Post by gavmeister on Mar 12, 2018 23:44:23 GMT
The adventurers and their raven escort arrive at Krezk without incident. Giselle accompanies the Martikov boys into the village to supervise delivery and generally take care of business.
Van Richten turns up to warn the others that events on Yester Hill are moving apace; he fears that Strahd is hatching another fiendish plot. To make up for Giselle’s absence he lends Ricken his armour-plated sabretooth, Tygger.
They trudge back to the vineyard in the rain, then take the south fork deep into the Svalich Woods. A thunderstorm rolls in.
They emerge at the foot of a wide knoll. The path leads up to the summit past two concentric rings of ancient cairns built from slimy black stones. At the summit of the hill a circle of black boulders encircles an open space of dead grass containing a fifty foot high earth and woven twig statue of Strahd. Lightning strikes the boulders from time to time. Theo is suspicious and sends his familiar scampering around the hilltop searching for trouble. Ricken examines the stature more closely and finds that it is held to the ground by black tree roots.
Pankas and Bran notice a strange twinkle in the sky. It gets closer; something is burning in the sky. Theo’s familiar informs him that living bodies are on the hilltop. Four bolts of lightning strike the boulders. The flame in the sky turns out to be Strahd riding his nightmare, Beucephalus. Six druids burst out of the earth and begin chanting “He is the Ancient, He is the Land”. Six mud-clad berserkers burst out of their own false graves and charge in.
Pankas faces one of the berserkers, but is repeatedly kicked in the head by Beucephalus’ flaming hooves. Hard-pressed, Bran takes on two berserkers. Theo sets a beserker onto one of the druids with a Suggestion, forcing Strahd to focus on bolstering the chanting of the remaining druids. Tygger pounces on another beserker; the last one attacks Ricken. The cleric Fireballs two druids but only wounds them; the chant is maintained.
Theo realises the statue is the centre of the ritual and hurls a flask of Alchemist’s Fire to set it alight. Ricken fans the flames with Burning Hands. Strahd casts a Fog Cloud to slow the flames, then returns to the chant “I am the Ancient, I am the Land!”
With Strahd and the druids focused on the chant the adventurers gradually gain the upper hand over the berserkers; eventually they turn on the druids to try to break the chant. An over-confident Ricken fires Scorching Rays at the charmed berserker and last druid, breaking Theo’s spell and tying Pankas up for the rest of the fight. Strahd fails to Polymorph Bran and flies back to Castle Ravenloft, gloating that he has left a little surprise behind.
Once again, four lightning bolts strike the ring of boulders. The little surprise turns out to be Wintersplinter, a huge tree blight with tainted blood instead of sap glowing with unnatural green light. It first lurches in the direction of the Wizard of Wines vineyard before it realises a battle is underway. It turns on Theo first, smashing him with its branches and lifting him in the air with its grasping roots. The warlock gives it a Hellish Rebuke. Bran utters his Oath of Vengeance and rushes to Theo’s aid, sword swinging. The paladin and warlock fight back but are both grappled by black roots and badly wounded.
Theo is knocked unconscious again and again, but under Bran’s Aura of Protection he Defies Death each time, hurls an Eldritch Blast, then succumbs to another battering. Ricken hurls two Fireballs at the blight’s crown, then wades in only to be knocked unconscious immediately. Tygger bites into a tree root and clings on with his jaws. Theo comes round once again to Spare the Dying, then with his last ounce of strength Bran drives his sword deep into Wintersplinter’s evil heart. Tainted blood gushes forth and the blight topples at last. It crumbles to dust, leaving a cone shaped green gem behind – the gem stolen from the Wizard of Wines!
The adventurers, exhausted, rest for an hour to regain their strength. The sky clears a little. A mile to the west they see a wall of fog reaching from the ground to the heavens. It shrouds a white fortress on a hill above a great city. A distant bell tolls.
Pankas hears a voice in his head: “Long have I waited for one who is worthy. My spear hungers for blood. Retrieve it and rule these mountains in my stead, just like the mighty warriors of old.” The voice leads him to a cairn. He digs beneath the stones and finds a buried blood-stained spear.
The adventurers notice a copse of dead trees at the south-west. End of the hilltop. Shadowy figures appear to be moving under the branches.
Van Richten turns up to warn the others that events on Yester Hill are moving apace; he fears that Strahd is hatching another fiendish plot. To make up for Giselle’s absence he lends Ricken his armour-plated sabretooth, Tygger.
They trudge back to the vineyard in the rain, then take the south fork deep into the Svalich Woods. A thunderstorm rolls in.
They emerge at the foot of a wide knoll. The path leads up to the summit past two concentric rings of ancient cairns built from slimy black stones. At the summit of the hill a circle of black boulders encircles an open space of dead grass containing a fifty foot high earth and woven twig statue of Strahd. Lightning strikes the boulders from time to time. Theo is suspicious and sends his familiar scampering around the hilltop searching for trouble. Ricken examines the stature more closely and finds that it is held to the ground by black tree roots.
Pankas and Bran notice a strange twinkle in the sky. It gets closer; something is burning in the sky. Theo’s familiar informs him that living bodies are on the hilltop. Four bolts of lightning strike the boulders. The flame in the sky turns out to be Strahd riding his nightmare, Beucephalus. Six druids burst out of the earth and begin chanting “He is the Ancient, He is the Land”. Six mud-clad berserkers burst out of their own false graves and charge in.
Pankas faces one of the berserkers, but is repeatedly kicked in the head by Beucephalus’ flaming hooves. Hard-pressed, Bran takes on two berserkers. Theo sets a beserker onto one of the druids with a Suggestion, forcing Strahd to focus on bolstering the chanting of the remaining druids. Tygger pounces on another beserker; the last one attacks Ricken. The cleric Fireballs two druids but only wounds them; the chant is maintained.
Theo realises the statue is the centre of the ritual and hurls a flask of Alchemist’s Fire to set it alight. Ricken fans the flames with Burning Hands. Strahd casts a Fog Cloud to slow the flames, then returns to the chant “I am the Ancient, I am the Land!”
With Strahd and the druids focused on the chant the adventurers gradually gain the upper hand over the berserkers; eventually they turn on the druids to try to break the chant. An over-confident Ricken fires Scorching Rays at the charmed berserker and last druid, breaking Theo’s spell and tying Pankas up for the rest of the fight. Strahd fails to Polymorph Bran and flies back to Castle Ravenloft, gloating that he has left a little surprise behind.
Once again, four lightning bolts strike the ring of boulders. The little surprise turns out to be Wintersplinter, a huge tree blight with tainted blood instead of sap glowing with unnatural green light. It first lurches in the direction of the Wizard of Wines vineyard before it realises a battle is underway. It turns on Theo first, smashing him with its branches and lifting him in the air with its grasping roots. The warlock gives it a Hellish Rebuke. Bran utters his Oath of Vengeance and rushes to Theo’s aid, sword swinging. The paladin and warlock fight back but are both grappled by black roots and badly wounded.
Theo is knocked unconscious again and again, but under Bran’s Aura of Protection he Defies Death each time, hurls an Eldritch Blast, then succumbs to another battering. Ricken hurls two Fireballs at the blight’s crown, then wades in only to be knocked unconscious immediately. Tygger bites into a tree root and clings on with his jaws. Theo comes round once again to Spare the Dying, then with his last ounce of strength Bran drives his sword deep into Wintersplinter’s evil heart. Tainted blood gushes forth and the blight topples at last. It crumbles to dust, leaving a cone shaped green gem behind – the gem stolen from the Wizard of Wines!
The adventurers, exhausted, rest for an hour to regain their strength. The sky clears a little. A mile to the west they see a wall of fog reaching from the ground to the heavens. It shrouds a white fortress on a hill above a great city. A distant bell tolls.
Pankas hears a voice in his head: “Long have I waited for one who is worthy. My spear hungers for blood. Retrieve it and rule these mountains in my stead, just like the mighty warriors of old.” The voice leads him to a cairn. He digs beneath the stones and finds a buried blood-stained spear.
The adventurers notice a copse of dead trees at the south-west. End of the hilltop. Shadowy figures appear to be moving under the branches.