Main

“I’m coming with you.” - Belaern

“Why? So you can save my ass?” - Cassandra

“Turns out there’s more than just your ass that needs saving.” - Belaern

Key Developments and Revelations

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

Full Session Notes (Bosk)

We start off by all taking a rest. In the early hours of the morning, there’s a commotion right outside of camp. Belaern goes to check, already having woken up. There are two people, one of which Belaern recognizes. One is the messenger Isareth sent out, and another is a guild member. The people arriving now are just a forward troop, and the remaining guild members will be here within 4 hours. Bel notifies Cassandra with a Message cantrip, and sends her to wake the rest, which she does. Matheo shows up at the gate with Cassandra and Belaern, and Cassandra falls asleep. Matheo tries to balance a stick on Cassandra’s head, to which she wakes up, punching the air in reaction. Belaern, with an insight check, realizes that Cassandra likely has nightmares and/or has been attacked in her sleep before. He also sees a scar, going around her arm just above the wrist.

Zara, having gone back to sleep, gets another knock at her tent. Having almost stabbed Cassandra when she came, she now opens the door with her gun, seeing Ardin along with Ravelle. They said they heard that the Silent Wing will be here soon, so Ravelle has decided to leave. She just wanted to say that she realized the mechanism for the things in the ruins - it’s a gateway used for transportation between different places. She says that she will leave through them, and just wanted to say her goodbyes to Zara. Zara gives her Keena to help her with stealthing out of the settlement.

A bit after, the main Silent Wing regiment show up. There’s 20 soldiers, 6 adventurers, and then 4 main people - a female warrior, a male spellcaster, and two elite guards - who head to Ravelle’s lab. Several of the guild assistants at the lab, carrying satchels, try to run upon seeing this, but the Silent Wing spellcaster casts Wall of Force around them. When they realize we try to follow, the woman signals the two main guards to block our path, and they say we shouldn’t interfere, as it’s guild business. Zara decides to head back to the settlement, while the rest stay to see what will happen. After a few minutes, we hear a draconic roar and the building goes up in flames. We all go running towards the building, and once there, we see both the guild personnel heavily wounded. Other than them, no one else was hurt, as everyone else was trapped in the Wall of Force. The guild personnel ask us if we know anything about Ravelle’s business and who might’ve helped her. We say that we were just hired to protect the settlement, and we care more about that job than whatever is happening here. The mage then says that they will now be taking over the ruins, and that they’re off limits. Cassandra then asks to know their names, and introduces herself. They introduce themselves as Orilon and Anvara. Belaern also questions the fact that it’s off limits, as it’s Isareth’s land, and Orilon says that the guild has jurisdiction to limit it, and he could get confirmation from Isareth. Before they leave as well, Belaern challenges them on the rumors about the Silent Wing, and Orilon says he is mistaken, as they are not the Silent Wing. He also “suggests” that Belaern doesn’t speak any such assumptions out loud.

Back at camp, later, a messenger comes to Cassandra, saying that the Naearis Crownlands along with small Kannaeris vessels have attacked Ascil settlements. Alvar’s Gate and Durnspire Watchtower have already been taken, with thousands of Ascilians dead, mostly soldiers, but civilian casualties too. Caerfyrddin is also under siege. Apparently, no formal declaration of war was declared. Zhoron Chaemoira is allegedly already gathering his army to move against the invaders.

The Guild is asking for help protecting the civilians who will be caught in the crossfire. The other adventuring group at our settlement has also already decided to go there. There’s a ship leaving from Viremont in at most 3 days. We all decide to go to Isareth to have a conversation with him. He grants us leave to go, as now the proper building of the settlement, and he was gonna suggest we find something to do anyways. He also asks for blueprints for whatever buildings we want on our land. We then head to Orilon, telling him that we will be leaving soon, if he wants to question us beforehand.

None of us get questioned by Orilon before leaving, but before we head off, we see some new people at the guild grounds, wearing white clothes with red lining. We don’t really investigate further, and head out. It’s an uneventful trip, and after 1.5 days, we arrive in Viremont. We decide that we will travel not as members of the guild, but as civilians. In Viremont, we go about some errands, and Belaern has a little conversation with Cassandra about Ascil being home, where she reveals that she might not be welcome.

We then hear rumors that the invading army in Ascil has won the “Battle of Avend’s Cross,” and that apparently, Ascil was caught unprepared, undermanned. Upon hearing Ascil called this, Cassandra gets angry with the civilian who said this. We also hear that Chaemoira is gathering 3 legions to head south. Matheo tries to talk to Cassandra, but doesn’t really get anywhere, and we decide to just get on the ship. We decide to get off at the easternmost Naearis port, and then move east from there.

We hear a bunch of rumors from a ship - 

• Chaemoira is gathering 30 legions and moving south (1 legion = 5000 men), which is the entire veteran core of the Ascillian army, and more. 

• The Naearis army suffered a defeat next to the wall, on the Rovan Hills. 

• Ascillian airships are gathering and heading south.

• Princess Aurelaine of the Naearis Crownlands led her loyalists and attacked Ascil. Now, Prince Kaedric and King Maerion Draeven are gathering whatever forces they can to assist the princess now it’s gonna be a full scale war.

• The first organized battles between Naearis and Ascil have already happened, but the outcomes are unclear.

• Thaecean Alliance have called their banners, but hasn’t yet declared for anyone

• The Esneyan Triumvirate has called a meeting.

Zara goes to check up on Cass on the last day, about whether we should worry about her or anyone coming after her. Cass reveals that she has a target on her back from the Ascillian side, but then immediately says to Zara that she didn’t hear that from her. Zara answers back that technically, she did, but she won’t tell anyone else. To make them even in sharing vulnerabilities, she reveals how as a kid, her parents were murdered, and she just ran. She doesn’t even remember their faces anymore. Upon hearing this, Cass’ angry facade almost drops, but she basically works herself back up to her anger.

Killian also makes a coin with a symbol on it for everyone - A cat for Zara, flame for Matheo, axe for Cassandra and a symbol of Lathander for Belaern. Matheo suggests he make one with an anvil for himself. On the 6th day, we arrive at the port where we decided to get off, and get ready to head to Ascil.

DATE: 08/07/2025

In-game Date Start: 5th of Hallowtide, 988 A.D

In-game Date Finish: 13th of Hallowtide, 988 A.D

Players Present

• Jeremy (Killian)

• Oskar (Cassandra)

• Rasmus (Belaern)

• Sari (Matheo)

• Sydney (Zara)

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

• Oskar - 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:

“I’m coming with you.” - Belaern
”Why? So you can save my ass?” - Cassandra
”Turns out there’s more than just your ass that needs saving.” - Belaern

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