Sunny Barovia

  Session 153 – Battle for the Swamp Fane part 1 3/11/25 Day 42 – Mid afternoon (Thanks to Abe for sending Arabelle’s visions and Jeff for the transcript!) Swamp Fane As Laz reported, Arabelle had recovered the shuttle from the center of the fane, and the rest of us were collecting those odd flowers as depicted on the stone carving. Arabelle and Lady Ireena were sitting in the middle of the circle in quiet conversation.   Dacso took it upon himself to approach the two.   As he got closer, Arabelle invited him to sit.   (The following is what Dacso later related to me) Arabelle told him she knows he didn’t learn much from speaking with “Mama Eva,” but she can tell him some Madam Eva would have related. “You have suffered loss, as have we all, and you moved quickly to leave that loss behind. You may find that, in this, your willingness to abandon that which no longer serves you has a cost, but there are some choices that cannot be undone. Still, have hope...

 5/16/23 Well, the zombies ended up being a little tougher (and more numerous) that we originally thought.   Two of them were easily twice the size of a man, and a couple were downright fast.   When we realized we couldn’t outrun them, we fought.   It was a pitched battle, but not to the level that we had just faced.   Nevertheless, we were all tired and at one point Connall was pulled down.   Wolfram revived him, however, and eventually we prevailed. We made it to Vallaki, and fortunately the guards on duty recognized us.   We were let in without issue. (Hell, we had only been gone for the day…) Nothing new seemed to have happened in our absence, except some sort of minor disturbance at the Blue Water.   The guard didn’t have any more details though. We decided to head straight to the Manse.   Laz thought he saw someone lurking around the building but wasn’t sure.   He took a quick peek around but didn’t find anyone. Ireen...

 5/9/23 While I’m happy (and a little surprised) that we dropped Morgantha, we still had two more hags to deal with.   I ran in closer so I could spear Bella with a witch bolt.   She turned, and I saw fear replace the fury in her eyes.   She made a quick gesture with one hand, then started screaming obscenities in my direction.   Just behind me I heard Muriel chuckling, “Got you know you bitch.”   I suspect that Bella had attempted to go Ethereal, but somehow Muriel prevented it.   Unable to magically escape, Bella turned and started to run.   Wolfram and Oloch both got solid hits in, while Ireena just barely missed with her strike. When she was about 30 feet away, I could feel the Witchbolt spell drop.   Fortunately, Oloch kept pace and laid her out with a might swing from his sword.   I saw him swing again at her now prone form.   He looked at Connell who shrugged and told him “If it were me, I’d want to make sure.   Ju...

  5/2/23 The wolf that Muriel was fighting was the last spirit animal.   Multiple swarms fell upon the wolf stone, trying to tear the totem from the center. To my right, I saw Oloch fall under the bite of that giant spider, and heard Laz swear as a wolf tore into him. I looked up and saw even more creatures coming in from the surrounding woods.   We were going to fall just from the sheer number of attackers. The wolf spirit flashed past me and knocked Muriel fully off her feet. She landed flat on her back and was swarmed by insects. Somehow, Oloch fought his way back upright, breathing hard.   A spectral hand shot across the field, touched the spider and I watched rime frost form before it shattered under a blow from Oloch.    That must have been Laz’s chill touch.   Oloch let out a roar and a look of pure fury crossed his face. Just then, I heard Muriel grunt with effort as she stabbed into the ghost wolf, dissipating it. From Abe: Wit...

 4/25/23 I gazed across the field at the three.  Through the mist and drizzle, I could only make out their silhouettes. A song came unbidden into my mind.   A tune I hadn’t heard or even thought of since I was a child. Three little witches coming down the lane, Hiding from the sunlight, clinging to the rain. If their fingers touch you, your dreams will turn to pain, Three little witches coming down the lane. In my mind, I could hear the other children singing it.  So long ago….. A voice broke through my reverie.   “Carl!   CARL!”   I turned to see Connell shouting at me. “You ok?   We need you HERE!” I looked up and the hags were now much closer.   When did they move?   More animals. Oloch was surrounded by wolves and giant centipedes.   He didn’t seem to be smiling anymore. Hell, I was surrounded, and about to get pulled down! I felt a wave of arcane energy move through the air.   It didn’t seem to have any...

 4/18/23 As Muriel defeated the various spectral animals, they reappeared at their respective stones.   I noted that when they did, they seemed a little less grotesque and twisted than they had when this whole thing kicked off.   Curiously, the wounds Muriel received seemed to be healing themselves somewhat.   They weren’t gone, but somehow healed a little with each victory. I didn’t have any time to ponder the deeper reasons behind that.   We were getting overrun with these assorted forest beasts.   Woody had just gotten out of the way and regrouped behind me as we were charged by more animals. Suddenly, I heard an almost happy shout to the south.   Oloch charged across the field to where Wolfram was having real difficulty against a giant spider. With a single stroke of that greatsword, Oloch cleaved the spider in two. He continued the swing to stab out behind him, and eviscerated a black bear coming up on his flank all the while, facing a sli...

 4/11/23 The battle was fully engaged and quite chaotic at this point.   I don’t have a clear blow-by-blow recollection of things, however, I do remember some specific moments.   I remember that at one point a huge centipede had managed to remove the token from the western side.   Ireena quickly slew it and returned the token. In the meantime, I saw Woody lash out at another centipede, but was quickly surrounded by other creatures.   A couple of wolves tore into him, and I was afraid he was done for. I heard Wolfram yell out, and a ghostly, skeletal hand shot forward and touched one of the wolves, killing it.   Laz’s doing, of course.   Woody managed to scamper free.   I told him to stay clear of it all, we didn’t want to lose him. Wolfram, Oloch and Ireena continued slashing away, while Muriel was busy dealing with the spectral Elk and Owl.   I spared a glance to Walter to see he was still casting those blackened tendrils at the be...

 4/4/23 After Muriel gave us that insight on what to expect, she touched the stone.   There was a flash of sickly green light, then the Bear and the Hawk apparitions became slightly more substantial and came at her. At the same time, the spear she had cobbled together transformed into an emerald green weapon that closely resembled the Blood Spear in form.   True to her word, we were unable to interact with these spirit animals, but Muriel certainly was.   Within seconds wolves, rats and bats swarmed into the clearing.   The wolves engaged us, while the swarms of bats and rats tried to pull the tokens out of the megaliths.   Woody did his best to try and cover the openings on one of the stones while the animals tried digging past his hands.   We unleashed into the animals with blades and fire.   Then Walter did something quite unexpected. He stepped back from the skirmish, extended his hands and dark tendrils of …something… shot forward...

As I was gone, the following is courtesy of our DM.  Thanks Abe! ********* After forcing the hag to flee, the party hurried west to the Vistani camp, stopping just long enough to exchange a few words with the denizens there, quaff a proffered cup of wine, and entrust them with yet another child that the party rescued. Several party members did not fail to note the embrace and soft words that passed between the up-to-then always-silent Nina, and the enigmatic Muriel. But the hard traveling that followed wiped casual conversation from the thoughts of most of them, and experience had perhaps by now taught them that, while Barovians tend to be curious about the world outside of their shadowed valley, they keep their secrets. So, it was perhaps a surprise to some of them what happened next. “Which are your people?” Muriel asked Connall. “Baratok,” he replied. “Ah,” she answered. “I met a trio of you north of her ladyship’s village a few years ago.” Connall nods. “I wondered if yo...

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...

 2/21/23 Abe was kind enough to send me notes from the first encounter.   Rather than me paraphrasing, I’m going to take the lazy route and just post them (with some minor formatting changes) here.   Thanks Abe! Three men and a woman meet the party on the causeway. Additional men and women remain back at the forest and scattered along the lake shore. Lead Male Druid - “We are the People of Baratok” “You stand in the presence of Seer-Sha, Daughter of Baratok” “I am Quade, first of the Lodge of the Crag Cat. I will speak with you.” Seer-Shaw - Perhaps in her late forties, if the years were particularly hard. Pale, blond hair, beginning to transition to white.   She carries what looks like a thin stone rod, approximately the length a walking stick.   She is also wearing furs over some sort of extraordinarily thick hide armor. She is medium height with a lean, athletic build and attentive to her surroundings. When anyone looks at her, she seems to ...

 8/16/2022 Tser Pool Encampment at night While it was nice to rest with a goblet of wine for a bit, there was work to be done around the Vistanti camp. Dasco, Wolfram and I went out with a couple of Vistani brothers named Stefan & Grigori Vasille to gather firewood.   While the woods have proven to be fairly dangerous, it was clear that these Vistani felt quite safe.   They didn’t even bother to bring weapons. We gathered a bit, then the brothers felt my skills would be better put to use by keeping watch.   Which I was happy to do.   There was one slightly tense moment when I saw 4 or 5 of those big dire wolves coming through the trees.   But they appeared to have no interest in us and moved on. We came back to the camp with enough wood to last several days.   Dasco found a fellow wine hater in the personage of Lee Funar.   Good. They can discuss the relative merits of lake water versus river water.   Well, Lee can.   Dasco...

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...