17/01/2025 - 'Is Not Sad, Is Not Blinsky'

 With the party settling into their rooms for their first night in Villaki, Ireena and her new ward Alan share a room with Tariel. Ireena expresses her concern for revealing her identity so soon upon arriving in Valliki, she feels it was a mistake. Tariel brings up that if Ireena hadn’t done so that the group would be outside these walls to fend for themselves over night.

Blue Water Inn

In the next room over, Slate steps over Summer sleeping on the floor to slip out the door. Passing the girls room, he slips a small chalkboard under their door with the letters ‘BRB’ written on it. Going downstairs to the tavern, the Elf sees a flock of ravens sitting on the beams above before he slips off the bar on the door and exits the tavern. Down on the streets of Vallaki, Slate attempts to slink in the shadows but finds it difficult with the exceptional amount of torches and light illuminating most corners of the side streets.

Back in the boys room, Abe tosses and turns in his sheets as he relives the death of Alans sister. He recalls the sound of her skull cracking under his swords hilt and the scene resets, this time with him skewering her skull with the blade end. Then resets with him slamming her head into a post until she stops crying. Then himself biting her face off.

With the crashing sound of a bell, Abe sits up in a cold sweat and feels something wet in mouth. Touching his lips, he finds blood running down his chin…

Slate looks toward the bell tower before hearing voices call out the phrase ‘All will be well’. Sounded like they were calling out from the guard towers, was this their way of checking in with each other?

Seeing that the buildings he checked were closed up tight, Slate returned to the Inn and making sure he closed everything he opened on his way back to his room.

The next morning, Torbin and Summer wake to Abe cradling in his bed and Slate talking with the shaken Ranger. He tells Slate about what he experienced before going to join the short companions for breakfast.

In the girls room, Ireena tells Tariel that she doesn’t feel safe in Vallaki just yet and wishes to stay in the room for the time being. She suggests that the party should try and find somewhere safe for her to lay low in the city.

Agreeing with Ireena, Tariel leaves to join the other downstairs to discuss it with the party with Allan tagging along for breakfast.

While the party, except for Summer who’s eating under the table, discusses their next step, Allan joins the barkeeps children in their games. As they run around, Slate notices something drop from the ceiling. A bat toy that startles Allan for a moment. The other kids talk about taking Allan to see Blinskys toyshop. Summer peeks out from under the table having heard that name before.

As the kids run out the door, Torbin and Summer both notice a man who was about to enter the tavern turn and step out of sight. Summer suspects that the man might have been observing the party. Heading outside to find the man, the party find nearly the whole street stops and turns to face the adventurers. Seeing the kids running ahead, Summer pulls on the lead Torbin put on her and starts dragging the gnome after them. Abe and Slate follow behind Tariel, still talking about Abes dreams when the Ranger notices behind them that the man they saw before is behind them and tailing the party. Telling Slate, the Elf slips out of sight and follows behind the man.

Turning down an alley after the children, Tariel, Summer and Torbin see the kids look at a store in disappointment before running off again. Slate sees another person approach the man following the party, the two individuals exchange something before the man follows down the alley. Abe hides behind a crate as the man approaches Tariel with a letter, an invitation to a lunch with ‘The Watcher’. The man, who calls himself Ernest, tells the party that the Watchers were the original owners of Vallaki before the current Burgomaster.

Abe rejoins the party, Ernest making a jab at Abes attempt to hide himself from him.

Ernest is confused by Summer, asking Torbin what they are. Torbin says a dog, but Summer makes a donkey noise instead.

Ernest offers to meet the party at the tavern later if they choose to attend the lunch, bowing to the party before leaving. As Slate rejoins the party, Summer points out someone turning the closed sign to open on the toystore. 

Passing under the placards showing the slogan ‘Is No Fun, Is No Blinksy’, the party find themselves surrounded by all sorts of wood carved figurines and contraptions.

Tariel was extremely impressed, picking up and examining a bunch of little figurines as a man in a ragged jester attire approaches the newcomers.

With an exaggerated ‘Wyelcome’, Blinksy introduces himself to the party.

Seeing something moving around on the toy shelves, Slate reached for his knife before he saw the monkey in a tutu land on Blinksys shoulder. The ‘Wizard of Tiny Wonders’ introduces his furry companion as Piccolo. He tells the party that Piccolo was the pet of a friend of his called Rictavo, but the party don’t seem to know the name.

Abe asks Blinsky if he is willing to sell Piccolo to him, but the Toymaker looks offended and asks if Abe would sell a friend. Behind him, Slate and Torbin look at Summer…

Seeing that Abes purchase wasn’t going anywhere, Slate asks if Blinsky is able to make a brass sconce. Blinsky tells him that he doesn’t have enough brass to make what Slate requires.

Tariel picks up a comically accurate looking puppet of Strahd, then notices the mechanism at the back to make it act as a ventriloquist dummy. Sitting it back down, the paladin notices a doll that looks almost exactly like Ireena. Torbin noticed Tariels find and inquires about it.

Blinsky tells them that it is a special order for the Captain of the Guard, Izek.

Apparently he has had dreams of a woman of this likeness and had been forcing Blinsky to create dolls of her for him. But it always seems that Blinsky is off each time, Izek giving him a beating each failure.

Blinsky attempts to draw the parties attention away from the Ireena Doll using a series of dolls that can be squeezed from behind to make their head pop off on a drawstring to pull it back into place.

Torbin kept eyeing the monkey Piccolo, casting Speak with Animals so he can communicate with the little monkey. 

Torbin asked Piccolo why he is with Blinsky, he said he wanted to make Blinsky happy because Blinsky seemed sad. Hearing about the Captain of the Guard, Torbin asked about that was well. Piccolo said that Izak has a really strange left arm, not human.

While Torbin was talking to Piccolo and Tariel was buying a series of toys, Summer had snuck past the group and slipped the Ireena Doll into her pack. She wasn’t a complete monster, leaving 5 gold coins behind in its place.

With Tariels purchases complete, Abe asks Blinsky if he has a toy that could cheer up a boy that recently lost their sister. Blinsky shows the ranger a small toy coffin, which winds up and pops open with a small vampire on a spring popping out, like a jack-in-the-box!

Abe politely declines when Torbin plays a merry-go-round music box, the horses replaced with carved vicious wolves chasing small children and the music gets slightly distorted and depressing…

Slate looks at another music box and notices that the mechanics inside are made of brass.

Weighing the toy and looking at the collection of music boxes, Torbin estimates that there may be enough brass between all the boxes to make that sconce Slate wanted!

Turning back to Blinsky, Torbin asked if he could purchase all the music boxes for a Gold Piece.

SOLD

Torbin then dumps all the music boxes on the floor and breaks some, asking Blinsky to remove all the brass components and smelt them down to make the sconce Slate asked for.

A distraught Blinsky nods, asking for 2 gold for this kind of work. Slate leaned close to the upset toymaker and tells him that he will tell Izak that he is slacking on making the doll he wanted.

‘1 Gold Piece it is then! Please leave…’

Leaving the store, the party start to explore the town and find themselves in the town square. Seeing the dying plant life in the area, Torbin cast a small spell that revived all the plant life around him as he walked.

Hearing some jeering, Tariel and Slate took notice of a set of stocks with people loaded inside them. One man walks past the stocked people and throws a rotten vegetable at one person, turning around to see a glaring Slate inches from his face. The man put his head down and walked away.

Abe and Summer noticed that the posters are being ripped down by a group of guards, one person in particular catching their attention. Standing with his back to them in a wolfskin pelt, Izak the Guard Captain ordered his men to tear down the old posters and put the new ones up. The left arm is out of view, but the two can tell that it is irregularly large for a human.

With some bystanders noticing the newcomers eyeing the Captain, the square seemed to clear a little for the party to see Ernest approaching with what appeared to be a menu for the lunch they were invited to.

Hell with it, we didn’t eat much for breakfast!