Day 55: Dreamy

General Summary

Day 55 (Волчаялуна 3, 736/?)

Ayduin, Godfrey, Grghshnq and Ri-An notice that the sound of wolves in the woods is getting closer — too close. They wake the others from their respective slumbers — some of which weren't particularly restful anyway, thanks to Strahd's machinations — and prepare for battle.
To their surprise, it isn't a fight that finds them, but a possible alliance: the werewolves of Krezk approach, shifting to their human (or, in some cases, humanoid) forms as they reach the party. This would be unnerving enough, were it not for a new face among their number: Izek Strazni, Bodaway's half-brother from Vallaki. Izek is thrilled to see Bodaway, rapidly derailing the potential tension when he runs up and gives his half-bro a great big naked bear hug.
The leader of the group, however, appears to be a woman named Zuleika. She makes the party an offer: in exchange for the protection of her people, and the rescue of her husband in Castle Ravenloft, they will aid the party in their final strike against Strahd. After that, they will leave Barovia.
A debate ensues, mostly centering around the ethics of collaborating with werewolves who absolutely just finished terrorizing the village of Barovia and who absolutely will continue to terrorize various settlements as long as they're alive. The party tries to make a pitch that they'll only turn the willing, which the werewolves essentially laugh at. There are multiple children in the group, and it doesn't feel great, but they need allies.
A tentative alliance is formed, with the werewolves telling the party to give them three days' notice when they intended to march on the castle. The werewolves pressed on, and the party touched base with one another, Sylvain providing them with the details of his dream. Ri-An and Bodaway share their magical knowledge to lay out the details of the Dream spell, leaving everyone with uncomfortable knowledge: if they can't find a way to protect Sylvain, Osrin, and Bodaway from the spell, Strahd very well could kill them from across the kingdom in a matter of a few days.
With the knowledge that Sylvain would gain no benefit from further rest, and that Osrin and Bodaway only needed a little more quiet time before they'd be good to go, the party decided to resume their travels, aiming for tuama beannaithe and the magical shelter Azuth could provide.
The party found an extremely cursed-looking abandoned child's toy, and Bodaway decided to poke it. It poked back. As they pressed on, Ayduin spotted a dire porcupine, setting the stage for an observation they'd solidify in the next day or two: it seemed that the Svalich Woods were becoming populated with a more diverse array of wildlife, perhaps a side effect of the reconsecration of two fanes.
Sir Godfrey continued to keep the group apprised of Strahd's whereabouts, all of them unnerved when he went suddenly to Krezk, only to return to Castle Ravenloft not long after.
As their long night of travel drew to a close, the sun began to rise, and Ayduin was the first to notice the first visible change in Osrin following her trial the night before: her coloration had changed, some of her inherent celestial nature shining through in a way that it hadn't before. Osrin was predictably thrilled with this discovery.
With the party alarmed — for some reason it's like they have some sort of trauma based around any of them starting to show weird physical changes after nocturnal visits and deals — Osrin clarified, finally disclosing her history as an aasimar. She told them how she'd been given vision ever since she was a young child, shown to her by the deva who was meant to be her guide as an aasimar — the same deva who'd helped protect her soul and guide it back to her body during her resurrection after the Fidatov Estate.
As she grew older, her visions became more intense, the tests and tasks set before her more demanding. And when she was a teenager, she failed to prevent one of the visions she'd been given: what she'd interpreted as a warning about one person had in fact had to do with a fellow aasimar at the carnival she'd been travelling with, who was murdered. In the wake of her grief and guilt, she turned from her divine path and became "fallen."
Continuing her streak of talking more in one go than she'd possibly done for the entirety of their acquaintance before this, she spoke of how she'd begun to reconnect with her deva guide in Barovia, culminating in her dream the night before, which completed her transformation from a fallen aasimar to... whatever she is now.
Settling in for the morning, the party attempted to take another rest, but found that Strahd had fully committed to his new approach. Both Sylvain and Bodaway dreamt dreams that ended in threatening messages and terrible nightmares, with Sylvain first dreaming of Cadim only to be interrupted by Doru, and Bodaway dreaming of a beloved tavern in Baldur's Gate and old friends, only to see a frightful vision of Escher. Both of them wake up exhausted around dusk.
This wasn't the only nocturnal trial Bodaway had faced, however. He also had a vision from the Raven Queen, with more bad news: Ezmerelda d'Avenir was dead, or at least had been in recent memory. Strahd had her body, and planned to use his unwilling thrall van Richten to help resurrect her, presumably to give her the same treatment. Whether or not he'd been successful, the party wasn't certain, but his visit to Krezk earlier that day was suddenly put in a new light.
A discussion ensued about paper birds and limited resources, but the party ultimately decided to hold off on any attempts to reach Ez for the time being. A sled was rigged up for Sylvain — for once the slowest in the group — and the party pressed on west, hoping to scope out the winery and check for survivors before making it to tuama beannaithe and, hopefully, a night's rest. As they walked, Bodaway mused on the prophecies they'd been given by Madam Eva so long ago, and brought up his concerns about the betrayal laid out in his, wondering if their new alliance with the werewolves might be the culmination of that prophecy.
Reaching the Wizard of Wines, the party began to comb the area for bodies and any other clues or resources they could find. They found more than they bargained for, recovering the corpses of Bray Martikov, Danica Dorakova, Adrian Martikov, and Claudiu Martikov. With only a vague idea of when they might have been killed, and well aware they may already have been past the point of resurrection, they chose to take Bray and Danica's bodies with them, suspecting that Adrian and Claudiu might not have any souls to be called back to their corpses. Gathering their grim harvest and what valuables they could find — with intent to hand them back over to the wereravens — they prepared to journey south, to tuama beannaithe.

Report Date

14 Sep 2023

Primary Location

The Wizard of Wines

Related Characters

• Alandras
• Ayduin
• Bodaway
• Bonquille
• Bray Martikov
• Cadim
• Danica Dorakova
• Doru
• Dr. Rudolph van Richten
• El'zai
• Escher
• Ezmerelda d'Avenir
• Helena Farlight
• Ismark Kolyanovich
• Ispati Mirsky
• Izek Strazni
• Laucien Ariessus
• Luvridin
• Osrin
• Sir Godfrey Gwilym
• Strahd von Zarovich
• Sylvain
• Tango
• The Raven Queen
• Zuleika