The battle continued unabated for several minutes more. Akkiir was virtually unassailable as he danced, dodged and blocked all attacks directed at him. I stayed downstairs with Janlynn, Nim, and Uphir maintaining my faerie fire, using my fey blasts to good effect and using my torch to light fallen opponents on fire to overcome their regeneration. Tetsuo continued to zoom back and forth up the ramp to aid Akkiir, lighting opponents on fire, and back to aid the fight downstairs. Uphir was a fierce sight to see as she hacked with massive arcs of her great axe, dismembering and slicing her opponents to ruin.
The fallen bodies of countless lost wolves lay strewn about the floor of the cellar and upon the ramp beneath our feet as sweat dripped from our tiring forms - the enemy just kept coming wave after wave. Soon more druids began appearing, in particular a raving mad, mud caked druid with a twisted bramble of black smoking wood in hand, used as a sort of battle staff. More and more enemies fell before the might of our company and the druids upstairs started sending several entanglement spells down the ramp at Akkiir and anyone within range.
The last of the wolves were killed downstairs and Akkiir was holding off the rest on his flank of the battle and, in desperation I think, the druids began to send magic shock wave attacks down upon those in the cellar, as if they were trying to break the floor in upon our heads. This wounded several of the fellowship and a flanking maneuver was called for as those of us in the cellar began to flank up the opposing stairs to meet the spell casting druids in the main hall. We had to stop their shockwave attacks!
As we charged across the floor of the main hall, the druids moved to intercept us. Uphir, with a massive show of force and power, hacked right through the first druid and in the flash of a moment sent a second attack to cleave the second druid in twain!! Never have I seen such masterful attacks, nor I think had the druids, for the sure terror in their eyes betrayed their awe of their opponent and the certainty of their deaths at her hand. With the death of the druids the fight was all but over and Uphir and Akkiir finished off the last of the wolves on the ramp.
Exhausted, we rested but a few moments before we searched the rest of the upstairs, noticing that some of the bedrooms and office above had been ransacked. No enemies remained. Flocks of ravens began to enter the winery through rookery holes near the ceiling of the main hall and their fluttering soon filled the rafters. The raven's exclaimed that no opponents had managed to escape - meaning that the druid who had fled had been handled by those outside. We called for Martikov and his kin to return. We had won the day!
As we finally rested, we learned much from Davian about the evil druids, the hags and the devil Strahd. He shared with us the secret of the Wizard of Wines winery - the magic that allowed the vines and grapes to grow in the inhospitable landscape of Barovia. A powerful wizard originally created the winery and powered the magic of the place with three magical "Titanite gemstones". At some point Strahd gave the winery to Dmitry Krezkov's ancestors and the Martikov's now own it through marriage, long ago. The Night Mother, ruler of the druids, has stolen these gemstones and that is precisely why they have attacked the winery.
The Black Bramble, the smoking staff the druid carried, is a piece of the huge corrupted "Banyan" tree that the druids use to power their dark magics, including creating lost children. Somehow the Night Mother used the power of one of the Titanite stones to corrupt the ancient tree. The process to create lost children is truly horrible. They take a child who is soulless and bury them alive and after 24 hours or so they emerge from the cursed ground as one of the Night Mother's minions. We must destroy the tree!!!
The ruined city of Berez, a likely hiding spot for our hated Mere Hags, is where the second stone was brought. The Nightmother used this stone to corrupt another huge Banyan tree stump, in which she had created a home for herself, giving it the power to move across the land. Her home is a moving target and it may be hard to track her down. Davian has eyes and ears throughout the land searching and watching.
Asking about some of the clues we had been given by Madam Eva, he stated in no uncertain terms that this vistani seer was evil and could not be trusted. Likely any clues we had garnered from her Tarokka readings are lies and possibly a ruse to send us to our doom. He further went on to describe a little of the Vistani powers of divination. It seems that a seer cannot give an untruthful reading to a fellow vistani, but to others she likely does.
We asked about a small castle with Amber Giants and Davion told us he knows of a place at the summit of Mount Gackus that is a cave of amber. To take upon us the task of reaching it's heights would be too dangerous, he said. Impossible. Impassable. To this I say: If our troupe of heroes so sets their goals, it shall be achieved!
When asked about the Dusk Elves, he had a story to tell there as well. The vistani camp upon the shores of Lake Zarovich guards the way to the valley of the dusk elves. The tale of these poor, wretched elves is one of ancient sorrow, for their defiance of the devil Strahd had led almost to their complete ruin. Some time ago in the history of this place Strahd had desired a consort from the elves and they spurned him. Strahd's wrath was almost too horrible to write about here, but chronicle it I must. In Strahd's rage, he killed every female dusk elf to extinction and left the male dusk elves to forever suffer their long lives until they wither from loneliness and sorrow.
On the subject of the dread Lord Strahd and talk of Madam Eva's fortune telling we learned that the only "Sword of light" Davian could think of might be the devil's brother's blade. The sad history of Sergei Von Zarovich must be recounted here, for I believe it is also the beginning of Strahd's tale as well. Sergei was engaged to the beautiful Tatyana Federovna and on their wedding day Strahd slew his brother in a fit of rage. He desired Tatyana for himself, you see. What logic drove his bloody rampage is beyond comprehension. Did he think that she would come into his arms after what he had done?
Tatyana, confronted by Strahd and upon hearing of her beloved's death, flung herself from the high walls of Castle Ravenloft to her death amongst the rugged cliffs of the mountains. The guards tried to stop Strahd and a battle ensued. With the help of his most loyal men at arms, the rest of the guards were slaughtered. It is believed that this was the beginning, the turn to the darkness which turned Strahd into the Devil of Barovia.
We learned of a strange mage who wanders the slopes of Mount Baritok. Perhaps this is the mage who fell from the castle a year ago, in the assault upon the castle? Maybe we will have reason to head that way and find out. We enjoyed the short rest and I played some light tunes to put my comrades in a more positive mood. It had been a long day....
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