2/2/21 - Session 1 "Mysterious Strangers"

The party begin in Daggerford, the Duchess Morwen of Daggerford invites them to the Keep for dinner. She explains that the circusfolk have been causing trouble with the townsfolk. She explains they have been asking for wine, mead and food or they will place hexes on people. Duchess Morwen has worked with members of the party before and they are willing to ask the circusfolk to move along. The party finishes dinner and heads out to speak to the circusfolk. Outside the town walls they reach the camp. The people are wearing bright clothes, they are merry and well into what seems to be a late night. The party asks to speak to the leader, Stanimir. He tells them that he doesn't want to cause trouble with the Duchess. Stanimir tries to convince the party that he will be gone tomorrow after the grand finale. The party thinks it over but decides to keep their word to the Duchess and get the circusfolk to leave. Before they pack up Stanimir tells the party about his people, the Vistani. He then shows them a portion of the grand finale they were working on. Using colored powders and a spray of wine he makes the fire in his brazier. He tells the story of a prince who came to their homeland. He was became injured in a battle and the Vistani cared for him. After protecting him from his enemies, the prince became the protector of the Vistani. He now rules their land and the Vistani are always looking to return home with adventures who can help reclaim their land. After the display finishes the party watches as they begin to pack up and get ready to leave.
They party report back to Duchess Morwen and make her aware that the circusfolk will be gone by dawn. The Duchess thanks them and the party spends the night in the local tavern. Balasar Norixius takes first watch at the town gates to make sure they are complying with the towns demands. After a few hours Balasar leaves it in the hands of the town guards. Meanwhile Fredriech Carlston overhears two tavern patrons having a bit of a argument. A courier who travels quite frequently has heard from small hamlets and villages about werewolves attacking. They have captured citizens and stolen livestock. The courier's wife thinks its not as bad as he says. The courier is a bit of a drinker and may just have had too many. In the morning the party goes to make sure the Vistani have left. Seeing an empty field where their camp once sat they returned to the tavern. Adrid leads the charge to investigate what might or might not be a pending werewolf problem. The party talks it over and believes the Vistani may somehow be involved with the issue at hand. They learn from the bartender that Ralf Gendry, the courier and his wife live in town. Adrid along with Lilithus and Fredriech head out to discuss further with Ralf about what he saw on the roads. The party learns that Ralf has heard stories and was growing concerned about his safety on the trails. Fredreigh pays Ralf to stay home a few days while they go investigate. Upon returning to the tavern the party hatches a plan. First track the Vistani to see where they went. Determine if the Vistani are causing or warding against werewolves. And finally deal with the threat if need be.
Back outside the gates of Daggerford, the party head to the former encampment of the Vistani. Grinfiddeus Nobbles with his keen eyes manages to spot the wagon train and puts the party on the path to discovery. The Vistani did take an odd direction not reaching the main rode till much farther traveled than what Grinfiddeus suspected. Pressing forward they marched for the whole day, coming up short on finding the wagon train but not short of travel. As night fell a fog began to settle in around them, making travel less of an option. They mad their came and Fredreich wanted to stay up all night to be a vigilant set of eyes in the sky. The first few guard duties pass without incident. Om Wolfash and Lilithus eventually heard the calls and saw the outlines of what may have been werewolves on the outskirts of the camp. Moving roughly 100yards from the road the fog had become dense enough for them to lose sight of it. While the beasts in the fog never got close to camp it did appear that they were on the right trail. In the morning the fog still hadn't lifted, it appeared more dense than the night before. Grinfiddeus takes the lead yet again but this time he has trouble. He know they weren't to far from the road but the thick fog makes navigation almost impossible. Grinfiddeus notices the trees and fauna have changed. Lilithus also remarks on the differences between the plants. Adrid takes the leader role and notices the sun isn't quite as visible. It is obscured as if was a cloudy day. They eventually do track down the road and about a half hour later they notice the fog is clearing. They stand in a small valley staring at a giant stone wall. Two headless knight statues guard an old and rusted iron gate. After a 15 minute whose going to go first discussion the party decides they formation and pass through the slightly ajar gates. Roughly forty yards past the gate it begins to creak. The party watches as the iron gates slowly and methodically squeal closed.

Gates of Barovia