M2S6

## The Deck of Fate

Madam Eva, the Vistani Diviner, reads the party's cards.

“
*It is for you to illustrate it.*
”
— Madam Eva regarding HOPE, the Blank Card.
**The Deck of Fate** was the 6th session of the Strahdborne campaign. In this session, the players recuperated from their defeat at the hands of Strahd, arrived at the Vistani encampment on Tser Pool, and obtained the card reading from the Diviner, Madam Eva.

## Summary

The party arrives at Tser Pool Encampment. After hearing a peculiar story, the players meet Thalia de Marcos, who joins the entourage. Then, the characters enter Madam Eva's tentto finally receive the reading promised to them.

The results of the reading:

* **The Fount of Knowledge:** THE MISSIONARY. "I see a garden dusted with snow, watched over by a scarecrow with a sackcloth grin. Look not to the garden but the guardian of the garden."
* **The Symbol of Hope:** THE EVOKER. "Search for the crypt of a wizard extraordinaire, his staff will be the key to open it."
* **The Blade of Light:** THE MYRMIDON. "Look for a den of wolves on the hills overlooking a mountain lake, the blade is under the care of mother night."
* **The Ally of Righteousness:** THE ARTIFACT. "Look for an entertaining man, with a monkey. This man is more than he seems" (though she noted that Strahd has many enemies and we will be limited only by our personal charisma and persuasiveness, but this fellow will be most important).
* **The End of Evil:** THE TEMPTER. "A secret place, a vault of temptation hidden behind a woman of great beauty. The man you seek will be inside."
* **The Shadow of Barovia:** HOPE. "A blank card. It is for you to illustrate it."

The personal reading:

* Aellun: THE MOON > THE ANARCHIST. "I see walls of bones, a chandelier of bones, and a table of bones: All that remains of enemies long forgotten."
* Arbrek: THE EVERSTONE > THE DRUID. "An evil tree grows atop a hill of graves where the ancient dead sleep. The ravens can help you find it. Look for that which you seek there."
* Gromash: THE HEADSMAN > THE MISER. "Look for a fortress inside a fortress, in a place hidden behind fire."
* Lo-thak: THE PHANTOM > THE SHEPHERD. "Find the mother: She who gave birth to evil."
* Thalia: THE BALANCE > THE SWASHBUCKLER/THE WARRIOR. "The skeleton of a deadly warrior, lying on a bed of stone and flanked by gargoyles/The womb of darkness, the devil's lair, the one place to which he must return."

## Quests

### New

* **The Fount of Knowledge (Everyone):** Discover the source of knowledge below the guardian of a garden.
* **The Symbol of Hope (Everyone):** Claim the holy symbol by finding the tomb of a great wizard with a famous staff.
* **The Blade of Light (Everyone):** Wield the sunlight blade in the den of wolves near the moonlit lake.
* **The Ally of Righteousness (Everyone):** Identify your pivotal ally, the man in disguise.
* **The Shadow of Barovia (Everyone):** Defeat Strahd
* **The Moon (Aellun):** Find the place filled with bones, for the clues you seek lie there.
* **The Everstone (Arbrek):** The power you seek lies within an evil tree, growing atop a hill of graves.
* **The Headsman (Gromash):** Find the fortress within the fortress, which contains the treasure you seek.
* **The Phantom (Lo-thak):** Find the location of the one who gave birth to evil, for she is the key to your goals.
* **The Balance (Thalia):** Discover the whereabouts of that which you seek.

### Ongoing

* **A Throw for the Ages (Everyone):** Suplex Strahd.
* **With Friends Like These... (Lautrec):** Leverage your newfound position to accomplish your aims.
* **Under New Management (Everyone):** Investigate the coven of hags at Old Bonegrinder mill.

### Completed

* **The Deck of Fate (Everyone):** Find Madam Eva's people. Find Madam Eva and obtain a reading of the future.

## Reflections

* **Aellun:** "I'm... awake? For a moment there I thought... Where are we? There's people moving about, seems to be a camp, but I thought we were a few days away from the Vistani gathering place? Then again, I could swear it has been far longer. That was more than sleep, I can feel it in my bones, as if I'd passed for a lifetime. The pain... is just a relic of what it was. I know I am drained and in need of fluids, yet somehow do not feel the weaker for it. What remains is beneath the surface - present, but contained in the midst of something more important. It's a skill I knew as a young man, something I thought I lost in that dragon's dungeon... it's a strength I must nurture once again. Strahd thinks he has us broken, and my friends may be dismayed, but gathering their spirits in defiance will only bring his wrath upon us again. We have already lost Lautrec to that spirit, I will not let any other give themselves up trying to prove him wrong. However much it would dismay them, we must allow the beast Strahd to revel in his victory. Strahd will lose interest if we do not challenge him, and it is with his gaze turned that we might strike. A man he might seem, but he's a creature of the dark, and we will have to blend into his shadow to pursue him, even if it means darkening our own hearts. To hide our claws and stalk in the gloom, alone in a space beyond hope, just waiting till opportunity arises... just like the Owlguard, so many years ago."
* **Example:** "Example"
* Thalia: "I have yet to be in this land a week and I have already failed my first objective. I have located the travelling companions of ex-inspector Lautrec Volker, as our informants described - a one-armed goliath, a half-orc, a dwarf (apparently from Mzundelft - treat with suspicion), and an old elf in very poor condition. I have no idea how I managed to arrive here ahead of them - Barovia is as illogical as it is obscure. They tell me that they barely survived battle with this land's despotic ruler Strahd von Zarovich - a vampire, and apparently both Lautrec's killer and his new master. My plan was to enlist Lautrec's aid in tracking down my second target, but I am too late. Even if I can find Lautrec now and inform him that justice is being served, he could never return to Roulan or his old position now, and I highly doubt von Zarovich would release him. I will have to consider Lautrec as a rogue agent, to be dealt with accordingly. Fortunately, his former companions seem intent on laying him to rest, so I can salvage my mission to ensure that Lautrec receives his justice...one way or another. I have never believed in fortune telling - of course I know of divination magic, but I've seen my fair share of fortune tellers and card readers to know that most 'divination' is mere charlatanism. Madam Eva is clearly no charlatan. After everything I've seen in Barovia, I would be a fool to discount her predictions. My targets - the Swashbuckler and the Warrior - will both be found in locations under Strahd's watch. My original plan of a quick and quiet extraction must be discarded, and I must prepare for inevitably coming face to face with this Strahd von Zarovich."

## Appendix

Strahdborne Sessions
**Chapter 1: The Gates of Barovia**
 Session 1 · Session 2 · Session 3 · Session 4 · Session 5 · **Session 6**

 **Chapter 2: The Fall of Vallaki**
 Session 7 · Session 8 · Session 9 · Session 10 · Session 11 · Session 12 · Session 13 · Session 14 · Session 15 · Session 16 · Session 17 · Session 18 · Session 19 ·

 **Chapter 3: The Muster at Krezk**
 Session 20 · Session 21 · Session 22 · Session 23 · Session 24 · Session 25 · Session 26 · Session 27 ·