Session 9 - A Night in Vallaki

General Summary

• The Blue Water Inn is a large two story building, with several ravens on the roof
• There is a lively atmosphere with singing coming from inside
  • There are a group of nobles in the corner
  • The servants are all clad in blue, and have raven feathers in their hair
  • A guard off duty is drinking
  • We head to the bar to talk to the barkeep Danika Martikov
    • She is surprised to see new people
    • There are rooms for 2 people (? per night (including food + drinks)) or 8 people (5 ep = 2.5 gp (including food + drinks))
    • Jonathan asks if she has music for the evening. She mentions a musician that usually plays there, but Jonathan tries to impress her with being "The Jonathan Barker"
      • She hasn't heard of him
      • He claims that he is quite famous in all the places he calls home
      • "It would be an honor for you to have me here"
      • He says he has never had to pay for staying at an inn, and is hurt that she wants him to pay
      • She tells him that he will get half off if he can get everyone in the room to applaud
      • She rings a bell and introduces him to the room as a musician
      • Richard and Jonathan tries to argue that since the room applauded when she introduced him, he has already won
      • Failing that, Jonathan tries to perform
      • Ariah gives him guidance
      • Jonathan stealthily uses Prestidigitation to make the three most bored people's drink taste just a bit better
      • We get beetroot soup while we're listening
      • Vargus is mentioned (Didn't catch his role)
      • Jonathan sings about a hero (sounding like Richard) insinuating that he kills a vampire
      • Richard tries to pretend that he isn't flattered by the description of the hero
      • With inspiration Jonathan gets a 21. Everyone loves his performance and gives a good round of applause
      • People ask for an encore, but Jonathan doesn't give more than he is payed for and returns to the bar
      • Danika lets him stay for free tonight, and wants to talk to him about exclusive contracts later
    • Urwin Martikov is her husband and head chef of the inn
    • She asks us how long we will be staying, and Damia tells her it won't be long because we have a mission tomorrow
    • She gives us fine aged wine on the house, going into great detail about how it was brewed etc.
    • They haven't recieved their latest shipment, so they will be running out before long
    • She is born in Barovia, and asks us how the sun feels
    • Everyone knows someone who has tried to escape and gotten lost in the mists, including one of their loyal patrons who disappeared about a week ago
    • Ariah asks how they know if they've gotten lost or suceeded in escaping. Danika answers that it's a saying, but that they sometimes find the bodies
    • The Vistani has a camp just south of here. They sometimes trade goods for wine
    • She gives us the key to the 8-person room (1 ep = 0.5 gp each per night, except for Jonathan)
  • We go up to our room
    • The room has a plank we can use to bar it
    • There are four bunk beds
    • We sleep and level up
• When we wake up, Damia Identifies the various items we've found in the Durst house
• Ariah tries to cast Lesser Restoration and Protection from Evil and Good on Damia to undo
  • The latter might have worked, but the magic doesn't seem to reach Damia
  • Ariah then fails a random wis save...
• Jonathan practices a song to sing today, while Richard practices with his sword
• Ireena wants to go to the St. Andral Church of Vallaki
• After deciding which items are not magical, Damia wants to sell the non-magical items
• We venture out into the city
  • 
  • Someone is putting up posters
  • 
  • Ariah asks who The Baron is. Ireena says he is called Vargas Vallakovich. He is the Burgomeister of Vallaki
  • People are half-heartedly decorating for the festival
  • There are only humans in the town
  • We head down the Old Svalich Road
• We get to the church
  • Several people are sitting near the altar, listening to Father Lucian preach
  • They seem to worship Lathander
  • Nobles sit in the front row, commoners in the rest
  • There is one altar boy (Yeska) to the side
  • We wait for the sermon to end and the people to exit
  • Ireena gets eye contact with the priest and he comes over
  • Damia introduces her, and Ireena asks him for protection from the enemy
  • He tells her that it is sadly not safe anymore
  • He is only telling us this since we look like people that might help
  • Something has happened to the grounds that desecrated it
  • The church is named after a saint whose bones were buried here under the altar
  • He discovered that the bones had been dug up a few days ago
  • He has a suspect in mind, Milivoj the Gravekeeper
  • If we find the bones, Father Lucian will be able to consecrate the church again
  • Ireena is of course welcome to stay, but he can't promise her safety until the bones are found
  • Richard tries to haggle for compensation
  • The Father explains that the church doesn't have a lot of money, but he can offer dirt on the citizens
  • Ariah asks him not to divulge the information while she is in the room. It makes Richard reluctantly ask for the same.
  • The rest of the party (and Ireena) is interested in the dirt
  • He only has one extra bed (which Ireena can use)
  • Milivoj is an orphan that lives at the orpanage
  • The orphange is part of the church
  • The Headmistress Claudia Belasco runs the place
  • The saint apparently died while slaying a mythical beast
  • Very few people would know of the bones' location
  • He has confided in Jeska the altar boy
  • Jaska is also an orphan
  • He was told about the bones before they were stolen
  • Ariah asks him to call Jeska over
  • She explains that she is about to cast a spell, and asks everyone to not resist
  • She casts Zone of Truth, everyone fails
  • We confirm that Jeska told Milivoj, and no one else
  • Neither the priest or the boy have taken the bones or spoken about them to anyone other than the people they have already confessed about
  • Jonathan asks Richard why he hates non-humans, but Richard just goes on a rant about being better than others
  • Ariah asks if either Father Lucian or Jeska is hiding anything
  • Jeska doesn't answer, any after prying Ariah gets him to whisper whatever he is withholding to her
    • He nods when Ariah asks if he wants her to look into it
    • Then nods again when she asks if he would like her to keep it a secret
  • Jonathan asks if the bones could be valuable on the black marked, which the priest confirms
    • There is a community in the city that is interested in the occult
    • They call it a bookclub
    • He doesn't know about the black marked, but knows people that do
  • Ireena will stay here to look for more info than Father Lucian might not be able to get
• As we head out Richard tells Ariah not to share the information from the boy with him, as it would be against his faith
• We all get inspiration

Plan

Investigate the missing saint bones.

Report Date

13 Sep 2022