High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #26 | Awakening the Mire

Episode Date: February 2, 2021

We are the earth, we are the land, the gone and forgotten... WE ARE THE MIRE! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Thanks to @jackgtmusic for the Aerois/Curse of Strahd mash-up intro! Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Rogers. Because the Skip app saves you so much time by delivering stuff like your favorite cool treats, groceries, and bevies, you get more time to have the best summer ever. Like riding roller coasters. Learning to water ski. Applying sunscreen to your dad's back. Yup, definitely the best summer ever. Squeeze more summer out of summer with Skip. Did somebody say Skip? In the mists and shadows, as flames doth fall,

A twin bell tolls its dying call, An ancient land of dying light, An icon that can banish night, an open grave, a bloody sire, and from the earth comes the mire. Welcome, everybody, to Curse of Strahd. That was really good. I knew he'd like that. Hell yeah! Welcome!

That was really good. like, welcome! Last time on Curse of Strahd, our party have traveled to the Wizards of Wine's winery, hoping for a chance to rest and gain allies at the advice of the monster hunter Esmeralda. Here, they met the Martikov family and learned of Babalasaga, a witch who serves strad and has been attacking the martikops after learning about a magical gemstone that keeps the land fertile for the wine and a surprise attack by babalasaga's twisted constructs ziki the dragonborn sorceress wandered out into the vineyard and urged by the mists of barovia dug up the green gem and took it into her body. Horrified at what she had

done, Zeki and her brother Zeros fled the vineyard and fled the party towards an ancient and tall hill to lay Zeki's symbol of her goddess to rest before carrying on. The party followed after, but before they could arrive, Zeros and Zeki were set upon by a group of brutal, savage druids and barbarians who worshipped Strahd. In the battle, Zeros was slain amidst the smoke and the flames of a burning Wiccan man. In a desperate retreat, saw Zeki lose her life as she tried to reach her brother. The warrior dog's body nearly met a similar fate but managed to just barely survive along with their companion Ismark who was brutally scarred in the attack. Rose, Jesper and Tatiana now lead the other three

into the forest to try and flee the battlefield before any greater danger arrives. That is where we pick things up. A couple of quick notes. Dog's body had picked up a magical spear, had dug it up from within the stone circle of the hill. And I believe that there'd been some healing spells done, but you were basically planning to escape and leave. Limp away. Limp away. I also wanted to point out quite a few people,

quite rightly, called me on this. When the NPCs were attacking downed Zeros and Ziki, I should have made attack rolls for them. I didn't. The barbarians all had advantage. I don't think it would have changed the outcome, but it was a very fair mistake on my part. for those of you who do check the rules when somebody is unconscious you still make attacks against them albeit with advantage so a little thing

learn from my mistakes um but i still i still think that the story outcome wouldn't have been any different uh given the scenario that they were in yeah It was either that turn or next turn. Yeah, exactly. So we begin with the survivors. Rose, I'm assuming you're leading them in this desperate kind of run into the forest? Yeah, I think she'd be favored terrain, using that to her advantage, leading them in a way that they can be as

quiet as possible going back to well just staying away from the roads really going back to probably the were ravens would we go back there yeah the vineyard yeah okay um we're trying to use the woods to give you some cover and and hide you from anybody that might come looking. Yeah. Is Mark and Irena slash Tatiana. Tatiana, Irena is kind of holding him up and helping him along. He seems quite badly hurt. She seems quite badly hurt.

You know, they've both taken injuries. Jesper and Dog's Body, what are you guys doing? Like, how are you kind of, are you just following Rose? Are you doing anything in particular? I remained invisible last time and I allowed those two to have their interaction but yes but he's struggling right now he's kind of keeping with them uh they can if like rose for example is quite astute perceptively uh she could hear my footsteps so i'm definitely nearby but i'm just not interacting with them at all at the moment uh just i think she'd know that i think she'd know that jesper would be following i don't

think rose would do anything otherwise yeah yeah sure yeah so i've been following has dog has dog body reacting to all this um dogs body will be kind of panting like a wounded animal like kind of that injured kind of little mixture of pants and kind of as kind of you know the wounds because he's very badly wounded like and i think um yeah he's kind of just like you know you've got a little bit of healing didn't you but not much yeah a little bit of healing but i think just like uh in terms of like role play just you know nearly dying and then coming back um and also he's probably just like doing that kind of silent sobbing like his face is just a mess of tears and snot and mud and blood and he just keeps looking over his shoulder like trying to get a last look at you know at the scene behind him like trying to see ziki's body

and and just kind of almost just not really believing it you know at the scene behind him like trying to see ziki's body and and just kind of almost just not really believing it you know letting rose and the party lead him away um he's not really with it he doesn't really he's not really yeah doesn't know what's going on yeah i think that lingering sight of ziki's charred blackened body amidst like all the the druids and barbarians uh definitely leaves an impression rose Rose, as you're leading them away, you've traveled through woods. You've even traveled through these woods in Barovia, and you've never really struggled with it. It doesn't take long before you realize something is wrong.

You know you're sure you're going in the right direction but you're not seeing the right paths you the trees look unfamiliar the mist but it's always around barovia there's this kind of like dull mist and it gets thicker on the borders but it has gotten far mistier and the mist is coiling around trees like tendrils of some beast you almost if you didn't know better the mist almost seems angry and every time you take a turn trying to reorientate yourself um it seems to twist and move around you and and again you're kind of struggling to kind of keep where you are and and even with your expert expert knowledge it's becoming more difficult to traverse and then one minute you're kind of moving

at a quick pace trying to lure the others away and I need you to make let's say a deck saving throw All of us or just Rose? Just Rose because she's out ahead 12 plus 7 so 19 so you managed to just like bring yourself to a skidding halt and grab like a branch as what you thought like a second ago looked like a part like uh just a part of the forest floor um you kind of turn your head back to check the others,

and then when you come back, it's like a drop, like a hillside drop down into a lower section of the woods. And you kind of catch yourself before you fall, like you come to a skid, leaves and dirt and pebbles all go kind of falling down. I now need everybody to make perception checks. Very well. 20, unnatural.

Okay. 23, natural. 17 for dog's body. All three of you, and I think Jesper and Rose, you'll get a bit more. All of you hear the beating of heavy leathery wings from above the forest canopy. You can hear this kind of like rhythmic. From two, at least two large creatures. Jesper and Rose with kind of keen eyesight, not bloodied and exhausted as dog's body and the rest are you catch glimpses through the canopy and you can see flying above whatever part of

forest you're in are two giant bats with kind of saddles and very pale lithe looking humanoids riding on their backs and they are looking down like as if they're searching for somebody. One of the figures appears to be a tall, lithe elven woman, and the other one is more like a squat dwarf, but both are naturally pale.

In the kind of still night time, but you're probably maybe getting close to dawn, but not that there's natural sunlight in Barovia yes but breaking his silence would say it would be wise to hide right now

yeah I think Rose would automatically be trying to hide somewhere find a tree that has maybe a little bit more shelter and tucking herself in sure um in that case yeah whoever is trying to hide stealth checks um irena is going to struggle uh you would be you've not done anything to break it yet irena um and is mark are both kind of like limping and dragging each other.

I mean, they are going to struggle to hide themselves without any additional help. Yes, but... Would... 15. 15? Stealth? Okay. Knowing Jesper's already invisible, he'd

reach out and grab Irina and try and pull her into behind a tree or a bush or something like that that's nearby. Okay. Down here. And Dog's body? Yeah, Dog's body will help out Ismark. I'm just recognizing

a fellow wounded brother in arms right now. Just limp around. Maybe find something to lie under. Sure, make a stealth check for me. Make it with disadvantage because you're basically trying to hide two people. Both of us? No, you've got

invisibility, so I'll make a roll. I'll make a normal stealth roll for Irina. Is that with disadvantage, yeah? With disadvantage, yeah. Okay. a normal stealth roll for arena 18 is that with disadvantage yeah with disadvantage yeah okay you manage to kind of like duck down and you find uh a couple of large trees um one large stump of a tree uh the stump has almost been hollowed out um you can see that it's kind of like broken away and there's almost like a little cubby inside of it and then a couple of larger trees and also that kind of drop uh that you almost fell over rose um you can there's or has like a slight

overhang you can kind of like press uh like probably dog's body and uh and ismark kind of lower themselves down and press underneath this kind of little lip of this uh this drop you hear the kind of beating of the wings and the mist that's been kind of thick lip of this drop. You hear the kind of beating of the wings and the mist that's been kind of thickly growing around you, kind of sensing something begins to part around you, almost leaving this open space and it parts from the canopy, almost as if it wants you to be found. The mist angrily kind of like flicking tendrils away.

So it creates almost trying to drag the leaves from the very canopies away to kind of spotlight you to whatever these pursuers are. You hear the thick leathery wings drawing closer and closer. You can almost hear these kind of voices over the flapping of these giant bat-like wings and then almost as suddenly the canopy seems to stretch and grow and you can see the leaves kind of almost swell with these little kind of yellow funguses growing on them and the the vines around you begin to tinge and this kind of overgrowth does kind of seem to semi-surround you

just as the bats pass overhead. You hear no change in their direction, you hear no shouts of alarm or cry. And then as the first few kind of, not rays of sunlight, but this dull grey light that does seem to fill Barovia during the day begins to rise, the flapping seems to get quieter and quieter and quieter.

The mist still surrounds you. It still is confounding and confusing your directions. confounding and confusing your directions but now you begin to see almost like little glow bugs like these little kind of like insects almost like a little path of them like a trail through the woodlands and that's our only direction that's the only thing that's not covered in mist i mean the mist is around like you could try you could try and navigate the woods, and I'd probably say Rose can make some survival checks, but Rose, there was something. You should not have gotten lost as you are. You don't know how far away from the vineyard you are now.

The pace you had to run and the hiding from these pursuers, you don't recognize any of this part of the wood. It's unnaturally. You've gotten lost magically here, not through any lack of your own skill. Something has conspired to confuse you and confound you. I don't know the way. And this isn't... This isn't something that happens to me. I always know the way. And this isn't...

This isn't something that happens to me. I always know the way. Something is wrong. The mist, something has... It's led us the wrong way. It's angry, Rose. I know that the mist is... It was connected to Strahd, but...

Since Zeke died, it is angry. I can feel it. My soul has wandered the mists for so long. I know that there is a power there. Since Zeke's death, it is furious. I fear we have lost our path a long time ago. We have strayed far from our destiny, far from our fate. Look at us. We're broken.

We've lost two important members of our party, and we have nothing left. Three important members. and we have nothing left. Three. Yes! It's grief. Grief confused him. In his grief, he forgot about Shadow. That's what it was.

Yeah, clearly. We didn't know which two members he was talking about. That's true. He probably was talking about Siki and Shadow. Yeah, yeah. Ismark and a pet. Ismark with his...

And Ismark, by the way, looks terrible. Like, half of his face and one of his arms is just blackened with scar like Harvey Two-Face. His once handsome features long since ruined. And it looks raw and it's bleeding. If he leaves it like

that, it's probably going to get infected in these kind of like woodlands and stuff like that. But he just kind of like this rasping voice just like, As long as we draw breath, I have no intention of giving up. I admire your courage. Go on, go on.

Can I be patching him up with a healer's kit? I don't know, like... I feel like it's just something he would do, and he's got nine healer's kits, so screw it, he'll be doing it. It's basically you're bandaging him to try and like prevent like the wounds from like, like getting infected and stuff like that. And he doesn't stop you, but like you're basically like kind of bandaging half of his face and like one of his arms.

He can still hold it. It's not like the arm is ruined, but yeah, if he leaves it like that, I'll probably get infected and things like that. He needs to have it like properly cleaned and like maybe a mask or like some sort of covering um but the bandages will do for now would magical healing help him better yeah it would help some yeah not against things like diseases and stuff infections it'll give him some energy back ismark is definitely the worst of us right Ismark is basically on one hit point I think or like five hit points and it has like this horrible scarring

dog's body is pretty rough as well what are you on dog's body like under 10 or 10 16 actually with the spear healing me and then rose that's temporary hit points that's like you have some energy but physically your wounds are like gaping at that point um yeah so like that that temporary

hit points is like you feel a bit more energetic like it gives you vigor but like physical wounds don't heal up from temporary hit points so like yeah where you've got like you had like like parts of like your ribs are broken from the great club you've got like a deep gash along one side like blood all down your face you look rough um irena and yes but probably look pretty bad as well because they took um a lot i'm at 14 yeah yeah uh i managed to escape very unscathed I managed to escape very unscathed. It's a nice big thing of being an archer. It's weird.

Usually I'm at the front. So, yeah, range. Yeah, I think that Rose is going to look a little bit at those bugs that you mentioned, like the little sort of glowing bugs, and just sort of see... Are they definitely highlighting a really obvious path it's not an obvious path but it is a path it seems to be some sort of maybe a very very old trail or maybe it's just actually now that you look at it rose and because you're a

ranger as well you have like a knowledge of the natural world and forests something has created a path something has pulled leaves and vines and like dead branches into the earth like you can see them almost half sunken and it's created this winding path away and the mist doesn't like it. The mist kind of is not being driven away but the mist is not lingering in that area. I think I trust the bugs more than the mist right now.

Especially given what Irina just said about Ziki. What choice do we have? Walk into the mist that hates us? Or follow the bugs? That side of us is a cliff. I'm lost. I don't have a path.

That's a path. Just be on your guard. We don't know what is here. It's not natural. So be on your guard. We don't know what is here. It's not natural. So be on your guard. Very well. I'll go. Go on.

I'll go first. No, I'll go first. You both are caught up in this destiny. I'm not part of this story. It's fine. I'll go. I'll go. It's fine.

I like dogs. They're tasty. I think you're too late now, dog's buddy. I think you're part of it now. Oh, this old dog's on... I'm on my way out anyway. It's fine. Come on. Follow me.

Look at his mark. He's gonna... He kind of, like, with his good arm, he, like, hefts his hand axe that he's kept hold of uh and he just like gets it ready um and then the the flail's kind of hanging loosely by his side and yeah he's like drawn the axe and he's like looking around like let's go can i give uh level one level one cure wounds to his mark please you can You can. Yes, heal the NPCs. Yes, heal the NPCs.

I'll give level 2. 7 hit points. Oh. Cure wounds to dog's body. 6. 8 to. Tickle. With that kind of...

With that vigor from the spear dog's body yeah i think like the most of your wounds have at least healed like like sealed up you're no longer bleeding or anything like that like your ribs the pain in your ribs ebbs away with that kind of vigor from the spear like you kind of feel a bit more of your fighting energy come back like okay yeah if we come across something maybe i can take it kind of vibe do To stop the pit of despair consuming us as the mist will, we're going to need you, dog's buddy. You're with us. Whether you like it or not, I'm afraid.

As I touch and do the cure wounds. Thanks. I think that was not a curse. Was that a curse? Was that a Vistani curse? I don't know. You'd know if it not a curse. Was that a curse? Was that a Vistani curse? I don't know. You'd know if it was a curse. And it wouldn't feel good.

I'm feeling a bit cursed right now, mate. We share the same burden. Let's go. So yeah, Dog's Body body you start following this path and dog's body as you start following it you definitely would notice that kind of down the path like where it's leading you it seems to lead you into like just brush and growth and then that brush and growth is parting as you are following the trail it's like some of it's being sucked down into the ground. Some of it's being pulled away,

like some invisible force is pulling at the trees and the vines. And as you follow it, it leads you. The ground becomes more swamp-like. It begins to become more boggy. Your feet kind of sinking in, pulling out with each kind of step the air becomes hazy with bugs and this kind of like damp wetness and

heat that you hadn't seen before and you can hear the sound of a rushing river like maybe this area's been flooded by a river and that's why it's very swamp like and the sound of like wood clunk clunk against something wood

but what immediately takes your attention is the pathway stops as it reaches like an opening and you can see a couple of crumbled bits of stone maybe like the crumbled vague outline of a house and you can see

that there are dozens of half submerged old corpses most of them very well preserved uh they look like they have been they're very old but they've been in this swamp for years maybe longer centuries their equipment is all rusted it's all in tattered leathers it has like fungus and moss growing all over it and this kind of spreading vine-like substance that kind of connects all of it and seems to seep into the roots and the trees and the ground and as the the little glow bugs seem to coalesce and they kind of settle on one of these bodies and then two of them pull themselves free.

Tom and Reed, do you want to describe what these bodies look like? Well, I was thinking some of the bodies start to move but then crumple into pieces. So then another one starts to move, and that starts to fall to pieces, or stands up a bit and then falls and submerges in the swamp. And then it lands on this one tiefling. The manager's to stand up completely, but it's covered in this wooden bark.

Interrupt me whenever you want, Rhi. it's covered in this wooden bark. Interrupt me whenever you want, Rhi. And that wood across the center of this body splits and fractures until it breaks apart and splits in two. And there's these red vines connecting them that start to snap and crackle like away from each other.

And fungus completes the rest of the body on each half of both of us. Oh, yes. Yep. So it's like one half an actual teeth thing and then the other half is this kind of fungus appropriation of humanoid features. Like the last of us.

It does form like a skull. It does form like a kind of skull and shape and an arm and a leg and bits of armor still kind of cross over from it and form like a kind of skull and shape and an arm and a leg and bits of armor still kind of cross over from it and things like that. But it's definitely this kind of one individual that's been split and then this fungus-like body has taken the rest of it.

Maybe like they pick up like pieces of equipment off the ground like a bracer that it puts on or like a pauldron on this fungus side and it kind of shifts around. And yeah, I'll leave it over to you. What's wrong with you? What is wrong with you guys?

See, Katie says that. I'm like, I am so proud of you guys. This is fucking awesome. And I'm kind of a little bit sad that I didn't die last week because I would have loved to have joined this as a throuplet. Like I'd be the ass or something. I don't know.

That's so cool. My God, hats off. It's very cool. Well, we've not finished yet. Yeah. And for the Maya, everything we talked about, so you know about what's up with the mist. You can sense the problems going on in Barovia

and things like that. And everything we talked about is fresh in your minds. The spirit has led these individuals here. Like, you know, that has been your work bringing them to this place. I think we probably start speaking in a language that we know. It's just a question of if, uh, if anybody

can also speak deep speech. Uh, at this point, Jesper's gonna equip his sun sword and stand in front of the pie. Yeah, Rose is gonna be drawing an arrow. I'm sick of this god for second land. What have you in store

next for us? Well, that's new. Disgusting. Who first, Rhi? Who first? Who first? Ooh. Go on, Rhi. I believe. I believe in Rhi. You haven't got too long before Jesper starts slicing you down, honestly.

Gonna shoot. Gonna shoot. Lost landstalkers come this way. Welcome. We found you. Travellers of the White Dragon,

you followed our path. You find us here. What? What? White dragon? saved you from the tasteless. Those we cannot consume. This. You saved us. I look at Ismark in particular. This is safe. feasting you are the ones who start you are the ones that hid us when the canopy grew and shielded us from those things above that was you I think at that I'll make like a lot of the land around us

sort of not thrive as such even from some of the corpses and bodies as well they start to rise in a way uh and and yeah like kind of replicating that what they saw with the canopy yeah so there's kind of like these like fungus growths but the vines seem to swell the the land becomes enriched like this thick moss grows flowers bloom this the land becomes enriched for a second it's just like in this bog seems open mine like mine like make like like just make a small swarm of like the glowing bugs like appear

around me yeah yeah yeah yeah so one of the figures these glow bugs and like you can see lots of other insects on this one as well like spiders and centipedes kind of crawling through their body but all these glow bugs seem to like settle and kind of rest on one of these figures the same ones that led you here can i quickly um just dive my hand into my pocket where I left that gem and feel if there's any sort of energy coming from it. Yeah. Yeah, and when you touch it, there's this strange sensation. It kind of, as you watch, as this one of these things,

as both of these things, one of them seems to be making the land grow and and flourish the other one is controlling these insects and beasts and the gem you feel like a pulse like it's reacting to this um not in a bad way like it's it's almost like it you can feel it like beating in unison with the land as it grows and flourishes are you this and I hold up the gem is this you close

we are the Maya the Maya the land that surrounds you we followed the white dragon for so long but now she

is with the mire and you are close too and I'm looking at like dog's body and his mark you're close to joining us I don't I am close to joining us. I don't like the way he's... I don't like the way he's looking at me. Are you with he? I don't even know. I don't like the way it's looking at me.

I'm not... Whatever you are, you said something about the Lord of this land. Are you a servant of Strahd's? If you are, we'll cut you down. What he said. Strahd starved us. We hunger and have for so long because of him. It's time to take back what belongs to us. We can help you up. That's really nice. But could you not look at me while you say that?

Please? Did you lead them away so that you could kill us yourself? I don't understand. What do you want? We may feast. But you're not there yet. You are not with the mire.

I think I'm going to slice one down. I mean, it seems like a big-ass threat. I'm going to go attack one of them. I mean, I can't help you, Tom and Rhi. you've got to convince them like that you're gonna help them like we hunger um you're close to joining us i don't want to join you i'm attacking this pupper feels very threatened right now yeah i think that that would be uh probably a role initiative um between the five of you. I can't really help you here. Okay, 22.

11. Alright. 20. 17. So have you got any other characters in mind? I'm pretty sure that Jesper will die before these guys do. Probably. What happened to the Sphocus twins?

What happened to that? Are you kidding? The Maya's way cooler. Tom, 22. Rose, 20, did you say? 20. I don't want to get you. Who got

after 20? Maya, 2 2 Rhiannon 17 you got 17 are you rolling initiative dog's body or are you just like nah I'm not

I got 3 you got 3 I will I will roll initiative I rolled a 3 but I don't know what I'm going to do okay here's Mark rolled

a 1 because he's slow and okay rolled a three um but i i don't know what i'm gonna do um okay here's mark rolled uh one um because he's slow and okay irene i want to join the mire if i'm honest chris trump wants to join the mire yes he doesn't allowed allowed to join the mire absorb me all right well my tom my tom um he you see this man and like you know i'm making you i don't think this would be surprised because you know you're very much aware of what's going on in this place you see this man, and I don't think this would be a surprise because you're very much aware of what's going on in this place. You see him obviously threatened. He draws his weapon, and it looks like he's about to attack. What would you like to do?

I would like to cast Confusion in the area and just hit pretty much all of them. Except, yeah, okay, so not you and thingy. Okay. Yeah. So, each creature in a 10-foot radius sphere centered on a point within range makes a wisdom save. Alright, okay.

DC? He's already confused. 14. Yeah, this mist pours out of pretty much every area of this thing, somehow, somewhere, somehow again. And, um...

Yeah, to confuse all of you. But I mean only confuses Rose. And Irina and Ismat as well. Oh, and then two as well, yeah. But... Do you do, like. Do you do any body language? Do you hold your hands up? Or do you show any signs of attacking?

I'll back up a load. However, I am focused on this sun sword. I'm watching it very closely. Okay. So if you back up your full movement, you'd be like 40 feet away from Jesper, 45 feet away. Cool.

So yes, Jesper, you see this man thing. You're not even sure if it is a man. It looks like you can't even tell what the original body that stood up was. You're not sure if it's who they are. They seem to stand up. Their body seems to open up. There's kind of these spores release.

You kind of cough for a second, wave your hand, but it just backs up. It just moves away from you. You mean to infect me? It won't work. Sure. What do you do? I go to slice with my

sun sword that's what I'm going to do sure alright that is a 13 to hit the mushroom I'm 45 feet away so I think you're hitting

the other one yeah I'm 45 feet away, so I think you're hitting the other one, the other Maya. Yeah, makes no difference to Jesper, for sure. Okay, so Maya 2, or Rhiannon Maya, does that hit 13? Exactly, yeah, 13. Okay.

Do you show any sign of trying to defend yourself, or do you just let this sword cut into you, basically? Yeah, I reckon it would just stand there and yeah just like loosely just absorb like the attack no like no reaction just sure that's nice if you look if you look 45 feet away however the reaction is shown on me instead so i was say, so as the sun sword cuts through this person, you see like the energy kind of burns through and it's radiant damage. So it kind of cuts like a kind of line of light.

On a person, you would see blood pour out. There is no blood. As it cuts through the body where it strikes insects centipedes flies maggots just fall out of the wound instead um but you also notice that as it reacts as it like flinches and moves backwards the other one that moved 40 feet away there's the exact same, like as if it's just been hit. It just reacts in the same way as it staggers backwards.

What is this? What do you mean to do to us? You can reply, by the way. It's a free action to talk. As I stab with my dagger, by the way. 19. 19 action to talk so as i stab with my dagger by the way 19 19 hits and uh let's say five take five more damage re um as yeah you stab uh what does maya do react at all again like the same like loose reaction i guess like she'll like fall back a bit

then as she comes up she'll like rebound right into Jesper's face like super close and just to help we both serve Barovia you and I in death we serve

nothing okay Rose I think I might have missed you what was your actual initiative Trot I can't remember In death, we serve nothing. Okay. Rose, I think I might have missed you. What was your actual initiative, Trot? I can't remember. Only 11, so I don't know why. Oh, yeah, I got you and Rose mixed up.

I just have to roll a d10 anyway. That's true, yeah, you failed. Roll a d10. Eight. You use your action to make a melee attack against a randomly determined creature within your reach. Okay, so the round rose

is... Well, it's a melee attack. It specifies melee attack, right? Oh, yeah. So this would be Irina, Dog's Body, Ismark mark those are the only people around so i'll roll i don't want to kill his mark it is um yeah so uh that you kind of cough for a second rose as these spores kind of come everywhere and when you look around um these dead bodies all around you seem to be like coming like with glowing red eyes they look like

vampires pulling themselves free and it's not is mark looks like you know he's turned you can see glowing red eyes like strad fangs and his mouth as he's luring at you like and just in a panic slash at Ismark. Ismark the mire. It's a melee attack. 21 to hit. 21 hits. How much damage have I killed? Nine damage. Nine points of damage. Thank you for killing me.

He was injured before, but he did get some healing um you kind of just huh and you stab into like you know where you think is mark's chest is and you just then you kind of you're not quite sure what's going on like you're confused like all of these shapes are moving around you don't really understand what's going on others you see rose turn around and just plunge her like short sword into Ismark who also looks confused and just coughs and splutters and kind of seems to collapse

to the ground. After Rose, it would be Rhiannon's mind. Do I get a saving? Yeah, another wisdom save. And then Maya, Rhiannon Maya. 19. Okay, you wisdom save. And then Riannon Meyer. 19. Okay, you're out of confusion now.

Okay. You kind of almost come to that shocking realisation as the short sword pulls three covered in Ismark's blood as he just like... I think she'll probably drop the short sword. Ismark, no! They've done something! And she'll just duck down to the ground. Good choice, Gon. Great choice of spell.

Rhiannon's go. Can I cast Web? Can I make a huge web between me and Jesper as a means to protect ourselves and then move back to where Tom Meyer is? Give a look at web. You conjure a mass of thick, sticky webbing at a point you choose within range. The web fills a 20-foot cube from that point for the duration.

The webs are difficult to reign and likely obscure the area. if the webs aren't anchored between two solid masses such as walls or trees or layered across a floor wall of ceiling uh it will collapse in on itself but there's flooring and trees and all sorts of things so yeah this is 20 foot cube you could pretty much catch um you could catch the rest of them like rose and ismark and all those guys um or you could catch the rest of them, like Rose and Ismark and all those guys. Or you could catch, like, you and Jesper. Or you could catch, like, you know, what do you want to do here? Do you want to lay it between the two points? So it's like nobody's caught in it immediately, but they'd have to move through it to get to you?

Yeah, as like a barrier, yeah, between us. Okay, so between Dog's body, Ismark, Irenairena and rose and then between yesper and the two mires this thick webbing just kind of seems to stretch as all these tiny bugs skitter and crawl away forming this like barrier between you all um all of us are segmented or is it just a split between the mire and us it's you and the mire on one half on one half Jesper and the two mires on one half everybody else on the other half

right okay is there anything else Rhiannon um I think you should probably just say like uh you don't have much left.

You need to stop. And she slowly just sort of backs away. Okay. Are you going to move her enough away that he could opportunity attack? Sure. Why not? Yeah, okay. Yeah, so you actually, you, you actually just back off giving him free range to make a melee attack

against you if he wants wish to not harm you oh that changed a lot saying that bit just then before it was like you're about to fall and i think yes definitely mystery like i would take a very different interpretation to what yes but sure i mean we're in a very dangerous time it's pretty fair yeah absolutely i think like there's definitely a very, like, he's missing

what they're actually saying and focusing on the dying bit we're all a bit guard up on edge it's a lot on top of what they've already been through they just made Rose stab Jasper yeah I mean, I'm interpreting it in a way that

I've been separated from my party and I just saw Rose stab someone because of this misty spore stuff. Spore. Okay, look. To be fair, that spell does a lot of other things. You rolled the eight. You cast the spell! Could have gone with entangle, Dom.

Could have gone with entangle. Listen. Could have gone with entangle. Listen, I have a lot of other spells. You'll be happy I used that one. It's not blind, I'll tell you that. I'm not! I'm definitely not happy you could have used entangle. Is Jesper making an opportunity attack? No. He is going to say...

Stand down. Walk away. Or I will strike you down and I will not relent if you harm us anymore. Okay, you say that. Irina, you see that she's kind of stuck in this confusion, but then there is almost like a switch. As if another side of her seems to take over from whatever this mind control is um the kind of confident face of tatiana vanishes and the kind of blinking a little bit bewildered look of irena seems to come back in like it's almost like you see the change in personality on her face um and she would just look around and be like it's mark and then she

goes down and is going to try and stabilize him so she is not affected by the confusion because this is a different almost mind or personality that's no longer interesting she locked it away pretty cool uh and she gets down and is like bandaging and like stabilizes is mark manages to like pull out like uh you know like plug the hole of like the stab wound um and is is keeping it sealed and bandaging it um with that so he is stabilized um she will call out and just say i don't know what's going on but it's not worth the risk. It's Mark's already harmed. We can't afford another fight. Dog's body. Could we please just calm the fuck down?

My aura is feeling very harsh right now. You mushroom thing. You mentioned Zeke. Can you talk to her? Can you hear her? She is with the Maya now, but you travel with her, so we travel with you. But if she's with you, then you can talk to her, right?

I can talk to her, right? She is no longer of this world. We sensed her. We felt her in the earth. She's left us. Well, there was hoping. Look,

if you're hungry and you need someone to eat, let them go. Here, have an arm. Fatalistic. Unless anybody else wants to do anything else i'll drop you out of initiative um is mark is unconscious so he's not doing anything it's really down to jasper and rose i think at this point um uh is there a web still or has that been the web is still there yeah the web is still there if it doesn't get removed still there. If it doesn't get removed soon. You can move through it. You know, it becomes difficult terrain

and there's a chance you'll get stuck. I will start slicing through the web to try and reach the rest of the party members. I think Rose would probably slice through the web as well on her turn, knowing that as Mark's been stabilized, she'll try and get to Jesper.

Yeah, if you make an action against it, you can start attacking it and, like, trying to cut through the webs, take some time as you're doing so. Maya, anything you want to say? You are close to the Maya, but you're not there yet. You need healing. I don't understand you or your purpose.

You want us to join the mire, which means you want us dead. Our purpose is to heal the Strahd. Yes, it's all things for a road, yes. Everything returns to the soil, I get it it and you are a manifestation

of the nature itself we aren't ready to back down the white dragon was to be after him the white dragon is gone and now there is no one you worked for Asmodeus I

Ziki the curse what which what are you we are the land we are the gone

the forgotten what devil is possessing you We are the land. We are the gone, the forgotten. What devil is possessing you? We are Barovia. We are the mire. We are the mire. I want to leave. We don't.

We want the same. Our goals are shared. Yes, if I may. Please. I am done. I am just about as done as everyone else. But when I was talking to Ziki a little bit, when we were all having a little grump and a little sit-apart, she did mention that she'd also made a little dealio,

and she said something about the land. So I think these two are like that. Yes, but you need to remember, you need to remember, You need to remember. The Vestana have not always lived in Barovia. You were brought here, yes? Barovia is an old land. There was a land here before Strahd.

These... The stones, the markings, the old ruins... There was gods and spirits here long before Strahd came and made it his land. I think, I think, that whatever these creatures are, they are a manifestation of that. They are not devils, I don't think that. I don't sense that they are minions of Strahd himself. They are what they say they are.

They are the land. And Strahd is the land's enemy as much as it is yours and ours. He has corrupted this place. Without those gemstones from the winery, the land does not flourish here because of his influence, his dark power. The mists choke

the very life of these lands they are his doing these are words that Jesper can understand that aren't creepy as shit I don't think you just said it like that

I don't think these things are people I don't think these things are people. I don't think we can understand them like they are people. What do you want us to do? I mean, I think while Ismark is talking talking i'd have been walking you guys like yeah as far as i'm concerned as far as like no hesitation yeah like the well to the maya you're just like no longer a threat you just walk up to them as if nothing's wrong right like you're just like i am here i am the maya did to do you walk up Fucking hell, I have to defend myself. He's not attacking you.

He's walking at you. Would somebody just walking at you, you'd be like, I'll kill you. If they look like that, I'm considering the situation. In the pandemic times, yes. In the interest of us being a party i will not attack but i'm definitely standing my guard i mean it's a creepy different thing pulling your weapons out and being like

back the fuck up buddy is a different thing to i'm attacking i didn't say that i just i thought you said i'm i'm gonna defend myself i thought that meant i was gonna attack that's yeah i mean i'm just in a defensive stance, ready for this thing that's walking at me. So that's what I'm doing. I think if you've got your sword out again, like I'm kind of, well, we

I, we, this Maia is we kind of walking with our hands up almost to feel the warmth of the sun sword in a way so the light being given off the sun sword

we haven't felt this in so long it's nourishing how do you carry something so precious and I'd be like walking up behind him, but, like, my hands slowly raising, too. Just, like, slowly shuffling.

It's like they're drawn to it. Like a fucking zombie, Rhi. Maybe. She's doing it on purpose now, I can tell. She's trying to get Trot to attack. For fuck's sake, I'm trying to keep this together, Rhi. I know you are, Ismark. Ismark's unconscious. This is the DM

trying to stop the party killing each other. You killed Ismark. He's down. Yeah. He didn't. He made me. He made me. He made me It is made you

Uh Um As a gesture of Goodwill Which I feel like I could do with right now Do you Can you two perhaps heal Some of us

Is that a thing Just Tom if you would like to re-change your prepared spells, because I saw that you didn't prepare certain spells. On purpose, I imagined. A minute ago, didn't I? That girl's face. No, I didn't have any healing.

That's true. Hey, Maya, did you take any healing? I did, yeah. Oh, fantastic! I guess his dog's body says that. I can't possibly. You don't even know what class I'm playing yet. You're going to be so disappointed

when you find out. As dog's body says that, I guess me Maya, this Maya, will... Bug-We-Maya. We-Maya will walk down, will shuffle over to Jesper

and I guess these bugs will just start centipedes and spiders, wood lice will start emanating from her arms and then crawl over. They crawl over them. It's like they're

asking for us to attack them. It's like they're coming up and going please! Thematically, we're doing great. Character-wise, I understand. This is an incredible film. Yeah. For a normal party to be

trusting of this is very difficult the bugs whilst being bugs and creeping gross are radiating with natural magic because they are magical insects they're not normal insects and as they get closer even if you start

to pull your arms away wounds on your hands the wounds on your hands, the, the wounds on your hands begin to close. Like as the, the healing spell is actually manifested by the bugs. Like it's almost like as they get closer wounds and pain begin to diminish as they,

they get closer to you. I just, uh, very, very reluctantly allow this to happen is it all of us or is it just a specific person you're targeting it's two wounds

it's one person so it's me is it and it is like Jesper's like pulling away but the bugs are like coming out of every like they're coming out of the ground they're coming off this being and as they do not even necessarily touch but as they just get near, you see that this kind of glowing energy radiates out from them all

and the wounds on hands and the kind of soreness and tiredness in your limbs begins to fade as this healing magic does flow through you. I struggle with this. I struggle to reconcile. I respect and admire the land but you are manifesting in corpses and you are

coming at us with the the sense of peace and I have bugs on me you must understand our trepidation in this matter we have just lost two and recently three members.

And you talk of returning us to the mire. There needs to be some form of distance and respect for us. To appear? We appear as this body? We could take one you recognize?

No, no. Do not. Do you have any sense of the people that walk your lands? Our emotions. I mean, emotions would be a pretty alien thing to the Maya like you understand hurt you understand pain

you understand need but fear probably a little bit like you would fear fire you can maybe empathize with something like fear and judging by the way this human is reacting to you it's like you know a tree tries to move away from an infection or a tree tries to move you know or like a you know things try and get out of the way of destruction you know it seems to be yeah uh afraid of you i think that you would understand fear. Yeah. Survival. There's more of a survival element to it.

We have seen this face before in those that run from Strahd. A face we never wish to see again. And Strahd is killing you, yes. As he kills us all. Feel his fire.

You feel the burning searing we feel it too and we wish to end Strahd's plight on this land on you as well as the Brovians and the Bestani that inhabit it

so if you wish to work with us on this matter the bestani that inhabit it. So if you wish to work with us on this matter, you need to understand us a little more. We may try. I mean, you had millennia to do this. Love it. Irina will kind of like,

she's been tending a little bit to his mark. Well, we need to rest. I don't think that we can go on in the state that we are. We also need to decide where we are going. Do we go back to the Martikovs? I don't even know how to reach them. Or do we press going? Do we go back to the Martikovs? I don't even know how to reach them. Or do we press on? Do we try and find this last relic

that you mentioned, Jesper? The one that the witch has? Surely if the mire is the land, they can direct us back to where we need to go. Can we? Yeah. I think at this point, the m the my you know the land well enough that you could direct them to wherever they want to go if they want to go to the the vineyard where

um you would recognize that you know that the land grows fertile there thanks to the magic of the gemstone and stuff like that you would you know the were ravens you're aware of most of the land here um if they want to if they want to go somewhere else um they you know that there's a boat like an old rickety rowboat down by the river that they could follow the river to get to um you know berez or argenvost halt or um all the way back up to the lackey if need be um but yeah you can you can help them get back to where they need to. You wish to visit the witch? We should go to the vineyard first. We need to give back what belongs to them.

Would you agree? Yes. They deserve that. Maybe we can rest there. Is it close we know the way it's close-ish I think if

if glow bugs don't appear to lead the way then red vine sort of tendrils kind of sprout and create this path along the ground you may follow glow bugs and tendrils kind of sprout and create this path along the ground. You may follow us. Bulldogs and tendrils.

It's druidcraft, just creating these little single branching kind of like cluster of red vines. So we're clear on this. You call yourselves... What do we call you? Maya. We are the Maya. The Maya.

Right. Okay. Okay. In order for us. To end Strahd. We cannot. Become the Maya so soon. And you will not advance this yourselves, yes?

You will work with us in our current form to end Strahd. You are better for us not being with the Maya. Good. Precious to us. Excellent. That's what I wish to hear. Thank you. Why didn't you say that to start with? That would have really done a lot. You are close to the Maya.

You are precious to us. Oh, okay. I'll follow you. That's nice. Open, okay. I'll follow you. You said you're close. That's nice. Open with that, you know? The thing is, I get where Tom was coming from with the idea of like,

you are damaged and nearly dying. You are close to the mire. I get it. To those guys in that situation, it was the worst thing you probably could have said. I know, I know. Kim 100% gets it. Tom's body, not in the mood.

This is the thing. Us as players are like, this is great, we love it. But then us as characters, we're like, can't really let that slide. I'm afraid. It's the biggest conflict I've ever had of like, because I like to invest in role play and be in my character, but I'm like, I could literally break this whole stream again.

Two more characters. It was like... You did attack them, but you did do what your character would do. And then you cast Confusion. Messiah. Like, why? Look, I mean, I have a lot of offensive spells.

Maybe Confusion wasn't the least offensive one. But also, there was no way that it was going to be easy for us to introduce these gross fucking characters. They are disgusting and so close to evil. It was just one escalation after the other it was not even close to evil they're just natural like dying is natural they are nature they're like yeah you know you are just the earth right like well everything can die eventually and gets eaten by the ground yeah shadow would mean it what happened to the lady of Tartle Twins? Tartle Twins!

Death is natural. However, we've been told that... It should be accelerated. Well, it's more the fact that we are literally fighting dead corpse vampires that love blood as the bad thing, and dead undead corpse inhabiting fungus monsters are pretty similar. They're pretty damn similar. Yeah. We are not corpses. I want to make that clear. We are pretty similar. They're not. They're pretty damn similar. We are not corpses.

I want to make that clear. We are not corpses. We are inhabiting corpses. Yes. They are a living organism. They are creatures. Yes, but they're not. It was just like... He was a walking corpse.

Escalation, escalation, escalation, escalation. And then all of us desperately like trying to push it back down. Mark with a rapid de-escalation. And then me and Rhi with a couple of small little punches again. And Trot choosing not to attack. Like that was a de-escalation as well. Like I'm not going to make an opportunity attack. But when

he started to walk towards me, he's like I'm gonna have to bring up the sword again. I have to. Don't pretend I didn't know. I was pushing a limit. He knew. Anyway, we're at this point now

where it's obvious they're not gonna kill us which is great. Yes. I think that, like, all of you, these guys aren't particularly hard to, like, they're not aggressive. Like, I don't think you guys, you don't, like, like, you're not, like, looking at them or, like, advancing to them menacingly. You guys, when you stand still, the Maya, is it just quite, it's almost like stood perfectly still like when you're not moving is it or do you kind of sway or like is there any kind of movement there or i think uh maybe we um pulsate

especially in we in this mire's case i guess I guess they'd stand there, but there'd be bloated parts of the body or whatever, and then there'd be wriggling of bugs and stuff under the flesh. You stand still. When you're not doing anything, you just stood there. But also at this point, we said that we know the path and we've created a path. I think at this point, this Maya, and i guess now by extension us maya um we're like facing away from them and ready to walk

ahead of them like you're leading yeah you're like just moving ahead of them like there's no there's no concern that you're gonna like it's just like right it's time to go and then they start leading the way right and i And I think it does become clear, as unnatural and as terrifying as these things are, they don't seem to harbor any kind of violent actions towards you guys. I think that that becomes clear in their movements and the way that they move ahead without really any... There's no wariness.

There's just, yep, time to lead you on, basically. Somebody will need to carry Ismark. mark he is unconscious and he is not i will kill him or carry him kill wins level one that's my final is mark will last he watches for you get like another cough. What happened? There was some dust, something in the air, and then did I fall asleep? Ah, my chest. You're okay, my friend. Let's just get you somewhere safe.

The undead? What about the creatures? They are Barovia, the land itself. There was a misunderstanding, and now I think they are helping us. They are guiding us to safety. Are they... they are not servants of Strahd? No, they are the land itself. Protecting itself. Let them lead wherever they wish. They are not with Strahd. I do not care.

Very well. Then I'll slink him an arm over his shoulder and lift him up. Yeah, he's grasping and desperate to rest. I think Rose will help, but she'll be just not able to look him in the eye at the moment

because she's feeling extreme guilt, even regardless of the fact that it wasn't her in her right mind. You're like helping prop him up on the other side and carrying him but just like looking ahead. Cool. Okay, Maya. You are leading them through the wilderness beyond

through the Curse of Strahd. It will take some time to reach the vineyard and without realizing it, Rose rose the mist seems to have calmed down as the mire is leading you the two you know these two figures moving ahead uh this path of red vines and glow bugs kind of surrounding them uh you realize in the mist confusion you've you you led the party directly south the opposite direction. The mist turned you around that much

that you were actually leading them further away from where you wanted to go. So it's going to take some time. I would like the Maia, one of the Maias, to roll a d20, please. That Maia? This Maia? Great.

A two. Okay, so still got Zeke rolls. Brilliant. Perfect. It's re-rolls. Always good. It is eerily quiet. The Maya doesn't really seem to speak.

You just hear the occasional buzzing of these glow flies, the kind of constant churn of these vines, almost forming like a pathway. And then as you walk past, it sinks back into the ground. These vines dredged up for just a brief moment. The forest all around you is ominous and dark. The shadows, even in the gray light of day, still seem to stretch and twist as if they are the very hands and eyes and ears of Strahd himself.

However, you do not encounter anything in the next half an hour or so, in the next hour that it takes the Maya to lead you back onto the main path that you had all led, walked, heading to the hill. Keeping somewhat to the woods, so you're still kind of protected, but with the mire and roses guidance, you manage to make your way back to the vineyard. Even in the short time the gem's been gone, you can see that there is signs of decay.

been gone you can see that there is signs of decay uh the the grass kind of turning brown and mottled gray as it is in the rest of barovia um on the very outskirts of the vineyard and you can see the ravens uh several ravens flying around overhead um and desperately looking around as you draw closer several of the ravens land and they transform back into the barovian figures you had seen before and they are armed they have weapons drawn they are wearing armor uh and you see i'm trying to remember their key names uh davian the elder the elder man, and Adrian, his eldest son, both quite with a very furious look. What did you do? You took the gemstone.

The dragons, where are they? We didn't take it. One did, but didn't take it. One did, but didn't make it. We've retrieved it. Give it to us. Jesper holds it out for them and keeps the other hand up.

Davy and the older man snatches it and holds it close to his chest. Is your one Zeke's one, or was it the one that was slightly fractured from within the Wicker Man? I think Dog's body has that one. It was the one on the floor. So that was Zeke's one. He takes it back and like clutches it to his heart.

Oh, thank the morning Lord. Thank the morning Lord. I must go and plant this. Adrian, find out what happened. And then he makes his way deep into the vineyard. Adrian kind of looks at you solemnly. His wife, Stefania, his sister, Stefania, beside him, just like, What happened? Why did she take it?

We invited you in as guests, and one of you took this precious stone that we revealed to you. Why? I know. I wish we could explain her motives. And I wish she was alive to explain herself to us. However, her actions were not the actions of ours. I hope this is enough proof, giving it back.

You have brought it back. You have saved the vineyard. At least we still have one of these gemstones there are others but they were taken from us thank you for bringing it back what you said that she is no longer here she died did you kill her

she was killed by a group of cultists. They worshipped the tree and... Ones on Yesterhill. They work for Strahd and the witch. The ones that invaded.

We've encountered them before. They stole one of our gems months ago. We couldn't... They outnumbered us. We had no hope of fighting them to take it back. Did you... Did you see their... Yes. Dog's body, wasn't it?

Yeah. I hold out a very soiled hanky with the crack gem on it. I found the other one. He takes it like it's been damaged, but I think that it can be saved it like oh it's been damaged but I think that it can be saved I think it still will work

ah friends this returning this is more than enough to prove that you are allies and as he's looking at it Stefania kind of like grabs his shoulder and is like Adrian what are they

and she points at the maya stood beside you guys protect you honor us and i like almost go to reach for them and then i recall what happened last time i reached towards someone and instead kneel down and bow towards them oh you are so fucking lucky. I just rolled a 19 for a nature check. Oh. Adrian seems to, like, he does recoil for a second, and then he softens.

You. You. There is something. He just kind of nods. I will speak with father, but I do not think we have much to fear from them. As frightening as they are, Strahd's creatures are... They are bereft of life, of plant of plant of growth these things are made of it I'm not a druid like father is

but I can tell that I don't think that you are our enemy at least not yet and if you have helped these ones return the gems to us and at least I can extend to you peace as frightening as you may be

you can see that he's wary yeah I mean like yeah go on like when we just like cock a head to the side like almost in like a yeah unnatural way and try and smile try and do a friendly it's only one half right because the other half is all growth.

So it's like... Yeah. And when... If Rhi is smiling, I look up and my side smiles, but my eye is almost like flicking in every different direction. And, like, it's just this creaking, cracking

wooden sound as well. Perhaps... Not terrifying. It's just this creaking, cracking wooden sound as well. Perhaps your new companions will keep them away from the children. They will frighten them. Perhaps still. Yes, dog's body, yes. If I may, it was wrong that Zeke took the gem, but I just want you to know that without her and her brother dying, you wouldn't have that second gem back. And I think that's important that you should know.

They died and we could get the second gem, so they've paid the price. I don't agree with why she took it in the first place and I don't know why she took it in the first place but you should just know that it's important it brings you peace for me to know that I accept it but

forgive me I mean no offense to your departed friend but a right does not correct a wrong what she did But, forgive me, I mean no offense to your departed friend, but a right does not correct a wrong. What she did, like you said, you may not know the reason, but whatever it was, she nearly cost the people of Barovia the one joy they have. The one joy for the people of this land.

Yes, now we have this second gem. It helps. But that does not undo what she did you have brought it back and so i see you as friends and allies but that dragon she nearly cost us everything and with that he'll just kind of nod and it's not he says it with a reverence dog's body you know you get the impression he's not trying to like be offensive but he is angry at what ziki did and he can't just let that go um uh his wife uh stefania his sister sorry just kind of sees it and says adrian go speak with your father about what has happened. Take the other gem. She turns to the rest of you as Adrian walks away.

I'm just glad that the gem is back. That our people are safe. And that you have brought it back. You look hurt. We need to get you rested. I can have perhaps your companions. She looks in the Myers direction. We have a small building out the back I can have perhaps your companions

she looks in the Myers direction we have a small building out the back where they can at least be safe not out here in the open but I don't at least let me get the children up into their rooms before they come inside come and rest we have some food

we have some drink you've earned that at least and here's they a some food. We have some drink. You've earned that, at least. And his day, a chance to at least have a moment of peace. Is the, uh, lady still here? Esmeralda? No, she

said, I think, that she sensed that her time with you had come to an end. she said that she was going to go to krezik she said that the abbot there may be one the the only person who has the the powers to stand against strad she said that if you did if we found you we were going to come and try and find you to take the gem back. And there was, if you hadn't stolen it or if there was some misunderstanding, she said that Krezik would be a place perhaps for you to go to.

But I leave that to your decision. Come, and then she'll begin making her way back to the house and the winery. Thank you for giving us shelter once more. It's the least we can do for what you've brought back and what you've given us in addition. The last gem, we once had three of them here. Each one rejuvenates a field the last gem we've had we've had it in our largest field which is our cheapest wine the the lowest quality grape

but now we have the second we can make something a bit nicer a bit more flavorful and enjoyable but the last well the witch herself has it. I don't expect that we'll get that back anytime soon. Very well. I'm going to walk over to the mire. We are going to rest inside this establishment. I don't know what you do. Do you just go into the soil?

We will be here for at least 8 to 9 hours. They don't want you inside. Please do not enter the establishment. They do not want you there out of respect. You're not... Brain discomfort? Yes.

Yes, you do. I look to the other Maya. We may rest alongside the reawakened soil. Near the crystal. Do not take the crystal please. Or look like you're going to. We're already walking off. You can feel the land, the mire. As the gem is being planted, you see Davian.

Go on. Is there like a scarecrow nearby? No, in fact, because the scarecrows were all being animated by Babalasaga. So there are no scarecrows. Oh, yeah. So there are some dead ones that look like that they were scarecrows, but they've been pulled apart and dismantled. So there's these kind of scattered bits.

But in between the vineyards, you can feel it beneath your feet in the earth itself. And you see this old man kind of whispering to the ground almost like in prayer oh don't father thank you for returning the seed to the land please may it bring a blessing um and he seems to kind of sense something uh as you approach and he kind of looks up and there's a moment where his eyes go wide as these figures made of earth and plant kind of manifest. And then he kind of relaxes. You are no creature of Strahd's. What are you?

We heard your prayer. You speak to us. You speak to the mire. You are the mire. You are created from the earth? We are the earth. Looks at both of you. And please, let my vines grow.

And he just kind of, like, steps back and almost, like, invites you to kind of kneel or crouch beside him. He kind of, like, shuffles out the way. Yeah, you wanna? Kneel kneel down yeah let's do it yeah let's do it as we like kneel down can I like can I like

can my toes like dig into the earth like hands and then like I kind of like bend over without bending my knees like I just like just flop. And then my claws dig into the earth as well. So it's like a floppy bridge. It's kind of, you dig in,

and the two of you feel this nourishment. You actually feel energy going into your bodies. This would basically, for the Maya, this is the same as eating and drinking like you are absorbing the energy of this uh this seed which is enriching the land in the same way that you would normally with sunlight like it feels like the same as the sun sword almost like you feel this this energy flowing from it as if you were feeding off natural sunlight. Nice. Creepy smile. Creepy smile. Creepy half smile.

Meanwhile, the rest of you are led back in. There seems to be like the smell of a rudimentary breakfast, kind of some like probably not bread, but there'd be like some potatoes, maybe like we're covered in spice, maybe like some various spices to give it some additional flavor. There's like a kind of thick stew, like a breakfast kind of stew, some quite stale, but otherwise good looking bread

kind of ladled next to it. The Martikovs just say like, come, come, eat, regain your strength, drink. You look the worst for wear. The Martikovs just say, like, come, come, eat. Regain your strength, drink. You look the worst for wear. One of them, Stefania, will say to Ismark, like, we need to clean up your wounds, Ismark, yes? There is much burnt flesh that we must clean off and wrap.

Otherwise it risks infection. It will not be pleasant. We have wine if you need to dull the pain. And Ismar just is like, yes, do it. I need to be able to fight. Whatever you do, just do it. And if presented with a bottle of wine, he starts just chugging it. He's just like downing this bottle of wine to try and dull the plane um and if you would linger around uh stefania literally is like gets a knife and is

like you know having to like scrape burnt flesh off and then she is wrapping it like you know with an oil and then they have like this leather wrapping that she's putting down his arm and then they have like a like a face mask that they like kind of you know put together for him they sew together this like leather uh like half mask um as uh horrifying as it is for yes but he will force himself to watch. Okay. You see Ismark gritted teeth just not letting out an ounce of pain. He's just gritting his teeth

like fist clenched around the haft of his axe. Just gritting through it as they're taking care of him all. Yeah. Dog's body will hang around and I think he's probably used to this from his days as a soldier um yeah and um would just be like chatting nonsense to um is mark to just try and take his nine uh his mind off of it and kind of almost singing little kind of not battle songs

but you know the kind of songs that troops kind of like yeah yeah a lot of them are probably a little rude um you know a little bit lewd in places and like whenever you tell whenever you sing one of those there is like a faint kind of like like there is like a couple of laughs but yeah you're definitely helping give him something else to focus on which is the sound of your voice. And like, maybe you tell him some stories. Oh yeah. This one time me and the boys, we were up to this. And,

but there's also a kind of sadness where, you know, while you're focused on keeping him busy, there's this horrible realization of like, oh, you're never going to see, you know, Jareth and all these other guys again.

Like, oh yeah, they're dead. Strahd killed them. This kind of horrible reminder of what happened and stuff um i think what would have happened to xeros and ziki would have brought that back as well because dog's body found a camaraderie with them too um and this is perhaps why dog's body is trying to help he's trying to keep himself busy and focus on other people and just like keep his brain moving keep

his mouth moving keep you know just anything to stop drifting to that little corner of his mind and then pull back to just sing in another rude song about how wizard's staff had a knob on the end. Yeah, exactly. Oh, ye almighty wizard and his great wooden knob and stuff like that. Knob staff. What about Rose? Anything from Rose? I think she's just...

She'll be sitting in the same room with them, but she'll probably just be keeping to herself and quite quiet. I think she's just probably hit her limit of doing anything for the day after everything that's happened and losing two people um yeah i think she's just gonna be very quiet i think um you know with yes we're watching kind of in this this uh you know uh desperate forcing himself to watch what's happening to his mark and the healing and things like that um and inspired by dog's body kind of singing these rude songs the martikovs kind of sense that there is a need for a little bit of a

morale boost and so they make an effort to make the atmosphere more jovial um they tell jokes and stories like when dog's body is kind of like you know taking a drink one of them chips in with like a like ah this reminds me i your story reminds me of one my grandfather used to tell me ah what a funny story it was and it's like a kind of half joke half limerick you know they bring out some additional food like oh yes we still have some of those cakes left over let's bring those out let's have them for a change like they're desperately trying to kind of make a more homely um sensation even if it doesn't necessarily do anything for your characters there's that effort for themselves as well uh uh this kind of grim scene of healing is mark um as they desperately try and lighten the mood and then i think it all comes to a culmination.

Where maybe when things grow a bit quiet. As people begin to kind of drift off. And like the overwhelming essence of it all begins to take hold. And Irina or Tatiana just begins to sing. And it starts off as a quiet, melodic song, and then it turns into this kind of ballad. A ballad of a handsome young prince, Sergei, a handsome young Sergei.

It's a love song. And it's about a young woman on her wedding night to her betrothed her beloved sergey and the castle that he's brought her to and the lands that they are going to change lands that they are going to rule over and bring peace and prosperity to and how their love is so pure um and it's nice it's a genuine kind of nice song that is soothing and just kind of reverberates through this old family home. And when she sings, the colors of the woods and the tapestries and the cloths that the Martikovs wear all seem to become just a little bit brighter.

all seem to become just a little bit brighter. And you can see that she's probably holding on to... What did Zeke give her? I think it was a sketch that she had drawn of Irina. I think Zeke had drawn one of those sketches. And she's just kind of holding it when she's saying this. And yeah, you guys can have a long rest nice a blessed

long rest the rarest resource in all of Barovia yeah because man I expended quite a few spell slots fighting Jesper sorry about that that's alright that was what your character would do that was just a Yes, but... Sorry about that. That's all right.

That was what your character would do. That was just... That was a... What do they call it? It was like a cavalcade of terrible things that happened all at once. I mean... It's very Maya. Yeah, it was very cool.

I loved it. I loved it. I was at one point... If worse came to worse and you guys killed both of the Maya twins, I was just going to say, like, okay, so what's the next body that the Maya inhabitates?

Yeah, they would just do another one. I would just be like, right, they come back. How revitalised does the land look? Like, me and other me and as soon as the gem is in yeah i mean any of that i mean there was no the signs the early signs on the very edges of the vineyard begin to bloom almost immediately like they go back to a fresh green but there is a range of it this gem seems to only affect the land in a certain radius um but you can see that that's already, it's returned to the land that it was before Strahd came

these gems stave off Strahd's presence that seems to be what they do so the land is nourishing and feels natural it feels what it should be cool, nice having had a long rest would uh i attune to well there's two things i took

and that's the spear from the stone circle and a weird ring from xeros's body yes yes yes yes you do um the spear i can tell you has name. You can probably find it in D&D Beyond. If you search for blood spear, you can have that. It is a magic weapon. It's a plus two spear. So you get plus two to attack and damage rolls with it. It does, obviously, being a spear,

it does do a little bit less damage than a greataxe, but it is a plus two spear. So you get plus two to attack and damage rolls with it. It does obviously being a spear, it does do a little bit less damage than a great axe, but it is a plus two weapon. And also this one has the property that when you reduce a top, when you hit a creature with a melee attack, using the spear and reduce the target to zero hit points, you gain 2d6 temporary hit points. Now remember that temporary hit points don't stack. So once you have them,

you just replace the amount. If you lose some and you get another 2d6, that just becomes the same amount. You don't stack temporary hit points. But every time you reduce something to zero, 2d6 temporary hit points. And it's a plus two weapon, which is kind of a big deal.

Magic weapons, hard to come by. Yeah. Damn. So, yeah. It's pretty good mark mark yeah have i managed to pick up yet another sentient weapon who's to say who's to say not me i'm not gonna say anything um i'm just reading some of this background stuff on it. I'm like, don't worry about that. Don't worry about that. You know what, Kim?

Okay. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Don't worry about it. Did I actually give this? Do you remember if I gave the ring a name or was it just a ring of protection?

Did I actually call it Sergei's Wedding Band? Yeah. It was just called Wedding Band. It's called Wedding Band. Okay. Yeah. Justi's Wedding Band? Yeah. It was just called Wedding Band, not Sergei's. It's called Wedding Band. Okay, yeah, just look up Wedding Band. I'm pretty sure it was something like that anyway. Wedding Band.

Strange Wedding Band. It'll be Wedding Band. Strange Wedding Band. Ah, yeah. Yeah. And when you wear it, dog's body, when you put it on, it will magically resize to fit you um when you if

you look at the ring you do see i think i described it as having the name sergey written on the inside of it to my beloved sergey when you place the ring on uh it's a ring of protection so you get plus one ac and plus one to saving throws but whenever you are near irena there is just a sense of... When you're not near Irina, you have a sense of grief and sadness that kind of just dwell on you. Those feelings disappear when you're near Irina, and you are instead filled with a kind of sense of peace and happiness that maybe Dog's Body hasn't felt in a very, very long time.

As if Irina is someone precious to you when you wear it. That everyone is precious to me. No, fair enough. Then a little bit, perhaps a little bit more so with Irina. Perhaps she begins to to you know, somebody very close to you. Interesting. Interesting.

And yeah, you guys complete a long rest. The Maya, by the way, I'm assuming you guys just rest outside. Do you just like lay in the earth? Do the others come out and find you just lying like corpses in the ground? Do you want to wake up before them? Yeah, you could do that as well. Oh, we could do that.

We could do that. The thing that you described was very cool about about us resting oh yeah yeah no that happens instead uh okay all right yeah so when the rest of you finish the long rest you're not really sleeping because this is a long rest you guys like we're like just resting in the martikov's house so it's a mixture of like napping and eating and taking a moment um when it finishes do any of you go to find the mire or do you just kind of make a plan and then you're going to go find them later? Okay.

I'm playing with the kids. I'm playing with the kids. Okay, sure. Eventually the Martikovs will be like, they'll come over to all of you and say, Adrian, this is Wobby. So what is your plan now? I know that you spoke of trying to reach Babalasaga.

She has something that you were searching for. Yes, another important artifact that hopefully can assist the end of Strahd. Whatever we can do to help. She has some of our children, but we can't turn away from

after you've helped us with the gemstones. Bringing us back that other one means a lot, and there's a way that we can help. We will try. I hope we've caused a big enough of a dent in those people that worshipped that tree to stop them from pursuing your gems again. At least. I hope so. I think so.

They were a strange lot. They live in the hills and the mountains and the woods. But I think that they had mostly all gathered at Yesterhill. So if they're all dead, then I suspect that we will at least be safe for some time. Myself and my sister can take you to Borez. That is where the witch has made her lair we can show you the way if we need to

it's a bit of a travel from here but we can show you the way and help you as well we'd appreciate that, thank you she is powerful as I mentioned before, you may wish to consider how you intend to acquire this relic. Whether you are intending to speak with

the witch, steal it, fight her, I don't know, but consider your options. When you're ready, we'll leave. The two beings, those things that were with you, my father said he spoke with them.

He left them out in the vineyards. I haven't seen them since, they have not come by for warmth or food or anything like that. We only met them hours before you met them. There was a strange presence that they helped part the mists. And initially I thought them to be manifestations of Strahd, but

they assured us that they were not and that they were against Strahd and they were the land itself. So as abhorrent as they are. Go on. So as a bard, as they are. Go on. They are frightening,

but many parts of the natural world can be frightening. The dark can be frightening. My father, he knows a little about the land. He's worked these vineyards for many years and his father before him and his father before him. They are no servants of Strahd. He assures me of that. I think that the mists, when they came to Borovia, they came with Strahd.

When he gained this dark power over the light and this ability to drink the blood of the living, the mists came with him. But before that, it is said that his lands flourished and that there were those who could speak to it, could understand it, that it had a mind of its own. I think that perhaps those things are that spirit

and a desperate, what has driven it to act now is the greater question why now, why allow Strahd to ruin and starve this land to destroy it for so long but now what has changed

what has driven them to manifest in this way? Nothing like this has been seen before. I agree. Whatever they are... It seems unnatural. However, maybe it's a last resort

for the land. Perhaps. Whatever they are, I hope that they are useful to you. It seems to be that... Me too, bro! At least they are not a threat. I believe they will be. Well, when you're ready, let me know.

Until then, our is is your home just nods thank you this respite has been you don't know we needed this thank you puts a hand on your shoulder jesper looks you properly dead in the eyes and with a very serious expression he's like no we know friend we've lived here a long time we know what Barovia does to people we know how important a song and some wine and a stew can be

simple things they are but important ones in this land we know what it is like to lose to lose hope to lose loved ones we know he just kind of pats you a couple of times and then heads off

oh so, Splam well let's go see our strange friends and see if they will assist us. Sure. So Dog's Body, Rose, Jesper, you guys make your way outside

to go find these strange beings. What you find... I'm already outside, but I'm running around with all the were-raven kids. We're just playing tag, and we're just being children. That would be in a different field. Just playing around. Yeah. Sure, they chase you around. We're just playing tag and we're just like in children that would be in a different field playing around yeah sure they chase you around just chasing each other around the house

like yeah the kids have been purposely told not to go into the main field they've like been said like you're not allowed in there uh and the parents are watching closely so when rose and yes but make their way out to go and find the mire what you find is in the middle of the vineyard no harm you don't like everything seems fine nothing's been dug up but there is just like their bodies have almost been covered in this like vine like moss and fungi that's almost kind of connected them to the ground right like that was the thing that you guys were talking about um yeah like it's red weed that's entangled around us and this bark like substance that has bound us together and to the ground um it's gross it ain't pretty from it new grapevines seem to be sprouting like new grapevines

are just the little buds of them. Like, the actual natural growth is actually sprouting from all of this strange alien-type growth. And then as you draw closer, yeah, you begin to hear, like, snapping and creaking as the two forms sensing something, like... ..pull themselves free. You've come to seek the mire you trust in us now

oh it's going to take some getting used to I look at dog's body I'm just kind of the natural oh dog's body's not there in which case I look at Rose is like as unreadable as

it comes. I kind of look at Dog's body as like the no filter response to these sorts of things. I don't know. I think Rose with the mire is reacting to it because it's just so bizarre. She's looking more untrusting

as well as disgusted at the same time. Like she's very much keeping her distance and still like watching them very closely, I think. Yeah. So you will join us on our quest? If our fates are intertwined, then I suppose you could be of assistance to us and us to you.

We are heading towards Babalazaga. The witch? The witch. She holds a crystal to reform the land you will follow us to the witch we have a guide but okay we'll follow you too

fresh earth a bastion against Strahd himself he has a debt he must repay for what he has done to us and with that we end tonight's Curse of Strahd he owes us money he doesn't owe you money

he does not owe you money Strahd. He owes us money. He doesn't owe you money. He does not owe you money. Strahd owes me money. He does not owe you money. He does not. Bitch, where's my money? You've got your two-headed ogre idea. I'm not giving you the Strahd owes you money idea. He owes you land.

That's what he owes you. He owes you dirt. Bitch better have my money oh well oh my god bloody hell i was really worried about that i was like oh my god me everything made sense everybody made decisions that suited their character maybe the confusion is the main thing i have the issue with like there's two results out of ten that is they attack uh yep and do you know tom let me tell you something the spelling the spell entangle has a zero out of ten chance of anyone being like taking damage or being attacked um who did who did we end up hitting the one guy who was on death's door um hang on a minute uh katie sorry who did you end up hitting

why you like this tom why you like this tom why you like this rihanna doesn't bloody help when she's like i'm gonna walk over to yes but like it's like dnd in hard mode seriously literally Rhiannon and Tom playing joined siblings or a joined person of any kind is

literal like oh my god hard mode what the hell do we do because it's just like first of all

Zeke and Zeros were so conflicting for the party and then now we've got this and we're like... Well, I think that the Maya will be much easier than Zeros and Zeki because the Maya's goals are very much aligned with Yuro's.

Straightforward, yeah. No deals, no shenanigans. No deals, no shenanigans. Yeah, very black and white. Well, we do like to consume, though. We do like to consume though we do like i mean if you find some bodies there's nothing wrong with that you really emphasize that in our first impressions as well yeah you said well close to turning yeah you are close to there with some lessons in etiquette yeah that's a good thing like dog's Dogspotty can maybe teach the mire how to, like,

converse with people. I already have an idea in my mind of a conversation I want to have with these two next week. I definitely want to. Yeah. Thank you.