Ravenloft XI

Groundhog Day (18^th July 2018)

The Dragon-Ogre (Day 14 – the Void)

The water genie, Candice, tagged along with us but did not get involved in any of the encounters with those phantasmagorical beasts. We carried on regardless to the final platform and although a few of us got lost on occasion, we always managed to make our way back to the rest of the party.

We finally reached the centre of our part of the Void and was instantly approached by a very large half-dragon, half-cyclops type creature that emanated cold from every pore. Grumbold tried to negotiate with the beast for the return of the rod but the beast would have nothing to do with it. Combat ensued but our fighters (Millie and Grumbold) had a tough time keeping their feet and striking a deadly blow in the icy conditions. It was down to me to remedy the situation. The wand I had picked up a while back enabled me to shoot Fireball after Fireball at the beast but it just took the damage and kept on fighting despite us being told by Jahir (our friendly neighbourhood magical item seller) that it was susceptible to these kinds of attacks. The beast took me down on a couple of occasions, and were it not for our bold cleric and the lady Annabella, our strange hanger-on, I would not be alive to tell the tale of how my last blast from the wand took down the troublesome beast.

After an exhausting and bloody combat, we retrieved the rod and returned to the carnival tent for our rewards. The genie, however, acted far more quickly than we did, grabbed her lamp and disappeared out of there lickety-split. Probably worried in case we harangued her for a free Wish or whatever for rescuing her.

Back to the carnival (Day 14 – early afternoon)

We reappeared back in the same tent at almost exactly the same moment we left it. Jahir, the resident magical item seller, was still mid-sentence and ushering out pose. He greeted us warmly as we handed over the rod to him and claimed our rewards – several tomes that would increase our vigour in some way.

Suddenly we heard a scream from outside the tent. We rushed outside to see a person run past covered in blood and the rest of the village turning on each other, some with weapons. As we looked around for a source of the panic, the tent shimmered and we could see a figure in the distance shining a bright beam of light at us.

We awoke to the sound of breaking glass and the exact same events as what appeared to be the day before. We were fully-healed from our exploits in the Void, and all of our spells and powers were at full strength.

When we got down to breakfast we found Lord Frak sat at the table. He asked for a temporary parley and informed us that he too had been stuck there for several days and was trying to figure out what was happening. He mentioned that he was also having great fun with some of the townsfolk as he could torture them one day and go back for a repeat session the following day to inflict new torment on his victims without them knowing what had previously gone on before.

We resolved to try to find out about the supposed vampire from the rumours we had heard the previous day, so the agenda for this particular “day” was to investigate what we could at Lord Cambridge’s house (the village elder).

Ravenloft X

Into the Void (20^th June 2018)

The Vampire Barn (Day 13 - evening)

Ablutions over and rested up we all headed out to investigate what the barn might hold in store for us. Unfortunately, it seemed like the mill was on fire. People from all around rushed to put the fire out but it was in vain. The Lord Frak put in a fresh appearance, taunted us as usual and then walked back into the flames.

We returned to the inn and found out that Lord Frak had a room there. Unfortunately, a quick look around it revealed nothing untoward.

Finally, we made our way to the barn to investigate the supposed vampire sightings, but other than eight empty coffins and a few valuables there was nothing of note within. We returned to our rooms at the inn and had a good night’s sleep, untroubled by the usual dreams we encountered each night in Ravenloft proper.

The Carnevale (Day 14 – early afternoon)

After a sound sleep, we were awoken by the sound of breaking glass and screams from downstairs; one of the serving girls had accidentally broken some of the landlady’s best ornaments. Luckily Malfeseus was on hand to Mend them for her and earn us free board and lodgings whilst we stayed at the inn.

The carnival itself was not really of much interest; other than the usual coconut shy type stands there were only three major tents. The beer tent and Haunted Horror tent were standard fare and were of no real interest to me. However, the Wonders of the World tent held my interest far more. We met a vendor of magical items in there that the rest of the party had met on a previous occasion who offered us a reward if we could pop into the Void to collect a rod he had lost and return it to him. It was said to be guarded by a frost breathing ogre-dragon that was vulnerable to fire. We agreed to go so he gave us a crystal that we needed to shatter for our return.

We stepped through a portal and into a plane of small islands floating in the nothingness. We remembered that the vendor told us it was easier to take small steps on our way to the centre of the floating archipelago, so we hopped across one platform at a time. Often one of us missed our footing and were whizzed across to outlying islands where some loss of memory occurred; but not always. Those of us who were lost in this way always got back but these little side trips took their toll.

On occasion we came across a platform inhabited by small floating tendrilled beats that shot beams of phantasmal energy at us. The effects were devastating but they were also easy to dispatch. About half-way to our goal, we encountered a water genie who had had her lamp stolen by a dragon-ogre. She promised to reward us in return for helping her recover her lamp. We agreed to let her join us.

Ravenloft IX

The Drow and the Unicorn (13th June 2018)

For this session, our Elf Rogue player was absent, so we assumed he would just rest up at the inn when we arrived in town.

The Tortured Soul Inn (Day 13 - continued)

When we looked around to confirm the presence of the handmaiden of Baba Yaga we noticed that she was no longer with us. Neither was the carriage she was held in, nor the horse that drew it. All we could see for miles around was rolling fields and countryside. Confused, we made our excuses and said our goodbyes to the village gossip and headed into the village to find the Tortured Soul Inn.

After ordering a few ales and a room for the night we mingled with the small crowd in the common room. A variety of rumours concerning certain members of the community abounded and we discovered that the name of the inn was a bit of a misnomer after hearing an extremely boring story about a fish that was pulled out of the river and being manhandled. The idea of a paid job to track down and return a unicorn from the dark forest nearby was a rather welcome request, although the counter rumour that there were ancient reptiles in the woods did make us wary. We also heard that the local priest held evening poetry sessions for the village children and that it was likely the place was infested with vampires. We decided to investigate these rumours in order.

On the way to the dark woods we decided to take a look at the supposed vampire lair (locked up) and the priest’s home in the mill. Upon entering the mill we were struck with an overwhelming sense of dread. Hanging from the rafters was the body of father Carlinious and gloating from the upper storey walkway was Lord Frak, the anti-paladin. After listening to his monologue Grumbold offered to face him down mano-a-mano but the dopey paladin fell upon his own sword and plunged to the floor. I gave the body a cursory kick, expecting it to be an illusion but the body felt quite solid. “Fool!” I thought before the body collapsed in upon itself and disappeared completely.

Unicorns and Drow (Day 13 – late afternoon)

After we had hidden the priest’s body, to prevent a cry of murder against us, we resolved to return later to give him a decent burial. We headed out to the distant forest and spent a fruitless couple of hours searching for the Unicorn (a couple of members of the party mentioned that perhaps relying on a half-orc virgin as a lure was a bit much to expect?) but eventually spotted our quarry. Millie went off on her own to track down the beast whilst the rest of us kept our distance. We thought Millie was on her way back crashing through the trees and undergrowth but the long legged lizards with Drow riders soon put paid to our reverie. A couple of Fireballs and other Magical Missiles later and the scout party was down – wizardly leader and all.

Millie must have heard the commotion as she appeared in our small glade to land the final blow against the Drow enemy. After we had tended our wounds, Millie went looking for the unicorn again. She managed to find it relatively quickly but when she led it over to us we realised it was just a horse with a cleverly stuck on horn. I think also, the bridles, straps and other carnival paraphernalia gave it away that this was not a real creature from myth. Still, 10 gold pieces is not to be sniffed at, as it would pay our bar bill and lodgings for the night.

We returned to the village, claimed our reward for the delivery of the horse and then settled into a refreshing bath to ease away the stresses and strains of the last couple of weeks. We had a fine repast and then made ready to investigate the supposed vampire lair.