Session 23

— 10th of Octyavr, 735

Entry 23. Escaping the Amber Temple and the fight with the flaming skull, Emeric found himself on an opening between mountains leading towards a snow-capped forest, long forgotten. Leaving this temple, seemingly carved into these mountains, he encountered Brando and together they began walking towards the next point on their map, Tsolenka Pass. There, at the windy, freezing precipice of Mount Ghakis the real Brando and Valyra decided to follow the fog choked path instead of going through the gate, the green glow seemingly intimidating Valyra. The snowy path lead them to a gorge spanned by a stone bridge fronted by a stone archway decorated with statues of riders holding lances. At the middle of the bridge one shadowy figure of a rider loomed over them in silence before vanishing with the blowing winds, not too soon before a huge bird creature appeared out of the fog, diving towards the couple. Brando pushed Valyra out of the way and found himself in the talons of this gargantuan creature, not for too long before Valyra polymorphing this creature to something much smaller, releasing Brando from its grasp. They then ran towards the path until the environment slowly turned into a swamp, encountered strange women that attacked and told them to leave but nevertheless they pushed through and found themselves in a clearing, waking up a horde of boars that gave chase after them. At that same time, Brando and Emeric were walking through the Tsolenka Pass having discussions about strategy and the cohesion of their group. Arriving at the swamp they encountered the bodies that Valyra and Brando had left behind and continued towards that direction, only until a fireball revealed her location that they found which way to go and meet with the rest of the group.

On the other side, as the newcomer left the village of Barovia to find the group of adventurers, he encountered a stumbling disheveled man coming towards him but collapsing on the ground before he could reach the gates. Dragex ran to help him, and healed his wounds as he explained that he was part of a group of adventurers that was sent to this village by Strahd to bring back his bride that the adventurers had supposedly kidnapped. He explained that Strahd would deliver their capital punishment soon unless he would bring his wife back to the castle. Out of curiosity, Dragex accompanied him into the mansion of the burgomaster, only to see the poor auburn haired girl cry over the corpse of her father. She had explained that her father had died three days ago but nobody would help her take the body to the church so she can have a funeral for him, out of fear that the devil might harm them. She agreed to follow Ambrose wherever if he helped her take her father to the church. Dragex and Ambrose carried the body to the church and the priest immediately helped them set up a funeral. As the coffin and the body was prepared, Dragex and Ireena discussed about her brother and upon mentioning that he brushed up with him at the local inn they immediately rushed to there but to no avail. The inn was completely devoid of any patrons that had seemed to leave in a hurry. They rushed back to the church and completed the funeral, after which a strange man approached her and offered condolences and words of solace before she departed to her house with Ambrose to don her armor and head towards the castle. Dragex followed suit after briefly inspecting the inn once more.

As Valyra and Brando were getting ready to camp in that clearing, Emeric had emerged from behind the trees and following suit, a second Brando at the surprise of the whole group. Dropping the disguise, Strahd thanked them for their patience and for coming at his dinner, offering them apologies for missing out most of it and also bringing news about their friend and the deal with the Abbot. The vampire renewed his invitation at the castle but did not promise this time that there would be no harm, telling them it would be a lot more enjoyable for him to watch them struggle before bidding them adieu and vanishing.

Arriving at the West Gates and passing through them, a black carriage was expecting them to which Ambrose pointed and asked Ireena to get it. Dragex at that point following his gut instinct that something is wrong he decided to put his charm and work and delve into hia thoughts. Ascertaining that he had murderous intentions and was not being truthful but rather corrupted, he asked Ireena to take his hand and reapparated 500 feet away from him. They both ran to Vallaki and decided to head for the inn to hide or rest.

The other group rested for the night and then headed north, out of the swampy woods and into a steep route heading towards a remote time-worn castle. Heading up the stairs inside this dust filled castle into a large room, the group encountered a group of corpses sitting still in chairs around a dining table, one corpse holding a really beautiful blade. Brando could not resist temptation and as he reached to grab the sword the corpse snapped and grabbed Brando's arm, slowly turning to look him in the eyes and state “Dead things should be left alone."

Previous | Next