Session Two: Everything's Happy When You're in Vallaki!
General Summary
The party set out to investigate the foreign town of Vallaki, beginning with gathering information from the local townsfolk and merchants that seemed to be setting up for a festival. They learned of the following areas which made up the town.
Two locations piqued their interests more-so than the rest, the church and the camp. They learned the following during the course of their investigations:
The Forbidden Camp, also known as "The Vistani Camp", is home to the Vistani, people that the Vallakian's claim are devil worshipers of Strahd and should never be meddled with. Entry through Vallaki is strictly forbidden due to laws that decree if neither party engage, both will remain peaceful.
St Andral's church is home to an ancient relic that claims to protect the town from Strahd's minions. Their deity is one named "The Morninglord", who is said to have gone quiet in recent decades. Still the priest, Father Lucian, stands by his belief that with enough devotion, he will one day return to shine light upon their town.
Upon entry into the church, Xaethriell collapsed with no visible signs of harm. Blaidd Laurent was swiftly able to make the connection that he must be susceptible to the effects of the relic somehow, and thus deduced that he could potentially be of the undead. To his credit, Xaethriell confided in secret that he was in-fact a vampire and pleaded Blaidd's silence in exchange for knowledge.
The group bought their findings to Danika Martikov, who had heard word from her scouts regarding the conversation between Xaethriell and Blaidd. Now faced with housing their natural born enemy within her sanctuary, the in-keep bore her tongue and kept her silence to avoid stirring unnecessary conflict, for the time being. She assigned the party rooms as promised and arranged to meet them over supper. That evening, the party, who have decided to call themselves "Bite Club", divulged their letters to one another and invited Danika over to discuss their contents.
Lysette's letter contained the hidden message: "Krezk": a place where Danika confessed her family originated from. Her mother was suspected to have remained, despite the fact that the town has been rendered abandoned in recent years. It is also home to their family heirloom, something, which similarly to the relic of the church, protects them from Strahd, and is hidden within the abbey there.
Mordecai's letter contained the hidden message: "Berez": where an old witch is rumoured to reside. She has been nothing but trouble to Danika's organisation, and none which venture typically emerge alive. That is, save for a cult who seem to frequent the land. Danika advised great caution.
Cedar's letter contained the hidden message: "Find the Mill": which Danika written herself within the words that the Count had scribed upon the page. There has been suspicious activity and disappearances as of late, which lead them to believe there is something worth investigating in a landmark to the east called "The Old Bonegrinder Mill".
Blaidd's letter, written by Danika, highlighted a "Wizard's tower" which may contain valuable information that not even she is knowledgeable of. Her organisation has looked high and low in archives, reports and even children's stories to find a wizard who shares the name of the tower: Van Ritchen, though nothing has ever been found.
Xaethriell's letter contained a hidden message advising him to seek out a place known as "The Amber Temple". Danika grew cold, unaware and unbelieving until now that such a place even existed. It is said to be the birthplace of power, courage and knowledge, spoken only of in folklore. If a temple to that description was truly a real place, it was not to be taken lightly.
In addition, Bite Club found themselves accepting a rather spontaneous quest in order to avoid the festivities of The Wolf's Head Jamboree- yet another one of The Festivals of Vallaki orchestrated by the Baron. A man named "Devain" seemed to be withholding the Blue Water Inn's supply of coffee, which was overdue by almost a week. Mortified by the thought of engaging the man himself, Urwin was more than happy to oblige the parties offer to go in his stead.
Our adventurers leave at dawn. What horrors will await, they wonder...?
