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Post by lysimachus on Jan 1, 2017 22:12:28 GMT
3 Mirtul
One last look round the Reaching Woods before the trip to Elturel. I should be out the wood in the next day or so.
4 Mirtul
Woke to find a very unseasonable fog had descended. I also encountered four fellow travellers – a rather creepy chap by the name of Theodorus (who thinks he had a noble background being the son of a Baronet, so gauche), a slightly shady individual, who insists on being called “a lady” named Giselle, a priest of Lathander, Ricken, who seems to know little of his “faith” and a fighter, Pankus, who seems might be competent.
As we followed the path, with Ricken and Pankus claiming that they were searching for a lost boy, we came across a mighty set of gates. I don’t remember seeing those before. I must have got turned round in the fog.
As we approached a swarm of bats attacked us. I had great fun swatting the flying mice out of the sky, little challenge for my axe. The others didn’t seem to do so well, Giselle and Thodorus both running around and screaming a lot before Giselle dropped to the ground bleeding a lot. No grit these mainlanders. Ricken claims that the bats stole something from him, a precious family heirloom. I’m doubtful of the ability of such animals to steal, but theft is theft and must be punished.
Ricken and I tended to the wounds before we agreed to rest up for the night. The others “dined" on the bats! I kept to my iron rations – I don’t eat vermin and there was barely enough meat for one person anyway.
While I slept a skeletal horseman rode by and handed Theodorus a journal. That is not normal. It isn’t illegal (or at least, it breaks no law I know of), but having truck with the undead is not normal.
5 Mirtul
In the morning we followed the road on into the village of Barovia. I’ve never been here before, but there are many villages in Elturgrad, or we may have stayed over the borders into the lands of Darkhold or, far worse, the serpent kingdom.
There we meet to young children, Rose and Thorn, who tell us that there is a monster loose in their house and that a baby is trapped inside. The others dither, but my course is clear – I must protect the innocent. I stride towards the House to investigate and I’m soon joined by the others. We search the house for its inhabitants. They appear to be nobles, with a sigil of a windmill on a hill, and to have an unsettling taste in interior decoration . Unpleasant, but not illegal. I’m therefore slightly annoyed when Theodorus, Ricken and Pankus all start helping themselves to various items. As I’ve said before theft is theft, and poor choices in the victims’ décor do not excuse it!
Further investigation leads to our being attacked by a possessed suit of armour (perhaps an example of illegal use of magic?) as well as the poor shade of the nanny. We also discover that the “children” may have been the shades of the poor innocents who were locked into the attic to starve.
We have recovered some valuables from within the house that I have taken into my possession for safe-keeping until we can determine the fate of the owners of the house and, if they still live, what crimes they have committed (I’m not sure of the laws of this land).
We are resting now, preparing to go down to the basement. But before we do, I think I will need to explain some truths to my companions. I can not, and will not, be party to a raiding party, swanning though other people’s homes taking what they will without consideration of the law. If I wanted that I could have stayed on Ruathym!
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Post by gavmeister on Jan 3, 2017 12:00:00 GMT
"As I’ve said before theft is theft, and poor choices in the victims’ décor do not excuse it!"
Actually, poor choice of interior decoration is explicitly listed as a felony in Elturgard's Miscellaneous Offensive Actions by Annoying Ungodly People Act 1432 DR.
Locking up your children in the attic and forgetting about them while they starve to death is a capital offence under the Child Protection Act 1242 DR (aka the 'Parents, Torm Has His Eye On You (Yes, You)' Act), amended 1243 DR and 1397 DR.
Admittedly, Strahd's reference to the Dursts as "Cursed by darkness" would probably be rejected by an Elturel court as hearsay from an inadmissable source.
Let's see what's in the Basement first before rushing to hasty judgement.
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Post by CaptainDean on Jan 3, 2017 14:15:00 GMT
I'm thinking we'll find evidence of Bran's traumatic past that has made him into the self righteous do gooder he is now. Moral's go out the window in a land where children starve in an attic and bats attack for no reason. I, Giselle will do what is needed to survive in such a land.
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Post by lysimachus on Jan 3, 2017 20:13:54 GMT
I fear that there has been some reliance placed upon a description of Elturgard's laws penned by Xeno Mirromane, famed high priest of Cyric! The MOAAUG 1432 was repealed following the fall of the High Rider. It was an example of his capricious ways, especially as it was impossible to fairly enforce at it requires an artistic judgement rather than proof of actus rea and mens rea. As for the CPA 1242, that is a pure fabrication by Xeno, trying to portray the upstanding Companions and Helliriders of Elturgrad as over officious bureaucrats. Why have such legislation when laws against murder and wounding would suffice? There is also a lack of evidence to certify that the death of the children was intentional - it is still possible (albeit unlikely) that their parents were seeking to protect them but suffered some misfortune that prevented their return to free them.
I'm afraid that there is no evidence of a "traumatic past" to find. And Bran is no "self-righteous do gooder", just a man who firmly believes that it is the law that separates humanity from the animals, it is what gives us civilization. And a land where travellers are set upon by the local fauna on the road without aid being offered by the locals, or where children are left to suffer in an attic is surely in need of more laws and civilization rather than less. It seems as if Giselle has already forgotten the maxim "those who fight monsters must see to it that they do not become monsters themselves". Have no fear though, Bran stands ready to punish to the full extent of the law all monsters, no matter how they started out.
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Post by gavmeister on Jan 3, 2017 23:35:19 GMT
When I make a DM ruling I will preface it like this: DM Ruling
DM rulings are intended to be a helpful definitive statement for the campaign world, although the truth may not be known or may be disputed by the PCs.
Here's my first one:
DM Ruling
"...poor choice of interior decoration is explicitly listed as a felony in Elturgard's Miscellaneous Offensive Actions by Annoying Ungodly People Act 1432 DR.
"Locking up your children in the attic and forgetting about them while they starve to death is a capital offence under the Child Protection Act 1242 DR (aka the 'Parents, Torm Has His Eye On You (Yes, You)' Act), amended 1243 DR and 1397 DR."
Bran can hold any opinion which seems correct to him, and may require a level of proof which satisfies his sense of what is right, but the above statements are true for this campaign.
Gavin
DM
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Post by lysimachus on Feb 28, 2017 14:56:46 GMT
Part 2 (contains spoilers apparently, may also contain nuts)
So, after a bit of a delay we've finally managed to sneak Bran's journal away from him, copy out the latest entries, return it to him and then pst them here for your delectation. He seems to be a bit more bitchy in this latest instalment, but thn he deosn't seem to have had a great day.
6 Mirtul
After a fairly comfortable rest I took stock of my companions. Ricken seems a sound sort, although slightly misguided in following Lathander. Pankas seems similar, though he suddenly appears to have become frightened of everything. Maybe the shade of that poor boy vanishing as it passed him as unsettled his nerves. I’m not sure about the others though. Giselle is a bit whiney and is always trying to get into locked chests, which doesn’t seem to always be in line with the law. Theo is a bit more disturbing – strange tattoos, visits from spectral horsemen and ideas above his station (thinking himself a noble as the mere son of a Baronet).
At my insistence the rest agree that all valuables will be held in safekeeping for return to the rightful owners or equal distribution within the party if there are no current lawful owners.
With that agreed I led the way down the stairs towards the basement. We first arrive in the Durst family crypt. While untidy, and infested with some vermin, t is still a tomb and I manage to stop the others from desecratng the tombs. Instead Giselle and I return the remains of the poor children to their resting place where Ricken performs the last rites. Pankas in particular seems cheered by this and more like his old self.
Pushing on we find a dining area littered with human remains. Giselle in her never ending search for “shiny things” disturbs a rather ugly slug like creature but we quickly save her from her self-inflicted danger.
We then find a narrow, and unused, passage way. Ricken discovers why it is unused as he falls into a trap part way down! As we exit the passage we are set upon by a pack of ghouls. We are briefly hard pressed before Ricken channels Lathander to drive them back. As they scatter we quickly finish them. Two of them run into the dining hall, cowering behind the tables. Both Ricken and Pankas try to climb onto the table to get at them but lack the grace and agility to do so. However I, naturally as a paragon to all, effortlessly leap onto the table at a run as I arrive from dealing with the other three while my colleagues kept the other other two occupied. My axe swings once, it swings twice and the poor wretches are at rest. We then return upstairs to recover our breath before venturing forth once more.
Exploring further we find a series of dungeon cells filled with unfortunates. There is also a large statute holding an orb. Theo uses his blasted magic to seize the orb, at which five shadows of tortured souls appear. Every time he uses that damned magical hand something bad happens. No more I say! he can keep his hand to himself. Theo and Giselle run screaming from the shades while Pankas finds himself drained by their cold. I strike one of them, granting it rest through Amauntor’s grace before Ricken banishes the other four.
We find a secret door that leads back to the ground floor of the house. oncethere we enter the bedroom of Elisabeth and Gustav Durst, now undead fiends. I seem to be noticing a pattern here but i'm not quite sure what it is. We strike them down but not before poor Pankas is almost at the mercy of Gustav. The attack of the shades and the disappearance of the ghost of the small boy must have really shaken him.
We briefly rest again to bind our wounds and recover our breath before heading back to the lowest chamber. There is a lot of irritating chanting going on. It sounds like some sort of cult, and they are almost always illegal. It is part of being a cult really. As we look for the source of the chanting the sticky fingers of Theo and Giselle continue as they pick up gruesome knick-knacks from the cult’s collection. I’ll need to keep a close eye on both of them. Theo seems to have rather poor eyesight. He got very excited briefly, shouting something about a wand, as he rushed towards a stick with a frog tied onto it. Well, is such things will keep him happy and occupied we might be able to keep him out of trouble.
As the chanting suddenly stops we stumble across a large chamber, mostly flooded, but with a pile of offal on one side and an alter in the middle. Pankas wades over the to the altar and 13 shades suddenly appear chanting something about someone having to die. I’ve never been one to do something just because 13 strange shadowy forms pop into existence and demand it so I carry on looking around the room. This seems to vex the shades in some way and they start calling on someone called Lorghoth to awake (though how anyone could have slept through the annoying racket they had been making for a while is beyond me).
However, the pile of offal begins to move and turns out to actually be some sort of creature. I use a scroll we had found to bless those in the front line and we set about hewing this monstrosity down. Theo helps out with a few spells, Giselle less so with random arrows being fired into the fight (one of them nicked my ear!). It is now Ricken’s turn to be slightly unsettled by events. He casts spell after spell at the thing but seemingly to little effect. He then rushes in to hit it but is immediately knocked out. Just as I turn from hewing chunks from the foul beast to aid the downed priest I find myself swallowed whole by the monstrosity. This will not do!. As I still have my trusty axe, Justice, in my hands I decide the only thing to do is to cut my way out – as with Ricken down and Pankas having a bad day I’m not going to rely on being saved by Giselle (who manages to stick me with another arrow even though I’m inside this thing) and Theo (who would trust anyone who tries to stuff a large cloak made out of human skin into his pack and thinks no-one saw him?). A little bit of effort and I’m free, having triumphed over this unnatural beast.
Ignoring my hurts I go to Ricken and pour his healing potion down his throat. Helping him to his feet we turn to leave but find the house is in a terrible state. The windows are now bricked up, smoke pours from the fireplaces and slashing scythes fill the doorways. Pankas succumbs to the smoke, so I use my healing potion on him to help him back up. We smash through the walls but we are assaulted by vermin as we do so, but we find our way out eventually.
We see a light in a nearby house and, given our wounds and the lateness of the hour, seek shelter inside. For some reason my appearance horrifies the homeowner, but Ricken is able to persuade him to let us stay there for the night in return for doing him a favour the next day. I'm becoming convinced that the people of Barovia appear to be beset by fould undead. Such things are crimes against the laws of nature, of man and of the gods 9well, those worthy of the name anyway). All undead, and those who would have truck with them ust be punished. With that warming thought, as soon as I put this down I shall collapse into the sleep of the just.
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