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...

 Thanks to Dave P for authoring while I was out! “There it is then. My boot has soaked through finally. Again. More stinking, filthy mess. The leather is little more than a sieve now.”   We had worked our way through the marshes and swamps, now only to come to these bleeding streams and rivers. The advice to “follow the river” sounded simple enough if one did not consider the crossing of said river in the first place. The crossing of the first stream had left several of us a bit battered, bruised, and exhausted. I don’t really know how the Paladin managed it weighed down with all that armour and kit. Still, not my problem so long as he survives. Coming to the second river I suggested we might be better served by putting up a guide rope to improve our balance while fording. Dacso and the Paladin offered to cover me while I worked across and things went uneventfully as the rest of the Party crossed. Then we realized we hadn’t set up the rope for retrieval. Fully resigned to ...

2/18/25 Day 42 –Morning …We stepped through and found ourselves inside Baba Lysaga’s hut… I pointed to the glow underneath the crib and told Oloch, “Ignore the crib. It’s not real.  We’ve got to get to whatever is making that glow.  Can you smash the floorboards?” Oloch looked at me like I just asked him if he’d like some ice cream. Oloch when he gets to smash something He then dropped to his knees and punched through the wood.  Then he started tearing up the flooring like a 5-year-old ripping open a Christmas gift. There, underneath the floorboards was a little alcove cradling a glowing gem.   The gem was held in place by vines and roots growing from the tree and the hut.   I tried to use mage hand to pull it out, but it was held firmly in place. “Oloch,” I said, “Can you pull that out?” “Are you kidding?  Of course!” At that point, the hut was flooded by the swarm of insects that had beset us down below.  What was more worrisome was ...

  2/10/25 Day 42 –Morning The hut looked as if it had been built on the stump of an enormous tree.   Roots stretched out and up like spider legs.   We stood 70 or so yards off contemplating what was before us.   We decided to send Laz out to scout the other side.   He disappeared into the swamp, and we waited. I took the time to ritually summon Woodhouse. After about 15 minutes, he came back and told us the door was open, but it was about 15 feet up.   Also, floating right in front of the steps to the door, there was an overturned skull.   Judging by its size, it must have belonged to a giant. Laz opined that perhaps it was some sort of elevator.   It could easily hold a person, and he didn’t see any steps, ladders or any other way to access the hut. We asked Arabelle if she could tell us anything about Baba Lysaga. She told us that she’s a servant of Strahd but is no longer welcome at the castle.   She is a magus of great power and...