Session 13 - Alliances and Information Gathering

General Summary

• Jonathan and Rictavio the Bard talk after their performance
  • Rictavio wants to know what circus he studied with
  • Jonathan haven't been with a circus
  • Rictavio owns his own circus, but it's only him now. His troupe was cannibalized by someone who didn't understand their language. He has a pet tiger named Cody now.
  • Rictavio trying to get his circus back up again
  • He was travelling to Damir(?) when he met the Vistani who told his about the soulless drab people of Barovia, and he decided to travel there
  • Jonathan says he is here for similar reasons
  • Jonathan claims that he has a tiger at home, but didn't bring it here
  • Rictavio's tiger is across town. It can jump through hoops, run and fly
  • Jonathan will only get to see the tiger if he joins the circus as the backup performer and stable boy, janitor, food salesman
  • Jonathan is insulted
  • Rictavio says that Jonathan need to prove himself, and Jonathan claims he has travelled and performed for a long time, and has a very big tiger
  • Jonathan want to be partners instead of an assistant
  • Rictavio's tiger might be a better singer than Jonathan
  • As he leaves Danika Martikov hands Rictavio a bag of money, Jonathan is insulted that he doesn't also get paid
  • Richard flexes his noble ring and tells the barkeep that an establishment that does not pay their performers will not go over well with his friends. He name drops Lady Fiona Wachter
  • Danika feels bad and gives Jonathan his drinks on the house tonight. He gets back 5 sp...
  • Richard proclaims that the drinks are free tonight, and urges the others to get free drinks
  • Jonathan downs as many drinks as possible
• Damia and Ariah return to the inn and the party heads upstairs (except for Jonathan who tries to drink as much as possible)
  • Damia tells us about her findings
  • We then go to bed
• As Jonathan goes to head to the room he feels his ring __. The stuffed stag head at the wall turns to look at him
  • "I can end the terror of your mind, as you’ve proven yourself worthy. I will end your suffering as you shall do onto others. Wear the amber amulet proudly, and you will prevail in darkness. suffering shall end as peace takes it’s place. bring the peace to the souls of the damned, and let their soul be graced by light once more."
  • It is the same feeling he had when looking at the gallows
  • His ring is tighter on his finger now
  • He heads to the room to sleep
• Damia has a nightmare
  • "Well hello dearie, did you think I had forgotten about you?"
  • She needs a favour; Find a needle and a vial and fetch some children's tears for a recipe
  • She finds the tools under her pillow. The needle is the one used to threathen her earlier
  • She must get the tears from the orphanage tonight
  • Damia agrees and stealthily leaves for the orphanage
  • No lights are on in the orphanage, she sees no easy access to the higher levels from outside. The door is barred from the inside
  • She decides that she has neither the energy or time to do this and starts heading back
  • Her new spell focus amulet starst pulsing and Morgantha eggs her own, calling her "sister"
  • Morgantha tells Damia that she has their powers. Her nails are strong as steel. Damia's nails grows in length becoming long claws
  • She uses them to pick the lock and heads to the second floors where the bedrooms are
  • Damia hesitates and asks what the tears are needed for. The answer is "for the pies, of course"
  • Damia opens the door to a bedroom and opens the window
  • The child is sleeping peacefully
  • Damia shakes the child agressively
  • The child wakes up and starts to cry
  • Damia gets 1-2 tears into the vial, but struggles to hold the child still while doing do
  • Someone is coming up the stairs and Damia jumps out of the window and runs around the corner
  • The light in the bedroom is on
  • Damia returns to the inn stealthily
  • Morgantha assures her that she will get better at this, and instructs her to put the vial beneath the pillow
  • Damia does as she is asked and goes to sleep
• We wake up to a frustrated scream from Ireena
  • She throws flowers at the floor and proclaims that "that creep" was here again tonight
  • 12 blue roses with white dots on it and a black card with red text "for my eternal love, Tatyana"
  • (Damia's claws are permanent)
  • Strahd always calls her Tatyana, she doesn't know why
  • Richard tries to intimidate Ireena to tell us if she is hiding anything, but he rolls low even with intimidation
  • Strahd can transform into animals or creatures of the dark
  • But he can't get inside (unless invited?)
  • The previous time was when this all started
  • Damia notices that one of the handles to the window is loose
  • Ariah points out that Strahd can only get in if invited, and that we're not currently in our own home
• Ernst Larnak knocks on the door and asks if we want to come to the carriage or if Lady Wachter should come inside
  • Richard haggles to give us 15 min to get prepared
  • Ariah explains to the party that she is planning on using a Zone of Truth
  • Richard asks Ireena if she will come with us or do something else. She will go to ask for the audience she mentioned (prefferably in the afternoon)
  • We will say that we speak on her behalf
  • Damia looks under her pillow. The vial is gone but the 10 cm long wood needle with blood on it is still there
  • Ariah does her ritual and Richard predents to do some religious ritual (Ariah believes him)
  • We head out to the carriage where Lady Wachter is waiting
    • There are privacy curtains
    • Ariah asks if she will participate in a truth ritual
    • Richard lets her know she can ask us stuff as well
    • Ariah casts Zone of Truth
    • Heretics are someone who actively opposes them or is loyal to Burgomeister Vargas "The Baron" Vallakovich
    • One way or the other they will fall to the right side
    • She doesn't mind Strahd. Ha hasn't hurt anyone here in living memory
    • She dodges the missing people question
    • She has had a hand in people disappearing, aroung 10 maybe. They were heretics and supported Vargas and opposed the Morning Lord
    • She considers herself the leader of the plan, and a candidate for the leader of Vallaki
    • (OOC we realize that Richard follows Lathander and that his title is the Morning Lord)
    • Their goal is to let the sun shine on Barovia once again
    • If people stand aside and let things take their course, they would be unharmed
    • Her plans does not include Strahd in any way
    • She has a prophecy saying something about the Morninglord helping them
    • When she was younger she visited Madam Eva. The prohesy she got was: "First, there would be the coming of an outsider to Vallaki, foreign to this land. The coming of this outsider would mark the beginning of a new age in Vallaki.
      The coming of the outsider would also bring a great ruin. A purge on the town like none other.
      But when the ruin was done, the blood of the outsider would shed sunlight on Vallaki yet again. "
      
      
    • She believes we are the outsiders
    • She does not intend for us to die
    • She avoids the question about bringing the city to ruins, and believes the
    • She thinks Victor Vallakovich is a disturbed man, and don't want to see him in the city succeeding his father
    • She did her best and wanted the best, this is her last resort
    • She has a daughter whose mind has been corrupted by Victor
    • She tried everything she could, even went to the City of Krezk
    • She keeps her safe, out of harms way
    • She believes it is fully the responsibility of Victor that she became like this
    • There is something about the plan she needs our help with
    • There is one person who could stop the plan, the right hand man of Vargas, Izek Strazni
    • "He is a corrupted soul", his arm turned into the arm of a demon, he can throw fire and is inhumanly strong
    • People are not scared of Vargas, but of what Vargas can make him do
    • He lives at Vargas' house and is his bodyguard
    • He doesn't wish for power, and is completely loyal
    • Damia tells her that we are planning on getting an audience at the Vallakovich residence, and will try to figure something out
    • Lady Wachter has ways of getting us inside if it doesn't work
    • This needs to be taken care of today
    • She will pay us 100 gp now and 400 gp after
    • Richard personally declines the reward and tells her with conviction that he is also a follower of Lathander and is on her side
    • Damia wants to take Richard's share, but he backtracs and accepts the money stating that he would help regardeless
    • She asks us to keep it discreet
    • Our goal is to make sure Izek is not at the festival tomorrow
    • Damia asks her if she has heard anything about St. Andrews' Bones
    • She has heard of it as a children's story
    • Damia dodges saying why she is asking
    • Wachter tells us to inform them of what to expect before tomorrow morning
    • Damia gives her a hair and telepathically messages her to explain how she will be contacted
    • Damia mentions that we have business at the orphanage
• We leave and the carriage drives away
• Jonathan has Suggestion, and can make Izek walk in a direction for 8 hours
• We head to the orphanage
  • Headmistress Claudia Belasco opens the door and informs us that Milivoj is awake
  • She tells us that the kids got a burst of energy when we left, and it is now even messier than when we were here last time
  • Richard tries to argue that he should help Milivoj instead of cleaning
  • Damia is lead into the kitchen and Jonathan joins her when she sends him a pleading look
  • They clean the best they can, Claudia hasn't had time to clean since the baby was crying all night. Maybe because of the draft...
  • Ariah and Richard head into Milivoj's room
    • We introduce ourself
    • He is getting better
    • He was digging a grave and was very tired. He got home and fell over in bed exhausted
    • Richard casts Detect Poison and Disease, but doesn't notice anything
    • Ariah casts Zone of Truth
    • She asks him about the bones
    • He needed the money, and didn't think 'this' would happen
    • He was talking to a strange person in the Blue Water Inn, the coffee maker in the town
    • He asked him about the bones, so Milivoj asked Yeska, who told him everything
    • The coffee maker would pay him well if he took the bones to him
    • He is called Henrik van der Voort
    • He doesn't know what he did with the bones. He came to the church, took the bag with the bones and payed well
    • His brothers, Szoldar Szoldarovich and Yevgeni Krushkin are gone, and he spent the money to pay the best wolf hunters in town to look for them
    • Ariah thanks him for taking care of Yeska
    • Henrik seemed weirder that usual, but it was late in the evening
    • This was very recent (Felix the Orphan had been here a while before)
    • Ariah checks on him, and sees that he is doing much better
  • As we get out, we see Jonathan and Damia finishing up washing the kitchen
  • Claudia is annoyed that we haven't cleaned the room while talking to Milivoj
  • Richard talks about how tiring it was to cast the spell, and how expensive it would have been if they had gone to a hospital instead
  • He tells her that the strong Dwarf will wash the house
  • He leaves
  • Ariah uses Mending to fix some broken things around the house
  • Claudia is impressed with Damia's cleaning
  • Damia tries to tell her that we can't promise cleaning more than the living room and the kitchen, as we have other things to do today
  • Claudia is grateful for the help
  • Meanwhile, Richard is eating rations outside
  • We eventually leave and see Richard pretending to be tired
• We head back to the Inn for breakfast and planning
  • We eat in our room, telling the rest of the party the info from Milivoj, then head to the main tavern
  • Damia tries to gather information, everyone seems scared of Izek and don't want to talk about it
  • Richard walks over to a table and sits down
    • He tries to hype up Jonathan Baker
    • One of the people at the table was here yesterday
    • Richard then brings up that the barkeep doesn't pay Jonathan, describing her as a greedy hag
    • A nearby barmaid overhears this and goes into the back room
    • Man comes out from the back room a bit later, wearing a chef's hat
    • Richard tries to pretend not to see him and casually leaves quickly
    • Jonathan has done his best during this to look as pityful as possible
    • Urwin Martikov looks at Jonathan, goes back in the room and starts discussing something with someone back there
  • Outside the tavern, Richard sees a familiar person walking up. It is Izek, walking with a group of guards and looking at something in the street beside Richard

Plan

Do something to prevent Izek from being at the festival (Suggestion to walk to Wizards of the Wine? It lasts for 8 hours, and will then take 8 hours to walk back)

Report Date

11 Oct 2022