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“I have nothing but lost dreams and painful memories.” - Cain

Key Developments and Revelations (Cha’askani Died)

Sanctuary and Alistair meet Henry Hastings, try to get a ticket for the gala
Rydel and Cain fight against the Stalker
Johan and Cha’askani get arrested, the group gets offered cooperation with a mysterious detective
The party has another discussion about their pasts, some things are revealed
Later Kani and Cain have a heart to heart to beatdown
Cha’askani dies in an alley

Full Session Notes (Written by Sari)

Sanctuary and Alistair visit the theatre to watch a play, where they overhear a conversation about the gala taking place. Henry Hasting, one of the nobles of Loflein refuses to give them tickets to the gala, though, so the two of them make their way back to the group.

Rydel, Cain, Cha’askani and Johan were walking on the street when Rydel spots a familiar figure in the crowd and stops. Cha’askani is the only other person who notices the shadowy figure, stepping infront of Rydel and pulling out her swords. Rydel frozen in fear, stammering, watches as the Stalker lifts his hand, points at him and then at the floor.

Cha’askani steps into the crowd to confront the figure, a few people step out of her way while other immediately tackle her to the ground. The Stalker walks away with Rydel and Cain following him. Johan tries to help Kani out but the crowd calls the guards over to arrest the two of them.

Rydel and Cain run after the Stalker, lose him in an alley but when they turn to head back to the main street, Cain spots the Stalker hanging from the rafters. It drops when it looks eyes with Cain and attacks. A fight ensues. To make their way out of the alley, Cain explodes half of a building.

The two of them barely survive as they flee from the alley into a bakery. The Halfling there shelters them reluctantly and gets Healing Potions. They recover as much as possible before making their way back to the inn.

Johan and Cha’askani get arrested and brought into an interrogation room. A mysterious unnamed detective asks a few question, Cha’askani tells him to find Alistair at the Lying Night to confirm their story.

The rest of the group gathers in the inn, Rydel and Cain looking like death. They get patched up a bit more, until there is a knock at the door and the unnamed detective asks them to follow him back to the Watch. As the group talks to the detective, Rydel confesses to everything. Due to the damages, and the arrest the detective says that the possible fee they have to pay would be around 1000-2000gp but offers us to lower that with some jobs for him in the lower levels. He wants us to find information and maybe get into a few scuffles. As soon as another guard joins he stops that conversation, though, and is very clear about not wanting to talk about that in front of the other guard.

The party returns to the inn where Cha’askani confronts the group about keeping secrets from each other and that those secrets bring danger. Rydel, with an empty expression on his face shares his story. The mother of Syphax Nirlila, a dragon that he was bonded with before Syphax got killed by a red dragon, telling Rydel to take the egg of Syphax and flee. He ran to his uncle where the Stalkers found them. Rydel’s uncle bought them some time to flee and dies in that. Rydel ran and never looked back. He didn’t know that they would still come after him.

Alistair shares that he doesn’t know who killed him and why, all he can remember is a man wielding a dark blade. He doesn’t know for how long he’s been dead and how he got brought back.

Sanctuary’s husband from the noble family Siori, might come to look for her, because she ran away from a wedding. She’s worried he might kidnap her.

Kani confronts Cain about who he is and him keeping secrets from the group. Asks why she should trust someone like him to have her back. She gets to the point of confronting him physically with Rydel stepping in between but being pushed aside by Kani. She slams him into the wall and he finally admits that there is nothing for him to return to. There is nothing else to share because he doesn’t have anything else. Kani in turn shares something of her backstory as well: that her wings got taken from her and with it her honor and her place among her people.

When the conversation stops and Johan asks everyone to get some drinks together. Kani opens the door and barely notices the child running away from the door. She charges after him and picks her up on her collar in the middle of the street. The kid only points up and we spot the Rat King sitting on the rafters.

Johan, Alistair and Sanctuary catch up to her, Johan telling Kani to drop the child. Kani in response throws a punch at Johan and returns back to the inn for drinks.

Sanctuary invites the Rat King in for some drinks as well. Inside she asks for some information from him. He tells her that the members of the Siori family present call themselves the ‘Angels’. At that Sanctuary is visibly afraid, leaves the table to join Rydel and Cain at the bar.

Alistair asks the Rat King why he’s sharing all of this information, without looking for compensation. He just wants information and knowledge.

Later on in the night, when the rest of the party turns in for sleep, Kani and Cain remain at the bar. Cain sits down at the bar stool besides Kani and they have a small heart to heart. Cain opens up about his backstory, that he came from nothing and got sent away by his father. He calls the rest of the group ‘special’. With the alcohol in her system and the general frustration Cha’askani taunts Cain. The heart to heart turns into insults, turning into Kani beating Cain into the ground. She’s pulled off of him by Johan’s uncle and sent out of the inn while he helps Cain back to his feet.

Cha’askani leaves. Makes her way into an alley where she slides down to the ground. A stalker emerges from the shadow, Cha’askani attacks and gets immediately defeated and killed.

Rydel who was not asleep but talking to Syphax hears the commotion outside, jumps out of the window and finds Cha’askanis lifeless body in the alley. Dragging her back into the inn, Cain sees what happened and slides to the floor. Rydel screams for help, Sanctuary, Alistair and Johan come down from their bedrooms and see Rydel with Cha’askani in his arms.

Sanctuary tries to revivify her, but she fails. Rydel grabs Cain from the ground asking what he did. Cain is unable to answer.

The group gathers in one of the bedrooms, Rydel lays Cha’askani down on a bed and kneels holding her hand in grief.

DATE: 30/4/2023

In-game Date Start:

In-game Date Finish:

Players Present

Jeremy (Alistair)
King (Johan)
Rasmus (Rydel)
Sari (Cha’askani)
Sydney (Sanctuary)
Trym (Cain)

Subbed Characters

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

Henry Hastings
Mysterious Detective
One of the Stalkers

Wall of Shame

King: 6 min - Headache - Mid Session Nap
Jeremy: 10 min - Work
Trym: 40 min - PC troubles
Sari: 1 hour 30 mins - Train

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:

“I want to know who you are, and what your fucking problem is” - Cha’askani

“Sit down.” - Rydel

“Spit it out or I will pull it out.” -Cha’askani

“I have nothing but lost dreams and painful memories.” - Cain

“There is nothing after me because I have nothing left. I am here because I have nothing” - Cain

“I might’ve run away from a wedding.” - Sanctuary

“Prove me right.” - Cain

“The shadows are a part of me too. You cannot take them from me.” - Cha’askani

“If you have something you know is your own, would you let others take it?” - Cha’askani

“Please. Not you too.” - Rydel, cradling Kani’s lifeless corpse

“You chose to be nothing special. That’s kind of pathetic.” - Cha’askani

“I think you’re just hiding behind your violence because you’re scared.” - Cain

“Why were you sent there?” - Cha’askani

“In the words of my dear, loving father - I was a disappointment.” - Cain

“It’s ugly isn’t it? That violence and rage, it’s so ugly right?
But isn’t it mine?

I’m not interested about being easy on the eyes, digestible, comfortable or soft. I want them to flinch when they see me, I want them to think twice before they reach out to hurt me. I want to be a constant reminder that there is nothing for them to take.” - Cha’askani

“I’m so sorry.” - Sanctuary

“Oh yeah, big strong warrior woman, hitting a mute child.” - Johan

“Don’t hand me your things like you’re gonna sacrifice yourself, you fucking idiot!” - Cain to Rydel after their near-death experience

Session -11