Session 1 - Arrival in Barovia

Members Present

• Chancho
• Mikhail Dawnbringer
• Ryea
• Seraphine Silverveil
• Urgath

A Dinner Party

Our party found themselves drawn together by fate while sharing a table at the Brass Reaver Tavern in Daggerford, a small town on the Sword Coast. A messenger from the Duchess Morwen arrived in search of you by name, your various activities in aid of the area having made you somewhat well-known. The party was requested to attend the Duchess at hour mansion for conversation and dinner.

The party followed the servant back to the mansion, a home of fading grandeur, but well-guarded. Once inside, the Duchess called the group into a study and explained that a band of travellers had set up operations outside the town walls and was beginning to threaten and extort the townsfolk. They sounded like common gypsies, but the threats struck the well-travelled amongst the group as being unusual. Morwen asked your assistance in sending a message to them to leave immediately or suffer the painful consequences. The party agreed to help with the incentive of free lodging in the town and some gold, then proceeded to have a very fine dinner with the more well off of the merchants in town. Ryea proved surprising light-fingered for a wizard and was advised by the servants to leave the silverware as she found it before they departed for their task.

The Gypsy Encampment

The party ventures out into the dusk, following the dirt road north from the town until seeing lights through the woods along the side and finding the encampment There they are greeted by Stanimir and his daughter Damia, the leaders of the travellers. Stanimir hears them out and agrees to leave first thing in the morning, but urges the adventurers to stay for final festivities and to hear their story. With that the food and booze come out and the party enjoys the evening, though eventually Stanimir begins his tale. His group had saved a wounded noble warrior long ago, and in return the noble protected them from bandits after he recovered. They got along well and the travellers came to live in the noble's lands, a peaceful and happy existence for decades. At some point many years ago, the noble changed, became darker and the people began to fear him. Stories spread about him preying on the people of the towns and woods, and eventually one of the leads of Stanimir's group sent them out of their lands to find help. With this, Stanimir asks if you are able to help, promising great rewards from the noble's nearly unlimited treasure hoard if you defeat the evil thing their old friend has become.

The party agrees that this seems the right, and lucrative, thing to do and decides to accompany the travellers back to their land to meet their leads. Stanimir had mentioned that others have tried to help them, with no success except one who turned away from the task and has taken to wandering there lands, and he may have more information. With that they tuck in for the night, finding places amongst the colorful wagons to get some rest as they begin rolling through the woods and away from Daggerford.

The Village of Barovia

Somewhere just before dawn the party awakens to realize their wagon has fallen behind, and the two mean driving it seem quite fearful of both where they are and the time of day. They had stopped and taken up guard positions off the wagon, but there is no sign of Stanimir or the others returning for them. As wolves howled in the distance the drivers told the party to head off into the woods to the safety of the village they said was nearby. Their desperation and deceptions was clear, they hoped to use the party as a distraction for whatever they knew was coming while they went the other way. Regardless, the party moved on towards the unknown and adventure. Soon the approached the village walls, the wolves hemming them in and perhaps guiding them. The gates in front, wolves behind!

Beyond the gates lay a dismal village, its wooden buildings sagging under the weight of despair. No lights flickered in the windows. No smoke rose from chimneys. The streets were empty save for the mud and the creeping fog that never quite dissipated.

Rose and Thorn

The party made their way cautiously through the gates and the village, hearing soft cries coming from ahead. They came upon two children, a young girl and a younger boy clutching a doll. They paused at this odd sight in the midst of the closed and shuttered village, speaking to the children and learning that they were in fear of a monster in the basement of their house and their parents had not returned after going to remove it. Their sad story and appearance once again suckered the party into agreeing to help, and they ventured forth into the gloomy old house which belonged to the children's family.

Death House

The first floor, elegant as it was, appeared to be long abandoned. Dust and cobwebs covered every possible surface. Upon taking the wide central staircase up to the second floor, a party member who will not be named managed to awaken a decorative suit of armor which promptly became less decorative and more evil, possibly even demonic. Not so evil as to be anything other than a nuisance to the gaggle of hearty adventurers who enjoyed flexing more than necessary while dismantling it. With that and night descending, the party thought it best to take a nice tea break from their work.

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