We moved quickly across the distance to the old windmill, noticing movement from the cave on the cliff but no direct attack. Just to be sure, we applied our candle wax solution to our ears once again to combat the queer song of the bats. It took only a few shoulder blows from Uphir to break down the door and soon we were standing in the cursed kitchen area once again. Nim and Tetsuo rushed to scout upstairs to find any enemies and soon returned having seen nothing amiss. The kitchen itself looked as if the hags had been back, replacing some of the frogs and chickens in their pens. The oven was cold and there was no direct evidence that they had been baking new 'pastries'. Nim's pocket tadpole, Snelb, had indicated that he could detect two living, thinking creatures within range, and they were fearful - the hags were here! We opened the stout door leading to the underground portion of the mill and cautiously moved on into the dank and dark tunnels. Everything at first seemed to be as we left it, except that any scorpion or other bodies had been cleaned up (No doubt do to the very lucky and sated cave fisher we had left alive). Checking the first tunnels revealed nothing of interest and at last we found ourselves travelling down the same long corridor towards the hags lair. I felt my hair stand on end as I anticipated arcing blasts of white lightning to come coursing down the tunnel. Luckily this was not the case. Rounding the corner to the spot where the hag, Bella, had been killed, Snelb indicated he could only sense one fearful creature now. One of the hags must have escaped! Checking the area and the cupboard once again, another child was found - she looked about four years old and very terrified. The hag had been there, but now she was somewhere amongst the smoky ether, just beyond sight, sound, and touch. I gathered up the child and attempted to keep her calm as we trudged back up into the mill. We unanimously knew that we could not leave the mill as a safe haven for the hags, so we set it alight and watched it burn in the morning air. Glad we could save another child, but sour that we could not battle the hags, we turned our sights towards the bat cave high above.
A path was found that wound its way up the rockly cliff, leading eventually to a set of circular standing stones with ancient pictographs upon them. We rested a moment as we spied the land ahead. We would need climbing gear if we were to reach the cave of the bats, that much was clear as the trail dropped off and it was a horizontal climb of about three hundred feet from our position. There was no choice but to turn back from the cave and take the child to safety. We decided to take the chance and return to Vallaki so that we could put the child in the care of Father Lucien at the church there. We snuck in the south gate and made our way west to the church. We were spotted by guardsmen who rushed off to no doubt let Strazni know we had returned. Wasting no time, we met up with Lucien and informed him of our deeds at the Bonegrinder and asked him to once again take charge of an abused child. May the Morning Lord shine his warmth and blessings upon them all. Feeling the pressure of time, we quickly moved on to the inn to check in with Danika and Urwin. The inn was quiet as we slipped up and into our rooms. Shortly thereafter Urwin came up to our room and we filled him in on our progress at Yester Hill and the Bonegrinder. He requested that he be given the Titanite stone, so that he can present it to his father, Davian, at the winery. He indicated that he needed to get back into the good graces of his father. We thought hard about what we would do with the stone and ultimately it was decided that we would trust Urwin with this powerful object. We talked about what gear and equipment we would need to continue our exploration of the bat cave and ultimately our expedition to far off Mount Ghakis. While this was going on, Janlynn and I sat and she produced her Tarokka cards and began to do a reading. If Madam Eva was evil and had given us bad information which we should not follow, what would Janlynn's third eye reveal if asked the same question. How would we defeat Strahd?
1. "This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you understand your enemy." She turned the Enchanter card, which was the Three of Stars. “She saw an image of a young woman kneeling” + "A rose of great beauty, plucked too soon. The Master of the Marsh knows of whom the girl is". 2. “This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope.” She turned the Hooded One, which is the Seven of Swords. “She felt extremely cold, like she was in a cold place. She could see a cowled statue of a man with his arms outstretched” + "A faceless god. He waits at the end of a long and winding road, deep in the mountains". 3. "This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of Sunlight.” She turned the Miser, the Nine of Coins. “She could see herself passing through the wall of a fortress, then through fire, then through another wall into an area with a pile of treasure with a wooden spike atop it.” + "Look for a fortress within a fortress in a place hidden by fire". 4. “This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness.” She turned the Horseman. “She felt a great sense of trepidation because the one who will help them has a rotten soul.” + "A man of death named Silvo will forsake his dark lord to serve our cause. Beware his rotten soul". 5. “Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!” She turned the Executioner. “She could see Strahd standing behind a railing, mere feet away, staring into her soul. With that, she saw and felt herself falling from a great height.” + "Strahd is on a balcony of a tower looking down at a tortured land. He looks up turning his head to look at Janlynn smiling before she falls". Janlynn's shield flashed to life with brilliant light when her first vision was finished. She was momentarily overpowered and knocked to the floor by the visceral nature of the second vision.
We decided to try the same reading a second time to see if we would get a different result. Our doubts were dispelled as the exact same cards were revealed the second time, and her visions became somewhat clearer with more detail. I have amended the information from the second reading with the first reading above.
Based on this new information, honestly, I am still just as confused as ever with the strange road ahead of us. We only know of one marsh, and that is the lands around the ruined town of Berez, to the south along the Luna River. Perhaps we will find the master of the Marsh there. It was put forth that the beautiful young woman in the visions could be Gertruda, but no real evidence backs this up. And then there is the vision about Silvo!!! Her prophesy indicates that we must work with the betrayer, Silvo, to accomplish our goal. Not a single one of us was pleased to hear his name again.
Urwin was appropriately impressed with Janlynn's Tarokka reading skills, but Janlynn put her cards tentatively away after her two readings. I am worried about her after she swooned that last time. Seeing and feeling the power of the devil Strahd upon you is a powerful experience. Urwin indicated that he would not have the climbing gear together for a while yet, not that we could afford the cost at any rate. We decided to leave Vallaki and search the woods to the south of the town, as this is reportedly the direction that Izek Strazni heads in when he leaves on his daily sojourns.
We searched deep into the Svalich woods and came upon a few cottages, camps and hunting stands, but nothing that would serve as a hideout or prison for our friend Ireena. Our course took us somewhat south and west and we soon found ourselves come upon the Luna River and the marshy area surrounding it. We could see the odd rotten cottage slouching here and there, half submerged in the murky water, leaving the feeling of sadness and loneliness upon the place. We decided that we would travel a bit further south and see what we could discover.
Hecate, our ever present companion, flew down to let us know that the watcher lay ahead. Almost by rote we followed the raven through the mire to meet a new stranger. Soon we could see a light in the shadows of looming menhir's ahead. In a ring of ancient standing stones stood an pretty peasant-looking woman holding a rusted lantern. She seemed to be expecting us and Hecate was quite comfortable to alight upon her arm. She introduced herself as Muriel Vinshaw, a watcher and compatriot of the Danikov family.
We were eager to learn more about the land before us, and asked her for any information about the Master of the Marsh. She said the last Master of the Marsh would have been Burgomaster Ulrich, who was the last leader of Berez before it was consumed by water from the overflowing river. Ulrich was destroyed by Strahd some long years ago, but she could think of no one else who would fit that moniker. Ulric's manor still stands in the center of the ruined town. She spoke of her mission to watch Berez and keep tabs on the Night Mother. She said that they would bring children here to the Night Mother and she would have them drink a strange drink and kept them in a goat pen next to her stump. Besides the Night Mother animating her stump with a Titanite Stone, apparently she would fly around in a giant skull as well. Muriel bore witness to the Night Mother moving with her animated stump south, taking her goats with her. She now resides somewhere south of Luna lake in a flooded forest.
Some of the Night Mother's minions still lurk in the area - lost ones as well as eerie living scarecrows who watch over the desolate landscape. She still sends these scarecrows to attack the winery from time to time. Muriel still holds her post here, waiting and watching for any signs of change or actions from the Night Mother and her minions. We decided that while we were here, we might as well investigate Ulric's manor house. Perhaps something there will lead us to another clue to defeating our enemy and escaping this doomed land. We moved as stealthily as we could through the dry areas of the mire, avoiding a possible encounter with a scarecrow standing silent vigil over the area. We soon found ourselves before a most strange structure. The Burgomaster's Manor House was a roughly "L" shaped building of worked stone. Not a single window could be seen on the structure at all and the only entrance seemed to be at the inside corner of the "L". We circumvented the building and saw a penned in area with several stakes driven into the ground and what looked like a (garden area?). We proceeded with caution.....
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