Main

“Eladrin anatomy is different.” - Alistair, when talking about whether or not he can chug olive oil

Key Developments and Revelations

• We began our travels towards Haverton

• On the 2nd day, we got attacked by goblins

• In Haverton, we met Alesander Valdam, who works for the Aidarns

• We then traveled to the Goblin fort nearby, where we defeated the goblinoids.

Full Session Notes (Written by Rasmus/King)

We start the session of by taking 5 days in Stillmoon to get ready to head to Haverton. This was mostly skipped, other than us renting our horses for the journey.

We leave on the 6th of Midsommer. Throughout the first day or so, nothing really happens. Johan is taught how to properly ride a horse by Rydel and Cain, and he and Sanctuary have a short talk about his background in Loflein, although nothing really is said. Syphax has fully learned to fly, and is now flying around. Over the 5 days of traveling, Rydel is sketching in his journal.

On the second day, the group is ambushed by goblins, bugbears and worgs. We dispose of them rather easily, and capture the last one alive. We try to get information out of him, but he doesn’t give us much, as we find he is put under a spell. The most we learn is that their leader is someone we should be scared of.

We start riding again, and skip to Haverton. Here we meet with Alesander Valdam, who works for the Aidarns. He informs us that Haverton has long been bugged by both a bandit encampment and goblins, but haven’t been able to deal with either, as attacking one would leave the town open to an attack from the other, so he needs us to attack one of the two, while he takes a force to attack the other. Rydel asks which would be the harder one, and the group decides to go after the goblins after learning that they’d be the harder, not wanting more harm than necessary on the townsfolk.

We get some dinner, paid for by Alessander, and then head out towards the goblins fort. It’s about a days travel away. We arrive early-ish the next day, and decide to do some recon, and afterwards decide on our plan. We’ll wait for nightfall, where we’ll split off into 3 separate groups - Syphax and Rydel, Cha’askani, Sanctuary and Johan, and Cain and Alistair. Each group will try to take out one of the 3 towers each without being spotted.

Nightfall comes around, where we set our plan into action. Kani’s group is the least stealthy, so she casts Pass without Trace to get them to the wall, where they dispose of the goblin at the wall, 2 in the tower, and 2 on the wall above the gate. Cain and Alistair teleport up to their tower after a distraction with Major Image of a bear. Here, they dispose of 4 goblins. Rydel and Syphax fly up to their tower, where there is a goblin and a bugbear. They dispose of both.

Then, a guard shift is about to happen, which we didn’t expect, so we do our best to adapt. Kani’s team pretty easily take out their new goblins. Cain and Alistair barely manage due to Cain using his action surge to barely knock the last guy out. Rydel and Syphax kill the new bugbear and goblin that show up, but unfortunately, when dropping the corpse over the railing, it’s spotted by a hobgoblin and bugbear sitting at a table.

Hoping to kill them before they can react, Rydel and Syphax both jump down to try and kill them, but don’t succeed, so combat breaks out. As they agreed, Rydel tries his best to grab attention of all goblins, but sadly not all take the bait, so the other 2 teams get dragged into combat. During it, plenty more goblins, worgs and bugbears pour out of the various doors. The hobgoblin, we find out is a hobgoblin devastator, as he starts off by dropping a lightning bolt at Rydel and Syphax, whcih Rydel dodges with his armor, but Syphax gets hit by, before flying with a Fly spell, and later drops 2 fireballs on Alistair, Cain and Johan. During the fight, Rydel and Syphax fight their side, fighting a lot of goblins and bugbears. It’s a longer fight, but nothing of importance really happens. Cain and Alistair try to hold their tower, with Johan fighting his way up to help. At some point, Alistair drops down a level, and finds himself between 2 bugbears. Cain and Johan try their best to fend off the tower’s goblins and bugbears, but it’s during this time that the 2 fireballs are dropped.

Kani has dropped all the way to the lower level, where she is fighting off the worgs, and is attacked by an Ogre too, stumbling out of one of the ground floor doors. Sanctuary is in the middle of Kani and Cain, Alistair and Johan, sending out heals.

Alistair teleports down to the ground outside fort and starts running, but the bugbears pursue him. Due to the fireballs and continued attack, Johan at some point actually dies, but as a lightning strike hits him, and he is revived with full hit points, courtesy of his dragonmark. He starts fighting with renewed strength, and jumps all the way off the tower to try and help Alistair, although the bugbears just run past him. Cain finishes the last goblins at the tower, and goes to finish off the hobgoblins devastator, but not before the hobgoblin can drop another lightning bolt at Rydel and Syphax. Rydel dodges again thanks to the armor, but Syphax is knocked unconscious. The arrow does make the hobgoblin lose concentration, and he drops from the sky, killing him. After that, Rydel runs to help Syphax, and Cain runs to help Alistair.

Alistair barely manages to get away with his life from the bugbears. One of them is killed, and the other runs into the woods. The ogre and worgs are also killed by Kani, meaning we all (technically) escape with our lives.

Session ends as combat ends.

---

The Copper Covenant decided to take the more dangerous and pressing of the two quests that Aleesander Valdam had to offer. A fort of goblinoids have been plaguing the small town the party just arrived in. Being confident in their fighting capabilities the party decides to single handedly take on the fort themselves.

The operation starts off smoothly with the whole party climbing over the walls and assassinating numerous goblins with ease, after almost dispatching a half dozen regular goblins they are spotted and the battle begins.

Johan, Sanctuary and Cha’askani are grouped together and they bulldoze through several goblins in combat and Cain, Rydel, Syphax and Alistair make their way through their own group of goblins to the hobgoblin wizard who seemed to be the leader of the fort.

A one sided slaughter soon turns into a desperate struggle as there seems to be no end to the goblinoids. The war of attrition and lack of party cohesion soon puts the Copper Covenant on the backfoot.

An ogre slumbering in the depths of the fort is awakened by the conflict and bursts onto the scene, Cha’askani decides to duel the monster one on one.

The hobgoblin wizard sets his sights on Johan and bombards him with fireballs as he’s trying to climb up the ladder. The half orc taking massive damage was a prime target for a particularly tough and weaselly bugbear to get a lucky shot and drive his sword deep into Johan’s chest.

Johan is killed.

The party is in shock (no) as they watch the Artificer’s body fall, embraced by the all consuming maw of death.

Lightning strikes the man from the night sky above, otherworldly energy courses through his veins like a supernatural defibrillator of godlike proportions.

Johan is revived.

With a primal roar from his ancestors on down Johan rips the bugbear asunder with a level of savagery he’s never attained before.

Cain and Rydel manage to kill the wizard and with the death of their leader the party is back on the offensive, Cha’askani managing to defeat the beast and Cain putting down the last of the horde.

The night is quiet and the air is metallic and heavy with the scent of blood.

The Copper Covenant has won.

DATE**: 10/04/2023**

In-game Date Start**:** 1st of Midsommer (01/05/958)

In-game Date Finish**:** 12th of Midsommer (12/05/958)

Players Present

• Jeremy (Alistair)

• King (Johan)

• Rasmus (Rydel)

• Sari (Cha’askani)

• Sydney (Sanctuary)

• Trym (Cain)

Subbed Characters

• X played X / Everyone was present.

Completed Quests

• We dealt with the goblins at the fort

Obtained Quests

• Link to quests picked up this session

Locations Visited

• Haverton

• Goblin Fort

Important NPCs Interacted With

• Alesander Valdam

Wall of Shame

• Sari: 8 min - tummy issues

• Sydney: 1 hour 18 min - passed out last night due to panic attacks

• Kev: 1 min - Connection Issues

• King - Mid Session Nap

,

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:

“Eladrin anatomy is different.” - Alistair, when talking about whether or not he can chug olive oil

---

“Can’t you leave us alone for 5 fucking seconds!” - Cain to the goblins who wouldn’t die

---

---

---