D&D is For Nerds - Vampire Infested Barovia II #8 Detour to Pop

Episode Date: June 24, 2023

The party runs from a Will-O-Wispy while trying to find safe haven in Krezek. Hecktor loses faith in the one place he still held hope while everyone is concerned about Pip’s mental well-being. 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. 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 Devil Strahd. Up ahead of you, you see a green light bobbing in the darkness.

It's a willy wispy. Ignore it. A willy wispy? It's a willy wispy, or a willow the wisp, I think other people call it. Probably anyway. Eleniel gestures towards it and says, It appears to be heading towards Krezik, though. Is that abnormal for a willy wispy, Adam? Best look it up.

Okay. What does Emmanuel say? Freely begrudgingly, in the darkness. Maybe I'll light a torch and pull out a manual well I guess we probably would have been travelling with torches at night

and I pull out a manual okay skull on fire bird comma hoarding where is it smoke method ghoul comma explosive horse comma bear head

did he say explosive horse or bad horse? And it's entering, and it's screeching, demonic shadows. Have I passed it by? Did he say explosive horse? No, it's an... Never mind. Never mind. Don't worry about it.

You're distracting me. Where are you, Willy Wispy? I cannot find thee. In the fucking... Is it under W? No, it doesn't work like that I'm sorry I'm sorry

I thought it was alphabetical at one point here we go Willow the Wisp otherwise known as Willy Wispy a malevolent undead and cousin of the

soft undead when a villainous person dies such a spirit will try to lure others to an untimely death yes

I can point to Eleniel he's probably doing that right now. Capable of causing lightning damage, sucking the life force of unconscious beings, and becoming invisible indefinitely. Beware floating lights.

Maybe I'm jabbing Emmanuel. Floating lights in the darkness or woods, for they are immune to a bunch of shit. So yeah, I say we ignore it and uh i'd bet my life that's a willy wispy i'm happy to ignore it but it is going the same way we are yeah well let's make camp then or we follow it i mean if we stay on the road we're so close to Krezic. Yes, I hear you, but it's... It's just... It's not worth

fighting it if we don't have to. Is it... Elenio shrugs. I did not want to fight it, but is it maintaining a distance between us? Like... Like a steady pace? Well, you're currently stopped. So it's kind of bobbing to and fro. It's hard to tell if it's

coming towards you or away, though. Let me try something. Is it close enough that I think it could hear me? Possibly. Woe is me, I say. Oh, I am in such tremendous pain. My body writhes in agony. After a few moments of you doing that,

maybe Kribbit behind you starts playing a sad song on a violin the will-o-wisp or willy wispy yeah begins you can tell now it is drifting closer yeah willy wispy say so you keep making the noises no if it's because it distracts it right so it's it's attracted to the noise we might be able to sneak around it through the woods. I don't want to go to the woods. Well, I mean, it's either that or we confront it. Did you have to call it closer now? Okay, another option.

Eleniel, you've lived in Brovia a long time, presumably. My entire life, she says. Do you... One way of combating the Willy Wispy is by saying its name. That'll send it to an afterlife, kind of at random. Can you think of any evil people? And I know this is a

kind of insane question. Any evil people who have died around Krezok? I don't travel this far. Right. Any of the werewolves? Do we get their names? Could be one of the werewolves. I don't travel this far. Right. Well, any of the werewolves? Do we get their names? Could be one of the werewolves.

I don't remember them. Do you? I say we sneak through the woods. It thinks there's suffering over here and they love suffering. So we'll sneak around it whilst it comes to where we were and then

Bob's your uncle, we're out of there. All right. Bob's your uncle. But everybody needs to be so quiet. Okay? And don't suffer. It's hard not to

with this one around. I forgot. The will-o-wisp gets a little closer. Oh my god. Maybe I turn to Kribbit as we start heading into the woods.

Can you shut them up somehow and then I mime like playing an instrument? Uh, Kribbit could try. Yeah, usually you don't want me to play when you're being quiet, though. Oh, Kribbit. Uh, Kribbit has turned on you.

Kribbit, he hates me now. Kribbit, if you have anything to maybe help us out, I'd appreciate that. Of course Kribbit will help out for the story, but Kribbit does not like that documentarian get involved Kribbit begins playing And sure enough Gorobolushin begin getting quieter Not like they stop talking

Just like somebody turned the volume down Yeah like someone turned the volume down on them Alright Adam Adam What do you want me to do? They rolled two ones All right. Adam. Adam. What do you want me to do? They rolled two ones.

The Willy Wispy darts towards you and then lightning strikes. Can it hit all of you? Great. Good stuff. Yeah, it can. Cool. Then lightning strikes and all of you need to. Good stuff. Yeah, it can. Cool. And then lightning strikes and all of you need to make a dexterity saving throw. The lightning leaps from the Willy Wispy towards all of you.

Okay. Whoever's near me, we can get some auras of protection, yeah? Plus five, right? Yeah. All right. I think all of you will make your saving throw then. That's good. All of you take half damage, which is... That's not good.

Five points of damage to everyone. Yay! Evenly distributed. Ah! Like communism. Do we need to run then? I mean, we can... What wounds it?

What attacks it with? How do we get it? Uh, anything but non-magical weapons, lightning, poison, or cold, and it's resistant to acid fire, necrotic thunder, and magical weapons. Probably running, but also it's a floating life. Running it is, Eleniel says. She starts sprinting. Yeah, yeah, yes.

All right, all of you run in the dark. Oh, God. I can see, so can I guide? You can try to. If anyone is veering a little bit far off. You can try to if you want, yeah? I'll try and take the back because Gorub and Lushen and Kribbit are little. Yeah, that's very fair.

Maybe I'll try and scoop up Kribbit. Okay, you can pick up Kribbit if you want. Kribbit, come on. I need to... Okay. Kribbit climbs up onto you. Gorob and Lushen have dark vision so they're fine. Elenia has dark vision so she's fine. Actually, you, Pip, are the only person who needs to roll.

And you rolled fine. Oh, that's good. You begin sprinting and you can hear in the background of the Willy Wispy firing lightning bolts at you, but none of them reach far enough to strike you. As you approach Krezik, you can see the fires lit along its walls, and the rain begins to get a bit heavier, not like bucketing down,

but it is quite overcast at this point. Are there people on the wall? Yeah, as you approach, you hear calling out, Who goes there? It is Hector and Pip. Us again. And some others. One moment.

Open the doors. All right. The giant oak doors open to allow you entry. Cool. One of the guards meets you, climbs down from the wall, and the gates close behind you, and the guard comes down to meet you. It is nice to be behind a wall.

Just breathe out a sigh of relief. How goes it on the outside? Not great. Yeah, well, I mean, we're making progress. Progress is good, I suppose. We're just looking for a... To stay the night, that's all. I will wake the Burj Master, he says.

Okay. Thank you, thank you. He walks off. Actually, no, you can come with him, whatever. Yeah, yeah, we'll follow him. You follow him to the Burj Master's manor. As he's going inside, he says, Best for you to wait here,

just in case, I suppose, he says. Yes, of course. He heads inside, and you see several lights wink on inside the Burj Master's manor, and then the doors open, and Burj Master Dimitri comes out to meet you. Friends, welcome, welcome.

What brings you back to Krezik? We are... Please, let us not... In the rain, please come inside. Please, do not, let us not in the rain, please come inside. We are passing through on our way to Wizards of Wine. I see.

No shipment yet, I imagine? No, we have not. We have sent someone to Wizards of Wine, but they have not returned. That was three days ago. We feel the worst. Yeah, us too. We thought, is something wrong with the wizards? We don't know it just yet,

but we've got reason to believe, yes. We thought there was someone perhaps waylaying them. We have reason to believe there is a... You're in the Burgermasters. Familiar now, dining hall. We have reason to believe there is a Will-o-Wisp.

Yeah, Willy Wispy. We encountered it on the way. Yes, it has been waylaying travelers. We thought that was the reason. When did it appear? Not too long... Well, hard to say, but not too long ago. Not long after you left.

Well, that's just first reports. Of course, of course, of course. You sit down and they can't make you hot food because all the stoves have been turned off. Well, not turned off, but all the fires have been put out for the night and the Burj Master isn't going to wake someone up to make something for you,

but some cold food is brought out for you. Well, maybe I'll go do it. If he's like, oh, the sorry chef's in bed or whatever. I'll be like, no, that's fine. I can... I know my way around a kitchen. Well, let us all come into the kitchen. You have no friends, he says, looking

at Cribbit and Eleniel. Gorub and Lushen he has seen before. Yeah, is Eleniel because they're a Dusk Elf, is that very much a like, oh no, should we have kind of hidden her a little bit more? The Burgemaster is looking at Eleniel, because they're a Dusk Elf, is that very much a like, oh no, should we have kind of hidden her a little bit more? The Burj Master is looking at Eleniel, maybe actually, yeah, when he says, ah, you have new friends with you. He looks warmly at Kribbit and then looks at Eleniel, but he doesn't say anything. Yes, much has transpired since we last came here.

I can see you have taken up with very new, very different friends to what you had last time. Yes, we've... Always one to find the most interesting people, I see. Anyway, please, let us eat. You all walk into the kitchen. The Birgitmaster's like,

I will not make you sit alone in the kitchen. I don't mind. Yeah, I'll get cooking with whatever we got there. Would you like something to drink? I have wine, fine wine. Something hearty, something to leave the edge. Wine, to be honest, might be fortifying, yeah. Do you drink, he says, looking at Eleniel.

Eleniel looks at him like this is a very stupid question, but she gets it all the time and she shakes her head. And then the Birgitmaster looks at Krib this is a very stupid question but she gets it all the time and she shakes her head yeah and then the butcher master looks at Kribbit and says no no what about you he will try

Kribbit nods he's actually I like it's like poison for him maybe just like just put my hand on his like

shoulders just be like if you have any extra salt salt water and if you have any eggs that is all he needs

salt water and eggs Kribbit nods furiously at eggs. They're eggs. Do they have like a larder here? They would, yeah. I'll go search the larder for eggs for Kribbit. Alright, you could get eggs, sure. Alright. You don't know if he has them cooked.

Do you? Kribbit reaches out with his hands. I think we've seen him eat them uncooked before. We've seen him eat them both. Yeah. I don't know what he prefers. Boiled or raw? As the Burgermaster's walking out to get to the wine cellar, he looks at Gorob and Lushen and says, I know the two of you drink. This one will have egg, please.

Hard-boiled? Scrambled? Cribbit looks at you like, what? Shell on? Shell off? No, it's egg. Okay. I'll just put down the, it probably wouldn't be in a punnet, but I'll put the eggs down on the table.

There's maybe 12, a dozen eggs. Cribbit eats all of them in rapid succession. Because he put them away. I know, I know. You cannot subsist solely on eggs. It's just. He also can't be a frog man and yet here

he is. Yeah. Well I'll cook up something hot and hearty for everybody. There's maybe maybe even there's like a perpetual stew that was

already sitting there or not a perpetual stew because they would be keeping that hot. Yeah. But there's like the dregs of some other meal that you could whip up if you wanted to

as well. Yeah, for sure. You make a hearty, we'll say stew for everyone else. The Burgermaster comes back with some wine, pours it out, and he's also got maybe some bread that he's brought. And you break the bread, you have that with maybe olives as well. Oh man. Some bread, some olives.

It's nice to eat something hot for the first time in who knows how long, like a week. A nice hearty stew and some fine wine. Yeah. We'll fend over this beautiful dinner. We'll fill the Burj Mastrian on not all, but some of the events. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like the Velikai being attacked.

Yeah. That kind of stuff. The major of major things. But maybe not, you know, we probably won't mention Keening or like, you know, the Wiz of Wine or the reason we're really going there.

None of them. Before he sits down though, the Burgermaster looks at Eleniel who still does not have a drink in front of her and he says, could I get you juice perhaps or something? There's like an edge of racial tension to this interaction. And Eleniel, her hand, her grip white knuckled on her knife and fork says, without looking at him, just says, no.

And then the Burj Master is like, okay, whatever. And then he sits down. Tense here at the table. Don't get many elves this way around. Yeah. Maybe we don't mention him. Sure. Yeah, then from there, the conversation is polite.

Well, I guess the conversation never got impolite, but there's quite clearly a tension between Elaniel and the Berger Master. Okay, okay, okay. Yeah, well, we filled the Burj Master in on the broader points, but not the finer ones. Sure. If there's any point where, say, it's the Burj Master

and maybe Elaniel's gone to bed or whatever it is, just kind of bring it up there. Keep that one very much like, don't mention that you saw Eleniel I would not want the people to know that she was within the city anyway I will have to have a

conversation but she cannot walk freely around Krezog do not like Arnolfs it is just not done he says I do it for you and that you vouch for this person, but, um,

I will... I guess I, like, let it linger, like... Why would we not let the Vistani within here? Dusk Elves worked for Strahd at some point? No, they just... It is just not done, he says. Garden variety racism, I suppose.

Yeah. Well Well that sucks Alright well we won't be here long At least I am sure if she travels with you I am sure she will be polite I am sure she is one of the good ones We will leave first thing in the morning You can stay as long as

We will leave first thing in the morning Alright he says putting up his hands. He walks away. All right. Well, we'll find some beds, I guess. What time is it? It's like late, yeah? Yeah, it'll be like midnight.

We're pretty knackered from fighting a fucking Willy Wispy. Yeah. Yeah, we'll go to bed. Yeah. Have a night's sleep. At some point, I'll just cast another Cure Wounds on myself. Probably for the best. Yeah. You recover night's sleep. At some point, I'll just cast another Cure Wounds on myself. Probably for the best. Yeah.

You recover three, six, sorry, hit points. Hector? Hell yeah. There's something. You're slowly making it back up. Slowly creeping up. And then everyone recovers eight hit points. Nice.

All go to sleep. And now, two more days, baby. Two more days. How sweet it is. You wake up the next day,, two more days, baby. Two more days. How sweet it is. You wake up the next day, which is always a good thing. Always is. Yeah.

Is it possible to have, like, woken up relatively early? Yeah, yeah, yeah. To the point where your day hasn't even broken yet, and it's like, we're just leaving. I don't want to say anything. I just want to get out of here. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, Mip, you can do that if you want. Sure.

Yeah. Cool. Yeah. There's nothing for us. Even like, as quiet as we can, we'll just leave. Try and not wake anyone up. Let's just try and get out of here.

And head to Wizards of Wine. I like that the Willy Wispy thing is like not, I mean it's quite clearly bothering Krezic, but you're like, nah. Whatever. We'll deal with the Willy Wispy yourself. Either that is like, Krezic, but you're like, nah. Whatever. Either that is like, Krezic's left a bitter taste in our mouth, or it's

like, we ain't got time for it. Kind of both, to be honest. It's this kind of thing of like, there's a certain point, you know, it's like, teach a man a fish. Yeah, exactly. You lay fish all life, you give a man a bream.

He's only going to have a meal once a day. Install a ream. For that day. That's a good one. Yeah. I can never remember. But you remember it enough. Yeah.

We got by. Look, we got rid of the werewolves. They were like a hassle. We got rid of them. They'll be fine. So you're heading out to Pip's shack? Yeah, I wouldn't mind. Is it on the way to the...

But it's not that far out of the way. How much of a dog leg? There and back to where you were, an hour. Okay. Not obviously including whatever time you spend in the shack. I mean, I can do it and then catch up with you later. No, look, the chance... You just want to make sure pops

that is fair look the chance of it being there might be something waiting there for you is probably very high if let's just go there

grab what you need any more ingredients or any more anything really then we'll head straight to the where's the phone alright

Pip your shack has been destroyed okay because there's nothing left here Okay Fucking hell Your shack has been destroyed The crops have been trampled and dragged away

The earth here has been salted Nothing will grow in this garden ever again Just standing at the edge with his hands on his hips Pop roams the edges of your camp. Free. Ah. Okay. Does he notice me? He does. He's not approaching. Um.

Look at everyone else. Um, did you want to look for anything? No. Uh. No one has sympathy for you. That's fair. Elaniel didn't care. Gorob Lushen don't have the tact to care. Yeah, and Kribbitz mad at me.

Kribbitz ticked off with me. Did you want to look through everything? Do you want to try and grab? It's not really going to be. How's Pop looking? How's Pop looking right now? Pop looks fucking feral, my dude. I didn't realize you could undomesticate a chicken.

Pop is missing all of his feathers from the neck. Well, just on his neck. He's missing all of his feathers. It's just like a leathery, tanned skin there now. It looks like Pop might physically be larger. Like Pop's physically grown insides. We've made a dire chicken. And Pop's tail feathers are now all sticking and bent at odd angles.

Hey, you know, like I shouldn't name a creature. Maybe like I want to be crouching next to a cribbit and be like, so that is Pop. I don't know what it's um hey pop i say maybe i should be approach it was his chicken he says he's a chicken farmer but he only has the one the um that is not really a thing that's not new that is what happened i feel i thought maybe, you'd still be contained and I was going to kind of let you out. And this sort of seems like you've done it

yourself. I like glance back to everybody else, presumably on the edge of the sort of like clearing. Would you like to... Everyone kind of shrugs. Would you like to... Is there a sign like tapping your watch? Mine pulling out a pocket watch.

There would be no equivalent, I suppose, but you could make just an impatient look. Yeah, maybe just like, you know, we came out, we took an hour for this. So let's, if you're not doing anything, hurry up. Pop spreads his wings and you can see there is not a lot of feather left to either wing. You can just see bat-like webbing that is the left behind of where, what wants feathers covered. I want to grab Pop. I want to like grab hands around his wings and pull them up

to me. Pop pecks you. Wow, Pop bites you, I suppose I should say. And you feel the pressure around your, around your grief. Grief? Sure, whatever. But you don't feel penetration. Have I picked Pop up? Yeah, you've got Pop. I walk back to him. I was a lovebird.

I walk back to everyone else. I'm ready to go. Do you need love bot. I walk back to everyone else. I'm ready to go. Do you need a... Everyone's just staring at you. Like you've gone insane. Do we... Can we construct... Okay.

All right. Let's leave. Maybe a... Are you doing okay there buddy? I just didn't want him to be Alone in the Middle of nowhere Can I put him in my backpack?

Pop is not going to go willingly into your backpack You can try I'll give it a go Is there like a Can you We'd have to Try to bite you again Unsuccessfully We'd have to POP tries to bite you again Unsuccessfully

We'd have to construct The whole container So you'd like out of Out of wood It'd take So much time POP is not going in that Backpack mode dude

Okay Well let's stop walking And I'll just keep at this POP neatly shreds Part of the backpack As you try to put him in It There is now a hole

So big That POP could not be contained. Pop would just be able to get right out. I'll just be carrying him, I guess. You're insane. That's crazy. I can't leave Pop there with nothing. As you head back eastwards, back the way you came,

back to get to the, what is it, the Lunar River? No, the Raven River crossroads. As you're heading back that way, Hector, you feel a sensation. While you are not able to communicate with Orion, your distance, the horse that you summoned, if you don't remember, it was a while ago. I spent some time.

The horse Orion that you summoned summoned a celestial horse that you summoned that is currently with pyrrhon and esmeralda while you are not able to telepathically communicate with her you nonetheless are still vaguely consciously aware of her presence on the material realm or barovia rather i should say. You feel her presence withdraw from Barovia. Okay. What would I know that would do that? She could be imprisoned in an extra planar jail of some sort, which is an extreme thing to happen.

Okay. Far more likely is simply she was slain in combat and was sent back to Penny's home plane. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. All right. I'm so sorry. There is one more option.

Just really quickly. I forgot, but it also could mean that you're no longer a paladin. But sorry, please continue. Huh? Maybe as my eyes just go real, real wide and I stumble a little and then maybe I kind of, on like like a small maybe the palm of my hand like a section i just cast light it it works it works thank god you're still a paladin i just felt it worth mentioning because it's just in case sort of okay okay okay so oh oh

um this is going to sound strange but but something has happened to Orion. I think. Dead? Potentially. Who's Orion? Eleniel says. His horse, I say. It's a magical horse. She nods.

She immediately accepts this. A gift from Penia. She was with our other party. Could you have, I mean, like I wasn't going to say anything because maybe it's not my place, but you were a skeleton when we were fighting the Blights, and I've never seen you be a skeleton before. Yes, I had a conversation with a different god.

Okay. I would not have recommended that, personally. But it's your own life. It is the same religion. It is the same pantheon. It's just their conflict. Are they cousins? Are they?

They're not related. Related, but... So what is, like, I guess, like, the familial structure in terms of the different heads of state for the deities of Gnomes and Pantheon? The human pantheon is seen as kind of like an informal family of sorts. You can kind of imagine it modelled a little bit on, like, a Roman or a Greek style,

where some of them, yes, are related, but not all of them are kin. There is no... Certainly there is no familial relation between Aileen and any of the other major gods. But there is definitely, like I said, an antagonistic relationship between Aileen and the other gods or the other major deities. Well, some of the major deities. Gnomes and Pannier are seen as a paternal and a maternal figure within the pantheon. They're not necessarily always mother and father, but more spiritually believers. When Pannier's powers have diminished, I...

Yeah. I like that you're miming holding it's just something I'm constantly going to be doing now I suppose yeah so when her powers diminished I was in one of the nights in Valakai I was visited by

that was a while ago I guess what you would call the black sheep of the family. Do I know like the human pantheon very well? That would be up to you. Yeah, I'd say I'm aware of them. Sure. And it's rather hazy, but usually I can sense pania.

Usually there is a connection there. It's just been diminished to the point where I don't even know if they are even present now. They are still. They are still. Eileen. Ah, Eileen. Right. That's the bad one?

Depends who you talk to. Depends on your view of your philosophy and theology. Eleniel is uninterested in this conversation and does a little walks off to do some work. I imagine we're walking as we're having this. So it is one of the death gods and it depends

on how everybody looks at death. Yeah, again, it's your life but I would not have made a deal with a death god Me, personally! I think it's good to make a deal with a death god. Me, personally! Okay. I think it's good to make a deal with a death god. Then, you don't have to die! Well, there's a conflicting opinion. Lushen looks at Gorob, like, with pity in his eyes.

And I imagine three, two, one. You idiot! There it is. You fool! You stupid, stupid dwarf! You fool. You stupid, stupid dwarf. How could you possibly think that Gorub shoves his fingers down Mushroom's throat?

Wait, I turn away. I turn away. I'm not looking. I don't need to see that. Maybe we quicken our steps. Yeah. If we were smart about it, they just couldn't catch up. Yeah, that's true. They're walking a slow pace than us.

I don't think they are. Are they somehow quicker? Yeah, that's true. They're walking a slow pace than us. I don't think they are. Are they somehow quicker? Yeah, barbarian. Yeah, they've got a faster movement speed. Well, we can never be free of them, I suppose. So, it was not a...

I do not think there was a... There was no deal struck. There was... That's even more concerning, Hector. Use your head. There was... I don't more concerning, Hector. Use your head. There was... I don't know what happened. I woke up, and I had access to some abilities that I had not had before. She appeared the other night when we were fighting the druids.

Oh, okay. Appeared... When I was fallen, when I was... Oh, in some kind of, like, spiritual, divine realm? fallen when I was... Oh, in some kind of like spiritual, divine realm? Again, it is hard to ascertain if it was that or if it was just the thoughts of a dying man. Oh, yes, yeah.

Well, but look, nothing bad's happened to you so far, right? I do not know how much you know about gods and religion or anything like that. I notice you... Just put my hand to my neck. Cozy, cozy. I notice you worship one of the halfling. Oh, I don't know if worship's the right word.

Sorry, I know you were raised? Yeah. Brought up? Something like that. Sort of didn't have a choice in it, really, if I'm honest. I pull out the skull. Don't really know why I wear it around my neck, but I can't seem to get rid of it, so I slot it back down.

Sometimes I think there's not much of a choice we all make of what gods we end up being followed by. Yeah. Well, I don't know if Gregory Bones has ever really been watching me, but... Gods eat. Don't look a little bit between us. Oh, get it. Ah. Well, doesn't everybody have a colorful opinion?

God above, like bird, eat us. But God below, like worm, we eat. There are many. I have not heard of this particular one. But as mentioned days ago with the elves, they have their own way of worshipping, I guess, what we would consider forces of nature. Pirates, they worship ships and dwarves worship kings, actually. Ship below, nature above, also below. It doesn't really seem like it's that cut and dry, Krippert, to be honest.

No. It's pretty cut and dry. Fair enough. I am very aware of the deals that man makes with devils and demons. Below, we eat. But in this area where I gesture around, where everything is death, perhaps it is nice to have a god of death on our side when we go up against an eye. Bard eat us.

Points to Castle Ravenloft. Yeah. I guess... Bard eat Ravenloft. Yeah. I guess Raad eat us too. Yeah. It's just important to find the difference, I suppose, between wishing for death and worshipping it. That's all I'm concerned about. Oh, don't worry.

I'm not worshipping this. All right. Keep walking. Okay. Gorob and Lushen entertain you with their opinions of the... Each god? Of the Dwarven pantheon specifically. Okay, that's all right.

They worship, of course they do, they worship gods, Dwarven gods who are in opposition to each other. Of course, of course. And I will not destroy my voice with the long argument that they have, but that is the noise that you have for the rest of the day. Horrible. About the same time that the rain started yesterday, the rain lets up today. All right.

I wouldn't call it a bright, sunny day. I would, in fact, instead call it a windy day as a heavy, powerful wind buffets you. you and at about maybe the late afternoon said powerful wind becomes intermingled with uh fog and it becomes very difficult to see oh no luckily you're always on the path the it's hard to get lost on the path but the mist does obscure your sight at a level obviously never enough to prevent you from being able to see castle ravenlo, which always sits kind of somehow just above the mist. The day passes. You reach, once again, the crossroads with the many different signs, and you're heading down the path towards the Wizards of Wines.

Yes, sir. By the time you get to the crossroads, well, no, you would be able to get a little bit down the path towards the Wizards of Wines, but only a little bit. That's all right. Nighttime begins to come in, and as hard as it is to see through the fog, it becomes even harder.

If Pip hasn't already, I would be voicing, we should probably best... The moment does, kids. Who's the first watch? Can I tie up Pop? You could try. All right, I got to give it a go. Otherwise, I'll just run away.

Pop tries to bite you? Of course. Pip, can you do the thing you did with Dog to Pop? Well, that would give me a telepathic link with Pop. I don't know if I want to hear what's going on inside. It won't calm him. I could try reasoning with him, but hold him close to your head.

I just, I don't know. You could, something? We'll tie him up and he'll be no bother. Yes, Adam? You tie Pop up with like a little leather leash and Pop immediately turns around, bites through it, and

is free. You're going to need to try and recapture Pop. Pop legs it. Oh, no, actually Pop doesn't go anywhere. Pop just stands there eyeing you off. Kind of like challenging you almost. I turn to Hector and I'm like I've got first watch.

We've got first watch. Okay. I will take second with anybody. Sorry, guys. I'll take watch with you. I think we might almost have enough people for three watches so that we might, well, I don't need it, but so that you might sleep more. That would actually be great. I'll take the last watch then. It'll be first watch

Kribbit and Pip second watch Elaniel third watch Hector with Gorob and Lushion. Damn it. Sucks to suck. It's a shame. During your watch,

Pop attacks you. Okay. At any point, Pop seems to have an opinion that you can't be too close or too far, and you're not you're never 100% sure what the range on that is. If you go too far away, Pop chases after you and pecks

at you, and if you come too close, Pop pecks at you. Well, at come too close, Pop pecks at you. Okay. Well, at least he's not going anywhere. That's good. There seems to be an ideal, right? It doesn't feel like Pop is really with you. It feels like Pop is always standing ready to fight you. And Pop is afraid of you

getting too close. Not afraid. Pop does not seem afraid. But Pop doesn't want you getting too close. But Pop doesn't also want to lose sight of you. You know how a dog... Keep keep pace with you kind of yeah might be like what are you doing what are you doing and you're like i'm getting out of your fucking zone and the dog's like wow you're running i'm coming for you yeah yeah kind of like that basically that's all right well then i don't tie pop back up again pop can just do his thing you are probably somewhat distracted during your watch makes sense figuring out the parameters of yeah yeah but uh well well can you roll the encounter die please yeah dude actually full-on can 13 all right your watch goes by uneventfully

lucky number 13 what's our evens uh evens evens all right would you like it to happen during your watch? No. Well, didn't get a chance. Oh. Have we already gotten the benefit of a short rest or not yet? No. You've not even done all of your watches. How could you possibly? Oh, some of us were sleeping.

Some of us were going to be asleep. Like Elanium would have had a short rest because he's been full. All right, you're lucky. Okay. Elaniel goes from each of you, from one by one, she goes to each of you, and she wakes each of you up. When she wakes you up, she just whispers. You can see she's eyeing something off in the distance.

She just whispers, will-o-wisp. Yeah, maybe it will-o-wisp. If you slowly rouse, you can see it bobbing in the distance in the darkness no one go to it say sleepily if anybody knows its name say its name try and like werewolf leader bad werewolf that's probably not accurate enough you definitely need their name maybe like next year like'll give you the full name. What are you, an idiot? Mr. Werewolf? I don't know their names.

We learned their names, I think. Did we? I don't know. Definitely learned some of their names. Yeah, I go back to sleep. As long as you don't approach a Willy Wispy, it won't approach you. At a certain point, Eleniel goes to bed and it's your watch.

You can see the willy-wispy kind of hovering in the distance. You can't really tell if it's getting closer or further. If I cast a spell on a healing thing, is it going to attract it? It gets attracted. Everyone's waking me up. It gets attracted by suffering. Okay, cool. I save.

Thank you. So don't mime suffering even as a joke. I won't. Okay, cool. I save. Thank you. So don't mime suffering even as a joke. I won't. Does anyone actually need some healing apart from myself? Gorub and Lushen.

I can spend two first level cure wounds, I figured. Throw them around. Yeah. Gorub and Lushen and then Pip also need healing. Okay. I'll give up one each. Okay. Cheers.

Appreciate it. This is not going to be nice. Maybe. Why? Don't worry about it. All right. It is drawing it from Eileen as opposed to Benny. It feels bad.

It feels, like You don't feel so... It feels, like I said previously, it feels not so much like you are recovering from a wound as it is so much an uncomfortable feeling of the wound being corseted and shut tight. You recover five hit points. Maybe reach down into my bedroll and pull out a manual to Monster

and read about Willy Wispies yourself if you want. I'll give that a read while I'm eyeing it off. Help me. Don't listen to it. Will-o'-wispies, does it often say? Is anyone there? It could be anything. Don't listen to it.

Is it coming from the will-o'-wispy? It's coming from that direction. I'm lost. They're not. They often, um, is it, uh, I'll read. Please help me. Eating unspeak into hopelessness. Most things in, maybe I'll get up at this point.

It's a, something calling for help in the woods has just as good a chance of being something wanting to eat you as it does somebody in distress. I'm scared. That's true back on the material plane as it is in Barovia. Because it's a great way to get you to come over there and then, oh, no, it's a wolfman or some terrible shambling mound or whatever. Please. Is anyone out there? I stay quiet.

Is the will-o-wisp going to it? The will-o-wisp is in that direction. It's impossible to tell. We can't see it? It's at much to greater range. The will-o-wisp is moving at the same gentle pace.

It moves up and down and then bobs from left to right in slow, lazy arcs. Yeah, no worries. I was just wondering because it's a bit of distress. It's a bit of distress. If the will-o-wispy was going toward it, then I would be like,

well, maybe it's not the will-o-wispy. How far away is it if we can hear it? Can we hear things clearly? It definitely is at range. It's echoing and whatnot, but 120 feet is not as far as one might think. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You could definitely hear someone at 500 feet, I reckon. Okay. Okay. Alright. Well, it does seem subtle. I am also there. But what if it is not? What if it is someone in... It's how they get you. Yeah, it is fair. Gorob and Lushen look at you

and Lushen says, I think that in this instance, caution would be the better part of valor. Gorob elbows himself in the gut and says, Valor is the better part of valor. We must fight. Taste blood.

You see how the Willy Wispy isn't moving, right? We can all see that. It's just bobbing back and forth. The will-o'-wispy, if somebody was genuinely distressed in the woods, the will-o'-wispy would be making a beeline for it. Plus you would hear the thunder, the lightning. What is that?

What? Where is it? What? Maybe it heard me. Help me. If, again, if it wasn't the will-o'-wisp, will-o'-wispy, sorry. Yeah. We'd be hearing, like, cracks of thunder.

Yeah. Might make it hard to sleep, but it's no danger if we don't listen to it. I'm going to crawl back into my bedroll. Hello. It gets fainter and fainter and then drops off entirely. Nice try. As the sun rises, you can no longer see the light. And you've all had a short rest.

Yeah! One more day. One more day. How many points? Ten. One more day. Barely even needed it. That's so fucked up.

We got one more day. We get to the Wizards of White. Have a little chardonnay. Little cabs off. Chardonnay. Some cheese. Bit of camembert. Camembert.

Sleep in a big wine bed. Oh, my God. One of those classic wine beds. Oh, yeah. Have a bit of a tasting-like experience. There is wine. This is delightful. Don't worry that there's been no delivery for a week and a bit.

Don't worry that we're like, go here now because there's dial. Someone's in danger. And you've got to be quick. Nah, don't worry about that. It's delicious Chardonnay all the way down. It's a sweet reward. This is our way down. It's our sweet reward. This is our holiday episode. That's what we're about to get.

You make your way. What's happened, dude? Maybe it is our holiday episode. Maybe the fact that we are going with a thought of Chardonnay on our minds. Maybe I'll cash in this beautiful good boy card of just something good happens Adam. Something good happens. We got one more day. Something good happens. We have a good day.

Something good happens. How fortuitous. How can I corrupt that? How fortuitous. How fortuitous. Remember Adam? Remember how fortuitous? What's he doing? Here's my guess.

You get 10 gold. That'd be classic Adam Carnavale. You stumble upon an old grave on the side of the road. Half-a-tuitous. Half-a-tuitous. Oh, my God. How lucky are we? I love old graves.

The grave appears to be mostly intact. You can see there's some time has worn away at it a little bit. But for the most part, it is untouched. There's some moss covering any detail upon the gravestone itself. But the earth that it sits in front of appears quite undisturbed, as in it's quite obviously... Nothing's climbed out recently. We'll climb back in.

Yeah. All right. Does that seem weird for there just to be a grave on the side of the road? On the side of the road, maybe not. If someone took a loss and had to keep moving? If it's quite close to the side, maybe if there's anything to read, like an inscription or something like that.

Maybe we stop for lunch. I'll have a, you know, just to like, I wonder what that is, but if it's just not that common, like not that rare, it's... Well, this is the first grave you've seen outside of a city. Yeah, we'll stop for lunch here.

We're probably at that point anyway. All right. You... Do you want to inspect the grave? I won't, but Hector's welcome to. Yeah. You move the moss? Yeah.

Okay. You get one dose of shambling moss. Not even good for you. Yeah. That's funny. Underneath. How fortuitous. How fortuitous.

Hey, this pip, it's... Oh, that's pretty good. An ambush became this, all right? So leave me alone. This was originally going to be a fucking ambush, all right? So calm your fucking horses. I've already got nine of them, but I guess ten's good. Oh, I'm so sorry.

Would you like the original one? No. You can have the fortuitous card back. I'll give you the original one. The original one was going to be, oh, half fortuitous, a coin. And as you stand up, you catch an arrow to the eye and an ambush happens. Are you unhappy? I really love the Shambling Moss.

Good. I'm really happy about it. Say thank you, Adam. Thank you, Adam, for the Shambling Moss and for running such a wonderful game of Dungeons & Dragons. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Fifth edition. dragons yeah yeah yeah yeah fifth edition underneath you see just simply the name mark a date well two dates i should say obviously birth and death date they would mean nothing to you because brovia is on a different calendar

and to those we've loved and lost to those we've left behind a simple epitaph as well maybe say a little prayer over their grave and um as and as I pick up the moss, it reminds me of a guy. Oh, yeah, any moss you find. Is this one? Yeah, that's shambling. You feel, yeah, imagine regular moss, but as you pull it off, maybe it panics you for just a second, but the moss kind of wraps itself around you

and tries to cling on to you. You know that given enough time, this would become a shambling mound, the enemy. But if you use it up in a potion, it's going to be consumed. That's so funny that you must have to every six months check and just kill the little shambling moths. And you've got like ten now in your backpack, just kind of like I hope they don't kill less. That would be a worry. Each individual one is its own sentence.

I don't want to kill a shambling mouse with a shovel today. I'm sure you go through it too quickly for that. All right. So you have a nice little lunch. You keep going. And I would say at about 2pm-ish, you see in the distance an awful sight. Damn it. Rats. Rat apples.

Yes, all sorts of delicious chardonnay. Fading on our lips. Fuck. Maybe that's to be some wine left. After a half mile, the road becomes a muddy trail that meanders through the woods, descending gradually until the trees part, revealing a misshrouded meadow. The trail splits. One branch heads west into the valley, and the other leads south into the dark woods.

A wooden signpost at the intersection points west and reads, Vineyard. As you follow the sign saying vineyard, a light drizzle begins to fall. Unpainted fences blindly follow the trail, which skirts north of a sprawling vineyard before bending south towards a stately building. The fog takes on ghostly forms

as it swirls between the neatly tended rows of grapevines. Here and there, you see rope-handled half-barrels used for hauling grapes. North of the trail is a large stand of trees. A man wearing a dark cloak and a cowl stands at the edge of the

trees. He looks at you and beckons you closer. Does he look like a druid? Well, he's not garbed in any way like a druid, but he is wearing, he's kind of robed I would say mysteriously. Yeah, he looks like a suspicious character.

This is where maybe this is the person we're meant to be meeting. He certainly doesn't look like a druid. The druids make themselves very apparent, so I think he's, well, I don't want to say harmless? He certainly doesn't look like a druid. The druids make themselves very apparent. So I think he's, well, I don't want to say harmless because I don't want to have to eat my words, but he's certainly more harmless than the druids.

He's one guy. So is the druid we fought as we walked towards the mysterious guy. That's a fair point, Hector. That's a fair point. Youector. That's a fair point. You approach? Yeah, we'll approach. As you approach, he pulls back the cowl and you can see a shock of jet black hair and a smiling face.

Hello, welcome. Who may I say you are? I am Hector Dragonsbane and this is I gesture to the others to introduce themselves. I'm Pip, Mandarin. Gorob and Lushen introduce themselves, at which point the man takes a step back in shock, as does Eleniel and Kribbit.

He, after the shock of Gorob and Lushen, he kind of quickly recovers and then steps forward, proffering his hand to shake and he says I am Adrian Adrian Martikov Ah nice to meet you Adrian Martikov Are you related to Danica and Owen? Yes we are cousins

Ah good We are good friends of ours I guess in Valakai We've just come from there Ah I see I see Val please Did. We've just come from there. I see, I see. Val, please, did they send you? No. In a way. Well, yeah, kind of.

They are worried about the wine. Well, there's been no shipments to Krasik and Valachai. I suppose, in a way, we were in the area. Please, come with me. There's much to discuss. When I introduce myself, does he seem like he knows me?

Or is it like this far west? No, he doesn't seem to know you. That's a good question, actually. It's like Crescent didn't really know me, so this far west, it feels like I didn't quite reach. He quite clearly does not know who you are. Okay, that's good.

That's nice. That's an extra barrier to not have to deal with. Please, come with me. There is much to are. Okay. That's good. That's nice. It's an extra barrier to not have to deal with. Please come with me. There is much to discuss. Yes. Have you been traveling long? About a few days.

A while. We started in Velika if that gives you an idea. Oh, well, yes. I gathered that from that you met my cousins. I felt

so it all began I don't even know maybe maybe a few weeks ago. Druids. Yeah. They've always been a hassle. They harass us, harangue us. We do what we can to keep them off our backs. They don't seem to care too much about us.

Certainly, I would not be shocked to discover that they are customers somewhere along the line. So that they have never somewhere along the line. So that they have never destroyed our crop previously has never shocked us. But a few weeks ago, there was an incursion, shall we say.

Less than a few weeks ago, I don't know. It's not important. But they, for a few days, we were camping at the edges of our own property, unable to reenter. We do not know. Well, he looks at you and you can see he's trying to judge if he can trust you. Yeah. See, he looks you both up and down.

Well, all five of you up and down. And you can see he's like, I don't know these people. They were ransacking our house. And they recently have left. And we are just trying to get everything back in order. Was it the situation where you forced them out or they leave by their own volition? They left on their own volition. Whatever they want.

Do you know the where they went? As you walk through, you're walking towards the stately building. As you walk through the winery you can see the further and further south that you get in the winery, you can see the more and more devastation. It almost looked like, it's kind of like the facade was fine, but

that was hiding the devastation behind. A lot of plants here have been trampled, and those that haven't been trampled, you can see holes where trees have gotten up and started moving. They've never done this before, I ask. Never to this extent. Quick question, I guess. Are you a, and I just gesture as like a bird, like a hand gesture.

Are you one of the I just gesture as like a bird, like a hand gesture. Are you one of the. He looks at you. Pip, for you, his face is inscrutable. The Hector, because maybe you're facing him directly. You can see that he, once again, he understands what you're trying to convey, but he does not trust you enough to reveal anything i just we need to find somebody an outcast i initially thought was one of maybe your kind that maybe you had uh black sheep of

the family as it were but apparently you the ravens will lead me lead us to to them no thank thank whatever gods are watching. And then he does that classic little gesture, puts his thumb and his index finger to his lips, checks it up to the sky, and says, thank whatever gods are watching, our family is intact. No one is missing,

lost, whether that is, or outcast. No one is outcast, missing, lost, or otherwise. Do you know of anybody, anyone else? Where's your family? You said it's fine? Yes. I guess we could talk to them.

They mentioned. So you don't know. Okay. If Erwin let us here, maybe they will lead us somewhere. Unless we've gone the wrong way. Let's keep going. Anyway, if you've been sent to help, I do not know your disposition. I do not know if you've been sent to help I do not know your disposition

I do not know if you've been paid or anything like this but we would appreciate some help if that is possible

sure what is the problem he stops before you get into the building and he says my father Davian he is not going to

appreciate this he does not like to he does not like to endanger lives when he can avoid it but the druids have gone too far this time we know that they are to the south

would you help us scatter them I ask this you must understand this is not an easy thing I ask it is perhaps I say this only because you seem like you can handle yourselves to the south

did we remind me because maybe this is you're getting deep into druid territory yeah yeah yeah yeah I know that

that yeah okay the stuff's ticking away sure well I guess the the ravens will lead us to them, so

yes, yes, yes. Times of the essence. Well, my father will not mention of this, but yes, if you take the path to the south, instead of heading here into the valley, you eventually will find a place called Yesterhill. There will be no signs,

but you will know it all the same. The Druids congregate there it is a base of sorts if you could scatter them not even necessarily kill them just scatter them do you need money for this no but information might be nice yeah what information well you can tell us any more about this yester hill the the druid's actions. I don't know much about it. I do know that they are thick there. You will find many. Yeah.

Well, yeah, we're deep into druid country now. But I have reason to believe, he says, you can see something's changed. You're not sure what it is, but you said or you've done something that has changed his opinion a little bit. And he says, I can tell you that I believe they are conducting some sort of ceremony this is why I need you to go you don't even need to kill them I just need you to I don't know what it is

but you must disrupt this ceremony I think on that it is Hector just perks up and do you know when it will happen? do you know how long we've got? I have no idea how far away is Fiesta Hill? It would take perhaps a day or two to get there.

Okay. All right. He looks back at the house, and you can see he's quite clearly a little worried about maybe someone in the house overhearing what he's saying. And he says this really low, and he says, they took something from us. It was a gem.

It looks like a single drop of dew. About this big. And he shows you. It's, I don't know, how big. Like an eggplant. Like a pint glass. Oh, yeah. About as big as a pint glass.

They took it. We use the gem. It has magical properties. We use it in our wine keeping and that is why they made the raid yes the raid was to we had

three such things one they have taken one we still have and another was stolen about a year ago a year ago you say about yes no someone came in the night about a year ago. Okay. A year ago, you say? About, yes. Do you know who by? No.

Someone came in the night, we do not know who, and it was stolen. Our wines, he shrugs, without all three of them, the wine that we create is just inferior,

not as good. What we do, say what you will about people who drink perhaps too much, but what we do takes a little bit of the edge out of the horror of this place. Oh, yeah. And to have lost

one of them, everyone in time, we are losing, it's not important, but we are running out of the good stuff, shall we say. Okay. Spirits shall soon fall a little more all across the land. To be continued... more D&D content, we have just what you need to scratch that itch. D&D is for Nerds Plus, the symbol, not the word, where you can

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