Session 2 - Chronicles of Barovia: The Child, The Witch and The Vampire Report

General Summary

Village of Barovia   Your second session began in the dead of night at the Burgomaster's mansion in the Village of Barovia. Ankha witnessed a ghostly procession marching from the church to Castle Ravenloft. Ismark explained these are previous adventurers who have attempted to defeat Strahd, stuck in this nightly routine forevermore. During the early hours of the morning, while Vimak and Davnic were on watch, Ireena came knocking at the door begging to be let in. They both realised that if she were a vampire she would need to be invited in, so they simply opened the door. Immediately, Ireena pushed past them and entered, looking terrified. This woke up the rest of you who gathered to hear what had happened to her since Strahd took her from you.   Ireena was in shock and found it quite difficult to relay everything that happened. She did say that it felt like she knew every nook and cranny of the castle and she couldn’t shake the feeling that Strahd must have let her go. He obviously had the power to keep her there against her will if he wished, but he didn’t. This prompted her to plead with you all to escort her from the village, which you agreed to do at first dawn.   During the night at the mansion, you investigated the rooms and found a letter eerily similar to the one you found on the body found in the woods by the Church in your first session.   After packing up, Saylor Twift told you she had agreed to play in the local tavern to try and lift the spirits of those in the village and said she would meet you in Vallaki. Once you left the mansion, you found an old woman pushing a cart full of pastries. You briefly spoke to her and she explained they are “dream pastries” to help people escape the horrors of Barovia. Vimak and Davnic bought two each (shocker.)   On the Road   Your journey to Vallaki was pretty uneventful until a body in the middle of the road stopped you from travelling. After taking a closer look, Finnie could see this was the body of Vimak, who was sitting on the back of the cart “keeping watch.” After some confusion as to how this could be happening, Finnie decided to poke the body, causing it to disintegrate and leave just a skeleton. You investigated the bones and determined they were definitely of Goliath descent but could see any of Vimak’s injuries visible in them. The bones also disintegrated once they were touched.   You continued your journey until nightfall, where you set up camp just off of the road, avoiding going into the woods. Davnic flirted with Ireena (successfully!) and they both ate a dream pastry and were tripping balls for hours, leaving them completely useless when four Strahd zombies attacked your camp. Ankha skillfully decapitated one with a javelin, and you all defeated the zombies quite easily despite having no help from Davnic or Ireena, who were too busy pinging out of their minds and probably telling each other they love each other. Finnie managed to put some horse manure in Davnic's pants to make it look like he shit himself (although Davnic realised he had been pranked by the gang.)    After defeating the zombies you could finally sleep. Unfortunately for Vimak, he did not get much rest after having a nightmare involving Syl (check the Lore section for info on the nightmare.)   Vallaki   When morning came, your journey to Vallaki continued. You made it there safely and headed to the Blue Water Inn where you left Ireena and set up some rooms. You learned there is a festival happening in town in three days’ time, the Festival of the Blazing Sun. Ankha and Juni headed off to the Chapel to offer their prayers and you all did some shopping. In the town centre you encountered the town's guard ripping down old posters for a previous festival and putting up new ones for the Festival of the Blazing Sun. You also noted a man who appeared to be the leader of the towns’ guard and noticed his one arm was greatly deformed.   After asking around town and at the Inn you learned there is a Vistani camp just outside of the town walls, the Vistani are not welcome into Vallaki itself. Remembering the Tarokka reading, you went straight to the camp. As you entered, you saw a large Vistani man whipping a young Vistani. After talking to him you learned this man is called Luvash and his daughter, Arabelle, is missing. Finnie managed to piss him off initially after he questioned why he was whipping the boy. You learned that the man being whipped was the one on watch when Arabelle went missing. You offered your help to Luvash and Davnic had the idea to wild shape into a wolf and try to follow her scent. You spoke to Luvash’s brother, Arrigal, who gave you some of Arabelle’s clothing and accompanied you in looking for her.   Davnic followed the girl’s scent all the way to Lake Zarovich. You saw a fisherman out on the lake and something splashing in the water. Wasting no time, you all hopped in the rowboats and made your way to the splashing water. Vimak and Ankha travelled together to make good use of their strength and got there first, they could see a young girl was drowning. They pulled her out of the water and wrapped her in whatever they could find. Ankha, surprisingly nimble in all that armour, jumped over to the fisherman’s boat and incapacitated him. You brought them both back to shore where Arrigal took Arabelle home and you stayed behind to interrogate the fisherman.   After tying him to a tree and casting lesser restoration to cure his drunkenness, you all began questioning him on what happened and other information about Barovia. You learned he kidnapped Arabelle, believing the Vistani to be “lucky” people, he used her as an offering to the lake in order for him to catch more fish. Unable to understand why someone would do this, you came to the conclusion he must be a drunken fool. Begging for his life, he offered to give you any information you required about the area. Referring back to the Tarokka reading, you asked him for the location of a Wizard’s Tower and learned there is such a tower overlooking Lake Baratok.   Vimak carried the drunken idiot back to the Vistani camp where Finnie then took him to Luvash so that he could be sufficiently punished. The Vistani thanked you for your help and offered you a reward from their treasure caravan. You had much to choose from, but settled on the Holy Symbol. You also found out that the Vistani’s potions that are supposed to enable you to leave Baroia are bullshit, which Arrigal explained they have to make their money somehow.   As the sun was setting, you made your way back to the Blue Water Inn where you rested for the night.