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“Do you regret it?” - Arani

“I’m sorry, I di-

No I don’t.

I didn’t mean to.” - Mika

Key Developments and Revelations

• The party heads to the Forge of Eternity

• Mika has a conversation with Moradin, who allows her to enter his trial

• During the trial, Arani gets petriefied, Mika rips off one of her arms to use the stone for her forging

• She successfully completes the trial and gets approved by Moradin

• Everyone but Mika returns to the inn, Arani and Alexei get drunk, Thalia prays, Aelthar keeps to himself

• Thalia grows two broken leathery wings at night, calls Aelthar for help

• Aelthar is about to leave the group in the aftermath of everything

Full Session Notes (Sari)

The morning starts with a discussion among the group about the Forge. Mika is adament that she wants to take the trial and doesn’t seem to care much about how much time they will have to spend in Glitterdeep as long as she gets to finish it.

Arani is a bit reluctant about having to stay longer than a few days but together they head towards the Forge of Eternity. On the way Mika walks into a few smithies to ask about the trial. Most can only tell her that the trial is to forge something but details are unknown to all. Only people chosen by Moradin are allowed to forge within the Forge.

The group walks into the entrance, but only Mika gets to see what comes next. Her vision changes and she walks into hall with huge pillars, beneath her an empty river with cold lava and and anvil at the other end. A tall figure stands in front of her, a 20 ft tall dwarf and Moradin welcomes her into the Forge. He asks he what she came for and as Mika answers he starts drawing runes into the forge which slowly activates the forge itself. He then asks to see what Mika has made before.

Mika gives a few examples but what piqued Moradin’s interest was the work Mika has done together with her Popop for a prosthetic. Moradin summons it into her hand to take a closer look. Moradin approves and takes out a small statue of a dragon made out of special stone that Mika doesn’t recognize. It is thin and delicate, Moradin puts it onto the anvil and shows Mika something of his Runemagic infused into his creations.

Moradin allows her to take the trial, says she will need to forge something for him made only out of materials found in the forge - she cannot use the ones she brought herself. The guardians of the Forge, Vema and Ilgan will be obstacles for her and her friends to overcome.

Mika asks if his status as a god means that he is the best forger out of all the gods and Moradin agrees. Mika then says she will become the best and that someday she will surpass even him. Moradin says that she might.

Mika’s vision changes back to be with the others and Ilgan the dragon statue turned to life opens the gate. Ilgan invites everyone to come onto his back to be taken down into the Forge of Eternity and now everyone is inside the hall that Mika has seen earlier. The trial begins, and Vema, a Medusa and Ilgan the dragon attack.

Arani gets petrified, and Mika sees that the stone she is made out of is the material is the same she saw the dragon statue made out of.

She rips one of Arani’s arms off and starts her work.

The guardians of the forge are defeated and Mika finishes her work. Moradin appears infront of her again, inspecting what she forged.

He congratulates her on her work and says that he saw she will not hesitate before anything to reach her goals. He then walks over to his guardians and heals them. Mika seems fearful of Arani’s reaction and when she heals there is tension among all of the group. Mika installs the prosthetic she had made out of Arani’s stone arm on her, switching personalities to one that has no emotions.

They decide to split up with Mika being the only one to stay behind at the forge because she has some work to do. When the rest leave they are congratulates by Thalina, the High Priestess of Moradin. She then says the King will want to hear about our success.

Arani and Alexei go to the inn and get heavily drunk, Aelthar stays by himself and Thalia goes to pray.

Arani tries to sneak away as they celebrate in the inn and heads back to the forge. Alexei follows her together with Aelthar’s bird.

In the forge a very drunken Arani asks Mika if her sacrifice was enough to gain her forgiveness for what happened in Hidden Hope. Mika explains that none of her personalities ever hated her and they will be able to talk about it when she is done with her work.

Arani sleeps right there in the Forge, Alexei resting there as well but Aelthar’s bird disappears.

Back in the tavern alone, Thalia goes to sleep and dreams. She wakes in pain and feels the bones on her back shifting. Two leathery broken wings erupt from her back. She calls for Aelthar to help who arrives almost half an hour later with a bagpack.

Confused and scared Thalia explains that she was having nightmares for a while now but wasn’t considering it a big deal as when she told Arani she just got told that they might go away with time, but they never did. She asks where Aelthar is going but he just says she should talk to the others. He will let Nocturne stay with her until they are back. He needs some time to think.

DATE: 04/06/2024

In-game Date Start: 10th of Midsommer, 959 A.D.

In-game Date Finish: 11th of Midsommer, 959 A.D.

Players Present

• Jeremy (Alexei)

• Oskar (Mika)

• Sari (Arani)

• Sydney (Thalia)

• Trym (Aelthar)

Subbed Characters

• Jerm and Sari both played Aelthar

• Trym showed up at 22:30

Completed Quests

• Link to completed quests

Obtained Quests

• Link to quests picked up this session

Locations Visited

• List of Locations

Important NPCs Interacted With

• List of NPCs

Wall of Shame

,

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:

“Do you regret it?” - Arani

“I’m sorry, I di-

No I don’t.

I didn’t mean to.” - Mika

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