The Festival Begins
General Summary
Excerpt from Seir’s Little Black Book (Session 2/18/20): Penned in Borokin’s hand, via dictation
We approached the inn. Irwin was setting up decorations at the bar, and two guys at a table (Irwin identified them as the Wocter boys?) were drinking some spirits. O went to look in their cups and figure out if they were having anything interesting, Thoradin joined them in a more straightforward manner, asking them what they were having. Supposedly they’re fermenting whatever they can (feed grain?). Thoardin asked them about the festival, all they said is that everyone needs to participate in the festival. Apparently the festival is something new every week, and they have no idea what it’ll be this time. Last week it involved wolf heads on pikes, last month it had to do with ravens. I talked to Irwin. He told me that his family made it into town, and they’re now staying in the abbey. I asked him about the festival. He cast some glances about the town, and, once sure we were safe, told us some stuff. The baron, in his misguided attempts to keep the town safe from Strahd, thinks that an overabundance of happiness will keep the town safe. He has increasingly invested in this idea over the years, to the point that there’s a festival nearly every week. Apparently, as visitors, we will receive extra scrutiny. The festival will last through the weekend (damn), and apparently we’ll definitely get some funny looks if we leave during the festival. Back with the Wocter boys, they said that they were on bonfire duty. Rictavio walked into the room and ordered a drink. He asked us about how we were doing. Khaylen walked up and gave him a handshake and tried to chat with him. He told us that he has only been here for a month, but I’m not sure I believed him. After securing lodgings at the inn, we all got together and decided to head to the seamstress. We talked about maybe trying to convince the seamstress about making the wedding be a part of the festival. Sorry, I was just giving you a hard time, Borokin. We had a brief discussion about whether or not vampires poop, and upon arriving at the home of the seamstress, in the town square. Illyana was a short woman with long black hair. She immediately identified the fact that we weren’t from the area, but did seem to be the correct person to talk to. I delivered her the letter. She said that she didn’t have enough time to make a dress from scratch, but could do something with an already-made dress. We told her about the “wedding”, and Letho said that you were his son. There was another woman in the shop. The older middle aged woman said that she may have had a dress that she could offer to us- she seemed quite taken with O. I may or may not have lost it at that point, and may have run over to her, shook both of her hands, and thanked her profusely. She handed us a letter, which she said would grant us access to her manor. We asked her where she lived, and she told us that she lived in the north of villacki. She told us to come by after the day of setup for the festival (she gagged a bit when saying the name of the festival). Apparently, she had a book club meeting. She told me and O that it would be particularly interesting to us. Perhaps it had something to do with us being tieflings? Alas, I cannot read the book. Letho ran out after the woman and forced some money into her hands. She refused it, however, and instead put some gold pieces in Letho’s hands, saying that she was worried for him. Khaylen is helping out the tailor and trying to sus out what she’d like, Zin and Thoradin are going to help out at the Blue Water inn, O is gonna wander the streets to help people cook, Letho is going to the blacksmith. To get his sword silvered. And to eat cheese. At the blacksmith, Letho played up his blindness a lot. The blacksmith seemed a bit concerned at the thought of giving the blind man a lethal weapon, but he agreed to help work on the sword. Supposedly smoothing the silver over the blade could get done in a few days, after the festival. Letho gave him 20 silver pieces. Zin and Thoadin dealt with decorations with Irwin. They looked at the inn brewing equipment. O saw square of people setting up supplies to do things. There was a child selling some pies, but there wasn’t anyone visibly making the pies around. Apparently they were being sold for the orphanage. O told them she was also an orphan, and that she wanted a pie. They had an amicable chat, and O had a pie. It smelled quite good. O then helped the people in the area cook. As we helped the seamstress, Khaylen asked what the flyer meant by bringing our children. As children are the source of the most pure joy in the world, they increase the town’s average happiness. Khaylen also asked about who the lady who helped us out with the dress was. She was Lady Wockter, a powerful woman apparently diametrically opposed to him. Apparently being friendly with her will not make us popular with the baron. She thinks that we don’t need be freed from Strahd, but instead must learn to coexist with him. The tailor doesn’t know of Lady Wockter’s book club. As we all finished our tasks for the day, we met up at the town square. In the middle was set up a large wooden effigy of the sun, covered in oil as if to create a massive bonfire. Khaylen tried to reach around inside the effigy of the sun to see if anything was in there, though she didn’t find anyone. As we stood in the crowd, everything grew quiet, and the baron and his family (woman, child, two large dogs) appeared, accompanied by some guards, along with the captain of the town guard, a man with a devil hand. As far as I know, the devil hand is some sort of magical effect, not his limb- perhaps some sort of curse or a boon? I wonder how a man with such an obviously sinister-looking limb could maintain popularity in this area? They seem quite prejudiced against that sort of thing. The baron began to deliver a speech- Khaylen started clapping, which made everyone else in the crowd start to clap, a little confusedly. Letho and I stood towards the front of the crowd, while everyone else hung towards the back. Those in the back noticed the Wockter boys, somewhat drunk, slip off, heading east. They were all too curious about the festival to follow them. As the man was about to drop the torch, we saw a tiny man, perhaps knee-height, with wings, a tail, and what seemed to be small horns, dart up, as if to grab the torch, before it hit the effigy. Before the baron dropped the torch, there were screams. And, after those screams, a roar.
Report Date
08 Nov 2022
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