Sessie 9
General Summary
While the rest of the party was fighting ghosts, Jake was fighting his own ghost from the past. Jake was lightly drugged and coerced into following Iza to her room.
Iza showed Jake her room, which was filled with puppets that were variations of Jake. Jake was weirded out by this and turned into a beast, shaking off the effects of the drugs. Iza called to him and told "her little brother" that she missed him. Jake was confused and turned back as Iza claimed to be his long-lost sister. Jake was dazed and did not accept this divulging of information. He heard the fight upstairs and ran out of the room, leaving Iza behind.
Jake arrived in the attic and saw Victor hanging over a wounded Nina. Assuming the worst, he started to attack Victor. Victor was quickly scared off and ran into his room. Nina exclaimed that Victor was just trying to help. With Jake's help, they healed the others who were still down from the battle with the ghosts.
The group spoke with Victor and asked him why ghosts were flying around his attic. Victor gave the following information: A few months ago, Victor was engaged to Stella Wachter. Stella and Victor quickly bonded over their desire to leave Barovia. When Strahd attacked the village of Barovia, Victor and Stella hastened their plans. Victor pored through the books his father bought to appear intelligent for a solution. Using knowledge that Victor had learned from an old spellbook of a wizard called Kazan, they began constructing a teleportation circle that would allow them to be free. After some tests, Stella insisted on volunteering as a live, human trial. However, the test went horribly wrong—the circle failed to teleport Stella’s body anywhere, and the backlash exposed her soul to the Ethereal Plane.
During the brief moments that her spirit was within the Ethereal Plane, Stella was attacked by a dark shadow, whose claws severed her soul from her body. She would have died had Erasmus not spirited her away to safety. Erasmus was a fellow ghost living on the Ethereal plane and helped Stella find her way back to Victor, teaching her how to keep herself safe from the dark assassin ghosts that follow Bal'Azur. Since then, Victor and Stella have been working hard to restore her soul to her body, but nothing has worked. To make matters worse, the tether between Stella’s shoulder blades that once connected her soul to her body is slowly growing shorter, leaving Victor fearing that she has little more than a week left before she disappears forever.
Neither Victor, Stella, nor Erasmus know why the other ghosts are after Stella’s soul. However, Erasmus has seen it haunting the Ethereal Plane around Vallaki numerous times since his arrival a few weeks ago and has identified them as assassins that killed in the name of Bal'Azur. Erasmus and Victor bicker over how to help Stella as they both know of no way to travel between the Ethereal and Material plane, and there is nobody in Vallakia that Victor trusts for help. Argentus remembers that they know of a way to maybe get Stella's soul back, but they would need a hearthstone, an item currently held by the hags of Old Bonegrinder that enables them to move back and forth between the two planes. The party tries to convey this information to Victor without revealing the hags' secret. They leave Victor and Erasmus to figure out a way to fix the problem themselves. Victor makes them promise not to tell anybody about Stella and shows them a secret way into the house so they can come to visit him if they find anything that can help him in Kazan's tower.
A voice inside of Argentus demands him to bring Victor's spellbook as it belonged to Kazan, and he desperately wants it! The party convinces Argentus to give the book back as it is Victor's only chance to retrieve Stella's soul.
The party decides, on its way to Kazan's tower, to find Arabella and stop at the church to deliver the letter the hags gave them. When they arrive at the church, they notice that the hag's letter is meant for the headmistress of the local orphanage. The letter mentions that under the guise of Morghanna, the hags are requesting children to be sent to the windmill. The party is disgusted with this prospect and tries to warn the headmistress but ends up seeming very aggressive and threatening, as they decided not to reveal the secret that the ladies in the windmill are hags.
After being kicked out of the orphanage, the party goes by the church yet again. Father Petrovich gives them some healing and healing potions. Father Petrovich sees Nina and offers her safety at his church, but she declines. Father Petrovich admits to the party that he needs help and that he thinks that Seraphiel has been sent by the Morninglord to help him. The Father tells them that there has been a theft of sacred bones of Saint Andreal, of legends that speak of keeping Strahd out of Vallakia. But as it is only legends, he has a problem convincing the baron of the problem. As nobody knows the location of the bones, the list of suspects is very small. Father Petrovich mentions that only he, the baron, and his altar boy Yenske knew of its location. But lately, he has been seeing the Wachter boys digging up bones in the graveyard outside the church, as well as Iza, who is hanging around watching him from afar. Father Petrovich requests the party's help.
The party leaves Vallakia and goes towards the Tower of Kazan. Something is following them from afar, but the party keeps going. Close to the location where they found the beheaded Vistani who reportedly kidnapped Arabella, they find a handkerchief with the letters R.V.R. Nina makes the connection that this must be Rudolf Von Richter. As the party moves forward, they scout a druid further ahead. Nina, yet again with some swift thinking, casts "speak with animals" and asks her pet raven, Marshal, to scout ahead. Marshal warns the party that this druid is a big danger, and the party moves in to attack the druid. The raven flees the scene, as the party recalls how the bird flew away last time when there was trouble at Old Bonegrinder. As combat starts, the druid summons some strixes and twigblights to fight the party. The battle is fierce and deadly, but in a clutch moment, Marshal and two swarms of other ravens join the fight against the druid and his forces.
The druid proves to be strong, and as they corner him, he lays out a very deadly attack: a wall of green fire tears through the battlefield, and our heroes try to step away from it. But disaster strikes as Nina and Smirnoff are caught in the fire. Before Nina burns up alive, the ravens set up a daring save by carrying her out of the fire. They even are able to administer her the healing potion to keep her alive. But all hope for Smirnoff is too late, as the humble merchant goes up in flames, quickened by the high alcohol level in his blood. As Smirnoff is dying, the druid manages to transport through plants to safety, and the party takes its time to mourn Smirnoff's death but also pilfer his body for loot. The spear, due to its special properties, survives, as does his hat that Nina claims.
The party continues its path toward the tower with Smirnoff's burned remains loaded in the back of the wagon.
Find Arabella (Vistani granddaughter of madam Eva) a wolfman doll from Blinsky(Vallakia) for her birthday->UPDATE! Find Arabella. (reward 500gp)
Come to Argenvostholt if you want to meet the revanent leader (location unknown)
Find Von Richter
Put a soul leach under Rahadins desk in castle Ravenloft
Solve the Ghost problem of the Baron (reward 350gp)
Save Stella, find a way to get her soul back from the Ethereal plane.
Find proof of rebellion against the Baron and bring it to him (reward 350gp)
Bring Anya, the pharmacist in Vallakia, a jug of holy water from Krezk (reward cure any sickness if possible and a potion of Storm Giant Strength)
Find the bones of Saint Andreal that were stolen from the church of Vallakia.
Iza showed Jake her room, which was filled with puppets that were variations of Jake. Jake was weirded out by this and turned into a beast, shaking off the effects of the drugs. Iza called to him and told "her little brother" that she missed him. Jake was confused and turned back as Iza claimed to be his long-lost sister. Jake was dazed and did not accept this divulging of information. He heard the fight upstairs and ran out of the room, leaving Iza behind.
Jake arrived in the attic and saw Victor hanging over a wounded Nina. Assuming the worst, he started to attack Victor. Victor was quickly scared off and ran into his room. Nina exclaimed that Victor was just trying to help. With Jake's help, they healed the others who were still down from the battle with the ghosts.
The group spoke with Victor and asked him why ghosts were flying around his attic. Victor gave the following information: A few months ago, Victor was engaged to Stella Wachter. Stella and Victor quickly bonded over their desire to leave Barovia. When Strahd attacked the village of Barovia, Victor and Stella hastened their plans. Victor pored through the books his father bought to appear intelligent for a solution. Using knowledge that Victor had learned from an old spellbook of a wizard called Kazan, they began constructing a teleportation circle that would allow them to be free. After some tests, Stella insisted on volunteering as a live, human trial. However, the test went horribly wrong—the circle failed to teleport Stella’s body anywhere, and the backlash exposed her soul to the Ethereal Plane.
During the brief moments that her spirit was within the Ethereal Plane, Stella was attacked by a dark shadow, whose claws severed her soul from her body. She would have died had Erasmus not spirited her away to safety. Erasmus was a fellow ghost living on the Ethereal plane and helped Stella find her way back to Victor, teaching her how to keep herself safe from the dark assassin ghosts that follow Bal'Azur. Since then, Victor and Stella have been working hard to restore her soul to her body, but nothing has worked. To make matters worse, the tether between Stella’s shoulder blades that once connected her soul to her body is slowly growing shorter, leaving Victor fearing that she has little more than a week left before she disappears forever.
Neither Victor, Stella, nor Erasmus know why the other ghosts are after Stella’s soul. However, Erasmus has seen it haunting the Ethereal Plane around Vallaki numerous times since his arrival a few weeks ago and has identified them as assassins that killed in the name of Bal'Azur. Erasmus and Victor bicker over how to help Stella as they both know of no way to travel between the Ethereal and Material plane, and there is nobody in Vallakia that Victor trusts for help. Argentus remembers that they know of a way to maybe get Stella's soul back, but they would need a hearthstone, an item currently held by the hags of Old Bonegrinder that enables them to move back and forth between the two planes. The party tries to convey this information to Victor without revealing the hags' secret. They leave Victor and Erasmus to figure out a way to fix the problem themselves. Victor makes them promise not to tell anybody about Stella and shows them a secret way into the house so they can come to visit him if they find anything that can help him in Kazan's tower.
A voice inside of Argentus demands him to bring Victor's spellbook as it belonged to Kazan, and he desperately wants it! The party convinces Argentus to give the book back as it is Victor's only chance to retrieve Stella's soul.
The party decides, on its way to Kazan's tower, to find Arabella and stop at the church to deliver the letter the hags gave them. When they arrive at the church, they notice that the hag's letter is meant for the headmistress of the local orphanage. The letter mentions that under the guise of Morghanna, the hags are requesting children to be sent to the windmill. The party is disgusted with this prospect and tries to warn the headmistress but ends up seeming very aggressive and threatening, as they decided not to reveal the secret that the ladies in the windmill are hags.
After being kicked out of the orphanage, the party goes by the church yet again. Father Petrovich gives them some healing and healing potions. Father Petrovich sees Nina and offers her safety at his church, but she declines. Father Petrovich admits to the party that he needs help and that he thinks that Seraphiel has been sent by the Morninglord to help him. The Father tells them that there has been a theft of sacred bones of Saint Andreal, of legends that speak of keeping Strahd out of Vallakia. But as it is only legends, he has a problem convincing the baron of the problem. As nobody knows the location of the bones, the list of suspects is very small. Father Petrovich mentions that only he, the baron, and his altar boy Yenske knew of its location. But lately, he has been seeing the Wachter boys digging up bones in the graveyard outside the church, as well as Iza, who is hanging around watching him from afar. Father Petrovich requests the party's help.
The party leaves Vallakia and goes towards the Tower of Kazan. Something is following them from afar, but the party keeps going. Close to the location where they found the beheaded Vistani who reportedly kidnapped Arabella, they find a handkerchief with the letters R.V.R. Nina makes the connection that this must be Rudolf Von Richter. As the party moves forward, they scout a druid further ahead. Nina, yet again with some swift thinking, casts "speak with animals" and asks her pet raven, Marshal, to scout ahead. Marshal warns the party that this druid is a big danger, and the party moves in to attack the druid. The raven flees the scene, as the party recalls how the bird flew away last time when there was trouble at Old Bonegrinder. As combat starts, the druid summons some strixes and twigblights to fight the party. The battle is fierce and deadly, but in a clutch moment, Marshal and two swarms of other ravens join the fight against the druid and his forces.
The druid proves to be strong, and as they corner him, he lays out a very deadly attack: a wall of green fire tears through the battlefield, and our heroes try to step away from it. But disaster strikes as Nina and Smirnoff are caught in the fire. Before Nina burns up alive, the ravens set up a daring save by carrying her out of the fire. They even are able to administer her the healing potion to keep her alive. But all hope for Smirnoff is too late, as the humble merchant goes up in flames, quickened by the high alcohol level in his blood. As Smirnoff is dying, the druid manages to transport through plants to safety, and the party takes its time to mourn Smirnoff's death but also pilfer his body for loot. The spear, due to its special properties, survives, as does his hat that Nina claims.
The party continues its path toward the tower with Smirnoff's burned remains loaded in the back of the wagon.
Main quest:
Keep Nina safe, Vallakia and Krezk are two options.Side quests
Bring back Gertruda to Mary in Barovia (Save her from the hags as she is currently there) (reward 200gp)Find Arabella (Vistani granddaughter of madam Eva) a wolfman doll from Blinsky(Vallakia) for her birthday->UPDATE! Find Arabella. (reward 500gp)
Come to Argenvostholt if you want to meet the revanent leader (location unknown)
Find Von Richter
Put a soul leach under Rahadins desk in castle Ravenloft
Solve the Ghost problem of the Baron (reward 350gp)
Save Stella, find a way to get her soul back from the Ethereal plane.
Find proof of rebellion against the Baron and bring it to him (reward 350gp)
Bring Anya, the pharmacist in Vallakia, a jug of holy water from Krezk (reward cure any sickness if possible and a potion of Storm Giant Strength)
Find the bones of Saint Andreal that were stolen from the church of Vallakia.
Report Date
07 Nov 2023
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