Session 20

General Summary

A Return to (Relative) Safety

As the party tries comes to realize what is going on, Ahrieya in a panic immediately flies towards the 'town tailor'. Upon arriving at the home, Ahrieya promptly breaks in and begins to steal clothing and leave money on the counter. As the rest of the party soon follows, Ahrieya explains that Strahd seems to have not been bluffing, and her brother is actually here somewhere. Ariadne tries to calm her down while Idris once again scolds Ahrieya on breaking into another person's home and taking their things. At that moment, Gio sees that a light upstairs begins to move around. As Gio moves inside, the old man, Tyler Swyft comes downstairs in a surprising calm to ask why they have broken into their home. Ahrieya pleads for new clothing as she pays WAY to much for a new outfit. The group profusely apologizes to Mr. Swyft as we promptly kicks them out of his home. 
The party returns to the burgomaster's mansion, and upon arrival, Don is pleased to see Sin again, however Sin appears to be drunk. Saying they have something they need to tell Idris, he says that it can wait until morning and told Don to bring them to their room. Meanwhile, Ariadne goes upstairs to check on Ireena, and Nova sleeps on the foot of Gio's childrens' bed. Idris and Ahrieya have a conversation outside about their behavior, and how they understand everything that Strahd is doing is awful, but if he can be appeased for now until they can deal with it, then thats what they should do. Idris then went back inside to crash on the couch, but not before assessing the feelings of both Ahrieya, Escher, and perhaps someone else? Upstairs in Gio's room, Gio told Isis about the creature called the Eidolon that hunted his family, and that its somewhere in Barovia.
Ahrieya climbed up onto the room for her evening watch. Ariadne soon after joined her as they began to talk about how they're feeling. As the moonlight shone upon the rooftop, Ariadne's eyes turned dark purple and starry, as another pair of eyes opened just under her first pair. Startled at first, Ahrieya asked Ariadne to start experimenting with these new eyes, first proving they're real, and then trying to see what they could see. It seems like blurry images blue light vaguely in the shape of Ahrieya could be seen through the new eyes. After a moment, however, the moonlight faded, covered by clouds, and these featured disappeared. Ravens joined them as they sat on the roof.
Moving back downstairs, Ahrieya noticed some rustling coming from the larder. Upon investigation, she found Ilya snacking on some preserved meat. He was quickly told to go to bed.
Surprising Gio awake once again, Ahrieya and Ariadne told Gio and Nova to take over watch. Gio is pleased to see that Nova is no longer baring he sharp features during night, though it seems some of her tendencies were not caused by the moon. Though when exploring the home and keeping watch, Gio saw the white train of a dress move throughout the bottom floor. While Nova couldn't see anything Gio panickily woke up Idris saying that someone else is here. Upon assessing the situation, Idris promptly fell back asleep (twice). The dress moved upstairs into Gio's room, looking upon his family as they slept. The pale womanly figure in the dress slowly faded into golden and pearlescent dust before turning to halos around each of Gio' family.
Gio and Nova then investigated the Battlehand's room, finding it completely empty. Upon investigation, the two found symbols carved into the walls that seemed to let them hear conversations in adjacent rooms must better. This definitely needs to be brought up in the morning. 
For the final watch, Gio woke Idris up again. As Gio took a moment to talk around, Idris was joined by Coryphian lounging near him. Asking about the extent of this gift, Coryphian explained that he can delve into emotions and gain insight on individuals who have been 'gifted' by him. You simply need to feel. When asked if the extent of his gift would be what happened to Idris' mother, Coryphian claimed that she had put in a good word for Idris, and that she was justly rewarded. Seems awfully hard to read this guy with the void face he's got.

When told that its awfully hard to trust them without them giving anything in return, Coryphian agreed and promptly gave Idris a gift. When asked about Sena, he claims that she is doing alright.

As Ariadne slept, Strahd visited her in her dreams within the Snuggly Duckling. He was pleased that she took his deal, though was certainly surprised. He told her to find a cave to the northwest of Krezk in the shape of a wolf's skull. There she will find what she is looking for; Redinella's old stomping grounds. The tree there, however, was her's entirely. Though, Strahd said that the denizens there would not like her, as they are that way BECAUSE of her. Before departing, he said that he would come and collect his side of the bargain in due time. As the dream slowly faded, the moon above eclipsed the sun, and roots began to spread out, covering the entire sky in a dome. Then, the moon cracked, and two monstrous hands emerged before Ariadne woke up. 

Mutton Busted

As the party started waking up, Idris went downstairs to cook something for breakfast as Nova went out to the sheep pen to get wool for making dream catchers. When she arrived, however, all the sheep were missing. Upon arriving back at the home, Nova finished making her dreamcatchers for the house before telling Gio about the missing livestock, who promptly told the rest of the group except Idris.
Idris, however, talked with Sin who between handfuls of breakfast nachos, told him that the sheep were missing while Luca and them were supposed to be watching them. They have no idea what happened, as when she went out to check on them they were simply gone, and she couldn't see Luca anywhere. Sin seemed surprisingly panicked as they thought that now everyone will be kicked out after the sheep were lost on their watch. Idris assured them that would not happen. 
Before going off to investigate, Gio told Anna to check on the Battlehand's room. It seems they left marks on the wall, and she should check if they stole anything. She explained that they seemed like they were ready to leave soon after the party left for the castle, but was surprised they didn't say goodbye.
When the party arrived at the sheep pen, they investigated a bit to find a lot of blood hidden beneath the straw in the pen, as well as no sheep prints coming to or from the entrance of the pen. Gio investigated a pile of rocks near the pen, which was explained to Idris by Sin that Luca went to grab some after being told that the fence needed repair. Nova went back into the woods to find where the sheep might have run off to, only to find a patch where it looks like something had been sleeping. As the party devised a plan of action to find whatever is taking the sheep, Ahrieya climbed the wall around the town only to be met by two guards. Asking why she was up there, in a feigned panic Ahrieya let it slip that the sheep are missing. One of the guards hurried off to warn the rest, while the other promised he wouldn't tell anyone after a tiring cry-argue session. Luca eventually appeared, and after being questioned, the party *seemed* to not think he would have done anything like this. Though, when asked if the party could go to his house and look around, the man happily obliged. 
Within his home, the party was that Luca's house was actually quite nice. However, the party had found multiple sheep skulls cleaned of any meat whatsoever, a fully stocked larder, and a suspicious room that used to be his father's office. With Ariadne, Gio, and Nova distracting Luca, Idris, Ireena, and Ahrieya looked around, not only finding a busted back door lock, but also a note to Luca's father.

My Dear Costel,
Forgive my abruptness, but you are in grave danger. The boy you describe clearly carries a dark curse. You must flee with your son to my estate. We have ample stores laid up for the winter and can shelter your family and friends. Please do not trouble yourself with a response, I will see you soon enough.

Your friend in joy and strife, Marilena Fidatov

As the party started to draw some conclusions, the sounds of riled up townsfolk could be heard approaching the home...

Report Date

21 Jan 2023