Sunny Barovia

  12/30/24 Day 41 – Afternoon/evening Connell excitedly explained that he had seen “The Mountain” arrive earlier this morning and fight several of the Yester Hill Druids.   He was victorious and as such, was apparently the new leader of this group, as they all followed him North. This was good news for us, as it implied we might not have to worry about the druids trying to stop us. Connell went on to tell us that he had been studying the Fanes and the ceremony since returning to his tribe.   He felt confident that he could take over the spiritual aspect of cleansing this Fane – much as Muriel had at the first one. However, while waging this spiritual battle, his physical form would be vulnerable.   Our job would be to keep his body safe while he was doing whatever metaphysical voodoo he needed. He continued chatting excitedly with Wolfram as we walked.   I noticed that Kasimir was lagging considerably behind.   I waited for him to catch up and a...

  12/2/24 Day 40 - 41 When I realized I couldn’t find Laz, I jogged back to the camp to grab Dacso to help look. Fortunately, he wasn’t needed.  As we went back into the woods, Laz came up to meet us. Laz had spotted someone in the woods.  He caught up with them and it turned out to be a member of the Druid clan we had fought at the temple.  They called themselves “Followers of Ghakis,” which seems to refer to the mountain.  They have taken exception to Dacso carrying the Bloodspear and feel it should be returned to the Druids.  To that end, they want to meet Dacso in single combat for it.  Laz told them that we were not yet ready for such a challenge, and suggested we meet in three days’ time.  They said they were not willing to wait that long, but to take the offer back to “he who now carries the Bloodspear.” Dacso rolled his eyes and said, “Just how many times am I going to have to prove this thing belongs to me?” Laz replied that he didn’t kno...

  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...

 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 ...

 2/14/23 So the tower itself was maybe 80 feet tall, and it looked like it had 4 floors. I turned to one of the golems, (for that’s what they were) and asked it to lower the platform.   The four of them immediately began pulling the chains to lower it. Creating a golem is beyond my abilities, without a doubt, but I do know they are incredibly expensive and difficult to make.   To make four of them just to act as an elevator suggests a wizard who is incredibly powerful, or incredibly vain, or both.   It is ostentatious display of power to say the least.   The platform was only large enough to hold two at a time, so Oloch and I went up first.   Given that there were four golems pulling it, the platform progress up was surprisingly slow.   Painstakingly so.   Maybe that’s why he had to have four of them. The second and third floors were rotting through.   We saw nothing as we passed through, and I don’t think the flooring would have su...

 12/6/2022 I couldn’t help it.   A slight giggle escaped my lips watching those little twig bastards getting blown up.   But there were still a hell of a lot of them. I heard Wolfram ask, “Is anyone else getting hot?” I glanced over and saw waves of heat coming off Wolfram’s armor.   Odd, he really wasn’t anywhere near the blast. It shouldn’t have affected him. Dasco yelled, “There!   Behind that tree.” Laz and Wolfram headed off towards someone or something in the woods.   I couldn’t really tell as I had more of those twig monsters starting to swarm me.   I swung with my staff but didn’t connect so I tried putting some distance between me and the creatures. Oloch, for his part, was smashing and cutting the blights left and right, happily humming all the while. Dasco was launching arrows past Laz and Wolfram at whatever they were chasing.   While his attention was downrange, he had a blight climbing up him.   I blasted it with a fir...