Session 1

## Synopsis - **Session 1 -** Into The Mists

### **Prologue**

About a week after the events unfolding in Vorgshire, mayor Harvey being arrested and the slaying of the troll, the party takes their time to enjoy the festivities and well earned relaxation.

Bongo, acting as interpreter, helps to usher a symbiotic relationship between the goblin tribe and the citizens of Vorgshire. Learning of each other’s culture, the goblins come to town to learn to tend crop and learn human language. The humans go to the cave and help insulate and decorate, as well as learn their hunting ways. Goblin children and human children are often seen playing.

Most nights, Reffins and Equeeleus enjoy dinner at the Copper Boar with Pins. Brig usually comes in some time later with Catherine.

### **Session 1**

One night while enjoying their usual routine, a tan handsome man with loose clothing and gaudy jewelry enters and approaches the group.

He introduces himself as Arrigal, and bears a letter for the party from his prince, seeking adventurers to help him tame a conquered land.

He gives the party 50 gold as token of his master’s generosity, buys the tavern a round of drinks and leaves.

Reading the letter, the party is intrigued and decide to leave in the morning.

During the night, each player has a dream

> Reffins sees: '*A woman of dark complexion but with white hair, shes crying but has anger in her eyes, she’s surrounded by giant wolves and wolf like monsters standing on their hind legs*.'
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> Equeeleus sees: '*Mists, clouds and mist, and out of the mists a woman of dark complexion with a prosthetic leg walks into view. She stares are you and walks away.*'
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> Brig sees: '*A bald man with a massive beard, he’s wracking his brain with wide eyes and is screaming to himself. As he screams the surrounding area around him turn blindingly bright*.'
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Upon waking, they each find a blank faced card, with a black and green backing with woven tapestry designs.

Pocketing these cards, they each make their way to the dining room to eat and make ready for the journey north.

After packing and making their necessary arrangements, they head out north, into the Svalich woods and into dense fog. Reffins notices that the environment around them changed during one night, they take note and continue their journey.

They spend several days traveling, and end up lost, eventually coming to a clearing that overlooks a valley. In the valley they see a small town in the shadow of a castle on a hill. Finally seeing civilization, they head down again into the mist towards the town.

This time they run into a hooded man, who introduces himself as Davish the hunter. After some small talk, he offers to escort the group to a nearby settlement.

Upon arriving, they notice this is not the town they saw earlier, but an encampment of tents with wagons near a river. Fulfilling his purpose, Davish takes his leave to continue hunting.

Walking into camp, the group are ushered towards the bonfire at the center by a Vistani named Stanimir.

⁃ link stanimir

Stanimir, the patriarch of this particular encampment, invites the group over to eat and drink and party with them. As the group join them, the other Vistani cheer and are fun and full of joy.

He reads Equuleus’s palm and invites her to dance with her son Radka.

Seeing Reffins with an instrument, instructs him to play with the other Vistani who are also gathering their instruments. Playing rather mediocrely, Brig tries to help perform, managing to stay on beat better than his colleague. Equeeleus smitten by his looks, decides with a “hell yeah” to dance with Radka. Though having trouble keeping up and stepping on his toes several times, he manages to make their dance look good.

With a bow, the dance finishes and he returns to his friends who cheer for him.

Stanimir then goes to tell a story:

> *“A mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you’re standing. A very charismatic man, he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil Strahd. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle en masse.*
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> *“When the vampire appeared, the wizard’s peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again.*
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> *“The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other. Their battle flew from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard’s magic couldn’t save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death. I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard’s body, to see if, you know, he had anything of value, but the River Ivlis had already spirited him away.”*
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Party not impressed, he tells another story, this time he spits wine into the fire and the fire dances with images:

Stan fills his mouth with wine and spits in to the fire, the flame turns from orange to green.

As they dance and sway a dark shape appears in the bonfires core.

> *“We come from an ancient land who is name is long forgotten. A land of kings, where our enemies forced us from our homes, and now we wander the lost roads.”*
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The dark shape in the fire takes the form of a man being knocked from his horse, a spear piercing his side.
Stan continues,

> *“One night a wounded soldier staggered into our camp and collapsed. We nursed his terrible injury. He survived. When we asked him who he was he wouldn’t say, all he wanted was to return home. But we were deep in the land of his enemies, we took Him as one of our own, we followed him Back towards his homeland. His enemies hunted him. They said he was a prince, yet we would not give him up, even when their assassins fell upon us like wolves.”*
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Deep in the bonfire, you see the dark figure standing with sword drawn, fighting off a host of shadowy shapes.

“This man of royal blood fought to protect us, as we protected him. We bore him safely to his home and he thanked us. He said “I owe you my life. Stay as long as you like, leave when you choose. And know that you will always be safe here.””

The figure in the dancing fire vanquishes the last final foe, then disperses in a cloud of smoke and embers.

Stanimir’s face becomes a somber mask.

> *“A curse has befallen our noble prince, turning him into a tyrant. We alone have the power to leave his domain. We’ve travelled far and wide to find heroes such as you to end our dread lords curse and put his troubled soul to rest. As we have for many years. We’ve all but given up hope for freeing him, though he remains a fond memory of our time together.”*
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It’s then you notice the jovialness of the camp from has died down. No one is dancing anymore. A few more from the outer sides of the circle come closer and are watching a little more intently.

> *“But for some reason, you people feel different. Could be just an inkling, a feeling in my gut, the same feeling that drew us to our prince. I think you should see Madam Eva, though I am the patriarch of this band, she is many times my elder and many times wiser. She can see many things and tell you many things.”*
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With that, he requests the party’s help in righting the wrong of their prince, directing them to see madam Eva for advice. The trio approach the tent which is said to be Madam Eva's, and as they push back the curtain and enter they see magic flames cast a reddish glow over the interior of this tent, revealing a low table covered in a black velvet cloth. Glints of light seem to flash from a crystal ball on the table as a hunched figure peers into its depths.

Madam Eva ushers the party in, and immediately Brig tries to challenge her magical prowess, to which she ignores. She begins to tell their fortune through tarokka reading. She draws one, and has each party member take one. Each time they’re drawn they float lightly above the table. After the 4th card is drawn, she waves the back of her hand and the cards glow green and turn to reveal a card:

1st Card: The Charlatan - With the revelation of the card, she says this of the card:

> *“This card tells of history. Knowledge of an ancient will. This item will help you understand your enemy. I see a lonely mill on a precipice”*
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2nd Card: The Conjurer - The second card revealed and she says:

> *“This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope. I see a dead village, drowned by a river, ruled by one who has brought great evil into the world.”*
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3rd Card: The Abjurer - The third card revealed and she says:

> *“This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight. I see a fallen house guarded by a great stone dragon. Look to the highest peak.”*
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4th Card: As she motions to reveal this last card, the blank cards from the trio's pockets push their way out and float alongside the remaining cards. With childlike wonder, glee, and bewilderment, she eagerly reveals the cards as:

> *“This card was meant to shed light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against the darkness. It seems you may find more willing to help your cause than intended.”*
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Reffins's Card - The Beast

> *"A werewolf holds a secret hatred for your enemy. Use her hatred to your advantage.”*
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Equuleus's Card - The Mists

> *“A Vistana wanders this land alone, searching for her mentor. She does not stay in one place for long. She comes and goes with the mist on a single leg.”*
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Brig's Card - The Broken One

> *“Your greatest ally will be a wizard. His mind is broken but I fear those who have his ire should he retain himself.”*
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5th: Continuing to reveal the last card, she waves the back of her hand to at last reveal:
The Horseman -

> *"He lurks in the one place to which he must return - a place of death"*
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After the reading, Madam Eva dismisses the party to ponder the readings results, but before she does she singes her signature on the backs of your cards and allows you to keep them.

The party returns to the bonfire and decide to sleep and continue their journey in the morning while the encampment is safe. Before sleeping, Reffins decides to try and seduce Radka, who’s found near the bonfire leaning against a wagon.

Reffins, using his signature line “So, lean here often? I don’t know I haven’t done this in a while.” Followed by laughing hysterically in his face.

Radka, seemingly uninterested, tells Reffins he’s standing guard and that he’s married and asks Brig to whisk Reffins away to sleep as he thinks he drank too much.

Brig does that and sleeps for a few hours. Waking several hours into the night, he goes to use the bathroom near the woods to the south with the intention to steal from a wagon. Using as much stealth as he can manage, he makes his way to the wagon out of eyeshot of any Vistani and manages to grab a pouch out of the wagon and back into the woods. Pretending to come from the bathroom, he makes his way back to camp and goes back to sleep as well.

Sleeping the rest of the night, they wake to see a slowly waking camp. Reffins takes a quick look for Radka who’s nowhere to be seen.

Packing after breakfast, the group head north out of the settlement, opposite of where they entered the camp.

Plunging back into the heart of the fog, they lose themselves quickly again. Try as they might, they just seem to wander and stumble once again upon Davish, who Equuleus notices is eating something raw.

He escorts them once again out of the fog and onto a path, explaining that it’ll lead to civilization eventually.

The party come to an abandoned barn and start inspecting it. Before they can find anything of value, Brig decides to decimate a wall with Eldritch energy and crits it, bringing the building down upon them, though they’re fast enough to make it out

Seeing the wreckage, the party decide to move on and shortly after they come across two children standing in front of a building.

The younger, a boy, is seen crying with a stuffed animal in his hands. His older sibling, his sister, is seen hushing her brother as the adventurers approach. When they get close enough she begins to tell them that there’s a monster in the house with their parents.

Without questioning, the trio immediately head inside, noticing that the buildings adjacent to this one are all dilapidated and clearly in ruins, meanwhile this particular building is pristine and well lit.