Session Four: "I can't believe I missed her... Danika's sister..."
General Summary
Our party agrees to aid Urwin in his search for his wife. After all, nightfall in Vallaki is perilous, much more-so in the outer world. He evicts the regulars from the inn in order to shut down outside access and sends his sons to scout the skies while he does an aerial lap of the border. Doubt lines his words, however Urwin pleads that he believes Danika isn't stupid enough to leave their village on the verge of nightfall.
Half an hour passes without a trace, before Urwin returns to the Inn and sounds the call for Brom and Bray to return to his side. Unexpectedly, a third man appears across the tables: Elvir.
"Open the gates, dear brother~"
He gestures with a wink. Urwin hesitates a moment, before fleeing to the gates of their town and lifting their protective iron. Mere moments pass before onlookers are swept from their feet from the sheer speed that a rather impressive black stallion races past. It's destination appears to be The Blue Water Inn. Hot on it's tail are a veritable army of the undead, which are trapped outside upon Urwin closing the gates once more.
The forefront rider is Adrien who had bought enough cavalry for three riders and three passengers. Prior to their venture to Vallaki, the two brothers had decided to investigate the path leading onto Old Svalich Road, searching for answers as to why the party had arrived unscathed from outside attack. During their watch, both bore witness to a raven being shot from the sky overhead of the wolves den, falling at an alarming rate toward the woodland below. They feared the worst and so conjured a teleportation spell between them to send the bird to Krezk, on the off-chance that it was one of their own. They'd soon after received word from an old family friend who resided there: Viorela Campbell, Danika's mother, who had informed them that it was indeed her daughter who had materialized in human form outside of the abbey, uttering only the words: "Yang's crystal" before succumbing to unconsciousness. Given the nature of their conversations with the party that morning, Adrien and Elvir assumed that this was somehow related to their family dilemma and that the 'crystal' in question may be one of those long lost. Danika's incapacitation meant that the only person they'd derive answers from could possibly be their brother- hence their rather sudden appearance. Of course, both had opted to keep Devain in the dark for now in order to avoid the possibility of an all out civil war.
Adrien confesses that he would usually be content with leaving such a journey until dawn, however the gravity of the situation appears to be urgent from all sides. He also no doubt believes that the party will have questions for both Danika and Viorella, once the former has come around- and so offers them safe passage on horseback. Lycanthropes would need to utilize their shape-changing prowess to make room for those less fortunate.
The party elects pairs as follows:
Adrien (R) and Mordecai (P)-and they set off immediately to the abandoned village of Krezk, traveling through the woodland connected to Lake Zarovitch to avoid encountering the creatures pursuing Adrien on the way in.
Urwin (R) and Lysette (P)
Cedar (R) with Xaethriell (T) and Blaidd (R) with Elvir (T)
On the last leg to the village, dozens of gargoyles reared their heads to engage the riders. Adrien, Elvir and Urwin defended the gates, demanding that the party head north to find a house connected to a lake which oversaw the abbey, however the disoriented party struggled to navigate the mists and took close to ten minutes to find their destination. A house that fit the environmental description was signposted "The Campbell's". This name matched that of Blaidd's late fiance: Sabine, and so he was left with crippling doubt upon approaching the door.
The woman there to greet them was indeed Danika's mother, Viorela. Danika lie inside, resting on a wooden table with a bandage tight around her waist. Once upon a time, this bandage was fresh from a packet, pure as white, however now, it leaked through a concerning amount of blood. The offending weapon lie next to her, an arrow with a head that the Lycanthropes of the party were quickly able to identify as pure silver. This resulted in a wound that could not be healed by any form of magick other than that of time.
Viorela refers to her daughter not by the name assigned to her at birth, however by her childhood nickname "Yin." Upon being questioned, the woman reveals that she had two daughters, one as black as night, her Yin, and the other, now passed, as white as snow, Yang. Blaidd can't shake that this isn't a major coincidence, and so inquires in private as to the birth-name of Viorella's late daughter, who is none other than his Sabine. He pushes for further knowledge, however Viorella refuses to confide with him unsupervised in good consciousness that she knows of his true self.
Her mother confesses that everything Danika has ever done for their family has been done in complete blind trust and admiration. She is described as naive, though not stupid by any stretch of the word. Viorela believes that her daughter is brave to a fault- blindly avoiding her discomfort toward whatever is asked of her and doing so without a fuss.
She explains that The Keeper of The Feather are not alone and that there is another organization who works symbiotically beside them. This group takes a far more offensive stance and work to eliminate the Curse of Strahd themselves. The Keepers are blind to their existence and it should remain that way. By her own admission, Viorela states that her daughters were two sides of the same coin, as Sabine was a part of said organization, and that there are many secrets between the girls where Danika had believed there were none. They were soulmates, as in love as two siblings could be. It would crush Danika to know that truth- as would the reason why she was ordered by her mother to travel to another world and dig her sisters grave to retrieve her bones...
Before her death, Sabine had begun holding a man she called "Master" to a very high regard. This woman never was one for understanding hierarchy or falling in line with authority, so this struck Viorela by surprise. Regardless, she opted not to voice her concerns. After her passing, her mother received an otherworldly vision from a man who refereed to himself in the same fashion- ordering her bones be bought back into his possession and restored inside of the Amber Temple. This was how Viorela became knowledgeable of her Sabine's passing. The request was obscured, however she felt herself unable to decline. Her childhood friendship with Devain meant that she was all too familiar with the after effects of a charm spell- and figured that it may have been a more divine form of something such as that.
Unable to complete the request herself, Danika went in her mothers stead without a fuss. For over a decade, Viorela has harbored a dark secret that she pleads the party never to allow her sole surviving daughter to find out: that if her beliefs are to be warranted, Sabine may be alive after all, sealed within those temple walls. However, she, nor anyone, has felt even a whisper of her presence since she was lost to them.
The room fell silent, and Blaidd excused himself without so much as a brief word. By this point, Urwin and his brothers had arrived at the house, the former on his knees and cradling his wife's hand in hopes to comfort them both. She was slowly coming around to consciousness as shown by the weak squeezing of the hand within hers. However, once the party had followed Blaidd into the front room, his unbridled emotions got the better of him. For the first time, our party witnessed his transformation.
Urwin took initiative, pulling Elvir down to usher a plan which involved taunting the primal beast and giving him something worthy of being considered supper to chase until his emotions had quelled. With the threat removed, at least for now, everyone's gaze turned on the slowly rising Danika.
Danika is able to speak through the unbearable pain enough to explain her actions, knowing full well that it wouldn't excuse them. She too had a similar revelation as Urwin. Despite her better conscious, she couldn't bring herself to admit having feelings that her sister was a thief in the presence of Blaidd.
That night, Sabine had asked Danika if she’d like an innocent trip to the farm, as she somehow knew that Urwin would be on watch. She, of course, agreed, infatuated by her beloved, however Sabine warned her that it would be perilous to fly alone at night and that she would like to accompany her. Danika knew that Urwin had a duty, though to what at the time she didn’t know. She was fearful of presenting a negative impression of herself to the rather noble Martikov family, of whom she knew her mother had a great relationship with- and so helped Urwin keep watch while simply enjoying his private company. Sabine assured her that she’d be fine to return home and would do a quick 360 of the area from above to make sure that she’d be safe to return. Sabine promised to tell their mother that her sister was safe and would be spending the night with Urwin. Danika stubbornly watched Sabine do the rounds, safe in the knowledge that she would return unscathed. As morning broke, the tireless couple retired to Urwin's room to engage in, well, what couples engage in, and were rather rudely awoken by Devain bursting into their room to declare that one of their crystals had been stolen. Devain naturally found it alarming that Danika had appeared uninvited- and blamed Urwin for shirking his duties to fornicate with his beloved. The couple had both blamed themselves for years: Danika for stealing her husband's attention and making Devain develop such a well favored argument- and Urwin for allowing his heart to overwhelm his duty. Neither elected to remember Sabine having been there that night.
Danika fled for fear of Blaidd being in her presence. After all- he is the last thing she has left of her sister- her soulmate- and by being in a situation where Sabine would be accused of such a heinous crime, she was fearful that it would shatter Blaidd’s perception of her. She wanted answers from the one person who knew Sabine better than her: their mother.
It is revealed that the grievousness of her injury means that Danika will be unable to fly, much less transform, for a significant period of time- two weeks at a minimum.
Meanwhile, Elvir continued to fly laps around the abbey in hopes that he would tire out the still very primal were-wolf on his heels. Eventually his efforts bore fruit. Along with the rest of his party, Blaidd settled down for the night in one of the abandoned houses in Krezk, each having been thoroughly checked and cleared by the able Keepers.
Morning broke and slumber began to retreat from Bite Club. Most awoke relatively refreshed, however both Mordecai and Lysette appeared to have an identical scar scorched upon their palm- something that definitely wasn't there when they lay their heads to rest. Still, they keep their silence, for now. Urwin suggests that it could be vital to stop off at the farm before heading home to Vallaki, in hopes that by giving Devain a brief run down of their findings, the relationship between them may yet be salvageable. After all, they may have less time than they thought...
Devain confesses that he is willing to listen, however can only truly forgive and forget if Urwin and his companions can restore that which was taken from them. He is understanding that this won't be a job that can be completed in any short amount of time, however if they truly are hellbent on discovering the secrets of Barovia and taking down the curse, he would be greatly appreciative of their aid in looking for their crystals along the course of their journey. For now, our party is to return to Vallaki, reinforce their borders and ensure that all is well. Devain doesn't miss out on admitting that despite how much he hates his third born, if anything were to cripple Urwin's home and ultimately him, he couldn't bear the loss of another child.
As Bite Club begin their journey home, suddenly remembering that they'd left the Blue Water Inn in the (not so capable) hands of Brom and Bray, they for the most part don't notice any differences. That is, however, other than Xaethriell. Mere hours ago, the air in Vallaki made his skin crawl, possibly an effect radiating from the relic said to protect the city from within the church. Upon their return, he feels a little too...
...normal...
