Blue Water Inn
As the party settled in for the night, a commotion was heard outside. Most of the group quickly rushed out, where the Wachter brothers appeared to be arguing with Szoldar, the hunter who had given the group general directions earlier. While the initial confrontation was missed, they had taken offense to the hunter calling their sister crazy. When reiterated, the small noble took an ineffective swing at the burly hunter, but the slick ground caused him to fall face first into the mud. The hunter walked off, Nikolai picked up his brother from the dirt. He comforted him, assuring Karl that their sister Stella would be alright some day. Qiao helped them clean up, who were grateful for the kindness showed to them, then with sunken heads, they sulked off to their home.
Finally the group rested for the night and awoke to a brand new day. Ismark wished to find a place to harbor his sister, and gave some suggestions. The group decided to first head to the Burgomasters home.
Blinsky Toys
On the way, a sign was spotted to a store that appeared to be be selling toys. Judge insisted that this was an irrelevant stop that will only slow them down in accomplishing their goals, but Ireena's eyes lit up and asked to check it out! Inside, Ireena became infatuated with a toy dragon, while the rest of the group were showed around by Gadof Blinsky. Qiao and Judge noticed one oddity, a plush doll that seemed to look remarkably like Ireena.
The pair questioned Gadof on it, who wanted it back! It was for a scary man named Izek, an enforcer of the baron himself. He did not know why, but Izek requested a new one every month, each time modifying the design slightly.
After buying Ireena the dragon, the group departed and continued on to the Burgomasters home.
Burgomasters Manor
Guards stopped the group at the entrance, but after saying they brought news from the Village of Barovia, they were allowed inside to meet the Baron. They heard a young man seemingly frustrated by his loss of something, and he seemed to be looking around. He briefly said hi, but seemed too busy to give much time to meeting the strange party.
Next the group was brought into a room with Baroness Lydia Petrovna. She heartily greeted the group, believing them to be working on the Festival of the Blazing Sun! She was a bit disappointed when informed they were simply here from Barovia, and escorted the group upstairs to meet her husband.
The baron sat in a small office flanked by two large hounds. In the corner stood a scary looking man who matched the description of Izek, who made no effort to conceal his enormous arm.
The baron welcome news from Barovia, and seemed unsurprised to hear they were falling into ruin. This only seemed to reaffirm his belief that his weekly festivals and governance were keeping his town of Vallaki safe, where Barovia had fallen. He kept repeating a phrase, "All will be well!", which seemed to fill him with conviction. He would agree to harbor Ismark and Ireena, as long as they were willing to join in the organizing and work in the festivals. The group was unsure about this and seemed to think the festivals were pointless and he was a tyrant, but generally refrained from antagonizing the man.
After departing the Burgomasters manor, the group reconvened with Ireena and Ismark. Ismark seemed to agree the festivals seemed petty and pointless, but seemed more open to accepting their customs and insisted they not be as confrontational in a new land, especially when they were the ones seeking aid. Shortly after, Judge noticed that Viktor seemed to be walking along the path.
Fabian introduced himself, but with no intended topic the noble quickly became irate and insisted he had more important matters. Wixley decided to follow the noble son and find out where he was going, and after passing the gates of the village continued north towards lake Oweland.
Lake Oweland
After nearly an hour of mulling around at the lake, Wixley finally decided to make her appearance known. Viktor said that he was looking for spell reagents and seemed to be trying to find his missing satchel. He offered a reward for its return or any valuable gems, and Wixley returned to town with him, content that she had found a possible ally.
Wixley reconvened back at the tavern with the rest and then departed to the Wachterhaus, home of the Wachters.
Wachterhaus
Upon approach to the Wachters home, the first oddity was that a young lady, crawling on all fours, burst through the door! She hissed and tried to evade Nikolai and Karl, who grabbed their sister and drug her back in the house. The party was surprised, and the brothers meekly went to get their mother.
Lady Fiona Wacther greeted the group at the door, leaving it open but not expressly inviting them in. The group followed her to the dinning room, where servants offered drinks and the noble woman introduced herself. She seemed to be a leader of the Heralds of Light, not related to any one deity but rather a group that followed Fiona herself. She had received a vision from Monsieur Danta, that a stranger would come from a far off realm, Vallaki would be purged of its wickedness, and the sun would finally shine down upon the land. She was confident in this belief, and it seemed many had come to her flock in the hopes of one day being rid of the oppressiveness of the baron and the chance of seeing a ray of light shining from the sky.
Her daughter Stella barged in, though she seemed embarrassed by it she also expressed a sense of pain in her condition. Her daughter was to be wed to the Barons son, Viktor, but they had called it off after Stellas affliction set in. None were quite sure what happened, but she seemed to think herself a cat. Wixley asked if the Wachters had any cats, and Lady Fiona did say that yes there were multiple in the library. After finishing up the conversation, she agreed to let them peruse her books as long as her sons kept tabs on them.
The brothers escorted the group up to the library where they seemed bored by the books. Wishing to get free reign to explore, Fabian distracted Karl by asking to drink with him. He eagerly left to his room and pulled out a variety of bottles. Meanwhile, Wixley threw a bat at Nikolai, causing an enormous ruckus as they tried to eat it. During the mayhem, Wixley cast speak with animals then let the bat out.
The cats were difficult to speak with, but gave Wixley some useful information. It seemed Stella had occasionally come back to the house with a strange animal scent on her, possible that of a dog, and otherwise began to act like a cat. Wixley seemed convinced that she was not actually a cat, nor were the other cats acting like a human. Before departing, one of the cats seemed to have a key on their neck, and after investigating more a secret entrance was found to the south.
Inside was a bit of treasure, lands and titles awarded to the Wachters centuries before by Morrigan Oweland, and a manuscript written by Fiona. It seemed to indicate the nobless blamed most of Vallakis problems on the people within, and that Morrigan was little more than a negligent landlord from afar. A boogeyman that was used to oppress and control those in the city, that did not actually interfere with the towns affairs.
Content with the investigation, the group gathered up their inebriated friend Fabian, who had downed quite a bit in the short time distracting Karl, and left the house.
The party shared their findings, and decided next to visit St. Andrals church, home to Father Lucian Petrovich. The Ravens had claimed he a good man, personally vouching that he means well, and his faith in Solanus was true. Hoping this to be the case, the group ventured on.
Comments