Day 6 - Afternoon
Ireena Kolyana
Having left
Blinsky Toys, the party decides to regroup and head back toward
The Blue Water Inn. Entering the tavern, Urwin and Danika scurry behind the bar prepping for tonight's service. The party also spots
Ireena and
Ismark sitting at a table sipping on wine glasses while chatting.
Approaching them, Fidelia asks, "Hey Ireena can you come upstairs with me?" Ismark begins to stand when Fidelia interjects, "We just want some girl time with Ireena and umm Sticky as well."
Sinking back down into his seat, Nazgog declares, "Nazgog wants to have guy talk with boys," as she sends Jagger to get some wine for the table.
Ireena with Fidelia, Sticky, and Morgana head outside as Fidelia awkwardly states an excuse, "I need your opinion on a necklace I have upstairs that an elf lord gave me." After a pause, she continues, "Speaking of necklaces and elf lords, what kind of guys are you into?"
"In Barovia," Ireena responds, "we don't"
"You see," Morgana interrupts, "there's this guy here in
Vallaki. He has dreams of you. Maybe you've known him before? Maybe you dated him?"
Shaking her head Ireena denies this, "I grew up in Barovia. It's the only place I've lived." Having arrived in their room, she continues, "So where did you leave this necklace? I'd like to get back to Ismark."
Meanwhile back in the room, Morgana questions Ireena more directly, "Do you have dreams of the past? Dreams maybe from a different place? Something before Barovia?"
Fidelia joins, "Maybe they were nightmares that really stood out."
Ireena who has been shaking her head starts to nod, "You know there is a peculiar dream that I remember from when I was really young. I dreamt that I saw the sun. Not just light diffusing through clouds, but rather a bright and clear day with the sun high in the sky."
Fidelia sighs, then states, "I'm just not finding this necklace. Perhaps, we should just head back downstairs and I'll find it later and ask you then."
-------
Back downstairs Jagger states, "You must care for her quite a bit. I can only imagine what you consider safety if this town is it."
Ismark the Lesser Kolyanovich
Ismark clarifies, "In
Barovia, the castle sits literally above the town. Lady Strahd takes no time in finding Ireena there. Here, well, she can still come, but it's not directly within her sight. Is this safe? Well maybe it's safe enough."
Jagger resumes, "Your sister, she's like me huh? I was found on the edge of a field like your sister was found in the forest? Where did she come from? Have you ever heard who her family was?"
"She was four when my father, the Burgomaster, brought her home," starts Ismark. "We have no idea how she got there. We put up some signs and waited while bringing her back to health. No one came. No one seemed to miss her. Hell for all I know she came through those damnable mists from another world."
Nazgog raises her glass at Ismark and toasts, "It sucks here!"
Jagger and Ismark quickly echo the toast, "It sucks here!"
"I assume," Jagger continues, "that Ireena knows the same history as you, correct"
Ismark shakes his head and denies, "No. As far as I can tell Kolyan, my father, never told her. I think he was afraid she'd leave if she found out. Why? Are you driving to something here? Did something happen today?"
Nazgog toasts again "It sucks here!" with Ismark and Jagger quickly echoing it.
Looking up, they see Urwin approach the table and quietly asks, "Is there a need to make that toast here? The Baron punishes and jails those who don't reflect happiness all the time."
Nazgog gets offended as she explains, "In my culture, sucking on meat is the greatest treat! Are you mocking my culture?"
"No! I would never," Urwin backpedals, "but here shouting this could get us all in the stocks. The baron has spies everywhere and Izek has no qualms arresting anyone! Please just stay happy while in my tavern?"
Nazgog cocks her head in puzzlement, "I did that's why I said all is suck."
Urwin sighs and tries a different approach, "What if you just lower your voice? Maybe don't make it too easy on anyone overhearing you?"
Nazgog smiles and whispers while toasting "it sucks here!" then louder, "Is that better?"
Nodding Urwin heads back toward the kitchen as Jagger notices a stranger at the bar looking quizically at Urwin. Jagger can't tell if or how Urwin acknowledges the stranger, so Jagger hopes that the stranger isn't one of the spies that Urwin was referencing and in a low voice explains what happened today, "While out in Vallaki, we came across Blinsky's Toys where there were all kinds of creepy toys for kids. We saw a doll that looked exactly like Ireena and we offered to buy it. However, Blinsky told us that it was actually a commission from a guy in town who says that the image is a lady in his dreams and that he does a doll like that every month."
Wait!" interjects Ismark, "You're telling me that there's a guy dreaming about my sister here in Vallaki?!?"
Izek Strazni
Nazgog nods and grunts, "Guy is big and his snaps spark fire."
Ismark recoils, "This sounds dangerous!"
Nazgog quickly agrees in a soft voice, but slowly starts to yell, "Yes feel very ominous but then what's Not To Love IN THIS WONDERFUL LAND!"
Jagger asks Ismark, "Would you be willing to come with us to talk to this guy?"
Ismark shakes his head, "I won't leave my sister. Would it be safe for her to be there?"
"Absolutely Not!" retorts Nazgog as Jagger mollifies, "It likely is not. We don't know why this guy dreams of her and he doesn't seem the most stable person either."
Milivoj
As both halves of the group gather in the tavern, they decide to shelve introducing Ismark and Ireena to Izek and instead decide to have another conversation with Father Petrovich at the
Church. They quickly cross town and open the gate and see Milivoj tending a garden bed on the side yard. Fidelia strides forward and greets him, "Hail friend! Do you remember us and our busty companion?"
Morgana looks bewildered and interrupts, "Wait. Who's the busty companion?"
Nazgog responds while laughing, "Why me, of course!" and then flexes her pecs making them dance as Morgana stares.
"Of course, you were just here yesterday," responds Milivoj. "Father Petrovich's inside."
"We're not really here for him," states Fidelia. "We met Izek earlier today, do you know him?"
"Of course. The whole town does. Why?" Milivoj retorts.
"What about Rictavio, the bard?" asks Fidelia.
Behind Fidelia, Morgana whispers to Nazgog, "He's looking at me funny."
Nazgog responds, "Do you feel threatened?" She then steps toward Milivoj and hefts her mighty axe before thrusting it balde first into the ground and lifting Milivoj off his feet while slamming him into the fence behind him. "I'm done with your crap weasel. Tell us where the bones are or I'll grind you into bones."
Milivoj's face blanks as he stutters a reply, "Heinrich Van Der Hoort."
Grimacing, Nazgog presses, "and just who the hell is that?"
Milivoj explains, "He's the undertaker. He gave me fifty silver for the bones. I think he wanted to bury them somewhere. That's all I know."
Nazgog lets Milivoj back to the ground as Morgana admonishes him, "You need to go apologize to the Father Petrovich and it's not weakness to accept help. We all need assistance from time to time, so you need to get over your ego."
Jagger adds, "If we find out you've been lying, we'll be back and next time Nazgog'll be angry instead of just mildly annoyed."
Milivoj whimpers, "It's true. It's all I know, but it's true."
The party heads east back across town and get directions to the undertaker from smiling persons en route. Finally, the party sees a ramshackle
two story building with a sign shaped like a coffin hanging above the doorway. The party scouts the uninviting building finding all the doors closed and the windows shuttered. Morgana approaches the door and jiggles the handle which appears to be locked.
Frustrated, Fidelia pushes Morgana aside and loudly raps against the door. Several moments pass and then Fidelia raps harder.
A voice from within shouts, "We're closed! Go away!"
Fiedelia answers, "Well open up! We've business with you!"
"Not today!" shouts the coffin maker. "We're closed! Go away!"
Fidelia attempts to reason with him to open the doors so that the party can discuss the situation while Sticky circles the building again looking for a different entrance. However, all openings are locked up. At the back door, Sticky picks the lock with ease but finds the door has been bolted as well. Calling out for Nazgog, the door breaks beneath her onslaught as she charges inside and confronts the older man inside.
"Please! We're closed. Just go away before they hear," he implores.
"Who will hear," asks Nazgog. "Aren't you the coffin maker who paid Milivoj to steal the bones within the church?"
Henrik Van Der Voort
"The vampires upstairs," explains the man. "You're right. I'm
Henrik Van Der Voort and I paid Milivoj for the bones because they threatened me. Argh! A few months ago, a well-dressed lady came to me and promised me good business in exchange for my help. I foolishly agreed and several days later six of these creatures pushed their way into my home and swore they'd kill me unless I continued to help their mistress by having the bones stolen from the church. Milivoj readily agreed when I showed him the sack of silver they'd given me."
Sticky quickly inquires, "Were are those bones now?" as the rest of the group enters into the warehouse of coffins behind them.
"Upstairs to the right," replies Henrik. "The vampires nest on the left. They wake at dusk and are likely listening to us right now."
"I hear your statement," Nazgog states, "and your man words. But if I see you interfere, then I will assume you're an enemy like them. Now get out of our way."
Henrik scurries into another room as Sticky silently climbs the stairs and opens the door on the right into a make-shift kitchen area. He quickly searches that room without finding anything and heads into Henrik's bedroom behind it.
Meanwhile, Fidelia looks at Jagger and whispers, "Did you just see those two figures dart across the top of the stairs too? We need to do something." Fidelia heads up the stairs with Jagger in tow leaving Morgana and Nazgog puzzled below.
After another quick search without results, Sticky swears, "The bastard lied to us" and heads back toward the stairs. He opens the door into the kitchen and ducks as a claw strike swipes where his face had just been.
A grey-faced ashen humanoid with rugged clothes and a backpack hisses, "We were once like you. Full of hope and dreams. You'll soon learn like we did that all is lost in this world." Another of these creatures follows the first through the doorway into the bedroom where Sticky goes on the defensive stance.
Chaos breaks out throughout the coffin store as two more creatures rush down the stairs into battle colliding with Fidelia and Jagger. Jagger summons arcane energies summoning a wall of daggers at the top of the landing as he and then Fidelia back down the stairs as these fell creatures follow. Jagger also notices that while the spinning daggers cut one of the creatures, the wound miraculously seals and then heals itself. Nazgog engages with her mighty axe and working as a team, the party quickly knocks two of these fell creatures out. However, two more and now heading down the stairs to engage them.
Meanwhile in Henrik's bedroom, Sticky feints and parries most strikes as the creatures claws fly toward him, but then they're able to flank him and he feels his life draining away with each successful strike. He darts back toward the stairs with the creatures in tow only to find the way blocked by a third creature on the landing outside the kitchen. He yells as "Help!" as one last claw strike drops him unconcious.
