Session 31 Report: Investigation Club is a For-Profit Organization

General Summary

Wintersplinter aftermath at Yester Hill

The Investigation Club members left standing, along with their new companion, Beair, observed the aftermath of their planned assault on the copse of plant monsters and what they presumed to be Wintersplinter, seed of the Gulthias Tree. The plant creatures had entirely dismantled, twig forms collapsing, vine forms slumping to the ground. Wintersplinter was still aflame from the oil-fed fire, its writhing roots curling back and branches drying up. Among the flames, Barros noticed an old skeleton reaching toward a wood-hafted battleaxe, blade buried in the tree but somehow unaffected by the fire. The party inspected it noticing its light weight and the intricate pattern of leaves and vines carved into its handle.  

On the way back to the winery

Eventually they turned to head back the way they came. Tavani ran ahead to check up on Red and make sure he was still safe and hidden where they'd tucked him after the battle.   On the way back to their wagon, Barros mentioned he was going to make sure to get extra compensation out of Davian Martikov after this ordeal, after which he and Sergei began arguing about the goals of the Investigation Cub. Barros pointed out it's a "for profit" club and they'll likely never see anyone here ever again after making it back to RUGL so they should make sure to get all they can out of this misadventure. He also made a point to tell Sergei and Beair beforehand that they should try to avoid chiming in when he discusses the fees for their work, eventually compromising that they can "cough" when they're displeased but not say any words.   They meet up with Tavani who had brought Red back to the cart and laid him out inside, showing the rest he was still in a comatose state. The group began to ride back to the winery, Beair practicing with his disguise kit, when Barros receives a message in his head from a familiar voice: Esther El Drago.

Come to Vallaki's inn. Must discuss plans before festival in 2 days. You can respond in twenty five words or fewer. See you soon.

— Esther El Drago

  Barros confirms receipt and replies that they'll make their way back as soon as they can.  

The Wizard of Wines Winery

Once back at the winery the group notices the Martikovs already going about their work: burning the broken plant creatures, repairing damaged tools and furniture, and generally cleaning the aftermath of the siege and battle in their workplace and home. A dwarf on a mission, Barros made his way straight into the house, stepping over piles of the late twig monsters, and up to the head of the household, Davian Martikov, to discuss the further fees they'd need to charge for the job of returning the gem stolen by the druids.   Barros goes into a long and technical explanation of the "expenses" incurred and hardships they "barely survived". To cap of the tug on Davian's heartstrings, he successfully deceives him into believing Red had died on the mission and they had needed to bring in last-minute expensive help from their colleague Beair. Since the family had barely any expenses left after allowing the party to take what they had from the house as they were saving it, Barros began to explain how they could repay them through an equity stake in the winery's business for an extended period of years, only a small percentage of its profits set aside for them to collect or receive via post. Davian is so visibly shaken by the tales and losses and equally relieved by the return of one of the three magical gems, he agrees to nearly anything Barros proposes, noting that at least for immediate payment they can take more from his estranged son, Urwin, back at the Blue Water Inn.   Once on the topic of Urwin and the gems, he recounts why he and his son no longer speak: on watch one night over a year ago, he had failed in his duty and one of the gems was stolen. Several months later they had been fighting about the matter and, both distracted from the night watch, the same thing happened again. With tensions high, Urwin, his wife, and their two children left the winery to earn their own way as a owners of a tavern in Vallaki, his wife Danika's family business, and they hadn't spoken directly since. Taking this as a potential new investigation, the Club said they'd keep an eye and ear out and began to make preparations to head back to Vallaki. Hearing this, Davian asked if they'd be willing to escort Adrian and Elvir, two of his sons, as they made the long-awaited delivery back to Vallaki's inn, to which the Club agreed.  

On the way back to the walled city

Strangely, not a single wild animal or plant creature attacked the group on the way back through the wooded paths toward Vallaki. Also a bit eerie was the uptick in the number of ravens that seemed to glide along with the wagons over the trees. Beair made an attempt at trying to map their path back to the the city, after comparing it with the map from the two hunters though, it seemed something didn't quite line up between the two. Nonetheless, they passed the wreckage of Romanov's wagon and made it safely back to the outskirts of the western gate of the walled city.   Outside the gate, they wagon rolled up to two colorfully dressed men shouting heatedly with the two gate guards, one tall and burly and the other lean and muscular. As they got closer, they could hear more of the argument: the daughter of the larger man had gone missing and apparently could not enter to search because a new law had passed, banning Vistani entry into the city. To the party, it sounded like a perfect job for the Investigation Club.   Sergei called them over, they and Beair making a point to block Barros out of the conversation so as not to introduce any fee haggling to the already distraught father. The tall one, Luvash, explained that his 7 year old daughter, Arabelle, had not returned home in a whole day. His friend, Arrigal, came with him to search the city but the two were barred entry due to some new, unfounded law against the Vistani people. The party immediately agreed to help to Luvash's relief. He described his daughter: human and tanned skin like himself, around 4 feet tall, silvery back-length hair. He also handed over a small pendant, a child-sized necklace with a bronze tab etched with stars, stating it was one of her favorites that he had given her and if shown it, she would recognize he had sent the party if at first she was unsure.  

Vallaki

St Andral's Church

As soon as they made it inside the walls, the group headed toward St. Andral's Church, running into Millivoj sweeping the path in front. Barros asked him to head in and fetch Father Lucian, then brought Beair to the side to warn him of his suspicions that Millivoj was a werewolf. Rolling their eyes, Sergei used a new-found divine power to sense their surroundings. While nothing emanated from Millivoj, they did notice the church and its immediate surroundings were once again consecrated. It seemed the father had completed his hallow ritual using the returned bones of St. Andral to make the church safe once again.   Father Lucian finally comes out and the party recounts to him how Red had fallen unconscious in battle, knocked out by a blast from some of the druids then dragged up to and entangled by weird magical roots at the base of the effigy. Even after resting for the whole day, he had not recovered and they were worried something magical that they couldn't cure might be at play. After all the help they had provided earlier the father easily agreed to let Red stay in one of the unused bedroooms inside the church. He led them into one, the group noting the lightning charred hole in the wall from their previous encounter with the vampire Ludmilla and her spawn, and they laid Red out on the bed. Barros took the loaner warhammer Red had enchanted and given him and left it with Red for when he recovered.   The group chatted with the father for a bit and mentioned Arabelle and the description Luvash had given them. Father Lucian said he recognized the description of Arabelle as one of the children that appeared now and then to play with the orphans the church provided for, but didn't now her or her whereabouts specifically and that the party should check with the other orphans who might have seen her more recently. After some prodding and checking they weren't being listened in on, he also shared that the Burgomaster, Vargas Vallakovich, had passed the Vistani ban only a day or two ago under the pretense that they were in some way involved in smuggling and vandalism relating to the trouble at the late coffin maker's shop.   With some direction from Millivoj, the Investigation Club found the small front yard where the orphans were playing. Some were all running around, some playing games with colored stones, and some playing with strange toys. Upon closer inspection, the toys appeared slightly macabre in nature: a set of marionette skeletons in bride and groom outfits; spiders made of fabric and string; a realistic bat that looked eerily to be toeing the line between stuffed animal and taxidermy. Among the toys, the group also recognized a wooden black horse toy with a fiery painted mane, similar to the one they had found in the childrens' room at the winery with the name Bucephalus and the phrase "Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!" carved into it, and similar as well to the one they had seen Strahd riding atop as he appeared and then disappeared back at Yester Hill. Meanwhile, Beair started to play a fun tune on his lute which worked perfectly in grabbing the orphans' attention. The party described Arabelle and asked after her whereabouts. The orphans weren't sure where she was, but some remembered seeing a weird skinny man with a scruffy beard and straw hat. He smelled like wine but he had toys and told Arabelle to go along with him.  

Blue Water Inn

Finally, the group made it back to the Blue Water Inn and headed immediately up to Esther's room to see what she wanted to share with them. They mentioned Red was hurt and out of commission for now, and went into every detail of their journey to the Wizard of Wines Winery and Yester Hill and all of the trials they'd faced along the way. She mentioned she didn't recognize the white fortress atop a cliff, let alone the lush green fields Strahd had seen in the wall of mist at Yester Hill. She did however share a popular rumor she's heard that the mist there is at the edge of Strahd's domain and is thicker seeming than in most places. It's said if you gaze deeply into it, it will show the place your heart longs to be the most, almost as a mockery of your inability to leave the valley. On the topic of the druids, Esther shares that it kind of makes sense. Strahd is called "The Land" in some circles, presumably because of his magical dominion over the valley. The druids maybe take this literally and worship him as some connection to the land itself. She had not however heard of Winter Splinter or the Gulthias tree. On he new law against the Vistani, she blamed it on the Burgomaster's paranoia and racism, that it was likely a ploy to cover up the vampire spawn at the coffin maker's shop having been able to infiltrate the city and to disallow the Vistani, whom he mistrusted, in one fell swoop. She noted that while the Vistani were mysterious and unusual compared to the every-day Beauverrian, they were likely not in league with the vampires or Strahd. Her hunch was that the suspicion stemmed from the having some magical ability to traverse the fog and actually leave the valley but never allowing other residents to accompany them. The Beauverrians viewed it as suspicious, but Esther thought it could also just be that they couldn't bring others with them for whatever reason.   Esther, impressed by their abilities and even more resolute now in her decision to trust the Club, started to describe her plans to infiltrate Castle Ravenloft. Based on what had transpired at the coffin maker's shop, she believed something might go down at the Blazing Sun Festival a day from now. After that she planned to head to Strahd's castle, Ravenloft, and continue scouting it. She had already begun to map out parts of it and though trapped in some places, it always felt eerily and suspiciously empty and she had not yet been caught from what she could tell. After the scouting mission, she would met the party back at her tower, which she had sketched out on their map. After some discussion about risks, the Investigation Club agreed to be fully bought into her plan to raid the castle and hunt Strahd after her scouting concluded. Everyone agreed to meet up at the festival the next day then again at the tower several days later, or when she sent them another message stating her return.   After concluding their business with Esther, the party quickly asked her about the description of the man the orphans gave them. She mentioned it matched one of the frequent patrons of the bar, so the group headed downstairs to the bar to meet with Urwin to see whether he knew more and to collect the rest of their payment for the wine adventure. They recount to Urwin the whole adventure, Barros going into great detail again about the many hardships they faced, the expenses the incurred, and the fees they would need to charge. He also handed over Davian's letter, stating that the group would need further compensation. After some convincing, Urwin fetched some valuables to provide to the party, in addition to giving them free room, board, and drink indefinitely.   Urwin confirms that the description of the man in the straw hat sounds like Bluto, a local fisherman down on his luck who frequents the bar maybe too often. He told the group Bluto lives up by the north gate to Vallaki, with easy access to head north to Lake Zarovich where he often trekked to go fishing. After chatting, the party ordered "something hard" to celebrate their return and completion and success of their excursion. Urwin brought them all healthy pours of the recently delivered wine, which they all downed as a shot and grew immediately tipsy.  

Lake Zarovich

The Investigation Club headed north toward Bluto's house to see where the man may have gone. They checked with the guards, who were distracted playing cards, and they mentioned they had let Bluto out of the gates to head to the lake for some late night fishing not 15 to 20 minutes or so ago. They hadn't noticed anyone else with him at the time.   They quickly made their way to the lake north of town and noticed a figure on the misty water, rowing out toward the center of the lake with a small squirming shape in the back of the boat. They shouted to the figure which seemed to mostly ignore them, shouting that he had not time and he needed to do the ritual. Shortly afterwards, the figure stood up in the boat and lifted the squirming shape above his head, making to throw it. The group jumped quickly into action. Tavani turned into a crocodile, Sergei cast fly on themselves, and Beair cast sleep. Unfortunately, while the standing figure fell asleep, so apparently did the squirming shape, which tumbled off the side of the boat as the figure dropped to the deck. Ready to go, Tavani and Sergei bolted toward the boat. Tavani rescued the shape and swam it up to Sergei, who tore open the soaking burlap sack to reveal a small girl matching Arabelle's description, asleep and having trouble breathing. A quick slap on the back and Lay on Hands, managed to get the girl to awaken, coughing up lake water. Sergei flew the panicked, yelling, frightened girl back to shore and showed her the necklace her father had given them. To this, she began sobbing calling for her father and asking to go home. Meanwhile, Tavani pushed the boat back to shore with the unconscious Bluto. Barros and Sergei ganged up on the scrawny man, slapping him awake and lifting him from the ground to interrogate him. He clammered through a story that he'd been down on his luck catching anything lately and was approached by a tall, scary, dark-skinned woman who told him the Vistani were lucky and there was "a ritual to take the luck from a Vistani by sacrificing one in the lake", which he was about to perform before the party stopped him. Sergei immediately recognized the description as Ludmilla, one of the spouses of Strahd von Zarovich, whom they had previously fended off when she tried to steal the bones of St. Andral again. After some more ranting and blubbering, they knocked Bluto out and stuffed him in his fishing cart. They then collected Arabelle and started making their way around the outskirts of the city toward the Vistani camp south of Vallaki, where Luvash and Arrigal said they were from.

Rewards Granted

• Haldir's Battleaxe
• sack of 150 ep (each coin bearing the profiled visage of Strahd von Zarovich)
• six pieces of jewelry (worth 250 gp each)
• a small box containing four potions of healing