Sunny Barovia

 1/30/24 After dispatching the specters, we took a short rest in one of the empty bedrooms to gather ourselves.   Sundown was in about an hour, so rather than rush back to town we decided we’d explore the last of the grounds, then overnight here. On the second level, we headed for the yet unexplored eastern wing.   There were two doors which (we later discovered) led to a balcony area which oversaw the cathedral / altar below.    In the center of this balcony was another thronelike chair, it’s back towards us. Wolfram was first through with Oloch and Dasco close by.   Laz and I observed from the other door. Another armored skeleton was seated on the throne, unmoving.   Wolfram must have recognized or sensed something about it, because he moved to the front and greeted it directly.   The creature turned its head and the two appeared to exchange greetings.   (I was too far away to hear what was being said). Apparently, Wolfram recogni...

 1/23/24 We now found ourselves on the second floor in a room on the North East corner of the building. There was a large painting on the wall, but it had been slashed and was hanging down, drooping to the floor.   I lifted a corer of the canvas, but couldn’t make out what the subject of the painting was.   Laz took the painting and frame off the wall and onto the floor so we could lay the canvas out.   When he did so, we saw it was a landscape showing the castle, apparently in it’s heyday.   In the painting, the castle was whole and resplendent.   What was notable was that the tower had been depicted as emiting some sort of glow. As we pondered that, Dasco pointed at the damage to the canvas and asked, “Are you guys seeing this?” The slash that had rendered the painting nearly in two was mending itself. Within seconds, the slash was gone and the painting made whole.   When it was, a blinding light flashed from the painted tower.   Our eyes ...

 1/16/2024 Hey gang - I actually wasn't present for this session, and it doesn't appear anyone took notes.  However, Abe did put a few things in the Discord server, so I wanted to put them down here too. The Tome of Strahd (Part 1) - Currently in Wolfram's possession I am the Ancient. I am the Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past. I was the warrior, I was good and just. I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god, but the war years and the killing years wore down my soul as the wind wears stone into sand. All goodness slipped from my life. I found my youth and strength gone, and all I had left was death. My army settled in the valley of Barovia and took power over the people in the name of a just god, but with none of a god’s grace or justice. I called for my family, long unseated from their ancient thrones, and brought them here to settle in the castle Ravenloft. They came with a younger brother of mine, Sergei. He was handsome and youthful...

 1/9/24 We retreated back out of the throne room and cleared the southern wing.   Like the rooms below, this part of the building had collapsed, with just the barest remnants of two bedrooms.   We went back to the central area and found an unoccupied room to the east.   We took a short rest and discussed our options.   We decided that rather than clear the north wing, we’d go straight up to check what might be in the tower.   We located a stairway going up and found ourselves on the roof.   In front of us was a partially collapsed, smaller building.   On the northwest corner, we saw a crenellated parapet with the remains of an ancient ballista.   To the east was the tower, with a door at its base.   We decided to take a walk around the roof before trying the tower.   As we moved north, we could see that there was a statue on the roof of the collapsed structure, carved and painted to resemble a silver dragon.   Laz scrambled...

1/2/24 The visceral terror that spontaneously erupts upon first seeing a giant spider was forced aside as we lost ourselves in the discipline of combat.   Blades, arrows and arcane energy dug deep into the advancing arachnids, until one wounded survivor scuttled back over the broken edge of the floor, returnig to it’s lair below.   None of us received more than minor wounds. We caught our breath, and it was noted that the rapidity at which the spiders had appeared meant that Laz really hadn’t had a chance to search the room, and perhaps we should try again. Laz himself agreed, and gave his full moral support to whoever decided to go do that.   He’d be waiting back here in the hall to congratulate whoever returned. Wolfram and Dasco elected to go in.   We roped off Wolfram, but Dasco declined any such safety line.   They emerged a few minutes later, indicating there was nothing of value in the remains of that room. We went to the other (presumably) bedroo...

 12/26/23 From the kitchen, we found our way into the dining hall.   Water puddled at the base of the west wall and there was an opening to the east, which appeared to lead into some sort of chapel.   The room was lit from above with a candelabra which had a permanent flame spell cast upon the candles. The workmanship on the table and chairs was ornate and crafted by a master.   I took time to simultaneously appreciate the artistry and mourn the water damage.   Dasco was doing his normal search of the room, while Wolfram and Laz spoke quietly at the entrance to the chapel.   Three kneeling figures were at the other end, kneeling in front of an altar which bore a symbol very reminiscent of The Morning Lord’s.   They wore rotting clothing and chainmail.   Wolfram stepped back and cautioned us to keep our voices down.   Whatever those three figures were, we decided not to risk disturbing them at this time. We crept through the door on th...