Sunny Barovia

 7/19/2022 So the vampires went for it, but not for the reasons we expected. We discussed our plan.   Because Laz has had a better than average rapport with Strahd in the past, we asked that he be our mouthpiece. I have to hand it to him, Laz definitely knows how to kiss someone’s ass.   He drew the process out a bit, until finally Strahd started getting impatient.   We eventually facilitated the release of the prisoners who cooperated, the prisoners who didn’t as well as the innocents that had just been caught up in it. We were just about to send Victor and his father out, when Lady Petrova became nearly hysterical.   “Not my son!” she cried.   “I’ll go with him!” Given that our plan hinged on her remaining in the home to establish ownership, we decided that we’d tie up Victor and he’d remain until morning as well. Laz  conveyed  to Strahd that Ladies Petrovna and Ireena as well as young Victor would remain until morning.   At that...

  7/12/2022 We took a few beats to collect ourselves.   As Wolfram was healing himself, he told us he heard chanting behind the door.   “It sounds like someone’s trying to cast a spell.   We need to get in there before they complete it…” he cautioned. I supervised the cooperating guards in tying up the now living (but unconscious) Izek, as well as the other unconscious guards.   “Fin and I will be there in a moment, but we don’t want these bastards unsecured behind us.” The chanting stopped. We looked at each other, and Laz put his ear to the door.   On the other side he heard someone say, “What are you doing?   Are you sure this will work?” Laz started checking the door.   There was a decorative skull carved into the door itself, and a sign hanging off the knob that said, “All is NOT well.” Laz checked the knob for traps, and I looked closer at the skull.   Laz found a small glyph carved in with part of the skull and pointed it o...

 7/5/2022 We decided to try an engage the defenders in a dialog.   We asked to speak with Sgt. Van (whom we had just encountered) but were told by a Sgt. Franz that he was unavailable.   Wolfram told them that we were just trying to get the innocents out as the mob was ready to burn the building down.   Sgt. Franz yelled back that since they would just be torn apart by that same mob if they surrendered, they didn’t have a lot of choice. Wolfram offered to guarantee their safety if they surrendered.   I thought I better verify that and opened the front door. The mist was even thicker now.   I called out that I wished to speak with Lord Strahd.   Within seconds, he coalesced on the porch beside me.   I explained the situation and asked if he or Lady Wachter would guarantee the safety of those that surrendered.   He said that any combatant that surrendered would be taken into custody for a fair trial of their involvement.   I toyed wi...

  6/28/2022 As Strahd promised, the mist moved in to cover our approach to the rear of the manor, but there was something in the swirls and eddies that told me we weren’t the only ones moving in it.   I cautioned the others, which had the effect of making the other “things” stop.   We thought this cover would give us a stealthier approach, but the limited visibility caused some of us to trip, curse and generally bang around in their armor.   I never thought this old man would be stealthier than these hard-ass warriors. The Burgomaster's Manse We got to the door and Laz picked the lock, only to discover it was also barred from the other side.   Since we had already made a fair amount of noise on our approach, Dasco tried kicking the door in.   It shuddered but remained in place.   Finn started laying in with his hammer while Wolfram and Dasco alternated kicking it.   This drew suppressive arrow fire from the roof, but the mist kept the archers ...