Session 14 - Leaving the Village of Barovia / Journey to Madam Eva
Session 14 - Leaving the Village of Barovia / Journey to Madam Eva
The Burgomaster's Mansion
The Gang thought it curious when Ireena & Ismark smirked at each other when they saw their company eating Granny Momo's pie...
Everybody has the same dream. In it, you find yourself standing at a crossroad, where a raven beckons you toward a pool. Your surroundings blur, delivering you to the pool, where the you find an empty Vistani encampment. You then are psychically drawn to the interior of a tent, where a seer sits, her face and form concealed by a dark purple cloak. The seer draws a card from a card deck atop the table (you hear the word “Tarokka”) - the Mists card. She informs the you that the distance from you renders her Sight blurred and obscured, and invites you to join her at Tser Pool to learn what the future holds. The seer addresses you by name, and you recall the experience vividly...
...
... then you begin to have bright, beautiful dreams full of color. In the dreamworld, you feel hopelessly safe and loved. You never want to leave. You're so cozy...like a warm sausage under a syruped pancake blanket on a winter day.
Who Likes Their Chalk Raw?
Hell, all those dreams needed was some
I'll Stop
Ismark wakes each of you. Kyros finds a child’s drawing beneath the mattress depicting a bald-headed, scowling man, his left arm a twisted, demonic limb coated with jagged scales. Ireena tells him that she drew it when she was a child but doesn't remember who it was supposed to be. Kyros borrows it.
The gang makes the plan for the funeral and then bouncing to Vallaki. Just as they are leaving, Mad Mary knocks at the door and proceeds to enter. She is lost in her sorrow and despondency. She implores Ismark and the party to rescue her daughter, Gertrude, who vanished over a week ago. She is carrying a malformed doll with a strange lear and a sackcloth dress; stitched into the hem of its dress is a frayed tag bearing the words “Is No Fun, Is No Blinsky!”.
Mad Mary
Ismark promises to help after the funeral, and escorts Mad Mary home; they were followed by Mad Mary's dog, Lancelot.
The Cemetery
The gang went back to the cemetery before the sun rose. Fog began to roll into town and the churchyard and the cemetery beyond. A hooded person was talking to Donavich and gave him a letter; the hooded person then departed as the gang arrived. Bentham & Ruckus, being Half-Elves, could tell that this person was an Elf but did not know exactly which type. (He looks like a wood elf except with dark hair and dark skin.) As he walked by each member of the gang, they each heard a loud choir of thousands of screams crying out in terror inside their heads. The mysterious elf disappeared in the fog.
The funeral commenced and The Burgomaster was interred. Father Donavich prayed from the Verse of Dusk:
Old Svalich Road
As the Gang leaves the village, heading west on Old Svalich Road, they can hear one last gong of the Church bell. This time it seemed to strike a bit harder, making it more atonal, and immediately damped out with a dull thud...perhaps to never again reverberate throughout the valley.
Ireena, somewhat offended by Bentham's question about her ability to keep up on the road, marches on proudly.
Ireena, The Hopefully Not Exactly Helpless to a Paladin
Further outside the village, the gang sees two villagers fighting then one hits the other on the head and takes a parcel. The victim was the man who had purchased a pie from Granny Moma the day before...his pie had been stolen. He runs off, too, not eager to talk the gang.
Our party of adventurers walk westvfor hours on Old Svalich Road. Sometime after crossing the River Ivlis, the Gang reaches a crossroads.
<< An old wooden gallows creaks in a chill wind that blows down from the high ground to the west. A frayed length of rope dances from its beam. The well-worn road splits here, and a signpost opposite the gallows points off in three directions: Barovia Village to the east, Tser Pool to the northwest, and Ravenloft/Vallaki to the southwest.The northwest fork slants down and disappears into the trees, while the southwest fork clings to an upward slope. Across from the gallows, a low wall, crumbling in places, partially encloses a small plot of graves shrouded in fog. >>
The Crossroads at River Ivlis
<< You hear a creaking noise behind you, coming from the gallows. Where there was nothing before now hangs a lifeless, gray body. The breeze turns the hanged figure slowly, so that it can fix its dead eyes upon you. >>
Bentham recognizes his own face on the corpse. Everybody else sees a random Barovian villager. He casts Divine Sense but nothing registers. Creepsville.
The Gang chooses the Northwest road to Tser Pool.
Tser Pool Encampment
After several more hours of walking, << the road gradually disappears and is replaced by a twisted, muddy path through the trees. Deep ruts in the earth are evidence of the comings and goings of wagons.
The canopy of mist and branches suddenly gives way to black clouds boiling far above. There is a clearing here, next to a river that widens to form a small lake several hundred feet across. Five colorful round tents, each ten feet in diameter, are pitched outside a ring of four barrel-topped wagons. A much larger tent stands near the shore of the lake, its sagging form lit from within. Near this tent, eight unbridled horses drink from the river.
The mournful strains of an accordion clash with the singing of several brightly clad figures around bonfire. A footpath continues beyond this encampment, meandering north between the river and the forest’s edge. >>
The gang can hear happy, festive music echoing from the trees as they approach Tser Pool. A Vistana catches sight of the party and calls out as though greeting a host of long-lost friends. The gang is ushered into the camp and seated by the campfire where the Vistani provide them food and wine. The gang find themselves thrust into a world of color, music, and laughter far removed from the bleakness and darkness of Barovia.
The gang introduces themselves. The outgoing Vistana who speaks with them is Arahja, a larger-than-life boisterous man whose laughter booms across the clearing. He is joined by a quiet woman, Rina. They all chit chat and drink wine and have snacks. The gang asks about Madam Eva and the Vistani indicate they are awaiting her return any moment.
The campfire flames turned green, and Rina spoke: << "A mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you’re standing. A very charismatic man, he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil Strahd. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle en masse. When the vampire appeared, the wizard’s peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again.
“The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other. Their battle flew from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard’s magic couldn’t save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death. I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard’s body, to see if, you know, he had anything of value, but the River Ivlis had already spirited him away.” >>
Arahja chimed in: "Madam Eva awaits you in her tent." The gang gets up and goes to get their fortunes read.
The Tarokka Reading
When the gang approaches Madam Eva's tent, she calls for them to enter before they even announce themselves. She addresses each of them by name without needing an introduction.
Madam Eva
<< Magic flames cast a reddish glow over the interior of this tent, revealing a low table covered in a black velvet cloth. Glints of light seem to flash from a crystal ball on the table as a hunched figure peers into its depths. As the crone speaks, her voice crackles like dry weeds. “At last you have arrived!” Cackling laughter bursts like mad lightning from her withered lips. >>
When the party has been ushered inside and is sitting around her table, she proclaims, "It took you all long enough! I have been expecting you. Are you ready to learn your fate?".
The gang replies yes and Madam Eva pulls out a deck of Tarokka cards to begin the reading. She lays down five cards.
"Ready?" she asks. "Let's begin."
She reaches for the first card.
- "This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy."
- She reveals the card: "9 of Swords, The Torturer"
- "There is a town where all is not well. There you will find a house of corruption, and within, a dark room full of still ghosts."
She reaches for the second card.
- "This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope."
- She reveals the card: "1 of Swords, The Avenger"
- “The treasure lies in a dragon’s house, in hands once clean and now corrupted.”
She reaches for the third card...
************* *********** ********* ***** *** ** * ** *** **** ********* ********** ***********
Then her WiFi mysteriously shuts off and the party is left confused...
Hey gents! Great session!
See you Tuesday December 1!
- Benzoid
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