Session Report 23

General Summary

The ruffians decide to unwind after a busy past few days with some fishing.  On the shores of Lake Zarovich a few lines were casts while others used their means of magic to catch a meal or two. Bartholomew was able to get a mish mash of small lake critters while Carlos and Kif were the real winners with large catches of squid and catfish. After showing off some of their skillz to the local fishermen the ruffians decided to catch up with Rictavio back in Vallaki.
They chatted with Rick and Ezzie for some time, discussing the next move and what they would be doing with the gemstones. The discussion devolved into what each person thought the best move for the gemstones might be.  In this discussion Carlos admitted that he, Bart, and Pablo had been revived by an entity known as the Night Mother(Mommy) after dying by the hags during round 1.  Apparently this entity told the trio that these gemstones were needed in the fight against Strahd. Specifically the night mommy had mentioned brining the three gemstones up to Mount Ghakis.
Everyone seemed alright with the proposition after Rick, Ezzie, and the rest processed the reality of this entity playing a role. Who is the night mother? What does she want? Is she a she? For the time being everyone agreed this was the best route of action. Rick had a few issues with traveling up the mountainside unprepared and so the party of ruffians and gunslingers(+Lars) agreed to take a few days to get a last few preparations, crafting, and training in before heading up to meet this 'Night Mother'.
The ruffians split up with the gunslingers and headed over to the Blue Water Inn with some one on one time with the Martikovs. As the ruffians walked in Carlos split up from the party and headed up high into the Inn's rafters where the ravens stayed. Carlos spoke with them telepathically and discussed the urgency of needing the gems in the quest to destroy strahd. He went over some of the details of the Kill Plan and the Ravens seemed quite enthused that the Morning Lord was sending visions on how to vanquish their overlord. Carlos went along with it and got the 1st gemstone back from the ravens.
With all three gemstones together the party decided to head back for Rictavio yet made a quick pit stop at the Morning Lord Church in town. Carlos was curious about the religion after the Ravens mentioned its deity. Lars pointed out the wooden ramshackle one floor building. Carlos and Kif went inside to talk with the priest yet once Carlos got to the Priest he noticed Kif had decided to stay outside.
After a few lines of questioning Carlos called in his brother Pablo and Bartholomew. He then proceeded to run out the back door(employee entrance) of the church and his two compadres followed. Once the trio were out the back Carlos explained something was not feeling right with the rest of the group. The feeling was mutual among the trio and so they decided to flee for the Mount Ghakis and their night mommy.
With some silent steps the trio was able to make their way out of the city undetected.  They ventured south along the Luna river until reaching the steep mountainside rise of Mount Ghakis. Along the way they commune with the night mommy and head up the mountain with the aid of the gems easing the difficulty in such a journey.
The other three of the ruffians notice their other half gone and quickly start searching about. They find a few boot prints that seem to match the foot and size of Bartholomew. The trio follow the boot prints to the western gate and decide that the three have skipped town with all three gems.
Lars finally catches up after the trio started following the bootprints and the four of them decide to split up. Lars will stop by the tailor in town and attempt to haggle for the fur coats and horse wool coats needed in order to go survive the brutal Mount Ghaki cold. The other three sprint over to Rictavio and tell him and Ezzie of the development. Everyone leaps into action and within 30 minutes the party is packed and ready. After getting the horses steered up and ready the party heads out after the three runaway ruffians.

Report Date

14 Sep 2022