Story Thread

[Aileen]

"Creed, can I talk to you?" I approach the exhausted looking tiefling.

"Of course!" She smiles, and pats the ground beside her. I sit down. "What's up?"

"This may sound weird coming from me, but if someone does something bad, and then ignores it... does that make you bad?"

"If this is about Ireena's hair, that doesn't make you a bad person."

"No, it's not that. I don't feel bad about that at all. There's something that happened back home, and it's bothering me."

"Are you running from something, Zola?" She actually looks excited.

I laugh nervously.

"I guess, yeah. I may have made a big mistake."

Creed perks up. I'm not sure if she's surprised someone like me could be in trouble or she's just really interested in what I may have done. I don't talk to her much, but she did know my cousin and if anyone is going to be non-judgmental, it's her.

"Well now you have to tell me or the curiosity will drive me mad."

"Okay. Just please don't tell Rideyr. I have a feeling what I have to say would ruin our friendship."

"This is getting good! Alright, I will tell no one. Proceed."

I switch to Infernal, and Creed raises her eyebrows that I'm able to speak it so well. I grew up around Tieflings and even did a stint in my aunt Morrigan's circus- languages come easily to me.

"You've been to Waterdeep, I suppose? Do you know the old temple of Lathander? it's not really used much now that the big one was built, doesn't get much sunlight with big buildings around it..." she nods, and I continue. "Anyway, a couple days before I left home, some friends and I were drinking in the back of the temple..."

--- Waterdeep ---

I'm having the time of my life and yet I cant seem to shake the feeling that we're going to get caught. The temple is nestled in a thick enough garden that anyone outside is unlikely to hear us laughing and talking inside, but if anyone sees the candlelight in the windows... I try to take a deep breath and calm myself. Loosen up, Zola, you worry too much.

"ZoZo, try this!" Shelli passes me the rolled up herbs she and Cyrtus have been smoking.

"I don't know, I never have..."

Shelli gives me a look that says if I don't then I'm a pansy. I reluctantly take it, and puff on it.

"That's it? Breathe in harder!" She teases.

I do, and I nearly choke to death. When I'm done coughing, I feel funny. Cyrtus takes it from me, and I go back to my wine.

"Wow, look at this!" Calls Branwyn from the altar.

I go check it out, leaving Cyr and Shelli making out in the back of the altar. Branwyn stands in front of a beautifully painted mural behind the altar, depicting dragons being hunted down by a knight in glowing armour. I start laughing at the knight's face, and that sets her off giggling too. Suddenly there's a creaking sound, and Branwyn freezes mid laughter.

"You heard that?"

"Yes." I whisper, turning towards the entrance door. I see nothing.

There's another creek as the door opens, and we flee for our lives. Branwyn makes it out back quicker than I can get myself off the altar, but in my panic to get away I slam into one of the candelabras. It smashes into the shrouds separating the altar from the back, and almost instantly they go up in flames. I run through, joining my friends as they scramble to grab everything, and then we dash through the back door.

They nearly leave me behind as I struggle to get my numb feeling body over the iron fence in the back garden, but I manage to get over it with only a slight gash on my leg where one of the spikes caught me. We run off into the night, panicked and breathing hard. Nobody stops us, thankfully theres enough drunks out to not draw attention to the four of us, and soon we make it to Shelli's house. I stand on the stoop, catching my breath.

"Zola, I think you might have caught the temple on fire!" Branwyn says panicky, pointing at the serene Waterdhavian skyline, now brimming with smoke.

"No no no!!! It was only a candle or two, it can't be that bad!"

---

After porting back home, avoiding the questioning looks of our guards, I pass out in my own bed. The next morning I'm woken earlier than I wanted to, dad tossing a training sword at me.

"Zola, get up. Time to practice."

I sit up, groaning. Whatever I drank and smoked last night is not agreeing with me.

"Can we do it later? I'm sick."

Dad smirks.

"I think you mean hungover. Not an excuse. Your mom killed a dragon while hungover, you can put in a spar with me. Be in the courtyard in five."

I walk into the courtyard ten minutes later and find dad geared up and ready to go. Reggie, his construct raven, sits on the shoulder of the statue of Commander Ralnor Stormwyk, my late grandfather.

We have a decent spar, dad wins of course, but I got some good blows in. I could have beat him if I didn't feel sick as a dog, and if I could get my mind off setting the temple on fire. We finally stop when dad's sword smacks me right in the cut I got last night and I yell in pain.

"Let me look at it."

"No, it's fine. Just... cut myself shaving."

"Sit." The order is enough that I'm not going to disobey. You don't want to piss off a half orc. Especially my dad.

He lifts my pant leg, revealing a huge bruise and a freshly bleeding cut. It's not overly bad, but it's obvious I'm lying.

"Where were you last night?"

"Waterdeep. Shelli's house."

"So how did you really get this?"

"I got drunk and caught my leg on her gate."

Dad sighs, and does his healing magic on it before helping me up. We go inside for some breakfast, and find mom and Omen in the dining room talking.

"... they think cultists. The whole altar was burnt. Who ever did this, I'm going to find them, and they will regret ever being born. The damage cost alone... ugh!"

Mom looks pissed as she eats her bacon and waffles, her hair a wild mess about her shoulders.

"What happened, mom?" I ask.

"Cultists burnt down half of the old temple of Lathander! Just last night."

"Oh no!" I try to sound genuinely concerned. "I was at Shelli's and thought I smelled smoke, but I didn't think there was a big fire!"

Mom hurriedly gets up after her last bite, and one of the servants clears it away. She kisses dad and then wraps me in her arms, putting her face in my hair.

"You should really wash your hair, sweetie. When did you get home, anyway? That happened around 2 am."

She pulls away and her blue eyes lock on mine, and I feel like she's searching my face for a lie.

"I lost track of time. There was a performance going on and it went late."

"You're lying, I can always tell."

"Okay fine, we were drinking in her yard."

She ruffles my hair with a smile.

"That's my girl! I'll kick your a** later. Off to work- I love you both."

Mom leaves, leaving dad, auntie Omen and I.

"How dead am I?"

"She's going to be distracted with this case for the time being, I think your chances of survival are good." Omen says. "Now if you'll excuse me, my boys are tracking a possible suspect. Idiots left a blood sample right outside the temple!"

My heart plummets inside my chest. That was my blood! I'm the suspect they're looking for! I doubt they can track me here, but I'm going to have to leave. Maybe I'll take my mom's advice and start adventuring. I don't want to be caught... if mom finds out it was me... my whole life will be ruined!

"Hey dad... I think I want to start adventuring."

---
---


"Wow..." Creed's face is unreadable.

"I know. I shouldn't have run, it's all my fault!"

"No, you had legitimate reason to run. But lying about it... you do realize blood can be used for scrying?"

I put my head in my hands.

"I know!" I groan.

"Odds are your aunt knows exactly who she is looking for, and she will probably be waiting for you outside the mists."

"Yes. She would be. She's probably just bidding her time, drinking and watching the road. I'm not worried about being caught, this is punishment enough being in Barovia."

"I don't think you will go to jail. Don't worry about what your aunt has in store for you. It's going to be hard enough knowing her son is dead."

"I have to tell her that, too. She already hates me enough."

"She doesn't hate you."

"Rideyr will. I burnt down a temple to his god. I'm a monster!"

Creed starts laughing, and I feel like an idiot.

"No... he doesn't have to know. It was a dumb mistake, and I think you're more than making up for it now. Besides, there's someone else that was there that could be to blame."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, the person that walked in on you lot was me."

I stare at her, trying to see the lie. She seems pretty sincere, despite the fact she's laughing again.

"You were there?"

"Uh huh. I was... well, I was going home to Gramps, but I had to stop by the old temple to take care of some business and see my hook up. Usually nobody is there, but I heard a bunch of drunk teenagers on my way in. Guess I scared them all off, because I found the altar on fire. Looked like someone tripped over the candelabra."

I put my head in my hands, laughing so hard I start crying. All this time, and it was her fault I got scared... but my fault I just left it. I'm embarrassed at the amount of crying I've been doing lately, but this place has really gotten to me. Barovia sucks.

"Funny, you must have really pissed off the sun god to end up stuck in a land with no sun." Creed says. "I won't tell anyone, a promise is a promise."

I see Steinbjorn looking at us from the river's edge, and he flashes me a smile. I smile back, feeling warm suddenly. When I look back at Creed, she's back to laughing.

"Don't tell me he's on your crush list now, too?"

"What? No!"

"He so is. Flowing blonde hair, muscles for days, healing hands... shall I go on?"

I get up to leave and escape the embarrassment, but Creed grabs my wrist. She shudders.

"You're always so cold! What's the deal with that?"

"Poor circulation?"

"Sure, whatever. Before you go, I've got a question for you. That language you were speaking back in the cave, what was that?"

"Oh! Orcish. My dad's half-orc."

"Oh!" She looks at me quizzically. "Really? That explains the teeth!"

I instinctively reach up and touch the tusklets... they don't even stick out, is it that noticeable now?!

"I meant they looked a little different, not bad!" She says. "I had no idea you were part orc, that's very interesting. So your mom's an elf?"

"Half-elf. I'm a lot of halves making up a whole, I guess."

She's always bringing up my cold skin... I touch my hand as I walk over to Steinbjorn to say hi, and it doesn't feel any different. I have noticed strange things since we were in Death House and I had that weird vision... like going down in that fight with the blights, and coming right back up without healing. Almost as if I shocked myself back to life. And these powers I didn't have before Barovia... firebolts, and shocking with just a touch. I'm happy to have them, its saved my life on countless times- but I don't even know if I'm the same person anymore.

This place has done one good thing for me. I've almost gained a new family. Rideyr cares about me, he has said I'm like a daughter to him. I miss my own father, he taught me to be the warrior that I am, and I don't know if we will ever make it out of this place to see him again. Rideyr looks out for me, and I feel I need to make him proud in return. I want to be kinder, and braver- running from that fight really tore me up inside, leaving my raven friends to die. I hope Creed keeps my secret, I don't know what Rideyr would think if he knew what I did, even if it was an accident. I've got to make it up to his god, to rectify what I did.

~ Zola

[Jeff]

The rhythmic sounds of the meandering river lull me into a lucid state and I lay there with a feeling as if I’m floating...images start to form and dissolve before I can make them out and I start to get frustrated...then an image stays...it’s a beautiful elven woman who is looking down at me and I hear her gentle voice say, “I love you, my son.” I reach out my arms, but they move through the image and I see the face of a human man come into the picture and I hear him say, “ah, a son; I love you my boy.” I hear other voices in the background...children...boys and at least two girls...they are laughing, playing and singing. I try to speak but nothing comes out. I try to reach out again, but the images start to fade and then disappear.

My head is groggy as I slowly come back to consciousness, and I close my eyes and try to go back there but to no avail. I slowly get up and make my way to the river’s edge and splash cold water on my face. I look into the river but it’s moving too quickly to see my reflection. I quickly move to my pack and rummage through to see if I still have my small mirror; after fumbling through my hand grabs it and I take it out and look into it. I haven’t seen what I look like in ages and I’m quiet for a moment as I survey my face, attempting to see any resemblance to the elven woman there. I can’t make it out...maybe a touch around her kind eyes...I don’t know, but I look better than I thought I would—certainly not as old as I feel. My elven features are still distinguishable as are my human ones. My long blonde hair, still damp from the river, hangs down—a bit of silver around the temples...I put down the mirror and try to grasp what I saw.

I saw my mother’s face for the first time ever and heard her voice—a feeling of warmth floods through my entire body...I saw my mother...my mother. I never even knew which parent was elven and which one was human. I try to bring back her face and then that of my father’s, and I can vaguely see them both again. I can hear his deep voice and see his wide smile...I can hear the childrens’ voices...I had brothers and sisters. Tears start to run down my face as I, still kneeling on the river bank, slowly sit back on my legs. My feeling of joy is tempered with sadness and questions race through my mind: what happened to them?...what were their names?...what were they like? What? What? What? I stop and quiet my mind and wonder what it would have been like to grow up with all of them instead of being brought up by a bunch of cold clerics in a stone monastery. I never had a childhood and the singing and laughing of my brothers and sisters causes more tears to fall.

I’m not going to let my sadness ruin this moment—I saw my mother and father and heard my brothers and sisters—this is joyous...a piece of my past has been clarified for me. I look up and see Zola and Creed walking by the river, and I think how fortunate she is to have had so many years with her parents. She speaks so highly of them. I look at the others and wonder about their childhoods and their parents and realize how little I know about them. The thoughts of a family warm my heart, and I drink the cool river water which nourishes me deeply. I unfold my knees and sit back, looking up and wishing I could see the sun. My heart is full as I slowly lie back and stare at the sky wondering what might have been.

[bxtreme]

Journal Entry 20

It's only been a day or so since the death of Poppov. I still feel groggy from time to time, disoriented from everything that has transpired. Yet I somehow feel better...almost normal again. The kind of normal I haven't felt since before the psychic experiments.

After some lengthy debate, we finally chose our next destination. We were in search for the acorn our brew-master friends tasked us to find. We quickly found out we were in well over our heads. We confronted a hag with an animated tree house and a floating giant's skull...something I never thought I'd say before. She was far stronger and more strategic than the night hags we've encountered in the past. There were several attempts to out-wit her, to no avail. Turns out Valkyrie's wings aren't as strong as I thought they were...she wasn't able to carry me while in flight. Maye I need to go on a diet.

We had to retreat - not something we were proud of, but at least we'll live to fight another day. I feel like the Dawn Breakers are in need of some leadership as of late, but I'm in no position to do so. How could I? The team still doesn't fully trust me - it's still brought up from time to time. It's relieving that Ryder still looks out for me, still treats me like before the incident...but the wound is still healing. Maybe we all need to do some trust falls or something...though that could be dangerous for a gnome.

[Stephen]

Well...that was terrifying. Who would of thought that a cottage could come alive and attack? Or that a witch would fly in the upside down skull of a large creature.

We decided to head to Berez to find another magic acorn. Cresting a small hill we get our first view of Berez. A rundown village slowly being swallowed by swamp. Mist and fog begin to cloud our way as we urge the horses deeper into the stinking mire. Mike sends her owl up and gives us a lay of the land. Our attention is immediately drawn to a cottage on a large tree stump. Two cages outside the cage hold dozens of ravens, Zola nearly charges in to free them. Leaving the horses safely tied up behind us we trudge through the muck.

After some discussion Chekasha sneaks her way through the mist and up to the cottage, freeing ravens from a cage. In a great caw-cophony the ravens swirl into the cottage causing a raucous. Seconds later a withered old witch emerges from the cottage, spots us, jumps into a large upside down skull and begins to float away. She speaks to the cottage and it begins to move and pull itself from the swamp. Coming to its full height it resembles a spider as large roots act as legs for its bulbous cottage body. I have seen a lot of weird things in Barovia, but that thing takes the cake.

We explode into action! Spells are cast, Zola and Rideyr charge the cottage. Thinking outside the box I cast water walk on us hoping that there is enough water for us to walk on in this stinking area. It works! We are free to move as if on solid unbroken ground. The fight continues.

My spiritual weapon slams into the cottage with enough force to visibly stun it, as if Freyr herself guided it. The others start attacking the floating skull for the witch is smart and only showing herself when she is ready to attack. And attack she does, a fireball explodes around us with enough energy to vaporize some of the swamp water.

Creed performs magic I am not familiar with and suddenly becomes the target of the witch. The skull tilts over the witch casts something and a powerful bolt of electricity slams into Creed knocking her down. I am relieved to see that she is still breathing and not dying. I split my attention between attacking the cottage and the witch. My spiritual weapon hits the cottage again but isn’t as effective as it was the first time. Valkyrie springs wings and tries to fly Cecil up to the floating skull but alas she is carrying too much and cannot bring Cecil with her. I briefly think about tossing the gnome up toward the skull but picture it ending badly. Besides Cecil is still recovering from the Popav incident better not push him anymore.

A guiding bolt of radiant energy slams into cottage, my aim is true. Zola and Rideyr are hacking away at it but the cottage is huge and doesn’t seem to be dying anytime soon. I ready another guiding bolt and when I see the witch's skull tilt toward us I will release the energy. The skull tilts, I release, it hits, she doesn’t like it and glares at me.

I pray hard for help and feel energy building inside of me. After only a few seconds I release a wave of healing light. It looks like a gleaming transparent bubble extending away from me, as it passes over my friends they look a little better, even Creed coughs and sits up suddenly. Even though we are a powerful group, the witch and her massive cottage are beyond the Dawn Breakers. We watch each other's backs as we slowly retreat. The witch hurls insults at us as we leave the area.

It’s a quiet ride back to the tower of Von Ritchen. We take the rest of the day to bind our wounds and try too plan what to do next. Zola looks absolutely miserable, she thinks our near death experience is her fault as she pushed hard for us to travel to what's left of Berez. The next morning we eat and some of them return to the tower. A little while later Zola proudly presents a suit of armor that is following her around. Very cool this magical construct. Maybe it is a sign of better things to come. Either way we get ourselves and horses ready for the day.

[Jeff]

I see Cecil standing by the river, and I walk over to him saying, “hey my friend—things getting better for you?”

“Definitely improving,” the gnome replies. “I’m concerned that our group needs more direction though.”

“I agree.”

“What would you do now?”

“I’d head to Argynvostholt first to see if, in fact, we could find some allies there. We should could sure use them after the last battle.”

“And then?”

“Then I’d head to Vallaki; I feel that those people need to be freed from the oppression of the Burgomaster and Strazni.”

“But how would we get in?”

“Our best bet would be to let Chekasha sneak in and see if there’s any way the Martikovs could sneak us into the village. Once we’re in we can see if my suspicions are accurate and then formulate a plan and go from there.”

“Hmmmm.”

“And we still have to locate Ismark, Ireena and the children and get them to safety.”

“So much to do” says Cecil deep in thought.

“That there is, my friend. That there is.”

“Well, let’s get going.”

[Aileen]

Soooo we're right by the werewolf cave, we should probably take a quick detour and find our Barovian Crew. Big-and-Dumb is part of the prophecy thing, so we kind of need him, and Ireena is 100% getting kidnapped if Stradhy sees her anywhere. Everything is under a day's ride from where we are so it shouldn't be that big an issue

[dragonforgotten]

We left the next morning. I’m slumped over my horse barley awake. I just want to burry myself in the ground and sleep. I’m glade there’s no sun. The sun would burn my only eye out. Everything sucks today. The trees suck, the fog sucks, I suck. Everything can piss off today. I can barley make out the faces of my companions, the swaying of the horse makes me feel queasy.
The abbot wants Ireena. Why. Why so much damn hassle for one woman. Why can’t he just help me. Why does everything come with a god damn catch. I’m not asking much. We also need a dance instructor. Only five bloody days or he blows up kyrest and us. What the hell mate. Not cool. I anit being no ones dance instructor right now. Not when I’m so dragged down. Now when everything is so f***ing annoying. I want to sleep, my eye burns with sleeplessness.
Chad rides up besides me with a raised eye brow.
“You doing alright. You look alittle...”
“Piss off.”
“Fine then gezz. Sorry I asked.” He trots the horse forward. Suddenly we all stop and i sit up a little straighter. It's them again. Another living scare crow stand in our path with its dead eyes fixed, its stomach filled with dead ravens. Zola loses it and charges it which causes everyone else to charge as Stein stands near me, my eye narrows.
"Its a trap." I say out loud, Stein scoffs.
"Nonsense, their nothing but animated straw. they cant plan." He then charges in as Zola cuts off its head. seven more scarecrow than emerged from the woods. Called it. I try to shoot but my vision is shaky and my arms are heavy. Two blasts sail right over their heads. No good today.
We deal with them quick enough but it doesnt ease the tension. Theres more to come. 
----------

We burn the poor birds and make it to our destination. Its a mess. Swamp there, fog there, crumbling houses ahead. Mikes cute skeley owl found the ravens in a giants massive skull and a house. This requires a delicate hand. Chee does her work as we trench behind in the muk and staganut water. Without my horse every step is torture. the mud drags my feet and slows my movements. This sucks. Stein does something and it gets a lot easier. We start to run as one of the crones cry out and the ravens attack. She runs for the skull and we are all amazed when it floats. With a call her giant house comes alive and starts the attack. She tips the skull to cast a spell and I destroy it before it leaves her hands with a counterspell. She turns her angry gaze upon me. I spit in my hands and rub them together. Let's dance witch.
"Ill crack that skull like an acorn b***." I sling my blasts but I'm sluggish, it flies over and under unless. f***! I punch myself in the head. Wake up!
"Creed! Blast the house!" Stein yells at me.
"No! The witch is still alive." I atleast know a crone can die. She tips the skull again and begins casting. Bring it.
A fireball drops on us all but the fire licks around me. Just like always the fire simply stings and itch as it lasp at my dark skin, annoying.
“Yes! It’s was getting cold wasnt it!!” I scream at her mockingly as I pat out the fire on my coat. Stand my ground, fingers cracking as I ready to blast. The witch needs to go. The house is scary. Very scary. But witches are more scary. Grandpa always tells me with a spell caster, aim for the head. Crush them with raw might and tatic. Don’t let them have the first shot. But I’m me. I’ve never lost a fight, and I always catch my quarry. Val suddenly sprouts wings and tries to pick up Cecil only to give up and cast a fireball. No wonder i didnt like her when we first met. Shes cool now. She flys back again through my silence spell as I spit at the ground in displeasure as the giant skull tips forward revealing her ugly mug.
“Is that the best you got?” She cackles. I crack my neck feeling bored and miffed. If she wasn’t a moving blob to my tired eyes this would be over soon. I could crack that skull like a walnut, kill her, save the sweet birds and go to bed.
“Try me.”
She then points a crooked finger in my direction
A maniacal grin spread on my face as i rooster my head to the side. Oh, what’s she going to do? Another fireball? A ray beam?
“You are a pest. Be gone.” Suddenly I’m wracked with agonizing pain. I fall to my knees choking in the pain as blood tears run from my eyes. The darkness is closing in but despite the pain, despite the weakness Im pushed by hatred. I am Creed, I will not be defeated like this. I stagger to me feet and I dig deep inside myself, dragging out the fiendish blood of asemodius and scream the rage and pain as she’s is consumed by fire. I scream and scream and scream, then nothing.
--------

I feel like I’m slipping into darkness, slowly beginning to fall part suddenly I notice hands. Many hands, green glowing hands. They grasp onto me. Men and women of various ages, all dressed in finery. Then I see them. Mama and papa. They claw at my arms and they stare at me with wild eyes. They reach their hand for my eye patch, they all do.
“You are not allowed to die here yet.”
-------

I gasp awake coughing weakly. I’m face first in the mud. I catch Steins arm movements and his last matter of prayer. Did he just save me from death? Why? First curing my cough? Now pulling me out of deaths embrace...
"She's too strong! Fall back!" Ryder calls. Mike and I begin to hobble to the horses. We both mount our horses as i grab the reins of steins and Zola. I charge back towards the house with its failing limbs, dodging spells from the air. I grab Cecil from the ground and send the horses galloping towards the two as they swing into the saddle. We ride out, still alive but i lost. It fills me with fiendish anger but also excitement. Finally a spellcaster i can play with. I can feel a crazed smirk pull at the corner of my lips hidden under the trench coat folds and comfy scraf.
As we drop to a trot my eye starts to droop and i start slumping in my saddle, the rein's falling out of my hands just as Chad catches them.
"Get some rest. You look like s***."
"Thanks.." I hiss, getting comfy, still feeling the painful stinging in my bones. I shouldn't have survived that.
---------

Moral is down. Im just the same. Win, lose, it happens. We made it back to the tower alive. Im sitting by the river contemplating my near death when Zola stands near me looking even more tired and sad then anyone. I come here to think but Zola can sit. She starts unloading on me in infernal. How she accidentally set the old lathanders church on fire and ran off. thats so much like teenagers. Smoking firegrass in condemde buildings, sucking faces, sticking their noses were they don't belong... Ive known about it for a bit of time. Hard to forget a face. I saw them running. I was with company, trying to convince him. I haven't seen gramps in ages but theres been too many prying eyes towards his location. They were getting too close. I just dumped a body when i heard brats. I was just going to scare them, scare them really bad. Make sure they never come back here again but did'nt have to. Just the creaky floorboards did the trick. Did'nt realize they set the damn place on bloody fire! Its only when the smoke started sinking to the basement did i realize how deep in the s*** I was. Took a lot out of both me and gramps power just to keep the place from burning down. It was close. I'm not going to tell her but the fire was pretty bad. The city should have destoryed this place while they had the chance. The flames were starting to climb to the nearby apartments and destoryed sections of the catacombs.
I guess i owe her big time though. Her blunder bought grandpa time. Valuable time to move the demiplane. Her and her drunken stupid friends convinced him that the neighborhood was'nt safe and quiet anymore. Ive been trying to get him to move for bloody years! He's always been stubborn to change.
If she ever gets this low again maybe I'll tell her. leaving out one or two details.
Anyway theres a lavander scented skull in this tower that i have some questions for. Time to invade Van Richens secretes

-Creed

[Jeff]

Our situation isn’t getting any easier as we make our way through the castle at Argynvosholt—the place we’ve been told holds enemies of Strahd. Four revenant knights, maybe even paladins, came at us and a long, challenging fight ensued. We fought well together and vanquished them after the protracted struggle. They had been at an altar to the Morninglord, and my initial reaction was to speak with them, but I never got the chance as they attacked with much malice. This makes me question if Esmeralda was telling the truth, but why would she lie? I put that thought out of mind and continue to move on with the group.

This place is dilapidated, and I wonder what happened here. It would make sense that Strahd would try to wipe out all vestiges of hope in the people and destroying anything to do with the Morninglord would certainly work towards that end as would destroying the winery. New growth is hopeful, like the spring and the sun, but Strahd inhibits all of that and keeps the people in this gray state. This only bolsters my feelings that we are doing the right thing, and his tyranny over these people must be stopped. We’re not strong enough to face him yet, but if we keep fighting strategically and keep looking out for each other, we will be.

Fighting strategically is the key to staying alive long enough to destroy Strahd. We have to use our judgment and follow our gut reaction when going into battle. We did this when we didn’t engage with the ethereal guardians in the tower. They were in a defensive posture and may be guarding something of value, but we can always come back and face them if we need to, but only after gaining intelligence necessary to assess our situation. If we are going on the belief that there are potential allies here, and I’m still of that mind, then further exploration and reconnaissance may lead us to them, and they’ll call off any of the beings that have accosted us. This may not happen, but it’s worth a shot. Blindly attacking, as some in our group would advocate, is not a sound strategy in this instance. We must be prudent and stick to our mission which is to free the people of Barovia. I know, and I understand that others are interested in finding treasure, but that should be an ancillary part of our mission. I realize I have a bias here, because I’m not interested in gold or jewels, although I am interested in finding items that may help us on our quest, like the sun sword, which we need to get back, and Khazan the animated armor that Zola found and now controls—which has been extremely helpful as we work our way through these ruins. We need to continue to work to come together in unity and purpose to achieve our mission, and I feel that we will.

[Chris]

The Ruins of berez
Approaching the Ruins
Marsh Scarecrows
Abandoned Cottages
Mansion
Garden
Goat Pen
Hut
Giant Skull
Churchyard
Standing Stones
Creeping Hut
Tactical Retreat
Scarecrow attack
Van Richten's Tower
Khazan the animated armor
Argynvostholt
Dragon Statue
Main Entrance
Dragon Foyer
Spiders' Ballroom
Den
Parlor
Iron Gate
Servants' Quarters
Kitchen
Wine Storage
Dining Hall
Chapel of Morning
Chapel Staircases
Balconies
Beacon Turrets
Beacon, Upper Landing
Chapel Balcony
South Alcove
North Alcove
Bathroom
Storage Room collapses
Balconies
Special Delivery



Time at end of session: Day 13, 13:55:0pm, Year 735?
at the statue outside Argynvostholt as Steinbjorn is attacked by swarms of bats issuing from his own coffin?

MVP Steve Penna as Steinbjorn Rexxor Grimarsson

our plays on RPG Geek rpggeek.com/plays/thing/192136?userid=1168080

[Aileen]

We were all set to head out, when I realize the horses are no longer where we left them last night. I fed them myself, I remember they were all there before we went to sleep!

"Rideyr, the horses are gone!" I pant, running back to the group still gathered by the tower.

Great, another thing that's my fault! Maybe if I had brought them breakfast before the raven funeral... but wouldn't we have heard them take off?

"What way did they go?" He asks.

Rideyr helps me follow the tracks, but they lead off the island and then disappear. There's no use looking, they could be anywhere!

"Hopefully they went back to Vallaki," Rideyr says. "That's home for them, and they're smart animals."

I try my hardest not to cry, but this is just another low blow on top of the past few horrible days. I don't know how much more I can take. It all catches up to me as I see the rest of the party standing around looking annoyed, and I break down. I really, really got attached to my horse, and they all left us! Now we have to walk everywhere, and what if they get eaten?! Rideyr wraps me in a hug, and I cry into his cloak until he pulls me away. I try to be an adult, and prove I'm a leader and a warrior, but the truth is I'm homesick and just seem to be losing the things and people I care about left and right.

"This is just a setback, Zola. We are going to be fine. We're going to walk back to the group, and make a plan for our next move. You're going to tell them where we're going."

"But where are we going?" I sniffle, wiping away the tears.

"What do you think the most important next step is?"

I think for a moment, trying to push away the sad thoughts. They're clouding my brain, taking up space with their useless negative energy. That's exactly what Strahd wants, isn't it? Distracted minds and broken spirits.

"Ireena and the others. We need to check the cave."

"Very good. Now put yourself back together, and let them know." He claps me on the shoulder with a smile, and I return it.

We all make our way through the woods on foot, looking for any tracks of the Barovian Crew. Khazan, my metal friend, marches next to me as we bushwhack through. It's not long before we come to the cave, and find tracks. Unfortunately they are not in the cave, and the tracks are lost in the rocky terrace. It looks like they headed off to drop the kids off afterall. I really hope we run into them again, and soon.

Giving up on them, for now, we head out for Argynvostholt. It's not difficult to find considering we accidentally came across it when we were heading to the vineyard for the first time. As we walk, Cecil comes up to me.

"Zola, question for you."

"Yes?" This has to be good. I love Cecil and I's conversations.

"You told Creed to ask the Lavender Head about wereravens. What's that all about."

I feel dizzy all of a sudden, I don't do well lying and I know I have to now. I was hoping nobody would question it. I only told Rideyr and Steinbjorn, and I wanted to keep it that way. I respect the Martikovs' secret more than anything.

"I was just curious. Van Richten said something about them to me."

"So are wereravens a thing?"

"I guess so."

He doesn't press any further, and I breathe a sigh of relief when he moves on to talk to Chad up ahead. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this secret, and wonder if I should just tell everyone.

As we approach Argynvostholt, we see the great big dragon statue, and head straight for it. It's mossy and old, but we can tell it's a silver dragon. We walk up to the mansion and I join Steiny at the door. We each grab one of the dragon shaped knockers. Nobody answers the banging, so we just walk in. As we open the doors of the mansion, a blast of cold air issues from the stone dragon's mouth. It doesn't hurt us, but it's a cool effect.

The entrance hall must have been beautiful at one time, but now it's a ransacked and decaying mess. A tapestry of a nobleman in silver armor still hangs, probably the benefactor of this house. There are three alabaster busts of handsome men, and another one shattered on the ground. A great shadow swoops overhead, issuing a hissing sound, and then disappears. Chad announces that we are here and looking for enemies of Strahd, to no avail. This place seems dead.

Steinbjorn opens the first door we come to. I stand in the doorway with him and look in. Broken chandeliers all over the ground, webs... and giant spiders. So many of them that we back up and shut the door again.

"That's a no-go." Stein says, and moves on to the next door.

This next room is ransacked, and in the corner is a sarcophagus. Everyone perks up, interested to see what's in it but also afraid to open it.

"I have my new friend here, I can send him in!" I say.

"Perfect! Send Armor Schwarzenneger in!" Cecil says.

"Khazan, open the sarcophagus. Gently." I add.

My armor friend walks in, and slowly starts opening the sarcophagus. Too slowly.

"A little faster!"

It opens, and-

Nothing pops out. It's a converted wine cabinet, and sadly devoid of the sweet nectar of the gods. We move on, and Val and Cecil open up another door, opening into a room with more scattered broken furniture, and a mural of metallic dragons and colored birds. My parents told me stories of meeting the Council of Metallic Dragons back during the war. I mean, technically I was there too, mom just didn't know I existed yet. They said their friend Elia was one, and I remember she gave me a stuffed Silver dragon when I was little... but how can a person be a dragon? Then again, people here can be ravens. I wonder if there's a metallic dragon in Barovia that can join our fight? Uncle Grahz would be so thrilled to hear if I found one!

Homesick, again. I shake my head and move on. After checking a few more uninteresting doors, we come to a storage room full of wine barrels. I walk in behind Khazan, excited to see if maybe there is liquid gold, when a voice calls out from in the room!

"Are you alive?" It asks. I freeze dead in my tracks, tensing up.

"Yeah?"

"Are any of you healers?"

"Yeah." I reply, moving in further, until I can see a Dusk elf sitting up against the wall, badly injured.

Steinbjorn rushes in, and gets to work no questions asked. I so admire his willingness to help anyone, and I wish I could heal people like he does. But I hurt things, I can't help them.

The dusk elf's name is Savid. He hears the group talking about Madame Eva as Steiny and Val do their magic.

"You have spoken to Madame Eva? She is very wise."

Well that's good that others agree. He then tells us about the history of this place. It was the home base of the Order of the Silver Dragon, and there was once a silver dragon here named Argynvost. They were fighting against Strahd, but obviously were not successful. This is what remains of them, and the mansion is clearly haunted by the ghost of the dragon. Probably what we saw when we came in.

"So what are you doing here?" Chad asks him.

"I was wounded while looking for Arabelle. You wouldn't know her."

"We know her!" I exclaim. "I pulled her out of a lake!"

The elf looks taken aback.

"Then she is safe?"

"Yes, she was returned to her father." Rideyr says.

As the elf continues his tale and the history of this place, I go pry open a barrel of the Champagne Du Le Stomp. Sadly, the barrel is devoid of liquid and smells like vinegar. Heartbreaking!

"Hey, do you know a way into Vallaki that doesn't involve going through the gate?" I ask Savid.

"No. We are not welcome in Vallaki."

"Us neither." I frown.

The elf leaves, heading back home now that he knows Arabelle is alright. We explore further in the mansion. Khazan opens a door into a kitchen, and we see a pot moving. I tell Khazan to lift it, and a bat flies out squeaking and goes over our heads. Creed tries to blast it but can't get it, and huffs angrily. We were told bats are the servants of Strahd, so hopefully this wasn't a spy.

Further in the house after more rooms of ransacked furniture and less and less hope of restoring this place to its former glory, we find a huge room with a big and once gorgeous table, with dragons for legs and dragon wing chairs. A chandelier hangs overhead, glowing white, and there's glass with panels of dragons in the windows. This must have been the great hall. Too bad there's rainwater pouring in and dripping all over the statues of knights.

Beyond it is double doors leading into a chapel, and we head there. Khazan goes in first, and then Stein, Rideyr, Val and I walk in, splitting ways. Khazan I send up the middle through the pillars, and I go off to the left with Steinbjorn. Ahead is an altar, and four men in tattered chainmail kneel facing it. As we enter, they all stand up as one, and turn to us. They're extremely fast, and in a matter of seconds they draw swords and charge us. Two come to Steinbjorn and I, and I find myself backed into a corner.

Now that there is one up in my face I can see it's not a normal man, but very pale and undead looking. Their eyes burn with hatred, and they grip longswords in two hands.

"Steiny, what are they?!"

"I don't know. Watch out!"

The one on me swings, and I deftly dodge out of the way. I see two more on the other side going after Val and Rideyr, and Khazan standing in the middle waiting for commands.

"Khazan, help Rideyr!"

My construct goes to Rideyr, and looks confused.

"Khazan, fight for Rideyr!" I guess I need to be more specific with him.

I start hitting the one on me with strike after strike, some missing, but I definitely do some damage. And then it starts healing right before my eyes. It gets me once with its sword, but I don't let the pain take me out of focus. These things mean business and this is going to be a fight to the death. Steiny and Val have spirit guardians going, which helps a lot, and everyone is working overtime battling with everything we've got. My arms are getting tired, and I don't know how many more hits I can block before I finally give up. I try some magic on the one going for Steiny, hoping I can draw them to me, but they really just want him dead.

Stein is getting pummeled, and the amount of blood coming out of him is making me lose hope. He keeps healing himself, but eventually he drops unconscious at my feet.

"Steiny, no!" I scream.

"Hold on, I'm coming for him!" I hear Chad yell.

The one that took Stein down runs away, and I hear Creed blasting the one on me and then that one. Mine joins his friend, and I pursue. Khazan I keep sending wherever the enemies go, and he is doing a fairly good job. I join Creed at the stairs, and she is laughing her a** off with a dead guy at her feet.

"He fell down the stairs trying to get to me and killed himself!" She gasps, a tear running from the eye not covered with an eyepatch. "That was too good!"

The other guy turns around and I swing at him. He really didn't like that. Suddenly I'm nearly driven to my knees as the sword hits me, cutting into my shoulder. I scream in anger and pain, bringing my axe down in a devastating blow. It crumples at my feet.

"Don't worry, Zola. Scars are sexy." Stein calls to me, limping over. I grin and blush, overjoyed to see him back on his feet.

The others seem relatively okay after some healing, especially poor Val who got knocked out of the air. Khazan did as I told and protected Rideyr as best he could, but I can tell the paladin got a hell of a beatdown. We rest in the chapel, and Rideyr tells us that these are revenant knights, and their sole purpose is to seek revenge. They will stay dead for a day, and then will rise up again or find new bodies to continue their work. Everyone seems a little worried about that, but I personally have no plans of staying here that long.

Ironically, this chapel is devoted to the Morninglord. Creed catches my eye as we look around and smirks, so I go stand by her.

"No open flames, Zola." She laughs.

"Don't worry. I won't trip on anything."

After a rest, we head out to explore the place further. Upstairs is a throne, which Steinbjorn immediately sits on. Nothing special about it, unfortunately. We decide to take the stairs up from this room, and head up in single file. Khazan takes the lead, followed by me telling him what to do. We climb much higher than expected, and I wonder if the stairs are ever going to end. In front of Khazan appears a strange glowing, and I call back to the crew to warn them.

"There's a weird glowing light, should I keep going?"

"Send Khazan, don't go with him." Rideyr instructs me.

I send Khazan forward, and wait. And then I see them- two ethereal, translucent warriors, one with a sword and one with a bow. One hits Khazan with its sword, and the other shoots an arrow at him, just barely missing.

"Are you enemies of Strahd?" I call. They turn to me, going in for the attack, and I throw myself backward into Rideyr with a scream.

"Everyone go back!" Rideyr calls to the group. He pulls me with him as he runs, and I order Khazan to follow.

We get back downstairs, and in a moment of stupidity and feeling the need to know what was up there, I turn back. I'm already halfway up before I hear my name being called, and I keep going. I get to the top of the tower and walk out where the spectral warriors still are. I put my hands up in a sign of peace, but they draw swords and attack. I bolt, running down the stairs two at a time. Rideyr intercepts me near the bottom, and we go back to the group.

"There's a room up there," I pant, hands on my knees. "Too small to fight in. But they're definitely not following."

I get admonished for running back there, but I'm young and quick- I wasn't worried about getting killed, I knew I could gather intel and get back to the group. They may have been ghostly, but they damaged Khazan.

"I think it's best we leave them alone." Rideyr advises, and we agree.

Backtracking to the second floor doors, we come out into an interesting floor plan. There are two curtained off alcoves and a few hallways that go back into the rest of the mansion. I send Khazan to check alcove number one. He pulls back the curtain, and there is a black cloth covering something on a white marble pedestal. I move in behind Khazan.

"Khazan, pull the cloth!"

He does so, and I shriek as I'm suddenly staring into the glassy dead eyes of Mike. Her severed head is sitting on the pedestal. Looking behind me, I see Mike with her head firmly attached.

"Mike, it's your head!"

"What?" She scoffs, moving forward.

"Oh... wow." She pales.

"Khazan, pick it up!"

He does, but the entire pedestal moves with it. Mike waves Cheeks over to look at it too.

"I mean, your hair looks good on both you and that head." I say.

We close that alcove, ignoring the weird illusory head, and Khazan opens the next one. It looks empty, and upon further inspection I find nothing in it. As I walk out behind Khazan, there's a shushing noise behind me. I turn, and the curtain has closed on it's own accord. This place is definitely haunted!

We find a bathroom with a painting of a mountain scape, and then a room with rainwater running from the ceiling into a pool. Khazan goes in, and I'm just about to step in when the floor gives way, and Khazan plummets to the floor below. I almost lose my balance and fall behind him, but Steinbjorn's arm snakes out and pulls me back just in time.

"You saved me, Steiny!" I kiss him on the cheek, and go back to the edge before he can react.

Khazan is laying on the big fancy table down below, and it's broken under him.

"Khazan, get back up here!"

He stands on the table and starts jumping.

"No, Khazan- come up like a normal person."

He just stands there.

"The stairs!" I sigh.

He comes back up a minute later, and we move on. As we are walking by some more busts of handsome knights, we hear something out front. Running to the windows at the front of the mansion, we all look out and see a cart pulled by a drafthorse. There's something in the back of the cart, but it's hard to figure out what it is. The Vistani driver hops out, walks over to the dragon statue, and pisses on it. Most of us start laughing at the absurdity, but we decide its best to go check what's in the cart when the Vistana rides off on the horse, leaving it behind.

We head outside and look in the cart. Inside is a really nice looking coffin. On it in finely chiseled letters is a name.

STEINBJORN

The big blonde Cleric grabs the lid, pulling it open with a look of confused amusement on his face. Suddenly a huge swarm of bats flies out, shrieking and flapping around him. I can barely see him through the bats. We spring into action- we've got to save him from these creatures so this coffin doesn't end being put to use. Someone is clearly sending us a warning.

~ Zola

[Jeff]

I can see Trynn’s beautiful, elven face, her long, silver hair hanging down, her sky blue eyes looking into mine. She reaches for my hand, and I’m woken up by a weight on my chest. I quickly open my eyes and see a three foot gnome standing on my chest.

“Hey Rideyr, it’s about time you woke up,” Cecil calmly comments.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I complain as I roll over on my side, the gnome, undeterred, deftly rolls with it, sits on my side and crosses his legs.

“I’ve been doing some thinking—“ he starts to pontiicate as I cut him off.

“Go away you little—“

“I think you’re gonna wanna hear this—“

“Oh, you do?”

Ignoring my sarcasm, the gnome continues, “what do you think, if when we get outta here, we get Zola and start a concern that—“

“I’m pretty concerned about you right now,” I quip.

“—travels around and solves problems as it were.”

“You, me & Zola?”

“The three of us could rake in the gold, and—“

“What would we call this...concern?”

“Cecil McBiggins and Associates! I can see it now—“ he pronounces.

“Get outta here, you fool,” I say as I gently push him off. He dramatically rolls a couple of times before popping back up.

Undaunted he announces, “Think on it my friend...this idea is worth a fortune in gold and fame.”

“Ya, I’ll give it all the thought it deserves,” I quip as I close my eyes and try to find my dream again, until I feel a small hand patting my cheek, and I open one eye seeing the gnome smiling at me.

“Don’t take too long my friend. This is a golden opportunity, and you’re going to want to get in on the ground floor,” he reassures me.

“Oh I won’t, believe me,” I say as I nudge the persistent gnome away and close my eye. I start to slowly drift off, when I hear—

“Hey Zola, I got something you’re going to want to hear.”

“Oh ya, what is it?” Zola queries.

“Rideyr LOVES it,” the gnome says as he walks over to Zola and begins pitching his idea.

I shake my head, laugh to myself and sigh as I slowly go back to sleep.

[Aileen]

As important as keeping secrets is, I feel like keeping things from party members who have suspicions is sure to breed distrust. Cecil asked me about the Wereravens, and I lied and played dumb. Even though he took the Sunsword to Strahd, I want to let him know I still trust him. As we rest in the chapel, I pull him aside.

"Hey, Cecil. I have something to tell you."

The gnome's eyes light up.

"Gossip time?!"

"I guess. What I'm going to tell you... it's important that you don't tell anyone. And I'm being dead serious."

"Alright, you have my word."

I'm going to have to trust he will hold to it.

"So, you were asking why I mentioned the Wereravens. Turns out they do exist."

"They do?! Are you...?"

"No," I laugh. "I wish. I asked, but... anyway. You know how the ravens come to help us, and seem to know me? It's because the Martikovs are Wereravens."

"What?! Really?"

I nod, looking around to make sure nobody is listening in.

"They are. That's why I'm so eager to find the seeds. They're really good people, and the ravens are important to me."

"Huh. That's amazing! How did you get them to like you so much?"

"I literally just fed them. You remember when we went to the winery and Mr. Martikov pulled me aside?"

"Yeah, I was wondering what that was about."

"He told me some things, and transformed into a raven. That's why I'm so afraid of ravens getting hurt and killed... some could be people. And ravens are amazing birds in general."

I tell Cecil about back home, and all the ravens my mom took in. My boy Zoltan, the oldest raven probably in existence at 19 years old, and my best friend. I grew up with him, and my dad's construct Reggie. Reggie could be turned into any animal, but I always preferred the raven.

"I've only told Rideyr and Steinbjorn, and now you. They said to only tell those whom I trust with my life. I'm trusting you."

"Thank you. I will keep my word."

"Good! Because if not-"

I run my thumb in front of my throat, and Cecil raises an eyebrow.

"Got it."

"I'm kidding. But not really."

I leave Cecil and head back to Khazan, who is sitting awkwardly in a weird imitation of a person. He's a bit rusty and worn out, hence why we couldn't enact our plan of putting Cecil inside of him to sneak him into Vallaki. I wish I had some oil and tools, I could at least try to fix him up. I watched my dad work on constructs enough to know general maintenance, but if Khazan gets really beat up, I don't know if we can save him.

I hope that telling Cecil about my friends is not a mistake. He is a good friend, and although he was charmed by Strahd, I know he would do anything for the Dawn Breakers. Rideyr, Steiny and Cecil are becoming some of the best friends I have ever had, and I hope they will help me save the Martikovs and the Wizard of Wines. I'm pretty sure Red Dragon Crush is incentive enough!

~ Zola

[dragonforgotten]

Chad discovered a fascinating function to the tower. It nullify magic. Eww. I take the lavander scented vistani head outside and cast my spell as his eyes flutter and his moves about confused and dazed.
“What’s your name?”
“Yan.”
“Who killed you?”
“Van Richten.” Hmmmm... better ask Zola’s question.
“What does Van richen want with the wereravens.”
“What?” Oh he doesn’t know. That means he was killed long before that or before he knew anything. Hmmmm.
“Are you an ally of strahd?”
“Yes, no, maybe.” The head falls silent leaving me some thoughts. Hmm. So not all vistani are friends. I see. Would have been helpful when we ran into those guys peddling us there ‘service’.
“Creed! Are you done talking to the head! We gotta go!” Screams Ryder as I sigh annoyed.
“In a minute! I have to put Yan back inside.”
I pick up Yan and place him back we’re I found him.
“Hope we can talk again. Stay safe in here.” I tell him as I scurry off to join the antsy party. Can’t a lady talk to a served vistani head without being rushed?
We’re on the road again but no horses. They seem to have run off. Fat chance. Probably were eaten by wolves. I want to find Kevin really bad. He saved my ass back there. I wouldn’t have made it out if that bad situation without him but everyone says we don’t have time to waste. We need to find the gang again. I want to find poor kevin even if it’s just his head. This is why grandpa never let me have pets.
Return to where we last left them, hoping they came back in a small pray that they assigned this as the meeting place. Apparently not so. The cave is just as empty as it was before. I stifle a yawn. I’m still sleepy but at least my vision isn’t cloudy today.
We should tie a leash around them so we can’t lose them anymore. Hmmm. I bet the abbot or strahd took them. Or there perfectly fine and dandy, sharing ice cream with each other without telling us, laughing at us running up and down across barovia. Bastards.
We turn back to the road hoofing it without the horses. I miss them.
It doesn’t take long till we once again stand in the shadow of the decaying castle. So friends are suppose to be here? I hope so. We need all the friends we can get. We seem to be short on allies lately. Barovia got a heck of a lot lonelier once the Martikovs and there miracle wine vanished. I hope those ravens are ok. They were good birds.
Standing in the shadow of the silver dragon statue we find no buttons or levers to pull or push so naturally we went to the door. Suddenly the giant statues jaw opens as cold air starts to emigrate from it. Naturally I throw my self to the ground hands over my head screaming.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!!”
“Creed. Creed! It’s not doing anything.” I peek at it through my arms. It’s jaws are open but nothing is happening.
“Oh. Well.” I brush myself off and straighten my collar. Catching a look at the tail ends of my trench coat I poute. So many holes and torn bits. We walk into the castle and i can see that definitely this was a dragons castle. Hard to miss all the dragon decorum. Suddenly a shadow and claws rake along the walls in my blind spot but before i can see what it is its gone just as fast. i shrug. Still no party here. I thought were suppose to find friends. The only living thing here is a big room full of spiders. After we found the sad remains of booze we move onto the next room and find an injured elf. Hey! didn't we just meet an injured elf before? why are there two of them? he said he was searching for young anabell while the cleric heals up his large bleeding gash. We get comfortable as he begins telling us the story of the castle, the dragon knights, and the ghost dragon. oh my gods! dragons can be ghosts to! I want to see it! It's now my list of undead to see, the next is skeleton dragon. The elf is relieved when we tell him we took care of his problem days ago and he leaves to go back to the dusk elf camp, hobbling along out of the castle. Next is the Kitchen. Nothing much to see. empty.. empty.. empty. Suddenly a bat flies out of the cauldron slapping Ryder in the face! It flutters about confused trying to escape! Eye narrowed i charge up and blast but it hides behind a pot as i put a hole in it, Hans barely jumping out of the way. It's gone before i can get it. S***. It got away. I don't like this. My gut is telling me this will haunt me. heh, haunt. Like the dead dragon.
"Its gone." I growl disappointed.
"Creed! what the hell! You nearly shot me!" I dont give him a response lost in thought. I don't trust the bats here.
"If ravens are our friends then bats and wolves are our enemies." I mutter to no one. Next time it wont get the jump on me.
Moving one we find the big 'Im more important.' dinning hall with even more dragon decor. Ok. I get your a silver dragon but this is over kill. Actually, I'm calling the kettle black. I didnt have a problem with gramps decorating everything in skulls. The adjacent room looks like a prayer room or something. Theres an alter here.
"better not burn this one down Zola." I whisper to her smoking as she get flustered. I squint. Theirs someone already here. Four guys are praying at the alter. Are they pallys to? The praying thing is very pally like. Are they our friends? They stand up and draw there sword. So not friends? They start running at us and i see their deathly pale skin. Undead? Look pretty lively, very pissed to. Everyone tenses up readying their weapons as they clash. Yep, undead. they certainly don't smell alive. I walk into the battle, straightening out the collar of my coat. 
The undead won’t touch me. I stride towards the angry warriors as Val’s eyes widen.
“Creed what the hell are you doing?”
“It’s fine. I’ve got this.” I continue walking by one but just as I think I got past his head snaps towards me without turning his body. With frightening speed he cleaves into my shoulder.
“Ah! S***! F***! That was my favorite shoulder asshole!” I continue my stride hobbling and turn around charging my blasts behind a pillar as my blood bleeds through the fabric. Great! more stains!
"I perfer my blood inside my body thanks!" I yell at him tieing off the wound. These guys aren’t like the normal undead. What the hell are they?
When im not bleeding everywhere i come from behind the pillar eye blazing with both hands engulffed in green fire.
"We dont want to fight! If your our friends then listen! Even a dramatic no will do if were wrong!"
they say nothing.
"fine then, I'll just start blasting holes till you all scream for mercy!" I lob blast after blast at them as everyone hacks away. one goes down as I hear Zola scream. I glance behind me to see Stein is on the ground. NO. Not stein. they will not take Stein. I get into postion, cracking the joints in my neck, pointing a clawed finger at the one dressed in the stupid purple cape harrassing Zola.
"I think you've just pissed me off today." I then peg him in the head as he stutters clutching his missing eye as he shreiks. Suddenly they start charging straight for me! S***! I cant take another hit like that! I dont show fear or weakness, you just dont when your dealing with the undead. I expect them to come rip me to peicesbut instead they charge past me and run up the stairs but not before i give one a good punch in the jaw. Doesnt slow him down one bit. With them gone chad fixes Stein and Zola grips him in a death hug. How cute. Suddenly as im gushing over this, Val drops from the sky and I see her wings again. I snicker.
"Guess this makes you a fallen angel." 
"realllyy.." then she passes out and starts bleeding out. Alot.
"Ill be there in a minute." Chad tells us as i wave him off.
"Naw i got this. You fix up steins face." before i can even move an inch the surviving duo come charging down the stairs, burning eyes set on me. S***! Before i can even move purple steps on his cape and in a faling of limbs hes rolling down the stairs. With a sickening crack his head slams against the stone floor at my feet lifeless as black blood oozzes, his neck snapped. Me, the gang, and the last warrior stand there staring at the body. I kick it with my foot and as the realization of what just happened sinks in a burst out laughing, curling in on myself as I wheeze.
"D-did you see that!! HE bloody killed himself! he snapped his own f****ing neck! When does that happen!!" I continue laughing like a lunatic for a good while clutching my stomach. When my laughter dies down and i wipe the tears from my eye i see the surviving undead glare at me silently as he's surrounded by the gang.
"Ya, I'll be going now. I have an angel to stop from dying." I hobble over to her as the beautiful sounds of pummeling begins. by the time i get their Chads already done the deed so i just watch the show.
--------------------------

We explore the higher floor and I'm getting all excited when we near the top only for Zola to make us walk right back down!!? What is this cocken nonsense! Then just as we get back down she charges right back up without us!? What the hell is this!? Up, down, up down! Make up your mind! Teenager!! I cant keep up with them! We wonder some more were we find a spooky curtain. Behind spooky curtain theres a pedital with a drap over it. When Zola lifts said drap its Mikes head under it staring at us with dead eyes. I look back at a pale Mike having a coniption. Eh. At that best this place got? You may be a ghost dragon but you certainly havent brushed up on being creepy. This type of stuff is been there down that. No creativity. I wonder if i can speak with the head of fake Mike. Will I get any juicy secrets? real Mikes babbling about why is her head under there so i pat her on the back.
"Don't worry. My gramps use to lose his head alllll the time." She doesnt seem to hear me. Eh, i tried. We leave as the spooky curtain closes behind us. I snort. Wow. Havent seen THAT before. Zola accidently drops her metal man through the floor and we have to wait for him to catch up, break that really nice table as well. We pass by a window when cecil sees something outside and draws us to look. A Vistani carriage pulls up infront of the statue. The driver leaves and unknowing he has an audience, pisses on the statue and walks into the woods, leaving his carriage unguarded. Smells like loot. were outside and in the carriage, curiosity peeked. Inside theres nothing interesting expect a really really nice stone coffin. Stein takes a look at it and he pales. We all glance and see it has his name on it. I clasp his shoulder smirking.
"Im very jelouse Stein. Now that is a nice coffin! I mean, I'm getting a pretty good one myself back in Valaki but stone mat. thats the expensive s***. Long lasting to."
Just as i says this as he's opening the lid bats come pouring out and swarm him.
"You should tell Strahd next time to exclude the blood sucking bats."

-Creed

[Jeff]

It’s become imminently clear that equating the terms “enemies of Strahd” with “allies of ours” was a mistake as Argynvostholt is littered with revenants who are intent on killing us at every turn. We’ve tried negotiating and making allies, but this has only ended in battle each time. The knight who was seated on the throne clarified that he hates Strahd, but he wants him kept alive so Strahd can suffer for eternity, and this is where we differ. There seems to be much more to explore, and maybe things will change, but I’m skeptical. This has been a bit disheartening, but not wholly unexpected. There may still be something positive that comes out of this ruined castle; we’ll just have to wait and see.

[Chris]

Argynvostholt

Dragon Statue

bats from Steinbjorn's coffin?

Dragon's Den

Ruined Bedchambers

Northwest Guest Room

Northeast Guest Room

Curtained Staircase

Collapsed Ceiling

Dragon's Audience Hall

Ruined Bathroom

Trapped Hallway



Time at end of session: Day 13, 5:32:0pm, Year 735?

in Argynvostholt as a stone wall has just split the party and several phantom warriors have issued forth from 2 closed doors



MVP Steve Penna as Steinbjorn Rexxor Grimarsson


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