(G341 13/01/2018 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA20

(G341 13/01/2018 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA20

[Rollo here! Continuing the record of the Westgate Adventure. You may remember our erstwhile heroes had not long arrived back at Spectre Island.]

DAY 308 (13th Hammer)(January) cont ...

Random had a few things to say to them after he had got their full report,

''
OK. A lot to take in here. This... this need that you have to give your name to everyone, your need to
confess your crimes, even as you carry them out... it has to stop Fenrir! Why on earth did you give your "real" name to the Grand Manor guards you met on the road? Why on earth did you carry out a shouted conversation between yourselves across the entire Manor before leaving? Half the county would have been out looking for you! What part of "stealth mission" do you two not understand? Fenrir, had you been drinking?
OK, lets break it down then. Let's see what lessons can be learned from this.
First mistake then, a minor one, was pooping at the bottom of the cellar stairs. Hopefully it will just get cleaned up by a maid, but a clever person could use it to skrye you with.
Second. You let the Vampire Spawn loose. If your tactic was to cause chaos, then that's fine. But you then tracked them down and killed them in front of witnesses. Two guards saw you do it.
Thirdly. You killed the target, that was good, but you did it in front of a witness. Flying on your black wings  of death, and zapping him with your blasts of eldritch fire you left his fucking wife as a witness! Sorry, I'm trying to stay calm...
Fourth mistake, and I can't quite understand this one, but you then turn up at the gate and try to claim you are passing Vampire Hunters and offer to help them out. You realise that the Lady of the house and several of the guards had already seen you going about killing people on the premises?
Fifth mistake, and this beggars belief, but you then have a shouted conversation, for all love, up to the manor, revealing Arahel as your third accomplice.
The Sixth mistake was to give your "real" name to the guards on the road. OK, so you charmed them into leaving you alone, but Arahel overheard them telling Fayder (more on him later) all about you and telling him the name you had given them!
What was it they said, Arahel? Oh yes:
    "We went along the road to the city, saw an old woman gathering wood,  4 merchants going to market and 2 weirdos that matched the rough description of the two guys at the gate but it definitely wasn't them.
    Old Raziel Lightningrod is a really nice guy so it definitely couldn't have been him!"
Arahel, you made the last mistake. To be honest you made less mistakes because you did less overall, but anyway you killed the last Vampire Spawn and saved the young girl. I would have done the same thing, but she was still a witness. So, all of you were seen. A Raziel Lightningrod, a cleric and a wisp. That's what they will be looking  for now.
''

At this point Random took a deep breath, as if trying not to weep, the shuffled through his notes.

''
Well anyway, thankfully this was a test mission and we can fix it... hopefully.
Arahel, the man you saw at the window berating the three guards that saw Fenrir and Veddic, well his name is Fayder and he is Lord R's personal assassin/fixer. Fenrir and Veddic have left a trail a child could follow, so he is going to turn up in Westgate in the next few days. Since, FENRIR, you gave him the name that you use in the city watch (I still can't believe it) he's going to get to you quickly. So, you need to take him out. Then bring his body here and we'll dump it in the Plane of Shadows, to hopefully make a resurrection so costly they won't bother.
When he arrives in Westgate, be assured I will hear of it. I will then tell you where to go to sort him out and for god's sake this time do it properly!
''

He then went on to inform them about what he had planned for them next;

''
I've managed to persuade (read: bribe) you two seats at the Silversmith's Banquet tonight. Act like you are there to set up trade deals. You can if you like, but that's not the reason you are there.
Trepplemar the Magnificent, with her husband. Take it gently, but see if you can talk to her and if you can, turn on the charm and persuade her to take you back into the watch.
Oh and Arahel, go as a human female. Get your stories straight first. There will be a lot of nosey people there.
''

The banquet was that night, at the Spitting Cockatrice. Random handed them the invitations.

Arahel decided to go as a half-elf lady and they 'invisy-flied' to near the Cockatrice, landed and entered. It was a private function of about fifty guests, mostly rich merchants and other notables.

After the first few courses people started to mingle and Fenrir tracked down Trepplemar and talked to her.
He barely needed his smooth tongue as the situation was far from unsalvageable.
She said:

''
Well, it was Lord C's bastard son that attacked your cottage. Lord C would have never have done something so unsubtle. In a way though it prevented further silliness. They were all set to kidnap a bunch of Watchmen apparently and demand we hand you and your cleric friend over in an exchange. That all got cancelled when the bastard took matters into his own hands. The cottage was owned by a lady who pays all her dues to the Night Masks so you can understand that this has caused tension with them and the Fire Knives. Suffice to say, the whole business is fairly well considered closed by all parties. I would watch your backs if you plan to return to the city though.
If you want the protection of the watch again I'll ask you to do me a favour. Go meet Dressdelle at the DAW watch tower and she'll give you the details. Now excuse me, I can see my husband wants me...
''

Two other things happened at the banquet.
Firstly a young nobleman called Bard Eantwing took a fancy to Arahel, but she shunned him.
Secondly the brother of Lady Dreggleblot challenged Fenrir to a duel the next day! He demanded satisfaction for the time Fenrir blew his sister's leg off at the knee.

DAY 309 (14th Hammer)(January)

They left the banquet not long after midnight and returned to Spectre Island. Random was happy to hear the good news but pointed out whatever they were required to do for the watch, they still needed to kill this guy Fayder when he arrived in Westgate.

Everyone went to bed, settling down on the comfy bunkbeds in the magic cottage.

Fenrir had initially decided to have a lie in and miss the duel but Random pointed out to him that while it was the sensible choice if he thought it wouldn't go his way it would mean he would loose face in Westgate and that Dreggleblot would always be after him and the situation would never be resolved.

So he borrowed a sword from Random (Fenrir used a morning star) and flew to the Gardens of Termadar where the duel was to take place. Arahel dropped Veddic off, but wanted no part of it and went on her way to the Day Air Watch watchtower to seek out Dressdelle.

Three men awaited them, Chester Dreggleblot himself, his second and a cleric. Through their seconds (Veddic acting as Fenrir's second) they agreed that since Fenrir was rubbish with a sword he could use his morning-star instead.

The faced each other, in the cold air of the dawn, and when the word was given combat was joined. Dreggleblot was deadly with the sword and managed to hit Fenrir with almost every strike. Fenrir hit less, but when he did, he did more damage with his morning-star.

The combat went all the way, much blood flowing from wounds on both men. A final sword blow from Dreggleblot made Fenrir stagger with only his warlock healing abilities saving him from collapse. With the last of his strength Fenrir landed one last blow on Dreggleblot and sent him sprawling, unconscious, onto the ground.
Fenrir could have slain him there, legally he would have not been charged with murder since it was a duel, however he knew it was frowned upon in Westgate to kill a helpless opponent and besides Veddic had told him that old Chester was a decent enough sort who had felt duty bound to defend his sister's honour.

Fenrir healed himself with a wand and then went to meet Arahel and Dressdelle at the DAW watch tower. Arahel had been there a while already and had given evasive answers to Dressdelle when she asked,
'Where have you been?'

They had a big breakfast and when Fenrir arrived, he turned on the charm and managed to get Veddic
a seat at the table.
'Who are you?' Dressdelle asked.
'I am Raziel's physician.'
When she asked, he said he wasn't there to join the watch, merely to help out. She shrugged, it was no
skin off her nose, and helped herself to more bacon.

'Well,' she said, 'The watch has had word from a friend to the south that there is dragon trouble brewing. It's about eighty miles south, I'll give you detailed directions later, but anyway, his name is Haggam the Hermit, he lives in a cave on the mountain where the dragon dwells. We like to keep an eye on this sort of thing so if you could head down there and see what it is that's bothering him. If you can, sort it out, then report back. More tea?'

To get there as quickly as possible, Arahel turned into a giant eagle and carried both Fenrir and Veddic on her back. They had their lunch in the mountains overlooking the Giant Run Gulf, then flew on and arrived in the general area at five o'clock. They followed a goat trail through a wooded gully and arrived at the Hermit's cave just as it was getting dark.

He was an old man, with a limp, gaunt and unkempt, but quick-witted enough. The cave was reasonably tidy, but there was litter scattered about at the back, they saw food wrappers and fruit rinds. Presumably someone came up with food from time to time.

He was very glad to eat from their magic provision's box and as he tucked in he said;

''
Listen, Ol' Murder is getting mighty fed up with humans from the valley coming up the mountain to steal his treasure. I think any day now he's going to go crazy and torch every village down there. Well, I mean, he's going to torch a village for sure, someone is going to get it, but at least it would be good he took his revenge on only the fools that were doing it.
I'd go myself, but I really need to keep an eye on the old bugger, what I really need is someone to go down there and work out which village is doing it and then make sure the dragon takes his revenge on them only.
I know next to nothing about the valley, but whoever is doing it has a campsite down on "Rockspitter Ledge". Perhaps that would give some clues. From there go down to the villages and work out which one is doing it.
''

He then went on to answer their questions and they learned that he never went do to the valley, but that a 'nice girl' came with food every so often, that he knew the dragon was upset from observing its habits and that it was very old and white in colour. It's name was Kredzutah.

They spent the night in the cave.


DAY 310 (15th Hammer)(January)

In the morning they walked up to "Rockspitter Ledge". It was a steep climb of about two hours through the snow.
They were all using the 'Endure Elements' spell to keep warm so it was not too arduous.

They found the campsite tucked in between a cliff face and some rocks. There was a cold fire and some scattered bones. On closer examination it appeared the bones were human and that they had been cooked.

Across a plateau they could see the spire of the main mountain and right at the top a cave entrance. Arahel (as an invisible wisp) and Fenrir (on his black cloak wings but also invisible) flew up to the cave and cautiously entered it. The entrance tunnel lead down to a cavern littered with bones. Above them they could see a dragon sized hole in an upper part of the cavern wall.
From the hole they followed another tunnel which looped around to another cavern where they discovered the dragon himself. He was huge, his head alone was the size of a man and from nose to tail he was 80 feet long at least.
He appeared to be going through his belongings, sorting through treasure chests and expensive looking items of furniture. From this cave they could see two more exits, but they decided at that point to leave and so they
returned to the hermit's cave and met Veddic for lunch.

Around noon Arahel and Fenrir went for another flap about, heading north this time, along the valley where the three villages were. The valley was lightly dusted in snow, meaning that they could follow the foot prints that lead from Rockspitter Ledge, but once they mingled with the traffic in the valley they lost the trail. It did appear that they lead to the first village though.

The first village, the one nearest to the hermit's cave was situated on the side of the valley and surrounded by trees. It also had many trees growing within it's walls.
The next village had a set of giant antlers hung over the main gate and the final village looked richer than the others. The houses were better build and more civilised in appearance.

Once they had seen enough they returned to the hermit's cave and spent the rest of the night there.

(G340 30/12/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) RL10

(G340 30/12/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF) RL10

[Apologies once again dear reader for muddling up all my notes again, I really should sort them out at some point, but anyway, here is another portion of my adventures in the lands around Barovia.]

DAY 346 (13th Alturaik)(February) cont...

It was the morning after the attack of the Dire Bears. While the others packed up the camp I flew back to Barovia, purchased a couple of new magic bedrolls from the General Store (which did a small sideline in magic items thankfully!) and flew back.

They were still only half finished breakfast the lazy lot. I suppose the fact that this was all leading up to some big showdown with a powerful vampire was something that made people drag their feet.

We arrived at a junction in the afternoon and saw an armoured man with a silver sword and a raven  charging into a graveyard to take on some undead shadows. He had long black hair and a short beard.
An amulet in the shape of a raven's head hung around his neck.

Well, the shadows were easily dealt with, in that Sylvia used her Turning powers and made them all run away. The man introduced himself as Sir Urik, a Knight of the Raven. He was devoted to battling undead and he had a celestial raven by his side.

Since he was alone it seemed logical he should join us. It appeared we were collecting up everyone that had a grudge against the undead in the while county. Just to recap incase you had forgotten, this was our line up:
Rollo - me! A druid and in theory the leader of this whole enterprise.
Sylvia - A cleric of Sylvanus and also my second cousin. Usually grumpy.
Yli - A scout and expert marksman along for the adventure. He is a xeph, a race known for their mental powers. I like him, except that while he doesn't want to lead our gang he does like to be highly critical of every decision that I make!
Tie Pie - Fairly annoying half-elf sorcerer. Friend of Yli.
Ashlyn - Cleric of Lythander. Pretty serious sort of lady.
Ireena Kolyana - Lady from Barovia, daughter of the dead Burgomaster. Handy with a sword.
Sir Urik - a Knight of the Raven, whatever that is.

And don't forget Fluffy the dire wolf and Rolanda the awakened rat!

Well anyway, later that day we arrived at our destination, the Tser Pool where the camp of the people that Madame Eva lived with was. The place was a typical sort of 'gypsy' encampment. Covered wagons and large tents being much in evidence. We were ushered in to the one containing Madame Eva.
She was enormous, a hugely corpulent woman who took up half of the space in the tent.
I handed over the hamper of goodies I had taken as a good will offering but she didn't seem that bothered. I think it got handed out to the gypsies later on.

She told my fortune for ten gold(using cards) and among other things related information which I will now here record:

On Strahd:
'In his castle. You will find him on his throne, the lord of the castle seeks a lady - but he'll consume her.'

On the Sun Sword:
'Blade of light, a weapon for vengeance. Seek it in a place of commerce. In a shop of a merchant. The sword's light sleeps, to wake the sword, take it to join the ancient lore of the castle. The library is a place of wisdom, warmth and despair.
   
On the Holy Symbol:   
'Find it from a place of death, the symbol is buried, entombed. The holiness needs hands of holiness to touch it. You must bring it to the other treasures of the castle. I see a blazing fire where the lord protects his wealth.'
   
On the Tome of Strahd:   
'Holds knowledge of the ancient and knowledge of the land. The tome lies in the place of the officers
 of the king upheld his word. Look under the main floor of the castle in a place of shadow and despair.
    If you delve into its secrets, discover the lord's strength, and how to remove it.
    You must find the three defiled places in the tome. In each fane you must find the three relics - put together and destroy them.

On the Undead in Barovia:
'Death walks the streets of Barovia... Oh, I see by the cards you have already dealt with that!'

We spent the night at the gypsy camp.


DAY 347 (14th Alturaik)(February)

Here we are back at the 'Dead Dire Bear Camp'!
Before I sleep, just a few lines on today.

We went back to the crossroads where we met Sir Urik.

I looked over the gravestones here but nothing gave any clues. I didn't want to dig up every grave on the off chance there was a Holy Symbol in it, so we went on our way.

DAY 348 (15th Alturaik)(February)

It was dark evening by the time we got back to Barovia today. Nothing of interest happened on the road.

They seemed happy to see us back at the tavern.

Even though it was late me and some of the others went to the General Store and disturbed Bildrath the shopkeeper. He told us he was shut for the day, but after I explained it was rather important he let us in.
The useless old git didn't think he had any magic swords for sale but after 20 minutes of turning the place upside down we found it, a bastard sword glowing with a dim blue light.
He then charged us 1335 gold for it! Greedy old bugger, remind me not to save his shop if I ever see zombies attacking it.

Next we went over to the graveyard. I remembered there was something about the grave of a personage called Mihail Latcu that had looked odd. Despite the fact that he had been buried years ago it looked freshly dug.
So, with some borrowed shovels we moved a bit of earth and found a tunnel under the gravestone.

The tunnel led down to an earthen chamber that had a few undead in it I could scarcely identify. A skeleton with big claws and teeth, another think that might have been an undead monk and yet another thing that had a siren's call that caused general confusion.
With so many clerics and paladins crowding into the place though they stood no chance and were swiftly dispatched, even when Sylvia bungled her attempted turning of the siren thing.

There were also three coffins, but none of them contained a Holy Symbol as I had been hoping.

Well, here we are back at the tavern and I am recording these lines before going to bed. I miss my wife terribly now. I am half tempted to leave them all too it, fly away and find her.

(G339 06/01/2018 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA19

(G339 06/01/2018 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA19

DAY 308 (13th Hammer)(January) cont ...

Having opened the door to the chambers of Rathol Erlend, the man he was here to kill, Fenrir flew inside, invisible, aided by his warlock's infernal powers.

The room he entered had once contained opulent furniture but was now covered in dirt, dust and bloodstains. The windows were shuttered and it smelled of death. Three Vampire Spawn were also here, creatures he easily identified from previous encounters.

They could not see him though, and with the door now open they left the room. A minute or so later Fenrir heard screams coming from the ground floor. There was another door and on opening it he saw Lord Erlend, evidently now a vampire, and a girl who was lying on the double bed asleep or unconscious.

Keeping to the ceiling and being as quiet as possible, Fenrir surprised the vampire with a devastating attack.
Badly injured from the eldritch blast, Erlend fled the room and ran down the stairs. On his way after him Fenrir encountered one of the Vampire Spawns and killed it.

When he entered the large sitting room where Lady Erlend was, he saw her vampiric husband quaffing a healing potion.
He noticed Fenrir enter though and threw a brandy decanter at him which hit and burst. He then picked up a flaming coal from the fire and threw it also. Fenrir gave up on being invisible and attacked again.
The vampire, unable to get his hands on his aerial foe tried to dominate Fenrir and very nearly succeeded. However a couple more blasts from Fenrir killed the undead villain.
All during the combat Arahel had been at the window, as a wisp, tapping at the window!
She had not had the bravery to smash through the glass or considered trying her electrical attack on it.

In any event, with the combat over, Fenrir lifted up the body and flew off with it. After five or ten minutes he found a river and dumped it in, knowing, correctly, that vampire bodies could be destroyed utterly in flowing water. He also paused on the way to kill another Vampire Spawn which was being held at bay at the front entrance of the manor by two guards.

Meanwhile Arahel was zipping from window to window and upstairs saw a teenage girl being menaced by one of the Vampire Spawn in her bedroom. Arahel crashed through the window and easily killed the Spawn as the stupid creature did not realise it could not dominate a wisp.

The girl, who was hiding behind her bed quivered and said, 'Are you an angel?'
'No,' said Arahel in her wispy wisp voice, 'I am a kiloren.'
The girl seemed confused and retreated as far as she could into the corner.
'Please leave me alone!'

Arahel went downstairs and saw a man riding off on a horse at the front gates of the manor. She waited for a while and after about a twenty minute round trip Fenrir returned from his vampire dunking. He was on foot and had Veddic with him.

At the gate his smooth tongue made friends of the guards and the housekeeper was summoned. She was rather upset about the bloodshed as you might expect and was in no mood to let strangers into the house.
'What do you want?' she demanded
'We are passing vampire hunters, we are here to help with your situation.'
'What?' she blinked in puzzlement. 'How would you know there are vampires here?'
'We received divine guidance. We must cleanse this place of evil.'
'Oh well,' said the housekeeper, already falling for his charming smile. 'I'll inform the lady of the house, who shall I say is calling?'
'Umm.. Gabriel Vampiresbane, and umm... Azarahel Undeadchopper.'

Who knows what was going on in Fenrir's head while he waited for the housekeeper to return from the house where he had just carried out a killing spree?
To kill time as much as anything else, he shouted up to the house, a good fifty yards away from the gate,
'Ho! Celestial Friend, will you not join us?'
Arahel, to my eternal puzzlement, decided to reply and give away her location to all present, 'I am inside! They have shut the door to the stairs and the front door. I am trapped!'
(Rollo note: I don't think Arahel was trying that hard, to be honest, at this stage as it is the easiest thing for a druid to get out of a house. Maybe it's a kiloren thing?)

The guards at the gate looked at each other and shrugged. Whatever was going on now was well beyond their pay grade.

The housekeeper and two more nervous looking guards arrived back at the gate. She asked, with a tremor in her voice
'Would you like some tea while you wait?'
She gestured to the guard house, but even Fenrir in his confidence could see the sense of not being trapped in there, even if he could not see perhaps that the housekeeper was stalling for time.

They talked for some more, then from outside the gate they heard the clattering of horses hooves. Fenrir peaked over the wall and saw that about twenty horsemen, armed to the teeth, had just arrived.

Realising the jig was up, he stuffed Veddic into his bag of holding ('Now wait a minute Fenrir old chap... gumf!') and took to the skies. Invisible, he then flew back to the copse they had been using as a hide out.

In the trees Fenrir let Veddic out of the bag. The poor cleric had hated it in there so much, slowly suffocating, that he declared that he never wished to do it again.

Meanwhile, Arahel had suddenly realised that houses had fireplaces, which meant chimneys. And so she defeated one of her most challenging of enemies so far to date - the dreaded - shut window!

For reasons I can only guess at she then flew south for an hour, perhaps forgetting that the two men would be most likely at the copse. After that, she flew back to the Grand Manor.

Even so, Fenrir and Veddic had moved on by then. They changed their appearance (Fenrir removed his disguise and Veddic removed his armour and wore his clerical vestments) and walked back to Westgate. The whole county was in uproar though.
Lady Erlend had put out the word that assassins were on the prowl (leaving out the fact that her husband had been a  vampire of course) and it was not long before three guards on horseback, with three hounds were heard coming up the lane behind them. It was still only ten o'clock in the morning.

Fenrir charmed and bluffed the guards into believing they were merely a 'Couple of travellers' on the road to Westgate. Unwisely he gave the name he went by in that city - Raziel Lightningrod. Veddic he named Barry Pratchett.
The guards were easily fooled and they left them to go on their way in any event.

At the city gates he tried to bluff his way again, but one of the watchmen recognised him. Fenrir, quick on his wits as always, bluffed his way past them, telling the constable he was not a deserter, but deep undercover.

They went to the Jolly Warrior Inn. Since this had been their local, the landlord recognised them and said,
'Shame about you getting bombed out of your cottage.'
They agreed, and treated themselves to a slap up lunch in a private room.

Back at the Grand Estate, Arahel zipped about a bit more, invisible, watching the comings and goings. A coach pulled up and people went inside. After about an hour they came back out again. She caught there names as Lord Garum and Lady Von Shuje.

Around noon she overheard some guards talking about two odd characters they had met that were on their way to Westgate. Their leader was telling them off for not bringing them in, and Arahel realised it must have been her companions.

She moved along to another window, the one were Lord Erlend and the sleeping woman had been. The woman was still there, lying on the bed with her eyes shut. Lady Erlend entered and Arahel watched passively at the window as she took a dagger and stabbed the younger woman in the heart. Lady Erlend then ran out the room slamming the door behind her.

Arahel then flew back to Westgate, narrowly missing Dressdelle who was patrolling above the city. Next she landed, in a hidden spot turned and into a dwarf. Taking a chance she tried the Jolly Warrior and eventually the three would-be assassins were reunited.

The walked out of the west gate (Fenrir was recognised yet again!) and then flew to Spectre Island. At four o'clock they arrived back at the cottage. It was a hive of activity. Not only was Random there, but eight young people varying in age from twelve to twenty, friends (or something) he'd called in to help set the place up as a base.
Fenrir and company said hello, but were not pushed by curiosity to ask who they were or where they had come from, possibly thinking that whatever was going on was Random's business alone.