Post by gavmeister on Oct 1, 2018 15:28:31 GMT
Ricken stays behind at Argynvostholt to re-consecrate the Chapel of Morning. The revenants ignore him.
Bran turns up, at last. He and the rest of the party trudge north. Ezmerelda gallops up on the back of her stolen horse, followed closely by the sly Vistani, Arrigal, and two other bandits mounted on dire wolves. Arrigal demands that the adventurers return the stolen horse and hand over Ezmerelda to face ‘justice’. Pankas notices the distinctive crossbow Arrigal is holding and accuses him of the recent assassination attempts. The Vistani protests his innocence. The others are taken in, but Bran is having none of it and spurs Binky forward.
Arrigal is too quick and shoots Ezmerelda with a poisoned crossbow bolt. Bran charges the Vistani assassin. Arrigal stabs both him and Binky with a poisoned shortsword. The trusty steed disappears back to the shadow plane. The others make short work of the rest of the bandits and the wolves. Before dying, one of the Vistani looks at the sky and warns “He’s here!”
Strahd arrives on his Nightmare, Bucephalus, wielding a greatsword and clad in shining burgundy plate armour adorned with golden angelic motifs. Bran and Theo eventually bring Arrigal down, but Strahd lays out Pankas, Ezmerelda and then Bran in short order. Theo runs around casting Spare the Dying, first of all taking the sensible precaution of placing a live toad in Bran’s breechclout.
Strahd pointedly snubs Theo, and pursues the fleeing Giselle after remounting Bucephalus. He catches up with Giselle and tries to charm her with the promise of eternal life. The feisty tomboy is having none of it however, so the Count beats her until she slumps unconscious. He steals her hangman’s noose.
Bran wakes up, sorts out his little visitor, then loots Arrigal’s distinctive short sword with the red, black and gold hilt. He catches up (no sign of Strahd) with Giselle and brings her round with his Lay on Hands. The rogue is in a bad way. Pankas notices a trickle of blood on Giselle’s neck and suspicion ensues during their long rest.
They decide to head for van Richten’s tower. The old monster-hunter and Ezmerelda examine Giselle closely but conclude that the injury is superficial – a false alarm.
Pankas tries to remember what he can of the werewolf pack:
• The leader is a violent and cruel man, Kiril Stoyanovich
• His second in command, Emil Toranescu, was not especially loyal
• The werewolves call themselves the Children of Mother Night and worship the goddess
They cross Lake Baratok and head through the forest towards the foothills of the mountain.
Above the tree line, carved into the side of a rocky mountain spur, is a wide torch lit cave that looks like the gaping maw of a great wolf. The open jaws of the wolf’s head form a canopy of rock over the cave mouth, held up by pillars of rock.
Pankas and Giselle scout ahead with Theo’s Crawling Claw. The Claw disappears into the cave, but exits minutes later pursued by a yelping wolf. Pankas and Giselle sneak up and despatch it silently. Giselle decides to scout the cave interior herself. The interior of the cave is torch lit. From somewhere deep inside she hears the echoing sounds of a flute. Some of the notes are discordant – painfully so.
Giselle runs into two feral-looking women wearing shredded clothing and clutching spears. Aziana and Dvanka sound the alarm from their ledge, transform into werewolves, and chase her out of the cave mouth. They run into the rest of the party and begin to back off. Bran, Ezmerelda and Pankas charge in. Giselle darts back and forth, and Theo fires Agonising Blasts at targets of opportunity.
Battle is joined by an elderly werewolf, Skennis and his wolf pack. A white-furred female werewolf, Bianca, also races into the attack. One of the werewolves bites Ezmerelda twice, before falling to the adventurers’ silver weapons and magic. Theo Blights Skennis, instantly turning him into a dessicated shrivelled corpse. The old man’s dying breath is cut off. Searching the body Theo finds an electrum flute and some gems.
Late to the battle, a fourth female werewolf, Wensencia, realises she is outnumbered and disappears back in to the cavern complex.
Ezmerelda has been infected by the werewolf and flees the cave in search of help. The others take a short rest, savouring their heroic triumph over three women, an old man, and his pets.
Meanwhile…
Following the trail of the rest of the party Ricken comes across the scene of the earlier battle. Searching the bodies he finds a letter to Arrigal from Lady Wachter offering a bounty for the assassination of any of the adventurers, with a bonus if he kills ‘the cleric’.
A day later he approaches the Werewolf Den and runs into Ezmerelda. She has fled the Den, after being bitten by the werewolf. She begs him to cast Remove Curse.