Day 49: Corrangealai
General Summary
Day 49 (Хололуна 25, 735/?)
The next day, they head out under cover of stealth magic again. Bodaway is even itchier than little street urchin bb Sylvain used to be, but it's fine, because all the little white flakes of skin he leaves behind them would blend in with the snow even without Ayduin's magic. As they begin their journey south, they see an absolutely massive bird hunting nearby. Osrin is the only one who correctly guesses what it is, so she says nothing. Sylvain's “the south is full of giants” conspiracy theory begins. It isn't long before they spot an unexpected boon: two of Strahd's spawn spies, apparently unaware of where their quarry hides. With the assistance of magical stealth-aided surprise, they make quick work of the elf Laucien and the dwarf Dworic, with Osrin swinging the killing blow on the creature that nearly sundered her soul, and Ayduin honouring a millennia-old tradition of elves and dwarves having beef. Leaving the scene, once again aided by magical stealth, the party finds an abandoned campsite. Looking around, they find a mess of footprints both humanoid and lupine, as well as various supplies, a severed hand bloated with poison, and a flute with a druidic rune carved into it. Not long after, the mystery is partly solved when they find a child in furs on the verge of drowning, having fallen through thin ice on a frozen lake while fleeing from a fun new type of trauma for Sylvain: winter wolves. Sylvain runs for the child, while the others divide their attention between battling the wolves and helping pull Sylvain and the child back to the solid ground of the causeway that crosses the lake. Despite the group's efforts, when one of the wolves breathes out a cone of freezing air, the child is frozen through so thoroughly that he dies in an instant, but soon after Sylvain uses the ring of spell storing to revive the boy. With the wolves dispatched, the group quickly establishes that the child speaks next to no Common, though it seems his name is Cathal, and when he says both “home” and “help,” they agree. They also learn that, aside from having convenient Strahdar, Godfrey has a vast pool of healing, which he uses to patch some of them up after the battle. Also, Bodaway peels his whole face off. And everybody just has to carry on with their day after that. Bright side, he's no longer itchy. The journey to Cathal's home is long and difficult, frequently derailed by the obstacles that obscure the obelisks meant to guide him home. An area with particularly aggressive thorns and brambles leaves much of the group badly scratched and punctured; they fight unseen enemies in an unnatural fog; Osrin has to climb down a cliff, and right when they reach the frozen waterfall that seems to hide Cathal's home, they have to battle two demons. Fortunately for them, they defeat the demons relatively quickly, with Sylvain felling the hezrou while Ri-An and Grghshnq defeat the shoosuva before it can flee. These enemies dispatched, Cathal leads the group to a secret entrance hidden behind the frozen waterfall, and from there to the hidden village of Corrangealai. The party quickly begins to suspect the child they've rescued is no ordinary child, and this suspicion is confirmed when they learn that Cathal is none other than the youngest son of Chief Sláine, the matriarchal ruler of the village. Though Sláine's Common is better than that of most of her people, she brings in Áine, one of the group's more fluent Common-speakers, to translate for the conversation that follows. With the party explaining what befell them and where they're headed, after an initial heroes' welcome Slaine sobers, recommending that they speak with Seanóir Conláed, the village's elder and religious leader, before proceeding any further. It becomes obvious from the beginning that Seanóir Conláed has no interest in sharing the knowledge of the slíabh with any who do not deserve it, and initially Ri-An fails to pass his test, leaving their companions to sit through the drug-assisted interrogation Conláed leads. Each of them is tested on their strengths, weaknesses, scars and intent, and by the end, Conláed consults the Ladies Three for guidance on whether or not to allow Ri-An to rejoin them. For the first time in years, they answer his prayers directly, telling him yes. With Ri-An invited back into Seanóir Conláed's tent, and the others past the worst of their trips, Conláed tells them the history of his people, and beyond that the history of na Gleann, the peoples who would eventually splinter into the forest folk or coill cailleacha and the cosantoiri sliabh. They learn yet another name for Strahd — croí scáth (KREE-ska; “Shadowed Heart”) — and the former name of the land now known as Barovia: Gleann Grianmhar (GLAN gree-AHN-wir), or “sunny valley.” The players make about the face you'd expect them to make when I tell them that part. Much of what Conláed tells them fits in with previous histories they've been given, though some gaps are filled in. He sends them off with warnings about the Temple, and the roc, who they learn was once affiliated with the Seeker, and who still seeks to guard the world from those who would seek the Temple's forbidden knowledge. Though the slíabh have their misgivings about the party's desire to go to the Temple, they promise to send them off with a scout, Odharnait, and tell them the chief's eldest daughter, Íde, should be at the Temple with a small guard, undertaking a rite of passage to prove her worth as their future leader by resisting its corruption. Their plans seem somewhat less daunting in the wake of the revelation that both Ri-An and Godfrey can cast basic resurrection magic, especially once the party is able to trade for some diamonds among the slíabh. While the others had been having their drug trip, Ri-An had been acquiring a new tall love interest: Qevin, a beautiful himbo of a druid with limited Common but an unlimited capacity for love and adoration. While Ri-An gets their flirt on, so does Bodaway, who finds a lovely sliabh woman named Líadan, and in the debatable privacy of one of the village's large hide tents, he makes up for some lost time with his newly returned body.
Report Date
13 Jan 2023
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