Main

“The gods set up their laws and rules, they limited their power because of us. It is us that will save the world. This is no longer a game that they partake in anymore. This is us. This is our purpose, this is our life… Thank you because my vengeance, your destruction, is righteous now.” - Arani

Key Developments and Revelations

• The party makes their last preperations for the Hells

• Maxi teleports them to the wandering Emporium and introduces them to Mahadi

• Interested in our motivations, Mahadi allows an exchange of information and offers to invite Seraphiel into his special place for a conversation in a neutral place

• the party discusses this among themselves before eventually deciding to talk with Seraphiel to find out his and Zariel’s plans for Avernus and take this information to the previous archdevil Bel

• Everyone but Aelthar joins the conversation inside Mahadi’s little hidden place

• Seraphiel loredrops about himself, exposes that he plans to attack the Celestial Planes and the several realms of Gods within before reclaiming his original body

• After the talk, Mahadi offers ‘help’, gives us a letter of introduction for Bel

• The party leaves the Wandering Emporium, heading to where Vangarnoth’s corpse lays to meet Bel

Full Session Notes (Sari)

The party makes their last preparations for the Hells at Maxi’s house. Shortly before they leave, Arani goes to find Maxi, tells her that in case something goes wrong she doesn’t want her siblings to feel sorry for her and leaves a bit of gold on the table. Maxi also gives us new teleportation tablets to her home, before teleporting us into the Hells together.

They arrive close to a small collections of tents and lights, which Maxi points out to be the Wandering Emporium. Arani hesitates, anxious and voicing her concerns when Maxi asks. Their negative feelings intensifying in this environment, the group has a short back and forth with Arani feeling doubt, Alexei being frustrated but they eventually reach the wandering emporium. At the entrance there’s a sign that prohibits any kind of spellcasting and fighting within the area. Mahadi steps out from one of the tents and walks over to the group for an introduction, noticeable about him being the two opposed thumbs of his hands.

Mahadi explains the Wandering Emporium and what it has to offer, among it ‘larva’, unfortunate souls that are used as currency in the Hells. He also invites us to visit his private space called the Infernal Rapture, his little demiplane that allows rest from the Hells where food and drink still taste good.

When they tell Mahadi that they are looking for Seraphiel, he confirms to have heard of him but any further conversation should be had somewhere more private. He invites the party into the Infernal Rapture under the condition to sign a contract before entering through the portal. It states that every fee has to be paid before leaving and that any fighting is prohibited, breaking this contract will end with your soul and body being taken under the service of Mahadi himself. He explains that soulcoins is the only currency allowed in the Infernal Rapture, and with the party only having a singular one, Aelthar hands it to Arani.

Arani asks if information will also cost something but Mahadi offers an exchange of information instead. Food and drinks will still be paid by the soulcoin but as long as we offer answers for his questions as a return for his answers no further charge will be declared. Arani agrees and signs the contract, Alexei does the same but Thalia and Aelthar stay outside, with Thalia enjoying having feeling in her wings for the first time.

Inside the Infernal rapture, Arani, Alexei, Maxi and Mahadi take a seat in one of the nicer tables of the restaurant. Mahadi says that inside they can also finds spa’s, massage parlors and meeting rooms. This demiplane offers a neutral place for meetings among powerful devils.

Mahadi starts asking questions and it becomes very clear that vague answers will be answered the same. So Arani becomes straightforward in her answers and Mahadi gives her the information she’s looking for: Seraphiel has become the right hand man to Zariel, the current archdevil of Avernus. A way to get to Seraphiel would be to barge into the flying fortress of Zariel but Mahadi warns us that this might go bad, or they could have Mahadi arrange a meeting with him in the Infernal Rapture.

Mahadi deals in soul, when a person dies their soul seperate from the physical body and is then forced into a soulcoin.

Mahadi asks after Thalia’s wings and Arani explains that they came with a curse, but doesn’t know if they are something she wants to get rid off. He then asks after Alexei, he sensed something special about her but he couldn’t pinpoint it yet. Alexei says that she is a friend to the Ravenqueen and asks if Mahadi will tell anyone of their conversation. He says that he will tell his ‘patron’.

When asking after their plans, Arani says that the only way they know how to free her mother is to kill Seraphiel and then tells Mahadi about the armor Seraphiel was imprisoned in before. It’s powerful magic that they don’t posess yet and Mahadi says he knows that Bel, the former archdevil of Avernus has created a similiar item before. Bel is to be found in his forge, located within the corpse of Vangarnoth.

Mahadi asks if Arani wants to meet Seraphiel but at first she refuses his offer to invite Seraphiel into the Internal Rapture for a talk. He has a direct connection to Zariel as the Wandering Emporium trades supplies for her war efforts and she abides by the same rules as everyone who steps into the Wandering Emporium.

Demons and Devils have worked together before but when asked if Zariel would agree to hand over Seraphiel to the party, Mahadi says that she has no control over him but instead it might be Seraphiel who has been whispering into her ear. Zariel was put on the throne to continue the Bloodwars, as long as that remains Zariel will remain archdevil. Demons have tried to take over the Hells and the material plane, the devils were the ones stopping them, defining the Bloodwar.

In a first conversation Alexei and Arani agree that they should first try and talk to Bel to gather more information about the seperation of souls and how he imprisoned Seraphiel if it was him. Mahadi warns them that Bel would only talk to them if they have something to offer in return. Talking to Zariel might be impossible, she is zealous and angry, if she doesn’t want to talk to them then she will not. Mahadi then tells them that Bel’s forge lays in one of the eyes of Vangarnoth that turned into a vulcano.

They decide to talk with the rest of the group first for the next steps and, with Arani almost forgetting to pay her fee with the soulcoin, they leave the Infernal Rapture.

In the meantime, Thalia has sat at the table and started to cut her hair due to the heat with a dagger. Arani updates everyone on the information Mahadi has given them, and when Mahadi offers Thalia to help her get rid of her wings, Thalia denies this.

The group brainstorms about what they could offer Bel, which is any kind of information and influence to become archdevil again. Aelthar also agrees to hear what kind of cost Bel’s help would be, so everyone agrees that talking to Bel would be the next step. Maxi speaks up then, saying that meeting Seraphiel before talking to Bel would give them valuable insight about Zariel’s plans. Bel hates Zariel so any information to grant him power over her will be accepted by him.

Arani not able to contain herself any longer bursts out into a loud rant, and Aelthar voices his doubts about Arani being able to control herself when facing Seraphiel in the Infernal Rapture. There’s a few more words exchanged in the group with Arani heated eventually says that she will not let them down and Thalia says that she has faith in her. Aelthar says that he prefers not having more contact with Seraphiel than they need before the final showdown but agrees that talking to Seraphiel is their best bet currently.

Arani then goes to ask Mahadi to arrange a meeting. Holding the small vial of blood from the scab in her hand Arani plays around with the idea of numbing her feelings for the meeting but decides against it. Mahadi sends a message to Zariel to inform Seraphiel about the meeting but she didn’t give them any time estimate.

So while they wait Arani and Thalia go outside of the Wandering Emporium to cast Legendlore on the armor. Thalia sees a Celestial who meets with fiends lead by a pitfiend, surrounded by Fire Helions, time passes and inside a forge the armor of the hidden lord is created, from the perspective of Azgaroth Thalia sees a Battlefield, celestials and fiends cast a spell together to bind Azgaroth. His body is shrunk into a small glass ball and his soul then dragged into the armor of the Hidden Lord. She then sees Arani making the deal with Seraphiel and then being freed by mother and escaping.

They return to the Wandering Emporium and times passes. Mahadi walks back out of the Infernal rapture and informs them that Serpahiel is on his way. This time Thalia also joins inside the Infernal Rapture but Aelthar still refuses to sign his name. Maxi stays with Aelthar to keep him company.

Shortly after Aelthar is the first to see the arrival of Seraphiel with a group of bearded devils lead by horned devils. He greets Aelthar at the table before walking into the Infernal Rapture.

He joins the rest of the group in the meeting room. Mother’s body appears the same, her armor looking more worn and her usual golden eyes red. Arani takes in the sight, forcefully neutral. They greet each other, Seraphiel saying he’s glad that Arani reached out and is still grateful. What he did was neccessary and Arani demands an explanation. He says that they have a lot in common, both wronged by the heavens. He was cast down, beaten and imprisoned for being a supposed threat. She was exiled for doing something that she had no knowledge about, he doesn’t agree with her punishment. He doesn’t have his own body to return to, he needed a Celestial, a solar made his plan easier but that it had to be Luminara was not necessary. Seraphiel then tells Arani about his shared history with Luminara: When he was young, he trained under her, he was the next in line to be the leader of the solars. The heavens deemed his fiendish side to be too strong and thats why they cast him out. Luminara didn’t do anything to prevent this, even though she believed that he was good.

Arani says that he misunderstood mother. There was regret in her voice when she recognized Seraphiel and Serphiel even now is able to feel this. He feels her regret, and her love for Arani.

Seraphiel wants Arani, someone who was wronged like him to find her justice and explains his plans. Seraphiel and Zariel plan to attack the House of the Triads. His true form is held there. The House of Triads also is the place where multiple planes of various gods reside, among them Tyr’s, Helm’s and Ilmater’s.

So he invites Arani to join their battle of vengeance. They plan to take Zariel’s army to the Celestial plane and make them all pay for the wrongs they did to them. with the house of the triads being taken over by them it might provide the hells with enough soldiers to finally win the bloodwar.

The heavens don’t want to get involved with the bloodwar, or with the fight against the abyss, but they could be forced to. He wants Arani by his side and when he reclaims his body, this body will be Mothers again. He offers Arani vengeance, against everyone who have ever angered her, who ever wronged and denied her. She could be good enough.

Arani bursts out in laughter. She says that he has proven their judgement right. He has proven that his fiendish side won, and that he is blind and stupid to not see that she would never follow his footsteps. She would never dissappoint her mother, and the saving of this world is on them.

Seraphiel says he is surprised that she isn’t as gullible anymore, now she has become a thorn in his side that needs to be removed. He warns her that if she tries to stop him he will strike her down, that mother will feel the heat leaving Arani’s body and will witness the torture he promises to put her through before killing her. Arani continues laughing and calls him Brother. The next time they meet he vows to kill her.

Seraphiel leaves with a few more heated words.

Mahadi after witnissing all of this says they should all talk now. Arani updates everyone on the conversation with Seraphiel and his and Zariel’s plan for the Celestial Plane and basically wanting to abandon the Bloodwar to take over the House of Triads. Mahadi says that he is the eyes and ears of Asmodeus in Avernus. Zariel saw those she swore to protect fall to demons one too many times and decided the Bloodwars are not doing enough, she took an army called the Hellriders into the Hells to stop the demons but utterly failed. Zariel was struck down, lost her hand and fell before Asmodeus. He promised her legions of devils to fight the demons in exchange of swearing fealty to him. She agreed and Bel was then moved aside. He now is second in command but his hatred for Zariel is well known.

To take over the House of Triad she will have to leave the Bloodwar. mahadi himself is contractily binded to not move against Zariel but he can point them in the right direction, he then gives them an introduction letter for Bel. They might have him agree to help them stop Zariel and stop Seraphiel.

mahadi also hands over a coin that will show them the way back to the wandering emporium. The party then leaves.

While traveling in the unbearable constant heat, hot winds, they feel the evil weigh on their souls and body and witness some snipets of the bloodwar. They quickly kill every creature going after them thinking them to be an easy meal. With no real sense of a day or night cycle the group rests when they can and continue when they wake up.

During one of the rests Arani asks for Alexei’s thoughts on the conversation with Seraphiel. Alexei says shes proud of her for seeing through Seraphiel’s trickery but she has a hard time caring for the squables of demons, devils and gods. It does affect Arani though so she is here for her in this battle.

Arani admits that she is still unsure about her feelings, it was easy to say that the material plane is not her home, that this doesn’t affect her as intimately but now that the celestial plane is targetted as well, it doesn’t feel much different from how she feels about the material plane. She goes back to what mother had said, that being cast down to the material plane might have been for her to find a purpose there, even though that would mean that they would have to believe in fate. Alexei says that this is not necessary. You could find meaning in a lot of things, some people need the tenents and rules and follow them blindly while others need people they care about, to want to become the best in their craft, something like that. It doesn’t have to be a person or deity, that’s what freedom of will is about. Seraphiel was denied his role and the role he was supposed to take up, so now everything he thinks about is vengeance.

Arani starts to understand that this might have been what mother wanted her to understand; faith in itself, what they make of it, is what matters. Gods may play their games and have their wars but they need the mortals, their holy plans only work because they buy into them. Alexei says that she and the raven queen have a beneficial relationship even if she is frustrated with her sometimes, she never felt treated like an underling. Arani admires Alexei for that, Alexei has always been clear on who she is.

Arani then says that Tyr’s judgement has no place for emotions, like love or empathy. It’s his law and Arani while being on the material plane understood that being mortal is more complex than just laws. Alexei asks if Arani is getting tested and when asked by who, she says by herself. She expects herself to be ready to do everything necessary to save the people that she loves. Alexei then calls her out, Arani is ready to do everything but perservere. She says that Arani is being selfish. This is war, Tharizdun is trying to take over the world, there will be many battles, sometimes they will have to retreat, its not wrong to regroup and live for another day. Arani tries to explain that she does not judge Alexei for leaving Brimstone but she thinks she herself does not have the freedom to leave and retreat from this fight against Seraphiel like Alexei and the others do. She should be ready for this fight, she should be strong enough but Alexei asks her to not throw herself in a suicidal mission where they dont have fate in their favor.

Arani says she still has to be ready to make any sacrifice needed to save mother but Alexei says even mother will not understand or accept Arani’s life being that sacrifice. They discuss this further but eventually, Alexei says that if it ever truly becomes an option they will discuss it again. Bel will give them more information but Alexei still refuses to just allow it, even promises to knock Arani out to prevent her from sacrificing herself.

Arani promises to try and not do something stupid.

On one of the following days Thalia communes, getting in contact with one of Helm’s Vanguards and asks if they are aware that devils of the Bloodwar are attempting to invade the House of Triads which they deny. then about the location of seraphiels original body which they confirm to know about and then about the defenses for the House of Triads which is answered with unclear.

the party reaches the river styx and follows it to vangernoth’s corpse. the landscape becomes even more battle torn the closer they get to Vangernoth. The party arrives at the volcano where Bel’s forge is located.

DATE: 29/10/2024

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

In-game Date Finish: ?

Players Present

• Jeremy (Alexei)

• Oskar (Mika)

• Sari (Arani)

• Sydney (Thalia)

• Trym (Aelthar)

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

• List of NPCs

Wall of Shame

• Trym - 1 min

• Sari - 5 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

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Memorable Quotes

The best quotes of the Session:

“You’re ready to do anything but perservere.” - Alexei to Arani

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“The gods set up their laws and rules, they limited their power because of us. It is us that will save the world. This is no longer a game that they partake in anymore. This is us. This is our purpose, this is our life… Thank you because my vengeance, your destruction, is righteous now.” - Arani

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“You proved them all right! You said they saw the evil in you, that they were convinced that the fiendish side within you would win eventually and now you’re standing here, as the right hand man of Zariel herself with a plan to take over the Celestial Plane. And you still believe you were wronged! Are you really that blind?” - Arani

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“You throw one hell of a tantrum.” - Alexei to Seraphiel

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