Session 26
General Summary
St. Andral's Bones
24th of Sintyavr
11:00 PM
Jandar, More than Meets the Eye?- After a tense start to what is expected to be an inquisition level of questioning concerning the party's magical abilities, the reality is actually underwhelming.
- Jandar only cursorily examines everyone's capabilities and magic items, taking note of who is and who is NOT forthcoming concerning their answers.
- Jandar does confide that he was in a position similar to the adventurers in the past but has since come to be stuck here in Barovia for a long time and has been working in this role as a Reformer for the Vallakoviches for quite some time.
- Jandar does seem to take notice, although it isn't clear how, of the Tome of Strahd in Vince's possession.
- Captain Korga Barthos escorts the party to St. Andral's Church to rest for the night and recover from their long journey.
- It was debated whether or not to first attempt lodging at the Blue Water Inn, or to introduce themselves to Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich
11:30 PM
Sanctuary, Sanctuary!- The group meets Yeska, the altar boy within the narthex of St. Andral's.
- Yeska, the altar boy at St. Andral's, is thankfully not part of the stereotype of little boys being sexually abused by old priests. However, he is the product of yet another Vallakian tragedy. When Yeska was a toddler, about four years old or so, his mother brought him with her to confession one night. Yeska's mother was not very stable at the time and during the confession, she slit her own throat in front of Father Lucian.
- Lucian took in Yeska under a sense of misplaced guilt. Lucian was not able to save Yeska's mother, but he wants to save the boy in her place.
- Yeska is a wide-eyed, fearful little thing. He darts around the church and is incredibly dutiful, but constantly thrums with nervous energy.
- Father Lucian is a barmy old man who's hardcore faithful.
- He has dedicated his entire life to the Morning Lord...he actively lectures the party about having faith and upon hearing good deeds, he insists that it must have been the Morning Lord's divine presence working through them.
- He is so obviously old and broken that his faith is all he has left.
- Lucian's fanatical personality stems from the fact that he has heard and seen the worst sides of all people. He's the one that Vallakians come to for the "Forgive me Father for I have sinned" speech.
- Until recently, the church was protected from Strahd’s depredations by the bones of St. Andral, which were sealed in a crypt beneath the church’s main altar.
- But now the church is at risk because someone broke into the crypt a few nights ago and stole the bones.
- Until recently, Father Lucian was the only person in Vallaki who knew about the bones, but he recalls mentioning them to Yeska over a month ago to put the fearful boy at ease.
- After the bones were stolen, Father Lucian asked Yeska if he told anyone else about the bones. The boy nodded but wouldn’t divulge a name.
- Father Lucian suspects the boy might have spoken to Milivoj, the young gravedigger.
- You can find the young man at the orphanage, he hasn’t shown up to work for several days.
25th of Sintyavr
9:00 AM
A Much Needed Rest...for Most.- The adventurers finally had a safe space to bed down for the night and have a long rest...
- Rumex was not forced into the dream-like stupor of his forced "pleasant" dreams of happier times due to his strong force of willpower in coping with the desire of eating Morgantha's baked goods.
- Ozan has awoken and feels the effect of his disconnection to Ilmater weaken somewhat, and while still feeling strained in his conversation with his deity, it is not as distant as it was previously.
- Vincenzo, unfortunately, suffered his second consecutive night of horrific nightmares that prevented him resting at all, and leave him feeling more sluggish, irritable, and exhausted than he has felt in a long time.
- Vincenzo begins to wonder if the Tome of Strahd is the culprit behind his nightmares, and Vercinissistrix offers to hold the tome for now to test that theory, to which the warlock agrees.
- After some parlaying about what best to do with the Tome (stash it or conceal it upon Verce's person) and what avenue of investigation/relaxation to pursue next the following course of action is decided upon:
- Ireena and the children, Freek and Myrtle will remain here for the time being under the perceived church's protection as the party investigates Milivoj at the orphanage to determine what has become of St. Andral's bones in hopes of returning them to the church for re-consecration.
10:00 AM
We Love You, Ms. Belasco- The Orphanage is home to Milivoj the gravedigger, Headmistress Claudia Belasco, and almost two dozen orphans.
- A shrewd woman in her early fifties, Ms. Belasco loves propriety and order.
- She wears her grey streaked brown hair up in a tight bun and has developed fine wrinkles around her mouth from years of disapproving frowns.
- The orphans aren't particularly fond of Ms. Belasco as she is the primary source of discipline in the house. They've taken to calling her "Ms. Witch" behind her back and the elder kids tell nasty stories about Ms. Belasco eating naughty children in her meals.
- Despite her general unlikable nature, it is inferred that Ms. Belasco cares for her children very much. She long ago stopped worrying about being liked in return. As long as the orphans are safe and healthy, Ms. Belasco will give out as many lectures as she sees fit.
- Ms. Belasco knows something is wrong at the orphanage and is doing her best to discover the source of their recent string of bad luck.
- She rightly believes that Cedrik’s death was no accident and found a mysterious locket on his body which she suspects is evil.
- This rusted tin locket is in the shape of a circle with an “X” scratched into the lid. It hangs on an old tin chain, and the inside is engraved with an inscription in Celestial that means "Let darkness hide from the gaze of the light."
- Felix has only lived at the orphanage for the past few months.
- His parents were murdered and the killers were never caught, sending him to St. Andral’s Orphanage.
- Ms. Belasco has recently acquired some books in an effort to figure out the cause behind the happenings in the orphanage:
- Toxic Parenting: The Hurtful Legacy of Corporal Punishment details several abusive practices in parenting children and their negative effects. Ms. Belasco has been trying to understand who or what might be hurting the children. She also hopes to better understand Felix’s strange demeanor.
- Beyond the Morning Lord’s Sight is a thin book detailing the basics of demons and demon worship, including the barest basics of Abyssal and Infernal languages. Vincenzo determines that most of the information in this book is false.
- A former orphan and resident at the orphanage, Milivoj now lives at the orphanage as a caretaker (in addition to his side gig as the church's gravedigger) and helps care for the children. Milivoj gives whatever meager earnings he gains to help support the house and care for his foster siblings. The children love him and revere him as their elder brother. Milivoj is nineteen years old.
- Milivoj is currently incapacitated with a mysterious sickness, he sleeps fitfully and is covered in sweat from fever and has blood mixed bile on his lips. His pallor is yellow tinged and deathly pale.
- According to Ms. Belasco, what began as a slight cough slowly escalated. Milivoj eventually could barely keep up with his work.
- Attempts by the party to heal and revive Milivoj to consciousness failed to be effective.
- Many of the orphans sport various bruises and mild injuries.
- None of the children have any idea how they received their injuries.
11:00 AM
A Problem Child?- There is no sign of Felix at the moment so the party decides to return to the church across the road and speak to Freek, trying to gain some intel on the situation.
- Freek reveals that he, Hans and Franz ran away from the Orphanage a little under a week ago under the assumption that the tales of Ms. Belasco were true. They saw the minor injuries on the other kids and attributed them to "Ms. Witch"
- Hans and Franz were separated from Freek as they escaped through the wall in different directions...Freek towards the east where he was unfortunate enough to run into Morgantha. He assumes the other two boys headed along the road west, but is not sure.
- Freek doesn't like Felix, he feels he is mean and that seems to be a consensus amongst the children in the orphanage, an overtone of fear has shrouded the orphanage since Felix’s arrival.
- End of tonight's session - what do you wanna do?
- Return to the orphanage?
- Check out the Inn/Tavern?
- Do some shopping?
- Head to the Burgomaster's?
- Talk to the townsfolk?
- Take a tour?
Lucian Petrovich
Yeska
Claudia Belasco
Milivoj
Felix
Report Date
29 Apr 2023
Primary Location
Secondary Location
Related Characters
St. Andral's Orphanage
