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“The guild will be running, asking for our help after our performance today.” - Korrax

“Unless they’re running after us, of course. We can give you a letter of recommendation if you’d like.” - Sanctuary

Key Developments and Revelations

• Rydel finds Kani’s earrings in his room

• The party prepares for the matches

• We meet two group of adventurers in the colosseum

• Gabrielle dies and is brought back by Sanctuary

Full Session Notes

The participating members of the Copper Phoenix prepare for the matches at the Colosseum. While everyone goes about their business, Rydel finds Syphax in his room staring at the desk. After a closer inspection Rydel finds two jade earrings, shaped in a claw and recognizes them to be of Cha’askani.

He immediately calls the remaining members of the Copper Covenant together. The last time he saw those earrings was when he and Canela buried Kani’s body, nobody can explain how they got here, so Rydel puts the away for now.

Then everyone leaves for the arena, Rydel taking point when it’s time to sign everyone up.

Inside we meet a group of Dragonborn, whos leader starts a staring contest with Syphax to proof he’s a ‘real dragon’ but loses. He swears to proof his worth in combat, then introduces the rest of the Dragonborn to the party. Zirel, Rhyndor, Voranix, Kaida, Draxus and Korrax are amiable, otherwise to the other group of adventurers that close themselves off in a different room.

Korrax tells us that they are called the Crimson Shield (no connection to the Crimson Cloud), experienced adventurers that are also already part of the Adventuring Guild and ranked Silver. Korrax says that they also aim to join the Guild after showing off their skill at the tournament.

He also tells us that another group, that arrived from the Fallen Empire is currently inside the arena and that our turn should start soon after their battle is over. The party is not allowed to watch them though, and a few minutes later we only see their bodies being carried outside of the arena and into the morgue.

A guard of the Zaheri family has the party draw from a small satchel to pick our enemy; a Hydra.

The battle goes well, the party defeating the Hyrda quickly without taking any damage, while the Crimson Shield, who fights after we leave the arena return injured after having to fight a mechanical warrior. Gabrielle offers a little bit of healing in exchange for some information about them. They introduce themselves, notably a warrior called Rafik has joined the group for this tournament and is already an experienced Gladiator with the name Sunsworn. The Crimson Shield is here to become stronger, but there might be another motive we couldn’t figure out yet.

Before the next fight, Sanctuary gives the Dragonborn group a ‘show of good faith’, giving them the benefit of temporary hitpoints for their next battle. The next fight takes longer and the Dragonborn return injured and with one member, Draxus, dead. They don’t seem particulary affected by it, more proud than sad about losing one of them.

The second round of combat begins. For this all remaining participants are split in Duos. Rydel and Lavender goe first against Aquilon and Lysandra and win, with Rydel killing Lysandra and winning together with Lavender.

Next up is Sanctuary and Lyria against Rafiq and Kaida, with Sanctuary and Lyria going out as the winners. Then Zirel and Rhynder against Dorian and Gabrielle. Dorian dies, Zirel is killed by Gabrielle, and Gabrielle dies after a close match against Rhynder.

Before the next match starts, Sanctuary brings Gabrielle back to life but he has to leave the competition. Before he does, he attempts to kill Rhynder but is stopped by Rydel. A short back and forth later, Gabrielle leaves the Colosseum and the last match starts with Myxi and Korrax entering the arena to fight against Caelen and Voramix. Myxi and Korrax win this battle.

The party is invited to meet with Lord Zaheri.

DATE: 24/09/23

In-game Date Start: 5th of Hallowtide, 959 A.D.

In-game Date Finish: 5th of Hallowtide, 959 A.D.

Players Present

• Jeremy (Lavender/Alistair)

• Oskar (Resona/Myxi)

• Rasmus (Morric/Rydel)

• Sari (Gabrielle)

• Sydney (Sanctuary)

Subbed Characters

• X played X / Everyone was present.

Completed Quests

• Link to completed quests

Obtained Quests

• Link to quests picked up this session

Locations Visited

• Colosseum

Important NPCs Interacted With

• Zirel

• Rhyndor

• Voranix

• Kaida

• Draxus

• Korrax

• Dorian

• Rafiq - Sunsworn

• Lyria

• Aquilon

• Caelen

• Lysandra

• A guard of the Zaheri family

Wall of Shame

• Sari - 2 min

• Oskar - 5 min

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Example

“We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto!”

Key Developments and Revelations

• After resting with the caravan, woke up in a strange land, full of eerieness, malice and fog.

• On finding a path and following it, they come to the Gates of Barovia.

• Here the party meets Strahd Von Zarovich for the first time. He insinuates that he knows everyone in the party except for Sunny.

• They follow the path, see a group of buildings, then beyond that a larger village overlooked by cliffs and a castle on it.

• Making their way to the group of buildings, the fog seems to follow them, and Kronkus & Sunny get lost in it momentarily, with their being some time dilation happening whilst in there.

• Making it to the hamlet, they find all but one of the buildings empty and dark. Two children rush to them, saying there’s a monster in their house, and that their parents are keeping it at bay in the basement, and their baby brother is upstairs.

• The party move into the house, finding that this seems to belong to the Durst family. Moving into a main room, they hear the sounds of a party from beyond a nearby door.

• Opening the door, all lights in the house go out, no people are in the room beyond. The front door and gate close and lock on their own. A wolf growls from somewhere in the dark.

Last Time, in Barovia…

Arrival in Barovia

• The party joined the caravan heading out of Daggerford. Each one joined for a different reason, and none knew the others.

• On the first night, the caravan rested early, having been delayed from its set off by a latecomer to the caravan.
  The latecomer, Marko, had setup a campfire with food and drink, and one by one offered, convinced or cajoled the party to join him at his fire.

• The night was spent with everyone learning little bits about the other, drinking, eating, and being merry. Late, Marko crawled under his wagon for sleep, and invited the party to rest by his warm fire, which they did.

• When they awoke, they were not in the same place. The wagon, Marko, even the caravan itself was gone. No tracks or signs of movement in the immediate surroundings. It was if they had been picked up and placed here.

• All of their possessions were gone as well, bar a few items that were kept close to them while they rested.

• Taking stock of this new land, they found it eerie, almost dripping with maliciousness. There is a thick fog, swirling as if with a life of its own. The trees seem different, twisted, gnarled and unnatural. The sun, while present, seems to have trouble penetrating cloud and fog, and does not give much light or warmth.

• While the party is taking stock of their situation, Kronkus finds that the long-silent voices have started whispering to him again.

• Sunny reached out to the Triple-Fish God, and found his connection was muted, but there was a new, strong core in that feeling that’s never been there before, almost certainly connected to the Triple-Fish God.

• Moving around, they find a rutted path leading east/west. Westward leads into a thick wall of shifting fog, east has the fog thinning. They head east for a few hours.

Meeting Strahd

• Ahead, the forest slightly parts, and they come to a huge stone wall, with a large metal gate in the middle. Out of the front of it, a pack of wolves are tearing strips off a very dead body.

• Sunny casts Thunderwave above the wolves, in an effort to scare them. They reel back for an instant before they turn to face the party, almost undaunted by the noise. A larger wolf then snarls and pads towards the party, teeth bared.

• As the large wolf lunges to attack, his is called to heel by a voice. A man appears at the top of the wall, who effortlessly walks down the side of the wall as if were normal, flat ground. As he gets to the ground and walks through the wolves, they let him pass. He also passes the large wolf, ruffling its fur.

• Walking up to the party, he introduces himself as Strahd Von Zarovich, ruler of Barovia, and welcomes them to his land. He acknowledges them as the latest batch of adventurers to be brought here, more pawns in the game.

• He looks at each member of the party, including the still hidden Wilfyr, attempting to meet their gaze. Those that do, feel drawn into that gaze, with the world around them starting to spin away. There is only Strahd. Strahd doesn’t hold them in this gaze for long.

• He speaks briefly to each member of the party. His speech infers that he knows each of the party members to some degree, or about their past. Except Sunny. Sunny seems to be the enigma to Strahd.

• He warns the party that they will find no rest or success in his lands, that it obeys his command. He also warns them to not meddle in his affairs, and that if they do not, then their stay won’t be unpleasant.

• With that, he turns and strides away towards the gates, swirling his cloak around him and turns into a cloud of bats that then flies through the bars and off into the air beyond. As Strahd leaves, the wolf pack dissipates,into the forest.

• Inspecting the dead body in the road, they find it horrifically mauled. On closer inspection, they find a crumpled, partially torn Kolyan Indirovich’s Letter that Wilfyr takes.

• The party then pushes open the gates, and walk through. The gates closes and locks behind them. Beyond is more forest.

Finding Shelter

• After a little while, the path comes to the top a rise, giving the party a clear view of a Barovian Basin of sorts. In the far distance can be seen a town. Next to that are some cliffs, with an ominous castle at its heights, overlooking the town. About halfway to this town, there seems to be a small group of houses. Seeing signs of civilisation, the party heads down the path into the valley beyond.

• As they’re walking, they notice that the wall of fog is forming up thicker and thicker behind them. Its almost like its keeping pace with them, slowing down and speeding up when they do. Kronkus & Sunny attempt to interact with the fog and walk back into it.

• They lose all visibility, and cannot hear, touch or see each other. They try to leave the way they came, but cannot get out, only walk into more fog. After 10 minutes, both of them exit the fog from exactly the same place that they entered into it. To the rest of the party, they have been waiting for them for an hour.

• Continuing on, the rutted road finally gives way to gravel and stone, as they draw closer to the hamlet of houses. The houses are dark, boarded up, and there are no signs of life. Except one.

• As the party moves between the buildings, the sound of a child sobbing draws their eyes, and they see a small boy and a slightly older girl walk towards them.

• They are wailing, and after being frightened by Kronkus’ approach (due to his unnatural visage) cry that there is a monster in the house, pointing to the lit up house.

• Most of the party dash into the house, while the kids say that their parents are in there, keeping the monster trapped in the basement. They also say their baby brother is still stuck up in his nursery. Sunny tries to convince the kids to come with the party into the house, but they refuse, growing more and more scared of going back inside the house.

• All but Kronkus move into the foyer finding family portraits across the walls, labelled as the Dursts. Kronkus remains outside to try and convince the children to come with them, but they run off. He turns and joins the party in the house.

• As they all step into a large main room, the sounds of a party can be heard coming from another room, from beyond a nearby door. Arkemon retrieves the longsword from above the mantlepiece, and goes back and retrieves the heraldic shield from the foyer.

• Wilfyr finds a door on the opposite side of the room to where the party noises were coming from, and as he approached, heard the growls of wolves coming from beyond it.

• Arkemon warns against opening that door, and instead opens the door that should lead to the party they can hear. As he opens the door, the sounds stop. There is no people in the room beyond. All the torches, fireplaces and candles in the house go out as the party is plunged into darkness.

• Behind them, the gate and door into the entrance to the house close on their own, and lock. And another wolf growls in the distance.

DATE: 13/04/2021

In-game Date Start:

In-game Date Finish:

Players Present

• Adam (Milo)

• Alex (Arkemon)

• Ben (Elgin)

• Chad (Sunny)

• Russ (Delta)

• Stephen (Wilfyr)

Subbed Characters

• Everyone was present for this session.

Completed Quests

• No completed quests

Obtained Quests

• Leave This Land

Places Experienced

• Gates of Barovia

• Barovian Basin

• Durst Manor

Important NPCs Interacted With

• Strahd Von Zarovich

• Rose Durst

• Thorn Durst

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Memorable Quotes

The best quotes of the Session:

“If you wanna quit while we’re ahead, feel free to do so.” - Rydel

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“The guild will be running, asking for our help after our performance today.” - Korrax

“Unless they’re running after us, of course. We can give you a letter of recommendation if you’d like.” - Sanctuary

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“I’m sorry what happened to you happened, but the rest of us can still do the mission. Please, do not fuck this up for the rest of us.” - Rydel

“Don’t talk to me like you know me.” - Gabrielle

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