Session 28

—17th of Octyavr, 735 BC

Entry 28. Seemingly waking up from her dream, Valyra found herself at the shore of the Tser Pool where her near death experience lead to the consolidation of her pact with a strange eldritch being. A burning tingling sensation in the center of her palm marked the strange symbol on her left hand. A dilating pupil starring back at her made her shiver, or perhaps it was her cold wet clothes. As the depths of the lake began to glow with a warm yellow light, beckoning her, she decided to cover her symbol and look for a way to return to Kreszk. Facing away from the lake, she began to hear whispers of various voices telling her to return or she'll face the consequences. Gritting her teeth she marched on but before she could find her way through the forest her vision faded away. Waking up in her bed at the sanctuary with a cold sweat she looked for the symbol in her palm, only to find the wound she made when she entered the village of Kreszk. Brando later inquired about the next action but the group seemed unmotivated. Valyra decided to visit the grave of her dead friend Eleonora, perhaps to thank her ghost for her advice offering some peaches in return, her favorite fruit. The nearby winery seemed to be in the process of repair and so the group considered paying the Martikovs a visit. The smell of fermented grapes filling the air made the elven woman worry and as Davian revealed that they were attempting to begin producing wine again. She imparted to him that the fermentation vats may have been poisoned by the druids that had attacked the place and that the wine that they had transported to Kreszk made the villagers sick. Shocked, the young man asked if there was anything they could do to help him purify the vats. Brando kindly offered him a vial of antitoxin hoping it would help. The Martikov asked for one last favor, to return to them the magical seeds that enabled their grapes to grow despite the lack of sunlight. The adventurers agreed and left the winery to make their way back to Kreszk. Approaching the path through the forest, a heavy rain began to take place but this was the last of their problems. Sounds of branches breaking and growls of unholy beasts revealed the werewolves that had surrounded the group. Viciously slashing at the adventurers, the bigger werewolf seemed to be a tough challenge for them until a strange person appeared from behind the woods and began attacking the werewolves and healing the ones that were hurt. The battle was difficult but they managed to escape with their lives and a few bite marks. The last werewolf, turning back to his human form lied on the mud, laughing despite his wounds. "You will all soon die", he shouted with his last breath. Interrogating this strange woman, she stated that she was sent by her God to help an elven woman in danger. Valyra, distrustful of her and her strange God and with flames licking at her hand she demanded a reason to believe her and let her join her party. Brando walked in between them and reminded her that if they were going to fight Strahd they would need all the help they could get. Nevertheless, she acquiesced and together they made their way to Kreszk. Approaching their sanctuary, they spotted three darkened figures standing outside their home, one of them in the process of knocking at their door. Proceeding towards their house, the hooded figure made his acquaintence but Valyra had seen the elven man before at Castle Ravenloft. He asked them to pay taxes and extended an invitation to dinner with Lord Strahd after which he departed together with his companions. A dinner with Strahd is the last thing the group wanted to attend to, especially after last time... More pressing matters were at hand. Ismark's bite wound looked infected and they needed to do something about it. Reading the book about magical creatures, the sorceress found a passage detailing how werewolves spread their curse of lycanthropy through their bites. Immediately concerned, she ran to check on Ismark and then to ask Lana if she knew anything about curses or how to lift them. She told her that there was something that she could do perhaps, if she had the necessary components. And so Valyra and Brando went on a little midnight adventure, looking for diamond dust. Sneaking into Vallaki, they witnessed the guards feverishly looking for someone or something and Izek arguing with Victor. The found their way to a factory of toys and broke in through the back door. Investigating the place, they managed to find what they later found out to be a sack of diamond dust, exactly what they needed. Escaping the guards, they headed to the Blue Water Inn and rented a room for the night. In the morning, Lana decided to cook breakfast for everyone and until the other two party members returned she proved to have a green hand as she had managed to clean the back garden and plant new seeds even if nothing could really grow in Kreszk. Brando and Valyra returned with the dust, but unfortunately it was only enough for one attempt to cure whatever curse Ismark and herself, as she revealed, had fallen upon. Nevertheless, she decided to use it to heal Ismark, who could not believe his eyes when the immense wound disappeared completely. Now they just had to find a way to cure Lana too. They considered many options but settled to visit the Abbot and redeem the favor he owed them. He agreed to help them, perhaps for the last time and with a simple touch Lana's wound was also gone. Returning to their sanctuary and ponder on their next move the group decided to accept Strahd's invitation and attend his dinner. Excited for a chance to attend a party, Brando began making preparations for the event, dragging Valyra with him all the way to Vallaki to put together some fancy outfits for the whole group.

“If you're gonna have dinner with someone who could eat you alive, you might as well dress like a fine meal.”

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