Day 24: Escort Quest
General Summary
Day 24 (Prizrachnayaluna 28, 735/???)
Version 1
They begin the day at 2 am, when upon seeing a group of practically unarmed townsfolk including several children and an octogenarian who are trying to flee to Krezk in the dead of night, they decide the best course of action is to go with them, despite one of them not having finished a long rest yet, one of them being mysteriously unconscious, and one of them being at half-health. Somehow, they make it to Krezk with only one person dead and only one person missing a limb, after battling multiple waves of wolves, dire wolves, zombies, and one attack by a few swarms of bats. Ayduin and Sylvain both suffer debilitating periods of sickness, with Sylvain's manifesting as a headache and Ayduin's showing up as a cough that brings the lingering smell of sulfur in full force. Osrin's eyes, when she awakes, are back to normal, but breaking her pact took a toll on her. Arrigal arrives to ask them what the hell they're doing. Bray arrives to tell them HE ESCAPED FROM CASTLE RAVENLOOOOFT. (And he brought friends!) The gang, and all the commoners they're escorting, get a firsthand demonstration that the Martikovs and their allies are indeed wereravens. At Krezk, they're informed that with winter already there in Krezk, the villagers have no interest in another dozen mouths to feed, but after some bargaining from Vitaliya, they're given permission to take their wards up to the abbey. Just as they're settling down for their long rests, however, they notice a large number of wolves hopping over the abbey's outer wall, seemingly cutting through the grounds towards Krezk. TLDR: They fought the wolves and... either no one won or everyone did, because they did save two people and kill two werewolves and several wolves, but two of them were bitten, and the rest of the wolves escaped, along with four hostages. Despite all this, Sylvain scores a definite win when he breaks his pact with Zantras, with a little help from Tymora.Version 2
The night after their second meeting, Ayduin notices a group of townsfolk trying to sneak out of the city to Krezk, and the party decides that despite one of them not having finished their long rest, one of them being unconscious, one of them being at about half-health, and the townsfolk being as good as unarmed, the best course of action was definitely to go with them, and ensure they'd all be outlaws in Vallaki in the process, an act which did not have any consequences whatsoever. With Osrin unconscious for the first several hours of their journey, the party begins an onslaught of battle after battle — rarely enough to put any of them in any real danger, but more than enough to endanger the less battle-hardened charges they're escorting. Over the course of the journey, they fight off eleven dire wolves, thirteen wolves, six zombies, and four swarms of bats before they reach Krezk. However, they are unable to keep one of the commoners' children from dying, and tailor Savva loses his leg on the way. They encounter two familiar faces: Arrigal, who is headed west with some other Vistani for Normal Non-Shady Reasons That Won't Come Back to Haunt Us, and Bray Martikov, WHO ESCAPED CASTLE RAVENLOOOOOFFFFT. Sleep-deprived and utterly bewildered by Bray's tale — how he and his family were charmed, the town of Vallaki turned against them, and taken back to Castle Ravenloft, but how Bray fought off Strahd's charm effect and, fleeing, lucked out by finding the one room in Castle Ravenloft it seems Strahd can't enter, and escaping through a window. The mechanics of this all become slightly clearer when it is revealed that Bray, along with the various winery adults escorting him, is a wereraven. He also gives the party a mysterious ring with healing properties, which Bodaway claims — Bray had discovered it as a result of having been stored in a dead saint's tomb, like you do. Finally, after a long night and day and evening's travel and various levels of exhaustion, they reach Krezk, only to learn that the village has no room to take on twelve new residents, thanks to the depletion of their food stores during Ilya's demonic hunger. For lack of an alternative, the party trudges their way up to the abbey to figure out next steps.
Report Date
25 Oct 2021
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