seeing Summer in the doorway, Ireena screams at the sight of a dead-looking kobold. Abe gets up with a sword in hand. Something is definitely off with Summer: her scales are a pale pink and her eyes seem foggy. Like she's dead. But her demeanor and lack of lunging at his throat seems to tell him that she isn't dead... Maybe cursed?

At that moment, Slates voice enters Abes head.

'Abe, Summers alive! She's somewhere in the city! We need to find her before the mob does!'

'Yeah, I know. She's here.'

Slate and Torbin race back to the Inn to find Summer sitting on the bed across the room from the sleeping Tariel. The two look at Summer with hands on their weapons, ready for her to make a move. Abe tells them what he's worked out so far, but Slate asks Summer how she is alive. They saw her die!

Summer seems confused by that. She's not dead, she's right here! She woke up in the house and she came looking for the gang. And she found them. Her eyes keep darting toward Tariel and her face scrunches up a little as she asks if they can hear a weird sound coming from Tariels bed. 

They can't hear anything...

Back in the streets, Fran follows behind the Hunters as they get close to the Wachter residence. Seeing that nobody else is around, Fran waves his hands and casts Sleep on the two Hunters. The two seasoned killers suddenly collapse to the ground in a sound sleep. Tying the two up, Fran positions them in the alley before slitting their throats. Making a mess with the second Hunters neck, Fran attempts to make it look like a vampire attack. Quickly untying his ropes, Fran steps from the alley and starts toward Blinskys. 

To anyone watching, they would have seen Slate step out of an alley where two bodies will be discovered later...

Seeing that they should prepare to leave town at first light, Slate and Torbin start to head out of the Inn to Blinskys. Summer follows them, but Torbin tells her she needs shoes to cover her footprints. Rushing back upstairs, she steals the shoes from Alan, the young boy from the Windmill. Joining the trio outside Blinskys, Fran drops his disguise. He tells them that the Wachters and the Vallakovich will soon be at war and that they should be out of town before either party work out that it was all the parties fault.

Agreeing, Slate bangs on the stores door until a tired Blinsky opens it. Slate demands that he requires his brazier to aid in the towns search for the monster. Blinsky protests, saying that he hasn't finished decorating it. Slate doesn't care, he wants it now. Blinsky gives in, handing Slate over the brazier with some semi-completed stencil work is visible on it. Looks like it would have been a nice piece.

Fran steps up to Blinsky, putting a bloody hand on the shopkeeps shoulder as he praises the man. But at the sight of the blood, the poor man faints. Piccolo, the monkey the party saw with Blinsky last time they were here, hurries over to check on his companion.

Summer eyes the monkey, looking to Slate to ask him something. Abe had inquired about buying the monkey last time they were here, right? Reckon he'd like it if Summer brought him the monkey? Slate seems puzzled by Summer asking him this. Is she planning to kidnap the monkey? This doesn't seem right...

Seeing Summer move forward toward Piccolo, Slate yanks her back. Torbin asks if Piccolo will come with them, suggesting that they need his help. Piccolo is hesitant to leave Blinsky: his master had asked him to keep Blinsky company. The poor man was so lonely and depressed without a companion... Torbin tells Piccolo that what they were doing would help Blinsky. Summer suggests taking Blinsky too, grabbing the unconscious man by the leg, ready to drag him to the Inn. Slate stops her, what is with Summer?

Putting a collar on Piccolo, Torbin hands Summer the lead but Piccolo immediately resists. He seems terrified of Summer! Snatching the lead from Summer, Torbin takes Piccolo back to the Inn with the party. Showing Piccolo to Abe, the tired Ranger seems worried about why they have the monkey. Summer says it was her idea to get the monkey for him! Abe looks puzzled at this: Summer wouldn't usually do something like this, not with a living creature anyways...

Torbin takes Piccolo out of the room to go to the kitchen. With the Tavernkeep out with the town looking for monsters, they should be able to get some bananas for Piccolo quite easily. Summer wants to go along, she wants something to eat too and she's really hungry.

'Hey Summer?'

'Yeah?'

Fran casts Sleep on Summer, the pale Kobold falling face first to the floor as she passes out. Huh, usually undead stuff can't fall asleep... Guess she's not undead then!

Downstairs in the kitchen, Torbin hears a voice calling out for Piccolo. It's not Blinskys voice, and Piccolo seems excited. Casting his Speak with Animals, Torbin hears Piccolo exclaim that his master is here.

Stepping into the room, a tall man introduces himself as Rictavio. Torbin remembers that name, Blinsky told them that Piccolo was from this man. The old man heard Piccolos voice and came to investigate. Why wasn't he with Blinsky? Torbin explains that Blinsky was on the floor of his toyshop, covered in blood. The half-truth seems to sadden the man, admitting that he was going to visit his friend in the morning before he left town with his circus.

Circus, you say?

Apparently Rictavio was looking for some new talent in Vallaki for his circus. But with tonights events in town, it might be safe to leave in the morning. Torbin offers himself, and his party members, as potential candidates for the circus. But only on the condition of leaving town as soon as possible.

Rictavio agrees, but they will have to wait till morning to retrieve his cart. He has special cargo on board, he cannot abandon his tiger. Torbin agrees to this and heads off, leaving Piccolo with Rictavio.

'Guess what guys, we're joining a circus!'

At first light, the party hurry with Rictavio to his wagon and head out the northern gates of Vallaki.

 Tariel, still worn out and tired from the encounter with the Vampire Spawns, dozes off in the cart while unaware of the nights events and barely aware of the parties heading.

A man sits in a prison cell of the Reformation Centre. The Holy Warrior promised his release, for the revolution he will start in the name of the Morning Lord!

Viktor throws a table aside in the study, where had his spell book gone?!

A young woman purrs and stretches on her ragged bed, blissfully unaware of the world outsides troubles.

A tattered poster outside the Blue Water Inn offers drinks to those who attend the upcoming festival. Though the barrels of ale and wine are almost empty...

Blinsky sits up from the floor of his store. He calls for his monkey friend, but there is no response...

The Priest stands on the steps of his church, praying to the Morning Lord that the young Paladin and her companions find the bones soon and bring them back.

In the streets, Izak marches from building to building. Where had these blasted Vampires gone?!

In an alley a few blocks away from the Wachters home, two bodies of the towns prized bounty hunters lay torn and bloody.

Wachter and her sons talk with another gentleman, maybe it is time that Vargas stepped down as Baron. Or be forced down?

Summer dozes at the other end of the wagon from Tariel, her dead-looking form hidden under blankets beside the tiger cage as the wagon and the party exits the city limits...

20/06/2025 - Barovia Bites Back

 Shortly after Tariel, Slate and Summer had entered Henriks the Coffinmakers house, Abe and Fran finally arrive outside. Torbin had stayed behind at the Inn with Ireena to keep an eye on things there while the rest of the party chased up these bones.

Entering the building, the Bard and Ranger heard a scream from upstairs and rushed up to find the trio who left earlier standing over the carpenter who now has a mangled foot.

Slate quickly got the two up to speed as Tariels Divine Sense told her something in the house with evil presence. A strong evil.

Francesco asked Henrik what else he was keeping for Von Holt, the old man explaining that the nobleman had men deliver boxes to him a few weeks ago, putting them in his spare room for storage.

Slate and Abe shove the injured old man into the spare room and demand he opens the crates.

With some help from Summer, Henrik manages to pry open the first box. Pushing away the woodshavings used as packing, Slate and Francesco pull out a candelabra set that lights up when held in their hands.

Seeing that the old coffinmaker qas being useful now, Francesco uses his healing magic to mend Henriks leg.

Then Summer and Henrik open the second box to find... soil? 

Francesco orders Henrik to check in the soil, but Summer is impatient and tosses the box over onto its side.

Falling out within the soil, a pale body tumbles out amongst the dirt. Quickly sitting up, the Vampire Spawn snarls and jumps on Henrik. The old coffin makers throat is ripped open, his fallen face looking back toward the rest of the party as his eyes go dim.

Summer and Abe immediately jump into action: Summer blasting a barrage of radiant energy bolts while Abe slashes at the Spawn.

Francesco and Slate move forward to help until they notice the other crates in the room are shaking and screeching, a pale hand bursting out from the side of one crate. All these other crates have Vampire Spawns as well!

Grabbing a candelabra, Slate prods one coming out of a box but only seems to annoy it more than anything.

The Spawn on top of Henrik leaps onto a wall, slamming Summer into the wall as one of the other Spawns pinned her to it before sinking its fangs into her neck.

Tariel starts to move in to help, but the Paladin finds one of the Spawns had crawled along the ceiling above her toward the door out of the room. Trying to keep it away, she fuels her Halberd with divine energy and swings at the Spawn above.

Abe, Slate and Fran are quickly on the backfoot as Spawns attack them as well, barely able to hold off their attackers as they see Summer struggling to fight off the two Vampire Spawns on top of her.

Before she goes limp and the Spawns feed...

Abe attempts to kill one of the Spawns on top of Summer, but quickly finds himself overrun. Fran manages to evade his Spawn attacker and cast a healing spell on the downed Ranger, then Enlarge him so he can free himself and get away.

Tariel and Slate are barely keeping their Spawns off, but when the Spawns that killed Summer lunge onto the Paladin and tear into her, Slate and Abe run for the door.

Seeing his living companions making their escape and himself being accosted by the Spawns, Francesco Enlarged himself and grabbed Tariels body as he rushed out of the building.

Getting outside the Coffinmakers home, Slate, Abe and Fran seeing the Spawns fleeing the building too. Out into Vallaki.

Carrying Tariel back toward the Inn, Francesco notices that she is still breathing. Barely, but still alive. He was sure she was dead, how is this possible?

Slate suggests that it might be because Tariel was carrying the Saints bones on her person that had helped her ward off death. Too bad it couldn't do the same for Summer...

A voice within a void speaks to a Kobold, offering the opportunity to walk with her companions once more....

Sitting upright in her own blood, Summer looks around her to find the room empty of life. She remembers being torn to shreds as she fought to stay alive. She remembers feeling terror, but now? Everything after her heart stopped beating was just a blank, now she's here and in this quiet room and she hears nothing. Not even her own heartbeat...

Welp, time to find the others!

16/05/2025 - Sunrises and Stolen Skeletons

 After their successful dinner with the Vallakovich, the party return to their rooms for the night. Torbin and Fran stay up to examine the book Summer stole from Viktor, going to bed late only to be woken up over and over by Abe. The young Rangers nightmares seem to be getting worse, waking up in the middle of the night in a loud start.

Slate, getting tired of Abes interruptions, finally gives up and heads out of the tavern as soon as the door is unbarred to check on Blinsky's progress with his sconce. But he arrives far too early for the shop to even be open. Heading back to the Inn, Slate finds Tariel, Ireena and Summer are outside. Tariel reminds him that she promised to attend the morning service at Saint Andrals Church.

The four arrive outside the church, finding a lone robe figure standing outside facing the direction of the sunrise. Seeing that the man was a priest, Tariel introduces herself to him. The priest, Father Lucian, is extremely appreciative that Tariel, a Paladin of the Morninglord, could come to his church for a sunrise service. He explains to her that he stands on the churches steps each morning, awaiting to bask in the suns rays as it rises. While the sun do rise, its rays of light fail to pierce the fog that surrounds Barovia...

The two watch the sun rise together while Slate and Summer head inside with Ireena to see who's present for the service. Not many appear to come to the service, though the loud prayers from Lydia seemed to get Summer and Ireenas attention.

When the doors to the church opened to reveal Father Lucian and Tariel, the churches congregation watched them head to the front of the building. Slate remained near the door of the Church while Ireena sat near the front, Summer sitting with her while Tariel stood with the Priest on the stage.

The Father begins the service, thanking everyone for coming before introducing Tariel to the stage as 'the Savior' and letting her lead the sermon.

Tariel tells the church of the fogless lands that reside outside of Barovia, where the sunlight beams down on all in a warm embrace, and that one day that light shall reach even here. With the crowd in awe, Tariel leads everyone in the Morninglords prayer. Beside her, the Father weeps happily before closing the service.

During the service however, Slate noticed a tall teenager near him at the back of the church that scoffs at Tariels devotion and passes Slate to exit the church.

With service over, many of those who came wanted to thank Tariel before leaving. It seemed that she had lightened up their spirit. Even Lydia came up and kissed Tariels hands before leaving.

With the congregation now gone, Lucian approaches Tariel and thanks her for the service once more. 

Before asking for a favor, leading to Slate rolling his eyes as Tariel accepts:

Lucian tells the party about the Churchs founder, St Andral, who was a man blessed by the Morninglord, like the Father believes Tariel is. But just over a week ago, the bones of St Andral that were under the Church were stolen! And without those bones, the churches protection from evil is weakening by the day. Soon the church may no longer be a safe haven for those that need it...

Lucian shows the trio where the bones were kept, in a small crypt under a trapdoor hidden under a pew. The only person he's told about this location is the Alter Boy who they met during the service. Was he really the culprit?

Hard to think, considering that the culprit had dug a hole into the crypt rather than taking the trapdoor. There was no way the kid could have dug the hole, let alone rip up the floorboards to get at the earth beneath it!

Slate examines the crypt and finds a shredded piece of cloth. A sack, maybe?

No able to find more information here, the trio meet with Ireena in the main hall of the Church where Petrovich offers them breakfast in his home behind the church.

Exiting the church and heading around the side of it, a man runs up and grabs Slates arm, demanding to know who Slate is and what he was doing at the Reformation Center! Tariel remembers what Balmore had said in the Center: he had met a man who had escaped the Center and was hiding out at the Church. Is this the man?

He immediately confirms that, waving his hands around to get them to quiet down. Summer, pretending to be a dog still, notices that the man is missing fingers on one hand. Why would he chew his fingers down like that?

Tariel asks if the man saw anything strange happening in the Church, the strange man tell him that he saw the Churches gravedigger was digging a hole in the Church one night. Came out of the hole with a sack in hand.

Summer asks the man where the gravedigger took the bones: the man doesn't know exactly, just that he took them away from the Church. Summer then asked him if he was worried that he might be crazy, he is talking to a 'dog' afterall. The old man laughed to himself as he walked off, leaving the party to shrug and move into the Priests home, where the Alter boy was eating breakfast with Lucian.

Slate and Tariel join the two at the table while Summer happily scarfed her oatmeal from a bowl on the floor. Lucian talks about how the boy, Yeska, and his older brother, Milo, were both boys from the Orphanage in town. Milo had grown old enough to leave, so he took his brother with him and the two were both working for the Church to make some money: Yeska as Lucians assistant and Milo as the Gravedigger. Slate asks if the Milo was tall, curious if he was the boy he saw leave during the Morninglords service. Petrovich confirms it as Yeska prepares to head out. He asks Lucian if Milo had any work for today, Lucian saying there is a grave that needs to be dug sometime today.

As Yeska headed for the door, Slate and Tariel ask if they can come with him. They had some questions for his brother. He agrees to take them, but before leaving, Tariel gives Lucian a gold coin as thanks for his hospitality.

Gathering Summer from under the table, the trio headed out with Yeska toward the edge of town where Milo and Yeska resided. Being led into a run down house with a half dozen children running around inside, the party meet the young man Milo. He scoffs at Tariel, thinking little of her and her faith. Slate however sat down with the teenager and began to have a heart to heart with the youth.

Building a bond with Milo, Slate manages to convince him to tell them about what he did with the bones. He needed the money to help look after all the kids he managed to get out of the orphanage, so when the Coffin Maker, Henrik van der Root, offered him a half dozen copper pieces to collect the bones for him, Milo jumped at the chance. So a week ago, the night before the last festival, Milo dug a hole into the crypt and stole the bones.

With Slate giving him a gold coin to help with the children, Milo gave the party the address of Henriks shop. Tariel and Slate bid farewell, leaving with Summer. Seeing that they were heading past the Inn, they stopped in to let the barely awake trio in their rooms know where they were headed next and that they should meet them when they can.

The trio head out, seeing the shops beginning to open for the day. The coffin makers shop didn't appear to be open though... Slate knocked on the door and after a few attempts, a man sheepishly opened the door. With the man introducing himself as Henrik, Slate jokes about wanting a kitchen layout which catches the old man off guard.

He seems confused that someone would want him to make such a thing, but it is a change from making coffins... He invites Slate and Tariel inside, but is a little concerned about Summer coming inside and ruining the place. Tariel assures him that their 'dog' will behave, though Summer had already wandered off into the workshop attached to the mans living space.

Henrik offers his guests drinks, but is immediately put on edge by Slates line of questioning when bones are brought up. He starts to edge toward a door at the end of the room, but Tariel convinces him to sit and chat. Having seen the man move for the door behind his seat at the table, Summer slinked behind his chair to be between him and the door.

Tariel asks about the bones and what he wanted them for. After trying to change the topic, Henrik gave in and told them he was getting them for someone else. He was a middle man who was going to be paid handsomely by a nobleman called 'von Holtz'. A name the party trio remembered. They met him by the river when that old farmer drowned himself, right? That guy wanted the bones?

Henrik tries to make a run for the door again, but Summer sticks out her staff and trips him to the floor. She quickly pulls his legs behind his neck while Tariel asks him more questions. Henrik tells them that the bones are upstairs, in his bedroom.

Slate heads through the door Henrik was running toward and finds a staircase. Following the carpenters instructions, the Rogue finds himself in the mans room but cannot find the bones. Getting annoyed, Slate returns to the group downstairs and lifts the old man to his feet. He was going up with Slate to give him the bones.

Pushing the Henrik up the stairs, Slate, Tariel and Summer stay close behind him. Reaching the landing on the next floor, Henrik tries to make a run for a door but finds Tariels thrown Halberd blocking his way. Slate grabs him again, tying the mans hands behind his back. Only to be spat in the face.

Summer, finally getting sick of the old mans behavior, slams her staff into his foot and shatters the bones within. With the old man in pain and seeing that the dog has even had it with his antics, he hobbles into his bedroom and points out where the bones are being kept. Under a floorboard, Summer pulls out a sack of bones and a coin pouch with various coins. Tossing the coin pouch back in, Summer opens the bag to reveal the bones to Slate and Tariel.

Tariel casts her Detect Good and Evil to see if the bones gave off any sort of energy. She could feel the good energy radiating from the bones, making her confirm the bones are the ones their after.

But there is also something else. Something evil in the house with them...

Tariel asks Henrik if anyone else is here.

'von Holt asked me to look after some other things in my spare room...'

02/05/2025 - Diplomatic Dinner and Attic Antics

 The party leave the Inn once more with Ireena remaining behind for her safety, while Francesco maintains a disguise making himself look like Ireena. Having been sitting outside the Inn, Slate looks up from Viktors Diary to see the party exiting. With Abe at the front, not wanting to looking at the fake Ireena, Slate reveals the contents of the diary and what he has learned about Viktor:
        

        Viktor has been teaching himself to cast magic and has gotten the hang of it to an extent. Based on what Slate has read, the magic he has been testing is some way for him to escape Barovia. But he isn't entirely confident in his capabilities just yet. So he had been trialing his magic on people, one subject being the Wachters daughter, Stella. The girl the party met with cat-like behaviors. Now it seems he's moved on to testing on the servants of his families manor...

Viktor Vallakovich

The revelation of Viktors actions gives the party pause as they arrive at the manor, the guards stationed out front demanding to know the parties motives. Abe explains that he, along with Tariel and 'Ireena', were invited to dinner by Baron VargasVallakovich. And that they had brought a plus one, Slate, and their dog.

Being let past into the manor, a maid provides drinks to the party. Abe, Tariel and 'Ireena' partake while Slate declines and follows the group into the Barons parlor. Entering the space, Abe stops when he sees Viktor and Vargas in a heated argument until Lydia, Vargas' wife, informs the two men of the parties arrival. Summer, pretending to be a dog with Torbin riding her as a flea, had already entered the room and settled behind a sofa and overheard part of Vargas chastising Viktor for neglecting part of his duties at the Reformation Center. Apparently, Viktor was supposed to be running the court in the Center but had been in discussions with the Reformers instead.

In a huff, Viktor walks past the party, declaring to the room that he was retiring to his room for the night.

Finally starting to calm down, Vargas introduces himself to 'Ireena'. Lydia also greets 'Ireena', pulling the fake girl aside for some 'lady talk', Tariel heading over to back up the bumbling Francesco.

Vargas greets Abe and Slate, stating that they were waiting on two more guests to arrive before they go to the dining hall. Two of the Reformers was supposed to be joining them for dinner tonight. Apparently the Father of the Chruch was invited too  but had declined the invitation. Two elves enter the room, Vargas introducing them as two of the three Reformers of the Reformation Center: the brothers Legalai and Ilimir.

The two brothers seem to ignore the party, keeping to themselves as they begin drinking wine at an impressive rate.

Lydia had quite a bit to say to 'Ireena' and Tariel: telling them that she's been working hard to help prepare the Festival for 'the poor people' of Vallaki. Despite attempting to sound positive about her attribution, she can't seem to help but to press that others in the city are below her in status without directly saying it...

'Ireena' mentions that she heard something about the Wachters daughter, which seem to put Lydia on edge as she tries to find out where 'Ireena' had heard this rumor. 'Ireena' says she heard it from Izak, the Guard Captain. That seemed to surprise Lydia more, why would her adopted son say such things? 'Ireena' just shrugged, saying that Izak also enjoyed playing with dolls. This comment made Lydia go silent...

Vargas declared it was time to go to the dining room, dinner is about ready. He tells Slate to leave Summer behind, a maid entering and leaving a food bowl of chicken scraps for the strange dog. With the party heading to the dining room, Summer scarfs down her meal and keeps banging the bowl to get more food.

In the dining hall, Vargas asks 'Ireena' about the state of Barovia (the town) and her father. 'Ireena' starts to ramble before explaining that Ireenas father had passed away about a week ago. As Tariel and Fran chat with Lydia and Vargas, Slate finds himself and the Reformers eyeing each other. Speaking to Slate in Elvish, Legalai asks if his party were from beyond the fog. Slate confirms, the two brothers telling Slate that they used to be adventures from outside of Barovia.

The two brothers, and their sister who was still at the Reformation Center, were part of an 8-person party that attempted to try and overthrow Strahd. Only for half the party to be wiped out and the 5th member dying when the party tried to exit Barovia through the mist. Since then, they came to Valliki to try and stop others from trying to even attempt what they had done. As much as they hate Vargas, they don't want others to die in vain. Especially outsiders from Barovia, as one brother mentions that 'we cannot be resurrected'

Seeing potential allies in the brothers, Slate asks if they know about a weapon to defeat Strahd. The brothers had heard of this rumor, but don't suggest obtaining it. Slate asks if anyone else may have more information about the weapon, one brother suggesting the Grey Elves that live south of Valliki. But Ilimir tells Slate that if they catch wind that he or his party plan to take on Strahd, the brothers WILL stop them from throwing their lives away.

Someone outside the hall calls out and the doors open, Izak enters the dining hall and stops when he sees his parents had guests. He apologies and makes his leave as 'Ireena' peeks her head out from under the table.

Abe explains what learned from the Reformation Center and lays out his plan to orchestrate a fake rebellion to potentially flush out any actual ones. But that would require the prisoner he took in and his wife to be released. Intrigued by this plan, Vargas agrees and orders the brothers to have the two prisoners in question released in the morning. Legalai tells that their sister was currently reforming the wife as they spoke, but Vargas doesn't care. They must be released in the morning.

Meanwhile in the parlor, Summer heard Izak enter the manor and go upstairs and decided now was the chance for her and Torbin to sneak about. Slipping out of the parlor, the small monk climbed the stairs and made a beeline for the small closet where she and Torbin had found the old man chained in. Only to find it empty...

Banging and cursing come from across the hall from where Summer was, Viktors bedroom door bursts open as the young man storms away, not seeing Summer following after him. Entering his parents bedroom, Viktor casts a spell that lowers a ladder leading to the attic before him. Torbin, who had snuck ahead in his flea form, gives Summer a sign to move ahead and enters the bedroom. Seeing the ladder and no Viktor, she climbs up the ladder with Torbin on her back. Slowly moving through the furniture of the attic, the two find themselves before a door with words written on it.

Torbin climbs off Summer and slips under the door, finding a nearly bare Viktor on a stool in the center of what appeared to be a make-shift study with a large tome on his lap as he chants. A few skeleton cats lurk around the room, eyeing their master at work. Viktor curses slamming his book shut and moving across the room to a large rug that he pulls aside to reveal a large spell circle.

Torbin returns to Summer, shifting back to his Gnome self to explain what he saw. Maybe the Spellbook could show what Viktor is up to?
Summer grins and agrees to distract the mage. Pawing at the door while Torbin hid, Summer can hear Viktor cursing and stomping to the door. 

The young man swings the door open and is visibly confused by the presence of the odd creature sitting like a dog before him...

 That suddenly slips between his legs into the room and begins chasing the cats around the room. Viktor slams the door shut as Torbin slips through in his flea form, deciding that this intruder will be his next test subject once he can get it in the circle.

Except catching Summer seemed to take Viktors complete attention as he tries to pull the Kobold out from under a table, Summer watches as Torbin reappears as himself, snatches the Spellbook from where Viktor left it and turns back into a flea with the book in his possession. Seeing the plan had worked, Summer slipped out past Viktor and threw another stool through a window. Viktor, getting more furious, tries to catch Summer again but the small monk slips around him on all fours. Torbin attempts to jump onto Summer for the escape, but the shifted druid wasn't fast enough to get on Summer as she bolted toward the broken window. The Druid makes his way toward the closed door as Summer stands on the window-frame, grinning back at the mage.

Before jumping out of the window. Landing three stories below without injury, Summer bolts for the front door of the manor. Out of sight before Viktor could reach the window and spot her.

Having slipped out under the door Torbin, heard Viktor curse again and begin tossing things in his room. Looking for a particular book, maybe? Shifting back to his Gnome form, he casts a spell outside the door. The Snare trap set behind him, Torbin sneaks back down to the stairs and shifting back into a flea as the guards outside the front door look confused as to how the adventurers dog had managed to get outside without them noticing. The smug Summer trots back toward the parlor, the Flee-Torbin landing on her as she passes under the stairs.

Back in the dining room, Lydia talks Tariel into coming to the morning service in the church the next day. 'Ireena' asks Vargas if they could take a bottle of wine for the road, the question confusing Vargas as he was told that the party were staying at the Inn where he gets his wine from... But still gives her a bottle.

With the dinner wrapping up, Abe collects Summer as the party leaves for the Inn.

Reaching their room in the inn, Summer and Torbin show the rewards of their little sleuthing: Viktors spellbook!

While not happy with the fact that the short-ones were stealing again, Tariel sees the page that Torbin opened the book to. The most viewed pages seemed to be for creating a teleportation circle. So this is how Victor was planning to escape Barovia?


Meanwhile, back in his study, Viktor sits in a tossed room. He may not recall where he left his book, but he remembers the face of the critter that made a mockery of him. If he sees that thing again...

18/04/2025 - 'Drunks and Dolls'

 Leaving the Reformation House, the party headed back to the Blue Water Inn where Ireena resided in their room. The young woman looks anxious and frustrated: the party had told her they were going to look at a toy shop and come back. What happened?

Tariel shows off some of her purchases, telling Tariel that she was tried to find something that reminded her of Ireena. Which reminded Summer: the Kobold taking out the Ireena doll she 'purchased without permission', Ireena was beside herself to say the least! Even more so when Summer mentions that the Captain of the guard, Izak, had many different dolls that resembled Ireena!

Someone made an Ireena Funko Pop! Just had to use it here!

Torbin brings up that select members of the party were invited to a dinner with the Baron, where Izak may also be present. And that Ireena was invited. Considering what the party had told her about the place so far, she wasn't sure if it was a good idea to go. Looking to Abe, Ireena asks if he thinks that Baron Vargas can be trusted. Abe shrugs, unsure how to feel about him considering what he's seen and heard about the Barons son, Viktor, and Izek.

*Intermission as the DM and Torbins player discussed the players business trip to Hawaii.

Meanwhile, Summer and Abe decided to have a backflip competition that broke into a fistfight*

While running around the room to keep away from Summer, Abe suggested that Ireena would be safer staying with the party than staying in town. He slipped up when he said 'You're safer with me' before correcting himself after he realized what he said. Ireena raises and eyebrow at that and the now shy Abe flees from the room.

Heading down to the bar, Abe finds two guards drinking at the counter. When Abe pulls up beside him, one of the guards recognizes him from the Reformation House. They were two of the guards that showed up when Slate was casting magic in the lobby. After taking out grievances with Abe and his antics of interrogating his prisoner, one of the guards ordered him a drink. Curious about the House, Abe asked them if they would rather be interrogated by him or the reformers. The guards both immediately state they'd rather experience Abes torture rather than endure the reformers again. Seeing the traumatic expression on one of the guards faces, Abe gathers that they are terrified of the reformers. Both the guards were former prisoners that had been reformed, both former rebels of Baron Vargas. They tell Abe that resisting the reformers would totally change you. Not in the same way they are, but in far worse ways...

From there, the two guards start asking Abe some questions. Hard to see such a young man leading a strange group! Somehow the conversation turned to women...

Meanwhile upstairs, Summer sits the Ireena doll on the opposite bed to its subject, asking what they should do with the doll. Torbin and Summer discuss about using the doll as bait for Izak, or using it to turn Izak on someone they want out of the way. Fran suggests using it as a decoy, casting Enlarge on the doll to make it life-sized and terrifying the woman even more!

Torbin, Tariel, Summer and Fran all end up agreeing that it would be safer to keep Ireena away from the Baron for the time being. But with the clock winding down to go to the dinner that they said Ireena would be there for, what's the plan?

Fran suggests using a spell to disguise himself as Ireena. He says he doesn't see how this could backfire.

'It's foolproof!'

Summer beside him:

With Fran casting the spell on himself and getting Ireenas approval of the appearance, Francesco headed downstairs to find Abe and the two guards hammered at the bar. Patting Abe on the back, 'Ireena' asks him if he's ready to go. The two guards nudge Abe, asking in whispers if that was the girl he told them about. They encourage Abe to ask her out.

Hiding at the top of the stairs, Torbin and Summer watch as a liquid-encouraged Abe asks 'Ireena' if they could go out sometime. 

'Ireena' just smiles and suggests that they should get a move on, they don't want to keep the Baron waiting after all!

With Abe and 'Ireena' heading outside, Summer and Torbin make their way downstairs with Tariel following after them. Waiting for the party outside, Slate follows after them.

Seeing that Abe is drunk, Tariel uses her divine magic to cure his inebriation and catch Abe and Slate up on the plan. Torbin Wild Shapes into a flea, riding on Summers back as she assumes the dog position as they walk through the streets.

With Francesco teasing Abe now that the Ranger knows it's him in disguise, the party begin their way toward the Barons for an... interesting night.

04/04/2025 - Echoless Reformation : Captives and Choices.

 With their new prisoner in Abes tow, the party find themselves in the streets of Valiki once more with their next destination chosen: The Reformation Center.

Abe tries to talk to his bagged prisoner, but only seems to be getting a muffled response. Guessing that the prisoner is gagged inside the head bag, Slate casts Message on the man to whisper something into his head. Slate gives a small chuckle as the response from the man gives the impression that he has mistaken the spell being cast as divine guidance from the Morninglord! He tells Tariel what the man said to him with a grin, the Paladin not looking too pleased as Slate casts Message on the man again to tell him that the group walking him to the Reformation Center are people he can trust. 

Arriving at the prison-like gate of the Reformation Center, the party are halted by two guards that ask what they are doing with a bound man. Abe explains that the party had been deputized by Baron Vargas and were here to interrogate a prisoner. Being asked for paperwork, Abe produces the letter to the guard who reads that what 'Acting Captain Abe Stoker' has explained is correct. 

With the guards stood aside, the party passed under the archway engraved with the motto 'Reformation and Judgement' and enter the imposing building.

Inside what appeared to be a worn-down lobby, the party find themselves being spoken to by another guard who introduces himself as Andre and demands to see the papers Abe had. Abe hands him the papers and as the guard reads, a shrill scream echoes through the hall from somewhere beyond the room. Abe and Summer, who is still acting like a dog at Abes feet, both shudder as they notice there is laughter in the scream...

The scream is suddenly cut short, Slate turning to the guard to ask what would be happening here to make someone scream like that. Andre snaps at Slate, telling him that 'the help' should not speak while their captain is conducting business. Abe snaps at Andre, telling him to respond to his colleagues inquiry. Andre just shrugs, having no clue nor does he care.

Andre mentions as he reads the papers that his partner with him had once been a 'visitor' of the Center, which has made him a 'proper citizen' of Valiki.

Turning to Abe, Andre tells him to remove the prisoners clothing. As is procedure to avoid 'contamination' with other prisoners. Slate asks if the man would be okay to enter if his clothes are clean.

Andre agrees with Slate, but immediately begins to freak out as Slate begins casting Prestidigitation on the mans clothing. Alarmed at the sight of magic, Andre points at Slate and calls him a witch loud enough for an alarm to go off somewhere in the building and the sounds of loud footsteps from upstairs. The silent guard levels his crossbow at Slate, Tariel stepping between them and stating that what happened was a blessing from the Morninglord. Andre spits at Tariels feet, calling the notion of the Morninglord a children's story. 

As Torbin, Tariel and Fran prepare their weapons for combat and Summer prepares to charge a guard, Abe snaps the entire rooms attention to himself as he pulls rank on Andre and demands that everyone calms down and lower their weapons.

*And now, the PG version of the DMs reaction to his dice roll*

After a moment of silence, Andre rolls his eyes as the guards from upstairs burst into the room with weapons drawn. Andre turns to the guards and tells them that it was a false alarm. Andre approaches them and as they talk, Abe and Slate find the guards eyes staring daggers at them before they head back upstairs.

Andre returns to the party, explaining that only Abe would be allowed to bring weapons further into the building, as he is the 'Acting Captain' here. Tariel joins Abe, dumping her weapons onto Slate while Summer, stilled armed to the teeth, manages to be overlooked as she is the weird looking dog following Abe.

Leaving Slate with Torbin and Fran in the lobby, Abe, Tariel and Summer follow Andre with their prisoner to a small room barely large enough for two people to stand let alone hold an interrogation. After Abe demands a larger room, Andre reluctantly leads the group past cells of prisoners with disfigured or missing body parts before showing them into a larger room with a set of bars on the far wall. Andre mentions that the room they're in is the Reformation Chamber.

 Abe instructs Andre to collect two chairs: one comfy and one un-comfy. For interrogation, of course.

Once the chairs are brought in, Abe asks for Andre to leave. With the door locked behind Andre, Abe gets the prisoner comfortable while Summer stretches her legs and begins looking at the bars at the far end of the room. Beyond the bars, she can only see darkness that makes her more confused considering she can usually see in the dark...

Tariel removes the prisoners bag and gag, the poor man spitting out some teeth as he finally sees his 'saviors'. Using her divine magic, Tariel manages to put the mans teeth back in. The man begins praising her profusely until Abe asks him about a rebellion. The man, introducing himself as Belmore, states that he knows nothing about a rebellion against Vargas but is willing to join or even start one if the Morninglords chosen ask him to. Abe brings up that the man is in prison to which Belmore states that this is where he wants to be to find his wife.

After the death of their daughter, Belmores wife had apparently gone mad and began raving that the Morninglord had forsaken them as she tried to free people in the Town Square Stocks. From there, she was dragged to the reformation house and hasn't been seen since.

Tariel tells Belmore that they will try to find his wife while they are here, wanting to help bring them together once more.

Abe approaches the locked door as Tariel and Summer quickly re-gag and bag Belmore, asking the guard outside the door to have Slate escorted to the room. The silent guard nods and leaves, passing Andre and a well dressed man approaching the room. The well-dressed man asks for Abe to join him in the hall for a moment, introducing himself as Victor Vallakovich, the son of Baron Vargas Vallakovich. Summer tries to slip out after Abe but when the Ranger gently nudges her back into the room with Tariel, she notices magic sigils weaved into the inside layer of Victors robes. With the door closed behind him, Abe asks what Victor was doing in the Reformation Center. Victor is here to speak with the Centers 'Reformers', but had stepped away when he heard that some new people had entered the Center at his fathers request. Victor asks Abe to inform him if Abe discovers any sources of magic within Valaki, or anything magic related for that matter. Abe agrees and Victor bids him farewell, leaving as Andre and the mute guard return with Slate behind them. Sending the two men back into the room with their prisoner, the door is locked behind him. 

Quickly getting Slate up to speed on the situation, Slate watches Summer peering into the blackness across the room from them. Seeing her raise a finger and let loose a small blast of light, Slate notices that the blackness warps like a curtain. Because it is one. Just a large black curtain on the other side of the bars...

Slate takes out his lockpick and attempts to pick the lock, nicking something in the latch and finding a small poison dart shooting into his neck! Tariel uses her Lay on Hands to heal the Rogue of his affliction while Abe tries his hand with the lockpick, also getting it jammed. While Abe leaves the pick in to ask for lock picking advice from Slate, Summer took out her staff and smacked the pick. The hammer and nail tactic seemed to work as the lock popped loose and the door swung open.

The four step past the curtain to see a room with a chair sitting in the center of the room withan  unconscious naked woman facing a large grotesque portrait of Strahd making him look like a truely demonic entity. Along one wall, Slate looks over the various tools of torture lining a row on the shelf below vials of liquid with things submerged within.

Abe flips through a journal set on a table beside some severed horns and tails. He guesses these parts were used as some form of costume, but he sees some of the details of the torture procedure. Seeing a note about the painting being left as the only thing illuminated in the room for the prisoner to focus on during 'procedures'. He reads some points aloud, Slate seeing vials of what he thinks is blood when Abe mentions 'drops in the eyes and mouth'. Seeing that one of the vials is nearly empty, he assumes these are the drops that were mentioned.

Tariel sees the woman and notices a marking on the womans neck similar to something Belmore had mentioned earlier. This is his wife!

The party decide not to tell Balmore that they located his wife, doing their best to keep the room as they found it and Slate managing to lock the door with his pick before Abe and Tariel un-gag Belmore again. They tell him that they know that his wife is still alive and that they have a plan to get him and his wife out, but they need him to stay here for the time being.

Balmore agrees, telling the party that he is going to look for an exit he heard about from a man in the towns church. According to Balmore, the man found a tunnel leading out of the Reformation Center.

Summoning Andre to the room, Abe gave custody of Balmore to the guard before leading the party outside of the Center.

Finally outside again, the party decide that they should regroup with Ireena and get her up to speed. They do need to prepare for a dinner with the Baron after all!

21/02/2025 - Hounding the Mayor

 With the man chained upstairs before Summer and Torbin, the two look at each other then close the door after promising to come back for the man. Getting on all fours again, Summer walks ahead of Torbin toward the stairs as the maid comes into view to retrieve Baron Vargas. The three all stop at the sight of the other, Torbin attempting to pretend to be taking his 'dog' back downstairs. As Summer steps closer to the maid, she screams and Summer bolts for the stairs.

The door to the Barons study opens, Vargas looking unpleased with the weird dog thing still being nearby. With a single word, he commands his dog to get Summer. With the mastiffs bounding after her, Summer races down the stairs with the dogs barely keeping pace with her!


Downstairs in the lounge, Abe and Slate examine the space they find themselves waiting in when Francesco arrives. He'd seen them walking past the tavern toward the Barons and followed after them once he let Ireena know what he was doing. Tariel remains seated, just tired of walking around the town all day and decides to get Francesco up to speed on what they learned from the Wacthers household.

Abe notices a large Heavy Crossbow inside a cabinet with bolts caked in dried blood, A note is tied to one bolt reading 'with this bolt, I killed Dolt'.

Fiddling with the lock on the desks drawers, Slate pops one open and finds an unopened letter addressed to Vasili Von Holts. The man they found fishing by the river the day the party helped the farmer drown himself? Cracking the wax seal of a windmill, Slate opens the letter and sees a familiar name at the bottom.

Seeing that he cannot repair the wax seal, Slate decides to burn the envelope and slipping the note into his pocket as Abe pokes his head out the door of the room when he hears voices outside. Seeing Lady Vargas in the hall, he asks if she had seen a child with a strange dog with him. They were supposed to stay nearby. The Lady says she hasn't and she would ask the other girls, opening the door to the room she was in earlier.

Slate reads another note: one that looks like a receipt for the services of one Zolder Gaia Valkavich, the hunter Slate recalled meeting at the tavern. Looks like Baron Vargas paid them 10 gold for something.

Abe overhears the girls mentioning effigies before he is distracted by the sounds of barking from upstairs. Summer skids into the hallway and sees Abe with the door open, slipping between the young Rangers legs and hiding under a sofa in the room when the Mastiffs reach the bottom of the stairs and race out the open front door in search of their prey.

Torbin is escorted down the stairs by Baron Varas, being scolded by the massive man for Torbin letting his weird dog loose like he did. He guides Torbin to the door to watch the mastiffs looking for Summer before turning to his lounge where the rest of the party await his arrival.

Entering the room, he demands to know why the party is here. He didn't have any appointments for this time! Slate explains that the group are the ones that entered the city the night before.

Varovich recalls the news that a member of Barovias Burgomasters family had entered the city with a group of adventurers that night. He agrees to talk with them briefly as he had other matters to attend to in his upstairs study.

Slate asks about the rules the Baron had in place, Vargas states that they are the only things keeping the Devil out of Valiki. Only happiness can keep them safe.

Abe changes the topic to the Wacther family, asking about the incident between his son Victor and Stella Wacther. Vargas laughs and tells the party that the Wacthers are all old money, the only thing keeping them somewhat relevant in his town. As for Stella, she came to his home and became a raving idiot overnight. He shakes his head, stating that 'if' the girl could be cured, he'd be happy to have Victor and Stella wed and bring both families together.

Fran brings up if it would be worth wedding Victor with the Barovian Burgomasters sister, not mentioning Ireena by name. Abe shoots Fran a dirty glare as Vargas thinks it would be interesting but he still believes Stella would be the best available option .

Fran suggests letting Tariel hold the ceremony, she is a Paladin of the Morninglord after all! That intrigues Vargas, stating that his wife is a devotee to the Morninglord and that the two should meet.

Standing once more, Vargas asks that the one from Barovia that helped the party into the city should come join him for dinner tonight. But right now, he has to return to passing judgement on a blacksmith that dared to break his rules.

Fran asks if the party could help, as they happen to have a renowned interrogator with them: Abe!
Vargas doesn't seem opposed, declaring the deputies while they operate within the walls of his city.

He beckons for Abe to follow him, exiting the room and giving a sharp whistle. His two mastiffs join his side and follow their master up the stairs with Abe in tow.

Seeing Abe with Vargas, Torbin starts to follow until he sees Slate and Fran exit the room as well, turning to join them. Tariel helps Summer out from under the sofa before joining the party in the hall.

The Lady of the House, Sybil Vargas, sees Tariels crest and begins to fawn over the Paladin, the rest of the girls swarming around her and leading her into the room they were making preparations for the upcoming festival. Realizing that the girls weren't interested in them, Slate and Fran grab Torbin and Summer so they can head upstairs and look around while Abe is...

Abe is led into the upstairs study, standing before a battered man chained to a chair in the center. Abe asks about the crime. Apparently he called Vargas and his rules 'stupid'. The balls on this man! Vargas kicks the bound man. Abe beats the man a little before turning to Vargas and asking him if they could speak privately. Vargas gestures to the hallway.

As the two men step into the hall, a door further down the hall closes as Slate, Fran, Summer and Torbin begin rummaging through a bedroom. Seeing some of the books on the shelf, Slate gathers that the room belongs to a kid. Fran confirms this, finding a journal in the bedside drawer with the name 'Victor' scribbled across it.

Out in the hall, Abe asks Vargas for more information regarding his captor. Vargas suspects that the blacksmith tied up in the study could be part of some revolution in the town. Abe ponders for a moment before asking if he and his party could potentially pretend to start a revolution to weed out those who could try to oppose Vargas. Thinking that this could work, Vargas agrees.

Abe suggests letting him and his party take the man to the 'reformation house' so they can begin this plan, Vargas agreeing and suggesting they get the paperwork in order.

With Vargas and Abe entering back into the office, the party exits Victors room and Slate picks the lock on the door to the next room. The walls of the room have dolls lined on the shelves, the party recognizing the dolls resemblance to Ireena.

Is this Izaks room?! The Captain of the Guards room?

Slate opens an ajar chest at the end of the bed, finding some ragged clothes and battered shortsword. Leaving the room and locking the door behind them, the party quickly head back downstairs to the foyer before Abe and Vargas exit the office with the prisoner bound up behind the young Ranger.

Meeting with the rest of the party downstairs, Vargas gives them directions to the reformation house and sends them on their way.

With the prisoner in tow, the party exit the Barons manor...

07/02/2025 - 'Valliki Vices'

Following Ernst through the city streets of Vallaki, the party find themselves in the run down northern end of the city. The only thing worse than every other poorly maintained structure is a large manor in somehow a more worse state than what surrounds it.

As the party draws closer, Abe shudders as he feels hate and distain coming from the house. It's not focused on them but... itself? The vibes remind Summer and Torbin of the Durst house, but for different reasons they can't put their fingers on.

Arriving at the front door of stained glass caked in dust and grime, Ernst opens the door and tells the party to wait as he prepares to announce them to Lady Wachter. As they wait outside, Slate tries to peer through the windows but finds the grime covering them is far too thick to see through. But rubbing some of the grime from the front window, he notices a somewhat familiar view: the mountain that Castle Ravenloft now resides, before Strahds Castle was built there. Wiping away some more of the dust, Slate comments that the house would look incredible if anyone bothered to clean it.

The Rogue jumps back as Ernst opens the door again, revealing the main hall is in a similar state of uncleanliness. As Torbin enters with Summer on a leash, still pretending she is his pet, Ernst stops him and asks that he leaves his dog outside. When Torbin refuses, the butler insists further until Abe threatens to leave the house and bid the Wachters farewell. Not wanting such a hasty end before the discussions can even take place, Ernst rushes off to speak to the Lady of the house.

Turning to Torbin, Summer grumbles that she'll pee on the floor before she gets sent to wait outside.

Ernst returns before Torbin can respond, stating that Lady Wachter has allowed Summer to stay by the gnomes side.

With each member of the party entering the lounge of the Wachters, Ernst gives them each a glowing introduction to the Lady. Except for Summer, they're a pet.

As Ernst leaves the room, Lady Wachter approaches Abe and greets him. She is aware of his family name, but unfamiliar with his or his fathers names and accomplishments.

Turning to Summer and Torbin, she asks why the gnome why he keeps the 'evil' Kobold on a leash. Seeing that the ruse wasn't needed here, Summer stood back up happily.

After formerly welcoming the party to Barovia, Lady Wachter gets wound up by Slate asking about Vallikis Baron which casuses Wachter to talk about how she dislikes Baron Valakovich and his stupid festivals. When she attempted to bring the two family houses together by the union of her daughter, Stella, and Valakovichs son, Victor, but her daughter was returned in a mad state.

She wants Valakovich to be removed from his position as Baron so she can become the Baroness and allow for Strahd to walk these streets once more.

Before the party can raise any questions, Lady Wachter asks them to join her in the dining room for lunch. Once everyone is seated, the party is offered the choice of tea or wine to drink as plates of sandwiches are laid out before them.

Raising her glass, Wachter toasts to Strahd and his beloved Barvoia.

...

The rest of the party remain silent but still clink glasses and mugs. While Summer and Torbin stuffed their faces with food, Wachter talks about Strahd and the time she went to Ravenloft. How she admired the Baron...

Seeing the topic was going nowhere, she asks the party how long they were planning to stay in Valliki and if the girl that helped them get into the city really was the former Barovia Burgomasters daughter.

Abe clumsily attempts to cover that it is Ireena, but Wachter saw through the lie and ponders why Strahd has so much interest in the party.

Slate asks her to get to the point of why the group is here with her right now.

Setting her glass down, she explains that she wants the party to gather some information about Valakovich for her:

- There are lights on in his attic of all hours of the day, why?

- Why does he have Izak, the City Guard Captain, remain so close to him?

- What happened to the people who have entered the Barons manor without ever exiting?

- What did Valakovich do to her daughter?

Torbin looks up from his meal, asking if the partys reward for this job could be their free passage out of Barovia. Wachter laughs with a 'don't we all?'.

Swallowing her sandwich, Summer asks about Izak and his weird arm. Wachter believes that the arm is something demonic that grants him the ability to throw balls of fire from it.

Slate asks if the party can meet Wachters daughter in an attempt to see what may have happened to her. The Lady agrees and calls upon her sons, Karl and Nikolai, to collect the key to their sisters room.

While the sons are away, Torbin asks about the vast wine collection that the Wachters have. He offers to complete the work she asked of them if she is willing to send some of her wine to the Blue Water Inn for the upcoming festival. Lady Wachter laughs and declines.

Abe asks about the Durst family, curious what happened to them. Once upon a time, the Durst family were a famed farming family in Barovia. Until they fell into the company of demon worshipers, around the time that 'the Darkness' come.

Slate asked if 'the Darkness' could have been Strahd, but Lady Wachter doesn't know.

Karl returns to the room and offers to escort the party to his sisters room.

Unlocking the door to the room, Karl allows Slate and Torbin to enter. A young woman crawls on all fours to the bed and climbs onto it, hissing at the new people in her room. She speaks to the two, but she referrers to herself as 'Kitty' instead of Stella.

After some questioning, the party learn that 'Kitty' had just 'started' one day. She remembers Victor being puzzled by her, but he wanted to read a large book rather than play with her. So she left and was caught by the two brothers.

But she refused to give anymore information after Slate used his magic to create a small rubber ball for her to play with.

Leaving the room to join the others, Torbin notices that Stellas mannerisms and speech pattern reminded him of talking to cats...

With nothing else to ask or discuss, the party decide to take their leave. Bidding their farewells to the Wachters, Ernst is sent with them to escort them back to the Inn.

On the walk back to the Inn, Ernst asks that the party keep the condition of Stella Wachter to themselves as it isn't public information. Slate stops Ernst and asks him what his deal is. Ernst explains that he is an intelligence gatherer, for the right price.

As a free piece of information, Ernst explains that souls of those who die in Barovia are trapped and are unable to pass on. And that souls are also unable to be created, leading to some people being born without souls.

Arriving at the Inn, Ernst says quietly that he knows of the parties misdeeds, eyeing each of them before he turns and leaves them alone. Shrugging off the threat, the party stand outside the tavern as they work out their next step. Maybe they should visit Baron Vallakovich?

Deciding that was their best option, the group takes off for the Barons Manor. Arriving outside the manor, they see a man in chains being led inside by two guards. They also notice servants carrying wicker sticks, claiming they were requested by "the Ladyship" possibly for an upcoming festival when Abe asks what they are doing. The house doors are left open, and the party enters cautiously. A feeling of unease settles over them.

Seeing as they're alone in the foyer, Slate begins searching rooms. He finds a feminine parlor with a tea set. In the next room further down, Slate can hear women talking about festival decorations. Another door leads to a storage room filled with vegetables. Nothing outright sinister, but the house still feels off. 

As Slate and Abe begin checking a room beyond the staircase, Summer takes off up the stairs with Torbin giving chase. Reaching the next landing, Summer can hear a male voice is yelling from down the hall. Summer, curious, runs toward the noise and scratches at a door. From inside, a loud gruff dog barks back. A moment later, the door swings open, revealing a man in armor and two large mastiffs. He orders them to sit, and behind him. Summer spot what looks like a library or study, along with a man bound to a chair in the room with two guards standing behind the man.

Torbin quickly covers for Summer, claiming that his 'dog' ran off. The armored man, not interested in conversation, tells the weird child to keep his freakish looking mutt in check before he slams the door shut in the short duos face. Hearing the one of the mastiffs on the other side of the door, Torbin casts Speak with Animals, learning that the mastiff is disappointed that their master wouldn't let them 'play' with Summer.

Downstairs, Abe and Slate are met by a women exiting the room Slate heard the voices coming from earlier. Seeing the two men in the hall, she calls back into the room she was in and a maid comes out to greet the duo. She guides them into the one room they hadn't check in the foyer, leading them into a lounge of sorts that smells strongly of tobacco and alcohol. Slate is startled when he turns and sees a taxidermized bear in the room. Giggling at Slates surprise, the maid tells him that the bear is a gift to the Baron but he likes to claim that he slayed the bear himself. The Ranger and Rogue wait patiently for something to happen.

Upstrairs, Summer and Torbin find a solid, barred door at the far end of the hall. It looks different from the others. Stronger. Meant to keep someone inside. Summer, without hesitation or listening to Torbin telling her to leave it, uses her staff to unbar it. The door opens to show the tiny duo a small, dimly lit room. With a man is chained to the wall.