Act 1, Scene 9: Vallaki: The Orphanage

Faced with a delicate situation in a town full of them, the party agreed to split up three ways, in case Milivoj was in the orphanage and tried to bolt. Osrin and Ayduin staked out the back, to guard that line of escape, while Ireena and Ri-An settled in across the street by the cemetery, to keep an eye on the front of the building. Sylvain and Bodaway went inside, to see whether or not they could find their missing gravedigger and solve this case in time to pick up their clothes.

Upon knocking, the pair were introduced by a wide-eyed orphan to Headmistress Claudia Belasco, the one (1) certified adult assigned to these many children. Ms Belasco admitted that yes, Milivoj was indeed there, but that the pair would have trouble having any conversations with him, as he'd been unconscious with fever for over a day now. Somewhat suspicious of their motives — particularly between Bodaway keeping his face covered and not being entirely honest about why he did so — she questioned both men briefly, before one tidbit caught her attention: Bodaway's background as an investigator.

Seeming to decide she might be able to trust the pair — whether because of their charms or her own desperation, even she may not know — she confessed that Milivoj's illness wasn't the only trouble the orphanage had been having lately. One of her young wards had died a couple weeks before after an alleged accident. Other children had found themselves with mysterious wounds and bad dreams. Three orphans had run away since the death. She suspected something nefarious was at work, but had been unable to unravel the mystery herself — would they help?

Suspecting these events may somehow be tied to the theft of the bones, the pair agreed to investigate, asking to have a look at Milivoj first. She led them to his room, where they found the young man damp with feverish sweat in the middle of a troubled rest, visibly ill. Upon examining Milivoj, Bodaway came to the conclusion the ailment was magical in nature, more curse than illness. He suspected it had to do with the theft of the saintly bones and, with a mind to both free Milivoj of his curse and restore the hallowed ground Ireena sought, he asked if the orphanage had a basement or an attic they might look at to see if any clues (or, y'know, skeletons) were hidden there.

Ms Belasco stated that there was no basement, but the building did indeed have an attic — so she led them up there, with all three of them startled to discover a young boy sat up there by the window, carving a little wooden doll.

The headmistress greeted the young man as Felix — the boy, as it turned out, who had been playing with the boy who died before his "accident." It was obvious that the child unsettled Ms Belasco, and it didn't take long for Sylvain and Bodaway to see why. There was a distinctly unsettling nature to the child, who seemed all too amused at their presence there. Just as they were about to make their excuses and retreat to evacuate the building and get their reinforcements, Felix slumped back, unconscious, with a great cloud of smoky shadow erupting from his every pore, taking the form of a horrifying creature with long limbs and claws, and the vague impression of a face.

Downstairs, Osrin and Ayduin watched a pair of teenaged girls gossip in Barovian, with Osrin providing her best guesses at translation, improvising a soap opera for Ayduin's amusement. Across the street, Ireena and Ri-An were somewhat startled to see none other than Vasili von Holtz strolling down the street, greeting them both warmly. Ri-An was suspicious at first, but seemed a little more inclined to talk to him once he started complimenting Grghshnq.

Upstairs, the fight went sour fast for Sylvain and Bodaway. Once again, Sylvain was almost knocked out with a single blow from the demon's shadowy claws. He made his way towards the window, ordering Ms Belasco to evacuate the building. Outside, Ayduin noticed a raven flying to alight on the sill of the attic window — only to jump back, squawking wildly, as Sylvain's thrown dagger broke the window a moment later. Inside, the creature focused its attacks on Bodaway, but Bodaway neatly avoided them. Eventually, it retreated into Felix's form, and before it could flee, Sylvain grabbed Felix and, spotting a gold chain around the boy's neck, told Bodaway they had to get the chain off his neck. Bodaway reached to do so, and Sylvain realized their mistake at about the same moment Bodaway found himself in the back seat of his own mind.

Meanwhile, Ayduin and Osrin had realized something was amiss, charging through the backyard and the back door of the orphanage, rather alarming the teenagers they'd been spying on, though both girls seemed to go from startled to excited when they saw Ayduin's handsome elven face. Osrin made a slightly different impression, rushing into a room full of children with a battleaxe.

Out front, Ri-An and Ireena noticed the raven flying overhead, and Ri-An learned that hurting ravens is a no-no in Barovia. Hearing cries from within the orphanage — the result of Osrin and Ayduin's failed attempts to convince the orphans they meant no harm — the three rushed to the front door with Grghshnq, to see what had gone wrong.

In the attic, Sylvain dodged an attack from the now-possessed Bodaway, who had thrown on the demon's cursed locket, leaving Felix a shivering, terrified mess, abruptly back in control of his mind for the first time in months. Trying to figure out how to help his friend without hurting him, Sylvain began making his way towards the door. Just in time, Osrin arrived, gripping Sylvain's leg to heal some of the damage he'd already sustained from the demon. He had just enough time to let her know what had happened before the demon leapt from Bodaway's body, scraping its claws down Sylvain's body again and knocking him unconscious.

Thus began Osrin and Ayduin's battle with their possessed friend, some Vallakian guards' battle to get to the fight before it was over, and Ri-An's battle with stairs. One by one, Bodaway and Sylvain's allies arrived, with Ayduin and Osrin knocking Bodaway out, leaving the demon to flee back into the locket. Removing it carefully — more carefully, after nicking his unconscious friend's throat open — Ayduin set it down on the ground and, once everyone had been roused, the gang had a grand ol' time beating the crap out of a locket. In the end, though, it was Grghshnq who got the killing blow, while Vasili comforted the traumatized child and one extremely confused Vallakian guard watched on while his companion ran for holy water.

The next hour or so was a blur of trying to explain the situation to the guards. Thankfully, between Sylvain and Vasili's fast talking and Ms Belasco's testimony, it was agreed that the newcomers probably weren't responsible for whatever demon crap had happened, and had probably helped out overall. In particular, once they realized the party was planning on paying a visit to the burgomaster anyway, they said they'd report to him and leave any questions he had for him to ask in person.

Claudia had no money to spare in thanks, but she did offer the party a couple of healing potions, as well as the opportunity to speak to Milivoj, who had finally awoken. In exchange, Sylvain offered Claudia money for some repairs for the damage that had been done, and asked if she could ensure Felix be given something to do — something to make him feel useful and give him a sense of purpose rather than to dwell on what had happened to him. He suggested speaking to Father Petrovich, to see if the church might have tasks for him.

In speaking with Milivoj — specifically, Sylvain and Bodaway, while Ayduin and Osrin kept watch on the other side of the door and Ri-An and Ireena took Vasili out to "check on the children" (ie: not spy) — our heroes learned that he had indeed stolen the bones, after mentioning their existence to the coffin-maker, Henrik van der Voort. Henrik had asked him shortly after to steal the bones, offering modest payment in return — but by Milivoj's standard of living, it was significantly more than he made in a month at the church, and could provide several meals at the orphanage.

Reassuring him that they had no intention of getting him or Yeska in trouble with the law, the pair got all the information they could out of him, assuring him that they'd see what they could do to fix the situation.

Meanwhile, outside, both Ri-An and Ireena failed their Perception checks to notice that Vasili had positioned himself right by Milivoj's window, where he could hear every word being said.

Satisfied they'd gotten all the information they'd be able to get out of Milivoj, the group headed away from the orphanage, with Vasili tagging along and helpfully offering to help Ireena run errands while the injured among them rested up. No one was thrilled at this idea, since at this point pretty much everyone had decided Vasili was sus. Ayduin and Ri-An volunteered to go along with them, with Osrin, Sylvain, and Bodaway staying behind at the inn, and so our heroes began to recover from their first near-death experience of the day.

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