Sunny Barovia

  8/29/23 I told Kasimir of our recent experiences in Berez.   He listened patiently and warned not to underestimate Baba Lysaga, as he considers her one of the top three spellcasters in Barovia.   I asked who the other two were, hoping that he was one of them.   He was not.   He said one was the mage who attempted to overthrow Strahd a number of years ago.   However, that one has since gone mad and is a recluse on the north side of the lake.   The other one he suspects can be found in the Amber Temple.   He did not believe either would aid us against Baba Lysaga.   I asked if he would be willing to assist us with the hag.   He said after we aid him at the Amber Temple he would consider aiding us in return.   He again opined that we were not quite ready for that challenge, but we would be soon. We chatted more, drank some tea and he agreed to teach me a new spell later that night.   I excused myself to let my friends know...

 8/8/23 Between the zombie fight and the tour of Ireena’s past lives, we decided that we really weren’t up for a confrontation with Baba Lysaga right now, if we could possibly help it. I was exhausted, Connell even more so, or so it looked. It was getting late, but we figured we could likely make it back to Vallaki by nightfall.   I was still in the hellhound form, so I scouted forward to lead our little group, which now included the goat, apparently.   We waded back through the muck of the swamp and finally got back to solid ground. My spell dropped and I regained my normal shape and faculties. After about 45 minutes or so, we came to the part of the path where we had seen glimpses of an old castle through the fog.   Laz raised a finger as he looked about, clearly listening for something.   We paused, then from the south the sound of hoofbeats.   Many hoofbeats. Getting closer.   Soon, a dark banner designating some unrecognized military unit ...

  6/27/23 Horrorspawn Laz and I took a few moments to examine the large downed creature.  The raven had said it was a “small” one, implying that there were additional larger ones in the area.  We felt it was prudent to examine it while we could. The creature was like nothing I’d ever seen before, although it vaguely aligned with some near-incoherent texts (that I had read in my more adventurous research when I was first toying with the study of magic) of a creature corrupted by something ‘beyond the edge of reality.’ This jibed with what Laz knew of such things that were, ‘neither demon, daemon nor devil, but corrupted by pure evil just the same.’ We settled upon the term ‘aberration.’. We got the impression that it may not have started out in this form, in fact it may have once been humanoid.  But now most of its skin had been covered by chitinous features, with elongated limbs and a hunched posture. The skin still visible was darkly mottled and the whole body was c...

 Guest written by Dave Proudfoot “The Ghose of the Entrails is best not crowded,” I had thought to myself. It was intriguing to have an opportunity to sit with it.   Chat. Perhaps have tea. But now was not the time and this was certainly not the place. I moved back from the parlay leaving it to the Paladin, his Child Walter, and the Arcane Master. I had just watched Connell urge a goat to climb spider-like over a solid enclosure and that was going to take some time to clear from my head. I thought to take a quick break. I had been scouting ahead, peering into the endless fog, and wading in muck to my armpits it seemed for days that were truly mere hours. I found the beast, Oloch he is called, mooning over the woman, as usual. As usual, she was basking in the attention. It required nothing but to gaze above the hormones to see the Thing floating toward us with its minions, but I admit that may have been in part thanks to my bastard bloodlines. No sooner did I start at the rap...

Guest written by Abe Barker The Chamberlain moved through Castle Ravenloft with the assurance of one who had done so for centuries and feared no horror found within. At last, he came to his lordship’s study, noting that the blazing hearth fire was well stocked and all else was in order before he approached his lordship seated at his desk. “Good morning, my lord,” he said as he arrived, bowing respectfully. “What news?” “Much as expected, my friend,” Strahd responded without looking up, for his attention was entirely focused on an exquisite crystal ball upon his desk. “They are energetically exploring the ruins of Berez.” “Word of that reached the castle just after I broke my trance earlier. Do you mean to monitor the entirety of their wanderings?” “They are moving slowly, so no,” Strahd said. “I will finish here, then repast and repose.” “Very good,” the chamberlain nods. “Is there anything I should know?” “Oh, they defeated one of Baba Lysaga’s scarecrows. After that, they wandered ab...

 6/6/23 Before turning in for the night, we determined that we would set out the next day for the Ruins of Berez, reputed home of Baba Lysaga.   Strahd had given us to believe that my nephew Darius may be her prisoner there.   Additionally, the swamp supposedly contained another of set of these standing stones that could ultimately lead to the overthrow of Strahd. We hiked for some time, and the mists began to slowly thicken around us.   To be honest, we had grown quite used to this.   It was still clear enough to see our footing, and sometimes that’s the best you can hope for. After about an hour or so, the wind picked up and the mists parted for just a few moments.   To our west, we saw a dark castle.   It wasn’t Strahd’s.   As we gazed, the mist returned and hid it from view.   We debated taking a detour to explore, but decided we would stick with our original plan and continue on to confront Baba Lysaga. The swamp was exactly what...