#curse of strahd yeska

[vivtanner]

Small previews of some of the pages in Agape ⚔️✨

#agape #ionel savoie #curse of strahd #dnd paladin #dnd art #dnd character #dnd 5e art #illustrators on tumblr #artists on tumblr #artbook #ilmater #dnd aasimar #curse of strahd ireena #ireena kolyana #cos #curse of strahd yeska

[costhursdays]

Upon waking in the morning (or what appeared to be morning, it was difficult to tell with Barovian weather) Chiaroscuro turned to check his lantern he had left under his bed only to find the dark shadow within had disappeared. Scanning the room his multi-eyed gaze landed on the table in the corner, a small shadowy flame appeared to be... Grooming...? Itself? And Chiaro trepidatiously approached. Reaching out to pet it, the strange cat-like creature raised its head and pressed its forehead into Chiaro's outstretched hand. Both Alexir and Cash were watching as he did so, and Alexir had even asked to pet the little Familiar, but to a painful conclusion. It appeared that the little Embercat was painless to Chiaro, who was able to cradle it like one would a cat normally, but to others it caused painful searing burns. Alexir healed his hand easily with Lay On Hands, but not before Chiaro offered to do the same.

Nick entered the room after checking to see if the three others were awake, informing them that Ireena was still asleep from last night's binging episode. Kenshi, shirtless and sweating, entered the room as they revealed that information and went to go check on their ward. Ireena awoke with a splitting headache and Kenshi checking in on her, and joined the people in the other room to chat, ask about the cat that Chiaroscuro had named Flicker, and inquiring about possibly heading out to get some food. Nick asked Rictavio if there was anywhere that they could get some food this early, seeing as how the inn wasn't open for a while longer, and he informed them that the Church of St. Andral had morning services and there they offered food for the less fortunate. Ireena had requested they attempt to find the Church anyways so that she could request sanctuary, and they headed out to the street.

On the way there, Chiaro asked Alexir how it was that he was able to use healing magic so easily, and Alexir explained that it was just something he was able to do as a part of his training as a Knight of the Order, but that it flowed through him easily and was inherent to his skills. Chiaro asked then if he could attempt with Alexir's still pained hand, and upon channeling his magic, Alexir noticed that Chiaro's horns twitched and he accidentally caused more harm to Alexir's hands with his untamed magical ability. Alexir tended to his newer pain in his prior injured hand, and the rest of the group teased them both for their PDA.

Upon reaching the Church, they saw it was equally as old as the one in Barovia, and peering inside they made out what seemed to be twenty or so odd folks with the Priest at the front leading a sermon, Altar Boy at his side holding a ladle as people came up for warm bowls of what appeared to be a cream based broth. The group came up at the end of the Priest's words on the Morning Lord, and he soon addressed them, new faces among his flock and so many unusual ones at that. Ireena asked him for his sanctuary, and he happily offered it, even offering her a job as a teacher to some of the orphan children like the Altar Boy they had gotten food from (whom they learned was named Yeska). He however, asked the group for their help, and took them into a side room to discuss things further.

The Priest, whom they learned was named Father Lucian Petrovich, was the only one up until a few weeks ago who knew of the reasoning as to why the Church of St. Andral had been so well protected for so long, and that was due to the bones of the Saint Andral that lay beneath the altar, hollowing the ground around them. He informed them that Yeska was a very frightened child and had been suffering terribly from nightmares, and so he told the boy he had nothing to fear with the blessing they stood atop from Saint Andral and his sacred remains. Not long after this, the bones had been absconded from their resting place, and while the Priest had his thoughts as to who did it, he did not want to point fingers and make this all public before the big town festival that was in a few days. Father Petrovic was under the impression that it was his gravedigger who took the bones, a slightly older boy named Milivoj, who had a bad temper and attitude and had been acting a little suspicious as of late. He didn't want to cause him to go into a rage, and so he didn't outright accuse him. Kenshi asked of any other new members of his flock, and he spoke of a woman named Willemina Rikalova who had started to come to see her son be saved as he had been arrested for defying the laws of the Burgomaster, Vargas Vallakovich.

With information in hand, Alexir and Chiaroscuro asked to stay behind and assist with the duties in the Church and helping Ireena with her settling in, as Nick, Kenshi, and Cash all went to head down the road to Blinksy's Toys.

Upon reaching the building, they could barely see within the dirty glass windows, opting to walk in. As they entered, Kenshi was able to Catch a Projectile toy in mid air as everyone looked up to see a small monkey in a dirty pink tutu climbed amongst the shelves of weird, macabre toys. Almost immediately after, a large, portly man in a moth eaten jester's cap and frock came out, scolding the monkey. He, noticing the rest of the group, offered his sales pitch, and the party spent a bit of time asking Blinksy questions while perusing his strange wares. Here they notice a doll in the likeness of Ireena Kolyana, their charge, and they questioned whom it was for, Cash transforming into a near identical version of her to give him an idea as to how she looked. Blinksy informed them of a strange, terrifying man named Strazni who demands the toy maker to make these dolls once a month at risk of his life and his shop. Blinksy tells him he's probably doing the Burgormaster's orders in the middle of town, as he was Vallakovich's right hand man and bodyguard. Everyone bought a few toys from Blinksy, who thanked them all with a sloppy cry, and the three left the shop a little lighter on coin and with an intent to head to the center of town to see this man for themselves.

Cash was still in his Ireena disguise as they walked and upon hitting the center of town, they could see several folks all about, cleaning up from last weeks festival, while people in donkey masks stood in stocks. They all also saw a bald man who was barking orders at people dully before he turned his head and stared at the group. Cash, due to being a bit behind of the rest of the party, appeared separate, and the man with a burning obsessive look upon his face, rushed the disguised Tiefling quickly before anyone had a chance to react. It was three on one, possibly, and the man whom they could only assume was Strazni, was dead set on Cash's Ireena facsimile.

#alexir #cash #chiaroscuro #kenshi #nick #curse of strahd #cos #Flicker the Shadowember Cat #Rictavio #Gadof Blinksy #Izek Strazni #Father Lucian Petrovich #Yeska #Milivoj

[madammayh3m]

Moonlight

372 words. A pre-canon ficlet my DM wrote as a response/companion piece to Sunshine and gave me permission to post. Again, not really spoilers for anything in Curse of Strahd, just more setting information and mention of an NPC.

Laughter in Barovia is like magic, I have found. While everyone is capable of it, only a few really use it. And maybe that is why we never quite fit in. Mama loved to laugh, and Daddy loved making her. So when we settled in Vallaki after catching a one way ticket to the grimmest place on earth I thought that maybe we were just what the town needed. That thought didn’t last long. We soon realized why no one was laughing, no one had the strength to. Or if they did it was out of fear-driven madness. Barovia did that to people. It either wore you down till there was nothing left or drove you mad.

So after I lost Mom and Pop there was little left for me but to let this place grind me down. Father Lucian was alright and does his best. He’s stronger than most I think, he hasn’t quite worn down yet. I don’t know if it is faith or his own personal internal power but I don’t think he's one for losing his mind.

I miss the sunshine. I miss the way it felt coming through windows and how it could change the colors of the world to be wildly bright after being in a gloom. I missed lifting my face up and feeling the heat of it on my cheeks and nose. But what I miss more is the moonlight.

The ever present cloud cover doesn’t even share the moon and stars. I remember laying in the grass and looking up at the thousands of stars and my Daddy telling me stories about each one. My favorite nights were when the moon was so full and bright the world shone in silver light. Still water turned to glass and the dew turned to diamonds on the grass.

I know when I talk about it Thais doesn’t really understand. I don’t think that girl has seen a proper night's sky in her life. But the fact she listens means a lot. Not a lot of people do that anymore. I hope I am around when there is a clear night. Then I’ll sneak Thais out to the lake and I’ll show her what moonlight can do.

#things are getting dicey #glorious goth girl adventures #curse of strahd #again for anyone coming across this in the curse of strahd tag #this Yeska is not the same as the canon Yeska #I go into more detail about this in the other fic's tags #I'm going to do a recap post or smth at some point #ANYWAY GOD THESE TWO #I'm able to be slightly more normal about them because we got a little bit of resolution in game #it has been seven days in game - we've been playing since october #shit got wild real fast for them

[nirikeehan]

wip wednesday!!

Tagged by @anneapocalypse and @delicatefade! Thank you!

Still deep in the weeds of Thalia's continued adventures in Barovia in the Curse of Strahd crossover. I'm trying to work up to a big action scene and setting the stage with some low level spoops. Thalia is waiting for Metrion outside St. Andral's Church in Vallaki, which is supposed to offer them sanctuary, but her own troubled past with the Chantry is filling her with doubts.

The cold drizzle hits Thalia full in the face as she steps outside, but for once she is grateful. The raw air is bracing, and makes her feel grounded. She tries not to feel guilty for leaving Metrion alone, but he’s the sort who knows how to take care of himself.  She retreats down the steps, but does not want to risk going back onto the street. Instead, she heads for another wrought iron gate, leading into the graveyard. Trees surround the neat lines of headstones, which themselves are lichen-covered and damp. A weather-beaten statue of a man dominates the center. Thalia stands at its base, gazing up at it. The statue seems to be holding a sword in one hand and wearing robes; the rest is indistinguishable. A bronze plaque by his feet reads Saint Andral, but the rest of the inscription, like the statue itself, has been worn away by time. She looks to the blank face, showing only smooth stone where eyes, nose and mouth should be.  Hallowed ground, she thinks sourly. What does that even mean?  It isn’t his fault she doesn’t trust this place, she knows. Metrion clearly never grew up in the shadow of the Chantry, or whatever they called themselves on the Sword Coast. There’s nothing inherently sinister about Father Lucian or little Yeska. Most people — normal people, like Metrion — must find comfort in the old priest and his willingness to help the community. It’s her own past rearing its head, filling her with doubt, making her wish they’d tried their luck at the inn.  Movement flashes in the corner of her eye. Thalia whirls around. Fog clings to the grass, but the graveyard and street beyond are deserted. She scans the trees — motionless, except for what might be a bat or an owl nestled in a branch. Nothing to be afraid of. Thalia chews her lip, trying to ignore the prickle on the back of her neck. She pulls the hood of her cloak up to shield her dampening hair.  When she faces front, a young man stands before her, wielding a quarterstaff in both hands. 

Tagging: @melisusthewee | @rowanisawriter | @theluckywizard | @oxygenforthewicked | @monocytogenes

#wip wednesday #curse of strahd au #it's never sunny in barovia

[godfreygwilym]

heyoooo heres the session 33 and 34 wombo combo deluxe recap

trouble goes back to the gang to explain that THE BONES are freaking missing (and also to balk at ludmilla and escher again), but not before (gently) interrogating yeska about the gravedigger and talking with ireena who tells them about a weirdo painter guy whos always skulking around the graveyard

they split the party (fuck me), trouble and ez go to the orphanage, mike and billy check out the artist's house, marjorie hangs out with leo again (i looove rping this guy) and then goes to the coffinmaker (!?!?) with ismark because she needs to find coffin lining for leo. initially i freak the fuck out but then i realize this could make for some great circular storytelling. so she basically talks with henrik though the partially open door, she lies about why she needs the coffin lining by saying ismark is having a mental health crisis and she needs to show him that death isnt worth it?!?? ismark is visibly embarrassed and confused as fuck. she offers one of the rings she found (i cant recall where, i think it was in the durst house) to henrik, he snatches it and gives her a whole fucking bolt of crushed velvet in return and slams the door (he's definitely gonna try to pawn it and hightail it out of vallaki)

meanwhile, mike and billy bust down the door to the artist's place (his name is anton karushkin-ziegel, a homebrew npc i made for this plotline) with mikes sick nat20 strength check, finally he looks cool in front of his girlfriend. billy divine senses the place and notices an undead presence upstairs. they sneak around all over the place and check out his paintings and realize they look stylistically similar to ones theyve seen in strahds place..... ouh la la!!! they also find anton's journal/sketchbook upstairs, which details his daily life, his strange nightmares, sketches of a very familiar looking gentleman, and some frantic notes about how his "muse" asked him to deliver a package (read: the bones) to the coffin shop. they hear creaking around in the bedroom and bust down the door again, only to find "anton" blearily sitting up in bed and looking alarmed— actually it was escher lounging in his bed, but when he heard intruders he disguises himself as anton and tried to play it off. he spends the next few minutes trying to seem like a total ditz and passing off half truths to the players, explaining that the karushkins have been the royal painters for generations, bla bla bla. meanwhile billy is freaking the fuck out because anton is registering to her as undead, so the players theorize that escher is turning anto into a vampire against his knowledge, which i find REALLY interesting.

ALSO meanwhile, Trouble and Ezmerelda investigate the orphanage, which is supposed to be a whole sesh but they made remarkably short work of it. intrigue was kinda lost but i dont really mind, plus they had another theory that it was ludmilla that cursed Millivoj and felix, which tbh is way more interesting than "yea he found a locket and now he's cursed"

fiiiiiiiinally, marjorie heads back to the coffin shop with newlyweds pidlwick and vasilka, to uh, tell henrik that ismark isnt gonna kill himself anymore (lol?), notices he seems even more antsy this time, uses detect thoughts on him, gets suspect. so she wanders around for a little trying to break in through the back door??? before finally deciding to climb up to the window (and discovering vasilka is yolked as FUCK). almost stole all henriks money from his room, remarkably didnt investigate all the crates in the attic. anyway, thats where we left off, hooooooooly fuck is shit ever gonna hit the fan next sesh, cheers

#campaign progress #session 33 #session 34 #FINALLY #im catching up

[rahadaddy]

Saturday Game : Favorite  and Least Favorite NPCs

I’m going to rank NPCs that I didn’t think my party would love that they love beyond measure:

Yeska, the altar boy who now has his own sidekick-esque statblock because they love him

Rahadin, the bait-and-switch thirst trap I set for Rogue

Ez D’Avenir, who is objectively cool, but who Paladin and Cleric have played with before in another game and went I didn’t know she was so cool?? We’re a bunch of disaster bis playing Curse of Strahd

Victor Vallakovich - I expected them to love him but I didn’t expect him to be so readily absorbed 

Ireena Kolyana - so easily a macguffin, but my party loves and cherishes her as a person

Urwin Martikov - I didn’t even know they cared about Urwin until Davian casually insulted him and they were Ready To Fight

Davian Martikov - salty old man accidentally attracts Drow Cleric

Lydia Petrovna Vallakovich - the love they have for her stems from her being a PTSD victim of abuse, who deserves good things. Wasn’t expecting them to rally around her. 

Father Lucian - I think there is a world where he and the Cleric raise Yeska together as a family with their weird monster hunter girlfriend and Yeska becomes a Saint in multiple pantheons tbh

Harwin, the seamstress - from LBH, my party loves her and figured out that I tailored (heh) her and her brother as half-elves

Strahd Von Zarovich: They don’t love him but they give me reviews like “Your Strahd makes my stomach hurt” and “I have nightmares about this man.”

Characters My Players Don’t Give a Shit About or Outright Hate

Rictavio - ain’t nobody got time for a weird circus man

Mad Mary - that is a quest hook no one took

Ismark the Lesser - Seriously if Ireena didn’t occasionally say “My brother”, no one would remember this man

Anastrasya: LOATHE

Volenta: CREEPY

Kasimir: He breathed and our rogue wants him dead. Also he's her dad.

#g: saturday

[generic-cleric]

Session 31: Curse of Strahd

Spoilers for the campaign Curse of Strahd

The Festival of The Blazing Sun: Under Pressure

The silence in the church is deafening. As soon as they can, the party starts straightening up the church and tending to the wounded. They get it running as a sort of triage / refugee center. Vondal stays in the church to heal and stabilize commoners while Veledrel, Bedlam, Okrin, Jander, and Ireena head out to search for specific people and direct others in need of help toward the church.

The named NPCs that died were Yvengi, Nikolai Wachter, Lucien, Yeska, and Milivoj. There were many merchants, commoners, and keepers of the feather that perished. Izek, Fiona, and Rictavio’s fates were unconfirmed. Everyone else survived the night.

Okrin was curious about Izek and went searching for him. He couldn't find him, but during his search he heard from another guard that Izek was last seen chasing a vampire spawn into a burning building. No traces of him could be found, but when Okrin used Locate Object on Izek's weapon he could tell he was moving west, away from the town.

While searching around, the party heard that Fiona Wachter escaped The Reformation Center (a closet in the Baron’s house) during all the craziness. 

The bodies had been buried, including Father Lucien who died via Strahd bite. 

Bedlam, Jander, and Ireena go back to the encampment for the night. Luvash stops Bedlam to thank him for saving his daughter. He explains that he works very closely with Ms. Fiona Wachter, and that she paid him a nice sum of money to have the party disposed of, though he’s so grateful he’s not going to do that! Bedlam didn’t mind so much, but the player was pretty shocked.

Bedlam learned Bestow Curse at his most recent level up at the church. The player wanted to have Bedlam approach Arabelle and ask her to teach him how to curse people since she threatened Bluto with one at the lake. Of course I was all for it. While it doesn’t exactly work the same as his spell, through her guidance he was able to understand it in a way that he can manifest.

 Bedlam is staying with Kasimir and Jander gave his hovel to Ireena. She's kind enough to insist on sharing, since she only needs it at night really. So he gets comfy and posts up outside.

Morning comes, Jander heads inside to sleep. Bedlam and Ireena interrupt though, as the festival is mandatory. So everyone heads to the festival! They are all given small iron squares and are told it's a coinless event. No one is really sure what that means.

The Festival of the Blazing Sun kicks off with various stalls and games, though some of them are closed because some NPCs weren't there.

Izek would have been running the strength test, but since he was gone Okrin stepped in. 

Rictavio ditched town, so no one was running the ball cup game so Bedlam took over that.

The apothecary died so no one was in charge of the Mystery Drink game so Veledrel stepped in.

Vondal didn't trust any of the games and thought everyone was scamming him, so he opted to watch the pit fighting.

So I guess Jander and Ireena are on a date now.

The commoners seemingly also didn't know what to do with the cards and ended up just handing them over like tickets. The players then began trying to collect as many cards as they could from attendees. Really wish I had thought of Jander charming commoners into spending their cards, but oh well!

Bedlam notices Okrin’s success and so turns his stall into a kissing booth. Surprisingly he still has customers.

Everyone wins raffle prizes since Jander and Ireena were the only ones that played games. Wine, Blinsky toys, pies. Ireena won a creepy barbarian doll, Jander was going to offer her his prize until he realized it was an egg depicting images of misery but then decided it was better off in the trash. To be honest with you, I think Ireena thought that was so dark humorously funny she may have kept it.

As the excitement from the games dies down, the time for the parade approaches. It kicks off with an award ceremony where the party gets some money, a deed to a house, a letter or recommendation, and the next festival will be named after them!

A pathetic parade flows through the streets that have barely been cleared of the debris. The baron leads on his sad horse while the party trails directly behind, followed by some sad orphans dressed like flowers, and then a cart wheeling around a huge wicker sun.

They make it to the town square. The stage where the stocks usually are has been cleared off (since the prisoners had been freed the night before). This is where the wicker sun is suspended for all to admire. The baron has a short, sweet speech about how cool and safe Vallaki is, with no mention of the tragedy of the night before. Ireena and Veledrel are fuming about this.

 A pathetic Music performance (and some explaining from Jander) reveals to the party that a large majority of the people here don’t have souls. They also politely ignored the part where Jander and maybe Bedlam are in that demographic.

The Baron goes to ignite the sun when suddenly it begins downpouring, dousing the flames. A laugh is heard from the crowd, and all eyes are on Lars. Lars was holding his retirement party at the Blue Water Inn when they first met and they shared some drinks together. 

The Baron goes all “Off with his head!” and the crowd reaches a tipping point. I ask the party if they would like to take advantage of the crowd’s momentum. They consider their options: incite a riot to overthrow the Baron, or smooth things over.

They decided to smooth things over. With Fiona on the loose and Izek nowhere to be found, they felt like Vallaki was vulnerable enough. They figured that the people would eventually overthrow him if he continued to be terrible, and they didn’t want to run the risk of someone even worse coming to power since they didn’t have any NPCs they thought could / would take the position. 

Veledrel shot a bolt of fire, igniting the sun, while Bedlam hops up on the stage to flatter the Baron into calmness. After gassing him up, Bedlam thanks the Baron for such a lovely time, gives him a smooch on the cheek and then hands him all the iron cards he collected. As Bedlam leaves the stage he hears all the cards clatter against the ground and the Baron grumbling to himself. 

And that’s about where we ended the session! No one died or got dragged behind a horse. So, all was kind of well.

Sure there was a lot I could have done differently, like still having Fiona show up to incite a riot, or having the Baron throw the party out of town. They put so much into Vallaki that they deserved a win somewhere. I can tell that my players respond well to seeing that they’ve made a difference in the world around them. They are really big on trying to make this grim place better. And yes, I know, its the Ravenloft setting, things are bad here. But if they feel like all their effort is for naught, then what reason do they have to try? I’m the same way, so I get it.

Anyway, excuse my ramblings! Thanks for reading <3

#curse of strahd #cos #dnd #dnd 5e #5e #session write up #Ravenloft #Barovia #Jander Sunstar #session summary #Ireena Kolyana

[austinplaysrpgs-blog]

Curse of Strahd, Part 2: Vallaki

Part 1 here

Part 3 here

After having our fortune told, we are approached in the inn by a man named Ismark, who recognizes us as adventurers and asks us to help his family. Being the good guys that we are, and not knowing what else to do, we agree.

He takes us to his home, where we meet his sister, Irene. They explain that the vampire Strahd has taken a particular interest in Irene for some reason and has been tormenting her. They ask us to escort them to the nearby temple, so that they can bury their dead father. We do exactly that, and Rolen performs the funeral rite in the cemetery outside.

We go inside the temple to speak with the priest. A voice calls out to us from beneath the floorboards. “Feed me!” a male voice shouts. The priest greets us, and apologizes for the yelling below. His son has been corrupted by Strahd in some way, and he now thirsts for blood. The priest has warded him in the basement while he researches a cure. Frank pours some wine on the floor. Unsurprisingly, that doesn’t do anything to help, and the priest asks that we not do that.

With that taken care of, Ismark asks that we escort him and Irene to the town of Vallaki. It is supposedly very well defended from the fog that covers the land of Barovia and the dangers in the woods. We find the idea of a safe place very enticing and take off immediately.

At the first crossroads, we come across an empty gallows, noose swinging in the breeze. After we pass it, we hear a noise and turn around. There’s a body hanging from the noose. Frank sees himself and fires an arrow into the fist of the figure. It vanishes. The rest of us had seen a different man hanging from the noose, and were puzzled that he’d done that.

We pass by a large, dark lake. A man is out fishing on a boat with his back turned to us. We call out to him, and he doesn’t respond, despite the fact that he’s easily within earshot. Rolen magically commands him to approach, and he dumps a large object wrapped in black fabric off the side of his boat before rowing over to us. We are extremely suspicious about that, and interrogate him. He barely seems to register that we’re there. He explains that what he dumped over was good luck for catching fish. We don’t really believe him, but we’re not interested in diving into the dark water to find out. We leave him to his fishing and proceed to Vallaki.

The wooden walls of the town of Vallaki seem to hold the fog back from the town proper. The town is decorated for a celebration of some kind. A flyer tells us of a wolf-themed festival. We’re pretty jazzed about that one. We talk to the guards, only to find out that they’re taking down decorations to set up for the next one, the festival of the Blazing Sun. This is a really puzzling celebration to us, considering we haven’t seen the sun since entering Barovia; the sky seems to be eternally overcast.

We head to the local temple first, as that is rumored to be the source of the protection this village seems to have. We speak with the priest about giving Irene sanctuary. He shares with us that the source of the power that wards this town and chapel are the remains of a dead saint. The remains have gone missing, and he believes that the altar boy knows who took them. The boy reluctantly tells us that his friend Yeska took the remains.

We track down Yeska and shake him down. He won’t tell us where the bones are, so Leo tells him that Rolen is going to eat him if he doesn’t spill the beans. Rolen has no desire to eat the boy’s flesh, but Yeska has clearly never seen a Firbolg before in his life, so he plays along, and licks his lips. Terrified, Yeska tells us that he’d collected the bones for Henrik, the coffin maker. We pay Henrik a visit. When we ask him about the bones, he says he doesn’t know what we’re talking about. He puts a finger to his lips, and then points at the second level above us.

Strahd’s servants have taken up residence in the second story, and are in possession of the bones. Henrik tells us in hushed tones that they forced him to take the bones. We sneak upstairs and fight several of Strahd’s cronies. Victorious, we collect the bones and return to the temple. The bones are returned to their resting place. The priest agrees to take in Irene, and invites us to stay the night in the chapel.

Leo plays a song for everyone on the harpsichord. A body crashes through the double doors of the chapel. It’s the boy, Yeska. Rolen rushes to check on the boy; he’s alive, but unconscious. Just outside the door, Strahd floats in the night. The people in the chapel recoil in terror.

“Are you going to invite me in?” he purrs, flashing a brilliant smile. There’s no warmth to it.

Rolen, not sure what else to do, agrees, and invites Strahd into the chapel. He believes that Strahd can be reasoned with. Leo insults Strahd, calling him heinous names. Strahd teleports over to the harpsichord and knocks Leo into the wall. Rolen asks what Strahd wants from us. Strahd hands Rolen a letter, and shares that he had intended to have his spawn raid the town. We thwarted it by taking them out earlier, and he was very interested in meeting us. Then he takes the body of Yeska, and flies off into the night. Irene tells us that it is rumored that Strahd cannot enter unless invited. But he likely would have begun tearing the chapel down and murdering other townsfolk until we did.

We open the letter and find an invitation to a dinner feast at Castle Ravenloft. We are pretty sure that we’ll die if we go there. We’re not really sure what else to do, so the next day, we start asking around town about the fortunes we were given.

We ask the priest about a carnival and he thinks he remembers a man coming through town recently looking for acts to put one together. He suggested we check out the local inn. We make our way over there, and sure enough, the innkeep remembers this guy. Says he ventures out into town every day looking for talented folks. 

We go poking around for him and stumble across a really creepy toy store. We don’t find anything we really want there. Leo notices a doll that looks like Irene. The shop owner tells us it’s not for sale, it’s a commission for the Burgomaster’s bodyguard. Leo offers to deliver it and the shop owner reluctantly agrees.

Finally, we find the half elf we were looking for. Rictavio is happy to see us. We express interest in joining him to put on a carnival. We display various talents that we possess. He’s not particularly impressed, but seems to appreciate our enthusiasm. We set out to put on a carnival.

#DnD 5e #d&d #Dungeons and Dragons #curse of strahd #gothic horror #rpg

[anigraham]

Curse of Strahd 04: Is no fun? Is no Blinsky!

Previous Session | Next Session

Highlights:

As the party begins to head to the church, Zelda and Ashcroft find themselves losing distance with the others.

Upon finally catching up they meet Astray and Hugo who seem to know Zelda and Ashcroft and believe the four of them have always been traveling together in Barovia.

They get to the church and happen to find that a holy relic has been stolen.  The remains of Saint Andral who kept the church and it’s grounds protected.

After some investigation work they find the remains in the home of the coffin maker...where a coven of vampires are quietly sleeping.  Half the party return the bones back to their resting place and the other half tries to inform the baron of the vampires.

Ismark is found in the stocks. His sister has been kidnapped.

The party meets at the inn to discuss what to do...only to be chased out of town for freeing a criminal.

Session in Detail:

The group leaves the Baron’s home and heads straight for the church.  Along the way Zelda and Ashcroft feel an odd sensation as if the air around them is getting thicker and making it more difficult to walk.  It’s as if they are walking through water with much resistance and they see the others walking on ahead of them.

The pair call out and get no response.  Zhoos, Mirinor, and Ruran turn down another street and suddenly they are gone.  Instead there are two people looking back as if waiting up for Zelda and Ashcroft...but the two just move passed, excusing themselves as they look for their group.

Until the two who stood their waiting respond as if they knew Zelda and Ashcroft.

They…”re-introduce”...themselves.  Hugo, is a young handsome man and bard.  Astray is a young woman covered in tattoos of scales and a dragon tattoo covering half her face.  The new duo insist that the four of them had been traveling since the tavern where it all began.  They even knew details about Zelda and Ashcroft that would suggest some sort of familiarity…

Zelda, while uncomfortable, decides to just “go with it” and heads for the church.  Zelda and Ashcroft seem to know nothing of Hugo and Astray.

The church of The Morning Lord was at one end of town.  A large graveyard outside and a dawning sun symbol on the doors to the church.  Astray makes an excellent point as to how strange it is for Barovia to contain graveyards and cemeteries.  Such a thing seems like it would be easily abused by their enemies.  It would make more sense to cremate those who have passed inside Barovia.

Hugo then makes a comment about the importance of respecting the people’s wishes.  That cremation should only be done if that is what the person had wanted.  

His words struck Zelda deeply.  And it took a lot of effort to push some dark feelings down before suggesting that sometimes...it’s necessary to go against a person’s wish.

They headed into the church and found Father Lucien...Brother-in-law to the baron.  A few people and children are in the church and soon after they make their way in, an angry young man carrying a shove storms in and into another room.

The group speaks to Father Lucien about possibly helping him in some way and discover that he is dealing with a serious problem.  Saint Andral...a Saint long before Barovia became “Barovia” had been buried blow the church.  The remains provided the church with a barrier of protection from undead and other unholy sources, but 3 days ago the bones had turned up missing.

Lucien worries that Strahd or his minions are aiming to destroy the church.

Saint Andral’s resting place had been kept secret from some time, but Father Lucien admits that he had shared the secret to a young alter boy named Yeska.  The boy had been worried and uncomfortable and Lucien had hoped that knowing the secret would make Yeska feel at ease living in the church.  

But now the bones are missing and Father Lucien is unable to get Yeska to speak about it.  

Everyone considers their options.  Zelda is eager to speak to both Milivoj, the angry young man from before and Yeska...feeling like she can relate to both of them on some levels.  Yeska is an orphan now living in a church with the city’s graveyard…similar to Zelda’s upbringing.  And Milivoj seemed to be the gravedigger for the church, something Zelda herself use to do.

They investigate the “scene of the crime” before approaching Yeska to question him.

Yeska seems a bit shy, but the group first questions him about simple things.  Hugo even gets Yeska to show him some of the duties that he does for the church.  Eventually questioning leads to other people in the community and Yeska admits that he doesn’t like Milivoj...who is mean to him.  He suspects that Milivoj took the bones and eventually confesses to sharing the secret with the gravedigger.  

Milivoj is found outside digging a grave for a villager who had been recently killed by wolves.  Zelda offers several times to give Milivoj a “break” and dig the grave for him...thinking it would be a good way to let the rest of the group question him.  He turns her down several times, gets angry by all this interruption, and tries to intimidate the group into leaving…

...only for Astray to directly threaten him back.  Milivoj quickly pulls back and begins sharing everything.  He confesses to stealing the bones, but had done so to sell them to Kenrik.  Milivoj’s concern was over feeding his family and when his close friend had offered up money in exchange for the bones...he agreed to it.  They continue to discuss the severity of the theft and discover that Milivoj had no idea of the importance the remains had or how they protected the church from undead.

The group then heads to find Henrik...the coffin maker.

His shop is located in the stockyard.  Upon reaching it, the group is greeted by Gunther who runs the stockyard with his wife.  There is a decorative wagon that reads “Rictavio’s Carnival Wonders” off to the side and by how it lurches and shakes, clearly contains something very large and alive.  Gunther is currently keeping an eye on it “no questions ask.”

He directs them to Henrik’s place.

They knock and speak to Henrik through the door.  He’s very adamant about the group going away and seems to ignore Zelda’s insistence they she has heard so much about his finely crafted coffins.  Then Hugo decides to do something peculiar…

He leans in to the door and quietly asks for the lock to open.  It does so and the door slowly swings open.  Zelda is very much impressed by it!  Henrik...not so much.

He tries to close the door, but Zelda slams it back open...the group is now very direct that they are there for the missing remains that had been taken from the church.

Startled, Henrik hurries them in and tells them to be quiet.  He begins explaining the situation he is in…

A Fasil Von Holt….Strahd in disguise....had come by recently to do business with Henrik.  Now he’s stuck housing several vampires upstairs.  He had been ordered to get Saint Andral’s remains so that the lair of vampires could attack the church on the night of the festival in a few days.  

Henrik informs them where they can find the bag with the bones inside and then takes the opportunity to leave…

Hugo heads off upstairs to retrieve the bag (and making an additional trip to grab what he assumes is Henrik’s life savings) and meets back with the others.  They slip out of the shop all without disturbing the resting vampires above.

The party decides it may be best to split up to cover more ground.  Hugo and Ashcroft agree to go to the baron to inform him of the vampires hiding out and their plan to attack during the upcoming festival.  Zelda and Astray would head back to the church to returns the stolen bones.

Hugo and Ashcroft get stopped by the guards outside of the baron’s house.  They refuse to allow them entry even after they explain the situation.  It’s explained that Izek will handle it.

For Astray and Zelda, they have no trouble in laying the body back to rest.  The Hallow Spell takes effect soon after.

The group gathers back at the Bluewater Inn and get food and rooms for the evening.  Hugo offers to perform for the patrons of the tavern while Zelda finds Rictavio, a fellow half-elf, sitting at the bar.  She takes the opportunity to chat with him and enjoy a moment of “normalcy” in Barovia.

Rictavio shares a bit about his travels and shows that he is familiar with the god associated with her holy symbol.  He gives her a name to add to the journal.  “Erasmus.  Stabbed through the heart.  25 years ago last week.”  He confesses it was his son and she makes an assumption that he must have been turned to a vampire.  She offers to listen a bit about who Erasmus was when he was alive...but he declines the offer.

There is talk among the group about wanting to make sure the vampires had been dealt with, but also concern about their actions in doing so would damage the trust that is building between the party and the Vallakovich family.

On a whim, Zelda wishes to visit the toy maker of the city to get a present for Yeska to say “thanks.”  They had found a….disturbing doll of his with a maker’s name still attached.  Astray stays behind while the others head off to find the toy shop owned by Mr. Blinsky.

Mr. Blinsky’s shop has a variety of oddities that lean on the “morbid” end of things.  Zelda is fascinated by the little Russian doll that goes through the stages of life and ends with a mummified little figurine.  (She of course purchases that for herself!)  Hugo seems more bothered by the variety of toys, while Zelda is merely filled with disappointment in not finding something more…”normal.”

While spending some time in the toy shop, Mr. Blinsky talks a little bit about the great inventor of Fritz Von Weerg.  He also talks about a commission he is currently working on.  A doll for Izek...a doll that closely resembles Ireena.

It does give Zelda the idea to commission something from him!  She asks for a stuffed replica of Piccolo, My. Blinsky’s monkey that wears a tutu.  Hugo commissions a wooden rocking horse.  They head off soon after.

On the way back to the inn, the group spots a new person in the stocks.  While the man wears a plaster donkey head like all the rest, the clothing is oddly familiar.  They approach and find that Ismark had been added...he explains that his sister had been kidnapped by that “devil armed freak” Izek.  Ismark had been knocked out and woke up in the stocks.

Hugo leans in, whispers to the lock to open for him, and Ismark is released.  They all return to the inn to inform Astray what has happened and to try and discuss plans on how to save Ireena.

Their conversation doesn’t last too long as soon all the guards in town begin surrounding the inn and demanding that the outsiders surrender or have the inn burned down with them inside it.  (They did free a “criminal” after all!)  

With little options available to them, the group heads outside, but refers to surrender.  Hugo uses calm emotions to try and subdue as many guards as possible while also creating a distraction for the rest of the party to escape.  The others run.

And hugo reveals a set of angelic wings before flying away after the group has put some distance between them and the guards.  (A very pretty “trick” in Zelda’s opinion!)  

With the group safely outside of the city...Ismark says “We are going back in there. Not necessarily today.  But we are going back in there.”

#Curse of Strahd #Ani plays CoS #dungeons and dragons #dnd #long post #Zelda #spoilers

[madammayh3m]

Sunshine

268 words. A pre-canon ficlet about Thais because I have been having feelings about her and her cowboy. There’s no real spoilers for the Curse of Strahd module in here, just some little tidbits about the setting at most.

If she thinks back on it, Thais can probably count on one hand the number of times she’s seen sunshine. Actual, honest-to-gods sunshine. The sun doesn’t shine in Barovia, that’s simply the way it is. And so she doesn’t entirely understand what Yeska is missing when he talks about sunshine; it’s something beyond her comprehension.

When the light comes in, it’s too often snuffed out. She has learned to clutch at any fleeting happiness with both hands in a white knuckled grip, clawing and biting and fighting to keep it. And, all too often, even that isn’t enough. She’s not yet old enough to have worn down to apathy.

So yeah, she doesn’t really get the fascination. And she doesn’t like it when he gets sad, and when he talks about times before coming to Barovia, he gets sad. But she likes listening to him talk, and if that’s what he wants to talk about, she’ll listen nonetheless.

Everyone she has ever known has warned her away from him. She knows why – they won’t stop telling her about it, after all. He’s an outsider, and outsiders might as well have targets hand-painted on their backs by Zarovich himself. She knows, she just doesn’t care. Yeska is her friend. Anything that wants to get to him has to go through her first, including that demon.

And so she finds herself looking up sometimes. Checking that the constant cloud cover is still, in fact, there. Not that she expects it to ever be gone. But just because she wants to make sure she’s not missing the sunshine that peeks through.

#my writing #things are getting dicey #glorious goth girl adventures #curse of strahd #ocs #Thais Vennoa #to be clear: the Yeska that is in the original module and this Yeska are not the same #Yeska originally is a child and doesn't have a super major part to play as far as I'm aware #(no spoilers if I'm wrong I'm one of the players not the dm and would prefer to go into this as blind as possible thanks) #GGGA Yeska is Thais' best friend since childhood and they're both almost 40 #(also they are stupid in love with each other and wanted to get married but couldn't for stupid reasons and also now she's dead but not) #the review from my DM was (and I quote) 'I am going to vomit. This is so sad' #which was very gratifying because they have been making me fucking sad as shit over Yeska and how he's been fucking alone and grieving #FOR EIGHT MONTHS #SO NOW SHE GETS TO BE SAD ABOUT THAIS #TURNABOUT IS FAIR PLAY

[madammayh3m]

Day 7: Turns Out Thais has a Personality

Oh boy. Oh fucking boy. The recap is almost caught up to where the campaign left off and we’ve officially only been in Barovia for a week. Curse of Strahd spoilies obvi, especially since we go see the witch today.

Thais and Ferrin go down to speak with Urwin in the morning. He has his two sons, Bram and Bray, who were in the kitchen helping with breakfast, go ‘help’ their mother with something as a way to get them out. As they’re leaving, Bray looks up at Thais and asks if she’s dead. She leans down slightly and – trying to be scary in a good-natured way to this kid she’s known almost his whole life – tells him, “yes.” He goes to ask her more questions, but Urwin shoos him out.

Urwin and Thais have a long conversation about what has been going on exactly since she’s been away. She reveals literally everything to him – that she’s dead, she doesn’t really remember anything, that she’s been outside of Barovia for the past eight months, everything she knows about herself, and the whole situation with the Abbot (which he finds hysterically funny). He also mentions the soldiers in silver armor upon hearing about her particular brand of undeath, further solidifying her theory that she’s connected to them somehow. In turn, Urwin tells her what has been going on and reveals aspects of her past to her: she was a barmaid at the Blue Water Inn, she and Yeska were engaged, her father died from disease shortly after she left, and that her mother left town and hasn’t been seen since, that Yeska went to Brez to speak with the witch there and was dragged back half dead by his horse (which later died of its own wounds), and that after that visit with the witch, he can now use magic when he couldn’t before. Thais is pissed that the witch hurt him. He also tells them that, if they want to leave town, they’d have to do it right now, because if the Burgomaster catches them trying to leave while there’s a festival going on, they’ll be imprisoned and publicly humiliated. Thais also asks him about the pinecone gems, as one of them did go missing while he was courting Danika. He doesn’t know where the unaccounted-for third gem has gone and simply points them in the direction of Brez.

Before leaving, Ferrin – now knowing more about Thais and the extent of her and Yeska’s relationship – tries to convince Thais that they should ask Yeska for information on the witch of Brez. Thais sees her point and the two have Urwin send one of his sons to go get him. He arrives and Ferrin introduces herself as Lucy; Thais doesn’t speak to him, and she doesn’t really manage to keep her cool, but he doesn’t say anything to her. Ferrin does all the talking and asks Yeska for any information he has about Brez and the witch. He warns them to stay away, but does still tell them what he knows about the area and a little about his experience ‘meeting’ her, including that she is an ally of Strahd but hates ravens, and unintentionally reveals that she gave him the scar over his eye. Thais, via Ferrin, pays him and he notes that one of the coins is from outside Barovia (specifically, the place he was originally from). He leaves without indicating that he thinks something is up with Thais.

The two make their plan to sneak out of the city and they move through the city like ghosts, making it out past a night-shift guard who hasn’t been relieved from his post yet. As they make their way down the road, Thais notices a skeleton in the grass – the skeleton is holding a bag in its arms. Inside the bag was a twisted iron key, a baby rattle, and a drawing of a man and a woman, carefully wrapped. Thais took the key, and Ferrin made sure that the drawing was protected from the elements before they continued on to Brez.

Upon reaching Brez, the two notice a ring of standing stones very similar to the ones on Yester Hill – there is a light between them. Ferrin has Lucy scope out the area, and she notices an old woman with a lantern and a dagger, standing and looking over the river towards the ruins of Brez. Ferrin approaches her with the intent to ask her for advice crossing the river, but the woman flees behind one of the standing stones. Following her, Ferrin finds only a raven behind the stone, which flies away.

Observing the standing stones closer, they note that there are animals carved on some of them - a bear, an elk, a hawk, a goat, an owl, a panther, a raven, and a wolf, but that the cardinal stones are left blank. Thais - and Ferrin, catching onto Thais’ habits - leave an offering of gold at this ancient place of worship before continuing on.

The two observe the river and, finding it relatively slow moving and shallow, swim across with minimal difficulty, though the book Thais found at the shrine when they first arrived was ruined. Upon reaching the other side, however, they are accosted by a swarm of biting flies as they try to dry out their clothes and armor slightly before continuing. Though they are able to fend them off, Ferrin quickly begins to develop a fever and experiences fits of laughter that come on much like a cough would - a disease called cackle fever, colloquially known as the shrieks, runs rampant here. They observe the ruins and notice a group of seven scarecrows, stuffed with black feathers that they identify as the constructs that Davian mentioned. The two decide to go directly to the witch’s hut in the center of the ruins and see what information they can get from her about themselves, as she may be knowledgeable about the kinds of magic that affect them, and what Yeska came there for, before trying to kill her. The hut is built onto a tree with many roots that resemble the legs of an insect. There is also a giant’s skull, turned upside down, in front of the hut, and two cages absolutely stuffed with very unhappy ravens that scream at the two women, alerting the witch inside.

Initially it seems to go well despite the fact that she is also absolutely insane - inside the hut is, among other things, an old wooden tub stained with blood, an altar of some kind, and a crib with a baby inside in the center of the room, though Thais notes that the latter is not in fact a real child, but a powerful illusion spell. A green glow, much like the glow that came from inside the tree blight back at the winery, emanates from under the floorboards. Baba Lysaga welcomes them inside and cures Ferrin’s cackle fever. She also invades Ferrin’s privacy in a major way in order to find out more about the fundamentals of her existence. While she magically examines Ferrin’s very being, Lucy flutters out of Ferrin’s hood and hangs from the ceiling, watching everything, her eyes having turned a different color. Ferrin learns that she is a vampire that is missing her divinity - and that to fully become a vampire, she must claim a source of divinity. They also learn that Baba Lysaga was Strahd’s nursemaid - she thinks of herself as his real mother, and holds a great deal of animosity to his biological mother, who she said favored Strahd’s younger brother. She was banished from the castle for using magic on Strahd when he was an infant in order to unlock his latent potential. However, her attitude towards the two quickly shifts as she comes to the conclusion that Ferrin is a brazen hussy seeking to seduce her precious “son” for his power. However, she turns her attention from Ferrin onto Thais.

Sensing that things are about to go south anyway, Ferrin tells her that Thais is undead, and the two try to reveal enough aspects of her condition to Baba Lysaga without revealing that her end goal and purpose for revival was to kill Strahd. However, Baba Lysaga catches on quickly, and reveals that the only revenants in Barovia were of the Order of the Silver Dragon, the silver warriors that stood against Strahd. She also reveals that revenants are created by a desire in the soul to dedicate themselves fully to their cause, and that while they can be called, they can also choose not to answer. Finally, she tells Thais that Death will not claim her until her goal is fulfilled, and she then asks what, exactly, Thais’ goal is. In a last attempt to not anger her before finding out more information, Thais lies about her goal, stating that it was her desire to marry her fiance that brought her back, but Baba Lysaga sees through the lie and (correctly) assumes that Thais’ purpose is to kill her “baby boy,” and attacks the two of them, slamming the door of the hut shut magically.

The fight does not go particularly well - she casts Crown of Madness on Ferrin who, in the cramped space of the hut, has no choice but to attack Thais. However, the two women keep her blocked into the hut, preventing her from using some of her more offensive spells at the risk of catching herself in the fallout. She also summons several swarms of flies that fill the hut, further whittling away at the two women. Suddenly, the door of the hut bursts open, and Ezmerelda stands in the doorway, telling them they need to leave, now. Upon seeing another, more powerful, adversary has joined the fight, Baba Lysaga casts Finger of Death on Thais, killing her instantly (she failed the save and it did fucking THREE TIMES HER HP IN DAMAGE).

Seeing her ally fall, Ferrin resolves to stand her ground and see the fight against Baba Lysaga to the end. It’s a close fight, and Baba Lysaga awakens her Creeping Hut, which begins to move and shake, trying to throw the enemies inside of it around. Ferrin stays upright thanks to her Spider Climb abilities and she and Ezmerelda finally get the witch on the ropes. Baba Lysaga attempts to escape by turning into a swarm of flies as she gets closer and closer to death, but as she escapes the hut, Ferrin and Ezmerelda finally kill her. She dies in agony, fading away into nothing.

The hut, however, is still very much alive; Ferrin rips up the floorboards, revealing the pinecone gem that rests in the hollow trunk of the living tree. The trunk has barbs that gnash together like a mouth. Ferrin and Ezmerelda both try to reach into the trunk to pull the gem out, and both get injured by the gnashing “teeth.” Ferrin uses the Blood spear to wedge the mouth open long enough to grab the gemstone, which destroys the spear and kills the hut in one fell swoop. As the hut falls, Ferrin catches Ezmerelda, keeping her from falling.

Ferrin helps Ezmerelda out of the hut and goes back in to retrieve Thais and investigate the witch’s belongings. She examines the altar and realizes that the source of Baba Lysaga’s magic was not freely given, but rather that she gained her powers through force and domination. She also finds a locked treasure chest, which she brings outside, and both she and Ezmerelda try to open it. Failing to pick the lock, Ferrin decides to break it open with her axe. The box itself explodes and three crawling claws fly out, very dead. Inside, Ferrin finds all of Baba Lysaga’s “winnings” from past adventurers she has slain - or at the very least, beaten, as Yeska’s hat is among the items. She splits the gold and gemstones between her, Thais, and Ezmerelda, letting the latter have first pick of the loot and a larger share of gold as thanks for saving our collective dumb ass.

Ezmerelda notices that Ferrin sets aside gold for Thais, and begins to try and comfort her, but Ferrin explains the situation. Disturbed by the revelation of Thais’ “condition,” she attempts to leave, cool guy style, but Ferrin follows after her and convinces her to at least help them back to Vallaki. On the way back, Ferrin and Ezmerelda have a very gay conversation about what Ezmerelda was even doing out there in the first place. Ezmerelda reveals that she went to Vallaki to get supplies, and that she heard two outsiders had gone out to Brez to fight Baba Lysaga. Not wanting to see the two women (or at least Ferrin) killed, she followed. Ferrin asks her where she’ll be headed next and when Ezmerelda tries to give her the runaround, she asks if she’ll be headed to Castle Ravenloft to fight Strahd directly; Ezmerelda responds very flirtily, asking if Ferrin would mind if she was. The two finally make their way back to Vallaki, where Ezmerelda drops off Ferrin and goes on her way. Meanwhile, Lucy has begun to develop symptoms of cackle fever.

Ferrin manages to get Thais’ body into the city and to the Blue Water Inn with no one asking too many questions - after all, outsiders don’t tend to last long in Barovia. Upon reaching the inn, Urwin and Danika immediately spring into action, with Urwin going to fetch Yeska, and Danika helping Ferrin get Thais out of her armor and settled into one of their rooms from the night before. When Ferrin returns downstairs to pay for the rooms, Danika almost-hugs her and thanks her for watching out for Thais. Ferrin pulls her into a full hug, almost leaping across the counter to do so, which makes Danika feel very awkward, and then goes back upstairs to wait for Yeska in her own room.

Yeska arrives and begins to patch up Ferrin and treat Lucy for her cackle fever. While treating Ferrin, he remarks on how the “mouth” in the trunk of the tree fucked up her arm, to which Ferrin responds that the house “bit her.” Nonplussed, Yeska continues to treat her and, upon finishing, allows her to pick a candy from a small jar he keeps with his medicine kit. He asks her about how her traveling companion is doing, and Ferrin convinces him that Thais is alright, and just needs to sleep without disturbance, but that he can come back when she wakes up. He leaves, and Ferrin settles in for the night.

#things are getting dicey #curse of strahd #glorious goth girl adventures #GGGA Recap #ocs #Thais Vennoa #Ferrin Bonemarrow #I'm so fucking excited lmao #I've also got another fic from the DM to post from Yeska's perspective after Thais died #:3c #I fucking lost my shit when Yeska and Ferrin had the conversation about how her arm got so fucked up #I'm still fucking laughing about that nearly two weeks later #*yeska picking tree shrapnel out of ferrin's arm* 'jesus miss what happened to you out there?' #*ferrin sweating* 'the house... bit me?' #*yeska very concerned about how she's still alive* '...bit ya pretty good.'

[costhursdays]

A rush of Strazni heading for Cash's person didn't alert either him nor Nick, but Kenshi adeptly noticed the large man lumbering towards the Disguised Tiefling, and stepped in to question him. Kenshi also noticed that the man's right arm looked deformed under the cloak he wore. Strazni demanded that Kenshi step out of the way, as she belonged to him. Cash dropped the Disguise Self spell, and lied that he saw the doll in the shop and wanted to see if he could make her real. Strazni, confused as to why Cash looked like the woman from his dreams, angrily told everyone to leave the area. Cash took him in to memorize the face of the man as much as he could. With Strazni met, and the partial group sufficiently stressed and confused, returned to the path to Church of St. Andral with the toys for everyone.

While the others were dealing with a strange mountain of a man, Chiaroscuro and Alexir were helping acclimate Ireena to her new role, Chiaroscuro assisting in mending the orphan children's clothing while Alexir took a break from the mental stress by sitting in a pew a bit away's from the pulpit. Father Petrovich sits with Alexir, and the two chat a bit about their tiefling companion, Chiaro. He mentions that he was a bit surprised, because he thought the air of holy energy he felt was radiating of Alexir, but no, Father Petrovich said it came from Chiaro. Alexir mentioned he never felt anything of the sort, but agreed that there was something special about the man. Petrovich agreed, telling Alexir to keep an eye on him, as he could see some awe inspiring things from the young man.

As Father Petrovich stood, the rest of the group walked in, toys in hand for the others, and everyone took refuge in the Priest's back office to discuss the happenings. Nick, Cash, and Kenshi informed Chiaro and Alexir of Strazni, told them how he had been seeing Ireena in his dreams and he had been forcing Blinksy to make Dolls of her for months now, and

Chiaroscuro, who had been making a bit of headway with the orphans, was voluntold to discuss the bones with Yeska with the new toy that the group had bought for him and the rest of the orphans, a moderate sized puppet show with marionettes of a king, a queen, a prince, a princess, an executioner, a tax collector, a dunce, a vampire, and a vampire hunter. Chiaroscuro did so, with some coaching from Nick and the group who used their Psychic Whispers technique, using the toy with Yeska to discuss difficult topics like the death of his parents to the Wolf's Head Jamboree, and also how scared he was and what to do to combat this fear. Yeska confirmed Father Petrovich's suspicion that Milivoj had been the one he had told about the bones, and the group set outside to confront the surly teen about them.

It had started to rain a bit as they left the building, and Milivoj was digging a grave in the wet mud. He allowed the group to help him out of the hole, and as he was interrogated, everyone could see he was simply a stressed, tired, frustrated teen who was working so hard to support his family after his parent's had passed. They asked who hired him to steal the bones of Saint Andral, and he informed them of the Coffin Maker, Henrik van der Voort. When asked how much he was offered to steal them, Milivoj reluctantly said that he'd get fifty gold pieces for the bones, enough money to last his family a while. After getting the rest of the necessary details from the boy, Chiaro offered five gold pieces to him to help him out for the next while. When everyone else had started to leave, Cash flipped him one of the Gold Rings from the Death House, Milivoj catching it deftly in the air, and told the lad that while he understood doing whatever was possible for money, to avoid bad jobs for bad coin. Milivoj agreed, and left to go inside away from the rain.

The group made the plan, approach the Coffin Maker's home, Kenshi will enter the shop as a possible customer, Cash will use Disguise Self to pass as Milivoj asking for his money, and, the rest will enter where they could to get the bones. Unfortunately for them, upon approaching the building, the group were forced away upon knocking, Henrik van der Voort being a gruff, antisocial old cretin. While Cash began to use Disguise Self on himself, Chiaroscuro asked for a boost up to attempt to see into the second floor from Alexir, and while barely, he could see through the barred and slatted windows into a dark room filled with boxes and supplies. He summoned Flicker in the center of the room, his eyes glassing over to be able to see through his Familiar's sights, and looked around through Flicker to find anything close to the bones. All the while Cash's Milivoj disguise was applied, and he was able to get inside the front office of the Coffin Maker's home, demanding his money from the old man.

Henrik relented, going through a door and, through Flicker's senses Chiaro could hear him coming up to the second floor, going through a door on the other side of the wall. Not long after, Henrik returned with the bag of coins for "Milivoj", and began to escort the man out of his home, when he was shocked by Kenshi's hand shooting out and grabbing the door before it closed into its frame. Inviting himself in, Kenshi looked around for a brief moment before chastising the man and demanding to know where the bones were. Henrik held up his hands in defeat almost immediately, knowing all too well that the jig was up. He informed Kenshi were the bones were, through the door, up the stairs, and to the right, and Kenshi demanded that Henrik go with them to find it. Henrik refused, saying he already told the man where it was, his only request was that Kenshi not go into the room on the left of the stairs, as it was not safe. This room in question is where Flicker was standing at this exact point, surrounded by boxes, wood, and large crates labeled "Junk".

#alexir #cash #chiaroscuro #curse of strahd #kenshi #nick #cos #Izek Strazni #Father Lucian Petrovich #Yeska #Milivoj #Henrik van der Voort #Flicker the Shadowember Cat

[madammayh3m]

Day 6: Thais’ Sword Gets Stolen (Also She Remembers Her Husband)

Oh boy! It’s Thais’ turn to have things happen to her! I’m in danger! I have so much I’d like to say about this shit and the two weeks I spent hyperfixating on Thais and her boo, but this ain’t the post for it. Curse of Strahd stuff happening as per uzh.

Thais awakens to find the Sunsword missing. Ferrin uses her familiar powers to look through Lucy’s eyes and they discover Arrigal snuck into the room late last night to steal the Sunsword and debated killing Thais in her sleep but ultimately decided against it. The two decide to go to the main tent again for breakfast and to see if they can figure out where he got to. They notice one of the horses is missing, and that Arrigal is nowhere to be seen. Luvash, when questioned, states that he doesn’t know where Arrigal has gone, but Ferrin suspects he may be half-lying. They also ask him why the man on the lake tried to kill Araebelle and he reveals that, while Barovians are hateful to the Vistani for their alliance with Strahd - which is what allows them to leave Barovia - they also think the Vistani are lucky, and that certain ‘rituals’ can pass that luck along.

While speaking to them, Luvash makes note of a peculiar manner of speaking that Ferrin shares with someone in Vallaki – another outsider, and a healer, who could be useful for us to speak to. Thais has a memory of this man – he’s been her best friend since childhood. The two eat breakfast before setting out to track Arrigal.

They manage to track Arrigal down the road and past Vallaki, where they are ambushed by two berserkers, who they discover were paid off recently with gold from outside of Barovia - which the Vistani have in spades. While they do prevail, Thais is badly injured, but she agrees to press on another hour along the road after healing a little. They discover the gates into the heart of Barovia, which open on their own, and they go through, discovering an empty horse-drawn carriage. The doors open upon their approach, and the women get the distinct feeling that if they go through, it will take them to Strahd. The two decide to return to Vallaki with the remaining daylight, saving the Strahd invite for another time. The gates they passed through hesitate to let them leave, but they do open and the two make their way back along the road.

Upon passing through the gates of Vallaki, Thais ‘unlocks’ all of her memories of the town, because it’s the place where she grew up. She leads them to the Blue Water Inn to spend the night. While there, Urwin Martikov comes out and makes conversation with them, clearly curious about the two outsiders. He notes that Thais is injured and recommends they speak to Yeska, who should be showing up to the inn shortly. More memories flood back and Thais remembers that he is the love of her life, but they were unable to be married because her parents refused. Thais, for the second time, removes her mask and Urwin, upon seeing her face, goes pale. She pleads with him not to tell anyone about her and he quickly puts up a mask of his own, asking the two to come speak with him at their convenience before hastily returning to the kitchen. Thais gives Ferrin a short description of Yeska - an older black man with locs, round glasses, and clothes that don’t tend to match the ‘style’ in Barovia - and asks her to keep an eye out for him arriving.

He asks for his meal and a couple others to go – one for Father Lucien, and one for the Abbot. Ferrin notes that there is a scar over one of his eyes that Thais didn’t mention, and that he’s missing his hat. Ferrin and Thais decide to beat a hasty retreat up to their rooms for the night to regroup and discuss what their plan is going to be since the Abbot is in town, likely looking for them. As they’re walking up the stairs, two men walk in – Nikolai and Karl Wachter, shitheel brothers who spend a good deal of time drinking. They send out a parting shot at Yeska, and he pauses for the briefest of seconds before leaving. Thais also pauses, and considers going back down there to beat their asses, but when she hears Yeska leave, she continues up the stairs.

Ferrin has noticed the reaction that Thais had to Yeska’s presence and asks her if she’s willing to talk about it. Thais answers that she doesn’t know, and the two talk logistically about what they’re going to do next. Thais makes it clear to Ferrin that she’s not going to let anyone else in town aside from Urwin know who she is. They go to sleep.

#things are getting dicey #curse of strahd #glorious goth girl adventures #GGGA Recap #ocs #Thais Vennoa #Ferrin Bonemarrow #I'm going to say this again - GGGA Yeska is NOT the same as canon Yeska #GGGA Yeska is Thais' best friend since childhood and they're both almost 40 #GGGA Yeska is essentially a character concept the DM has had for a while and she found an opportunity to plug him in here #I mean if you're writing shit about vampires you gotta put a cowboy in there somewhere #bram stoker did it #our DM told us afterwards that they were absolutely expecting me to start a bar fight over what the two assholes said to Yeska #(which was along the lines of cracking wise about Thais dying and him being bad luck as an outsider) #and I was like 'oh yeah Thais was fully considering just straight up killing both of them' #ultimately she decided against it when she heard Yeska leave but if he had so much as indicated he was going to start something with them #she would have totally had his back #but that is not his way so... damn no bar fights for me this time :( #GOD I HAVE SO MUCH TO FUCKING SAY ABOUT THIS #and I have a fanfiction to post about this moment