Week 11: Whizzard of Wines

**Week 11: Whizzard of Whines**
Year 735, Fourth Moon, Day 10 & 11

When we left off...

After striking a tentative peace with **Victor Vallakovich**and discovering the **Sun Sword**, Clyde further discovered that he could not turn off its brilliant light without first attuning to its magic.  For one who thrives in shadow, the radiant and burning blade presented something of a connundrum.  Everyone tried to rest and decide who among you could realistically wield such a weapon, and ultimately the group decided that the sword should stay with Clyde.  He began the attunement process, but was unfortunately unable to complete his meditation before young Victor fireballed the street outside the Vallokovich Manor.

This fireball allegedly originated with a plan to make the house evacuate so you could search for a specific book or map in the library (or barring that, more clues about Demon Hand Joe).  However, timing and team work have so far not been Victor's strong points.

Without completing your rest, the forray into the lower levels of the house had to begin!  Quintus scoped out a storage room while Selgaard declined to look for any magic items, and Nars headed straight to the dressing room to nab a wedding gown while Clyde tried to conceal the light of the sun under an old sheet.  You guys were not super stealthy or quiet.

But that's OK, because when you reached the Vallokovich library, you found **Baron Vallokovich**, the Burgomaster of Vallaki and Victor's father, waiting patiently for you with his 2 mastiffs.  He had a book titled**So You Want to Storm the Castle and Kill the Vampre?** that he required Selgaard to read alloud to Nars, who (to be fair) wasn't listening and didn't care. In exchange you got a partial pardon for past crimes, a minor hand-wave on the petty theft (prompting Clyde to take a map in a frame off the wall and walk out with it), and an invitation to please leave now, kthxbai.

On the way out, Victor stopped to pack his things and ransack the kitchen, which caused a bit of a miscommunication among the party members: Quintus thought the young Wizard was coming with you right now (under the agreement you made to help him escape Barovia), and Nars thought he'd be coming later.  Nobody was really interested in babysitting.

Meanwhile, **Izek and Ireena** returned home from dealing with the results of Victor's **fireball**.  They looked incestuously happy, some real Cersie Lannister stuff, but nobody rememberd how you came to the conclusion that they were siblings and they wouldn't admit to banging.  Dun dun dun... After some conversation, you all agreed that Ireena was essentially safe in Vallaki with her *Brother? Lover? Demon Hand Friend?* and agreed to leave her in Izek's care.

That freed you up to return to the Blue Water Inn, where **Urwin Martikov**once again ushered everyone upstairs to his private bedroom before they were recognized. He insisted you all maintain a low profile until word of your pardon had time to circulate among the guards, and helped himself to a barrel of Victor's fine Red Dragon Crush wine for the trouble.

Quintus may or may not have "forgotten" the second barrel downstairs as well.

That evening, at Victor's insistence, everyone had a long discussion about what to do next.  In the spirit of finding a babysitter for the Edgelord Wizard, you all decided to go after**The Mad Mage of Mount Baratok** -- far and away the most popular option for the young caster.

On the way to the mountain via Lake Zarovich, the group detoured to rescue a Vistani girl called **Arabelle**from a being drowned in a sack by a fisherman.  Arabelle brought you back to her Vistani camp outside the city, where her father was drunkenly ordering a bunch of Elves to go look for her.  Many of the Vistani in the camp had over-indulged on the new influx of Purple Grape Mash coming out of the Wizards of Wine.

Her father, Luvash, rewarded you with your choice of a treasure from the money-wagon.  Selgaard chose the only thing that seemed remotely magical, a **crystal vial**full of a liquid that you haven't yet analyzed.

Clyde spent some time in the margins speaking with the distressed and down-troddend **Dusk Elves**, none of whom were keen to be seen talking to strangers by Luvash and his men.  One, however, did tell you to go and speak to Kasimir Velikov in his hovel if you insisted on sticking your nose in their business.  Ominously, Clyde also noted that there were no women or children among the elves - only men.

Because you didn't have time to spare, the Dusk Elves remained as they were and the group moved back to Lake Zarovich, where Ulfar was keeping an eye on the murderous fisherman.  A short ritual later, and everyone was running on water toward his boat, compliment of Nars' new-found natural powers.  The fisherman,**Bluto**, seemed almost apathetic to the whole matter: Vistani are lucky, so he was going to kill one to make the Lake provide more fish.  It didn't work out because you saved her - meh all around.

Quintus sentenced and executed him, and that was the end of that.\*

On the other side of the Lake, you spotted an Elk, some trees, and little else.  Of course, the Elk turned into a wild-looking man speaking gibberish and shooting lightning bolts, so I guess you found the quest hook after all! **The Mad Mage** wanted to destroy the Darkness, and insisted you were it.  Luckily, some consistent and clever persuasion on your part de-escalated the situation, and letting the Mage play with Clyde's light saber cemented the bargain.

He took you on a pointlessly long walk through the woods before Nars asked the magic question, prompting him to conjure a Magnificent Mansion for you all to rest in.  Not much you had to say to this dude was getting through the insanity, but at least the food was good and the scenery was fresh.

**Around Town...**

There is a festival in Vallaki today.