Main

“If there’s any way I can help with Honey, let me know.” - Gabrielle

“Can you bring someone back from the dead?” - Lavender

“I wish I could.” - Gabrielle

Key Developments and Revelations

• Vira tells people about Aleron, and the entire thing with the Dragonmarks

• Ferwin shows up, and Gabrielle tries, unsuccesfully, to convince him to “babysit” the kids. Ferwin ends up throwing a party at the mansion

• The next day, the group travels to Cretara

• After arriving, they talk with the headmaster, who calls in adventuring groups.

• The Crimson Shield and The Brotherhood of the Storm shows up, and are briefed on the situation, and everyone is sent back towards Aethon

• As they leave, the demon incursion begins, with a rift opening at the Guild Headquarters. The Adventurers are sent to a Guild Armory.

• Meanwhile, the Great Nomadic Plains group enters the veil, and after a brief chase by a dragon, they too arrive at the Guild Armory.

• They all discuss what to do, and decide to split up into four groups, who will each go and try to save as many people as they can, and fight back the incursion

  • Meanwhile, Rydel finds Petir while checking the veil, and brings him to the Armory.

• As the four new groups form, Petir goes to fight Nethrak himself.

Full Session Notes (Rasmus)

The session starts off with the group sitting down in the living room couch to talk. Vira decides to tell Gabrielle, Mixy, Malevor and Lavendar about the entire happening in the Spirit Plane with Aleron and Kani, and how Aleron was “collecting” dragonmarks to revive the Dragon of Power. Her reasoning for disclosing this was that we now knew that Nethrak also wanted the Dragon of Power brought to him, and that means that we now know of at least two powerful beings wanting the Dragon of Power. While some members initially don’t see the relevance of this, everyone does agree at the end that it’s something that needs to be looked out for.

Later in the day, Ferwin shows up, following the promise of drinks. As the group is preparing to head to Cretara, they want someone to take care of Lionel and Thena, because they believe things might turn dangerous there. Gabrielle is insistant that Ferwin is the best option for “babysitting” the kids, as Ferwin himself put it, but Ferwin is very clear that this is not something he wants to do. He’s finally free from the entire deal with the Silent Serpents, and now does not want more responsibilities tying him down. Gabrielle tries further, but is shut down again.

Lavendar decides to go upstairs to hear what Lionel and Thena want to do themselves, and Gabrielle soon follows, seeing as he can’t convince Ferwin. Upstairs, they come to the conclusion that Lionel and Thena will be brought along to Cretara. Downstairs, Ferwin suggests that they get some better alcohol, and host a party at the mansion. While some are a little reluctant, it is eventually agreed upon. Ferwin invites a bunch of people he knows, and buys better alcohol, and exotic dancers. He ends up having a blast, while most of the actual group either sit in the corner of stay upstairs with Lionel and Thena.

The next day, the group starts the journey to Cretara. It takes a few days, but they show up and decide to just go to the Guild Headquarters. There, they talk with the front desk and are taken to their first meeting with the headmaster of the guild, along with two mithril adventurers and a platinum. The headmaster asks the group to explain what they saw in the sewers. The group does so, and the headmaster decides to start calling in adventurers. When they would arrive, he said he’d give everyone a briefing of what would happen. Meanwhile, the group would be shown their rooms.

The group does various things, like training or reading various books from the library. The next day, one of the adventuring groups called shows up, and then the next day again, the next group shows - they’re the Crimson Shield and the Brotherhood of the Storm, both teams who some of the group faced in the tournament. Some small catchup is done, and then the next day again, the three groups are called in for a briefing with the headmaster. He tells us that the mission is established as a platinum level threat. They also found very little information about Nethrak, as the documents and other stuff mentioning him is very old. After the briefing, everyone is sent back towards Aethon. When the group steps outside, Mixy senses some vibrations in the ground, and shortly after, the ground bursts upwards in an explosion, creating a rift severing the two sides of the main plaza outside the Guild Headquarters. Mixy and Malevor are both badly hurt, and as Vira tries to fly to the other side of the rift, she is stabbed from below by Nethrak, rising out of the ground. The mithril adventurers run out of the headquarters to deal with the threat, and one of them creates a beacon of light in the sky, telling the group to go there while they hold off the invasion, and we do. It takes them into the center of the city, by a guild armory.

We then switch to the other group, returning from the Great Nomadic Plains just in time to dive in under the veil. As they fly in the sky, Rydel and Sanctuary spot a huge dragon, flying straight towards them. Rydel yells for everyone to go into a dive towards the ground, hoping the shake the dragon before it fully gets to them. They don’t quite manage however, and they start a chase through the streets of the city. Kani summons her echo to attack the dragon, and Sanctuary shoots with her longbow, but Rydel gets snatched off of Syphax by the dragon’s jaws. He manages however to quickly get out again, flying back to Syphax, who with a well placed tail attack sends the dragon tumbling to the ground, letting them escape.

The group then decides to follow the beacon of light, taking them to the guild armory as well. Here, the entire Copper Phoenix gather up, as well as the Brotherhood of the Storm, the Crimson Shield and the platinum guild member. They start thinking of what to do, and one of the thoughts is whether or not the veil is solid. Rydel decides to fly off on Syphax to check it out. While he does that, the groups at the armory talk about what to do. They decide that they should split up into four groups, each going to a side of the city, hopefully rescuing as many civilians as possible, and battling the demon incursion, potentially also fighting the lieutenants of Nethrak. After that, they decide they should converge and go after the portal that opened by the headquarters.

Meanwhile, Rydel makes it to the edge of the veil, where he confirms that it is solid and inescapable. As he is about to leave again, Syphax gets terrified of something, and as Rydel turns around, he is met by an elf. Rydel asks who he is, and the man introduces himself as Petir. They talk, and Petir reveals that he can talk draconic as he calms Syphax. He says that he wants to go help, and flies back to the armory with Rydel.

Back at the armory, everyone starts splitting into their separate groups right as Rydel returns. Some of the people present recognize Petir for someone involved in the events leading to the Merging, but as times are dire, don’t have much time to delve deeper into that matter. As they’re dividing everyone, Petir starts leaving, and Rydel stops him, asking what he’s doing. He says that he’s going to go to the source, and fight Nethrak, on his own. He denies any offers of help, saying they would only get in his way, and after some convincing from the group, Rydel lets him go, and turns back to everyone who by this point is finishing up dividing everyone, and are now ready to head out to hopefully save the city.

The final groups are as follows:

1: Luro, Vira, Caelen, Kaida, Lyria and Aquilon

2: Rydel, Alistair, Kani, Aurelius and Rafiq

3: Gabrielle, Lavendar, Sanctuary, Thena (with Lionel in the Raven’s Slumber), Silvain and Dorian

4: Malevor, Mixy, Voranix, Rhyndor and Korrax

DATE: 17/12/2023

In-game Date Start: 4th of Calor, 959 A.D.

In-game Date Finish: 9th of Calor, 959 A.D.

Players Present

• Jeremy (Lavender/Alistair)

• Oskar (Luro/Myxi)

• Rasmus (Rydel/Malevor)

• Sari (Gabrielle/Kani)

• Sydney (Sanctuary/Vira)

Subbed Characters

• Everyone was present.

Completed Quests

• Convince the Guild Headquarters of the incoming threat

Obtained Quests

• Save Cretara.

• Beat back Nethrak and his forces.

Locations Visited

• Aethon

• Cretara

  • Guild Headquarters

Important NPCs Interacted With

• The Crimson Shield

• The Brotherhood of the Storm

• Petir

• Nethrak

• Guild Headmaster

• Ferwin

• Silvain

• Hadriel

• Nemia

Wall of Shame

• Sari - 3 min

,

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

,

Memorable Quotes

The best quotes of the Session:

“Sorry, it was sarcasm.” - Malevor

---

“If there’s any way I can help with Honey, let me know.” - Gabrielle

“Can you bring someone back from the dead?” - Lavender

“I wish I could.” - Gabrielle

---

“Give him hell.” - Rydel

---

---