THE ADVENTURE
ADVENTURE DETAILS
INTRODUCTION
A new group of young adventurers have taken up residence at the Pair of Antlers Inn in the bustling city of Elturel. Soon their desires are met as they are hired to aid the exotic Silvo in his rush to head north with his small caravan of roving wagons. Little do they know that their quest for adventure will take them on a dark and terrifying path towards evil as they fall under THE CURSE OF STRAHD.
VALLAKI NPC'S
Father Lucien Petrovich- Father Lucien is the priest of the Morninglord at the church of Saint Andril in Vallaki. The PCs have learned that he is the brother of the Baroness. He spends many nights in payer for his flock to give them blessings against the evils of the night. He asked the PCs to find and return the stolen bones of Saint Andril to re-consecrate the grounds of the church. He has offered succor to the PCs as well as those whom the PCs needed to have protected. The heroes have returnbed the missing bones and the church is sanctified again, offering additional protection to it's followers.
Baron Vargus Vallakovich - Little is known of the Baron, only what little the PCs have heard from others. Some say the Baron is mad and dangerous, others that he is harmless and tries to keep his subjects happy. Few would disagree that he is crazy, however. He runs his town in a very peculiar way - he will have people jailed for now being happy enough!? The PCs are not done with this man.
Baroness Lydia Petrovna - Little has been learned of the Baroness either, and many suggest that she is as mad as her husband.
Yeska - Yeska is a young lad who is laybrother in the Church of Saint Andril. He became important to the plot when it was learned that he may have been inadvertantly responsible for the theft of the Saint's bones, by revealing their location to another lad, Milivoj.
Milivoj - Desperate to earn some money to help his family, whom he must support alone, he was hired by the coffin maker to steal the bones of Saint Andril, after learning of their location from Yeska. In the end, with the healing of his siblings by Janlynn and Nim, he eventually told the truth and this led to the PCs successfully returning the bones to the church. Nim has made a very strong impression on Milivoj.
Izek Strazni - Captain of the guard. This mysterious man had a draconic looking hand, similar to Uphir. A cruel man with a cruel past. He has worked for the Baron for many years and is a trusted advisor and captain of his guard. He lost his arm to a monster attack when younger and his sister was lost at the same time. Some time later his arm mysteriously grew back over night into it's current draconic state. He was in command of the soldiers who took Ireena west out of Vallaki (To Krezk?)
Ernst Larnak - Man who has been watching us in town. He may be the "Watcher" who the ravens spoke of. As it turned out, no, he is not in league with the Ravens, but rather works for the Wachter Family as a spy. He did offer to sell some of our magic items for us to some of his benefactors.
Henrik Van Der Voort - Coffin maker. Is known to wear a dirty neck scarf. He is the one who Millivoj sold the bones to. Henrik bit off more than he wanted as not only was he told to steal the bones, but to house a ground of crates containing vampires in his shop. He has been convinced to help the PCs somewhat and was left at the church when they headed out after Ireena.
Danika Martikov - Is the proprietess of the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki. She is the wife of Urwin Martikov. As a member of the Martikov family she is active in the "Raven Network" - Spying against evil and aiding good wherever she can. Originally she was befriended by Akkiir who could see an inherant goodness in her soul. We have determined that the Martikovs can be trusted.
Urwin Martikov - He is the eldest son of Davian Martikov (See Wizard of Wines) and husband to Danika. As with Danika, he is involved in the Spying/ resistance movement in Barovia. He and Danika have two children.
Hecate - She is a crow who was sent with the PCs as an aid as they headed west towards Krezk, and has proven to be an effective ally - scouting and gathering information for the heroes.
Rictavio - Carnival of Wonders Ringmaster. Rictavio is from a world known as Darkon and is not a native of Barovia. He was brought over into this land by the Vistani as well, yet he feels that he will be able to leave when he needs to. He is searching for new creatures to add to his Carnival. He had a large panther penned up in his wagon but it escaped and now Rictavio searches for it. He said he could be found at Khazin's Tower on Lake Baritok.
Gadof Blinsky & Picolo - A somewhat Eccentric man and toymaker, Blinsky's toys are known throughout the land. He has recently acquired a monkey named Picolo from Rictavio (In exchange for a Vistani Doll). He has been making Ireena dolls for Izek Strazni.
Fiona Wachter -
Karl Wachter -
Nikolai Wachter -
THE VILLAGE OF VALLAKI
Finally the PCs made it to Vallaki, the town that they have been seeking, to give Ireena the protection that she needs. They have not spent a lot of time in Vallaki, only overnight at the church. They have learned a little about the town. It is lorded over by Baron Vargus Vallakovich and Baroness Lydia Petrovna. It is a fairly secure town, with a strong pallisade and active guardsmen. They display the many trophies of the wolves they have killed - the wolves being their most feared and hated enemy.
They have met the Priest of the Church to the Morninglord, and a couple of church workers and laybrethren. There they discovered the mystery of the missing Saint's Bones, which they investigated a little, but will have to come back and finish. They met the Baron and Baroness and have since learned that they are completely bonkers. They keep their citizenry in constant fear of being arrested for Malicious Unhappiness! They decided that they must first defeat the Hags before returning to Vallaki and deciphering it's mysteries.
They fought a pitched battle with the hags at the windmill and managed to kill one of them. The ghost of Ismark, Ireena's brother, beseeched them to return with haste to save Ireena who was in peril. Soon they were back and Ireena had gone missing once again! The search for the bones of St. Andril led the team to the coffin maker's shop where the bones were retrieved. This led them to the discovery of a den of Vampires at the coffin makers, whom the PCs were not yet ready to do battle with. They returned the bones to the church and were soon following a lead west, towards Kresk.
Later, the PCs returned in time to get some much needed rest and to see the festival before deciding their next move. The festival was a bit of a silly wash overall, but the PCs did spend time following up on leads in town. They befriended Rictavio, the Carnival of Wonders Ringmaster, and watched/ helped his giant cat escape the town guard. They learned that the Baron's son stays in the attic of the Burgomaster's mansion, and he is involved in strange necromantic things. He has several skeletal cats and a coffin in that attic room. He is likely a vampire.
The PCs met Gadof Blinsky and purchased a few toys, learned that Izek Strasni has been requesting him to create Ireena like dolls, more and more life-like with each one; Rictavio had him make him a vistani doll; and he let slip that a mechanical doll could be found somewhere in Castle Ravenloft, which he would love to get his hands on.
Soon the PC's were called away again to fight the Druids of Yester Hill, and destroy the evil Black Banyan Tree. Izek Strasni had told them not to leave town - but they did. This definitely made returning there tricky but Vallaki was definitely their main staging point so far. And after winning at Yester hill the did return briefly to connect with the Martikovs and hand over the Titanite Stone.
Leaving once again, they left to find Ireena and somehow ended up in the Ruins of Berez. After triumphing there and gaining the book of Strahd, they were promptly captured and imprisoned by Strahd in his dungeon. Escaping and going through a magic portal brought them once more to Vallaki. Things were different this time. They learned of Strazni's likely death and that they found the cabin in the woods where he may have been holding Ireena.
The Baron and Baroness have been deposed by the Wachter family, who have given the town over to a cult worshipping the Devil. Followers of this cult wear golden Devil Masks and guard the city and hold it under their control. The heroes did not stay long and soon found themselves travelling back to Krezk in search of the Abbot.
When they returned again, it was to pilfer the wedding dress of the Baroness, which they did with much expertise. Before anyone could blink they were off once again to Krezk to hand over the wedding dress to the Abbot.
