VIBI-03

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### Summary

The party head deeper into the werewolf den and make an unpleasant discovery. Hecktor's fortunes keep coming true when they stumble upon the huntress and Pip gets more and more fed up with Emmanuel deMonster.

### Intro

> “Although you see no water for miles around you are nonetheless marooned, stranded in a nightmare your people call Barovia. While I am able to travel easily between the planes, you cannot, and as such, you find Baron von Strahd your jailor. There is no escape, unless I, A’Gogash the Mighty, can defeat him!”
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### Recap

Hecktor talks to A’Gogash about weapons that may be effective against werewolves. Pip calls back that Healing, Fire, and Thunder attacks are also effective, as well as wolfsbane. A’Gogash asks Hecktor how he earned the title “Dragonsbane” and Hecktor is caught between an impulse to try and impress him, and not wanting to tell outright lies.

A’Gogash is clearly not from any place Hecktor is familiar with, possibly not from the material plane, as he speaks of an alien homeland where gravity doesn’t always work according to recognisable logic, there are no planets but rocks floating in the air that are easy to travel between; he is well versed in planar travel, and has been planar travelling for the last few years. He doesn’t know why he travels, but always seems to find himself waking up in new places. He considers the possibility that his god is testing him, and ensures that everywhere he goes he must find something to test his mettle against, before finding himself somewhere else.

Hecktor asks if this means he might disappear at any moment, and A’Gogash admits this is possible, but not until he has found the thing that is supposed to test him, and he believes it will be the strongest being in the area.

Pip looks pointedly at Castle Ravenloft and indicates that Strahd is the strongest person in the area. When A’Gogash declares he will defeat him in combat, Pip rolls his eyes, declaring “Yes that’s what everyone is saying.” Hecktor asks how long A’Gogash has been in this area. When asked where this area is, Hecktor repeats some of Pip’s earlier speech.

Hecktor is still worried by the behaviour of the ravens. Pip explains that “there are regular Ravens, and there are Ravens who are secretly People.” And both will eat a radish that is not properly guarded. When pressed further he explains that there are “Lycan corvids” in the area, but that he can’t tell at a glance, though they aren’t dangerous, just annoying, and maybe the closest thing to a force for good in Barovia. He speaks further on the “Keepers of the Feather” who work subversively against Strahd.

Hecktor asks why they are circling but Pip shrugs off the question.

As the sun sets, they cross the open plains south of Krezk, within sight of Pip’s shack, and within hearing range of Pop’s clucking. Pip leads, with Hecktor behind him, and A’Gogash strategically at the rear.

A’Gogash clearly thinks he is superior but has infinite patience for “lesser” fighters. Hecktor tells him the story of taking down the undead dragon, mentioning the Beholder but leaving out that it is sleeping. A’Gogash has a more impressive story (“I force fed it its own eyes!”). Hecktor talks about further adventures (adventures appropriate to an Adventurer around Levels 1-5), trying to impress A’Gogash but admitting he is the stronger.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Pip finds himself looking down at an impressively well-made pit trap. It’s not covered well, but it is covered, and well enough considering it was dug with paws. Pip instinctively knows this was laid by Boris and his pack. In this moment Pip’s stress tell is revealed, as he rubs his snout anxiously.

The presence of the trap is evidence that Boris and his Direst Wolves are close by, probably watching and know that they are stopped where they are. Pip crouches down and indicates to the others to do so as well. (Jackson gets a Good Boy Card for a good roll.)

Three Direst wolves - one of them clearly Boris - are ahead on the other side of the pit trap, crouched low and showing a shocking degree of intelligence and evident ability to pre-plan, as they have somehow managed to obtain fishing nets that they have stuffed with branches to look like brushes. It is all so effective, the other two do not spot pit trap or Direst Wolves despite staring directly at them, even when Pip points them out.

Hecktor suggests casting a light; fortunately both Pip and A’Gogash have torches. All three brandish the fire in their off-hands, with weapons in their right hands. Pip recommends running away, and Hecktor agrees. A’Gogash gestures to himself and declares that the last time he ran away from a fight was when he was a whelp. His father taught him on that day the importance of standing up for himself. “Perhaps you would not have such trouble with these Borises if you fought them.”

Pip agrees, offering to let A’Gogash “knock himself out” while Pip goes back to his shack.

A’Gogash asks Hecktor how long he has been in Barovia. “About a day” Hecktor replies. Pip simply says he’s been there “a long time.” A’Gogash appears to change his mind, admitting “Perhaps caution is the better part of valour, and we will charge past them.” Pip agrees, leading the way around the pit trap.

A’Gogash picks up part of the pit trap and lifts it, revealing the Direst Wolves have (presumably with nothing more than teeth) sharpened spikes and stuck them into the bottom of the trap. Hecktor questions “if they can do that, can they set another one?” Pip agrees, as they move along. He recollects that Boris and his kind have set traps before, including a snare trap right in front of his door.

Pip reveals a scar on his leg from a previous trap, declaring with some sarcasm: “Oh they’re clever!”

As they approach, three bushes become Direst Wolves, a genuinely terrifying experience as the nets fall. Hecktor is speechless. They growl and circle around the torches but do not approach. Boris is entirely focused on Pip. Within his eyes he imagines what Pip will taste like. They approach the shack with torches lit, the Direst Wolves following in a rough circle. The Direst Wolves have dug a small pit trap under the “wipe your feet” mat, with one spike, “Home Alone” style for one foot.

All three pile inside the shack, and the growling stops. The Direst Wolves prowl, and Pop squawks. The Direst Wolves probe near Pop’s cage and then are driven away.

They continue to probe until about 3am, either becoming quiet or leaving. Pip, accustomed to this, has slept through it. A’Gogash meditates throughout the night. Before going to bed Hecktor asks Pip if he has any writing tools, which he has (apparently to write his memoires) and passes over. Hecktor also requests a map; Pip has a small map tucked into the back of Emanuel deMonster that Hecktor can copy but checks it before relinquishing it, in case there is anything “incriminating.” Hecktor studies the map in the night, looking for where the wolf den might be.

Pip goes to his private corner and pulls out the rest of the strawberries, offering some to A’Gogash and Hecktor and eating some himself. A’Gogash gratefully chews a strawberry without knowing what it is. Sour is the closest word he has for sweet.

Hecktor assumes he’s now met two of the four he’s destined to help. He thinks about the Mage/Wizard, and the General “Mandarin” from the Vistana’s story. Before he sleeps, he looks around to see if he can spot Pip’s memoires. There are numerous scrunched up bits of paper in the waste paper bin with abortive attempts to tell his story, with lines like “Pip, Pop, Pep, Pap, Hank, are you kidding me?! NO!!” Hecktor puzzles over some of the notes but comes to now conclusion, and goes to bed.

That night the Paladin receives a vision of his guardian deva, Galadia.

Usually when he appears before her he is floating in endless light in all directions, floating in the air, and she appears before him in an impossibly large, gargantuan figure. However in this vision he sees her rather as a distant thing as if looking down a corridor of darkness. When she calls out to him her voice echoes her voice is faint like she’s shouting down the corridor. Hecktor can sense something is very wrong.

She calls out his name and it echoes; he tries to move toward her but feels the sensation of moving further away. Her voice echoes to him:

> “Where you travel, you travel far from me. From the Divine. You are in a dark and dangerous place Hecktor, Watch yourself, watch your step. I do not know why you are where you are, but the Fates have divined it. I can see where you are. There is, though, a light. Turn to it Hecktor! Let it guide you, until we meet again!”
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Feeling a warmth behind him, Hecktor turns and sees another figure, similar to Galadia, but standing in shadow, though wreathed in light. He feels Galadia’s presence leave, her love and energy retracting, or being dragged away, but the other entity steps forward to replace it. Her final words are “Please, stay safe, I will try to meet you again!”

Fearful, Hecktor replies “Don’t leave me!” before waking with a start. He attempts to cast a healing spell in his hand, and notices that the Holy Divinity he usually channels splutters like a long-neglected stove in need of maintenance. Eventually the blockage clears and the magic springs to life, but seems to flow from a different energy. It’s holy and Lawful Good in nature, coming from a place or entity that, while not Galadia, loves and cares for him and wishes him to do good in the world and it will help him. Hecktor also knows that this is not a “false vision.”

As Hecktor gets up he accepts that Galadia cannot reach him, while this other entity is there, and there is a sombre moment as he absorbs this. It is about 6am. As he emerges, Pip offers him a cup of awful smelling herbal tea, which Hecktor sips unthinkingly.

Outside, A’Gogash is doing morning calisthenics. He has laid out a set of Dragon Chess in such a way that a game is clearly underway, and he is considering it carefully as he continues his exercises. Hecktor inquires after this, and A’Gogash explains that in his homeland, at sunset his father lays out a similar game of chess and awaits a vision from the previous night of what A’Gogash’s move was. He moves the pieces accordingly, and then plays his move, which A’Gogash receives as a vision in the night, and he reciprocates in the morning. They have been playing the same game for nearly 40 years, and is his last connection to his father and his people.

Hecktor peers at the game, but apparently knows “dick shit” about chess, being “more of a checkers guy.” (Adam gets a Bad Boy Card.)

Meanwhile Pip fixes the small pit trap outside of his front door.

Pop the Chicken appears to be eating something. As Pip approaches Pop eats it faster and it’s gone by the time Pip arrives. There is fresh blood in the area, but no meat (at least none left). As Pip muses on what might happen if he let Pop go in the woods, Pop lunges toward him; despite the walls of the fence being between them Pip recoils from the apparently feral chicken, but idly talks to the creature nonetheless.

He reflects on his discomfort with the number of guests in his home. “It was alright when it was just the one, the young Ezme. There’s just a lot of people at once now.” Pop squawks, settles down, and eyes Pip, giving the brief impression that the chicken understands what is being said to him. (Jackson gets a Good Boy Card.)

Whilst this is happening, Hecktor confesses to A’Gogash that he has been robbed by a Druid and asks if the Orc has any spare armour or weapons. With an air of superiority A’Gogash apologizes for having mainly survival gear in his pack, but offers him a hand axe as a weapon; though it’s more of a hatchet than a combat weapon, it is at least made of steel.

Pip conducts a short search around the property and is unsurprised to find Direst Wolf tracks, then reflects that having fresh meat would be helpful in their encounter with the Werewolves.

He returns to the others and suggests that they bait a trap with fresh meat, announcing that he intends to go hunting for deer. A’Gogash declares himself a good hunter and offers to join him. Hecktor offers to wait at the shack for Pirrin.

A’Gogash is a proficient hunter, while Pip embarrasses himself by constantly failing to find tracks. Whenever he does find tracks, he starts to follow them in the wrong direction, and A’Gogash politely but still with the implication that he is better than Pip, points him in the right direction.

They eventually find a deer, and Pip, using Hunter’s Mark, hits the deer in the head. A’Gogash compliments him, which Pip enjoys but hates himself for enjoying.

Meanwhile Hecktor familiarizes himself with the hand axe and prepares his magic for the day, mainly preparing thunder spells. Finished with this he inspects Pop in the blood-spattered cage. He flings a handful of scraps to the chicken, then inspects Pip’s map and the Emanuel deMonster. (It feels like it’s dealing both the character and the player Psychic Damage.) The beginning of the bestiary says the creatures are listed in the order the reader will encounter them, which is befuddling for multiple reasons. He attempts to decipher the entry on Lycans.

> “As it is their very nature, they are susceptible to things based mostly on what they wereth and what they changeth into.”
> -Emanuel deMonster on Lycans
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It also mentions that healing magic is damaging to them.

Around 8am when Pip and A’Gogash return Pip begins butchering the deer, but does a terrible job; A’Gogash takes over and does an excellent job, despite apparently never having seen a deer before.

Letting this happen, and observing Hecktor, Pip remarks that deMonster “is one of the most useful and frustrating books you will ever encounter in your life.”

Hecktor suggests that they eat some of the meat themselves, and proposes to retrieve eggs from Pop’s coop. He discovers a clutch of six eggs, and Hecktor manages to retrieve them without the chicken noticing. Pip, stunned, asking if Pop is dead, and the two confer and decide the chicken has, improbably, been hiding eggs.

Pip cooks up a delicious breakfast of venison steak and eggs, and discuss the dilemma of getting into Krezk, and the Werewolf mission. Pip relays the information that the werewolves have been kidnapping children, but he doesn’t know if they’re taken as food or to be turned. Hecktor is stunned by Pip’s flippant nature on this matter and his eyes burn a little brighter.

Pip also relays that there are probably about a dozen werewolves, but that they are not all always present in their lair at the same time. They also roam with regular wolves and Direst Wolves. He proposes that they aim to kill the Alpha and thereby create a power vacuum within the pack. (Emanuel deMonster is vague on the matter of how to identify the Alpha of a werewolf pack.)

> “The besteth way that one might thy inform thyself upon thy’s pack Alpha leader would be to discover it thus through conversation with thine werewolves themselves.”
> -Emanuel deMonster
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As far as Hecktor knows, there is no known cure for lycanthropy. It’s a curse by any one of a number of evil gods. It corrupts and twists the mind, even if the person affected was once good. This comforts Hecktor at the prospect of basically murdering a dozen werewolf people. He feels a growing burning anger towards them.

Pip, knowing much the same, is aware that you can talk to a werewolf when they are human but should always be on guard.

At midday exactly Pirrin approaches from Krezk, appearing on the horizon momentarily, then disappearing as he falls into a pit trap. He arrives at the shack a few minutes later with a limp and a badly mangled leg. Hecktor heals him for 10 hitpoints with Lay on Hands.

Pip explains that the pit trap was set by the Direst Wolves, while Hecktor introduces A’Gogash. The Orc shakes Pirrin’s hand as if he is a child. Noticing this Pirrin’s temper rises and looks to be ready to start a fight, but Hecktor and Pip intervene at the last moment. Pirrin shows them a silver-tipped spear that he was able to acquire, which Hecktor arms himself with.

Pip repeats the plan to eliminate the Alpha, and the plan to make a trap and bait it with raw meat, which is irresistible to werewolves. He admits there are numerous other animals in the forest that might be attracted. (A Direst Koala is mentioned, as is a swarm of ants that can coalesce into a person.)

The problem will be managing the number off werewolves attracted to the trap.

Hecktor proposes that he and A’Gogash provide a distraction.

They wander into the forest with Pip leading. They encounter a small, worn looking book set upon a rock. Pip advises everyone to avoid it. A’Gogash deigns to acknowledge that they should follow “local” knowledge. “It’s either a trap or a book, and I have enough books.”

The four of them look out for an ambush and push onwards into the woods.