Sessions 99 - 101: Climbing Mount Ghakis Parts 1-3

Note on May 5, 2025: I'm back at the Curse of Strahd blog posting for posterity's sake. We finished our campaign in March 2025. I'm using ChatGPT now to summarize my session notes into these blog posts. Thanks for your patience, constant readers. - Ben

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As the Gang draws closer to the ominous Amber Temple, the journey up Mount Ghakis becomes both physically and spiritually treacherous. These three sessions, full of lore, brutal combat, and unexpected encounters, lay the foundation for the final confrontation with Strahd. The path forward is cold, haunted, and steep—but that won't stop Bentham, Kyros, Levo, Sobprym, and Ruckus from cracking jokes, killing monsters, and maybe learning a thing or two about ancient goddesses and eldritch corruption.

Session 99: Kasimir's Lore Dump

Date: Dec 20, 2022 Barovia Day: 33 Party Level: 9 Location: Foothills of Mount Ghakis

Fresh off Baba Lysaga's brutal demise, the Gang sets out from the ruins of Berez toward the looming silhouette of Mount Ghakis. The march through the Barovian Highlands begins under a grim, gray sky. Ravens caw overhead, and every shadow beneath the oak and pine trees seems to twitch.

A wereraven messenger swoops by with a message: "Kasimir will meet you in the highlands."

Ruckus (eyeing the bird): "Anyone else get the feeling that guy's feathers are watching us?" Sobprym: "Only if they're not admiring us. I braided my beard special for this trip."

Kasimir, mutilated and melancholy, joins the party in their trek. He opens up about the Ladies Three—ancient Rozana goddesses known as the Weaver, the Huntress, and the Seeker—whose powers once sustained the land.

Kasimir: "The Fanes were sacred. Strahd... desecrated them." Levo (gripping his spear): "So we gotta clean Strahd's taint?" Kyros: "We're purging his spiritual corruption, Levo. Maybe avoid the word 'taint'." Levo: "Nah, I stand by it."

Kasimir reveals that the Amber Temple lies past the haunted remnants of Yaedrag and that monstrous beasts haunt the mountains. He warns of a monstrous goat named Sangzor and a Roc the size of a manor.

Kyros: "Any flying monstrosities we should worry about?" Kasimir: "The Roc." Sobprym (grimacing): "Fantastic. Let me just tune my lute to screaming in terror."

Later, Kyros reveals an artifact he carries—the Spindle of the Weaver. Kasimir identifies it immediately.

Kasimir: "That belonged to the Weaver... one of the Ladies." Kyros (muttering): "We may have murdered her. Or her avatar. Oops."

The night ends with Kyros learning Greater Invisibility from Victor's spellbook and the Gang camping in the frosty wilds.

Session 100: Winter Wolves Fight

Date: Jan 10, 2023 Barovia Day: 35 Party Level: 9 Location: Mt. Ghakis Highlands

After discovering an abandoned campsite shredded by oversized pawprints and finding a severed human hand with blackened, poisoned veins, the Gang stumbles upon a frozen lake. Beneath the ice: a boy named Kaldur, unconscious.

Kyros: "We could, you know, not go out on the dangerously thin ice." Levo: "Hold my spear."

Bentham casts Haste on Levo, who sprints across the slick ice, cracks through, and still somehow manages to pull the kid out before dashing back to safety like a half-naked, waterlogged lightning bolt.

But no good deed goes unpunished. Winter Wolves emerge at either end of the icy causeway, massive and snarling, eyes glowing with cold intelligence.

Round 1

Sobprym sings a dirge and readies his Mace of Terror.
Kyros tries Hold Monster on the alpha wolf, but it shrugs off the magic with a furious howl.
Winter Wolves unleash their frosty breath. Ruckus is blasted backward in a flurry of snow and blood. One wolf grabs Kaldur in its jaws and runs.
Levo rages, sprints through blood-spattered ice shards, and buries his spear into a wolf's flank—28 points of fury.
Kasimir teleports and nukes a wolf with Magic Missile.

Round 2

Sobprym unleashes the Mace of Terror, and two wolves flee whimpering.
Kyros hurls a Chromatic Orb, killing the kid in the wolf’s jaws by accident. He blinks. "My bad."
Ireena summons Spirit Guardians, swirling angelic figures dealing radiant pain.
Ruckus fires arrows through a wolf's throat. _"Fetch that, you mangy carpet!"
Levo tears into a retreating wolf with unrelenting rage.
Kasimir ends it with a well-placed Fireball that cooks a wolf alive. The stench of burning fur and ozone fills the air.

Round 3

Sobprym's Thunderwave sends wolf blood and cracked ice flying. Levo snarls, "I didn't consent to this!"
Kyros finishes the last beast with a volley of Magic Missiles.
Ireena's radiant guardians engulf the final Winter Wolf. It collapses, fur smoldering, jaws slack. Kaldur drops from its teeth, bloodied but breathing.

The polar bear summoned by Ruckus (now named Snarlsby) licks his own paw in approval.

Session 101: Elmir the Elder of Yaedrag

Date: Jan 24, 2023 Barovia Day: 35 Party Level: 9 Location: Ruins of Yaedrag

After skinning the Winter Wolves and stuffing their rancid meat into the Bag of Holding (along with one very unhappy Bagman), the Gang escorts Kaldur to the ruins of Yaedrag. A mysterious elder, Elmir, awaits them.

Sobprym: "I brought snacks. Anyone want raw wolf meat with a side of despair?"

Elmir is an ancient, weathered man with deep knowledge of the Amber Temple. He explains that Strahd, while still mortal, desecrated the sacred Fanes in a dark pact with the druids. Each Fane—Swamp, Forest, Mountain—was once a wellspring of the Rozana's power. Now, they are corrupted altars to Strahd himself.

Elmir: "He stood upon their stones and made the land his own." Bentham: "So, reverse the ritual, fix the land?" Elmir: "Yes. Cleanse the Fanes, weaken the Devil." Kyros: "We're good at killing ancient things."

Elmir warns of deadly constructs and cursed beings that haunt the Amber Temple, including a lich and an Arcanaloth who enjoys making pacts.

Ruckus: "Sounds like a Tuesday." Sobprym: "Wait until they meet us."

As night falls, the Gang rests in the ruins, dreams filled with whispers of the Weaver, the Huntress, and the Seeker.

Final Thoughts

These sessions deepen the lore of Barovia while keeping the dark humor and brutal action at the heart of the campaign. As The Gang approaches the Amber Temple, questions hang in the air like frost: Can the Fanes truly be cleansed? What will it cost to retrieve the Sunsword? And just how many more wolves can Levo eviscerate with one spear?

Only time, and a few good dice rolls, will tell.

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