Session 02: Leaving the Village

General Summary

A Quite Morning

• The party starts their day with some shopping at Bildrath's Mercantile to get some overpriced supplies!
• Kerberos also manages to persuade for a discount on some of the goods, against all odds.
• Madame Hallelujah is still shaken up after Doru's death so she does the responsible thing and gets drunk.

Journey to the Tser Pool Encampment

• The journey from Tser Pool is mostly uneventful. If you ignored the very drunk Madame H.
• But the party comes across the River Ivlis Crossroads, which has gallows and a small graveyard.
• Around this time Maisie says fuck it and cures Madame H of being drunk.
• The party finds a small bundle underneath the gallows containing a bundle of Barovian garb (for an adult humanoid).
• As the gang moves to follow the trail to the encampment, a creaking from the gallows draws their attention to a corpse that was not there when they arrived.
• For Madame H this appears to be her own body, spooky!
• With nothing else to see, the gang presses forward.

The Tser Pool Encampment

• The party arrives at a Vistani encampment, they are told that Madam Eva is expecting them but they are encouraged to hear a story first...
• They are also welcomed to spend the night in the encampment, safe from the dangers in the woods.

"A mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you’re standing. A very charismatic man, he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil Strahd. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle en masse. When the vampire appeared, the wizard’s peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again.   The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other. Their battle flew from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard’s magic couldn’t save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death. I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard’s body, to see if, you know, he had anything of value, but the River Ivlis had already spirited him away.”

The Party's Fate

• The party receives their readings. It seems they are not the first group of adventurers who have found themselves in Barovia.
• For the full reading, check the discord server and/or the linked article (need to be logged in to view).
• Maisie got some guidance on her sister; she is alive but has been corrupted in some way.
• Kerberos sought guidance but was told by Eva that she can only help for matters in Barovia, as that is how far her sight extends.
• Madame H got some guidance, was basically told to remember her roots and leave her heart open for new opportunities/connections
• She also told Skeleton Archer that his fate is now open, as a new but unknown path lies before him.
• Maisie also tries to sus out the fortune teller's true nature before deciding against it

Night at the Encampment

• Immediatley after, the party tries to sus out the reading.
• They try to discern how a card named innocent may be tied to "evil's bride"; and if the person needs to be innocent.
• Y'all also come to believe that Ireena is this ally destined to help in the fight.
• At least one person offers to take Ireena's virginity, she politely declines. Maisie recalls that the ritual The Count may be doing doesn't relly on the prospective consort being a virgin, that is a matter of preference!
• Kerberos also reveals he's a virgin, good for him!
• There is the general consenses that you will need to keep exploring Barovia some more to make sense of this reading.

Strange Encounters in a Strange Land

The Trees are...Alive...?

• After that enlightening night, the party makes their way towards Vallaki!
• We also get treated to our first random encounter, a bunch of Needle Blights come out and a fight breaks out...
• Maisie triggers a Twist of Fate which leads to 30 frogs silently watching and following her.
• Kerberos tries to hit some before he's overcome with the delusion that he is Strahd.
• Madam H, Skeleton Archer and Garreak fuck it up! With Skeleton Archer showing off his spooky arrow skills!
• Shortly after the fight Madam H starts acting...odd. Kerberos tries to bite Ireena before twilight vampire running off into the woods

Be Wary of Kindly Grandmothers and their Mincemeat Pies!

• As though the day couldn't get any weirder, the party is approached by an elderly woman on her way to the Village of Barovia peddeling a cart full of tiny mincemeat pies.
• She introduces herself as Morgantha and tells the party that she's selling Dream Pastries, fresh for 1gp a pie!
• Kerberos buys some for the party, Madame H immediately eats hers and falls into a trance.
• The party goes to confront the old lady, but she disapears...leaving behind a cart of rotting treats.
• The party then approaches a delapitated windmill, assuming that she may have headed in this direction.
• Maisie talks to a raven, that informs her a coven of hags live here and they currently have two children in their clutches. Also that it is very dangerous.

The session ends with the party preparing to enter the delapitated windmill, ready to rescue some children and maybe fight some hags (or they could just be old ladies and the raven was sexist/ageist).

Session ended at 12pm 15/9/735; 14th of Sintavr, 735