Sunny Barovia

 7/2/24 (Note Abe provided significant narrative to this entry - I could have never remembered this much detail.  Thanks Abe!) Day 40 “We should leave,” Kasimir said.   His tone was one of absolute certainty. “Yeah, well, you know we can’t do that,” responded Wolfram. As a group, we moved forward.   The bodies were hanging from hempen ropes from the battlements.   Wolfram and Oloch moved through the gate first, the rest of us following.   Inside the vestibule, in a bit of grim irony, blood was dripping down from the murder hole above us. We passed through the barbican and gatehouse.   Once inside, we saw dozens of Krezkans: men, women, children, are impaled on thick sharpened branches taken from the many trees of the village. The impalements took many forms. Through the chest, through the back and, most prominently, up through the nethers. Among the displayed corpses, Oloch spotted Lucas, the hard-working old pipe-weeder who shared his garden...

 6/25/24 (Lore details provided by Abe) Day 39 – 40 The offer of perusing Exethanter’s library was more than Kasimir or I could resist.   Wolfram and Lady Ireena also seemed eager at the prospect. Exethanter provided tomes on the nature of Vampires, the Undead, a partial history of Barovia and others.   The three of us eagerly started reading. After maybe 30-45 minutes later, Laz interrupted us to announce that he had gone downstairs and had a very cordial conversation with Heinrich/Nefron.     They hit it off so well that Heinrich provided Laz with a magical Sending Stone, so the two could keep in touch.   He suggested that we should use it to provide them with some notice if we decide to return.   This subtle invitation was not lost on us. Heinrich when we met him Heinrich by the time we left About an hour later, Exethanter returned to the Library.  Where before his movements had been slow and jerky, he now moved with a smooth grace...

  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...

 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 ...

 1/14/23 The next morning, we geared up to travel back to Vallaki, with the last six children we had saved from the Werewolf den.   The hike was relatively uneventful, and very nearly peaceful.   The smaller children took turns riding on Oloch’s shoulders, which he seemed to enjoy almost as much as the kids. We discussed the sword that Sergei had referenced.   It was almost certainly the one we had seen Tatyana wielding against Strahd in that vision that wasn’t a vision.   For her part, Ireena said she remembered that Sergei had been a fairly powerful paladin and wielded that blade in the service of The Morninglord but had no idea what had become of it afterwards. As we approached the village of Vallaki, Oloch and I split from the group so I could meet with Kasimir.   The rest of the party continued on after agreeing we’d meet at the Manse. We found our way around the base of the hill to Kasimir’s home.   I briefly explained what had occurred w...

 11/7/23 Once inside the walls of Krezk, the villagers who accompanied us finally began to relax.   An adventure, after all, is really just a bad series of events that you managed to survive.   For most of those that accompanied us, this excursion fit that bill. Everything was taken back to the Baron’s home for later distribution.   The villagers returned to their homes and a modest dinner was laid out for us. As this is my personal log and not some flight of High Fantasy, I shall not dwell on food descriptions.   Suffice it to say the meal was humble as befits this poor town, but also quite a satisfying end to the day.   But the day, as we were about to learn, was not over. Following the meal, Wolfram told Ireena that there were some matters to discuss; Notably, the Abbot’s offer. (There had been quite an involved discussion among our group about the morality of the Abbot’s attempt to duplicate Ireena.   Regardless of individual opinions, we...

 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 ...