Sunny Barovia

Written by Dave Proudfoot Lord Strahd really has it bad for Lady Ireena. Most men have a type. For some it's a race, some it's a hair color, some poor bastards subconsciously crave abuse and marriage. Lord Strahd? He doesn't like Lady Ireena, he needs Lady Ireena like an opiate. How else account for his chasing the red-haired dragon for centuries? It was Connall who first noted that Walter had not transported with us. It was unsurprising that Lady Ireena had not, nor had the Raven. I miss that damn bird. Regardless, Connall went on to interview Marina further and confirmed that her suitor now returned exclusively at night, appeared to be between 45 and 50, and she believed him to be from a village to the east of Vallaki. Connall then went off to discuss things further with the pigs and goats. This seemed, shall we say, a bit odd, but as I've noted before, I find solace among the dying, so perhaps he finds something among swine and those of the cloven-hoof. He later at...

2/28/23 The Blue Water Inn.  Busier on the Inside. The Blue Water Inn was hopping, as the kids say.  We only recognized about a third of the faces there.  Another third were Vistani and the rest were strangers to us.  Music was being played, boisterous conversations, the sounds of laughter and the clunk of wooden mugs.  We are recognized, and I see multiple people give little nods of acknowledgement to Nikoli. Drinks are ordered and I find my way back into the kitchen to find Urwin.   The small staff is very busy, but Urwin motions me back.   He’s busy filling stew bowls and cutting hunks of meat and vegetables for another batch.   I tell him I won’t keep him long, but I thought he should know that Muriel lives.   He is happy, but not as happy as I expected, given his reaction right after she fell.   I mention this to him, and he tells me that while he’s happy she lives, she is lost to them.   He doesn’t explain further, and I let...

 12/13/2022 Once we were inside, Wolfram pointed out that the guards here were much better equipped than what we’d seen elsewhere.   These were actual guardsmen, not hirelings with pitchforks or scrounged weapons.   The Burgomaster himself carried two swords – one on his hip and a great sword on his back. Just as his eye was drawn to the tools of his profession, my eye was similarly attracted.   Though walled, the village was decently wooded with cottages tucked in between the trees.   We saw small livestock pens and villagers working in and around the area.   It was almost like something out of the fairytales Julianna used to tell Darius when he was small. Towering above all this was a steep cliff, with the Abby itself sitting like a crown over the village. It was also quite cold here.   It wasn’t snowing, but it felt like winter might not be far off. Burgomaster Krezkov led us through the village.   He was a little more friendly now, b...

  11/29/2022 Session 59 I must have taken a blow to the head. I have vague memories of shooting magic missiles and fire bolts.   More arrows and screaming.   A pause, then a wall of flame descending on the winery.   Horizontal lightning.   The barbarians were using some sort of mage. Laz going down… Session 60 I snap out of it and find myself on the ground.   A literal wall of fire is moving on the winery and it’s starting to go up. Another lightning bolt from the south catches Oloch, Dasco and myself.   Oloch falls, and Dasco chases after that damn mage. By this time, Wolfram has made his way over to Laz’s body and revives him.   I dispel the Wall of Fire threatening the winery.   It’s still burning, but it looks like the Martikovs can get it out. I hear Dasco running through the fields, apparently still looking for the mage.   I reached Oloch and bound his wounds the best I could, then called out for Wolfram. At tha...

  8/2/2022 The morning came and we treated ourselves to a well-earned breakfast.   After which, we gathered our things and headed to the house of the former Burgomaster.   A makeshift guard had been set up, and we were led in to see Victor. He was chained in the same cell that his father had used for political opponents.   When the gag was lowered, he croaked for water.   We gave him some and any sympathy I might have had for him quickly evaporated. All in all, he was a pretentious, unlikable little shit.   He didn’t believe that Lady Wachter would give him any significant punishment out of love for his own mother.   He figured that eventually he would be sent to Strahd like his father and Izek.   He was under the belief that Strahd actually liked those who used magic and felt that he could eventually thrive under the old bloodsucker. And he may be right.   He offered no meaningful insight on how to cure Stella Wachter.   He ap...

7/26/2022 Dasco, Lady Ireena and I returned to the Manse.   The others stayed out looking for and helping survivors. After a quick bite to eat, Lady Ireena went to bed for a few hours, and I set about reviewing Victor’s journals until I fell asleep in my chair. I woke sometime around noon or so.   Stiffer than usual, but basically rested.   We were told by one of the staff that Lady Ireena had left earlier this morning to “check on a friend,” and would be back late. The rest of our group eventually returned.   Laz had been instrumental in finding survivors who’d been unable to get to help themselves.   One of them turned out to be Karl Wachter who had been thought dead.   Wolfram was able to use his healing ability on him and apparently save his life, making Lady Wachter even more enamored of our young Paladin. Laz mentioned that while they were all together, Lady Wachter asked to speak with Fin privately.   They stepped out of earshot and exch...

 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...

 7/5/2022 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 ...

  6/14/2022 That vampire girl escorted us through the rest of the picket lines.   Strahd was there with about a dozen mixed humans in various forms of old or improvised armor.   Of more concern was Strahd’s entourage.   His horse and groom were there, of course. But I also counted at least three of those big wolves as well as a number of clearly vampiric followers.   Strahd politely thanked us for coming, believe it or not.   The new Baroness briefed us on what happened after we left the festival. Apparently, the Burgomaster (who was reportedly drunk) made his way into the stands to greet Lady Wachter who, in turn, introduced him to Lady Ireena.   For some reason this seemed to unnerve him, and he quickly excused himself, leaving his wife Lydia behind.   For her part, Lydia was apparently sporting several bruises to her face which were poorly covered by makeup.   When asked, Lydia confided that her husband does abuse her, which sent Ire...

 5/24/2022 We stood there in silence for a moment.   “Did we really just pull that off?” I ask. “How the FUCK was she able to get in here?!?” yelled Dasco. “Shit, I think we actually pulled that off.” Fin suggested that as a church is by definition open to the public, she wouldn’t have needed permission to enter.   Also, the bones giving protection to the church had been removed; which was the impetus for this whole mess anyway. We took a moment to catch our breath and decided to see if Fin could re-inter the bones.   He said it would take some time, so I cast Invisibility on Laz so he could go scout the town square and get a sense of what happened. Laz took off, Fin got to work, with Wolfram helping out.     Dasco saw to his weapons, I suppose.   I wasn’t really paying that much attention to him.   I summoned Woodhouse just in case he might be handy, then I rested and studied my spell books.   After awhile, we realized that no ...

  4/26/2022 We returned to the Manse and got cleaned up.   Well, as cleaned up as we could with shared bathing water.   (Note to self, research ways to magically filter dirty water). We headed over to the Wachter house and were admitted by her sons.   Lady Ireena, of course, joined us.   Up to this point, we had only seen her wear every day, adventuring gear.   She was quite stunning in her formal clothing, looking every bit the Noble that she is. We were treated to a fine meal – better than anything we’ve had since entering these lands.   In the course of dinner, we learned that the Wachter’s have been in these lands for hundreds of years and had an understanding, if not alliance with Strahd and the von Zarovich lines.   She makes no mistake for her disdain for the Burgomaster and his festivals.   She feels Strahd rules these lands and, for now, chooses not to interfere in Vallaki. While the Burgomaster purports that it is his festival...