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Session 3: The Road Ahead

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“Fellas, I’m sure we can talk this out…” - Aquuni to the 3 guards, immediately before smacking a guys head out with a Nat 20

Key Developments and Revelations

  • The main happenings the party wants to keep tabs on or remember

Full Session Notes

The session starts with the party just recently having left Azamarin with the caravan and starting the approximately three-week journey to Sanctuary.

While traveling Samiris and Ronar would help Brin with finding the most suitable route to take as to avoid any petrols or unwanted attention. After a week or so the party decides to take the caravan up the side of a mountain following a shepherd’s path as to avoid a main checkpoint in Ascill.

While traveling up the mountain Honey and Lavender get sent out to scout in front to see if there were other up there. After some time Honey crashes into a person who turns out to be a shepherd that had lost sight of his flock of sheep. After talking a bit with him Honey and Lavendar decides to help the shepherd. They find the flock of sheep and Honey transforms into a wolf to search the sheep toward the shepherd with help from Lavender they make sure that all the sheep get to the shepherd and don’t just run away.

As thanks for the help, the shepherd was willing to show Lavender and Honey the best way down the mountain that could work for a wagon and was willing to just look past the somewhat strange story they had.

After another week of travel or so the party noticed a campfire a day or two behind them after setting up camp for the night. And after a while realized that they seemed to be following the exact path the caravan had been taking.

The party then had to find out what to make of the situation and what to do. With opinions being split about what to do.

  • just letting them be and increasing the speed of travel as much as possible.

  • checking out what they were doing and who they were by sending a scouting party.

  • taking the two-day travel or so over a small bridge and then destroying it to slow whoever was following them down.

Deciding to just take another day of travel before making a decision. the party continues to discuss what to do during this time end decide on investigating.

leaving brin and the caravan the party goes to investigate and finds the soldiers of a local lord. Deciding to just try and let their horses loose so they cant follow instead of killing them. This did not work being discovered nearly right away leading to a fight. The party kills all but four of the guards. disagreeing on wether to kill them, tie them up or let them go, one of the soldiers were able to grab a sending stone and warn others. Ronar then protected them and lets them leave.

This then led to the party heading back to the caravan and telling everyone to double time it withot raising the alarm too much. Traveling fast they get to the border with Sanctuary within a week. there they notice that they dont have time to wait for help from the other side. Seeing as a small unit of soldiers were heading there way in the distance. leaving the people of the caraven to build rafts from the carriges and get people over the river, the party left to intercept the soldiers. The party sets up an ambussh that work very well and ended up killing all of the soldiers were the only one coming close to death being Samiris. heading back nearly all of the people were over the river and soon the party was as well. Lastly all of the party heard the voice of Turron the leader of Sancuary.

DATE: 30/05/2023

In-game Date Start:

In-game Date Finish:

Players Present

  • Jeremy (Lavender)

  • Kevin (Ronar)

  • Oskar (Samiris)

  • Rasmus (Aquuni)

  • Sari (Glass)

  • Sydney (Honey)

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

  • List of Locations

Important NPCs Interacted With

  • Turron

Wall of Shame

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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:

“Fellas, I’m sure we can talk this out…” - Aquuni to the 3 guards, immediately before smacking a guys head out with a Nat 20

“You know, I was actually bitten during the fight with the wolves…” - Glass

“Ok?” - Ronar

“You’re supposed to say “Where”” - Glass

“…fine. Where?” - Ronar

“No, just a normal wolf!” - Glass

collective groans

“Where I can show Mercy, I will” - Ronar