Rowan/Notes

###  House Rules

 --- When you are above an enemy, you have 3/4 cover from them, and you gain a +2 to hit them.

###  Session Zero --- 10-5-2023

Other Players

* Skye ---- "Atka" -- tall native american wolf-mask barbarian
* Chelsey - "Anya" -- slight Scottish-irish gunslinger, elaborate dress
* Anne --- "Ruby Ainsley" -- long black dress, hat (wide brimmed) and scarf also black -- most of her body covered. Tidy, metal buttons is shiny. Darting eyes and sadness. Austere Victorian dress.
* Lars ---- "Stick" --

Over 300 years ago, Van Helsing defeated Dracula -- was a member of the Order of the Dragon. Was a hero in a battle, after his death strange things happened in the area. His body couldn't be found, symptoms of vampire in the area. Dr. Helsing, a Dutchman, had been researching creatures of myth and took some companions with him to hunt down the cause. Over 3 expeditions into the Transylvanian mountains. He was not a fighter, but surrounded himself with competent fighters. Members of the expedition went missing, and the last (on the 3rd) was found in pieces around the camp. A taunt. Van Helsing tried again, a fourth time -- able to track down Dracula, a newly-born higher vampire, needing massive amounts of blood to survive the transmutation. He antagonized them and claimed not to be Vlad Tepesh anymore, and taunted them as he played with them. Helsing fired a bolt tipped with silver and blessed by local priests, fired it and hit true. Dracula transformed to a batlike demon... as they killed him, he shouted in Latin, over and over "As was promised, they will come for me -- I will not perish, for my journey is just beginning". The fight took hours. As the sun touched his flesh he died, turned to ash soot and steam. Helsing returned home with the rest of his expedition, and they founded the Syndicate for Paranormal and Cryptozoological Research. They were once hundreds, but their numbers have dwindled... we are few now, but our job must still be done.

Today: Brasov. The birthplace of the order, in Romania. The largest wolf population in central Europe. Lots of legends, some may be true. Locals have lots of legends. Ureas -- giants slumbering beneath the mountain forests, waiting for their inevitable return.

Memory: ME! in the library. I pull out the journal from its hiding place, back of a shelf. Referencing several books. Runic rubbings, Magic is as easy as 1,2,3. Plus THE journal. And a King James Bible. I flip through the Journal. I come to the phrase, written in Latin in the Journal, but in English in the bible... "Then the third angel poured out his bowl into the rivers and the springs of waters, and they became blood..." Two figures come to the door, saying I'm poking around too much, I know too much and too little. I can't remember their apperarances... fuzzy to my mind. They seem familiar, but I can't recall them specifically. The strangest thing was that they were so late at night.

Present: I was dreaming. I wake, in a train car. Uncomfortable sleeper car. I'm here with Anya, she gets up as we arrive, pulls out the Syndicate Coin (we each have one) -- it has White Heather on one side, the letters SPCR around it, and on the other side the X+P (Chi-Ro) symbol. Pure silver. We also have a postcard, from Brasov -- the black church is circled.

* All the symbols the Syndicate uses for these coins are symbolic of good luck or protection for the wearer. More identification purposes... they change the symbols every couple of years.
* Coin's last symbol was a Gorgoneion before the white heather - gorgon head surrounded by 3 wings
* Chi-Ro is greek, shortened form of greek word for Christ.
* White heather is Apatropaeic magic -- luck magic. Meant as a good-luck warding. Grows in Scotland, people all over Europe use it as goodluck charm

We enter Brasov. Chilly, we took an overnight train. Foggy. I lend Anya my coat, she is cold. (Cuddles close to me) We strike out towards the center of town. Brasov is not yet part of Romania, still part of Austro-Hungarian empire. I use 2 Bardic Inspirations to help Anya with some rich lady's motorcar (she is quite rude, not worth it, poor footman). We walk for a ways... narrow encounter with a carriage in the street. Rowan uses prestidigitation to dry Anya from the puddle she stepped in. Anya warns Rowan not to be so obvious.

We get a good view of Castle Brann -- been there since 1388, now in disrepair. We know it's currently housing for foresters of Brasov... not really cared for. We continue following the rich lady's instructions, we reach the church. Light dusting of snow, last of the fall colors. We see two figures in front.......

SKYE + ANNE --- They arrived in Brasov a couple days ago. They step up to the front steps of the church, taking it in... we meet with them. They size us up, weirdly we don't exchange names but we all verify we're all there for the same reason with coins and postcards. We enter the church -- Atka opens it for us after my failed attempt. There's some clergy around, tidying after the morning service. One of them comes up to us and talks.... wants to know why we're here. I show the coin. They are like "Oh... go about your business I guess..." and point at another person near a confessional. We meet STICK, who is creepy. Their mosquitos only show up when we're close... might be hidden by Glimmer?

We are encouraged by the nosy clergy member to check the confessional. Stick checks the nearby confessional, finds a coin slot, and slots their coin in. The inside of the confessional descends towards the basement with Atka, Stick, and Ruby in tow. Rowan and Anya find another confessional and start descending a bit later. Ruby has a panic attack inside the confessional... Atka helps.

In the basement... our coins have return trays, we pick them up. Here, it's a vaulted ceiling. It's a laboratory for electrical (?) stuff. A bolt arcs between cages. (Used horseshoe stored roll here) A drudenfuss flag is hanging on the back wall -- upside down pentagram on a yellow field, over a blue river. Funny that this image is below a church.... LOL. Man there, wearing militaresque british clothing. Late 30s, confident, tired, tall. Holsters for guns, plus a rapier over the shoulder. "Good, you're all here. I'm Theodore Wallace, station operator here in Brasov." Faded scars on his forearms, also a couple of tattoos -- probably someone who served in the military. "three joined in one" in latin, meaning the UK. Probably pretty patriotic to get tattoos of it.

We go round and introduce ourselves again. He explains: Ungera, a village north of here, has villagers going missing with strange viscous clear liquid found at the sites. Strange nightmares being experienced by villagers. Similarities to vampires, and "bruxa"... shares similarities with an "alp". Sheer lack of subtlety implies succubi, also reminds of Druud. Looks back towards drudenfuss flag, might be correlation. They sent Gavril Lackenborn to the same site a few months back. Local farm animals were missing, he was local to the area. Wallace didn't go along, and Lackenborn phoned from Ungera saying he'd found remnants, maybe direwolf traces. Shouldve been an easy wrapup, but that was the last they'd heard of. He hopes we will do better, and he's gonna go along with us. (He seems tired and stressed... he's probably spread really thin over surrounding area too. Not overly anxious or worried at the moment, but sadness at the loss of Gavril. Seems concerned when he talks about that. Definitely out of the ordinary that he's going with us.) 3-hour horseback to a nearby village, there's a boatman there waiting to take us to Ungera.

Karpathian Goat --- little village nearby, a devil arrived in the form of a goat. It danced, caused the dead to rise and turn to ash, causing the locals distress. A local bishop chased it off with a stick. The bishop died, and his buttons turned from brass to silver and his stick turned to gold. One of his buttons is available to us, as an object we could take and use.

###  Session Two (Recap) --- 10-12-2023

* We split up the magic and mundane items that Theodore.
* We spend some time shopping for lunch supplies -- we buy a comically large sausage from an old lady, a couple other meats, some bread, and three cheeses. Jam as well.
* We spend some time travelling by riverboat -- 5-6 hrs. Rowan attempts to make friends with Atka, only gleans that she has hunted monsters in America, and she's from a tribe. Rowan also makes friends with Ruby, and they reference magic with each other subtly. Rowan believes she is a witch of some kind now... was NOT involved in Salem, thank goodness.
* We hear some commotion in the water, one of the crew is snatched
* 3 Rusalkas -- similar to Naiads, they are invisible to mundane humans.
* We start combat, get through 1 round...

###  Session Three (Recap) --- 10-19-2023

* Rowan hands Ruby his potion of Boldness.
* We successfully fight off the Rusalkas, but they parted the water around the boat and tore a hole in it.
	+ Ruby patched it with ice -- she seems to have magic, but chaotic?
	+ I explained it away with "science"... they bought it for the moment
* One of the crew died... I used the ring to cast Modify Memory on them -- they believe they ran into a rock, and their crewmate drowned while trying to free the boat from the rock.
* We disembark in the village -- Ungera -- and look for an inn. Stick goes off by himself, and finds a straaaange raven. Eyes are vacant and dead. We ask for directions, a fisherman directs us then says, cryptically... "Careful." (of what?) "I don't... know...?"
* We meet up at the inn and discuss the raven. Probably forcefully possessed, not transformed creature or willing servant.
* We walk in, there's an old woman with a music box......

###  Session Four --- 11-2-2023

* Older woman (50) has an apron, a towel -- the tavern is pretty dead inside, she's continually cranking at a music box. Seems tired.
	+ Doesn't even notice us till we speak to her directly... she asks why we're here -- remote, late, we are eclectic... Atka says "We are here to help, I am familiar with the spirits of the land and thought I could be of help."
	+ She seems hard to convince, but in no condition to argue... there's four others in here, they all seem tired and fidgety.
	+ Stick joins us, Anya stays outside to observe people patterns and get to know their habits for a while.
* Old woman returns with stew, name is Magdah. We ask her questions.
	+ Disappearances, yes, started 3 weeks ago. Too many to account for people leaving.
	+ Isabella was taken 3 days ago... her daughter. No more than 1 or 2 a night disappear.
	+ Village leader might know more... Grygori Lansten. Unofficial post, but generally trusted.
	+ Disappearances are "there one night, gone the next morning."
	+ Magdah hasn't had nightmares... till her daughter passed away that is.
* Anya has a lively conversation with the remaining two patrons -- a 45y.o. and a 20s aged guy, Livius Grozah. Plays some drinking games with them. Wants to talk to them about their nightmares tomorrow.
* Theodore asks after Gavril. Magdah has his stuff... he was in and out, then didn't come back after a while. We take it to distribute later.
* Rowan casts Suggestion and gives Magdah some painkillers to hopefully help her pass a good night's sleep.
* Gavril's Stuff:
	+ 3 small silver bars, 15 Romanian silver coins, steel pan with lots of pinpricks in the bottom, and a handwritten journal.
	+ Journal contains lots of random thoughts, findings, to-do lists, some in English and some in Romanian
	+ Something about all this doesn’t sit right with me. These disappearances are more than what I’ve been tracking could orchestrate. The canine is merely a pawn or unrelated coincidence... Something else out there. Intelligent. Some of the livestock were drained. I haven’t run into any lower Vampires in years around here. Shit, if it’s a Mula, Alp, or Bruxa this will be tricky. Investigating the townsfolk to learn more about the comings and goings of the locals. If it’s that intelligent it could be among them…
	+ Has a list of people he'd like to talk to... and nothing after that.
		- The Doctors - married doctor couple newer to town
		- The Elder - village leader
		- Katerina - herbalist
	+ Alps tan to the point of being ebony if out in the sun too long. They prefer to prey on sleeping people and creatures. Alps are always female, and have pointed ears in their humanoid form. Can force people to sleep.
	+ Bruxas are also female, sharp claws in their animal form, have piercing shriek which they let out from a distance. They sometimes sing.
	+ Mulas are always male. Not afraid of daylight, they usually feed at night. They can become invisible.
* Vampires -- What Rowan Knows
	+ Higher Vampires -- Dracula was supposed to be one. NOT affected by daylight. Do not go shiny. Vanishingly rare... most would never be discovered, going easily unnoticed in society. Myths about them being immortal.
	+ Normal Vampires -- NOT affected by daylight. Do not go shiny. Sentient. SOME of them can go disguised around normal people.
	+ Lower Vampires -- animalistic and brainless, thralls. Been converted partway, closer to zombies than people. Follow orders of their master. Also applies to creatures that exhibit vampiric qualities. These ARE affected by daylight.
	+ Most higher and normal vampires have a bestial and a humanoid form, there's a sliding scale of how strong each form is for different subtypes and individual vampire cases. Some vampires DO have some relation to sleep and dreams.
	+ "The Alp" - a mythological European creature that was mythically tied to sleep paralysis.
	+ In 300 years, there's been about 100 accounts of firsthand confirmed Normal Vampires by Syndicate members. There's probably a few dedicated Vampire Hunters in the Syndicate that run into more than the average amount.
	+ Vampires have ties to blood magic (probably) which has ties to demonic power (probably) so salt might have a deterring effect on them.
* We spend the night in the inn, and trap our rooms' windows with noisemakers. We set a watch, Rowan stays up to read (1 point of exhaustion).

### Session Five --- 11-10-2023

* I lost all my notes for this because I DIDNT SAVE...
* Ruby and I snooped around, and found out that the guy who stayed over last night has marital issues... has a permanent room rented out here. His name is Alek, his wife is Krykski.
* We learned that Livius Drazkoi's parents are the doctors. Says they are people of science. He has a symbol carved / scratched into his neck. Same symbol from Rowan's book, this is a mysterious language that has ties to demons? Not a "good" or even a "neutral" language.
* We investigated the daughter's room... not a lot of evidence. Her shoes are still there... so she left without shoes. There are scratches around the windowsill from the outside. We suspect charms?? or compulsion.
* There's a set of symbols scratched above Isabella's door... says "Worthy".

### Session Six --- 12-7-2023

* Rowan, Ruby, Atka are going to the doctors.
* Anya, Stick, and Theodore are team Necks.
* At the doctors' home, we come in and the woman doctor takes us back to examine us. She has Ruby stand and looks her up and down. She mentions she "has a knack for seeing what's wrong with people" and adds that Ruby's eyes "tell a story".
* She is defensive and doesn't believe anything has happened. They've been giving people sleeping medication, and none of the ones who've come to them have returned, she says proudly. (Maybe because the doctors don't take them seriously?)
* Says some people have rashes, but they've prescribed a topical cream. Her husband comes in. He seems like a man of science and learning. Ruby takes issue with his dismissiveness of superstition, and turns a tiny bit rude. "You should pay attention to what people SAY."
* Husband doctor believes Rowan is a perfect "up-n-coming doctor", seems to want to latch onto this image since his son didn't have any interest in the family business. Rowan... leans into this a bit. Asks about the people who have itches, to see if it "might be an infection from an insect bite".
	+ The doctors give us a list of people with scratches.
* Atka also sees jars that look homemade, among the more clinical jars of ingredients. She inquires, and apparently these have been obtained from the herbalist Katerina, who the doctors have little like for. She ALSO apparently labeled the ingredient bottles in the mystery language!!! The labels were ripped off mostly... but Rowan learned three letters.
* Anya and Stick hear a rumor of a lady sitting near someone's bed.
* Anya learns of 3 different homes where someone disappeared. Stick goes to investigate. Finds more runic carvings, scratches, and remnants of a syrupy colorless goop left on the pillow. The goop has a numbing / paralytic effect that spreads from any contact point.
* Stick also found tracks, leading roughly north from the windows on the houses. Barefoot humanoid footprints. He decides to follow for around an hour... runs into 3 little bats?
* We meet back up just before noon, and compare notes. MOST LIKELY an Alp....
	+ We've heard about the first house, heard there was a liquid, found the "Foul" inscriptions. We know there was a set of footprints leading north from the first house. Haven't heard anything from the second house.
	+ A raven watches us... flies off

### Session Seven --- 12-14-2023

* We think Stick is taking too long... we go to the third house to find him. We see a trail leading away from the house. Benji (Anya's Dog) picks up trail of Stick's scent.
* Rowan finds a carving in one of the interior doorframes... the outer side of the bedroom door, WELL hidden. Says one of the things that I found last time.
* We follow the trail, blood and stuff. They don't really care about leaving traces or getting branches etc out of their way... as straight as they can.
* We find Stick, who found a guy at the river. Probably vampire spawn? Water burns them. Standing at a little stream, not moving, staying in the shadow. He heals passively.
* We discuss, we want to help them cross...
* Ruby had a vision where she DISAPPEARED from reality for a few seconds. She had a dream...
* We talked to a little shepherd boy who followed us. He wants to find his brother. We convince him to go back home, he will take us to the herbalist tomorrow.
* Stick uses his bugs to help the guy across. The guy struggled, looked around, and then continued on his merry straight path.
* We have an out of character scene where a couple of kids are running through the woods... boy is sick. Boy convulses, girl is dragged away by a hulking figure.

### Session Eight --- 1-4-2024

* We decide to continue following the creature/villager/turned person. We aren't the quietest... but we wanna see if we can see its neck, and maybe still get away and follow it to its lair?
* COMBAT!
	+ Rowan uses a 1st-Lv. Spell for Hold Person
	+ Also an Inspiration for the Lucky Horseshoe
	+ Also a 4th-level spell for Bestow Curse
	+ Vampire spawn had writing in the secret language on its neck...
	+ It's hoarse calls attracted 3 phantom skeletons of romanian soldiers
	+ They spoke Romanian, said something like "You can't defeat him" and wanted us to leave. Turned to ash after death.
* Afterwards, we see a raven. Aine shoots it. Stick inspects... found a cloudy eye. Other eye normal. Aine keeps the eye, its cloudy all the way round.

### Session Nine --- 1-25-2024

* We head back towards the village. Have dinner at the tavern -- stew and bread -- then retire for the night.
* Stick sleeps on the roof, Aine socializes, Theo stays in common room, Rowan/Atka/Ruby check bedroom doorframes and retire early.
	+ Nothing but scratches on one of the windows exterior. Must've been made before the warding jars.