Day 21: Farewell, Ezmerelda
General Summary
Day 21 (Призрачнаялуна 25, 735/Highharvesttide)
Version 1
The day began with Arrigal Yezhov gently awaking a very drunk Sylvain to deliver a sealed letter from Strahd. TLDR: Sup, I've got the Martikovs. I'm tired of Ezmerelda hanging out with y'all, so she can come here ASAP, or the Martikovs can die. Oh, also, you have to leave now if you want any chance of making it here on time, so good luck with exhaustion and what that'll do to your speed! Our heroes and their ally were, understandably, displeased. Still, Ezmerelda heads off on her own, and the party tries to finish their long rest, with mixed results. Sylvain speaks to Bren in his dream, with somewhat less precision than the first time. In the morning, our heroes get their first glimpse of Escher, and learn that Strahd is now directly ruling Vallaki by way of his regent Father Lucien Petrovich, and that the Vistani are no longer banned from the town. Hooray! They make their way to Vallaki and see the aftermath of the Festival of the Blazing Sun, learning that the Martikovs have become the town's latest scapegoats, and that several of their (alleged) allies and co-conspirators have been put in the Reformation Centre. They learn that the orphanage is fine, if crowded, and that the church is much the same. Making their way north, they encounter Jeny, a definitely-at-least-half-crazy old lady sitting out in the pouring rain with a similar elderly female friend, who proceeds to heckle them. Bodaway gets snarky with her and she gets cold fast. Bodaway realizes, as she walks away, that he has made A Terrible Mistake. He immediately makes a speech and, curses notwithstanding, succeeds at winning Jeny over. The party pops inside and requests various favours in exchange for various forms of mischief. After leaving, they poke around Wachterhaus and Sylvain spots a nervous-looking woman who tells him to go see Frederich Pasternak, a member of the guard. Upon meeting Frederich and sharing modified tea sorcery with him, they secure a meeting the following morning at the Reformation Centre with one of the reformers. They return home and make their various preparations for the following day. Guilt-ridden dreams plague Bodaway, drawing him deeper into the mists. Meanwhile, Ayduin has a spiritual experience with a raven, Osrin fails for the second time to break her pact with Sykane, and Sylvain does not manage to charm their resident vampire spawn Ethereal spy dwarf.Version 2
At midnight, they were awoken by Arrigal bearing a message from Strahd: Ezmerelda was to come to Castle Ravenloft by the following dusk, or Strahd would kill one of the Martikovs, who he had taken prisoner. After brief discussion and hasty farewells, Ezmerelda began her journey, with the rest of the party left to try to finish their rest. The following morning, another announcement came, delivered by a beautiful young man with long golden hair: Vallaki was now under the rule of Strahd von Zarovich, care of his regent, Father Lucien Petrovich, and the Vistani were once again welcome to join. Our heroes trudged begrudgingly to Vallaki, where they saw the aftereffects of the riots and began to preoccupy themselves with a new villain: the Reformation Centre. They met Jeny, an old woman with surprising powers, and befriended a guard named Friedrich, who arranged meetings for them with two of the Reformers who guide the centre. Neither our heroes nor the Reformers enjoyed these meetings.
Report Date
30 Aug 2021
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