Session 27 report

General Summary

Catching up with Ricky boy

Fassi asks why Van Richten is in the tower
He tells her he fled Vallaki when Wachter took over.
He is also concerned about the Vistani as they have "somehow" found out that the slaughter that happened was not done by wolves.
He is introduced to Isabell as a friend of Esmeralda.
Isabell notices Van Richten is wearing Esmeralda's necklace and points out that hers is matching.
He learns of Markadoo's death
He tells the party that they are welcome to stay in the tower with him.
He informs them that the Vistani are searching for him and that he needs to recover his tiger.
Kriz asks what they will get in return for recovering the tiger.
Rick tells him that "Kitty" is obviously a valuable ally.
Fassi mentions how cool a performance with a tiger would be.
Rick's eyes light up.
R: Yes!, they already suspect Rictavio but if we return in the guise of a Fassi performance we could kill more of them!
The skeletal cats are there too.
Rick learns that Ireena has been taken by Strahd.
One of the skeletal cats are licking their privates, while the other is scratching some furniture.
The party think about how they can get the tiger back. They deem the plan the "pussy heist"
During the discussion Isabell is recruited into Fassi's band.
The party hear a loud bird noise.
Quill looks outside and sees a "fuck off massive bird" in the distance flying from the south west but not towards the tower.
Fassi dress Krish in a big floral bush outfit.
Quill gets dressed in kiss cat face paint
Isabell wears a smiling silver mask
Fassi wears a plague doctor mask
Rictavio asks if they are going now or if they are going to rest first.
He mentions that it might be a bit cosy but if they spent some time they could probably rerinforce the other tower floors.
Rick makes it known that he would like to keep the top floor to himself.
Krish asks about the tower defenses the rick mentioned.
Rick lets them know that:

You can't use magic in the tower

If you don't perform the correct dance moves outside the tower, a dragon may appear if they fuck up the dance moves.

The tower has a lightning defense set up which zaps at the cost of its integrity.

Rick learns that the party know who the keepers of the feather are.
The party are hesitant to give him information on them but Krish eventually tells him who the members are.
The party then fill him in on everything they know about the keepers.
He reasons that he could probably just go and talk to Danika about retrieving the wagon.
Quill also realises she has a tankard of Markadoo's milk.
It was noted that the items still on Markadoo's person when he was burned were:

The cow yoyo

A mirror that he stole from Strahd's castle

farm deed.

However the shiney dancing shoes are intact.
The party give these to Rick so he can show to Danika that he knows the group.

Quill provides some milk and draws a portrait of Blinsky as the burgomaster

On the back Fassi writes "We know who the real burgomaster should have been."
Fassi and Kriz hand over their mini portraits. Fassi autographs them.
He will mention that they were the saviours of the seed.
He is still pretty concerned about the vistani catching him and asks Fassi to diguise him.
She does.
He has face paint in the colours of his wagon and also defined cheeks.
"warpaint and rouge, perfect".
He tells them that they have free reign of the tower but to not look in the chest at the foot of his bed.
The remove their curiousity he mentions that it is the severed head of a vistani that he talks to sometimes.
He gets the party to agree with him that the vistani are wretched.

Then heads off.
The party agree that Rictavio is weird and are now unsure of him.
The party decides to spend some time restoring one of the tower floors before a full rest
They then plan to go to Berez as they feel like they can find some more allies there to stand against Strahd.
Isabell wonders if Strahd is able to get into the town.
As they finish fixing the floor they hear a horse and cart arrive.
It is Rictavio back with the wagon.
Everyone sleeps.
In the morning as they are leaving they hear Kitty sleeping in Ricatvio's wagon (which is now aqua yellow and red).

To Berez

The gang travel towards where they believe Berez to be.
The travel is uneventful.

They travel down a poorly maintained path beside a river.
Up on a nearby hill there appears to be a mansion.
The trail hugs the river for several miles. The dirt and grass soon turn to marsh as the trail dissolves into spongy earth pockmarked with stands of tall reeds and pools of stagnant water. A thick shroud of fog covers all. Scattered throughout the marsh are old peasant cottages, their walls covered with black mildew, their roofs mostly caved in. These decrepit dwellings seem to hunker down in the mire, as though they have long since given up on escaping the thick mud. Everywhere you look, black clouds of flies dart about, hungry for blood.
The fog is much thinner on the far side of the river, where a light flashes amid a dark ring of standing stones.

Isabell uses detect magic.

It is very hard to see through the fog.
The party see a flashing light through the fog.
The ground is marshy as the party proceed.
After some time wading through the fog, Quill comes upon a ruined cottage.
Quill can see rotted furnishings.
The party moves on and continues towards the light.
They walk past more ruined cottages which don't appear to have anything salvagable.
As they progress they come across a scarecrow. It also becomes apparent that there are lots of flies around.
Soon after passing the scarecrow the party hears a bunch of goats.
Quill: Guys... we need to get to the goats!
The party still think the light is a better option.
Quill really wants to see the goats. "If this ruins my opportunity to find a goat and get some milk i'm going to be mad!"
Kriz "We can find goats anywhere, we can only find a flashing light in the middle of the fog once right?"
Quill: Let it be known, I didn't want to go to the flashing light first... hmph".
The party find that there is no way to get to the light without crossing a river.
Fassi suggests she can fly though she doesn't like the idea.
There is discussion as to whether or not she should fly to look at the goats or to look at the light.
Isabell gets a long stick and pokes it into the river. His stick is three feet and he doesn't feel the bottom.
They do notice that as they approach the light the shaking gets more vigourous.
Quill doesn't want to cross the river as she was involved in a boat accident.
Fassi volunteers as she is the "leader of this little troop".
The group await her return.
Quill relays that a boat she was on was attacked by a kracken and then she saw the invitation to Barovia in the tavern that she entered afterwards.
Fassi returns and lets them know she met a keeper of the feather on the other side that she had not yet met.
Her name was Murial.
She got the following information:

Berez was abandond long ago after the water rose and flooded the village

The scarecrows are murderous creatures

They are under the control of a hag who lives in the area.

Isabell reckons that the hag probably lives up the cliff with the goats on it.

The hag sometimes sends her scarecrows to attack the winery.

The party feel like they need to solve that problem as the winery is important to them. They recon that the hag could have another seed.
The party hunt down the scarecrow they found earlier and kill it.

Report Date

02 Jul 2024