I awake from, exhausted from the dreamscape. The other’s left already for the next rod piece. I head downstairs to look for them. Find a portal to Barovia and head in to search for them…
Eventually finding my way to the Death House, after passing by some crispy peasants.
I find a secret passage leading to the basement and find my to the room where they have just pulled the next piece of the Rod of Seven Parts (Fourth Piece) from the body of a woman in the center of the room.
They recount what happened to me before we head back up the way they came.
We run into a woman they seem to know, who hushes us as many cultists appear.
Treeavenger warns me about “killing their tattoo” once they are killed. Whatever that means.
Treeavenger scrubs the tattoo off the face of the first cultist after we take him down.
I see for myself that the dead do not remain dead if the tattoo is left in-tact as two of the cultists get back up, wraithful and vampiric in guise.
I strike down the vampiric looking cultist again, striking again to destroy the tattoo.
After finishing off the last cultist, the woman calling herself Sarusanda seems unhappy with the party. She seems especially mad at Pash, who seems to be the source of the crispy peasants. After some threats, she runs off, saying she would see Pash at the entrance to the Death House.
I show them where the secret passage I came through was located.
It did not go back to the entrance like I expected…
The presence of the being in front of us is immense. He offers us his hospitality before approaching us. Each step making his presence more and more apparent.
Treeavenger, Pash, me, and finally Bardon take a drink of goblets he offered us. Metallic in taste, each one who drinks seems to disppear.
We reappear in what the others tell me is the attic.
All the door shut and lock suddenly.
Treeavenger tries to batter down one door, only for it to unlock a different door.
Then the door to the passage down unlocks on its own?
We find ourselves on another floor I think?
We continue down…
And find ourselves in a graveyard? Treeavenger says this is what the 2nd floor normally looked like.
Bardon passes Treeavenger a shovel who proceeds to dig a nearby grave in hopes of the way back down is below it.
Instead he finds the body of the man from before, who turns into bats once again.
We travel around the graveyard for an hour or so, finding some graves with our own names on them.
I convince Treeavenger to dig up the one that says Bardon on it and convince Bardon to climb in.
After a few moments, we try open the coffin, with no Bardon inside.
We decide to bury each of us in our coffins. And in doing so, find ourselves in another floor…
All of the doors lock again, the hearth roaring, heating up the room. We manage to open the one on our left.
And suddenly find ourselves seated around the room with spirits around us, and the being from earlier playing the piano.
The others speak up, engaging him, and causing the spirits to strike through them.
Bardon and Treeavenger attempt to play the piano for him, and fail miserably. Getting slapped across the room, and his heart pulled out respectively.
Pash, volunteers to try and fails as well, having the room collapse on us both.
We all reappear in the room again, sans spirits and being.
We try to head downstairs again, and instead of going down to the next floor, find ourselves in another strange room…
Apparently the others ran into these children before.
Water fills from the center of the room. The children seem to be illusions.
There are dolls in the shapes of each of us, Sarusanda, and the being from before.
Pash attacks the doll in the shape of the being. It’s head falls off and the doll body beings to suck up all the water in the room, and us along with it.
We find ourselves back on the first floor, where I found the secret passage to them from before.
We head out the door and find Sarusanda talking to the being from before, who blocks the exit.
The being is known as Strahd and speaks to Sarusanda, asking her if she knows or stands with us. She claims she does not and he let’s her leave.
Pash tries to throw a fireball at her as she leaves, but Strahd catches it and throws it back at the party.
Two vampire spawn appear from nearby as well.
We relatively easily take out the spawn, though Pash gets grappled by Strahd.
Pash is dragged into another room. Bardon sees as Strahd manages to strike him down from the hall.
I go to strike at him myself, to moderate affect.
Bardon heals Pash to bring him back.
We manage to do enough damage to Strahd that he turns into a swarm of bats and flies out the window.
We immediately decide to leave, back to Sigil.
Recite
Break Time
We return to Sigil and find Alustriel, Mordenkainen, and even Tasha.
We recount what happened in the realm to them.
After a brief conversation, we head to bed.
We have a rough night with visions from Treeavenger.
We head back downstairs to eat breakfast and get chided by Tasha the Witch.
Mordenkainen tells us about the Sword of Kas. Though Pash is heavily against looking for it, since the Sword seeks to destroy anyone and thing related to Vecna. Though Mordenkainen insists he could resist this effect, and it would prove to be a boon in the fight against Vecna
Malaina van Talstiv tells Treeavenger where he can find the forgemaster he is looking for:
“To find the forge, go where no one goes, at a time no one keeps."
"It lies behind the shop that doesn’t exist, across from the alley that goes in a circle."
"These lead them to a dead-end alley in the Hive Ward—where if they walk backward through the alley at the stroke of 13:00 Sigil time & saying your name backwards”
We head into the Hive Ward…
We are followed by a rat that seems especially interested in me. I kick it, and it speaks. It gives Treeavenger some advice and mentions Sangora wants to speak to me. Time to pay my debt, I guess.
Treeavenger no-clips through a wall in search of his forgemaster.
It seems he found him, as we appear with him in the forgemaster’s shop.
Treeavenger gives him the dragon shards he has and he makes him a Glaive of Life Stealing.
Bardon gives him the scales of the spider dragon and he gets a half-plate of acid resistance.
And Pash gives him the blood from the dead demi-god for 2 potions of Vitality.
We then get shunted back out of the space and into the streets of Sigil.
I head to the Afterparty where the rat told me Sangora was at.
She also wants us to find the Sword of Kas, but to give it to her, and not the mages. Better to not even let them know we found it. Of course, I agree, though Pash has no idea who she is.
Pash tries to leave, but finds himself unable.
Bardon gets charmed by a patron and ends up dancing with them, coming back with bite marks on his neck.
We get drinks at Sangora’s behest before heading out.
It seems they are trying to keep us here. As vampires do, I guess. But we manage to squirm our way out of the room.
I want to get the sword for Sangora to cover the deal we made. Pash wants nothing to do with her, because she charmed him, and nothing with the sword either.
We insist that going after the sword would benefit him, as it could fall under Vecna’s control. If we passed it under the nose of the mages and got it to Sangora then all would be well, else we could just kill her.
We head back to base, unsure of what to do next - Sword or Rod Piece…
Recite
END SESSION