FINN'S JOURNAL
Finn's Journal #20 – Oct 2 – 2017
The group rushed down the scorpion tunnel to rescue Janlynn and Tetsuo, quickly finishing off the monster. Our assailants were either dead or fled and Tetsuo and Janlynn were revived and their wounds tended to. It was agreed that we felt strong enough to continue and Nim moved to investigate the webbed up tunnel.
Nim detected a couple of creatures hiding above, just inside the web tunnel. He noticed a Hag at the end of the tunnel and fired off a crossbow bolt with good effect and she could be heard screeching in pain. Nim smiled in satisfaction as he came back to the group telling them what he had scouted out. Finally, we had found our quarry, and were one step closer to ending their horrible control over our dreams.
Ready to take on the hag and her minions, we moved to fight our way down the tunnel. The pair of creatures clinging to the walls and ceilings were horrible creatures of the Underdark. They were humanoid as far as limbs went, but their bulbous heads had spider like mandibles and eyes, and they fired globs of webbing from their behinds at us. Akkiir found himself webbed to the floor by one of the creatures. The hag at the end of the tunnel cast some sort of transmutative spell upon Nim. He could feel himself fighting off the effects as his body started to transform into something else. Luckily Nim won that contest and retreated around the corner with his normal form still intact. Akkir was freed from the webbing and retreated as well.
With a hag at the end of the tunnel casting spells and two strange spider creatures just inside the tunnel waiting to pounce, our group needed a few moments to come up with a plan. Wanting to battle against one front at a time, I suggested taking one of the monstrous scorpion bodies and pushing it ahead of us down the tunnel so that we could block attacks from the hag and concentrate on the other creatures first.
Uphir and Tetsuo hefted one of the chitinous bodies, dragging it into the tunnel. At first they had to tip the scorpion on it's side, struggling to make it through the five foot opening. From there they could tip it back down and progress through the tunnel. The strong webs allowed them to rest the body against them so that they could attack the creatures above.
No sooner had we began to attack than the hag cast a devestating bolt of lightning down the hall.
The scorpion body did little to protect them from the power and force of the blast of lightning. It arced through the bodies of my friends, severely wounding them, and dropping Tetsuo to the floor unconscious. A hasty retreat was called and Tetsuo was pulled back around the corner by the others. Lightning Bolts!! Egads!
We debated our next move, and tended to Tetsuo. I cast an illusion to try and trick the hag into thinking that we were in the tunnel again - hoping that they would waste another lighting bolt on nothing. They did not take the bait, so it was decided that we needed to move ahead as quickly as we could, pushing the scorpion corpse along ahead of us. The spider creatures fired more webbing at us and realizing we were pushing the scorpion further and further down the corridor, they rushed to stay ahead of us on the ceiling, some fifteen feet overhead.
We did not make it as far as we had hoped before the hag sent another lightning bolt down the tunnel at the group. This was just as devestating as the first and set us to retreat, dropping Uphir to the floor in the process. It is always a shock of dismay and fear I feel whenever I see Uphir stumble in battle, for she is the mightiest of creatures I have even witnessed. We managed to scramble back away from the tunnel, as close to death as I had ever seen. Uphir would be fine, but she was severely wounded. We decided our only course was to retreat back up into the windmill and lick our wounds with at least a short rest.
I played soothing songs to my friends and wove the notes together with the web of feywild energy that blankets the universe, adding some little healing to my friends recuperation. During our rest it was time once again to turn to our strange, bottled tadpole. He was somewhat distressed about all of the lighting bolts being hurled at us and thought we could leave him behind if we were going to try that again.
Nim began bargaining with the being and indicated that we would return it to it's nest again if it would give us some information. It really wanted a donation of blood, but decided that would suffice. At Akkiir's suggestion it was agreed that it would answer five questions for us and we would return it to it's nest.
Question 1: Are the hags controlling our dreams? Basically his answer was yes.
Question 2: How have your abilities been used by the hags against us? He was spying on us during our approach to the Mill and communicating with the hags.
Question 3: Name any specific weaknesses of the Hags? The only weakness he spoke of was that when they are defeated they are slow to rebuild their coven. (Not very helpful, really)
Question 4: Where is the sword of Light? He knew nothing of any sword of light.
Question 5: Have you been in contact with the hags since we found him? No.
Not as helpful as we were hoping. If Janlynn had her way she would destroy this creature and does not approve of communicating with it, let alone making deals with it. She suspects that the being is evil in nature, but has not yet used her magic to determine it for sure. We returned Snelb to his place in the attic, unsure if we will have need of him in the future or not.
Finn's Journal #21 – Oct 9 – 2017
It was now time to make a decision. We had considered many options and none of them looked good from our particular, precarious position. Ultimately, we needed to get down the hag tunnel as quickly as possible and without all of us lining up to be hit with another lightning bolt. The first task was to get rid of the webs, followed by a two front battle with the Hags and the Spider creatures.
Nim and Akkiir had scouted below and verified that the tunnel was webbed up again. It was decided that we would use torches combined with Uphir's acid breath to clear out the webs. Tetsuo came up with an idea to use wide branches to make the torches more effective and clothing was gathered up to use as an alternative.
The plan worked fairly well in it's first phase. Torches were hurled up the tunnel to burn through the first fifteen feet of webs or so, and then Uphir exhaustedly trudged up the corridor.and blasted off an impressive surge of corrosive acid straight up the tunnel. With our passage through prepared - Akkiir and Tetsuo ran up past Uphir to the end of the hall to battle the hags. Nim, Janlynn and I were to battle the spider creatures who clung to the ceiling and were now using our scorpion corpse for cover.
The spider creatures were kept busy firing their sticky webbing down upon our group, momentarily capturing Uphir, who easily ripped through their adhesive net. Nim and I used our ranged attacks against the horrors while Janlynn tried to position herself to best aid those who needed her the most. After some web attacks, the monsters came down to attack with their wicked bites and claws. Soon both Janlynn and Uphir were wounded and I found myself bound up in webbing, watching one of the the wretched beasts bear down on me.
At the other end of the hall, Akkir and Tetsuo had to dodge the attacks of strange "trapper" creatures who looked like, and blended in with, the walls. The tunnel narrowed down and Akkiir and Tetsuo could see the three hags there, ready to do battle. Akkiir began his dance and decisive strikes against the first of the hags, stabbing deep with his silvered sword. One of the hags tried to transform him (as they had previously tried with Nim) into a frog, but failed. A lightning bolt shot out through the tunnel, wounding some in the group badly.
Uphir turned her wrath upon the attacking spider creature, even as Janlynn moved forward to use her healing miracles upon our large friend. Trapped as I was, I still managed to blast off a few fey blasts, knocking back my opponent even as he kept rushing in for a nibble at my noggin. Before we knew it, the spider creature on Uphir was dead and she now found herself dealing with bigger problems - The trappers! Nim had rushed forward to help the front ranks.
At the front - Tetsuo tried to put an end to the hag's spell chanting by using his uncanny powers to cast a blanket of silence over them, but this was countered by their potent magic. For his effort, tetsuo found himself falling under the effects of a sleep spell! Akkiir was forced to cast a magical shield up in front of himself to deflect the deluge of magic missiles from the cackling hags.
Tetsuo must have heard my cries at my end of the hall, because when he was revived he charged down the tunnel to come to my aid, quickly defeating the creature with his expertly wielded quarterstaff. He then helped me escape my webbing. I can't express how grateful I am for my friend Tetsuo. There was no way I was going to escape that creature alone.
Uphir soon found herself completely wrapped up in the maleable form of the Trapper. Even as the life was being squeezed out of her, she fought on defiantly - hacking with her great axe with all of her strength. Janlynn tried to help and found herself engulfed as well! Tetsuo and I rushed forward to help just as Uphir erupted from the writhing form of her trapper, covered in gore and ichor. We all turned our attacks towards Janlynn's plight and helped fell her monstrous trapper as well.
At the front, the battle with the hags continued with barrage after barrage of magic missiles directed at Akkiir who was throwing up shield after magical shield in front of the magic attacks, barely able to keep them at bay. The Hag who had been at the front dealing with Akkiir had fled to the rear and Nim deftly ran through the legs of friend and foe alike to attack the wounded hag with fury. The onslaught finally burst through his defences and Akkir took the brunt of the missiles, staggering him. Nim and Akkir fought bravely in the face of immense magical damage to finally fell one of the Hags!
As it fell in defeat, it's form turned from that of an old hag to that of a dark fiend of the Abyss - truly horrible to look upon. Even as that hag died and the last trapper was defeated, the remaining two hags dispersed into a dark mist. They had fled!
Nim rushed beyond the fallen hag into a room beyond. This looked like the actual lair of the evil creatures. Bedding lay about as well as a wooden armoire of sorts. Inside this cupboard was found stacked crates and inside two of them was a terrified child. I know that Nim must have found some relief knowing that we were able to save at least two children from the despicable hags.
Finn's Journal #22 – Oct 16 – 2017
There are times when even the heart of the group, as Finn is, can be weighed heavy in this energy draining and soul leeching land of Barovia. I, Nim Burrfoot, will endeavor to take up the pen, and jot down some notes in Flynn's journal while he revitalizes himself. I pray my words heal as much as his do.
Defeating even a third of the evil triad of this coven of witches has been a boon to our work here. Saving the children was a blessing, but at the same time, it supplied a more meaningful depth to the depravity of the hags.
We regrouped after our very divided fight and gathered in the room where two of the hags slept, and where they kept these children. After some cajoling and assurances of safety we found out that the name of the little girl was Myrtle and the boy held the unfortunate name, Freak. Even more unfortunately, he seemed to be one of what this world calls 'soulless'. Both were terrified, but the boy was the more inconsolable of the two. We managed to get him to relax a bit with the assistance of our valiant bard, as Freak was calmed by at the sound of music. We got them out of their cages and, knowing we could not return them to parents who sold them of a pittance, took the suggestion of wise Myrtle and decided to bring them to Ireena. They were children of the village of Barovia anyway, and Ireena was now the Bürgermeisterin.
We searched the last rooms of this coven hive and found some jewelry that we might be able to convert to gold to assist us in our fight, but not much else. We searched every nook and cranny of the building but unfortunately we did not find the promised 'weapon of vengeance'. We considered burning the place to the ground, but felt it imprudent until the Sword of Sunlight is found. Madam Eva's credibility is dropping by the moment, and I wonder if her words are mere manipulation even more so than I did before.
It was at this time that I decided to reveal Snelb to the group and I feel that this course of action deserves some explanation. First of all, I would like to address my calculated risk. I need my friends to be aware that it was not done rashly or on a mere whim. I measured everything twice as I always do. As I saw it, Snelb could be lying or telling the truth. He could want to stay in the attic or he could want to travel to the fight with us. Assuming that Snelb had been honest with us, then we already know that he was in service to the Hags, and that he was placed in the attic by them to monitor our actions. This indicates that he is able to communicate with them from there. If he has the ability to communicate from that height, then he could do so from my pouch or from the attic. Leaving him there left him in an optimal position to continue his spying and relay valuable information to the hags. He would be in a safe location and could take whatever action he wanted knowing the outcome of the battle. However, in my pocket, his had to deal with the fact that his neck is also on the line if we are in danger. I was watching every move of the hags and their minions and if at any given moment I had any inkling that he was aiding any of them, I was ready to smash him into oblivion. I can tell you that there were two moments in the battle that I considered doing so.
Assuming that he has not been honest with us, the proper decisions get a bit more blurry, but still clear enough, I think. If he was lying about his willingness to break with the hags and side instead with us, then I needed to let his actions dictate my decision, instead of his words. His last interaction with all of us was to do a service for us to bring him back to the attic, so he either legitimately wanted to go back up to the attic, or he was trying to use a reverse psychology method to make us take him with us. If he was both lying, and wanting us to take him back into the attic, then I can think of no better reason than to bring him with us. If he was lying and he actually did want us to bring him, then he certainly played an overbalanced game to the contrary by doing something he usually requests food for in exchange, and compounding that by indicating that if we were to go back and try to engage him again, we would be forced to confront the very thing that made us reluctant to deal with him in the first place, which is the blood offering.
My options at that point were to bring him, or to kill him unfairly but as a necessity. I strongly considered both, and I confess that my failure to protect him as I should have previously may have weighed in my decision to choose the former. I say none of this as an excuse. I just want you to know that there was nothing reckless about my decision. My apology for the delay in telling this decision still stands, and I wish I had more time to handle this properly, but I then knew the lives of children were on the line, and we had already long delayed. I vow to put his actions under my responsibility then and now, and I will pay for my mistake if I am wrong about him.
The intel that we have been able to gather from Snelb is that although the coven is broken, this task is far from complete, and the good that we have done is but temporary. They can once again repair their coven at the next full moon when they can add another hag back to their group and reinforce their numbers again. We had no time to loose, but at the same time, we needed to rest now that we had children in our care.
We retreated back to the mill levels with the children and settled them in for the night, but an eventful night it was. First of all, as Tetsuo and I were gathering some food just outside the mill in preparation for food and rest, the ghost of our departed friend Ismark visited us and warned that Ireena was again in peril and requested that we aid her. We prioritized this as our next course of action. We also managed to find an unexpected but welcome surprise of assistance. For the first time since our arrival, we found help even when it was not asked for. A pile bags had been delivered outside the mill that contained food and, more welcome, healing supplies for our Cleric! As best we could determine, it seemed that the much needed supplies were delivered by the very ravens themselves. A force for good indeed.
We bunked down together in the third floor bedroom in the mill, and wondered at the night ahead. Would we get to sleep now that we managed to break the coven? Snelb provided more insight by letting us know that the way the hags were breaking into and corrupting our dreams. They had been shifting to the ethereal and physically casting a spell on us as we slept. A horrifying bit of information to know, indicating that they have been there from the very beginning in the barn at the Death House, but also useful. Knowing their method, we knew that we could use Protection from Evil spells to break their contact with us as the nightmare spells began. We used this effectively to stop the hags that night and despite our bleak and tainted surroundings, we managed to get the best night of rest we had since we arrived, although this did not completely cleanse the curse from us. Some ill effects remain.
In the morning, we moved with all possible haste back to the village of Vallaki to turn the children over to Ireena at the church, and learn the meaning of Ismark's dire warning. The trip was uneventful, until we re-entered the city and again encountered the strange man who had been watching us with a keener eye than the rest of the town. Some of us decided to be upfront with him and speak to him directly. We probed for information and although we were upfront with him, he still seemed to be withholding of information about himself.
Finn's Journal #23 – Oct 23 – 2017
--My thanks to friend Nim for picking up quill and paper to add to this journal whilst I slept. He is right, this place has laid a weight upon our souls and it is a constant assertion of will to push ourselves up from despair. I worry for my friends as they all endure this in their own way. I fear most for Janlynn, our sweet beloved priestess, whose pure heart and love for life struck me with such joy when first I met her. Now I can see the darkening of her eyes and the new hardness I see within. We must keep strong and escape this place before it ruins all that is light and beautiful within us. I will pick up from where Nim had finished.--
We mentioned to the man, Ernst, that we might see him later at the Blue Water Inn, and bade him farewell. We made haste to the church to see what aid we could give to Ireena. The muddy streets of the village showed signs of readying for the upcoming holiday, but few people looked up from what they were doing to watch us as we passed. Upon arrival at the church we were informed that Ireena had been escorted to the Baron's mansion by guardsmen. We put the care of the children over into the dedicated arms of Father Lucien.
Nim took this opportunity to interrogate Millivoj once again about the location of the stolen bones of Saint Andril. Nim and Janlynn finished curing the last of Millivoj's sick family and I think that this contributed to him revealing to us the identity of the man who had hired him to steal the bones. He said it was the coffin-maker, Henrik Van Der Voort. Finally we were getting some truth out of this boy. While this interrogation was going on Janlynn, Uphir and I were in another room doing a Tarokka reading. We asked about the location of the Saint's bones....
1: She drew the Four of Stars. "The Abjurer". This card shows the past. It shows young, dirty hands reaching for the floor of the church.
2: She drew the Eight of Coins. "The Tax Collector". This card shows one man paying another man. The man paying is well dressed and afluent looking, while the other man wore a dirty neck scarf. This relates to crates or crated goods of some sort.
3: She drew "The Raven". A high card. Nothing was revealed.
4: She then drew another high card "The Artifact". This card shows that the bones are in a sack in a dark place.
5: The final card was "The Marionette". It showed the man with the scarf looking out through a black painted wooden door with a look of terror on his face.
The young, dirty hands were confirmed to be Millivoj's and it was learned that Henrik wore a scarf about his neck, which seemed to confirm at least some parts of Janlynn's Tarokka reading. Our new course was set and we assembled and headed to the coffin-maker's shop. Once there, we could see right away that Janlynn's powers of clairvoyance were spot on as the door to the shop was indeed painted black as in her visions.
Once inside, we quickly met the jittery Henrik Van Der Voort, whose eyes seemed to dart quickly between us. Once we enquired about the stolen bones an obvious fearful releif fell upon him. He stated that he was glad we were here and glad to be rid of the bones. He led us up stairs and said that he had done just what he was told and wondered if we were also here to deal with the crates. He seemed to think that we were affiliated with whoever had him steal the bones and this had something to do with the crates in his storage room.
He led us to his chambers and in a false bottom of an armoire he pulled out a sack and hurriedly passed it on to our group. Checking the sack - we had finally found the bones of Saint Andril! Once again he mentioned something about the crates and we decided we would play along as servants of his employer for the time being. He showed us to a room filled with crates marked as junk. Near the far side of the room were several large crates that he was referring to. These crates terrified Henrik.
Investigating showed them to be filled with dirt, which confirmed at least in our minds that vampires slumbered in each. Henrik revealed this to be his belief as well. Much discussion was had about what we should do about this frightening discovery. Initial thoughts were about somehow opening each crate one at a time and quickly killing the vampire before it could react - but what if the others awoke and they all attacked? Could we take one crate at a time and bring it to another location to destroy it? We decided that we should at the very least return the bones to Father Lucien before we add another impossible task to our list.
Based on the questions we were hammering him with, he soon learned our ruse and that we were not who he thought we were. He tried to make a run for it and Akkiir quickly subdued him, knocking him out. He was tied up and placed inside one of his coffins until we could return and deal with him and the vampires properly.
Father Lucien was overjoyed at the return of the bones of Saint Andril and wanted them interred again as fast and as properly as possible. He asked those of his flock who were present to leave the church nave and we helped him dig up the proper spot and bury them once again. Nim could confirm that the church grounds were once again sanctified to the might of the Morninglord.
It was a great feeling, even amongst all of the chaos and darkness all around us, to know that we could actually achieve a goal in this cursed land - we might just be able to make a difference after all. We have been trying so hard and it felt as if we were unable to fully achieve any of our goals before our time would eventually ran out and the devil Strahd finally came for us. We took just a moment or two, took a deep breath, and were out the door once again to try and make a difference. There was a weasly coffin-maker to deal with, not to mention half a dozen vampires to vanquish.
Our feelings of success were short-lived. When we got to the coffin-maker's shop we found that he had escaped from his bindings! My mind ran amok with what this could mean for us. Would he escape to his employer and give us away? Would he report us to the Baron? We needed to find him immediately. Tetsuo used his knowledge of tracking and soon the trail was picked up and he found it led right back into the village. Janlynn used her power and divined his location after a quick walk through the town. Soon we found ourselves trekking through the mud of the streets of Vallaki directly to the Blue Water Inn, and Janlynn stated he was inside.
The Inn was actually somewhat homey inside. An older, grey haired man with a fancy moustache and spectacles sat at the corner of the bar reading a book; just inside the door at a table along the wall sat two men in wolf fur cloaks talking amongst themselves; two boistrous men sat laughing at a table near the center of the room; and hiding in the far corner of the room was Henrik the coffin-maker.
His eyes widened in fear as he tried to run past to escape the confines of the inn, but was stopped by my fellows. A minor struggle ensued as Henrik started shouting for help and saying that we had attacked him. The attention of the room was quickly being drawn towards the commotion near the door when Janlynn cast some sort of spell upon the scene which seemed to calm everyone down, and the people in the Inn just sort of went back to what they were doing. Henrik was calm enough now for Akkiir to start a dialogue. Akkiir then cast a mesmerizing command upon Henrik so that he would cooperate with us.
We took him back to the church with us to see what information we could glean. He let us know that the one who paid him to aquire the bones was a merchant named Visilli Van Holts, from Krezk and we had some speculation as to whether this was an actual person or actually the devil Strahd in disguise. Henrik himself was not sure, but he knew he was terribly afraid of the man and did not want to displease him, even when suspecting that he was housing vampires.
FINN'S JOURNAL
