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***sköldpaddor*** · 06-29-2021, 03:18 PM

PLEASE DO NOT PAY ME FOR THIS IT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY

Week 0 • Week 1 • Week 2 • Week 3

Our cast of characters:
@hhh81 as Johnny Hamilton as Aengus Voerlin
@Ruggsy as Ruggs McOoooh as Beiwraek Zutsar
@Naosu as Ryan Shepard as Dorn Tallstag
@GeckoeyGecko as Simon Takshak as Otho'khent
@lespoils as Jean-Uhtred Ragnarsson-Tremblay as Cassian Thunderbuns "Thunderbones" Deephollow
ME as Gunnar Söderberg as the Dungeon Master

When last we left our heroes, they were still in the depths of the dungeon of the Durst house. After defeating the ominous shadows last session, they continue continue to explore the ominous dungeon filled with ominous chanting, making their way into what appears to be a master bedroom of sorts. There are some objects in a chest there, and when the objects are disturbed, SOME HORRIBLE GHASTS APPEAR. For the uninitiated, ghasts are terrible humanoid creatures with decaying flesh, sharp teeth, and dangerous claws. (What kind of godawful place even is this!?)

The party fight the ghasts, and manage to shake off some disgusting odors and general nauseating auras in order to survive the combat. Once that’s done, they successfully remove the items from the chest they were initially exploring, and find some healing potions (one of which is poured down Thunderbones’ throat as he is unconscious by the end).

Otho and Aengus have a discussion after the combat, because Otho has finally caught on to the fact that Aengus is the various creatures (Dinosaur, direwolf) that keep showing up at random. (It’s worth noting that this is a very poignant discussion about Otho’s faith, in which Aengus tries to impress upon him the importance of Otho honoring the gift from Semuanya that is his own life and existence. It’s also worth noting that Otho may retain exactly none of this.)

There is talk of Thunderbones riding Direwolf Aengus as a steed, which he does as the party make their way down the hall and after the chanting, which they can still hear. At long last, they find their way into a large, sunken room, on the edge of which is a wide ledge (wide enough to walk on) running most of the length of the room, filled with murky water in the center below said platform. When the party enter this room, the chanting stops completely.

After cautiously investigating the water, they discover that it is actually only about two feet deep. In the center of the room is a raised area with an altar on it, above which are shackles hanging from chains attached to the ceiling. There is a dark corner in one side of the room, a hole in the wall formed by what appears to be a minor collapse of the wall itself. It looks to be filled with refuse and decaying plant and other organic matter (gross). As the party explore the room, thirteen shady figures rise up out of nothingness and stand around the ledge on the edges of the room.

The shady figures begin to chant “ONE MUST DIE” over and over again, but the party are not inclined to make someone die, and when they do not appease the shadows, the chant changes yet again to “THE DECAYER, THE DECAYER, WE AWAKEN THEE.” This does indeed awaken the decaying mound of refuse in the cave in the corner, which emerges and ATTACKS THE PARTY.

A fight ensues - at one point, Dorn is more or less swallowed by the creature, and discovers that at the center of it is A BABY. The baby is connected to the rest of the decaying mound by various tendrils, which Dorn attacks from inside, and when he does, he is spat back out. The party manage to defeat the terrible mound of gross decaying matter (after being attacked with various slams and gushing rivers of putrid liquid), and the whole mound melts away with the exception of the baby, who, while dead, is suprisingly undecided.

They lay the baby to rest in the tomb labeled with his name (Walter), and immediately feel a sense of closure fall over themselves and the house. With the evil defeated and the chanting stopped, they make their way out of the house and out onto the street.

They follow the road they came in on, and make their way into a village, where they manage to find a tavern labeled “Blood On the Vine.” They speak to the inkeeper/bartender there, who quotes them an incredibly outrageous nightly rate. They are assisted, however, by a serious-looking young man sitting in the corner, who seems to have some sway with the innkeeper, and gets them rooms there. The young man, who seems sort of grumpy in a kind of “I have a lot on my plate right now” kind of way, introduces himself as Ismark Kolyanovich, before heading out into the evening.

The party stay the night at the inn. Beiwraek goes down the next morning to get some food but is told that the burgomaster has invited the party to his mansion down the street. Otho does Otho things. Dorn goes across the street to the mercantile, where the merchant tries to charge him ten times the normal asking price for basic goods. Aengus goes outside and makes friends with a Raven that lands on his hand. Otho tries to eat the raven, but it flies away.

At this point, they all hear some sobbing down the street coming from one of the houses, and decide to investigate. They are able to make their way into the house, and speak to a woman there, who tells them about her daughter, Gertruda, who is always reading fantasy novels and ran away from home to go find her one true prince or some such thing (Gertruda had been previously kept in the house all her life, because her mother hoped that would keep her safe).

The dog, who has followed the party all the way from the Durst house, clearly recognizes the woman, and remains with her when the party leave (the woman begs them to bring Gertruda home if they come across her).

Beiwraek informs the rest of the party of the Burgomaster’s invitation (they ask the woman in the house a little about that, too, and she tells them that the young man they met last night is the son of the previous Burgomaster, who died a few days ago).

We make our way to the burgomaster’s mansion, which must surely have been a very nice place at one time, but which now seems in a terrible state. One of the gates has been torn off, the other is swinging in the wind, the plants on the grounds have been trampled into the earth with the exception of bare, dead-looking vines that grasp at the walls, which are marred with charred spots and claw marks.

The party knock on the door, and are greeted by a young woman, who is very suspicious of them at first until they mention Ismark, at which point she calls him down from upstairs. He introduces her to the party as his sister, Ireena, and invites them in for food, which they accept since they are all very hungry. On the way into the dining room, they notice that there is a body in a coffin lying in one of the side rooms.

During the lore dump meal, Ismark and Ireena tell the party a few things:
- The “devil Strahd” and/or his creatures have been attacking their house nightly for weeks.
- The body in the other room is their father, who died three days ago when his heart gave out due to the constant assault on the house.
- The attacks on the house have stopped since the old Burgomaster died
- Strahd has bitten Ireena twice
- To become a vampire, one must be bitten by a vampire three times.
- Ismark wants to take advantage of the lull in the attacks and take his sister to the larger town of Vallaki about a day’s travel away, where he hopes she will be safe out of the direct shadow of Strahd’s castle (which looms over the village of Barovia).
- Both the village they are in and the greater realm are called Barovia, which clears up a little confusion
- A non-vampire biting someone who has already been bitten by a vampire will NOT cancel the vampirism process, OTHO.
- Ireena refuses to leave the village of Barovia until they are able to lay their father to rest in the cemetery on the other side of the village at the church.

Ismark asks the party for their help in transporting his father’s body across town to the cemetery, which they agree to (they realize later that maybe they should have asked for some compensation, but oh well), and then to help him take his sister to Vallaki.

They take the dead Burogmaster’s body across town to the church where the cemetery is, and there they speak to the village priest, Father Donavich. While they are introducing themselves to the priest, they hear screams of agony coming from below the floor. With a little probing, the priest tells them that is his son, who is very sick, and he must get back to praying for a cure for his illness. He also tells them that he can only perform the appropriate last rites at sunrise, when his connection to the Morninglord is the strongest.

The party decide to investigate that whole situation and make their way into the basement (which the priest allows after they give him their word they will not harm his son). The son, Doru, cowers in the corner and tells them that he can smell their blood, and that he is so hungry and he only wants blood.

Aengus ends up giving him some blood in exchange for information, which he is able to give after drinking the blood and regaining some of his self-control. He tells the party that he followed a wizard to confront Strahd at his castle a year ago, and the wizard and Strahd fought a mighty battle before Strahd threw the wizard over a waterfall. He doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him, but knows that he made his way back here and has been starving ever since.

Otho also gives him some blood, which Doru tells him tastes like dirt.

They go back upstairs to the priest, and he gives Aengus some cloth to cover the wound he made to give Doru the blood. They go about planning their next moves (Dorn shows them a map he acquired from the shopkeeper before, and they are able to figure out their way to Vallaki, but they can’t leave until after they’ve buried the dead Burgomaster).

They discuss what to do with the rest of the day since they have to return here at dawn, and Ismark suggests that they pay a visit to the Vistani encampment down at a place called Tser Pool (which he is able to point out for them on Dorn’s map). Ismark says there is a woman there who has been helpful to travelers in the past and may be able to provide them with additional information that he cannot (since he has not done as much traveling).

They decide to go and do that for the day, since Ismark tells them it should be less than a couple of hours travel if they walk at a decent pace. He warns them repeatedly to stay on the roads and to not wander into the fog or into the woods because they are very dangerous, and under no circumstances should they be out after dark.

WHAT IF ANYTHING WILL OUR PARTY LEARN FROM THE HELPFUL WOMAN? WILL THEY GET THE BURGOMASTER BURIED? WILL THEY GET IREENA TO SAFETY IN VALLAKI? FIND OUT NEXT TIME.

PLEASE DO NOT PAY ME FOR THIS IT IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT ONLY

***Ruggsy*** · 06-29-2021, 03:30 PM

sup guys its your boy the burgermaster back at you with another non profit media piece be sure to comment and SLAM that uprep button

*JURT* · 06-29-2021, 04:26 PM

06-29-2021, 03:18 PMsköldpaddor Wrote: - A non-vampire biting someone who has already been bitten by a vampire will NOT cancel the vampirism process, OTHO.

Pretty sure that was Thunderbones' idea

***sköldpaddor*** · 06-29-2021, 04:31 PM

06-29-2021, 04:26 PMlespoils Wrote:
06-29-2021, 03:18 PMsköldpaddor Wrote: - A non-vampire biting someone who has already been bitten by a vampire will NOT cancel the vampirism process, OTHO.

Pretty sure that was Thunderbones' idea

oh goddammit.

i was so sure it was part of the quest for meats.

***goldenglutes*** · 06-29-2021, 04:40 PM

hey zoone make sure to pay jess for this

Signatures by Vulfzilla, Jepox, Jess, rum_ham, Ragnar, and myself
[Image: 9vAsr7c.png]

*hhh81* · 06-29-2021, 04:55 PM

The bush keeps getting soogier.

GeckoeyGecko · 06-29-2021, 06:18 PM

06-29-2021, 04:26 PMlespoils Wrote:
06-29-2021, 03:18 PMsköldpaddor Wrote: - A non-vampire biting someone who has already been bitten by a vampire will NOT cancel the vampirism process, OTHO.

Pretty sure that was Thunderbones' idea

it was a joint excursion

DELIRIVM · 06-29-2021, 10:49 PM

Not enough Hags.

***notorioustig*** · 06-30-2021, 09:23 PM

I've always said the SHL needs more D&D content and also more Trips/JURT related content

*hhh81* · 06-30-2021, 09:57 PM

06-30-2021, 09:23 PMnotorioustig Wrote: I've always said the SHL needs more D&D content and also more Trips/JURT related content

You ain't seen nothin' yet

***notorioustig*** · 06-30-2021, 10:16 PM

06-30-2021, 09:57 PMhhh81 Wrote:
06-30-2021, 09:23 PMnotorioustig Wrote: I've always said the SHL needs more D&D content and also more Trips/JURT related content
You ain't seen nothin' yet

I'm a simple man, I see moon druid I get invested

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