D&D is For Nerds - Vampire Infested Barovia II #4 Campfire Tales

Episode Date: May 27, 2023

In a moment of respite, the party learns of some troubling news from the local winery. Pip has a private moment with Keaning while Hecktor receives a gift from an old god.Want ad-free and even more bonus content? Just check out the Imagination Adventures show page on Apple podcasts! Music by the ever wonderful Lepidora, you can check out her music here. And head to peddlerspress.store to peruse our D&D themed merch store and help support the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ahem, ahem. You're listening to the Sandspants Network. Although you see no water for miles around, you are, like us, marooned. You're stranded in this sad and lonely place called Barovia. To mix metaphors, we are incarcerated. The fog that surrounds us are the bars of our dungeon, and Baron von Strahd is our jailer. As far as I can tell, there is only one way out, and that is to kill the devil Strahd. Now we'll walk into Madame Eva's caravan.

Madame Eva sits behind the table with the crystal bowl in front of her. She looks up as you enter. Her face is, as always, inscrutable. She gestures at the chair in front of her silently. I sit down. It has been a hard day for you, Hector. It definitely has. It has been a hard time in Barovia.

Victory is so far. I take my own shorthand notes for this. Yeah. I did make it. I did promise Kribbit. Yeah. For Kribbit. Yeah.

For Kribbit, dude. I don't want to disappoint him. He is the heart and soul of the team. He's the heart and soul of the fucking vampire busters. Yeah. Victory is far. That's a good line. Tribble will love that.

He'll love this. Okay, victory is far. Yes, I can see that now. You have before you a long and treacherous path. And the night is darkest before the dawn. She gestures and the crystal ball, four more of the figures within it become a little bit clearer, a little bit more defined, a little bit more visible. Once again, you don't get enough information to identify anything other than maybe like height and broadly their outline. But one of them, oh, sorry, she gestures also to the Tarokka deck and one of the cards flips over. You see a man with a bald head, a shock of white hair all around his temples. He hunches over like a workbench and around him are

all sorts of tools and half-finished inventions. Beneath it, it says in an elaborate script, the engineer. Can't get somebody to make a smacksuit. An engineer is a useful thing to have. But remember remember teach someone to reason and they can

justify anything be wary of men with minds but no hearts he stands among the elite he plans He plans their machines and machinations. He will be difficult to recruit. The engineer wishes to plan, and they are already within their plans. The next one flips, and this one it is, you see a royal court. A king and a queen sitting in their respective chairs you can see the queen looks somewhat bored at the goings-on of court but the king is leaning forwards in his seat and as the image moves he claps with like a enthusiasm in front of the two of them a jester in a multi-colored garb dances from foot to foot, waving around a little stick. And on the end of the stick, you can see is a like a doll's representation of the king. This one down the bottom says jester.

It's a jester's job to mock the king. Any good jester should have a quick wit, for if they do not couch their ridicule in good humor, they are likely to lose their head. I see the jester combats the elites. She speaks in riddles and she tries to help the people, but she has no power. All right, so we have the elite and the people. The next card flips. You see a So we have the elite and the people. Okay. The next card flips.

You see a man sitting at the side of the road. He wears armor, but he has his helmet off. The helmet sits in front of him. A single drip of blood runs down from his temple along his cheek. And it almost for a moment looks like he is crying blood in the way that the blood dribbles down him. His face, though, for the most part, is couched in shadow. He looks like he is crying blood in the way that the blood dribbles down him. His face, though, for the most part, is couched in shadow. He looks like he is ashamed. Beneath it, it says, the disgraced knight.

The disgraced knight has lost their way. They were once one of honor, of privilege and prestige. But they have fallen far. They drown their sorrows in drink they will also be difficult to recruit as the disgraced knight feels there is nothing left fighting for you must rekindle their honor set fire to their heart hector and then finally the last one flips. This one, you see a person walking away from a big group. The person walking away has kind of a cloak and a hood. They are shrouded in shadow.

And like the disgraced knight, it looks like just the little brief glimpses of their face you can see. It looks like they are similarly crying. The crowd points at them and you can see jeering and mocking. As the image moves, a tomato flies from the crowd and strikes them in the back of the head. Beneath this one, it says the outcast. They were forced from their community or did they leave it? Either way, the outcasts choices mean they can never return it is a lonely life madam eva's face turns in fear you see for the first time the most

expression she has shown she seems a little panicked almost. I fear your path has already passed them. They are in danger. Search for the ravens. They know the way. Madame Eva slumps back in the chair, looking visibly exhausted. Right, so I need to find a callous man, a comedian, a drunk, and a lost bird.

All right, fine. One question. You said I would get one question every time I saw you. She gestures. What has happened to a Gorgash? She takes a deep breath in and sighs out heavily. Distantly, far from Valakai, in a dark place, a dark and unpleasant place. Agogash sits on an upturned bucket in his jail cell.

He has tried several times now to bend the bars, but they seem magically enhanced. He cannot, for the life of him, for literally the life of him, he cannot escape this jail cell. He looks at one of the corners of the room where

there are two bloodied marks from where he tried to at one desperate moment punch a hole in the wall and he looks down at his broken hands there is a quick set of footsteps coming downstairs somewhere ago gash can't see he moves curiously to the edges of his cage and tries to peer in the dim what little dim light there is from one of the other cells a voice that a gogash has heard only once when he first arrived just simply welcome to castle ravenloft this voice once again speaks out oh my it does seem someone is here for you little man sure enough a figure with a sweeping billowing robe behind them comes out of the darkness it is escher escher with his once beautiful face it is now somewhat bruised from the battering he took from you, Pip, Hector, and the rest of the party. He approaches the cage, looks at a go-gash, and for a brief moment, his vain and twistedly evil face contorts into an expression of sympathy.

He puts one hand on the bars, confident that a gogash cannot get through them, looks down at the ground between them. And when he looks back up, there is a certainty. His jaw is now set and Esha looks at a gogash. I wish it did not have to be this way, but someone must take the blame for the events at Valakai. And between the two of us, I know who I would choose. And then, before a Gorgash can respond, another set of footsteps come down those stairs. Certain, confident, powerful footsteps. Even further than this dark and unpleasant place,

somewhere beyond the space and time that you are aware of, an old man sits at the edge of his village underneath a tree. Oh, no. He stares out at a well-familiar vista, a well-worn landscape. He knows it well. landscape. He knows it well. And with a dragon chest set in front of him, he closes his eyes and tries to conjure forth the move that his son played

last morning. Despite his best efforts, he cannot, he cannot imagine. Nothing, no image comes to him. He opens his eyes and with a strangled a single tear rolls down his cheek for he knows what that must mean

fuck that tear slowly turns into a similar tear rolling down Madame Eva's cheek. She looks at you, Hector, and she shakes her head. You know what that means. As you get up and turn to leave, Madame Eva says one final thing. Be wary, Hector, of... She's, like I said, exhausted physically. Do not make the mistakes of those around you. Remember who your true enemy is.

Maybe I was like, because again, I think I'm still like, Hector's still quite bitter at this. It's fine to not take the advice right now. It's one of those things where it's just like frustrated at a prophet that knew and moved their people and all of just holding like that, the door, the handle to the door and like knowing to who is to blame. And it's not them. It's once again, the devil's child. again devil strut maybe just write myself up kind of just like uh like fix my um posture as it were and just maybe look back to madam eva with like a genuine sort of like sympathy and maybe kindness and just do you know where i will meet you again madam eva sighs heavily and she says, We must meet one more time, but I fear that time will be our last.

One way or another, we will not meet a fifth time. Wordlessly, I just nod and leave the caravan. You step back out. Kribbit stands up. He's giving you like a really significant look. Yes, I will. Yes, I will write down what she said. Don't worry. Kribbit makes a happy noise.

Ha! You've never heard him make that noise before. He's never been happy until now. Everything has been adequate until this moment. I just give Kribbit the four Tarokka cards and maybe I just grab allribbit the four Tarokka cards. And maybe I just grab all the ones that I've collected basically from so far and give them to Kribbit as well.

These are the cards, the prophecy. They're the ones who, I guess they led us to you. At least one of them did. I will write down everything maybe tonight. We need to… Jackson, I'm hoping Danica and Erwin survived. Can you go into the city and grab them, see if they can meet us out here? I need to speak to them rather urgently.

I can find someone to do that, but we are not allowed in the city. Of course. Yes, if you could find somebody to get them. I will look for this for you, yes. Thank you. He stands up and dusts his pants off. He walks away. I need to speak to them.

You are UNA. Is Pip basically like back and forth, chomping at the bit to leave? Yeah, Pip would like to get to Woken as soon as possible. I need to wait for them. I can meet you there. Oh, maybe I can't. No.

Yender stands up and says, well, I should head over. I reckon I'll have a better chance speaking to him than anyone else here in the group. So I'm going to go talk to him now, and I'll come back and grab you. Okay. She gets up and walks away. She's a people person. Yes. Actually, maybe Kribbit stands up with the cards still in hand,

staring at the cards. He says, I will go with. And he turns and heads off with Yender. So it's just the two of you. I suppose Kribbit's also kind of a people person. Kind of. They're both people persons. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They're people people. Yeah, they are. Yes, they both have something that I think we both lack. Oh, yeah. In time, Owen and – oh, actually, it would be maybe just Owen comes out to meet you. In between, I would have told Pip about the, like an engineer, a drunk, Disgraced knight.

Yeah. A drunk, a comedian, a cruel man, and a lost bird is what we need to be finding. She mentioned something about the elite, a king and queen. Is there an elite? Is there a court somewhere in this? Do I know what that would be at all referring to.

I think I can draw to mind, but. No, well, I mean, all this, well, no, Krezic did not have kind of an upper class. It had a leader, but not really an upper class. Barovia has its Burgermaster family, so it's handed down. It's a title handed down from father to son or daughter the king

did not look like the current king Jovial he was enjoying the antics of the jester there is an entire town that you don't know

anything about well look it doesn't sound like it's Krezic it's probably not Velikar if it is fuck

Barovia is pretty unlikely as well but there is another town to the south i've never been there kutry well that's where we sent um near the amity yeah kutry is the other town i mean perhaps they have a some kind of ruling elite but it's you know normally i would say oh all of these prophecies all these, it's so vague you'll never find them, but you found everyone else, so maybe we'll stumble into them. A bobbing lantern appears in the darkness. Eventually it becomes nighttime.

A bobbing lantern appears in the darkness and Erwin steps into the camp. Erwin. It is good to see you, he says. He turns to you, Pip. Thank you. You have saved our lives again. It's no bother.

It's good to see you. I'm glad that you're safe. Is everybody... Not everyone made it out of the tavern but me and my family are safe. I asked about Jeska and the dog. All of the survivors have kind of started, not rebuilding

but have kind of started assessing the damage. When the portal was closed not only were the bats forced to disappear but the vampire spawn were also forced to disappear so thankfully no one in town had to fight any vampire well i mean some people in town did have to fight vampire spawn before the thing was closed yeah i mean it's just it's still one of the problems of borovia yeah he explains that at one point the orphanage, yeah, as they assumed the orphanage was safe for a little while as Claudia defended it,

but then presumably whoever, Escher, who was in control of the bats, realized that he would need to destroy the orphanage, so there is no orphanage anymore. The bats lifted it up and dropped it. Oh no! Claudia was able to evacuate basically

all of the kids before that happened. But yeah, that's a story for another day. Claudia and the kids are safe. She managed to get them out of the city. Oh good, that is good to hear. When Pip said that the orphanage was fallen, I assumed the worst for Claudia. I'm glad that they're okay.

The Burgermaster's issuing a bit of a crackdown among the survivors because the gates to the west and east, the northern gates were already destroyed, but the gates to the west and east were destroyed by someone on the inside. So the Burgermaster's looking into that. Obviously, fingers are currently being pointed at Lady Watcher.

Yeah. But no one's got any hard evidence right now. Hopefully that will keep him distracted so he won't summon a demon anytime soon. Yeah. Owen nods and he says, I believe this event has bought you quite a bit of time. I put my hand on where my heart is.

You know, where the little spike is. By the way, we're not allowed back into Valakai. Virgin Master put a geese on me. He says that is unfortunate.

It was sort of the only choice. Perhaps I erred too far in the other direction. But yes, perhaps that was our only choice at the time. Owen shrugs. Well, in that case, he looks around at the Vistani at this camp. And none of them are too close, but he still seems a little tentative about this. And he says, I'm going to... He takes out pen and paper.

I'm going to write down a place outside the Valakai that should be safe for you for obvious reasons. This is, I will show you on the piece of paper and then we will burn it immediately. He says, gesturing to the fire. Sure, yeah. He scribbles it down and then he looks around, not just at the Vistani, but you can see he's kind of looking at the skies and at the woods nearby. He quite clearly seems scared that any living thing will see this. He turns it around to show you, and it says,

The Wizards of Wines Winery. Okay. Oh, right. Huh. Then he throws it into the fire. Oh, well, I have a question. Huh. Then he throws it into the fire.

Erwin, I have a question. Have you, the shipment that would have come from, say, to stock your supplies that would have gone to Krezik and then on its way to here, is it late? It is, yes, nearly a week's late at this point. Well, that bodes pretty ill then. It was late for Krezik too, which meant it probably never left. I did not know it was also late for Krezik. It was a few days late for Krezik when we left. That is concerning. It is not far to get from there to

Krezik. Yeah, damn. How long have we been gone since then? You've spent, I believe this is your third day in Valachai? Yeah. First things first. do you need anything assistance to help with Jeska

the orphanage to look after the dog I can give you some gold if you need gold would always be appreciated but he shrugs apologetically how much do you have I guess not a heap but I can give you all I have but he shrugs apologetically. How much do you have? I guess not a heap, but I can give you all I have.

It's okay. He says putting up a hand. The people will always want their drink. We will never run out of business. Okay, just if you could look after those for me, that would be… I'd appreciate it. Secondly, I need to find an outcast and perhaps an outcast of your kind. Ah, yes. We are very careful selecting members of our kind.

We would never select someone that we were not very thoroughly vetted on. Even the two of you i would not say that i knew you well enough so uh such a thing an outcast is just not done it has never happened apparently the the the ravens know the way is this to you somebody who is he thinks i kind of repeat what Madame Eva said, that they can't return home. Again, maybe using the same sort of tech, like, you know, looking around to say,

but hushed kind of tones. Well, I, like I said, there is no such person within our group, but I think it is perhaps omen that I have told you this other place that you can go. I think perhaps this is something worth chasing. There's more pertinent information

that I want to maybe give to Erwin but again, if he's being very secretive, I can see that there's like a kind of words unspoken because... Sure. I like put a hand on your shoulder. Probably not. I probably don't touch you, but... I would never.

Pippin likes physical touch. Stresses him out. I like put up a hand and then I pull out my fiddle and I'm gonna go stop playing the fiddle to try and distract the rest of the Vistani. Okay. Presumably they love a song and dance.

Yeah. You get spat rest of the Vistani. Okay. Presumably they love a song and dance. Yeah. You get spat out of the camp. I've never heard anybody play so disgustingly. No, you play a fine fiddling song. I love a he is a sailor man. The Vistani kind of naturally start

picking up and playing instruments. Are you playing a jaunty tune? I'm playing the same song Pip's been playing the whole time he's been in Borovia. Give it to me. My lover, he is a sailor man, and his heart belongs to the sea. After his ship at a soft, steady clip, there's not much love left for me. Actually, you can also play the song as a kind of game. Maybe I do this with the Vistani, where I'm like, I'll sing the line,

and then you do another thing that rhymes with a soft, steady ship, and we slowly add to it, for example. So after a ship and a soft, steady clip, and a sword on his hip, there's not much love left for me. And then I include everybody, everybody can add a line, and I'll try and distract them that way. Yeah, that works. A song and a game? Surely the Vistani are pissing their pants. The Vistani play along, and if you kind of lead them away from the fireplace, they'll come and do it over on the side with you.

Yeah, yeah. Pip, you get the impression that they're not fooled by this? They're playing along. Yeah, okay. Well, I'm doing the best I can. He's a sad man sometimes. Maybe, yeah. Love my voice. I'm still talking in a hushed whisper as well.

That kind of works out. Yeah, it's kind of beneficial. So Woken is alive. Ewan stares into the fire and nods slowly. He's currently with the he's currently with the Dusk Elf.

You got some fucking information there, buddy. That is also a very big thing. That's a pretty big deal. He's with the Dusk Elf, Eleniel. She is hiding in the forest. When you say she, Owen, ah. Yes, all cards on the table, she's also pregnant. Ah.

Oh, that is. Something. Very ground shattering news. Right, yes, I thought the Woken was the, no, it's the both, yes. Yes, I thought the Woken was the... No, it's the both, yes. It is glad... Well, I... Just for you to keep going.

He was wounded by one of the undead. Pip bit off the infected air. It was his... Yender is going over there to see what they can do with any kind of um healing magic if anything uh it would uh it would be important then to let you know that we know the identities of some members within the vistani um not this group but the one um at the hill yes the stani there's some work for Strahd, it would be very careful.

You should be very careful. Yes. I give the description of the leader I met. I think his name was Aragal. Aragal? Yes, yes. Him and his brother, Lvash. They are both non-operatives of Strahd.

I do not think they report directly to him, but any words you speak to them will find his ears eventually. Maybe it is important to know about, let Makulik know that. I guess he probably already does. I would not be shocked. The Dusk Elves are clever.

They know that some of the Vistani are plants of Strahd's. Yes, he was very careful when he led me to her. So just keeping you informed that that is, I guess, happening in your backyard. I do not know when we will go. I do not know how we will go and who will take us.

Normally I would offer that we could keep him safe, but we have no place to keep him safe anymore. him safe but we have no place to keep him safe anymore we have been using the tower of MMH where we got Chonsa from I know of this tower on Lake

Baratok yes we've been using that as a sort of home base I think I need to be leaving very soon so two people are going to come one per one person who is is two people will be coming your way soon i forgot we set that up that's so funny well then there there is a chance that um we might miss them on the on the way to um i just gesture to the to the west uh

there is a couple of a couple of our compatriots there um their names are gorob and lush and they are two dwarves that have been joined both magically and surgically owen owen's eyebrows raised so far up even though he has a receding hairline they are lost within it you just keep fucking dropping true great not true, yeah, yeah, yeah. There was a fallen angel in the abbey. I did not know such things existed. Yeah. In the abbey of St. Markovia in Krezik, there was a fallen angel,

and this was their way of saving people. I think they had a direct line to start. Ah. I kind of like let that implication kind of sit. Yes. Owen nods slowly. That is. Yes, the walls are not as safe as everybody thought, I think.

I did not know his influence stretched that far. What else can I fill him in on? Now that I'm just like, eh. You've given him everything. But, yes, we defeated Slade, the fallen angel, and the family there, the Bellevue family, they're the ones that are now looking after, I guess, everything that they did there. I think that is all I need to mention.

Owen nods slowly. This is a lot. I will. I wish I could say I had someone to look after that, but we are stretched thin as it is. As I said, if you could just look after Jeska, Claudia, everyone there, that would be the dog. We will do what we can. Thank you.

Thank you. No worries. When the blue water in, when we have, it has always had many nooks and crannies for things to get lost in. But when we once again have enough space for a wounded man to get lost in,

I will contact Mark Willett and we will arrange for your friend to be hidden well. Thank you. I would appreciate it. I guess with the summoning of certain things, if we could just keep an eye on that.

I'd appreciate it. I will do what I can. I maybe just try and wave at Pip to get his attention. As you're finishing with Owen as well. We'll walk together, we'll head to the Dusk Elf camp while we'll split off. I don't want to Dusk Elf camp while we'll split off.

I don't want to say goodbye and then we walk in the same direction. Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, you'd be going in different directions. Oh, thank God. Oh, fool. Thank you very much. Awkwardness averted. Owen heads kind of northwest and you two head southwest.

I'll finish up the song. My lover, he is a patient man and he lends his heart for free. If I take my ship on a round-the-world trip, will he still be waiting for me? And then I'll bow, put the fiddle away, and rejoin Hector. The Vistani continued the song, but without you. Yeah, no worries. To the Dusk Elves, got everything off your chest, Turwin? I am formed, yes.

You, give him an inch, he takes a mile with this one. You're not out of the doghouse, mate. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, well, yeah. I just was telling him about your friend and a few of the things that have transpired already. I know, I know. It is probably worthwhile to do. On your way to the Dusk Elf camp, you pass Yender.

Well, you don't pass. You meet. See ya. Come back. You meet Yender and Kribbit on their way back to you. Yender, in a low whisper, says, yeah, spoke with Mark Willett. He's still happy to help us.

He, unfortunately, is going to have to hide some of his actions from his own people in addition to the Vistani. So he said he'd meet us. We just got to head back this way, she says. I know where. We'll just meet him at the edge of the forest. He'll lead us there.

Lead the way. You go back to the other side of Valakai. You stand at the edge of the forest at a place where clearly Kribbit and Yender know that they're supposed to meet Mark Quillett. You're waiting, I would say, at this point, it is maybe 9 p.m. I need another, I gotta sleep tonight. I can't have another level of exhaustion. I gotta sleep tonight.

And around 9 p.m., a shadowy figure approaches you from along the tree line to where, from the direction of the Dusk Elf and Vistani encampment. As they approach, Yender speaks, not in a yell, but loud enough that they can be heard. What sound does the owl make after midnight? The figure calls back, I said I wasn't going to do that. They get closer and pull back the hood and it's Mark Willett

underneath I told you I didn't want to do that I I I'm gonna cut in I

I appreciate you Mark Willett going going to such trouble to take us to Woken and and yes well

Eleniel I need it understood that i'm not doing it for you he says fair enough frankly speaking though not as hostile not as not speaking with as much hostility i'm not doing it for you either but i hadn't i digress yes i am sorry i um that he puts up a hand i uh frankly, we don't have the time. We can apologize when all of this is done, he says. He leads you into the forest. As last time, he takes you.

You kind of move from shadow to shadow, surreptitiously making your way through the forest. Then at one point, probably not too far from where this happened last time, Mark Quillett ducks into a hedge and gestures for you to come with very quickly. Slide on it. You all dive into the hedge. Mark Quillett gets you down really low, and then he doesn't say anything. He just makes the finger over lips gesture of quiet.

When that happens, you hear the beginning of a stringing noise and everyone turns to cribbit that's funny because every time this happens we're always like shut up but it actually is always just a really helpful spell well you never know i guess that's it this could be the one fucking time yeah you could be like no when they when they find us, the drama is good. This is perhaps that one time as you all turn to Kribbit and instead of playing a song,

it looks like he's just tuning his lute. Mark Quillett looks at Kribbit and no, he doesn't say words, but everyone, nonetheless,

somehow still hears, not magically, everyone just hears, really? Kribbit puts up his hands in apology and stops tuning his lute. Then you see a figure moving through the darkness, just shadow upon shadow,

quite clearly stalking the path that you were following. They stop not too far from where you are, and you can see them looking around in a little bit of confusion. Marquillet closes his eyes, and you can see he's reciting something to himself again and again and again. It doesn't seem like a spell. It just seems like he's praying.

The figure keeps moving, as if they haven't seen you, or perhaps they haven't seen you. You're not sure. Once they've left, though, Mark Quillett gestures for you to slowly follow him again, and he keeps leading you through the forest. You come...

Oh, he... I'm not going to ask because I don't want to... I want to know who it was, but I'm not going to ask because I don't want to talk. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Mark Willett... Mark Willett, no, as you're moving again, he just hisses at you, at the group.

Not at you specifically, Pip, but he hisses at the group. It's one of the Vistani, or several of the Vistani I should say from our camp Spies of Strahd I don't know who necessarily that is but someone always follows me when I do this

do you know who the names of the Vistani do you have your suspicions oh I know the Vistani we know all the Vistani who live with us it possibly could be Aragal maybe his brother there are a few other Vistani who are suspect. It's not important.

What is important is that it is better for him to lose us than for us to kill him. If we kill him, then the Vistani maybe don't just track us next time. Yeah, yeah.

Maybe I can let him know if I guess it is Aragal and his brother are confirmed, if that helps. Yes. Wow. Anyway. He leads you eventually to Elaniel's camp. You see the little lean-to, the ramshackle-like lean-to.

If you weren't coming at it from specifically this direction, it would have looked like just a pile of leaves in the forest. But only from this and i'm very i'm being like maybe maybe like a couple of degrees off and it would have looked like just a pile of leaves but from this specific angle you can see a little and not a little figure but you can see keening lying unconscious in the tent but you don't see Eleniel until you hear from the back of your formation a soft thump, just kind of like a little bit of leaves falling behind you.

Pretty familiar sound to me. It's kind of like when she landed in my room. And everyone turns to see Eleniel coming to a stand. She's got the bow in hand, but when she sees it's you, she lowers it. I move, I kind of ignore everyone else and just move over to Woken. Hector, for the first time you notice that when she

unstrings her bow, when she takes the arrow out of it, the arrow turns back into what it was, just a stick. Oh, that's cool. For the first time ever, you've not been in a panic and she's had her bow out. Alright, you move to Keening.

Just sit down and maybe take his hand. He is unconscious. He is. If he. He's unconscious. Yeah. I like give like a questioning look to Elaniel. Elaniel walks over and says.

Do you know. I checked him for any sickness. He seems fine. She says. I breathe a sigh of relief. And maybe I even cradling. I'm cradling like the arm with no hand and I'm inspecting it as well. She looks at the two of you. Pip, you're probably not paying attention.

But Hector, you see that she looks at Keening and Pip with a sense of sad longing. You can see she's like miles away right now. Yender, did you have any of your healing? Yender wanders over, and she's going to make... Yender starts fussing over Keening the way a mother hen might. I also maybe just nudge Kribbit and point to Eleniel looking at Pip. Sorry, looking at Pip and Woken if Kribbit hasn't even noticed. You look over and Kribbit has drawn a beautiful sketch of the scene.

Maybe give him a bit of a thumbs up. He gives you the thumbs up back. Kribbit has drawn a beautiful sketch of the scene. Maybe give him like a bit of a thumbs up. He gives you the thumbs up back. Kribbit. Yeah. Yender stands up after fussing over Keening and she says, unfortunately, there's, I mean, he's okay. It looks like his body's fighting it off. There's a bit of sickness to him, but it's not, it's not, he'll be fine. He just needs time to fight it off. There's a bit of sickness to him, but he'll be fine. He just needs time to fight it off.

That's all. Maybe like holding the stump, I'm like, I wish. Such a ragged wound. Yeah, I'm sorry. I can't do that. I appreciate the help. Yeah, Yender says. She dusts herself off after kneeling looks over to a hole a fireplace

that is in a hole in such a way that it is would be a hidden fireplace and she looking back to the rest of the group says anyone want a cup of tea i would i would love a tea yes thank you i think i think i'll just stay here yenda wanders over and begins the cup of tea. When she asks the group if anyone wants a cup of tea, it seems like that snaps Eleniel from wherever she was. She shakes her head

and turning away from the group, she says, I'm going to do a sweep of the perimeter. She walks away. Once again, Pip, you're just not.

Yeah, I'm somewhere else. You're not paying attention. Hector, you hear tears in her voice. I do need some help with that, Eleniel. She stops, doesn't look at you. Can I do it?

With enough emotion to be like, I would like to come with you. Oh, I see. Eleniel shakes her head and says, No, I want to be alone. She keeps moving. Okay.

Kribbit looks at you and nods. That was good. Yes. Character development. Act two. Very, very good. Do you want a tea, Kribbit? Kribbit have his tea right here.

He says, patting his top pocket. Is there an egg in there? Oh, you better believe there's an egg in there. Yeah, when the tea is made, Kribbit brings a little egg out of that pocket and pops it in his mouth. He doesn't know what tea is. Tea liquid for you. Egg liquid? Like scrambled. runny egg

not really Kribbit not understand runny is weird for Kribbit to say runny for Kribbit mean like run a tea is like a hot or a warm

drink that you usually have in times times when you need a bit of comfort or something along those lines. Comfort. Yes. Like soft. Yes, in a way, yes. Soft. Like when you want to boil. Kribbit shakes his head.

Kribbit no his head Kribbit now understands soft and gentle Your novels must be very interesting Kribbit understand life He says Big finger quotes School of hard knocks

Well in those moments in life when one is sad and you want a little bit of joy perhaps, or to take your mind off the sadness, sometimes some people will have a... Well, you were right. Some people will have

maybe a warm drink. But crib does not get sad much. Crib is documentarian. Crib must be above it. Cribbit's documentarian. Kribbit must be above it. Let's get some lofty ideas. Well, if you can be

above it all, then you are a better man than most. I'm going to have a cup of tea. Oh, well. You know, impossible to not

put yourself in art. Am I afforded a little privacy yeah they're off to the side yeah no one's near you uh like maybe holding keening's hand or maybe even not even holding his hand but just like lying down next to him in the tent i'll just start talking to him i'll be like it's happening again um i sort of thought it was over the first time, but it's happening again. Like, look up over my chest at Hector. And the new guy, I mean, he's got destiny written all over him. He reeks of hero, Keating. He reeks of it.

The rest of them, I mean, it's much the same. It's been so much easier for him. I don't, you know, and here I am once more back in it. And the moment I'm back in it, it's, I don't know, life's a funny stream. You know, you step out of it for long enough and it sort of builds and builds and builds. And then it feels like you step back into it and it's harder than it ever was the first time. And I should have come back for you. Hector's right.

I should have looked for you. I'm sorry. And then I'll lapse into silence just staring at the roof of the tent. I'm sorry. And then I'll lapse into silence, just staring at the roof of the tent. As you finish up, through like a thick haze, a heavy fever, for just a brief moment, Keening's eyes, you can see there's a stirring beneath them. Not like Rem's sleep, just like his eyes are moving. And then they begin to flutter open, just very briefly. Keening looks up at you and he says,

Pip. And then he slips back into unconsciousness. Maybe Pip, who was previously like lying on his back, turns to curl into the fetal position, kind of almost in, not quite in Keening's arms, but like just more intimately next to him. Sure. And maybe Pip's going to go to sleep, to be honest.

You are exhausted. It's been a fucked day, and I didn't get to sleep the night before. Well, I suppose at a certain point everyone else starts kipping in for the night? Yeah, I guess over tea, I'll speak to Yender, inform her about a go-gash.

Oh, yeah. I think he's lost to us um so i guess at some point when we can i know there is no body but perhaps a few nice words would be nice yender uh yender says yender stands up dusts herself off it ain't over till there's a body you can see she's got like a She's filled with a determination And a positivity that she's trying to share With the rest of the group You know what Yender?

You're right, you've dealt with many seers before You said, what do they know? I've known a few You know what they all had in common? What? They were wrong Sometimes at least. Well, perhaps you're right.

So we need to head to the, I feel we're in about like the Wizards of Wine. Sure, sure. A bunch of like, you know, and like, Kribbit has the cards. Kribbit, can you show the cards, this kind of thing? Mark Willett's here. Are you comfortable speaking that around Mark Willett? Yeah, actually, I am. He's been helpful.

He's a nice guy. I'm assuming that part of the Dusk Elves. Mark Willett is quiet. If he's sitting amongst us, I'll even talk to Mark Willett to be like, I've spoken to, I don't know if you know the Irwin or Danica. Have you had any connection across their path? But they are people that you can trust. They have offered to help out with a gesture to Keening.

Mark Willett nods. At the end of the explanation, he looks at you and he says, I will, I understand this is delicate information. Be aware that this is the sort of information I understand is so sensitive I would not even share it with my own people. Thank you. I will take this to the grave, he says. Yes, thank you.

I appreciate that. So we need to head to the Wizards of Wine as soon as we can. Eleniel interrupts this as she comes out of the forest. As she moves, it's like the first time. It's like suddenly she was there, almost like she teleported. But when she speaks, it disturbs. She's so quiet that she disturbs some birds in a nearby tree, and they scatter.

She comes over just to tell you that all is clear. But, unfortunately, all was not clear. At first, perhaps, you might have seen it as a raven. And then you would have been just assured that everything was fine. But it wasn't a raven. It was a crow. It flies hard and it flies fast. Deep, as far as it can go to the west.

Uh-oh. And when it lands, it lands among the druids. Uh-oh. The druids turns to the crow. And to him, it lands among the druids. Uh-oh. One of the druids turns to the crow, and to him it speaks. It speaks of the wizards of wines. You gotta keep secrets! This is a benefit of secrets in Barovia! Everybody's always running their mouth.

And that is a little pin that we shall deal with in time. All is clear, Eleniel? Eleniel nods. As far as I can tell, yes. Her eyes are puffy and red. Whether or not she did an actual check of the perimeter, you're not certain. You going to be okay?

She nods. She doesn't say anything. She just wanders over and sits down. When she notices that someone else is in the lean-to, she just doesn't go in. She wanders over somewhere else instead, kneels down, and begins a trance. All right. Okay. If you make any attempt to speak to her, she just ignores you.

We need to head to the Wiz's of wine were you going to join us was going to be my question well we look i can see the lane too i can see yeah curled up i need to head to the wizards of wine uh tomorrow do you need to stay um to look afterening? Yender shrugs. Look, like I said, his body kind of just needs to fire off, but it would be helpful in case he takes a turn for the worst. You can see Yender was maybe hiding

that from people. In case he takes a turn for the worst, it would be good for me to be there, I suppose. Yeah. Yes, that would be useful. And then if Elaniel is amicable to it it would probably behoove us to leave someone look it's not that I don't trust the

were-ravens but it would be nice if they had some suggestions to herself muscle as it were there's a lot of good I can do in Valakai as well I can guide rebuilding efforts I can liaise with Claudia and then of good I can do in Valakai as well I can guide rebuilding efforts I can liaise with Claudia and then we can

I can also inhibit the actions of our little devil friends I'll have to do it from outside the city don't set foot in the city might even help she gestures to Mark Willett

might even help you if you happen to let one of the people follow you to this camp, and instead of your good friend, it's me here. Maybe they'll leave you alone. Mark Willett thinks on that, and he nods. That's not a bad idea. And I guess if Elaine was happy to travel with us, then her being discovered by them is not a risk. Don't know

what Pip is going to do. I'm sure Pip will do what he thinks is best, Yender says. Give her a look. You sure on that, buddy? Perhaps. Once we were done with the Wizards of Wine,

I was going to head to the Amber Temple and meet up with Pyrrhon and Esmeralda. Do you think you can do that without me, she says? Look, I would have liked somebody of our faith to be there with me, but I think you are needed here. She nods. She looks at you and you can see a lot of genuine emotion in her face. And she says, Hector, I trust you. Thank you.

Your faith is strong. And at the end of the day, despite any mistakes anyone in this group have made, you are a good man. You'll get it done. Don't worry about that. She says. Once again, you can see it's a little shot in the arm of positivity. And while you're here, maybe you could try to patch up things with the Dusk Elves.

I punched Casimir in the face. I'm going to go to bed. She doesn't say anything. Good night. Stand up and put a hand on her shoulder. Everyone gets a short rest. Yes, I use one of my dinguses. What are they called?

Good boy cards. Hit that. Of random magic. You can't call everything a dingus. It confuses me. That's very fair. That's very fair. Several things are going to happen in the night.

Well, first things first, because I know you don't have any. I know, Hector, you don't have any boys to spend. Finguses. Finguses, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But because of Kribbit, who plays a little song while everyone's sleeping. Get on him.

You will recover an extra seven hit points. Yes. As he does his little song of rest. So you'll recover. Well, you don't have anything else to recover, but you'll recover seven hit points. Yes. As he does his little song of rest. So you'll recover, well, you don't have anything else to recover, but you'll recover seven hit points. And then some of the things that like, in a short rest, I can get them back.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's nice. That's good. And obviously as well, you, Pip, get seven hit points in addition to whatever you're going to spend. Now you have six of your seven hit dice left. How many would you like to use?

What am I on now? You're on 40 hit points. Oh, yeah. I'll use two, I reckon. Two? All right. So you use two, and you recover 10, 18 more hit points. Oh, that's good.

Last time it was paltry. It's nice to have all my... I got my arrows back. I got my hot breath back. Wow. Speaking of arrows and hot breath, several other things are going to happen while you're sleeping. First thing that happens is both of you level up.

Hell yeah. Welcome to level eight, motherfuckers. Yeah, I know. I'm scary at level eight. And then finally, Hector, you receive a dream vision. You find yourself in that field of blackness with the light of penia before you it is faint it's like you're so incredibly far away from it and you don't you don't feel

yourself drifting towards it like you normally do in a dream you can't hear penia calling out to you you see the distant light but there's no you cannot feel Pena right now. In fact, actually, it feels like you're getting further away. It feels like right now you are as far from Pena as you possibly could be. Oh, no. You feel a presence behind you, and then two hands, two delicate hands with long fingers put themselves on either of your shoulders. One finger at a time. And you hear a voice whispering in your ear.

Hector. I turn around. You turn around and you see nothing. You still feel a presence behind you. And it feels, the hands on your shoulders feel so incredibly real. But there's nothing behind you except an endless void of black actor you are so far the voice is female maybe almost if this were a very different scenario it would almost be a little sultry but right here right now it is it is only scary eyes darting around the hands leave your shoulders and then when you turn back to look where penia was

there's nothing you're in an endless sea of void standing a figure begins to coalesce out of smoke in front of you it is a creature, a skeleton perhaps, wearing incredibly beautiful and elaborate clothes, a dress, a ball gown that stretches down to her feet. But then suddenly it's a woman, a woman with a hand behind one back and a sinister smile. Then it's the skeleton again. As you speak, the creature, the figure, changes from woman to skeleton, woman to skeleton. When she is skeletal, her hands are in front of her

and you can see the malevolence. But when she is a woman, a hand is behind her back and you can only imagine the sinister nature. I am Eileen the Black. You have heard of eileen she is another god within the human pantheon the evil god of death hello eileen i did not expect to see you so soon she unlike pannier

seems like she is in full force here she She is not diminished in any way. I wish to speak to you. I would give you power. At what cost? A smile curls on her lips, which disappears when she becomes skeletal, but reappears when she's a woman again. No cost whatsoever. Just the kindness of gods.

We should speak on this further. In a place not too far from here. You receive a vision, a sarcophagus made of amber, something trapped within. All of it sinister, but not necessarily malevolent. Not to you, at least. The amber sarcophagus disappears from your mind. You remember it, but it's like it's just a memory now. But a memory that seems almost too real.

This is definitely a place that you can be. Until then, I give you this. A gift. And then, the next morning, Hector, you now have levels in a warlock. Oh. You're like a hermit crab here. Anything's fixing to crawl inside. Surely then you're like the shell.

The hermit crab crawls inside. I guess the gods are the crabs. And the people are the shells on the beach. Yeah, yeah. Something like that. But what was the thing that was once in the shell? Shells aren't just raw. I don't know, dude dude it's not an apt metaphor

your warlock abilities are gifted to you by eileen the goddess of death why she has given you these powers you do not know but well you could choose not to use them if you want but they hum within you nonetheless the power here eileen has not given you as much power as Penia has, but she, you can tell, has given you only a tiny fraction of the power that she has. Eileen feels as powerful as she ever was here.

Like a true god, not like the shadow of one. These warlock powers are gifted to you in a similar manner to how a cleric would get powers, but you don't need to pray to Eileen for these powers. She has chosen you as a champion, and you have these powers whether or not you choose to use them. To be continued... campaigns that were once only available to Sants Pants Plus members, the further adventures of the Greyhill Free Company if you want shorter campaigns with beautiful guests, and D&D is for Nerds,

not Ognot, where all our non-canon D&D adventures go to rest. Just search for D&D is for Nerds on your favorite podcast app of choice and join us on this epic quest of D&D podcast discovery.