Session 27

General Summary

Werewolf Are We Going?

Nova and Gio, along with their three corpses, were brought into the mouth of a jagged stone cave. When asked, apparently some howls gave the werewolves the idea to start patrolling the areas around Krezk more often. Inside, the two saw the semblance of a small community of werewolves inside, along with a large amount of wolves. Moving through chambers, the two were led into a room where multiple metal cages were set up, seemingly out of place compared to the rest of the cave. The pair was allowed to tend to their dead before being locked into the cages themselves. Adjacent, they could see that two children were also held in cages, as well as a blue skinned individual who seemed to every so often remark towards the sky, referring to someone named "Mother." Inside, the two found themselves chatting with the individual who seemed fond of blood named Diem. Nova took this opportunity to take some teeth from Idris and Ahrieya, as well as some horn from Idris too fashion into a necklace.
Gio tried to fiddle with the locks, he could see some strange ripple effect around the cage itself. Diem also took this moment to heal the worried man a bit as an act of kindness. As discussion continued, with "Mother" coming up more and more, the individual presiding over the cages turned from her prayer at a small sculpture to ask if Diem was referring to Mother Night. Upon affirming, the woman, who soon introduced herself as Zuleika, said that she took no part in the raid to capture Diem. Kiril, who seems to be the pack alpha, has supported the raids on individuals found outside towns to take them away here to the cave in order to indoctrinate them into the pack through forced fighting. Zuleika does not care for Kiril as he left after he lost in his fight with her beloved Emil and returned with red-eyed wolves from Strahd to take control of the pack, bringing Emil back to the castle. She promised to let out Diem if she promised to return Emil to the cave, and that Nova and Gio needed to escort Diem to the castle in order to find him. When asked who the leader of the party was, Gio looked down towards Idris as both Zuleika and Diem both assumed it was Nova. Zuleika would make a distraction by having the two children fight as part of the initiation process where the entirety of the pack would watch on, giving them a chance to escape. After MUCH reluctance and hoping for an alternative plan, Gio relented and the three agreed.

Dark Moon

Meanwhile, Ariadne's body was brought away from the group. Apparently "he" wants to see her, but that isn't Kiril. The next thing she knew, she was again present in a starry, pool like landscape. Millions of voices seemed to call out for her, slowly growing into a cacophony of cries and wails before disappearing as a familiar pale-skinned man descended from the moon itself. He remarked how well she has grown, and that he needed something of Ariadne in order to retrieve something that her mother left to him long ago; his greatest treasure, aside from her of course. As he grasped Ariadne's arm, the features which appeared under the moon began to reveal themselves once again. When asking for a name, he remarked that those who still remember him refer to him as "Dark Moon." When asked about what happened to her mother, he stated that mortals working for Strahd took her from him, beyond the mists, and thus stole her away from him.
Soon, the pair came to a large, fallen tree with a door carved into its face. At the center, a pendent shaped slot seemed to match Ariadne's pendent that her mother gave her. Placing the pendant in the slot, the door lit before cracking open slightly. A grin came upon Dark Moon's face before he grasped Ariadne's head and plunged it under the starry pool's surface. Drowning, Ariadne struggled to fight back before she heard a voice again; her mother's. "What makes you special Ariadne, why you shine so brightly in the darkest nights?" Frustrated and confused, Ariadne eventually responded with "my heart." At that moment, large moth wings sprouted from her back as she managed to escape Dark Moon's grasp. Flying away, a look of disappointment was written across his face as he stepped through the door that was opened by Ariadne's pendant.

Save-ception

Gio took a moment to pick the locks of each of the individuals within the cells. Upon unlocking Nova's cage last, the three tried to hide as they heard footsteps approaching them, though they did so not very well. Approaching them were three individuals: an auburn haired woman, a dark skinned woman in a pastel dress, and a woman in a red coat and headband. Two of them were quickly identified as Sena and Ireena, while the third seemed familiar to Diem, calling them 'elda.
Sena clearly pissed off with the situation demanded to know what the fuck was going on, but the mysterious woman interjected that they needed to leave now. As the party left the cave, she seemed to cast some kind of spell which created a path on the ground, showing the group how to traverse the difficult and magical looking woods which surround the cave. 
Back in Krezk, the party returned to the burgomaster's very late into the evening. The new woman introduced herself as Ezmerelda d'Avnir, a vistani who apparently was taught by Rudolph van Richten. Confusion abound, Sena seemed EXTREMELY pissed. When the situation was explained, Sena seemed particularly pissed when it was mentioned it was Ariadne's fault. Diem remarked that the way these two treat their dead is truly interesting, and that she is looking for someone she calls Master. Nova took this opportunity to gift the necklace carving of Idris' horn to Sena, who was surprised more than anything.
When Sena approached Idris, frustrated that this was NOT an all expenses paid vacation, Coryphian remarked how nice Idris' skin looked, and that she should see if its as nice as it seems. Upon touching his face, Idris' entire body reduced to orange-yellow cinders flowing out the window. Now Coryphian has him in body AND spirit. You can come see him if you'd like. Idris was close, just find one more of those pendants. 
When questioned about how Ahrieya wanted to be tended to, no one really knew what she would want. Returned to the land? Well, Strahd IS the land so thats probably a no. Cremation? Well looking through her journal, Ireena deemed it probably NOT a good idea considering what happened to her parents. Diem, intrigued, suggested they place her in a stone coffin. A good alternative, the group said a few words before resting her body into the coffin, placing her with her grimoire. Before sealing her away, a golden mask materialized on her face as the gold slowly began to spread down her body. Apparently thats normal/expected.
As the party winded down for rest, Gio woke up his wife again to explain that three people died this time, they were taken by werewolves, and now there is a creepy lady with them. Apparently, she did not send for the trio to try and rescue the party. Frustrated again, Isis was about to freak out again when Gio tried to diffuse the situation before drifting off to sleep.
In the morning, the party devised a plan. The party devised that they were to visit the tower near Krezk in order to find some people of interest, then visit the order of paladins to the south for aid, before returning to Vallaki to deliver the wine and investigate the vistani killings.

Report Date

18 Mar 2023