Sunny Barovia

  6/18/24 Day 39 The skeleton asked, “Do I know you?” Oloch looked back, presumably to see who the skeleton was talking to. The creature took a step towards him, “I said, do I know you?” Oloch responded, “Um…no?   Maybe?” To be fair, I was still in the other room, looking through the doorway, but I could see the top half of the skeleton.   Specifically, the red embers where it’s eyes should be. I had just seen those burning red eyes a few minutes ago. This was no simple undead.   I suspected that this was a very powerful, and very dangerous Lich.   I stepped forward and said, “Tenebrous?   Are you Tenebrous?   Perhaps you do know us. Or maybe you will know us.   There may be a timeline issue here.” It turned its gaze toward me. “No,” he said, “I am not Tenebrous.   Though Tenebrous is the one who gave me this gift.   I have several names. Some know me as the Lord Under the Mountain.   Others know me as The Committe...

 6/11/24 Day 39 As I said, vampires. Laz moved in first and struck one before they knew what was happening, then stepped back.   I scooted around him and cast Slow on the group.   It slid off most of them, but two were definitely affected.   I then moved forward to make room for the others. The Bloodspear flew back and forth from the fissure to a vampire and back, before Dasco stepped into the room to claim it. Suddenly, the room was filled with light as bright as noon on a clear summer day.   Wolfram had activated the Amulet of the Ravenkind.   All the vampires reacted with hisses and shrieks, trying to shield their eyes.   Smoke started to rise from them as their skin crackled under the light.   They tried escaping up the stairs.   The ones not affected by my slow spell shoved their way past the two who had been.   Oloch and Ireena slashed into one of the slow ones while Kasimir and I peppered it with firebolts. One blood...

 6/14/24 Day 39 I should clarify, the sword in question wasn’t really a sword, so much as the hilt of a sword; The broken remains of a blade could be seen emerging from the hilt.   Nevertheless, the urge to pick it up and run was strong.   However, we agreed that it was likely that as soon as we did, it would either wake this giant statue, set off some sort of trap or both.   Additionally, Kasimir had been clear that he would only help us after we had helped him find what he sought in this temple.   If we were to take the hilt now, it was unlikely that we would be able to continue exploring. We decided to return to the shattered bedroom on the west side of the temple to take another short rest.   Kasimir used Prestidigitation to warm the room while we rested.   Once we were feeling a bit better, I ritually summoned Woodhouse to be our light bearer.   We went back into the main chamber to clear the room in the Northwest corner. The room wa...

 5/14/24 Day 39 I don’t know what exactly Oloch was facing off against.   Imagine a 6-foot humanoid frog-like creature with horns or spikes on its backs and arms.   It was using a sword, so there was some level of intelligence to it. Kasimir cast Magic Missile, but the creature shrugged it off.  Lady Ireena cast Spiritual Guardians and was surrounded by ghostly warrior women of her past lives. She walked in and they started slashing the hell out of the creature. Laz got in a sneak attack and Wolfram started smiting for all he was worth.   Dasco threw his Bloodspear and I cast Slow on the creature, but it didn’t take.   I know I cast it correctly, but it was like it just slid off it. In response, the creature uttered something in a guttural language and made an arcane gesture.   I recognized too late that it was casting its own spell.   Immediately, we were surrounded with an oily greenish yellow cloud.   Yup.   Using weapons and ...

(Thanks to Abe for authoring!)  5/21/24 Day 39 Despite it being fairly close to the rest of Barovia, the Amber Temple is a near-mythological place. Throughout all of my lives, none of us have ever approached it, let alone explored it. This was new ground, for all of us. Since my friends and I arrived and began exploring its frigid chambers and halls, I have spent considerable time, unnoted by the others, examining the intricately carved walls and doors of ‘amber’ throughout this place. The craftsmanship is remarkable, but despite its similar appearance and consistency, I have come to believe that it is not truly amber. Rather, the doors and walls are made of an arcane substance of similar appearance and with much the same purpose - to contain and preserve that which lies within. I have considered damaging a random wall to see if it would ‘heal’ itself, but up until now, have decided to forgo any exploration along those lines. Since we arrived here, I have cast my mind back through ...

 5/14/24 Day 39 I should correct myself. I saw the figure starting to cast a spell.   I said, “That’s not necessary. We’re not here to loot or steal.” Of course, I also readied a counterspell. There was a slight pause, as the figure appeared to change the somatic pattern of the spell.   I got the impression it had started casting one thing, changed its mind and started casting something else. The figure then took a few steps back into the shadow.   Since I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t counterspell anything. Clever girl. But surprisingly, no fireball, no bolt of lighting. Suddenly, a cloud sprung up around me.   At first I thought this was from whatever that figure was casting.   But the energy of the spell seemed to originate behind me somewhere.   Laz.   Laz must have cast a fog cloud with that staff of his.   Kind of him to look out for me like that, but I was effectively blind now. After a moment I called out, “Now that we...

 5/7/24 Day 39 “Stand your ground here,” Dasco had said. “So predictable," Laz retorted.   At that point the doors flew open.   Four very large barbarians were on the other side, but I surmised there were more in the shadows behind them.   Before I could throw my Slow spell, Laz stepped up and pointed his newfound staff at the doorway.   Immediately a wall of ice sprung into existence between us and our would-be attackers.   He turned to Dasco and said, “Forgive me if I decline such an invitation.” Turning to the rest of us he called, “Let’s go!”   He then set off up the hallway to the north. The wall of ice was not completely opaque, but it did distort images beyond it.   Nevertheless, I could see a couple of barbarians hacking at it with weapons.   Another stepped up and cast some sort of flame spell, melting a small section of it. Another shape approached and apparently cast Dispel Magic, dropping the wall altogether. Well, shi...

 4/30/24 Day 38 We got a small fire going.   Ireena cast an additional healing spell on Wolfram, then one on myself.   I told Laz I could go ahead and cast Identify on the staff he found.   He thanked me but told me it wasn’t necessary as he was able to figure it out while I was unconscious.    I noted that he didn’t share what he had learned.   Curious. The next hour or so was reasoned discussion on our next steps.   We had clearly just gotten our asses handed to us.   Laz reminded us (again) that he AND the Chamberlain had advised against entering the Temple.   Dasco argued that since we were here, we might as well check out more.   Kasimir was in agreement with Dasco, but that was no surprise. Wolfram, who had been silent, finally raised his head and spoke.   “There is an evil here.   I don’t mean Barovia in general, because we all know the evil that is throughout these lands.   But here it’s different. ...

 4/16/24 Day 38 Kasimir and I explained our theory to the group.   I then cast Dispel Magic on the remains of one of the flameskulls.   The intricate runes and symbols that had been engraved into the bone dissolved, then the skull pieces themselves collapsed into dust.   As it did, I felt a sense of…relief or perhaps gratitude, from what had to have been an unholy prison for that wizard.   Or it may have just been my imagination. Kasimir said, “Well, that seems to have worked.”   He then cast Dispel Magic on the other skull and had the same result. Dasco suggested that we go searching for the first skull he had brought down so we could do the same to it. This suggestion was met with a fair amount of pushback.   After all, it had probably already been about an hour since it was brought down.   Dasco argued that maybe it was an hour, maybe not.   If we look for it now, there’s a chance we can destroy it permanently.   If we wait ...

 4/9/24 Day 38 My trust in my companions was not misplaced.   Dasco destroyed two more with his Bloodspear.   Another shield spell protected me from one of the bastards, then Ireena finished off the one Kazimir and Laz had been working on.   I used shocking grasp on the last one, which allowed me to move away.   As soon as I did, Oloch destroyed it. We took a few minutes to calm down and make sure there were no more threats. When we were all breathing a little more normally, I explained what the pitcher did and suggested that Oloch would be a worthy bearer of it.   He smiled like a kid discovering his presents during Midwinter celebrations and put it in his pack. Out the door to the east, the floor fell away so that direction wasn’t really an option.   We could potentially sit tight here, but it was too early to camp for the night, and we really had no way to heat this room.   Our best bet for an overnight stay would seem to be where the...