Sunny Barovia

 1 2/9/24 Day 41 Once the Druids left, Oloch asked, “Well, what now?” After a beat, Dacso said, “Let’s eat breakfast.   Breakfast makes everything better.” The normality of the request sat in stark contrast to the loss just suffered but was enough to shake us from our stupor of self-pity.   The spear was gone and there was nothing we could change about that right now.   Life moves on and so must we. A quote from one of the Great Philosophers of my home. As we set about readying ourselves for the day, Laz and Lady Ireena went off to gather some more firewood.   (He later told me they spoke of Kasimir and his intentions.   Laz had increasing suspicions of the old elf’s motivations and Lady Ireena seemed to sum up the situation well.   Kasimir’s primary intention was to restore/resurrect his sister.   He believed she would then be a great aid in any conflict with Strahd.   He was so single-minded of purpose in this, that he seemed to d...

 2/20/24 Once Oloch called back to us, the newcomers stopped, aware that they had been seen.   They moved off into the tree line, south of the road.   They never got close enough for us to get a good look at, but it seemed as if at least one of them was carrying some sort of spear or polearm. The guardsmen who had been helping with the meat processing, put down their tools and picked up their crossbows.   Most of our party moved into defensive positions in case the visitors decided to close on us under cover of the tree line and emerge with hostile intent. Sgt. Merrill indicated we had about 2/3 rds of the animals processed and packed.   After a group discussion, we decided it was wisest to pack up with what we had and head back to the village. After all, there were 40-50 townsfolk here who came to gather meat, not fight.   We stood guard while everything was made ready.   All except Laz.   He had taken it into his mind to head into the t...

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...

  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...

11/15/2022 We actually had a decent wait before the third wave hit us.   It gave us time to bandage our wounded and catch a short rest. The Martikovs came back out with fresh bandages and clothes, ready to keep fighting.   Well, it is their winery, so I guess I’d be surprised if they expected someone else to fight for it if they weren’t willing to themselves. Around 12:30, we heard the sound of crashing and thumping from the south.   Something big was moving. I mean, big .    We didn’t have many torches that way, so I threw a firebolt in that general direction, hoping to get a flash of whatever was coming.   I didn’t see anything, but the crashing stopped for a few seconds before resuming at an increased pace.   Laz scouted back out towards it, and I lost track of where he was.   Soon enough we heard howls all around the farm.   The Martikovs and the Guardsman were going to have to take care of the North and East.   We were plent...

 Session 56 - 57 10/18 & 25/2022 The Martikovs were much more effective than any of us expected, and soon we had killed or run off the attackers.   Well, the first wave at least. Three of Martikovs had wounds serious enough that they had to move inside. We used this lull to regroup a bit, gather a few arrows and catch our collective breaths.   I cast Unseen Servant and had him hold a stick with a Light spell on it, then moved him further out from us to extend our field of vision.   Olog gathered a Second Wind and was keen to fight. By this time Laz had found his way back and was scouting/sculking closer to the winery.   He spotted a group of 6 moving to the Northwest and were doing “something” out that way before heading to the southwest of our position.   A short time later, “something” dropped Woodhouse.   The light spell was still active, so I surmise he was simply attacked rather than some magical effect dispelling him. One of the...

  10/11/2022 As the darkness fell, we set up a perimeter of torches to try and give us a little advantage.   Emphasis on “little.”   Dacso was finding that while the roof offered an excellent vantage point for shooting, it didn’t really allow any place to hide.   That, however, didn’t stop him from trying.   Laz scouted off in the direction of where the “seed” had been planted.   The idea being he would yell or scream if the attack was coming from there.   I told him we’d figure out some sort of sign to call him back if he hadn’t returned before the anticipated enemy. I was with Sgt. Van and most of the Matikov family at the southwest corner of the building, while Oloch, Wolfram and the other two guards were at the southeast corner.   (In retrospect, we probably shouldn’t have put all the armored people at one spot and the relatively unarmored ones in another.)   Around 10:00, we heard chanting towards the south, in the direction of Y...