Sunny Barovia

 2/13/24 Despite their speed on approach, the fight didn’t last long.   I felt the familiar tingle of magic (besides my own) as Wolfram activated his Mace of Terror.   Several wolves immediately fled the area, tails between their legs.   Lady Ireena summoned her ghost guardians while Laz danced between the giant canines, stabbing with impunity.   Dasco utilized his Bloodspear to great effect while Oloch and Wolfram might as well have been lumberjacks clearing a grove of trees.   I hovered above, taking potshots where I could. At one point Walter looked like he was about to go down, but he healed himself and got to a safer area. After the pack had been dispatched, I landed and we confirmed everyone was reasonably healthy, given the circumstances.   We now had an abundance of wolf meat and hides, which would be quite welcome in Vallaki and Krezk.   The problem is how we would get a dozen horse-size corpses to either village. Wolfram asked if...

 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...

 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 ...

Written by Dave Proudfoot Lord Strahd really has it bad for Lady Ireena. Most men have a type. For some it's a race, some it's a hair color, some poor bastards subconsciously crave abuse and marriage. Lord Strahd? He doesn't like Lady Ireena, he needs Lady Ireena like an opiate. How else account for his chasing the red-haired dragon for centuries? It was Connall who first noted that Walter had not transported with us. It was unsurprising that Lady Ireena had not, nor had the Raven. I miss that damn bird. Regardless, Connall went on to interview Marina further and confirmed that her suitor now returned exclusively at night, appeared to be between 45 and 50, and she believed him to be from a village to the east of Vallaki. Connall then went off to discuss things further with the pigs and goats. This seemed, shall we say, a bit odd, but as I've noted before, I find solace among the dying, so perhaps he finds something among swine and those of the cloven-hoof. He later at...

  5/30/23 At the request of Lady Ireena, Wolfram and I joined her as she met with Baroness Wachter and other local notables. A fair amount of business was conducted in their native Barovian dialect, which I did not understand.   Lady Ireena was kind enough to interpret and paraphrase where she felt appropriate. However, I didn’t need to understand the language to recognize business negotiations when I saw them.   While I don’t pretend to understand the appropriate politics, I’ve made quite a few business deals.   I’d like to think that my occasional suggestion or observation were of some small value to Lady Ireena. Poor Wolfram was clearly bored.   He was trying hard at the beginning to show an interest, but eventually he returned to his role of the Dashing Bodyguard to Lady Ireena. When negotiations were finally over, we returned to the manse, poured some wine and heard what our companions had been up to. They apparently took advantage of the time to ex...

 5/16/23 Well, the zombies ended up being a little tougher (and more numerous) that we originally thought.   Two of them were easily twice the size of a man, and a couple were downright fast.   When we realized we couldn’t outrun them, we fought.   It was a pitched battle, but not to the level that we had just faced.   Nevertheless, we were all tired and at one point Connall was pulled down.   Wolfram revived him, however, and eventually we prevailed. We made it to Vallaki, and fortunately the guards on duty recognized us.   We were let in without issue. (Hell, we had only been gone for the day…) Nothing new seemed to have happened in our absence, except some sort of minor disturbance at the Blue Water.   The guard didn’t have any more details though. We decided to head straight to the Manse.   Laz thought he saw someone lurking around the building but wasn’t sure.   He took a quick peek around but didn’t find anyone. Ireen...