%% parent:: [[62.02.02 Session Overview]] %% # Session 08: Misty step, misty-eyed > [!INFO]- > date-session:: 2021-08-29 > prev:: [[S07_2021-08-22]] > next:: [[S09_2021-09-05]] > > > campaign-date:: Day 5 > pc:: [[Arvid]], [[Arya Emberlight]], [[Dorian de Lamonia]], [[Rychell Qinrel]], [[Owlaf]] > npc-active:: [[Ireena Kolyana]], [[Henrik van der Voort]], [[Vargas Vallakovich]], [[Izek Strazni]], [[Ludmilla Vilisevic]], [[Gunther Arasek]] > npc-discussed:: [[Ismark Kolyanovich]], [[Strahd von Zarovich]], [[Vasili von Holz]], [[Fiona Wachter]], [[Stella Wachter]], [[Victor Vallakovich]], [[Lord Aslandial Qinrel]], [[Lucian Petrovich]] > location-active:: [[Vallaki]], [[Coffin Maker’s Shop]], [[Arasek Stockyard]], [[Arasek General Goods]], [[Rictavio’s Wagon]], [[Vallaki Burgomaster's Mansion]], [[St. Andral's Church]] > location-discussed:: [[Tower at Lake Baratok]], [[Barovia (village)]], [[St. Andral’s Orphanage]] > monsters-or-creatures:: [[Vampire Spawn]], [[Vampire]] %% Starting notes: - Rychell still is skeptical about Vasili… what if he just works for Strahd, she figures. - She will read Van Richten’s book the first chance she gets. - Why did Ireena leave the church in the first place? What was she doing with Vasili? - Rychell is freaked out about Strahd and Rahadin after talking with Kasimir, but she would go out of her way to not show active fear if threatened. This is entirely just a front, and she will be terrified. Bravado but probably shaking. - Doubly so in a social setting (i.e. if they do go to dinner) - If she ever has a chance to talk to Rahadin (without dying instantly) she would ask “why” and whether or not he had any women in his life he cared for before he betrayed their kind - She is probably more scared of Rahadin than Strahd right now. - Strahd - If consort » She has noticed that women he becomes infatuated with end up dying (Marina, Patrina). Does she know the brides are vampire spawn too? She’s not eager to die either way! - The Baron - The party would notice she acts more like a noble around the Baron. (Prelude to dinner with Strahd.) - She is still interested in the Baron’s library. She is interested Barovian history: dragons, temples — she would specifically be interested in knights because of the wooden figure %% --- ## Session Summary ### TL;DR Unable to enter the coffin maker’s shop without suspicion, the party head to the burgomaster’s mansion to make peace. Ireena and Rychell meet with Baron Vallakovich as nobles, convincing him to aid in the retrieval of the bones of St. Andral so that all will be well in Vallaki. The party is confronted with vampire spawn at the coffin maker’s shop, and are able to subdue them and retrieve the bones of St. Andral. Weary, but hopeful, they head to. the Church of St. Andral, where they are confronted by one of Strahd’s vampiric brides, Ludmilla who threatens the party with death if they don’t hand them over. Rychell narrowly escapes her grasp and repatriates the bones, but Arya isn’t so lucky. Targeted by Ludmilla and the spawn, despite the party’s heroic efforts, she is killed as the vampires escape. ^tldr %% tldr:: Unable to enter the coffin maker’s shop without suspicion, the party head to the burgomaster’s mansion to make peace. Ireena and Rychell meet with Baron Vallakovich as nobles, convincing him to aid in the retrieval of the bones of St. Andral so that all will be well in Vallaki. The party is confronted with vampire spawn at the coffin maker’s shop, and are able to subdue them and retrieve the bones of St. Andral. Weary, but hopeful, they head to. the Church of St. Andral, where they are confronted by one of Strahd’s vampiric brides, Ludmilla who threatens the party with death if they don’t hand them over. Rychell narrowly escapes her grasp and repatriates the bones, but Arya isn’t so lucky. Targeted by Ludmilla and the spawn, despite the party’s heroic efforts, she is killed as the vampires escape. %% ### Detailed Summary The party depart the Town Square and head to the [[Coffin Maker’s Shop]] at [[Arasek Stockyard]], which also is home to [[Arasek General Goods]]. In the middle of the yard they notice a brightly coloured wagon, with a sign proclaiming it to be [[Rictavio]]‘s Carnival of Wonders. As they pass by, something growls loudly from within the wagon. Arvid snarls back, but gets no reaction (at least from whatever is within the wagon, as Dorian stares with some exasperation at Arvid). They briefly investigate to see if there are any windows, but none are apparent. Over the door of Rictavio’s wagon reads a sign “I bring you from shadow into light.” Arvid mentions visiting the [[Tower at Lake Baratok|Tower at Lake Baratok]] again, and Rychell wonders if perhaps they could get a ride there in the wagon if Rictavio is headed that way. The dragonborn asks her if she doesn’t like walking, and she says she doesn’t mind it even though she didn’t come dressed for it, but that it was an option. Arvid asks her if she’d be interested in going on early morning power walks with him, and she steadfastly refuses, preferring her quiet morning hours to herself with her journal or a good book. Arvid asks Dorian if he is interested, but he doesn’t seem to get many takers from the party for morning exercise. They walk over to the coffin maker’s shop and knock at the door. “Get lost.” They hear [[Henrik van der Voort]] snarl through the door. “We’re closed.” The party glance around at each other, and try to engage him in conversation, saying that they are in need of his services as a coffin maker. Van der Voort tells them to slip the measurements under the door and come back later, growing increasingly hostile in his communication. While the party stand and engage with him, Rychell starts checking the sides of the building and notices that all of the windows are boarded up. She comes back and tells them as much, as the party is questioning whether or not to break down the door. Dorian suggests that kind of thing is done under the cover of darkness, while [[Ireena Kolyana|Ireena]] suggests returning with the guards. Since they are unable to make any progress here, Rychell suggests that they should go and smooth things over with the [[Vargas Vallakovich|Baron]]. They agree and begin to walk over there. At the [[Vallaki Burgomaster's Mansion|burgomaster's mansion]], Ireena steps up to the door and knocks, with Rychell standing a respectable step back. The rest of the party stand back further down the steps, taking on the appearance of a noble entourage. A maid opens the door, and Ireena announces herself as the daughter of the Barovian burgomaster, and that she is here to see [[Vargas Vallakovich|Baron Vallakovich]]. The maid welcomes them in, and asks them to wait in a small study that reeks of cigar smoke. The general demeanor of the party has changed, with Rychell and Ireena easing into their positions of nobility. Arya appears to stand more formally, as a consulting cleric of the Morninglord, while Arvid stands behind Ireena, chest out and arms crossed as a bodyguard. Dorian continues to stand against the wall as always, observing. The Baron enters the room with two large mastiff dogs, and his own bodyguard, [[Izek Strazni]], who stands next to the door between Rychell and the baron. Ireena, sitting in an armchair across the room, thanks the Baron for this audience, and tells him that she is visiting in an official capacity. Her father, she tells him, has died, and his brother, [[Ismark Kolyanovich]], has become the new burgomaster of [[Barovia (village)|Barovia]]. The baron extends his well wishes, and then Ireena tells him that there is a second reason for their visit. She tells him that she has heard that [[Vallaki]] is a safe haven from [[Strahd von Zarovich|the Devil]] and that she is seeking shelter. He tells her that not only have the walls of Vallaki not been breached in a century, but that his house is the safest as he considers himself to be Strahd’s biggest enemy. Rychell picks up on this bravado, and compliments the Baron on what the party has seen of Vallaki. She introduces herself as Lady Rychell, and speaks calmly and focused on behalf of the party. She recognizes that they are outsiders and new to Barovia, but that Vallaki is the nicest town that they have experienced. She uses her charm as a noblewoman, continuing complimentary discussions about the people of Vallaki, and expresses great interest in the upcoming Festival of the Burning Sun. She laments that they arrived too late for the Wolf’s Head festival. She steers the conversation towards an apology for having missed their scheduled dinner, expressing her sincere apologies for the rudeness as guests and asks him for forgiveness. He tells her it was quite rude, but this time he will let it pass on the word and recommendation of [[Vasili von Holz|Vasili]], and that they keep company with an esteemed noble like Ireena Kolyana. While Rychell continues to talk for the party, Arya notices that Izek’s attention is solely focused on Ireena. Ireena has noticed this too, and appears to be uncomfortable, and shifting his gaze away from the captain of the guards. Arya makes note of this to alert the others. ^izekireena She continues to implore him with pleasantries about Vallaki and about [[St. Andral's Church]], but notes a concern that they have uncovered that all may not be well. The baron visibly takes interest in this as Rychell explains that they have learned that the bones of St. Andral have been stolen from the church. The baron does not tolerate theft, and asks if they know who is responsible. Rychell explains that they learned it was the coffin maker, [[Henrik van der Voort]], and that the party had already gone over to attempt to reason with the man, but found the doors locked and for van der Voort to be quite hostile towards them. The baron does not stand for such rudeness against nobles and guests, and orders Izek to go investigate and arrest Henrik, if only for malicious unhappiness. Rychell volunteers the party’s services, indicating the strengths of her companions to help in this situation. The baron agrees. ^henrikmaliciousunhappiness Vallakovich then asks the party for a favour, continuing to address Rychell. He tells her that he has suspicions that [[Fiona Wachter|Lady Wachter]] is in league with [[Strahd von Zarovich|the Devil]]. He explains that their children, [[Victor Vallakovich]] and [[Stella Wachter]] had been engaged, but that she was acting against him and the engagement was broken off as Stella was feigning madness. Rychell appears shocked by this, even though Vasili had previously relayed this story. She asks about his son, and the baron tells her that he spends most of his time alone in the attic, working on his magical abilities, though he wishes he had more opportunities for Victor to socialize. Rychell expresses admiration at such skill at magic, and offers that, perhaps, her group could offer an opportunity to engage with his son socially. The baron seems agreeable. ^victorintro The party takes their leave and return to the [[Coffin Maker’s Shop]] with [[Izek Strazni]] and a number of guards. As they walk, Arya and Rychell hang back out of earshot. Arya tells her that she’s wary of Izek, and watched him staring at Ireena the entire time they were at the burgomaster’s mansion. She then compliments Rychell on her performance at the Baron’s, and Rychell is surprised. “You are a really good actor, I almost believed you are a noble.” Arya tells her. Rychell sputters. “Oh, I actually am one. My father is a member of the ruling council at home.” She looks at Arya. “I’m not an actor.” They arrive back at the coffin maker’s shop and stand back as Izek pounds on the door. He demands that Henrik opens up, and Henrik essentially tells him to take a hike. This seems to enrage Izek, who tells him he is being arrested for spreading malicious unhappiness and continues to bang on the door. Henrik opens up, and Izek and the guards enter, and the party watch as Izek forcibly drags out the merchant. Izek tells the party they can go in and search, and that he will conduct the questioning of Henrik. Dorian is the first to enter, sensing strong presences of both evil and good. The party follows him, though Rychell hesitates and remains outside, considering staying to listen into the questioning. She peers into the building, seeing Dorian and Arya disappear through one door, and Arvid through another. Ireena is alone in the entrance workroom, and Rychell decides to stick close to her, still worried about Izek’s attention on the burgomaster’s daughter. In the back room, Dorian and Arya find thirteen coffins, and begin searching inside them for the bones. Their search turns up nothing, as does Arvid’s in a small storage room. Ireena and Rychell finish searching the work room, and the group congregate by last unopened door. Dorian opens it and finds a set of stairs leading to the second story. He leads the party upstairs, and Rychell goes last, protective of Ireena. Dorian turns right at the top of the stairs, and opens the door that leads to a small kitchenette. Everyone files in, and Rychell stands by the door at the top of the stairs. Arya and Arvid continue through a closed door on the other side of the room, finding a simple bedroom. Dorian gets an even stronger sense of good and evil upstairs, but can’t pinpoint from where. Arya and Arvid begin searching the bedroom searching through drawers and the bed. Arya opens the wardrobe, and begins searching through. She happens across a secret compartment, and without thinking, she opens it. She triggers a glyph of warding and an explosion sets off in the room, pushing Arya and Arvid back slightly. Owlaf is hit and instantly blinks out of existence from the blast. Everyone is shocked by the blast, but Rychell hears a noise behind her and screams as a vampire spawn lungs towards her from across the hallway. Rychell stabs at it with her dagger, and then dissolves into a silvery mist, reappearing across the room near the bedroom door. Hearing Rychell scream, Arvid pushes past Arya to grab the bones, and shoves them in his bag, readying for a fight. Both run into the kitchenette as the vampire spawn approaches Dorian, with a second spawn appearing in the door across the hallway. Rychell backs up towards the bedroom door, fearful of the vampire spawn. Ireena stands in the centre of the party, next to the kitchenette window. Both whirl towards the bedroom as a third vampire spawn breaks through the far window and locks eyes with the women. Rychell stands ready with bolts of electricity crackling at her finger tips, focused on the third vampire, as the first two lunge again at Dorian. Arya casts a scorching ray towards the two vampires, burning the first one to a crisp. Downstairs, Izek has raced up the stairs with a guard to see the vampires attacking the party. One of the other guards has hauled Henirk off at Izek’s orders, while the remaining guards continue to try and break into the back door of the coffin maker’s shop. Dorian calls to Izek and tosses him is long sword, which he imbued with magic to make it more effective, as the sound of cracking wood and splinters are heard from across the hall. Izek and the guards go to deal with the new vampire spawn threats. Rychell casts a lightning bolt at the approaching vampire spawn from the bedroom, but is quickly grabbed by him and she screams again as he bites into her neck. She watches helplessly as the window crashes behind Ireena, and a fourth vampire spawn appears, and grabs onto Ireena, pulling her out the window. Dorian channels his divinity and races to the window, grabbing hold of Ireena and pulling her back through the window. As he pulls her to safety, Dorian also grabs Rychell, and is able to wrestle her away from the vampire, getting the two clear of the spawn. The party continue to battle the spawn from the kitchenette, as they hear the thud of guards in the other room. Izek continues to land powerful blows against the vampires on his own. Arya takes on the vampire spawn that had bit Rychell, but finds herself flanked as the spawn that had grabbed Ireena leaps back into the room. Dorian roughly shoves it back out the window, as the one from the bedroom grapples Arya. Without being fully aware of what she’s doing, Rychell focuses on the vampire grabbing onto Arya, and sends a strong psychic blast in his direction. It recoils back and dies from the blast of energy. %%mind sliver%% Arya casts her sacred flame on the one out the window, hitting it. They watch as it drops down, and begins to run. Dorian breaks into a run and heroically dives out the bedroom window, landing beside it. He smites it with a single blow of his silvered sword, killing it instantly. ^dorianJumpsOutWindow Back upstairs, Arvid races into the room where Izek is the only remaining one fighting the vampire. He steps over the guards bodies, and grabs a hold of Izek. “Trust me.” He says, thunder stepping away with Izek, with a large boom shaking the spawn and vampire. Rychell, consciously this time, focuses on the last remaining vampire spawn. She hurls another psychic wave of damage at it, and then retreats into the corner of the kitchenette with Ireena, exhausted and terrified. She listens as Izek hurls a flame at the vampire spawn before Arya finally takes it down. ^emotionExample Dorian returns upstairs and joins Arvid in searching the boxes spread around the room, while Izek talks with the party. He hands Dorian back his sword. Rychell stands in the door way, keeping herself positioned between the captain and Ireena. She asks Izek about the vampire spawn, and if this has happened in the last hundred years. “No. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a vampire in the city walls.” He glares at her. “And if you tell anyone about this, I will hunt you all down. You will deal with me.“ He threatens. Rychell nervously assures him that they will not spread the word about this contained vampire attack. Izek glowers at them all, and then heads downstairs to get more guards to deal with the mess. Through searching the boxes, the party determines that the vampire spawn were hidden inside. Arvid and Dorian ask if they should destroy the boxes, and Rychell consults her book but can’t find anything in the index that would help. Breathing a sigh of relief to be back outside, Arvid leads them across the stockyard, and enters into [[Arasek General Goods]], where he is greeted by [[Gunther Arasek]], the owner. He asks about purchasing more arcane components, wanting to bring back [[Owlaf]]. Outside, Rychell begins to prestidigitate the fresh blood off of her collar from being attacked, and straightening herself out. She offers the same to anyone else in the group, helping to clean up anyone looking worse for wear after the last fight. Arvid steps back out and is disappointed to find that there is still a strong markup for outsiders, and asks Ireena to try as a local. She disappears inside, and after a while reemerges with Arvid’s components. The markup for outsiders in Vallaki isn’t as bad as Barovia, and is only twice the price, instead of a ten-fold markup. The group decide to head directly to the church to restore the bones of St. Andral. They’re weary but have fought hard against the vampire spawn, and have the relic to show for it. As they walk, Rychell chats with Ireena. She asks her why she had gone to the lake with Vasili, and Ireena tells her that she wanted to get to know him. He was a local noble, and she was new in town. Besides, Ireena tells Rychell at they start to approach the church. She had seen Izek before, and felt uncomfortable, so felt better with Vasili away from the captain of the guards. A tall black woman stands on the steps of [[St. Andral's Church]], waiting for the party to arrive. “Good. You’ve finally made it. Now hand over the bones.” She says, reaching her hand out expectantly. The party resists, and Arya calls out that they don’t even know who she is, so why would they give her anything. She stares them down, and then relents to introduce herself. “I am [[Ludmilla Vilisevic]], the bride of [[Strahd von Zarovich]]. Now, hand me the bones, and you will all be allowed to walk away today.” Both Arya and Rychell say “Bride?” at the same time, each surprised by this given his infatuation with Ireena. Arya, considerably bolder and sassier than Rychell, speaks up and questions her about it. “He’s married?! What about his whole… thing… about Ireena?” She asks, incredulously. Ludmilla smiles. “Yes. My husband has many wives.” This revelation surprises the party. ^ludmillaIntroduction Arvid speaks up, favourably about Strahd, telling her that he’s eager to meet the man since he had heard they would be invited to dinner. Meanwhile, sensing that things are about to become heated, Rychell looks across the street to make sure that the orphans are not outside, and not in harms way. The street, luckily, is clear. Ludmilla stands centered in front of the church doors, blocking their way. She asks again for the bones, looking expectantly at the party. Two vampire spawn crawl down either side of the church facade beside her, flanking her. “The bones. Now.” Rychell looks to the group, and sees a look of determination on their faces. Arvid casts chill touch at Ludmilla, and is surprised to see she is resistant to necrotic damage, realizing that she’s a vampire. Stepping out from the party, Rychell centres herself and hurls a bolt of lightning directly at Ludmilla, blasting both her and splintering the doors off their hinges behind her with crackling electricity. Ludmilla looks at Rychell, and shakes her head. “That’s disappointing.” She points at Arvid, sensing that he has the bones, and commands the spawn to get the bones from him. As the party begins to fight with the spawn, Rychell yells to Ireena to get to safety, pointing across the street at the orphanage. “Get inside, and stay safe.“ Ireena goes running across the street, but Ludmilla does not seem interested in Ireena. Instead, she is only focused on Arvid and the bones. Dorian looks at the group, and sees they’re still weary from the last battle. Their best hope of surviving is to get inside the church with the bones to sanctify the building. He yells at them to hurry and get inside as the fight continues. Arvid dashes into the church, pulling the bones from his bag and yelling loudly to get [[Lucian Petrovich|Father Lucian’s]] attention. Rychell takes off in a run towards the church after throwing a fire bolt at the vampire near Arya, and missing. She is enveloped in a cloud of silvery mist as she runs, and misty steps to within the church, turning around to encourage her companions to hurry inside. She hears Ludmilla single out Arya, telling the two vampire spawn to focus on her and take her as a hostage for trade. Arya, having none of that, sacred flames Ludmilla as she dashes into the church, hoping that the vampires are unable to enter. Dorian stands alone at the entrance of the church, deftly moving out of the clawed reach of the vampire spawn while Arvid and Rychell begin frantically searching for an alcove or recess to restore the bones to. Ludmilla screams and climbs down the wall, hurling a magic missile at Arya, and two at Dorian. Arya reaches out and pulls Dorian inside the church, where they take up defensive positions in the hallway. Arya is surprised, and lets out a strong expletive when a vampire spawn stares her down and enters into the building after her. (The party had thought they could not enter the church.) It seeks her out, grappling her and biting into her neck before Dorian is able to hit it away from her. The second spawn enters, still focused on Arya as Ludmilla commanded in desperation to take Arya hostage. It grabs onto her, and pulls her close as it bites into her neck, rendering her unconscious. Arvid, panicking, begins praying to his patron and the Morninglord, asking for guidance. He sets the bones down on the altar, in hopes that maybe that would sanctify the building, but to no avail. Both voices in his mind tell him to hand over the bones to Ludmilla, advising him to stop fighting. As he receives this message, Rychell spots%%nat20%% a place in the floorboards where the bones belong and yells out to Arvid about the location, quickly grabbing the bones from the altar to put them to rest. Arvid begins lifting up the floorboards, revealing the small recess where St. Andral’s bones are intended to lay. Rychell holds the bones close to her and starts walking towards Arvid. She lets out a startled cry as Ludmilla appears beside her, having misty stepped through the fray. Seeing Rychell with the bones, Ludmilla grabs hold of her, dragging Rychell kicking and screaming away from Arvid and the altar. Ludmilla threatens them all with death if they do not hand over the bones, but Rychell still refuses to let go. ^ludmillaTackleRychell Arya sacred flames one of the spawn next to her, but Dorian watches in horror as she is clawed again and falls unconscious again. She is pinned down by the two spawn, and Dorian reaches out and grabs hold of Arya, healing her briefly before the second spawn bites into her neck again. Arya does not lose consciousness again, but looks pale and next to death. As she is dragged backwards, Rychell struggles against Ludmilla and conjures her mage hand to get the bones to safety. Ludmilla quickly delivers a counter spell, knocking the mage hand away into a swirling mist before trying to wrestle the bones away from the small elf. Rychell shuts her eyes and says a few quick words before losing herself again in a silvery mist. Ludmilla is left standing with empty arms as Rychell reappears next to the opening in the floor, and quickly sets the bones inside. She looks up in time to see the vampires recoil. ^hailMary Ludmilla casts a fire bolt at Arya, knocking the half-elf unconscious again, before diving out the church window. She glares at Rychell and Arvid through the broken pane as one of the vampire spawn dives out a window on the other side of the church. Just as Dorian revives Arya again, the remaining vampire spawn begins to drag Arya towards the front door of the church. Dorian slashes at it again, as the vampire spawn pulls her towards the outside. They slash again at Arya with their claws, knocking her out to stop the struggling. Arvid races to the front of the church and breaks the spawn’s grapple, keeping Arya’s unconscious body just inside the threshold of the church. Rychell begins to disappear again into a silvery mist to reach Arya faster, but is surprised to find herself reappear at the altar. She looks over and sees that Ludmilla had cast a counter spell again, sneering from the window. Rychell lets out an angered cry and lets off a fire bolt at the spawn standing at the front door, knocking it back only temporarily. She watches as her friends disappear in a deep fog, and glances back out the window to see that Ludmilla and the other vampire spawn had disappeared. Ludmilla cast a fog cloud centered on the hallway to obscure the fight. Within the fog, Dorian blindly reaches out to where he had last seen Arya, and feels her shoulders. He grabs onto her unconscious body and pulls her backwards and further back into the narrow hall. He stands and throws a javelin towards the entrance, hearing it make contact with the spawn in an angry cry from the unholy creature. Arvid pulls her back further, but keeps her in the hallway, hoping to keep her obscured from the windows. Rychell runs towards the fog and blindly feels her way to Arya, trying and failing to revive her. In the blind panic of the fog, the party has forgotten that the doors to the church were blown apart. The fog clears and they look on in horror as Ludmilla stands on the top step and hurls three magic missiles directly into Arya. Rychell crouches in front of Arya with her back towards the front door, frantically still trying to revive her while holding her hand. Dorian stands next to her, preparing his next attack, as Arvid sees the vampire spawn pick up the javelin that Dorian had previously successfully thrown without time to react. Time seems to stop as the spawn launches the javelin. It sails past Dorian and Rychell, directly hitting and killing Arya. Ludmilla and the vampire spawn recede from view as the party react to the death of their friend in total grief and shock. ^aryaDeath %%Her mouse, Jade, crawls out from under her clothing, and curls up against her face. Rychell will take on Arya’s pet out of guilt and grief.%% [[S07_2021-08-22|← Previous session]] | [[S09_2021-09-05|Next session →]]