COS II Session 5

oaghe

## Starring...

* The Barovian Freedom Fighters
	+ Red, staying a safe distance from the combat
	+ Xadriel Maverran, convincing us all to take Lucky
	+ Tokili, just got fired from his negotiation job
	+ Galia Trey, only half-dead
	+ Stone, unintentional foreshadower
	+ Max von Austrahlung, having trouble attacking with two punctured lungs
	+ Twiggy, staying an unsafe distance from the combat
	+ +2 shortsword, not caught up on this campaign (or the last campaign)
* Ezmerelda d'Avenir, for quite possibly the last time
* Thorn, may she rest in pieces
* F̸̧̻̲͖͐̄l̷̲͖͙̥̈́́̊͝ȉ̴̝̙x̴̟̜̙̹͋̓̈́, back at it again with the white vans

## One to Go

After the events of session 4, the Barovian Freedom Fighters were soaking wet, exhausted, covered in bird bits, and really didn't have it in them to figure out what the desecrated ritual circle at Yester Hill meant. After that whole birdwatcher business the Party was ready to destroy any and all ravens or raven-related humanoids they came across.

At the designated meeting point of Esmerelda/Argynvolstholst the party reported their successes in convincing Birdwatcher that he should think of others when flying his birds around. During the short downtime Tokili works on searching through Birdwatcher's memories to try and deduce just what the hell going on, but is unsuccessful for today. He also asks Stone to ask her god about where and how Davian died (Davian is dead by the way), but she is also unsuccessful.

Now it's tomorrow, time to go kill thorn in real life!

## Getting Destroyed Instantly

Flying towards Castle Ravenloft with slight turbulence at a brisk 250ft above the land, the party notices that the spire of Ravenloft has collapsed. Strange, don't remember it looking like that when they got here, but that thought is immediately interrupted by a spear piercing the ship. A few moments later, a large, orcish woman appears grasping the spear, terrifying everyone but Tokili, who seemed elated. The following battle was a blood bath.

* Thorn continually created a devastating shockwave by stomping on the ground, either throwing everyone 20 feet away or knocking them prone.
	+ Eventually (round 2), Twiggy got tired of being tossed around and accepted his fate, falling 250 feet towards the ground below. He basically spent the rest of the combat exploring too far into Castle Ravenloft.
* Thorn had two tricks up her non-existant sleeve.
	+ She somehow gained the ability to hit multiple enemies with a single sword slash, dealing ludicrus AOE damage.
	+ Using the same method she used to make her dramatic entrance, Thorn could use her spear to attack and teleport at the same time. She only used this twice as slashing 6 people at once felt much more satisfying.
* During the battle, Galia and Max passed between consciousness and death's door a total of 3 times. Their small, mortal bodies could not keep up with a chunk of metal cleaving through it like a hot knife to butter every 2 seconds.
* Red got hit a total of 2 times. While this may make you believe he got hit the least, that title actually goes to Twiggy, who got hit a total of 0 times. This makes him guilty of desertion and eligable for execution if Tokili so desires (actually I don't think Tokili got hit once either).
* Stone and Xadriel spent much of the fight keeping Galia and Max from meeting their maker.

After a long battle, Thorn finally succumbed to her wounds. As the party breathed a sigh of relief, they watched in horror as she began to move despite her mortal injuries. Already exhausted, the party braced for a much longer fight.

* Twiggy continued his jaunt around the castle, unaware of the collective panic attack the party was having. Eventually, he wandered too far and activated a cut scene, causing him to be unloaded until the rest of the party joined him.
* Sometime during this, Tokili turned into a giant ape. He proceeded to bat at Thorn for the rest of the fight.
* Near the end of the battle, the wielder of the +2 Shortsword suddenly apparated in the cockpit. No one knows where he has been for the past day but his presence was acknowledged.
* Thorn was fatally wounded a total of 6 times, during which an arm fell off and a few gallons of blood were spilt. Her resiliant existance was finally ended when Stone split her in half with a wall of blades.

## Some Other Stuff

Well that's over and dealt with, CLA destabilized; now all they need to do is leave the premises without being sent back to the Jurassic period and everything's smooth sailing. But before all that the party needs to locate their tree friend Twiggy, no party is complete without him!

Landing the airship in the ancient stone courtyards of ravenloft the party finds it eerily quiet with only the sounds of ⚡️ Heavy Thunder, Fierce Wind & Rain Sounds For Sleeping/Relaxing ~ Lightning Clap Storm Ambience to cut the tension. The foyer was in an even more sorry state, with the characteristic everything being missing. The search is briefly halted as the +2 shortsword and it's wielder once more phase out of existence, so they wait around for him to show up.

Finally the sword reappears and it's at this exact moment they realize there's a massive hole in the corner of the room that leads diagonally downwards to a source of... daylight? Surely the only source of daylight this far down is the one entrapping Strahd. Curiosity piqued, the Barovian Freedom Fighters travel downwards, passing through several rooms that have been cut through like a Dire Wolf's fang through Wolfgang. Arriving at the bottom, Twiggy is facing away from the party; being restrained by some yellow arcane energies. Also there is the devil Strahd Von Zarovich who remains restrained via the projection of daylight.

The wielder of the +2 shortsword begins eating an apple and a bag of chips, loudly

The restrainer is short as hell. He talks like a creep and eats a fistful of dirt mid-conversation. It looks like it volunteered for a Platinum Engineering/CLA joint weapons test of an advanced bioweapon (no eyes, face sagging, body akin to that of a zombie). Holding a staff of what looks to be pure work over time. It's none other than Flix Purpleriver, banished companion... With a vengeance. Before anybody could even get a word out the staff projects harmful-looking energy. all theories about what it might do are silenced when it turns Strahd in to a pile of bones and dust.

#PACKWATCH

REST IN PISS STRAHD VON ZAROBITCH YOU WILL NOT BE MISSED #RIPBOZO

2-0 FOR THE BAROVIA FREEDOM FIGHTERS + PREVIOUS MEMBERS AYOOOOOOOO

The whole party is shaken, the last they'd seen of Flix he was being "Forcibly removed from the equation" by Tokili via a *Banishment* spell. Most of them were silent but some were brave enough to speak up. Xadriel tried to grab the skull, presumably to make a Shakespeare reference but was stopped by Flix. The wielder of the +2 shortsword was not paying attention during either campaigns and is just asking questions about literally nothing. Tokili attempts to offer Flix a luck blade to try and make amends, but Flix did not want it.

Being tired of conversation, Flix attempts to paralyze the whole party but falls just short, as Red and Tokili realized it was a "save with any ability" and just saved 4head. Tokili attempts to stop what's coming with a variety of spells that were all inevitably retconned, but he just lets it happen as he realizes this is (probably) the final campaign boss and this is their first meeting so it's scripted for them to lose.

A metallic platform forms underneath Flix and the party, with Strahd's skull chucked on a platform in the center. Within a moment that took to long to describe the party is unparalyzed in a savanna that was 100% described correctly first with animals that were 100% described at all. The pedestal that contained Strahd's skull a moment prior briefly projects an image of an egg before disappearing beneath their feet.

## Developments

* Nothing else matters, the party is on dinosaur island
* The sun is now included