Session 21
General Summary
Notes by Cedric-Self-Saphareon-Bolton. Bolton-Saphareon-Self-Cedric, take a point of inspiration!
With Cedric successfully brought back from the Ethereal Plane the party took a long rest in a temporarily vacant spot in the Abbey of St. Markovia. During their rest, the Abbot himself entered the room with no one the wiser. He (creepily?) stood facing Ireena almost reminiscing in regard to her appearance. He then quietly left, leaving a hint of evidence of his presence. )This demonstrates knowledge of uncommon races seeing as just an hour and Sylvar would be finished with their trance.
After waking Horace checked on the brewing Fympledraught and Sylvar quickly noticed that the room was not as they had left it. Initially, Sylvar communicated this quietly before Ireena picked up on it. A quick task was given to Big Joe so that Ireena could relay that keeping the happy halfing out of the loop would only make things harder and that the job being assigned outweighed the gold with which he was being compensated. Reluctantly the party agreed to catch Big Joe up to speed and view him more as a full member of the group.
Due to the odd nature of the Abbeys layout a run with the Abbot and Vasilika occurred on the way back to Vallaki. Most everyone joined in for a magically appearing breakfast that simultaneously exceeded expectations in flavor but left much to be desired of a full-feeling belly. Agreeing to come back to provide Vasilika social interactions the 5 adventurers headed down the mountain and to Vallaki (as usual skirting and keeping a short interaction with the chatty revenant that guarded the bridge)
Upon arrival several things became evident. 1.) There was no longer a toll levied to enter through the gates. 2.) The area was far far too empty. To discern what the plan for the day was the party headed for the Burgomaster's mansion to see Victor. Talking to the member of Lady Wachter's book club who stood guard at the front door the reason for the ghost town status became clear. Strahd had come for a visit. And wanted to see... us? A brief visit with Victor told us that the ritual that would save Stella would need to occur in the basement of Wachter house, on top of a magical leyline. Leaving Victor as there was still much of the day left before the ritual would be performed Sylvar, Horace Cedric headed to Wachterhaus while Big Joe and Ireena went to the Church of St. Andral.
Outside of Wachterhaus, Cedric called on the mist fiend Self to cast Enhance Ability for the next hour hoping to persuade or feed Strahd a tiny bit of misinformation. Strahd did as Strahd does and made it clear he was in command even with Lady Wachter in the room. A failed Megamind reference left Cedric on the backfoot as Strahd revealed that he knew not just of the Mistfiend inside Cedric but that the two were growing stronger together. Strahd attempted a bit of small talk but the three original trespassers were too nervous or too uncertain of that to say/keep hidden. In the end Strahd said a few important things; he believed our coming here was fate and that we had a part to play in his plans for the future, he needed Arabelle to undo a wrong that had been negatively impacting all of the soulds trapped in Barovia, and that Sylvar, Horace and Cedric were to bring him Arabelle to Castle Ravenloft in three days. Giving us time to "carefully" consider our actions Strahd left likely to return to his fortress while Lady Wachter retired to her bed to sleep before this evening's events. (Do not talk about Arabelle around Lady Wachter)
The party headed to the church to grab Big Joe and got caught up in a conversation with Ireena.
From here that was much debate on how to handle Strahd's request and Arabelle as a whole. Seemingly the best idea present is for Luvash and Arabelle to travel beyond the mists to another realm that is not Ankh-Zlord (Strahd is seemingly gathering information on the current events there which is extremely concerning). In doing so the group would need access to Spell Scrolls of Sending should they need Arabelle's help with the language of prophecy or if they do end up being forced to give her to Strahd. That has yet to be determined and a better idea may arise but first things first. We need to find Arabelle!
With Cedric successfully brought back from the Ethereal Plane the party took a long rest in a temporarily vacant spot in the Abbey of St. Markovia. During their rest, the Abbot himself entered the room with no one the wiser. He (creepily?) stood facing Ireena almost reminiscing in regard to her appearance. He then quietly left, leaving a hint of evidence of his presence. )This demonstrates knowledge of uncommon races seeing as just an hour and Sylvar would be finished with their trance.
After waking Horace checked on the brewing Fympledraught and Sylvar quickly noticed that the room was not as they had left it. Initially, Sylvar communicated this quietly before Ireena picked up on it. A quick task was given to Big Joe so that Ireena could relay that keeping the happy halfing out of the loop would only make things harder and that the job being assigned outweighed the gold with which he was being compensated. Reluctantly the party agreed to catch Big Joe up to speed and view him more as a full member of the group.
Due to the odd nature of the Abbeys layout a run with the Abbot and Vasilika occurred on the way back to Vallaki. Most everyone joined in for a magically appearing breakfast that simultaneously exceeded expectations in flavor but left much to be desired of a full-feeling belly. Agreeing to come back to provide Vasilika social interactions the 5 adventurers headed down the mountain and to Vallaki (as usual skirting and keeping a short interaction with the chatty revenant that guarded the bridge)
Upon arrival several things became evident. 1.) There was no longer a toll levied to enter through the gates. 2.) The area was far far too empty. To discern what the plan for the day was the party headed for the Burgomaster's mansion to see Victor. Talking to the member of Lady Wachter's book club who stood guard at the front door the reason for the ghost town status became clear. Strahd had come for a visit. And wanted to see... us? A brief visit with Victor told us that the ritual that would save Stella would need to occur in the basement of Wachter house, on top of a magical leyline. Leaving Victor as there was still much of the day left before the ritual would be performed Sylvar, Horace Cedric headed to Wachterhaus while Big Joe and Ireena went to the Church of St. Andral.
Outside of Wachterhaus, Cedric called on the mist fiend Self to cast Enhance Ability for the next hour hoping to persuade or feed Strahd a tiny bit of misinformation. Strahd did as Strahd does and made it clear he was in command even with Lady Wachter in the room. A failed Megamind reference left Cedric on the backfoot as Strahd revealed that he knew not just of the Mistfiend inside Cedric but that the two were growing stronger together. Strahd attempted a bit of small talk but the three original trespassers were too nervous or too uncertain of that to say/keep hidden. In the end Strahd said a few important things; he believed our coming here was fate and that we had a part to play in his plans for the future, he needed Arabelle to undo a wrong that had been negatively impacting all of the soulds trapped in Barovia, and that Sylvar, Horace and Cedric were to bring him Arabelle to Castle Ravenloft in three days. Giving us time to "carefully" consider our actions Strahd left likely to return to his fortress while Lady Wachter retired to her bed to sleep before this evening's events. (Do not talk about Arabelle around Lady Wachter)
The party headed to the church to grab Big Joe and got caught up in a conversation with Ireena.
From here that was much debate on how to handle Strahd's request and Arabelle as a whole. Seemingly the best idea present is for Luvash and Arabelle to travel beyond the mists to another realm that is not Ankh-Zlord (Strahd is seemingly gathering information on the current events there which is extremely concerning). In doing so the group would need access to Spell Scrolls of Sending should they need Arabelle's help with the language of prophecy or if they do end up being forced to give her to Strahd. That has yet to be determined and a better idea may arise but first things first. We need to find Arabelle!
Report Date
22 May 2025
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