Sunny Barovia

 6/11/24 Day 39 As I said, vampires. Laz moved in first and struck one before they knew what was happening, then stepped back.   I scooted around him and cast Slow on the group.   It slid off most of them, but two were definitely affected.   I then moved forward to make room for the others. The Bloodspear flew back and forth from the fissure to a vampire and back, before Dasco stepped into the room to claim it. Suddenly, the room was filled with light as bright as noon on a clear summer day.   Wolfram had activated the Amulet of the Ravenkind.   All the vampires reacted with hisses and shrieks, trying to shield their eyes.   Smoke started to rise from them as their skin crackled under the light.   They tried escaping up the stairs.   The ones not affected by my slow spell shoved their way past the two who had been.   Oloch and Ireena slashed into one of the slow ones while Kasimir and I peppered it with firebolts. One blood...

 6/14/24 Day 39 I should clarify, the sword in question wasn’t really a sword, so much as the hilt of a sword; The broken remains of a blade could be seen emerging from the hilt.   Nevertheless, the urge to pick it up and run was strong.   However, we agreed that it was likely that as soon as we did, it would either wake this giant statue, set off some sort of trap or both.   Additionally, Kasimir had been clear that he would only help us after we had helped him find what he sought in this temple.   If we were to take the hilt now, it was unlikely that we would be able to continue exploring. We decided to return to the shattered bedroom on the west side of the temple to take another short rest.   Kasimir used Prestidigitation to warm the room while we rested.   Once we were feeling a bit better, I ritually summoned Woodhouse to be our light bearer.   We went back into the main chamber to clear the room in the Northwest corner. The room wa...

 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 ...

 5/14/24 Day 39 I should correct myself. I saw the figure starting to cast a spell.   I said, “That’s not necessary. We’re not here to loot or steal.” Of course, I also readied a counterspell. There was a slight pause, as the figure appeared to change the somatic pattern of the spell.   I got the impression it had started casting one thing, changed its mind and started casting something else. The figure then took a few steps back into the shadow.   Since I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t counterspell anything. Clever girl. But surprisingly, no fireball, no bolt of lighting. Suddenly, a cloud sprung up around me.   At first I thought this was from whatever that figure was casting.   But the energy of the spell seemed to originate behind me somewhere.   Laz.   Laz must have cast a fog cloud with that staff of his.   Kind of him to look out for me like that, but I was effectively blind now. After a moment I called out, “Now that we...