Sbkhtp (old) Kriin
Sbkhtp Kriin
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Narrow frame, quite thin with extremely defined musculature
Body Features
Some scars on his body from the odd trap or unhappy customer, though he's managed to keep his face clear (so far)
Special abilities
Sometimes dissolves some of his body into a shadowy aura, which quickly becomes transparent, giving the appearance that he now exists a bit less than he did a moment ago
Mental characteristics
Failures & Embarrassments
[Wachter house] [[sleeping poison] needle]
"Benedict, you're fooling yourself if you think that I, Sbkhtp of the Elven house of Kriin, master of dungeon delving, would prick myself like a careless amateur. Did those dreams in Strahd's castle make a mess of your memories?"
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
I love the thrill of a dangerous adventure or a challenging swindle, but I won't risk my life for nothing. I expect some kind of payment, or to retrieve some handsome prize.
Savvies & Ineptitudes
Good at: Stealth, cartography, knows a lot about magic from his explorations of ancient elven ruins.
Bad at: Talking to people (despite being a pretty good liar), honestly evaluating his own intelligence
Personality Quirks
He's relatively suspicious of people who he doesn't consider a friend or trustworthy ally.
Social
Contacts & Relations
His former adventuring party was all consumed by a horrifying aberration of a creature
he doesnt liek to talk about it (hasn't mentioned it to the party)
Religious Views
He named himself Sbkhtp, meaning "Sbk is content", in reference to his belief that the deity Sbk has given him protection over the course of his many dangerous adventures.
Speech
Tends to use lots of big words and uncommon sentence structures to show off how smart he is. He considers profanity to be low-hanging fruit when it comes to insults, and prefers passive-aggression most of the time.
High Elf Rogue (Arcane Trickster), Haunted Archaeologist, Neutral alignment. He’s pretty clever, but he thinks he’s a genius. "I help the people who help me-that's what keeps us alive."
View Character Profile
Alignment
Neutral
Age
160 (adult at 125)
Children
Gender
Male (cisgender)
Eyes
Black with black sclerae
Hair
Black
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Bluish-white
Height
5'4"
Weight
105 lb
Quotes & Catchphrases
"A fine suggestion." "Agreed."
^ The type of thing he says to passively reject the idea that someone else is in charge of him
Rude Awakening
morning
2021-09-12
as we began to wake up, just after our tiny hut dispells, everybody got hit by 31 damage and now our thoughts are muddled, except for tim's
it was a scream in our minds saying "YOU KILLED HIM!!!" in a young sounding voice voice not unlike the Burgenmaster's...
Sbkhtp knows they were hit by http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:synaptic-static which attacks the mind, ingering affects, wizard opening, rather powerful (5th level), but not at the height of Wizardly might, Wizards tend to attack with the strongest thing in their arsenal.
A Walk in the Woods
2021-12-12 mon
We met a man in the woods who wants us to help his family vineyard with a Blights problem.
Met his family at their encampment
They can't go to their home/vineyard because of a bunch of thorn blights or spine blights or whatever the little tree guys are called
Turns out there's at least one druid controlling them
They are souls unwillingly bound to nature in order to act as a defense system
They probably have a speed of 30 and blindsight out to 60 feet
One of them targeted Bass with a volley of spines when Bass flew within 60 feet
They are actively maintaining a distance of about 60 feet from one another so that all points in a certain area are within 60 feet of a blight, and so that each blight is within 60 feet of at least two other blights
They seem to go down in about two hits from my arrow (so like 16 HP)
A druid came out of the house when I shot one of the blights, wearing a mask of antlers. Apparently they're doing some kind of ritual for their god to usher in a new era or some such. Supposedly we're too puny and insignificant to comprehend what they're doing.
Skeletal Cat fight
We easily break the skeletal cats into pieces (they can't seem to take a hit) and only get minor 1 or 2 damage scratches from them.
The closet they're in has three children in it, but as we fight the cats we realize that they're just mannequins dressed in child's clothes.
But wait, the cats reassemble themselves every time they're destroyed!
Tim noticed there's something under the circular rug and threw it over the mannequins. It's a teleportation circle! However, it wasn't quite constructed properly and would probably destroy anyone who it attempts to teleport. This could be useful...
Threw the skeletal cats into the faulty teleportation circle to destroy them
Benedict puts one incapacitated cat into a box we found in the room, he says it'll be our pet. He named it boner.
Benedict suggested that we fool Lady Wachter into believing that the mannequins in the attic are Vallakovich children who we have turned into mannequins. The lady may be able to get her "blood and vengeance" after all!
At first, the duty of deceiving the new Bergenmaster appears to obviously befall Minosperyn, our resident deceiver, however he's not convinced that it's a good plan and refuses to take on the role. Sbkhtp reveals he's been deceiving people for "a century" (rounded up from 60 or 70 years) so he's probably the best choice for deceiving Lady Wachter anyway.
After some time spent deliberating the plan, we execute.
We place a mannequin in a downstairs closet in preparation, then bring the Lady into the house to help us "search" for anyone who's left.
Benedict runs out of one closet screaming, having transformed himself to look just like one of the mannequin children (except not a mannequin) and Sbkhtp chases him into the room with the hidden mannequin, at which point, Benedict surreptitiously teleports out of the house. Sbkhtp casts Silent Image on the mannequin and the area surrounding it, simulating the swirling lights of a major transmutation spell. Lady Wachter enters the room just as the last bits of illusory flesh become wood.
Wachter: What have you done?
Sbkhtp: I've silenced the petulant brat.
Wachter: ...
Sbkhtp: Do with it what you will. (Hands Lady Wachter a torch from)
Lady Wachter is very pleased with us! She gives us the whole Vallakovich mansion and leaves with the mannequin and torch, saying that she has some ideas. Also she has plans to acquire some... equipment for Brokil in half-orc size.
In other news: The woman we freed from the chains in the basement is waiting outside where we hid her when Wachter searched the house with us. Also Sbkhtp used Prestidigitation to clean up the chains and clothing in there so it wouldn't look like someone was just freed from that room. Also we destroyed the other two mannequins using the teleporter. (We had to sacrifice a rat in the teleportation circle to activate its destructive abilities. They seem to have an infestation.)
The party has gained:
Bergenmaster Wachter's good graces
a skeletal cat in a box
a rat-infested mansion
The Vilakovich Legacy
Ppl at the inn looked upset, put away the bodies while we rested for an hour in a Tiny Hut
Went to the Vilakovich home
Lady Wachter is furious and wants to do destruction
Townsfolk are descending on the house
We talk to Lady Wachter and lie to her about how we're gonna help kill the people
We go and beat up the angry townsfolk and sneak the 10 maids out the back of the house
We take about 10 minutes to look through the house for anything valuable to us. In particular, Benedict searches for any literature related to Strahd (didn't find any). We awakened the dogs in the library room with the noise, but Tim's good with animals, so he got them to be *juuust* calm enough for us to keep searching the room.
To buy us more time, we had Minosperyn talk to Lady Wachter.
Sbkhtp reveals his spooky tentacle familiar to cover more ground while we search; it finds a door behind which an unconscious young woman is chained to the wall. She appears not to have eaten for days. After dispelling the familiar to stop it from investigating the anatomy of her throat, Benedict gives her a health potion and awakens her. She says her name is Udo(Ugo?) Lukovich.
Meanwhile, Brokil picks up Minosperyn's slack in speaking with Lady Wachter >.>
Sbkhtp (using the familiar), Tim, and Benedict search an attic and find a hidden door. Benedict carefully peeks his head around the door and makes eye contact with a skeletal cat. One of at least 3 or 4. They do not appear to be friendly. "Heeeere, kitty kitty!". The skeletal cat doesn't seem to care.
Battle with the Invisible Wizard
after rude awakening
It was a tough fight; Benedict and Minosperyn were both downed but revived. Rictavio healed Benedict onto his feet and also delivered the finishing blow: he stabbed the wizard with a silvered blade with elven runes. Lady Wachter's sons died to Wizard's fireball bc of Sbkhtp's silent image; 4 women also died (idk who they were)
After the fight, two of us noticed (Minosperyn and Tim) that Strahd was on a nearby building enjoying the fight for his morning entertainment. He raised his glass and floated away.
The guy we killed was Viktor Vilakovich(?), the last of his line.
story
b
A Visit to Blinksey's
right after dinner with Strahd
2021-09-12 sun
The prophetic toymaker Blinksey seems to be an excitable and quaint fellow, and his abode and workstation suggests a cluttered mind. But at least he's on our side.
The others told me that he made toys based on his visions of the future, but seeing them in person is quite a different experience from hearing about them. Speaking concretely, he greeted Benedict with a diminutive toy axe to the chest, launched by a small figure in his hands. I expected Benedict to be bothered by this, but instead he eagerly—I must still myself from laughter lest my penmanship resemble that of a chicken—Benedict eagerly produced the axe thrower's severed arm from his pack to ask Blinksey about it, to the artisan's horror! We learned from the local priest that the arm is actually demonic in origin... because Benedict revealed it to a crowd of children, thinking they would find it "cool". The children had the expected reaction!
Dinner with Strahd
2021-09-12 sun
We made our way back to the Mardokovs' inn. There was much commotion due to the innkeeper family rushing to hide away anything suspicious.
Lady Wachter appears to have genuine concern for her people; perhaps I judged her too quickly upon a first meeting.
CYCLONE OF BATS
I get the impression that Strahd is unfazed by the Bergenmaster's death, but he seems to be somewhat upset that we killed him without consulting him first. Ultimately, he is none too concerned of his passing since he made the decision to put several villagers to the stake, which was beyond his station. I may have hit a nerve by asking Strahd which is worse between the Bergenmaster's transgression and ours, but the old vampire be damned, he thinks everyone in town belongs to him. Worst of all, the tyrant openly covets my dagger! It is mine and only mine! But it is an absurd claim, it returns to me at my whim, if he were to take it, I would take it back just as quickly. Does there exist a power that would unbind it from me? What does he know? Regardless, he can have it over my dead body. But considering how he came by the rest of the equipment that he so brazenly claimed, perhaps that was already his plan...
Battle in the square
2021-09-05
situation with the horse guy, a man who I'm told helped us previously threw a rock at the bergenmaster (he had it coming...)
helped the man run away using teleportation tricks
CULTISTS!!!
Tim is terrible at sneaking, makes lots of noise, Benedict makes him invisible, the crowd freaks out about ghosts
I followed the guards as they went out to search for that guy we're helping, they end up going to his house, i leave a trail in Thieves' Cant to allow Benedict to follow without being able to see me
raven tried looking for me, so I jumped up to the roof and they told me that I should handle these guys and get regroup at the square, so I knocked them out and made haste to the square
When I arrived, the others were engaged in lethal combat with city guards, one of which was feverishly slaying civilians, accusing them of witchcraft. Tim and I were able to defeat him before he killed more than 2 or 3 people.
Tim accidentally reduced the Bergenmaster to a skeleton and his wife to ash
we saved the other civilians from being burned at the stake
Benedict took a horrifying hit in the battle (6 ft battleax lobbed from 50 feet away) , and our (?) managed to restore him to life
Brokil killed the axman by beheading him, chopping off an arm, and shoving the rest of the corpse into the purifying light to be destroyed
A cloud of bats, like rolling black smoke approached the town on the horizon, from the direction of Ravenloft...
Impromptu Archaeology, Birds of a Feather, Deciphering the Tome
24/8, afternoon to evening
#2021-08-29 1h session (24/8, afternoon to evening)
This Lady Wachter is up to something, I am certain.
We consulted the raven to determine whether it would be worthwhile to force entry into Wachter's closet and investigate that suspicious chest.
Following the raven's counsel,
It was of course quite easy to bypass the mediocre security measures of the Wachter house, and the room was perfectly empty, with no one stirring about upstairs, as only minutes had passed since we exited the house. The chest’s contents made my efforts worthwhile! Enclosed was an old, worn tome, just next to a complete human skeleton! Unfortunately, in my efforts to cover my tracks, I was pricked by the needle hidden in the box’s lock.
When I finally awoke, I was in the familiar beds of our local inn, where Benedict informed me that he was able to remove me from the closet using his teleportation techniques. The other mistwalkers told me that we found the 7 of stars among the bones. Based upon a reading given to us by Madam Eva, apparently the bones belong to some "ancient enemy" of Lady Wachter's. We were told by Irwin Mardakov that from these bones could come a useful ally.
An interesting development has our friend the raven revealed himself to be a young man named Brom.
Mister Mardikov told the other mistwalkers that the wolves have become more bold as of late with regard to
Benedict's mark was the work of some ancient Fey, older even than Strahd himself.
Benedict is starting to see my worth. When we were deciphering the mysterious tome from the Wachter house, he handed me a page that appeared to be of particular importance, labeled “Souls I”, which I was indeed able to decipher. However, the book became increasingly difficult to comprehend as I effortfully made sense of “Tatyana II" while the others slept.
Wachter lunch
24/8, afternoon
#2021-08-22 2h session (24/8, afternoon)
We made our way to the Wachter house, a borderline mansion
walked around back, the half-orcs and Benedict made an awful first impression walking around the back, looking for danger, but perhaps it was necessary, given our group’s dangerous history.
We were welcomed by a woman named Lady Fiona Wachter into an... unenviable abode.
I get the sense that she means to make a deal with us, one that will favor her much more than us. She tells us that the lord of these lands, Baron Varakovich, punishes those who speak out against his ever-more-frequent festivals. She claims his family was the steward of these lands for generations. She thinks him a madman and announced her desire to replace him! She told us, quite earnestly, that she would protect her populus from the forests and dying by restricting their movement. The poor old woman lost her husband in his sleep, which explains the unkempt appearance of this place. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s looking for more power. I’m a bit wary of her. Especially considering that Tim informed us, via Benedict, of an evil presence in her basement. She brought us down to a pentagram hidden behind a secret door and told us that it is what she uses to learn about threats. In this rather foreboding atmosphere, Benedict revealed to us that he detected a Fiend familiar on her shoulder when he snooped about with his mage hand. According to Lady Wachter, there are many foul cults in these lands, some of which are likely responsible for the foliage having its own sort of consciousness (?). Benedict and I searched for secret doors since he reasoned that there must be more space in the house according to his unimaginable senses. We found a path upstairs to a secret room full of cats and quarters for her remaining family, three (two?) sons and a mentally disturbed daughter. Wachter related to us that the young woman was deemed insane after the devastating loss of her father. Even after searching her entire house, we apparently managed to stay on her good side, thanks to Minosperyn’s silver tongue.
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