(G324 26/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL8

(G324 26/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL8

[Returning to my later adventures in Barovia with Sylvia, Yli and Tie-Pie]

DAY 344 (11th Alturaik)(February) cont ...

And so as the evening came to an end we returned to the Inn and ate a late supper before heading for our beds.

I chatted to Ireena for a while before retiring, but gained no new information. She is a pleasant enough conversationalist though.

Geyven, as usual paid for everything. He is a good sort!

DAY 345 (12th Alturaik)(February)

I talked to the landlord in the morning, before we set off west to see the wise woman. He only knew that people that set off in that direction didn't come back and warned of strange beasts and
twisted women.
This part of the world was not a good tourist destination it seemed.

I invested in a hamper full of booze, food and other goodies to help smooth the way when we met this wise woman and whatever other raggle taggle gypsy folk she associated with. I stuffed it into my bag of holding with everything else.

We left the town then, and entered a cold and rugged landscape of tall dark pine forests and mist shrouded mountains. The mist lingered everywhere, limiting visibility and sending a shiver down the spine.

As the day wore on we passed over a bridge, then later found a some wolf paw prints (or something wolf-like anyway, neither myself or Sylvia were not sure) in the track.
They lead to a area choked with underbrush were we found the dead body (dead for two weeks) of a  villager. On the body we found a letter sealed with a letter 'B'.

The letter read:

''
Hail to thee of might and valour:
I, a lowly servant of the township of Barovia, send  honour to thee.
We plead for thy so desperately needed assistance within our community.
The love of my life, Ireena Kolyana, has been afflicted by an evil so
deadly that even the good people of our town cannot protect her.
She languishes from her wound and I would have her saved from this menace.
But I fear the only cure lies within the dreaded walls of the castle,
where none may enter without risking their lives.
There is much wealth in this community. I offer all that might be had
to thee and thy fellows if thou shalt but answer my desperate plea.
Come quickly, for her time is at hand! All that I have shall be thine!

Kolyan Indirovich,
Burgomaster of Barovia
''

Now this was interesting because we had come across another letter earlier (stuffed in the envelope with the strange diary page we had been given in the Weary Horse Inn.

This letter was similar, but where the one we had just found talked of an 'evil so deadly' the earlier one read:

''
The love of my life, Ireena Kolyana, has been cursed by the witches
of Lysaga Hill, and even the good people of our town are powerless
to free her from this enchantment. She wastes away under the witches’
curse and I would have her saved from this menace.
''

Ireena recognised the hand writing of the first letter as her fathers. The letter that talked of the witches then was likely a forgery.

We left the body where it was and continued on our way. After an hour or so we were stopped by an elf that asked us 'What evil do you bring to this forest?' He had a couple of wolves with him.

When I replied that I was a druid and my cousin was a cleric of Sylvanus he relaxed a bit and let us continue. I asked his name and he gave it as Qinnan Thedithas.

As night began to fall we found a decent camp site and settled down to a meal of trail rations and subdued talk. We discussed the events of the day in hushed whispers, feeling the mist about us like a lurking presence. We lit a fire though and that warmed us a little. The magic bedrolls we all have are a tremendous boon in regions like this.

On Ashlyn's watch she heard rustling in the bushes. She quickly woke us all and as we rubbed the sleep from our eyes and drew our weapons there was a tremendous roar and two dire bears charged into the light.

As a druid I have empathy will all animals and attempted to calm them, but they were too enraged or hungry.

Dire bears attack by grabbing you, then slashing with tooth and claw. Fluffy attacked one but was grabbed in a massive bear hug, the poor lad yelping in pain as the bear sunk its teeth into him. As the others backed off I turned into a dire bear myself and met the other one head on, our massive paws swiping at each other.

The bear I was fighting was having the better of me and if I not managed to escape its grasp I'm sure I would have suffered terribly. Sylvia shouted she had a plan though and I disengaged and drew back about twenty feet. Tie-Pie managed to land a Ray of Enfeeblement on one of them and as we scattered Sylvia encircled the bears with a Wall of Thorns.

It was a domain spell and good luck that she had it as it stopped the bears in their tracks and rendered them harmless. I turned into an eagle to get a better view while Yli fired two more arrows through the thorns and killed one of them.

Sylvia cast a Searing Light at the other one then I finished it off with a Splinter Bolt.

As the other bear breathed its last I suddenly realised that in all that heap of fur and thorns was poor Fluffy! He had not stepped back when the Thorns hit and in the darkness I had lost  track of him.

Sylvia dispelled the thorns and I went to him. He was a whisker away from death but we managed to bring him back with magic healing. Sadly he had lost an eye and that would require greater healing later on. He did look rather dashing when we put an eye-patch over it though.

We had also lost a couple of magic bedrolls, torn up in the thorns.

In the morning Sylvia told me she had received a dream from Sylvanus, who was somewhat miffed at us for killing 'defenceless' bears. Well, they were defenceless only after we had penned them in.
I'm not sure how Sylvia took it, but as far as I was concerned Sylvanus could stick his bears up his arse.

(G333 05/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) 58

(G333 05/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM)) 58


DAY 148 (sun) cont ...

Kirk spent the next five hours getting the computer based part of his escape plan sorted out.
First an intrusive program called 'Fire Alarm Cascade' would set off all the alarms from floor 30 to
40. Thirty seconds after that a 'Camera Loop' would play back pre-recorded images of all the corridors while they were quiet.
Finally the doors on his floor and up to the roof would unlock.

This took him five hours to do.

His breakfast came, and once he had eaten, he set off all the programs from the terminal in his room and began his prison break.

His plan met with initial success, but after a few floors up he was spotted and chased by armed police to the loading bay. Here he hijack a hover car, with a woman in it, and attempted to drive it out.
He crashed against the wall to begin with and the woman jumped out. As cops came up the stairs and shot at the car he managed, somehow, to drive it out the exit, crashing through the roller doors as they came slamming down.

The car was badly damaged though and began to plummet towards the street far below. Kirk screamed, planted his feet on all the pedals and pulled back on the wheel. In truth he had no idea how to drive a car of any kind, let alone an alien hover vehicle.

The car descended sharply and crashed through the windows of the adjacent office, three floors from the top. Dazed, but still alive, Kirk pulled himself from the wreckage and made his way to the roof.

Perhaps he was still in a state of confusion, as he lingered on the roof long enough for the circling
cop cars that had followed him out to spot him and come towards the office block. Kirk went back in, jammed the door shut and headed down the internal fire escape stairs.

The building was clearing of people, morning workers being hustled down the stairs by police as they came up. Kirk could hear them just a few floors down so before he went down much more than a few flights he had to duck into the open plan offices and find a desk to hide under.

It wasn't long though before the whole office floor was full of cops, methodically searching the main area and side rooms. By a minor miracle he was not spotted in the sweep, but the lingering police officers were cutting off his escape route.

He pitched an ash tray across the office and lured two of them away and headed for the stairs.

Kirk managed to get three floors further down, but spotted cops coming up again so headed back into the building. Unfortunately there were more cops on the floor he entered. Kirk threw a chair, but was no better  at unarmed combat than driving a car and they police quickly closed on him and beat him with their nightsticks then handcuffed him.

Initially he was taken to the medical centre back in the police tower where he at least got a bit of a lie down while the doctor healed him up.
He asked to 'see a priest' but this was not how Vhnori culture worked. The priests (and Thanatologists) did not visit prisoners in the same way they did back on Earth.

Kirk's body clock told him it was late evening by the time he was put back in a cell. A smaller one this time with no computer terminal in it. Luckily though he had managed to hide his comms badge again.

He was exhausted and escape seemed even harder now. He tried to think of another way to get out of the police station, but as he lay back on his bunk he was quickly asleep.

(G323 12/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA9

(G323 12/08/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ) WA9

DAY 295 (30th Nightal)(December)

Everyone reported to their watch house again this morning.
Forgive me, dear reader, I have little information on what Fylker and Riz got up to over the next few days so I will only record here what I know about Fenrir and Arahel's employment.

As they had done the day before they had a long breakfast then took to the skies.

The only thing of interest that happened during there watch was when a wizard flew high over the walls, heading to the city. He had his wife on his back and carried two heavy looking bags yoked over his shoulders.

He seemed fed up, but stopped to let Fenrir question him. He was on the way to see his mother apparently, at  number 75 Wizard's Cut.

'Good,' said Dressdelle who had been watching and appraising. 'But you forgot to ask his name, where he had come from, how long he intended to stay, why he didn't enter by the gate... oh and his school of magic. The city is not keen on Necromancers at the moment after all that bad business in the summer.'

Fenrir accepted the criticism.

That evening, after work, Fenrir and Arahel went to see Nebulus, flying in through the top window as arranged (Fylker and Riz went to the pub - it was New Year's Eve after all!). He had information for them about Castle Cormaeril, its layout and defences and also told Fenrir he could get his stolen stuff for him if he helped clear a warehouse  of guards prior to him robbing it.
They agreed to do it some time soon.

DAY 296 (1st Hammer)(January) 1377DR

And so the start of the New Year saw them all reporting for duty again as normal. This was their third day in the Watch.

As part of their training Dressdelle was having Fenrir and Arahel talk to the people they found flying above the city. Now it was Arahel's turn and as an eagle she intercepted a flying woman in black called Silderan.
The woman was in no mood to talk, but eventually Arahel pestered her into revealing she was leaving the city because she had split up with her boyfriend.

'Good,' said Dressdelle. 'We are less concerned about people leaving the city. But perhaps she was going to burn down a village somewhere to vent some of her anger?'
'Should we follow her?' asked Arahel watching the angry woman in black fly off into the clouds.
'No, it's ok. We have the authority to stop anyone we like up here, for whatever reason or none at all. But she  didn't explicitly said she was leaving to cause harm. If she had been coming in though, that would have been a different matter.'

When they got home that night there was a mysterious letter on the table. It was opened and read:

''
I'm sorry I cannot come and meet you, there is a lot going on elsewhere that I must attend to.
Hopefully this letter finds you well. If you have succeeded in joining a city faction, then the next step is to see how high you can get up in it. The higher the better. Do remember though, Fenrir old chap, that you are one of the good guys here. Any acts of wanton naughtiness will make Gerty sad and none of us want that.
If you need funds, then enquire after a gentleman called Morne Mardo who is a merchant with a premises on the market square. Give the password 'Burnt Cakes' and when he asks your name
give it as our favourite watchman/dung sweeper.
Mardo will provide funds, but please only use this money for furthering our cause and also when you go there, go in disguise, as a merchant or whatever with some vaguely plausible cover story.
When you are down at the market see if you can pick up a copy of a book. The title of the book I will not name here, but see if you can find it based on these clues:
1. The novel's title has seven words
2. The first word is a title for a grand old dame
3. The second word is made up of two words, the first is what Sune is the goddess of and the second is a material made from yarn that might decorate collars or cuffs.
4. The third word is a conjunction and the middle part of a bandana
5. The forth word is a pronoun for number 1
6. The fifth word means lots
7. The sixth word is the race of our good friend with the name 'The upper part of William'
8. The seventh word may possibly describe the relationship between our friends Durz and Berum

You'll need this book for later!

Cavu the Cursed

P.S. Don't forget to snoop about for that Serpent Door!
''

After a long time of puzzling over the letter they thought it was something like;
'Madame Sun (or Love )lace and knot many gnome partners'

Down at the market they found a lovely old bookshop and eventually, after nearly being forced to buy '50 shades of gnome', 'Gnomes in love', 'Marriage rituals of the dragon coast' and 'The spinster bride' they eventually found what they were after;

'Lady Lovelace and her many gnomish lovers'

They paid double for it, a gold, to also reward the shopkeeper for being kept up well past closing time.

DAY 297 (2nd Hammer)(January)

The 4th day of working for the Watch.

Fenrir stopped a witch as she left the city. She gave a false name and was far to fast on her broomstick for him to catch. He did shoot at her and hit her broom.
She yelped, 'Ooh ya bugger!' but she did not stop.

Later in the day another witch gave a false name to Arahel as she entered the city.

This was the only excitement this day (work wise anyway).

Fenrir asked when they could get a day off and Dressdelle seemed surprised.
'A day off? I was hoping once I'd trained you up, I could take a day off. I've been doing the DAW by myself for a month! Well, maybe in a few days if you seem up to it, I'll take a few days off... maybe get my friend Jendins to keep an eye on you. After that you can have a couple of days.'

Fenrir accepted this.

Back at the cottage they had received an invite to a masquerade ball from Nebulus.
'It's an open house and you can use my name to get in', read the note. 'Get a costume and come along. It starts at 10 o'clock tonight. It is the mansion of Lady Dreggleblot, outside the city. Leave by the South Gate and once you are past the castles you can't miss it.'

They arrived at the villa on foot, Fenrir dressed in a rented costume and Arahel going as herself, reasoning that she would look unusual enough as she was, being small and green skinned.

The mansion, more of a fortified villa, was a large walled compound with a main building and several other structures such as the stables and servant quarters.

The party did not really get going until after midnight.

DAY 298 (3rd Hammer)(January)

They met Lady Dreggleblot herself, a powerfully built woman of middle years. Most of the party was in the main hall. There was lots of food, drunk and music. As the night wore on the masque got more and more debauched and in the dark corners of the villa and the upstairs rooms people found places to kiss and cuddle.

At about two in the morning word went round that something bad had happened. Someone that Fenrir had been talking to said,
'I think someone has been killed! Oh Deary me. Hey. You are the "Duck Detective" are you not? You should go help out.'
The young fellow was referring to the incident in Ferbone where they had not quite managed to save poor Daphne the Duck from the pot.

Lady Dreggleblot herself led them to a service corridor where the body of a serving girl lay dead. From the marks on her body it looked like she had been strangled. Her neck was bruised and scratched. The only other clue they found was a few strands of long blonde hair in her hand. Her name was Nance.
When asked about possible suspects Lady D said,
'Well, I don't know but I remember seeing her talking to Lord Bercy before. Oh and she was sat on Sir Metrum's knee for a while. Hmm, I also remember seeing Baron Nader trying to grab her breasts.'

Looking around the hall they saw Lord Bercy, dressed as a goat, chatting with a group of friends. Sir Metrum was dressed as a bear and had a wench on his knee and Baron Nader, dressed as a wolf, was half asleep on a sofa. They dismissed him as he was bald and tried to look at the other's hand, specifically their fingernails. Sir Metrum was evidently a nail biter and virtually had none.
Judging he could not have left the marks on Nance's neck with nail-less fingers, the finger (hoho!) of suspicion fell on Lord Bercy.

They decided to try and trick a confession out of him. Arahel shapeshifted into Nance and lay on a bed in one of the upstairs rooms. Fenrir sent a servant to get Bercy and hid behind the door.

As he entered Bercy said, 'I was told to come to this room. What japes! Oh, it is you my dear. Have you re-thought my offer?'
He climbed into bed beside Arahel.

Fenrir then pounced, his black wings arched above his head, his arms raised. Bercy, a small and timid man feinted dead away.
'To be honest, I don't think it's him,' said Fenrir as they dumped his sleeping body in another room.

They decided to try the same ploy with Metrum and when he arrived he lay down and said,
'I don't think I can manage more than a cuddle my dear. It's very late and I'm spent!'
Fenrir revealed himself again and Metrum was so shocked he soiled himself and the bed.
'Why you! I should... gohhh!' he snarled as he left the room.

This part of the plan having failed they decided to talk to some of the staff and Arahel had a few words with Mavis, another serving girl. She put them onto a footman called Hertman who had had an 'understanding' with Nance.

He was helping looking after all the horses and coaches of the party guests and had not heard of her death. When they told him among other things he said,
'Oh, I did warn her not to get ideas. She said she was going to rob the place because she... well, she was not fond of her Ladyship. I should not say more though my Lord.'

They looked in Nance's room, which she shared with other girls, but found no clues. Just a girl of ten who was trying to sleep and didn't like the intrusion.

They talked to the cook in the servant's kitchen, but by now they were both sure. The murderer was Lady D herself. She was strong enough to have done it and she had long blonde hair.

At five in the morning they met her in a private room.
'Have you resolved the situation?' she asked.
When Fenrir said, 'It was you that did it.'
She snarled back, 'You dare make this accusation? Based on what evidence?'

Arahel tried to look at her nails, but Lady D hid them behind her back.

Lady D look haughty then said, 'Even if it were true. What are you going to do about it?'

'We are of the Watch,' said Fenrir with a sinister look. 'We are going to arrest you.'

She made to run for the door and Fenrir blew her foot off with an Eldritch Blast.
Needless to say her screams drew a crowd. Fenrir put a blessed bandage on her foot to stop her dying of blood loss.

Arahel stepped out the window, turned into a giant, reached in and then slung Lady D over her shoulder. Fenrir flew away up into the night. At the City gates they handed Dreggleblot over to the Watch.

An hour later they reported for duty.

'Well,' said Dressdelle. 'She'll be out in a few hours I expect. The Watch will back you and protect you, but we have less authority outside the walls. Besides, she can pay the Wergild to the family and that's the end of it. You should really have walked away and reported it all to the Marshall. She would probably have accepted the charge and paid the fine, end of story. If you blasted her foot off then you've made a strong enemy today.'

'Meh,' said Fenrir. He had plenty of enemies already!

(G321 29/07/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA8

(G321 29/07/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA8

[To continue the Adventures of Fenrir. Arahel and Fylker in the city of Westgate]

DAY 293 (28th Nightal)(December) cont ...

Back at the cottage, after some discussion they decided to not bother with the Night Masks, but to go to the opposite extreme and join the City Watch.

You may remember that Cavu had instructed them to join one of the factions in the city.

After lunch, without further ado they went down to the Dock Ward in search of the Watch House, reasoning that it would be the most corrupt and therefore the easiest to join.
Arahel went in the appearance of a normal young human female, with brown skin and green eyes, armed with a spear and wearing leather armour (named Elysia Reidun).
Riz also came along.

The Dock Ward Watch House was little more than a small warehouse or a large shed with a couple of rooms at the back, a meeting point more than anything else. There was a fireplace to warm the room and cook food on. The old custodian (Merrick) opened the door and let them in. He needed some persuading to believe that  four well-fed and well-dressed people (by Dock Ward standards) all wanted to join the Watch on the very  same day but in the end he let them in and summoned the Constable, an old and fat man known as Noloc.

Next they were sent one by one to the office of Sergeant Vindrek, a younger man of noble birth (a second son working his way up the civic ladder as so many were in the Westgate Watch) who got them to fill in a form with some details.

This is what Fenrir wrote:

Name: Raziel Lightningrod
POB: Waterdeep
Age: 19 years old
Next of Kind: my Dad
Experience: Waterdeep watch, including the orc horde siege, etc, etc
Reference:  Corum Lavius, Armar, Waterdeep watch, Waterdeep dungsweepers guild (partner)

The others filled in similar works of partial fiction, but Arahel did admit to being a shape-shifter so was told to go report to the South Watch Tower where the magical arm of the Watch operated from. She was told to ask for Trepplemar the Magnificent.

That evening back at the cottage Fenrir had a private chat with Riz, he was generally trying to get her to tone things down and make her aware that he no longer considered Bnurgstickslackskin to have any hold over him.
He also knew it to be true (or so he thought!) that Bnurg had no power to take away his abilities. In short, she did not have to be evil in order to be a Warlock.
Her brief answer was, 'But I like being evil!'
Fenrir saw he could not win, she was chaotic and evil by nature and being in league with demons suited her just fine. Although she would do his bidding for now, since the demons had told her to, he sensed that she was a little disappointed that Fenrir was not embracing his dark side.

Meanwhile Arahel went along to see, Trepplemar the Magnificent who in appearance was a middle aged lady dressed in fine wizardly robes. She told her to come back in the morning and ask for another lady called Dressdelle.
Trepplemar explained that they were pretty short staffed when it came to magical people in general and fliers in particular.

DAY 294 (29th Nightal)(December)

That morning, as arranged Fylker and Riz went to the Dock Ward at seven. Fenrir was meant to go to, but decided to let on he could fly after all and went with Arahel instead.

Fylker noticed Riz pick someone's pocket as they went through the busy morning markets and commented on it, but she was unrepentant.

At the Watch House Riz went along elsewhere for training but Constable Noloc had other ideas for Fylker.
Such a big and muscular new recruit would be very useful to him so to try him out he took him around several  taverns and flop-houses to, in essence, extort money out of people.
The highlight of the day for Fylker was when he was told to go arrest a large barbarian drinking at a seedy bar. It developed into a fist fight that the dervish easily won.

Meanwhile Arahel and Fenrir reported to Dressdelle. She was a tough, no nonsense sort of lady and got right down to business, flying them around the city walls to see what they could do. Arahel turned into an eagle and Fenrir used his magical black bat Wings of Shadow.
He had to admit to Dressdelle he was a warlock and she seemed to accept that, but no doubt she would be keeping a close eye on him.

Dressdelle and Arahel could fly faster then Fenrir, so he was always lagging behind. They had lunch (two hours!)  at the top of the Western Sea Tower then toured the walls again, then flew above the clouds for a while to  finally come down for another two hour meal at another tower. Life in the Day Air Watch (or DAW) seemed to be mainly flying and eating.
Dressdelle explained. 'It's just us. I've been just myself for nearly a month now. There are three fliers on  the Night Watch too. It's more dangerous at night so we couldn't take anyone from there to help me on days.
Probably just as well as they are all mad.'

At seven o'clock they went home and met the others, who had also returned from their busy first days.

(G320 15/07/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL7

(G320 15/07/2017 via Roll20 - AP(GM), JF, MJ) RL7

Back to my adventures in Barovia.

DAY 344 (11th Alturaik)(February) cont ...

Well, I took 'Fluffy' back downstairs and formally introduced him to everyone. He seems to be a very friendly sort of young fellow and got on well with not only Sylvia, Ashlyn, Yli and Tie-Pie but also everyone in the Inn.

After some discussion with my fellows we decided we should go and see Ireena first. I talked to the barman and Ismark (her brother) about how best to get there and what to expect before we left.

Basically just go down the street to the house at the end of it. Ismark had no message to send and seemed to wish nothing more to continue drinking himself into senselessness. The land lord also told us there was a house on the way where a lady called 'Mad Mary' lived.

Ireena, you may recall was currently keeping vigil over her dead father, the former Burgomaster of Barovia.

At about eleven o'clock in the morning we walked down the southern street, boldly keeping to the centre of it, as if challenging the undead to attack us.

Yli, with his sharp hearing, heard the sounds of undead groaning from one of the houses and we went in to take a look. I was first through the side door of the house and was attacked by some undead rats. One attached itself to my leg with its nasty little claws!

I slashed at it with my scimitar and then Yli shot at it. Finally Tie-pie blasted it off with a scorching ray, absolutely ruining my trousers as dead rat bits splattered everywhere.

I summoned some bears as more rats appeared. Then one of those giant maggot things came out of the other house and I cast hypothermia at it. This showered Tie-Pie in half frozen undead maggot chunks. The alley we were in was turning into a charnel house.

As zombies entered the combat, myself and Tie-Pie both summoned flaming spheres (it was a wonder we didn't burn the house down, but I suppose it was damp and cold due to it being winter) and sent them and the bears after them.
It was a stinking chaos of undead critters, zombies, bears and spheres, but at least none of us were hurt after the end of it. After the fighting ended we searched the building and found some magical items, a bow and a pair of boots.

A few doors down from here we passed a house where we heard sobbing coming from and assumed it to be the residence of Mad Mary. At the back of the building I removed the planks from the door then Fluffy tried to barge it open and failed. Tie-pie then took a run at it and bounced off then just as I was about to cast 'Wood Shape' Yli barreled in and knocked it open with a shoulder charge.

The sobbing was coming from upstairs and we quietly traced it to its source, a room full of pink furnishings, toy unicorns and a big fairy castle that any little girl would have been delighted to play with. There was also a girl's bed with a canopy, dozens of dolls arranged on it.
Light filtered into the room from the shutters and fell on and old woman sat on the floor crying.

Initially I went in alone and quietly said, 'Hello.'
Once I got her talking she rambled on for some time about her daughter Gertruda and how she had gone up to the castle, or had been taken there.
'The master of the castle has her and I fear the worst is yet to come...'
'What is the worst?' I ventured.
She wailed in reply.

I stepped back and Sylvia checked her over for general health.
'She's thin,' said Sylvia back out on the landing. 'But she appears to be eating and drinking enough to
survive.'
'Probably best just to leave her here for now.'
We agreed on this, secured the back door again and reported on her condition back at the Inn.
Apparently the locals were aware of the 'Mad Mary' situation and some of them were keeping an eye on her.

So, finally, we ended up at the ancient and half broken gates of the Kolyana mansion. It appeared to have been having a hard time, the exterior walls were clawed, burnt and stained. All the windows and doors were barricaded.

I knocked on the main door and Ireena herself answered. She was a tall, well build sort of woman. She invited us all in, saying she had heard we had rid the town of the 'blaspheme' and was happy to meet us.

The interior of the mansion was well furnished, but had not seen the attentions of a cleaner in a long while.

In the main room, her father's body lay, in a coffin and dressed in his robes of state.

She spoke of her father, the Master of the Castle (Strahd), the symbol that had protected her father up until his dead and other matters related to this.
She ended by saying that she did not know what had happened to the amulet, but that the wise woman who lived west of the town might know.

Ireena then asked if we could help take her father to the cemetery and bury him. We said yes, and the townsfolk got to see the unusual sight of a dire wolf pulling a wagon with a coffin on it up to the church.

We took it round to the cemetery and placed the coffin in the family crypt. Sylvia then performed a burial ceremony (with Ashlyn as the verger) and Ireena said some words of remembrance.

While standing there in the somber scene I noticed that the mists that shrouded the town seemed to encircle the graveyard, coming up to its edge, as if unwilling to come further.

We also noticed a nearby grave that had been recently dug up, that of Mahail Latchko.

Next we escorted Ireena back to the mansion and at her door started to say our farewells, thinking next to go see the wise woman.

I asked her, 'Will you be safe here though? I mean, can we offer any further help?'
'With the dead not rising from their graves the town is much safer,' she replied.
'What about Strahd?' I pushed.
She gave a non-committal answer, but this triggered suspicions in Sylvia who said, 'Show me your neck.'

At first Ireena was shocked, but I could see she was wearing a dress with a high collar.
'If you don't mind,' I said gently.

She revealed her neck and it had two puncture wounds on it, the sign of a vampire bite.
'I've had such awful dreams! On two separate nights, he has come to me. He calls me Titania!'
She told us more about the dreams and that if she was bitten again she would fall under his thrall.

Well, I was at a loss what to do with her, but it turns out she has been trained as a fighter. I suppose I hadn't really noticed before, but Ireena - she's a big girl! And well muscled, she really looked that  given a sword and a suit of full plate she would be handy in a fight.

It was decided that she would join us.

Tramp Sandwich

Tramp Sandwich

I'm not sure how old I was, but if I had to guess I'd say it was between eight and ten.
But if I was as young as six or as old as thirteen that would be possible too.

Anyway, one day a genuine tramp turned up to the gate. He was an old fellow, dressed in a tatty suit. Back then most old men seemed to wear full suits though, whatever their background. I think even papa wore a suit when he was out on the farm.

The old fellow was looking for work, so mum or dad gave him a hoe and he dug up some  weeds from the gravel for a while. He didn't over-exert himself. I watched him for a bit as he poked at the ground with the hoe.

After that he was then give a fiver, a cheese sandwich and a cup of tea. I guess a fiver was worth about twenty quid back then.

Now this old fellow, I assume, was not merely a homeless person, he was a proper tramp in the mold of the guys from the Two Ronnies sketch. Rural homeless I guess, but on the move. Where had he come from and where was he going?

Was he a seasonal worker? Had he led his entire life like this, always on the move? Or was he only recently homeless? I think he'd been at it a while, looking at him.

Although this was unusual for the time (80s) it was accepted, Aunt Chrisse would have been alive at that time and she would remember Scotland when it was full of tinkers, peddlers and other people that moved about like that.
I'm sure mum, as a little girl, would remember a time when folk would come to the farm looking for work. Seasonal workers for sure, and possibly tinkers?

Today though, what would people's reaction be? If a man in his late 60s or even 70s turned up at the door, the very picture of a tamp, looking for work in return for a fiver and a sandwich?
You'd call someone wouldn't you? We take care of old people better than that these days don't we?

Have we lost something along the way though? I've read books (Down and Out in Paris and London, The Grapes of Wrath) and seen films (Sullivan's Travels) about a life on the road. Was there ever a time when it was romantic? Probably not, to be honest, outside of Hollywood.

I'm no expert (and I live near the city now) but it seems to me, the homeless people you see  these days are that way because of drugs or drink, or they are mysterious Eastern Europeans  shipped over here to beg the main street on a Saturday night. I don't know the story of any of them, but I should imagine they all have a home (of some description) to go to if they wanted.

Whoever they are, they are not the remnants of a by-gone era of Scottish traveller folk and  whoever this guy was, he was already a relic of the past back then and we never saw anyone  else like him in Dalry, that I remember anyway.

As a little boy, I remember observing that the life of a tramp must be tough when all you get to eat is cheese sandwiches! I would have turned my nose at it, back then, finding it too dry.
At the very least I would have wanted some tomato or pickle in it.

These days I eat plain cheese sandwiches all the time though and I always think of them as 'Tramp Sandwiches!'

(As an aside, we get gypsies and Irish travellers at the door in Aberdeen sometimes, but they are young fellows out to do the roof or a driveway. If they are out on the links I can see their expensive looking caravans from the front garden.)

(As a further aside, I used to always give money to beggars, but now not so much because of a) I've a family to look after and every penny goes to that and b) I've seen real grinding poverty over in Indonesia and as a consequence lost a lot of sympathy for your average drunken Scottish bum on the street!)

(G319 24/06/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA7

(G319 24/06/2017 via Roll20 - AP, JF(GM), MJ, HK) WA7

DAY 292 (27th Nightal)(December) cont ...

Our story about the adventures of Fenrir and Arahel in Westgate continues with the introduction of another character - a sailor by the name of Fylker ibn Fahrad of Amn.

His ship arrived in Westgate around noon of this day and deciding that this city was as good a place as any to lie low for a while (he had very good reasons for leaving Amn!) he headed into a nearby tavern to lubricate his dry throat and look for work.

As luck would have it he bumped into Shady Doug (you may remember this was one of Harvel's contacts who also gave Fenrir a solid gold racing tip).

Shady Doug eyed up Fylker and deduced he was a pretty handy sort of fellow and said to him, 'You could go and ask at the cottage on Rose Street. The guy is called Fenrir and his wee pal is called Arahel. They hired my old chum Harvel so maybe they would hire you too.'

Fylker finished his drink and headed up there, arriving at the cottage while Fenrir and Arahel were finishing lunch.

When he answered the door Fenrir saw a young man in his late twenties, he wore light armour over a well muscled body and wore a falchion at his belt. Fenrir invited him in and they discussed the terms of his hiring.

After about an hour of chat Fenrir felt confident Fylker was on the level and a fairly competent swordsman.

Since Fenrir had plans to hunt out the Night Parade they all decided to hit the magic shop first (Gondeth's Mageries) to stock up on potions and the like.
This also prompted the following conversation:
'You have a magic bedroll right?' asked Fenrir pointing to one on a shelf.
'No.'
'Why not?'
'They just make you sleep better right? For five hundred gold that's not much benefit. I always sleep well enough.'
'No way! You need it. It is like the Endure Elements spell every night and if you've been injured in a fight then you feel much more healed in the morning.'
'Nah...'
'Listen, I don't want to make a big deal out of this, but buy the bed roll or we part ways right here and now.'
'Err... well, ok then. If it means that much to you!'

After they had finished all their shopping they went directly to the house on Fish Street. Initially it was hard to find as (they found this out later) a member of the Night Parade called Deldana could generate a confusion aura around the building to make weak minded people unable to see it.

Needless to say, they did not find it immediately and it took Arahel to point it out to the other two.

At the entrance they found one main door and two side doors. They opted for the right hand side door to start with. As he entered Fylker was spotted by Rodor of the Night Parade who started to sing a magical song that fascinated the tough (but weak willed) warrior. Fylker, a dervish, started to whirl around and around, dancing to the song.

Fenrir, trying to take the peaceful option, turned his charm onto Rodor (who appeared as a hooded man) who then ran away to a door in the corner and left the room.

Fylker came to his senses and they followed after Rodor. Along the next corridor of this strange and sinister house the met another member of the Night Parade. This nightmare of a man had no lips or eyes and his teeth were constantly chattering. Fenrir tried to talk to him though and he pointed them to another door and corridor.

They decided to go back out and try the left hand side door at the entrance. Here they were met by Deldana (who appeared as a young girl with no eyes) hiding in the corner of a coach house. She was started and used her powers to confuse Fylker, who then attacked Arahel. She dodged his blows though and turned into a lion. Fylker then babbled  and ran down the street.
After a few seconds though he came to his senses and came back to the house muttering to himself.
He realised he was not off to a great start! But then, he was better in the heat of battle, he remembered, not dealing with strange extra-planar beings.

Meanwhile, Fenrir had talked to Deldana and was told where to go to meet the leader of the Parade in Westgate. They passed through an office (and looted it of magical scrolls!) and then into a large central corridor.

A Parader that appeared as a man with spikes in his head attacked them, but Fylker cut him down with a few blows of his falchion.

After a bit more door and corridor action they arrived at the main room where the rest of the house's denizens were located, including their leader, someone who appeared as a sultry grey skinned female known as Bezebelle. Fenrir turned on the charm and soon had a dialogue going.

She agreed to tell them the location of the Snake Gate Portal in return for helping rescue one of their members (a diaboli known as Bwabazwards) who was being held by the Fire Knives in Castle Cormaeril.  Once business was attended to, Fenrir talked to her privately and tried to seduce her. She told him to ask again once they had returned her friend.

Their dealings with the Night Parade complete they decided to head to the eastern part of town where Nebulus's house was. Arahel continued to be a lion. To appear more 'normal' Fylker made a lead for her out of a length of rope.

Lions are seen from time to time in Westgate, usually in a cage though, and I suppose a powerful druid may well have brought one in on occasion as an animal companion, but it was still not long before they drew the interest of a patrol of watchmen.

Arahel did a 'cute kitty' routine and after Fenrir paid a bribe and received a 'licence' they went
on their way.

At the house of Nebulus the doorman hurried them inside and Nebulus came to meet them and for the first time since they had known him he seemed to loose his cool.
'I'm lying low you idiots and you come to my house like a travelling circus!'

Once he had calmed down he said, 'Listen you can both fly right? I'll leave a top window slightly open, from now on come through there and make sure no one sees you.'

Soon though, he was back to his usual jovial self and was plying them with food and wine (and a bowl of milk for the lion) and asking lots of questions of the new party member, Fylker.

He also said, 'I recently learned the Purple Lady is a Night Mask property. I'm sure they must have been spying on me. I'm staying at home until I assess the damage and set up a new base of operations.'

As they talked a little girl and boy ran past the door and Arahel noticed that each of them had small horns. Arahel was not one for tact and simply asked Nebulus about it straight out.

Nebulus replied it was a 'family thing' and would not be drawn any further on the subject.

Later, once they had left, they thought that the children were probably tieflings or part tiefling.

In the evening they went to the Jolly Warrior for dinner, the to the Purple Lady for a good time. Fylker had been at sea for months and needed to let off some steam. He spent 50 gold coins on fine wine, food and three of the Purple Ladies.

Fenrir joined him and spent 20 gold. Arahel went home early.


DAY 293 (28th Nightal)(December)

Fenrir had a hang over in the morning, but the smell of the housekeeper frying bacon woke him up and sent him down to the breakfast table.

When Arahel smelled it, for mischief, she turned into a pig and entered the kitchen saying,
'Gorza how could you!'
The housekeeper gasped in shock, but then remembered that Arahel could shapeshift.
'You little tinker! Always playing tricks on me!'
Groza seemed to take it in good humour, but still made a sign to ward off evil.

Arahel would take no bacon (being a vegetarian) and when Fylker arrived from his room he  said, 'A thousand apologies dear lady, but my religion forbids me the flesh of swine.'

'More bacon for me!' declared Fenrir rapping his knife and fork on the table.

After breakfast they went a walk. Castle Cormaeril was very near to the cottage, just a couple of streets away and plainly visible from the back garden. As they cast their eyes over it, they were approached by a young woman dressed as a sailor.

It was none other than Riz (you remember she was the rogue that was Oz's sort of girl friend for a while and then became a minor warlock minion of Bnurgstickslackskin).

She smiled and said, 'Hello Fenrir!'

She drew Fenrir away and talked to him privately. She explained that as part of her progression in the dark arts she had been sent to seek our Fenrir, her old mentor. She was now at his service.

As Fenrir contemplated the flames that seemed to burn in her eyes, he realised that his past was catching him up and that he would probably never escape the fact that the source of his powers came from the fires of hell itself.