High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #3 | Fortunes of the Vistani

Episode Date: May 1, 2020

Yesper guides the party towards Madam Ava for a mysterious reading! Support the High Rollers and get early access to podcast episodes (and more) on our Patreon: www.patreon.com/HighRollers Music courtesy of Epidemic Sound Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pickaxe. Your mom hates it when you leave six half-full glasses on your nightstand. It's a good thing mom lives on the other side of the country. And it's an even better thing that you can get six IKEA 365 Plus glasses for just $9.99. So go ahead, you can afford to hoard because IKEA is priced for student life. Shop everything you need for back to school at IKEA today. Welcome friends to High rollers presents the curse of strad a gothic horror adventure of chills thrills and many blood spills i am your dungeon master mark humes and the players joining me are as follows chris trott as yesper the vistani bard

kim richards as shadows beyond the, a Tabaxi Cleric, Katie Morrison as Rose Vanendi, the Human Ranger, Tom Hazel as Xeros Mistan, the Dragonborn Fighter, and Rhiannon Gower as Zeke Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Last time on Curse of Strahd, our heroes have been brought to the land of Barovia, a land that is hidden by mist and magic, and encountered its dark overlord, Strahd von Zarovich. In a small village that seats beneath Strahd's home, Castle Ravenloft, the party are drawn to the Burgomaster's mansion as a woman's scream pierces the night and the sounds of battle erupt through the streets.

Here they meet Irina Indirovich, or Irina Kolyan, as well as her brother Ismark and her father Kolyan as well. As Strahd himself attempts to lure Irina to him, sending devils to dispatch her family. With a hero's intervention, Irina was saved at the cost of Strahd's rage. Furious, he appeared above Barovia in a swirl of mist and made a proclamation. Bring Irena to me in two days, or I shall rain down death and fire upon you as a suffering you have never known before. It didn't take long for the villagers to form a mob and encircle the mansion. In a desperate escape, Irena's father set the mansion aflame and stayed behind

so the group could escape on horseback, heading down the old Svalik road and on towards destiny. And that is where we join everyone this week as i believe we currently have irena and her brother is mark are on one riding horse uh and then we have i think it was rose and somebody else on a rose and shadow on another and then Jesper and the two Dragonborn in Jesper's wagon, I believe. Making your way down a twisting narrow road that

weaves in amongst the thick trees of Barovia. The trees here are gnarled and twisted. Their bark is a kind of dark greyish brown that seems to have just been drained of any life or cheer that would have accompanied it the leaves are malted browns and grays maybe perhaps a couple only only a bare few still sprouting a dark green in colour, and they're thick.

You can hear and see the eyes of beasts and animals and cries and howls echoing around you as the thundering gallop of the hooves of your horses tread on the loose cobblestones of this well-worn, travelled road. There are no immediate signs of anyone pursuing you from the village of Barovia, although it certainly didn't look like the villagers were willing to give up so quickly. But you don't see any immediate threat. I hand it over to you.

The road will continue for a brief time. But yeah, what would you guys... Is there anything you guys would like to do? Is there anything you want to talk about? Well, I will probably be telling everyone in a very calm manner

that I don't know the way fully. I will say this is not exactly the place I usually come to. South out of Barovia? I rarely came to this place. I've always been told that they are mostly soulless, as you saw. So I kind of avoided the Svalik woods.

Horror stories. Even worse than the ones from the Vistani camp. Sorry. But I think it's this way. Ismark knows, right? If you look back to Ismark, he's kind of riding on the horse with Irina. He kind of brings it to a pace to match the wagon. Looks towards you and is like,

Depends on where you're going, my friend. I can certainly lead you here. The road, there's a crossroads up ahead. One path will take us deeper into the woods near some hills and marshes. The other will take us up to the Serpool.

It's a small lake that runs off of the river. I remember, yes. Well, group, what do we think? You want to stop at a pool? I do not like water that much. Cat, I get it.

Sorry, I didn't mean to be offensive. Maybe for some what or something. Well, you, yes, but you would know that that is where Madame Ava is currently located, the Serpool. That's where she was when you spoke to her before you came out of Barovia to find these people. So if you want to go to Madame Ava, that's where she is. Literally where I saw my leader before I came to find you guys. So we should probably

go there. Right now. This is where I kind of expected Trot, who knows the module, to remember that, and so I'll just give him a little nudge that he does know that in character. Yeah, that's fine. Yeah.

Yeah, so there is a crossroads, and as you guys are discussing, He does know that in character. He's fine. Yeah. Yeah. So there is a crossroads. And as you guys are discussing, you're kind of calling out to the others. And you were met by seemingly blank, blank expressions of people who know even less than you do. Yes. But looking around, I think it would appear on most of their faces that this band of adventurers that you have brought to Barovia seem a little out of place, a little out of sorts, perhaps. But you soon come across a crossroads, and in the middle of the diverging paths, you see an old wooden gallows that creaks in the chill wind and blows down from the high ground to the west a frayed length of rope dances from its beams in the wind and the well-worn road splits

the signpost opposite the gallows points in three directions barovia village to the east sir pool to the northwest and ra Ravenloft slash Vallaki to the southwest. The northwest fork slants down and disappears into the trees, while the southwest fork clings to an upward slope. Across from the gallows, a low wall crumbling

in places partially encloses a small plot of graves shrouded in fog. And you can see it just up ahead of you as you are approaching. How's everybody holding up?

Back there? We're coming up to a crossroads, so unless everyone has any fantastic ideas, I say we go to Madame Eva now. I agree. I think we go to Madame Eva now. I agree. I think that that's... We need more information if we're going to

be able to protect Arena and know exactly what to do here. I think it's the best call. Madame Eva will know what to do. She will. As the horses and the wagons begin making their way to turn on the path, you hear a creaking noise from behind you,

coming from the gallows themselves. Oh, goody. When you look behind you, where there was nothing, there now hangs a lifeless body. And the breeze turns the hanged figure slowly, painfully slowly, as it turns so that it can fix its dead eyes upon you rose it is unmistakably your body your face your clothes your hair you watch as a large beetle crawls out of your own mouth scurries up and then digs its way into the side of your eye socket borrowing and in a rasping voice it calls out to you, Blood, red

moon, fire and death. The price will soon be paid. To the rest of you, you see the same thing, but it's not Rose's body that hangs

there it is that of a Barovian woman dressed in traveller's robe you can see that she has been dead for some time and you see the same thing the same beetle crawls up the side of her face and buries itself in its eye and it speaks to you the same

words but to Rose, it is unmistakably your doppelganger in every way. Is that normal around here? Does this happen a lot? How is

that possible? I'm here. How is it possible that I'm there? I'm here, I'm alive! Oh, that's not you. That is a Barovian. No, I'm not. I'm not a Barovian. What? Do you not? What do you see, Rose? Me? Still just swinging there in the wind.

Let's just... It looks like me. Is Strahd playing a trick on me? Check her temperature. Is she okay? I'm fine. I put my paw to Rose's head. Fuss a little bit. We need to go to Madam Eva right away. As far as you can tell,

it's completely normal. All of you still see, when you approach this, that body wasn't there, but now it's just staring at you all. It's mouth kind of agape. It's dead eyes just staring at you. Rose, you are literally staring into your own

dead face looking back at you. No! That's horrible um i guess that she's probably just gonna be fixated on it like as we move on anywhere else you can see as you fixate on it you can see like the bruising around the neck where it's obviously been hung for so long and it's it's crushed in and part of their throat has been collapsed the limbs are hanging limp there's a kind of dark fluid running from the fingernails and from the clothing joints and things like that as it just swings in the breeze this gentle breeze that it just keeps it moving but never enough that it turns away from you that's nice and creepy thank you mark for my nightmares

uh do you guys just want to carry on you guys just want to ignore it now i'll say to rose do not play his games. I don't know what his game is, but why my body? Why nobody else's body up there? This doesn't make sense. Is he targeting me specifically? That seems like part of the game, doesn't it?

To haunt one of us. To make you question why me? Why am I special? Why am I being targeted? I believe it to be random, perhaps. Zeke, as you're looking at this... Zeke, as you're looking at this scene

with your kind of artist's eye, the gallows is obviously a horrible site and this body, this woman's body. You don't know this woman. You can't see what Rose does, but the, the kind of framing of the picture, as you're looking back is you can see in the background,

this plot of gravestones, this kind of unmarked or just seemingly randomly placed 11 graves all in a line all in various states of repair um you're not sure if there's writing on them or not but it just kind of it's like almost like a paint you know you see the the painting in your head yeah you have the gallows in the forefront and then just in the background you can notice this this little detail that other people may have missed is is there a way i can look at it and see if maybe like the two are linked somehow like the graves are linked to the the body like you know i mean like see if there's like what do you want to do like go up and inspect them or is this more like a like a magical connection do you feel to do? Go up and inspect them? Or is this more like a magical connection, do you feel?

Yeah, you could make a... Go and inspect. Sure, yeah, absolutely. You can go and inspect them. Do you hop off the wagon, basically, as the others are slowly making their way down the road? Yeah, I'll just hop off quickly and go and have just a little look. Just a little peek.

No chance of my not following that. Okay, so Xerox kind of jumps off with you as the two dragons make their way to the gravestone. I guess the dragons have taken a stop. I just want to have a quick look just to see if there's anything going on with this. Just be careful,

okay? I will. So you watch the two dragons, the rest of the party comes to stop on the road uh Irina and Ismark are kind of watching cautiously um and yeah the two dragons make their way over and you begin inspecting

this small plot of unmarked land and it's you immediately can tell that these are probably graves dug for the people that hung from these gallows um the gravestones would normally go unmarked but there are five that

have writing on them oh okay yeah um the writing seems indecipherable written in a language you don't speak, some sort of runic language. Not quite sure. But from one of the graves, there are 11 of them in total,

from one of the graves that is not marked by the runic script, you can see that part of the earth has been seemingly pushed up from below it seems to have been disturbed as if something has come up from below um and there's just a single kind of desiccated hand uh that's kind of crawled up and it's almost like it's grasping for something that isn't there um and wrapped around it is a is a sort of silver bracelet that seems to have some sort of emblem on it. Okay.

It's just like single hand is risen up. Ooh. Ooh. Okay. Part of me wants to take it, but there's another part of me that's like, that's... Okay. Part of me wants to take it, but there's another part of me that's like, no.

He's gonna be grabbing. Yeah. Is that like an unmarked grave as well? Yeah, that's an unmarked one, yeah. Go on, Kim. Right, okay. While Zeke is seemingly dithering, I guess guess can i use my eyes of the grave which basically says as an action i know the location of any undead 60 feet within 60 feet that isn't behind total cover and isn't protected from divination magic

where are you looking just all around um I guess can I jump down from the horse and yeah, just looking at the gallows and the graves and where Zeke is looking. Just see what they're looking at. You make your way over slowly and you begin... How does this look? Explain the process here for Shadow. I imagine as I walk over,

I'd probably just pass my paw over my eyes and go, I don't know, mutter something, mutter a quick prayer. Yeah, you can mutter something. I guess my golden eyes would almost turn black as shadows come up through them and fill them. And then you just, if you were to look, you'd see swirling shadows in my eyes. fill them and then you just if you were to look you'd see swirling shadows in my eyes you glance around and the gallows were to your normal sight without a doubt a body hanging there but as you channel the power of your dark mistress the darkness begins to peel away and a shadowy blackened form hangs there in its place and as soon as your gaze falls upon it it just dissolves away um and so it's just the body there's nothing there

now there's nothing whatever whatever was hanging there to your normal sight your eyes of the grave indicate to you that it must be some sort of illusion or like it was meant to look like something dead was there but there is nothing but there was something for a moment there was like a shadow there was like a an echo of a dead something undead but it's gone and was there anything from the graves um you look at the graves. I mean, the graves are filled for the most part. There is this desiccated hand,

but it doesn't show any sign of being undead, the hand itself. But the graves themselves, I'd say, like... How much does blocks it? Is it like a foot of material or something, did you say? It says total cover or divination magic. Yeah, it's filled in so if there is something within the graves your eyes wouldn't be able to see it because it's

covered by dirt if there is something in there yeah Jesper and Rose do you guys want to do anything you can see Irena and Ismark are kind of looking back towards Barovia uncomfortably Irena kind of looking back towards brovia uncomfortably

um irena kind of adjusts herself in the saddle next to her brother and and kind of looks looks in try and calm them by saying okay i understand i know we shouldn't be out this late uh we should keep moving i'll try and round up the others. That's fine. It seemed like... I don't understand why the devil left. He could have just waited there, waited for those devils or used his magic on us.

He said something about he had something he had to do. I don't know. I'm worried about the Barovians following us but I think it will take them some time to get enough horses but something is bothering me about the

devil and I don't know what it is Irina who seems to have recovered some of her composure since last night she looks at Jesper and is like that may be the case brother but I think that our Vistani friend here is right. We should get moving.

We shouldn't be lingering in one place for too long. People's minds, they change and it warps them. I'm worried for my friends here. Staying out at night plays tricks on the mind. They're not used to it. It does. You're right.

They kind of nod nod just as a point for everyone by the way so i showed you guys irena last week if you didn't uh here's a refresher of what irena looks like um and also i have a what is mark looks like as well so i can show you guys uh is mark um so you guys can get an idea of what he looks like. So they're very different. You can tell that they are... They've said brother and sister, but, yeah, they obviously must have different mothers or perhaps, you know, something like that, because they are very different,

both facial shape, skin tone, build, eye colour. They look very different. They don't look like they were born siblings. Zeke and Zeros, do you guys want to do anything? I'll just gesture to Zeros. What do you think of this? It's strange, right?

A land of blood and death. That's all I see yeah very true he's not wrong he's not wrong I think what I'll do is I'll cast Mold Earth and I'll try and

push this like thing out of the earth just a little bit just so i can get a better look at it yeah so you push you can feel the earth pulling as you see the hand kind of it's almost like hot like grasping for something as it begins coming up uh and it twitches for a moment and you see it kind of like and then the arm just falls flat uh as the it's clearly been dismembered um as the arm and the hand itself just become to rest on top of the grave and this small silver bracelet the act of pushing it up out the earth breaks the join between the wrist and the the rest of the arm the hand kind of tumbles to the side and this little silver

bracelet maybe it's some, maybe you think maybe a holy symbol, it rolls down the now pushed up earth and falls at your feet. Okay. I'm gonna pick it up. Okay.

Okay, Zeros, you bend down and pick it up. You feel cold silver at your fingertips. Surprisingly, no dirt on it whatsoever. The symbol on it, it appears to be like a simple silver bangle, but there is a small silver symbol attached by a chain that almost appears to be like a silver disc with the middle of it painted black.

Okay. I've got like no magic in me at all. I've got no idea what this is. No. Once it's pocketed and they're done desecrating the dead, I'm going to hop off the wagon

and strum a chord to get their attention. Friends! Are we done with the dead? Can we move? Irina needs help. We all need help. Please. This is not

a time to linger. Thank you. Can I quickly turn to Rose, having seen, used my grave powers, and just... The image you see is an illusion. You are right. Strahd is playing tricks. This is not undead. It is just an illusion. There is nothing tricks. This is not undead. It is just an illusion. There is nothing here. Looks pretty real.

Wow. I have checked. I have used my blessing from my mistress. I assure you, it is a trick. I know it looks real, and if it looks like you, well, it is never fun to see one in a decomposed state. But I assure you,

it is meant to unsettle you. Well, mission accomplished, but knowing that it's an illusion gives me comfort, so thank you for that. And I'll just squeeze her hand in my paw. Okay. Nice.

Get back on, yeah? Yeah, I'll put the bracelet in Zeke's hand, and then get back on the wagon. Okay. So Zeke, yeah, then get back on the wagon. Okay. So, Zeke, if you want to write down, you have a silver bracelet. Silver bracelet.

Silver bracelet with an unknown symbol. Let's call it that. You guys, you have two riding horses. Ismark and Irene are on one. And then you've got the other one, which I think Shadow and Rose were on. And then the wagon, Jesper, you're pulling with your horses and then you have the dragonborn one, which I think Shadow and Rose were on. And in the wagon, Jesper, you're pulling with your horses, and then you have the dragonborns in the back of your wagon, I believe.

Come, Nelly. Come, Furtado. Let's go. Yeah. Of course. As the two horses, Nelly and Furtado, begin pulling them off, are you heading towards the Serpool? Is that the idea? You want to go to the Vistani camp? Cool. So you them off. Are you heading towards the Serpool?

Is that the idea? You want to go to the Vistani camp? So you pull off. It takes you about two hours of traveling through these woods. And yes, but there's an unease because you know

that traveling through the woods and along the roads, there's always aase because you know that traveling through the woods and along the roads there's always a risk of something appearing but seemingly the fates are kind this evening either that or their attentions are drawn elsewhere as it doesn't take you long before you arrive the road gradually disappears and is replaced by a twisty muddy path through the trees deep ruts in the earth are evidence of the comings and goings of wagons the canopy of mist and branches suddenly gives way to black clouds boiling far above there is a clearing here next to a river that widens to form a small lake several hundred feet across.

Five colourful round tents, each ten feet in diameter, are pitched outside a ring of four barrel-topped wagons. A much larger tent stands near the shores of the lake, sagging form lit from within. Near this tent, eight unbridled horses drink deeply from the river the mournful strains of an accordion clash with the singing of several brightly clad figures around a bonfire and a footpath continues beyond this encampment yandering north to the river and the forest's edge. And you can hear this clashing of the accordion music and the kind of like kind of clapping

and singing. You can hear the sounds of glass bottles being toasted together and people drinking and living fiercely as a very warm, very orange, very welcoming-looking fire sits in the middle of it all. Ah, my friends.

Soak it in, please. Welcome to our people, the Vistani. Feels very homely, I must say. Oh yes, a light in the dark. Where there is bleakness around, Vistani will make it colourful again. Come. I'll lead them in on the wagon.

Yeah, sure, yeah. It doesn't take you long before one of the Vistani, who seems to be that their job was to watch the path but they have a bottle of wine in their hands and they've been kind of like

dozedly listening to the music they kind of snatch to attention as they hear people coming and when he sees you Jesper you recognize it as another Vistani called something Roman Roman? Uh, Roman?

He's like, Ah, our wayward boy! Jasper! So good to see you, brother! And he kind of brings you in for a firm embrace. Whoa, easy. My body odor is pretty bad right now. I've been on a fire. You are hurt,

brother. Come, sit by the fire, drink, take a moment to rest. You've gone beyond the mists, yes? I have, yes, and it's a matter of urgency right now. I will sit, but I must take my friends

to see Madame Eva. Oh, yes, she is expecting you and the travelers from beyond. But these two, and he points towards Ismark and Irina, Barovians, I wonder if she's been expecting them as well. She didn't tell us that they would be coming, but... You will know what, Madame Eva. You need to come. She will come and speak to you when she is ready.

You know this. Come, bring your friends to the fire. Let them enjoy a moment of warmth and wine and song and food. Well, he said the magic words, everybody. Come on, let's take a moment. Madame Eva will call for us. Take a load off. Gladly.

Yeah, you guys are welcome. Irina and Ismark kind of nod towards the Fistani We thank you for your hospitality Thank you A bit of fire and some wine does sound pretty good right now She kind of laughs

and her brother kind of laughs with her And they'll basically make their way in Don't forget when this is all over and you run your new establishment make it very Vistani themed we don't want Barovian no offense well I don't I wasn't planning to go into the inn keeping business but perhaps it's something we can consider whatever I don't think you have got a keen mind for it. Well, we'll see.

I just hope that we can deal with the next few nights. That's all. Should we... Jesper, was it? Should we tell your people about... What, to expect any trouble from Barovia? Let's not kill the mood. Madame Eva is the first protocol I think very well yeah what

about the rest of you what are you guys do what does he do what does he do I guess I'll find someone who's got some wine and I'll go sit by a cozy warm fire somewhere. Yeah. And I'd say for Ziki, like, this is the first time since you've come here. Even the tavern where you guys stopped for a moment before. This is the first place that feels like it has any life to it whatsoever. The grass here is green, the river, even though it's nighttime, you can see the river is this crisp, beautiful countryside river that strolls through. This lake stretches

out. This would be a place to paint. You know, this is a perfect little scene, a setting. The Vistani and their bright colors, little bells and cymbals and the music playing there is joy here there is genuine for the first time genuine joy there's a moment where you can almost feel the touch of lira here these people don't worship her but her influence is here with these people um they're the only ones you've met that have it um and as you sit down this uh young vistani woman in bright greens and yellows uh straping fabrics and a strange kind of wrap around her head uh she looks at you in amazement uh my goodness you must be from beyond the mists a dragon a dragon of white scales like these. You are incredible.

Please come sit. Come. We are about to have a story from one of our great storytellers. You should listen. Come. Drink. Drink. Eat.

And she passes you bowls of... Is it the wizard one again? You see the storyteller, this older looking Vistani. He's just like, no, Jesper. I thought that as you have brought travelers here, perhaps an older story. One that may perhaps give them some understanding of where they are. Oh, I like this one. Yes, I like it very much. Thank you, storyteller.

Of course. Get yourself some wine my boy bring out the cured meats and the cheeses let us let us enjoy tonight um and yeah you uh it doesn't take long before yeah there are like plates of food being passed around and everybody takes a motor takes a piece and then passes it on bottles of wine of wine are shared out. You take a swig, you pass it on to the next person. They take a swig, they pass it on. And the music and the fire is warming and homely. There is an essence here. If you guys like, you can treat this as a short rest

because you are going to have about an hour before anything happens. So if you guys want to spend any hit dice, now is the time to do it. And as you guys take your seats, the old storyteller, you see him. He takes a big glug of wine and then he spits it into the fire, which roars to life. And the flames turn from orange into green. turn from orange into green and as they the flames begin to dance and sway a dark shape appears in the bonfire's core we come from an ancient land our home it is a land of kings our enemies forced us from where we once were, and now we wander the lost roads. The dark figure in the fire takes the form of a man being knocked from his horse and a spear piercing his side. One night, a wounded soldier staggered into our camp and collapsed.

We nursed his terrible injury and quenched his thirst with wine, and he survived. When we asked him who he was, he would not say. All he wanted was to return home, but we were deep in the land of his enemies. So we took him, as one of our own, and followed him back towards his homeland. His enemies haunted us and hunted him. They said he was a prince, yet we did not give him up, even when their assassins fell upon us like wolves. Deep in the bonfire you see the dark figure standing with a sword drawn, fighting off a host of

shadowy shapes. This man of royal blood fought to protect us as we protected him. We bore him safely to his home and he thanked us. He said, I owe you my life. Stay as long as you wish. Leave when you choose, and know that you will always be safe here. The figure dancing in the fire vanishes,

vanquishes its final foe, that disperses in a cloud of smoke and embers. A curse has befallen our most noble prince. It has made him a tyrant. We alone have the power to leave this place. We've traveled far and wide to find... heroes. Madame Ava called you.

She saw your coming. And now... she waits. And he gestures to the larger tent... on the shores of the lake itself. I'll stand up and wait for everybody else. Yep, I'll follow. Yep.

Just glug a final glass of wine down real quick. Yeah, yeah. And it's not the best wine, but there is a comfort to it. It tastes, there's a fruity element to it, a good earthy tone. And your cheeks are kind of flushed, Ziki. You feel that warmth in your stomach, enough to kind of give you a little bit of courage in this dark, strange land. You see Irena was listening to the story intently,

mesmerized by the fire and the story being told. But Ismark only looks agitated, disturbed or upset at something in the telling, but he doesn't say anything. The group of you stand, and with Jesper leading the telling, but he doesn't say anything. The group of you stand, and with Jesper leading the way, you make your way to the larger tent on the shores of the lake.

It is not quite big enough for everybody to fully fit inside, but Jesper, you kind of lead them in as is necessary. Just as on the outside, I'll say,

before we go in, I want you all to be respectful to a Madam Ava. We don't know how old she is, but she is extremely wise. And she knows more than she lets on. She's raised me

and all our people under her vast knowledge of the place. So please. And there's something else. Never mind. And I'll let them in. Okay. Go ahead, Shadow.

Do you want to say something? You can. I think I would probably be like trying to no now is probably the now no he's gone and then he's and then he steps inside and leads you in magic flames barely illuminate the inside of this tent where long shadows stretch all around a low table covered by a black velvet cloth glints of light seem to flash from a crystal ball on the table as a hunched figure peers into its depths and as you step in her eyes snap up to you you see a woman dressed in red cloth and fabrics with decorations and embroidery and trinkets all attached by

threads and chains all over her outfit she cradles a wooden box under one arm and her eyes It seems that our visitors have finally arrived. Yes. I am Madam Ava. And it seems that my little sparrow has brought you to me. And she kind of reaches up and kind of very awkwardly strokes Jesper's arm as he kind of takes a position behind her. She hands Jesper, she hands you the tarot ochre box. Hold this, my little sparrow. Just bow

and take them silently. So come, come, little ones, come into my tent. You doubtless have many questions. You doubtless have many questions. I mean... Quiet little birds, aren't we all?

Perhaps we should begin with you. And she turns towards Shadow. The little shadow of the dark mistress so I'll bow concerned oh very polite for starters though I am not

a little bird I am a cat my apologies I am not used to your strange kind. You are correct. Perhaps a little kitten. Or are you something more fierce than that? You've stared death and she kind of comes right up to you, Shadow.

Places her hands on your face and stares deep into your eyes. Yes, these eyes have seen much death and darkness. You've buried so many. You've made them forget their pain and their loss. To cover something perhaps to mask a little of your own your dark mistress keeps you

close by yes yes you you have a great power here little kitten she steps back I do I I don't Here, little kitten. She steps back. I do? I... I don't feel that.

You will see. Now, she turns. The siblings. Or are they siblings? She kind of turns and looks at everyone else with a mad grin. Ah, only they can know that but yes start with the warrior and she stands before xeros looking up this hunched woman but xeros you know that you exude a presence this woman is not intimidated by you in the slightest she looks up at you

with all the in her eyes shine the wisdom of countless martial teachers of generals, of kings, of sages, of clan leaders, this woman looks at you in a way that very few

can the warrior the protector bound by duty not by blood even if you do share it how far are you willing to go

to protect it is a question I cannot see the answer to Siros I kind of I cannot see the answer to... Ciros. I kind of... I kind of feel the power that she has, and if she was a military person, the rank that she would hold. I'd kind of uncross my arms and stand,

and then sort of get down a little closer to her. I would do anything. She reaches up and puts like a hand on your scales. Yes, quite strong, quite tough. I hope that you are enough for this land. You will be tested, dear dragon. And then she kind of steps back,

turns towards Rose, and the Avenger, the one whose brother was cut short by the creatures of the night. The little Rose in the black garden. She kind of gets real close to you Rose as she leans in

you have trained to fight these things what do you remember of the man who taught you nothing ah perhaps that is something that will change here nothing ah perhaps that is something that will change here

you have the great strength are you the one who will end the devil's misery it is in within your power to deliver that final blow but something dark and terrible will haunt you here I can see it takes a step back and then looks towards Zeki not last but our dear painter

the artist with no art left to in her heart the joy bringer the daughter of Miss Dan yours will be a tragic tale here there is no joy left in Barovia. If you are to bring it back, you will walk a dark and dangerous path to do so.

If he and she gestures towards Zeros will do anything to protect you, what might you do to save him? Whatever I can. I've lost him once. I won't lose him again. She kind of, she gets very close to the point

where she's almost whispering to you, Ziki. You can see these mad eyes, but there is an intelligence there as she looks up into them. Dangerous words in this land, my dear. Everything has a price. And then she steps back. She turns towards Jesper.

Now, my little sparrow, the last of the five. What? Your job. Your job does not end bringing them to me. Oh. She takes your hands on the opposite side of the box. You have the gift as well. It is untrained and unlearned, but they will need your counsel in these lands. They will need your knowledge and your wisdom

and your blades. Yeah. Now come, and she takes the box from you. Unless you have questions, I do believe it is time for me to give you your fortune for what is it visit to madam Ava's without a card reading I'm taken aback by that a reading for me and and them yeah but you at this point you hear

Irina step forward like excuse me madam Ava was it you spoke to them but Jesper your boy here he thought that perhaps you might know you might know why the devil is

is after me. Why he... She kind of looks awkwardly down. Why he wants me. You see, Madam Ava, look up. Look past you all. Yes, I know why. But it is not for me to reveal, my dear.

But your destiny is bound to theirs now. They will be your protectors. They will be your saviors. Or they will be your executioners. But you

will see. Now, come. Come. A reading, yes yes i cannot help you directly against the devil we are his people we must do what he asks of us but i can guide you the cards can guide you. The cards can guide you. This deck is a tradition passed down amongst my people. Not everyone is blessed with the gift. I have it. Young Jesper has it, though he is untrained.

It allows us to glimpse into the world that might be the world that was, and the worlds that have yet to be discovered. Each card will tell you of an ally, a weapon, information, or a location that can help you. The first card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy. She takes from the deck, from the box a deck of cards beautifully illustrated with these black uh black backgrounds and a symbol she shuffles them deck perfectly expertly between her long bony fingers the cards wrap and stack against each other and then she places one down. She flips it over. And it reveals a man with bloody knives and hammers and nails.

And a wooden board in front of him with severed fingers and broken teeth. Ah, the torturer. There is a town where all is not well. There you will find a house that once stood against the darkness, but now only silent ghosts remain within. She looks at Jasper, nods. She draws the next card, places it down, slightly to the side of the first. This card is of power and strength.

It tells of a weapon of vengeance, a sword of... As she has her finger on the card, Ava's face twists in agony and shock as a red glow builds in her chest as the spectral form of a woman begins to take shape behind her in the darkness a slender half elven woman with a yank she pulls a jagged crimson blade from her back ava's mouth opens sorry the shadowy figure's mouth opens and strad's voice emerges from it too long have you worked against me from the Shadow's Witch. Fate shall be as I decree it, not you. The Vistani are no longer guests in my realm. Ava gasps as blood begins to pour from her mouth.

This is not how it is meant to be. There is a flash of light and the smell of brimstone and fire. What have you done? Her eyes turn black and her body withers and crumbles away as the figure, the shadowy figure

in the darkness stands before you. Roll initiative. Oh. No! What the hell? No! the shadowy figure in the darkness stands before you roll initiative oh no oh boy I want my fortune told not like this it's a weapon

that's a shame the card's still on the table the card is still on the table um as a point. Oh my god. Twelve. Zero. Freaking.

Is that two? Nineteen for shadow. Did you get rose on initiative? It's rolling. Sixteen altogether. This is a close one. Nineteen. Sorry. Nineteen. Shot your face. it's rolling 16 altogether 19 sorry shot your face

well I did try I did tell you I was going to change some stuff up for you man I fucking love it heads up you can't see roll 20 black screen again I rolled bad on my initiative real bad at last to be honest this is a fight up, you can't see roll 20. Black screen again. I rolled bad on my initiative. Real bad.

I'm lost. To be honest, this is a fight where right now it's not really going to matter because it's so close quarters. Can you guys see it now? If you need to? This isn't going to matter hugely because I think this is such tight

conditions. Yeah, so right now isn't going to matter hugely because I think this is such tight conditions. Yeah. So right now you are in a tent that is no bigger than like 15 by 10 feet. You're all crowded around. Rose, Jesper, and Xeros, you were the ones who were immediately where Madame Ava was. But I'm going to say that for the purposes of you crowding around to watch the viewing, you're all within sort of melee range. So Shadow and Zika,

you're both still going to be within melee range for the purposes of like opportunity attacks and spell casting and stuff like that. We'll cram you guys all into a shared space. Irina and Ismark are behind you. And so they're there. The creature in front of you appears to be made of pure shadow.

It has a woman's form and you can see the kind of slight points of ears. The only thing that is physical about it is the knife that she is holding, which is this jagged crimson and black dagger that it's holding in its hands. Rose, you are

the first to act. Oh boy. So I am in melee range. So as a bonus action, I will designate my Slayer's Prey onto this thing. Creature. And I will slash with my short sword. Okay.

So. It's very slow at rolling. 17 to hit. 17 will hit. What is this with with your short sword short sword so as it hits the creature it definitely hits something not quite substantial you you manage to kind of pierce its essence and pull some of it away you get the sense that this thing the conventional weapon is not as effective against it as you would hope. So six damage

plus another six damage for the Slayer's Prey. What damage does the Slayer's Prey do? Does it say? Like, is it force damage or anything like that? It just says it takes an extra 1d6 damage. Yeah, so that's the same type as the weapon

basically. It's the same as the weapon. You deal the same... Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so yeah, you do strike it, but yeah, whatever force you had behind the attack, some of it's lost against its kind of wispy, shadowy form. It doesn't seem to quite have as much effect

as you would have liked it to. Would you like to do anything else? Can I move a little bit in front of Shadow if possible? I know there's not much space to move around. Yeah, it's difficult. I'll say you can, yeah. It's probably not going to be enough. I think because you've attacked,

if you wanted to spend your whole turn trying to defend Shadow, I'd probably give Shadow some sort of defensive bonus. But for this, there's just not enough room for you to really offer too much protection. But Shadow is next anyway. So Shadow, you're go. What does Madam Ava look like? Is she dead? Is she still like, is she crazy injured?

Her eyes turned completely black and her form has become shrunken and withered. You can see parts of it are beginning to disintegrate and turn into dust. It's kind of just pulling away. I will tell you now as Shadow,

she's gone. Like, there is no way that you can save her with any sort of magic. Even spare the dying or anything like that? You can try. By all means, you can absolutely try. But I think you would need some, you'd need to examine her to really kind of

understand more what's going on um but i don't want you to waste your turn like doing something when i could just basically say like shadow isn't expert enough to know that this is not healing like healing is probably not gonna help this person spare the dying might but this is beyond cure i kind of want to try and cast spareare the Dying anyway, because I feel like that's what Shadow would do, is she would immediately, especially given how much respect Jesper has, I would try and cast Spare the Dying on her. You reach down and you cast Spare the Dying.

As the magic flows out from you, you can feel that Madam Ava's soul is no longer in that body, and it is now just a withered husk. Oh. Um, okay, well, apparently Spare the Dying for me

is a bonus action, so I still have an action. You do, and that was a cantrip, so you can still cast a full spell if you want to do as well. Yeah, so I guess I'm just going to Guiding Bolt this thing? Okay, go for it. Yeah, let's do that. It is next to you, so you'll have disadvantage on a ranged spell attack.

Spare the dying a spell? It's a cantrip, but also me. And I think because I'm a Glaive Cleric. A Glaive Cleric. It's a cantrip. But also me. Yeah. And I think because I'm a glaive... Oh god, here we are. A glaive cleric. A glaive cleric. Yep. A glaive cleric. It's bonus action.

It's a bonus action for moi. Sure. No, just go for it. Okay. So a ranged spell attack. Spell attack. So that is one. D20.

I didn't think we were going to do combat in this. I'm panicking. I am shooketh. You have a disadvantage, so roll twice to combat in this. I'm panicking. I'm shook. You have a disadvantage, so roll twice to hit the lowest. 1, 2, 3, 4. That's plus 4 as well. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 to hit. 13. So you summon the energy, but because it's so close to you,

as you unleash this bright ray of light, the creature does manage to kind of slip to the side and it almost becomes, it turns incomporeal and phases partly through Zeros to get away and then reforms just behind him so it kind of like and then takes its thing you missed but I'm just flavouring it yeah yeah yeah

but yeah that's it okay Jesper Jesper is paralysed by shock, confusion, fear, just looking at the body of Madame Ava, and he's going to forego his entire turn doing that. Okay? Sure. Okay.

Do you want to take inspiration for me? Try, actually. Because, yeah, I feel that that's appropriate, that if you are going to spend a whole round doing nothing because you're in complete shock and horror, it makes sense that you get a little something for it. Yeah, so what does this look like for Jesper? Is it just like he's just staring at her body,

just doing nothing, or does he go to his knees? Like, you know, does he say anything? Because it was such a dramatic visual of, like, they're tearing out. He would literally fall back, like, against the tent wall. Like, stumble against the tent and stuff. And just be, like, gripping it and just staring wide-eyed at the whole mess, essentially. He's now looking at the cards on the table. Okay.

The one that Madame Ava was about to reveal has not been turned over. It's still face down on the table. Okay. The one that Madame Ava was about to reveal has not been turned over. It's still face down on the table. And there's just like a drag where the cloth has been slightly pulled as she fell down. The shadow acts. And kind of as Zeros is still

kind of going for his weapon, it just plunges the knife towards his chest. It's going to attack you before you get a chance to act, which gives it advantage on its attack roll. That is a 20 to hit. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, just about. Okay. Alright. That is going to be... I need to work out some damage here. That is going gonna be... I need to work out some damage here. That is gonna be... Two bajillion. And... it's a two.

Okay. I'm just waiting for him to roll like seven more. Yep, there it is. Throwing a lot of dice. So, uh, yep, it is a lot of dice. So as this dagger plunges, it leaps forward, and you try and defend yourself, but it phases its arm through with the knife, and

it plunges it deep into your neck, Xeros. That's 46 points of damage. What the mother- what? Hello? It just slits Zeros' throat. It just drags the knife across his throat in a sneak attack, a critical sneak attack, because it assassinates him. It literally plunges it forward and drags it across the front.

Oh, no, I'm going to change it. Sorry, it isn't a crit. I'm getting it confused with a player character feature. So that would just be... So that would just be two... I'm a customer of emotions right now. I know. Sorry, it's because the rogue archetype gets assassinated in a certain way that this thing doesn't. So that's six.

18. This episode is very traumatic. It's only 23 points of damage instead. way that this thing doesn't. So that's six. Eighteen. This episode is very traumatic. Twenty-three points of damage instead. That's a difference! Yeah. That's a bit better. Quite a lot. And then it attacks you,

it hits you again. For a... Yeah, hits you again. For? for a yeah hits you again for 20 to hit yeah does that hit you Tom? does that does that hit you?

13 more points of damage 13 more points of damage I'm down so it just it rakes the dagger across his throat and then it plunges it into Xeros' side

seemingly targeting the greatest threat it can tell and then it plunges it into Zeros' side, seemingly targeting the greatest threat it can tell and then it turns on the rest of you. Zeki. Rhiannon. I'm just gonna run over to Zeros. I'm gonna

Can I do like a medicine check on him and just try and get him up? You absolutely can. Yeah, well, you can't get him up, but you can stabilize him for sure. I'll stabilize him. Yep, so it's just a medicine check, straight DC 10. Nice. Nice.

20. Nice. Yeah, that's easily enough. Yeah, you managed to, to like you plunge like some fabric into the the deep cut at his jugular and stop the bleeding um and yeah zeros you stabilize you're at zero but you are not conscious yeah uh zeros uh well unless is there anything else ziki so that's your action really if you got like any bonus actions you want to do or no that's that's me that's me good for that turn.

Alright. I'm just freaking out. It would be your go. Yeah, zeroes, it would be your go, but... Um... We can do. Yeah, that makes sense. Roll one for me. Can we? We didn't do it last time when Jesper went down. That's fine.

I'll do it from now, because Tom asked. I don't want it in this campaign! God damn it, Tom! This was meant to be our relaxing campaign! No! As if it was. This is the relaxing campaign. Yeah, you think this is the relaxing one? Rose, you witnessed this

and yeah, this thing just absolutely took out Zeros in a couple of hits. Just... The dagger also, as it hit Xeros, there was some sort of flame that kind of erupted from it as it hit him as well. Oh, goody. Why not? Why not? I already rolled that.

It hit me with everything. Oh, there's also lightning. Is it my go again then? Yeah? It's your go, yes. Can I... Are I being a dude bro the lesser not doing anything? Oh, I didn't roll for them. To be honest, they can't really

reach this thing at this point. I think with Zeros going down, Ismark might be able to. I'll tell you what, I'll have them go at the end of the turn. I just need to quickly get some stats up for them because I forgot about them, I'll be honest. Sorry.

Ismark's the only one who can really do a lot of any fighting. He'll step into where Zeros was and just take a couple of swings. So he gets to make two longsword attacks. The first one will be a miss. The second one, however, will hit. He'll use it two-handed.

So he will roll a d10 plus three for five points of damage, which is half. So, yeah. You can see he kind of is like, oh, my friend, and he comes in and swipes twice, but the creature blocks the first one, and then he thrusts with a longsword. But again, very similar to Rose,

it seems to resist some of the weapon itself. Rose, now it's your go. Can I use a spell slot to cast Cure Wounds on Xeros? 100% you can. Oh, full healing. So nine hit points. Damn it. The ranger is a better healer than Quill.

Yeah. Nine hit points back to him. And can I, seeing that this thing just took him out in one hit, can I put my sword through the side of the tent and shout outside HELP! Because the rest of the Vassani are

chilling around the fire. Are you like cutting a part in the tent or are you just trying to get to the back entrance? Are you going to like cut and slash through the side of the tent itself? Is there any way that I can try and... I don't know. The tent's probably pretty stable,

isn't it? I want to try and make more space for us somehow, but also make sure that they... like, people outside, if I can wave and just sort of give them a heads up that's more like, hey, over here, like,

a signal. Rule of of cool i am totally fine with you saying that rose literally plunges a sword in and cuts down the tent and it opens up like i'm totally fine because that's rad uh yeah you can do that you do that and you start calling out and yeah there was actually already a couple of vistani who were like making their way up like oh is everything okay like what what's going on What's going on? They start calling you back like, what is happening? What are you doing? Are you a... Enemy has killed

Madam Ava. Help us! Alright, yep. Okay, Shadow. Alright, I'll have to finally go at the end of the round as well. No time for not telling the truth. Yeah, that's the message. Can't get to hear that one. I will.

I would like to cast Sacred Flame on the shadow. The bad shadow, not the good shadow. I'm the good shadow. Could you make a deck-saving throw? It's probably going to pass. A deck saving throw? These are my favorite. Yeah, that's a really dumbass thing.

Can I change my mind? Oh! DC 12! Yeah. So that is... It's a cantrip, though. So it's six points of radiant damage. Six points of radiant damage.

This, as it hits, though, unlike with Rose's weapons this the the light of the sacred flame burns this creature and it recoils it's like as it kind of like hisses away from the the glaring light of this holy magic that you conjure um it does not like it whatsoever anything else i'm in trouble i'm in i in trouble. It's gonna come for me. You could be. I don't think I can do anything. Can I move... Can I move out? Can I move

away? Just looking at where I am on the map. I'm kind of boxed in. The map is very vague at this point. Yeah, the map is very vague at the moment. You're all kind of boxed in, but with Xerox being down... Yeah, I'd say that you could definitely push your way out past Rose if you wanted to. Yeah, can I move, like,

yeah, I guess not too far away. Maybe, like, just out of the tent. We'll count it as difficult terrain moving in the tent because it's so close quarters. So say you move, like, ten feet of movement to get out of the tent, and then you can move however you want to. This thing might get a slash

at you, though, because you're going to leave its threatened area if you go too far. Oh no, I'm not going to... You've kind of moved me towards it. I want to be away from it. You could go out past Ismark. You could go out past Ismark.

Big boy Ismark, yeah. I'll do that one, please. Alright. Well, it will potentially still get a swipe at you if you go too far. Or do you want to stay within its reach? Just there, where I am there. Okay. You're still within its reach, but you're outside the tent.

Because in the tent, I'm saying that it can attack a bit further because you're all kind of crammed in. Yeah, yeah. Okay. Jasper. I'll try and come to my senses, and I think my first instinct is to go for the cards. Then disengage.

Scream at everyone to get out the tent. Escape. Run. Flee. Fly, you fools. All that shit. I'm overwhelmed. I'm going to swipe the cards.

Are you going for the box that she was holding, like with the rest of the deck in it, or are you going for the two on the table? Because one card was revealed, one card was face down, and then she had the rest of the deck in a box on her. I would like to try and grab it all.

Sure, yeah, you can do that. You grab that, so you grab the two cards. You grab the two cards. You grab the two cards and you grab the box and then you disengage. You use your bonus action, I'm assuming, or something like that. And then you get out. Cool. And you scream.

Do you want to go back out towards the rest of the Vistani? I'm going to go towards the Vistani. And I'm going to be just screaming. She's dead. She's gone! Yeah, this is very clearly getting a reaction. The creature will effectively

phase through the back of the tent. It just kind of disappears. And it will go, Here it comes! Do I get a little swipe at it when it pisses off? The thing is

when it breaks its line of sight like when it goes out of your reach it's behind the canvas of the tent. So I'd say you can but you'd be at disadvantage because you can't see it anymore. It just goes through the tent wall. Yeah, you can make see it anymore. It just goes through the tent wall. Yeah, you can make an attack machine, just disadvantage.

Huh? Could I be the same as well? Yeah, anybody in that tent, anybody in that tent who wants to make a melee use their reaction, you can do it. You're just at disadvantage. Yikes. Yeah, I don't know. I think you're both going to miss there.

So you both swing and you cut through the back of the tent, but whatever it managed to take a step further than you thought or it stepped to the side before you thought as it escapes around the side. And yeah, Kitty is going to try and stab you twice. Kitty doesn't have advantage on this attack. That's a 17 to hit. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I've already rolled. I was going to do something different, but I'm just going to roll this attack. That's a 17 to hit. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've already rolled. I was going to do something different, but I'm just going to roll this now. And a 14 to hit. Yeah. So they both hit. First one, you will take five points of normal damage and four points of

fire, so nine damage total. And then the second attack, you will take five, six points of damage total. Okay, okay, okay. As it kind of swipes at you twice. Ziki. You can see Xeros's eyes awoken. I'm going to cast

Bless at level 2. Okay. And give an extra d4 to Zeros, Rose, Shadow, and Jesper. Cool. Sorry, what was that?

Bless. 1d4. 1d4. And Jesper. Cool. Sorry, what was that? Much four. Bless. One d4. One d4. So you get on all attack rolls and saving throws and skill checks, you guys get an extra d4 now, basically. Okay. Not on yourself, though, right?

Rhi? No, not on myself, no. Yeah, okay, I'll take that. And what did you say, Xeros? I'm just going to say to him, we need to get out of here, Xeros. Come on, let's go. Nodding.

Xeros, your turn. Okay, I guess I half my movement to get up. And then... Okay, I guess I half my movement to get up and then was that like a thing that you'd move with me, Zeke? Or It stays on you, Bless Yeah, Bless is with you I mean, is Zeke moving with me?

She can do Yeah In that case I'll go past Rose and get out into the sort of more villagey area with Ziki in tow and keep her behind me. Okay. Ismark will step out with Shadow and he'll just be like, creature of the the devil I won't let you get away with this and he begins swiping viciously towards them he's gonna take two attacks so we are looking at a 16 that's gonna hit the other one's gonna

miss a whopping four points of damage. Good job, Ismark. And you can see his weapon is just no use against this current thing. It's like swiping up fog as parts of it begin dissipating and flailing off. Irena herself will come out as well and seeing this creature, and she will take a stab at it as well. But her blade is just parried to the side by this shadowy figure as the knife it's holding, the physical knife it's holding, deflects it to the side.

And then the Vistani camp is in an uproar. With the shouts of Madam Eva is dead, you can see all of the Vistani now come barreling towards the tent itself. Most of them are drunk, and they're kind of fumbling their weapons out. They're like, What? Who's attacking Madame Ava?

Who's? Where are they? What's going on? As they're kind of calling. And you can see that quite a few are coming out from the wagons now as well. You can see that a couple more serious, sober-looking Vistani begin emerging from the wagons. They begin stepping down and kind of calling out like,

What's going on? What sort of madness is this? One of them comes up, gets quite close to you, Shadow, and he sees the shadowy figure there with the knife looking around. By the devil, what is that? He kind of calls out. The rest of them are a bit either too drunk or too confused to know what's going on. But this one captain gets a very clear view of the creature itself. Rose, you are at the top of the round.

I'll shout to them kill the shadowy creature, kill it and can I get a shot from where, or I'll move out sure I can't move my character can I move out and

just be sort of diagonally to the bottom of Jesper and can I take a shot at Ziggy? Yeah, you kind of wait for Irena to move to the side and then let loose. Yeah, absolutely. Go for it.

Accidentally miss and hit Ribena in the back of the head. Ribena? Fifteen? So it almost misses. You almost feel the arrow misses, but it connects. You see it just kind of strikes along the creature, the shadowy neck.

So, eight damage with the bow and six damage with Slayer's Prey. I am doing good on my Slayer's Prey rolls. Where are these at? I am doing good on my Slayer's Prey rolls. Where are these at? I'm doing good. Again, the arrow passes through the creature and you see it disperses some

of the smoke, but again, it's just, yeah, it's hard to pin this thing down and it doesn't show any sign of pain. The smoke is maybe a little bit dissipated, but it still seems to be more than capable of keeping its shape. Shadow. Do I heal or do

I fight? Great question. The eternal question. Easy question to answer. Yeah. Well, I just think it's going to kill me in the next attack is the problem. What's death?

Yeah, what is death? I walk with death every day. We all do. I'm going to sacred flam it again. So that is a... Oh no, it's a DC again, isn't it? Can I change my mind? No. You rolled a natural 20. You can change your mind. I don't mind.

You said it in that voice, though, where it's like, Mark will remember this. No, I don't give a shit. Do what you want. It's quite meta-gamey, though, isn't it? Because you already rolled. No, but you were saying you were thinking of changing your mind. All right.

It leaps itself to the side, sensing the burning light magic. It throws itself to the side, not wanting to be hit by this again. And yeah, the arc goes too wide, unable to fully connect. Anything else? I'm just going to say, get that shadow, not me! Okay, Jesper. I don't remember my name, so...

Okay, picture this. Full-on fucking anime scene, right? Anime scene. Oh, here we go. Jesper. Silhouette. Front shot. Jesper.

Low angle. And you see the box and the cards gently placed on the floor. Single teardrop hits the box. Yep. You see a big deep breath in. Two swords. Schwing! And then he screams, turns around and charges at the

shadow creature. Doing an attack. She's gonna do right now. Here we go. Ding dong. 22. Five's a hit on the first. Again, the rapier kind of doesn't quite seem to have the purchase it should

but you do strike Second attack, yeah 15 Still hits And can I make this flashing flourish So I'll use a bardic inspiration, roll that

and add that damage basically So it's an extra B6. It's a sweet one. Sweet one. Hey, it all counts. And do you get any other benefit from Slashing Flourish? It allows me to increase my movement by 10 feet. Okay, so you rush in. Jesper comes howling in, screaming as he swipes twice kind of

pushing past irena uh displacing her out of the way um and he swipes at this creature and it's trying to keep up with his blows and parry you can see its movements are somewhat unnatural used to being hidden um dealing with such a frontal assault it can barely stand against it you hit it twice as wisps of it getting pulling away as the the vistani now are crowding in behind you drawing out cudgels and swords and uh maces and all sorts of weapons the creature looks around it stares you dead in the eyes yesper uh it doesn't speak uh it doesn't seem to have its own it has a mouth but no voice comes out of it. It just points at you. The blade drops, and it just seems to turn to nothing. It just...

And the dagger just... Hits the ground. The Vistani come rushing up, and the ones who reach the tent there's kind of a general commotion like the captain is like what done by the by the dark mother what was that and then the vistani are like what's going on and then the first one sees inside and you just hear this wailing sob like ava no and they begin crowding in. The Vistani surround you guys, and there's like, what happened?

Did you do this? What was that? You know, they begin, like, pulling their weapons. Like, we're not in initiative, but this is a tense moment where they are drawing weapons and staring you guys down. I would have fallen to my knees, kind of, like, very intensely upset. You know, like, where you grip your own my knees kind of like very intensely upset you know like where you grip

your own hair kind of upset like why and nose coming out yeah um i i guess i i would hold my paws up i i tried to save her but uh it i it came from nowhere i i tried i tried to save her, but it came from nowhere. I tried to heal. There was nothing to heal. Her soul is gone. They killed Ava. No, it was a creature. I saw it. I saw a shadow creature. They must have summoned it.

There's all this shouting, this commotion all around you. Right now, this is a very termulous mob. You're not sure which way this can go. So... Can you not see that Zeros, one of our own,

is really very hurt by the same dagger? And me. If they turn their eyes towards it. Yeah. I walk literally just through the crowd and just pick up the dagger. Yeah, give me an intimidate check, dude.

Like, I think like, or like an athletics because you're just using raw strength to just push your way through. So not even intimidate me. This is an athletics check. Yeah, three. You just shove some of these Vistani out of the way. Like, you lock eyes with one of

these more senior looking vistani he looks at you and he he was moving towards the dagger as well he looks at you and then just nods and points down towards it what is that dragon man that thing dropped it is that what killed is that what killed ava it, and I'll pick it up and hold it into the air. This is your enemy, not us. Pick your targets well. Okay, they kind of look around. They see your wound that you're clearly bleeding from. There's definitely a sway.

There's definitely a swing going on, but a couple of the voices are just like, there are strangers. They arrive, and then madam ava just is attacked like that it's it's too suspicious they must be involved there's still a couple of dissenters who are kind of spreading who don't seem to quite believe that this is possible and maybe there's an element there of they're in shock or they don't want to believe that this has happened and they're just trying to throw away the blame um so rose and xeros you guys have said

something to convince them yes for is kind of like howling in rage z rose and zeros you guys have said something to convince them yes for is kind of like howling in rage ziki shadow do you guys want to try and like say anything or convince these guys to kind of back down uh i mean i guess i kind of said my bit about trying to save her okay um i don't know if that counts um i guess you got anything can i show that i'm bleeding as well like because i'm pretty badly injured as well. We'll use that as combined with what happened to Xeros. I guess I'll just say something like, my god, I celebrate joy.

We've just heard your stories, drank your wine, had your food, enjoyed your hospitality. You think we'd want to spoil what you've created here by doing something like that? It goes against everything I know. Okay. Make a persuasion check for me, but with advantage. It's not particularly high

DC. Let's just see. That advantage might be a useful thing there. What's the total with persuasion though total is

12 plus 16 total 16 so yeah there's the young girl who offered you the wine kind of is she's one of the ones who was panicking and she looks and she's like yes uh and then this kind of just dejected sadness falls over everybody the rage the anger the shock just turns to this darkness that falls over the whole space as all of their eyes turn and look inside the now tattered ripped tent and you can see that the body that you had initially seen of madam ava

there's nothing left but dust and clothing it's just nothing there um and they just look at it in solemn silence for a moment. Zeros, the knife that you're holding, the dagger feels extremely warm to the touch. There is... It's very strange. It doesn't... The metal it's made from is very rough and jagged.

It's dark grey in colour but with this crimson strip down the middle and it has a very strange symbol on the handle which hang on bye he's running off he's got that I forgot to put it into

I forgot to put it into roll 20 but it kind of looks like this. So it's a series of metal rings and metal triangles that are all kind of freely spinning. And there seems to be some strange script written on it as well. And yeah, it's radiating heat. Like you're holding this thing and it feels hot in your grip. Would I recognize this grip? Do I speak abyssal and celestial?

You do not. I already looked at your languages. You do not recognize it. Okay. Do any of us recognize it? I've looked at all of your languages. Okay. No, no.

But the parts all freely move. So like the rings and the triangles, it's like you can rotate them and and spin them and things like that um it's like an all it's almost like an ornate metal puzzle um and the hilt of this blade um and then the blade itself is this jagged twisted red and black iron um and yeah the the the vistani just kind of look Some of them just slump to the ground. Still very drunk. They just kind of slump to the ground. And they just look towards the tent.

What do we do now? Oh, yeah. Jesper's whimpering. He's a mess. He's a puddle of sadness on the floor. Just gripping the box and the two cards. I walk up to him. Do you look at the cards, Trot, at this point?

Actually, just before Zerus, do you look at the cards at this point? Like the two that had already been drawn? With a shaky hand. He'll slowly turn over the second one that was never revealed. The second one. The second one depicts a robed wizard, and it is called the Abjurer.

And if you want to try and figure out what that could have meant, that's something you can do with some checks, maybe. We'll see if you can figure out what it was. Sure. Your budding gift has not quite been fully trained. Yeah, Zeros, carry on. Do you want to do the checks now or figure it out later? That's up to you, Esper.

My mind isn't in a place to figure it out right now. Yeah, that's what I figured, but it's up to you. You can basically make that check whenever you want, whenever you want to sit there. And also, Trot, you now have that deck of cards, right? I know you've got an actual physical Tarokra deck. You can use that. If you want to try and figure out

what you want to... If you want to try and figure out what we do next, you can try and do a reading. You can try and do a fortune telling. Sweet. But you're untrained. You're untrained and you don't necessarily know how to channel that gift yet. Okay. That's cool.

What are you doing, Zeros? I want to walk up to Jesper and sort of kneel down next to him where he's whimpering. Stab the dagger into the ground in front of him. Jesper, look at it. You can make your peace now

or hold your rage, but you must fight with us. We will get revenge. Of that I have no doubt. I have more purpose than ever. And I'll stand up slowly

and turn around, looking at my fellow Vistani and... I kind of look up at you with hopeful eyes. She's gone. Can't be. She's always been there. She's always guided us. What do we do now? I don't know.

He... He did this. He's... But we... we've always been... we've always done what he has asked. He's given us leave to go to other places. Why do this now? Why? He has done this. He has done. He has turned too dark. He's become the full evil that we feared. He no longer... The Vistani will turn and begin hugging each other.

The elder, the storyteller who was telling the story before, kind of makes his way over, and you can see his cheeks are stained with tears, his eyes are red, but he puts a firm shoulder on Jesper, a firm hand on Jesper's shoulder. Madame Ava did say that he has been darker of late. That something is different in the mists

here in Barovia. But I never could have imagined this. The prince that we saved. The prince that swore to protect us. How could he betray us like this? He is no longer that prince. He's forgotten that way. That person is dead.

And so is Madame Eva. And he must be. Vengeance must be brought against him. We cannot let her death be in vain. We must stay together as Vistani and do what we can. But we are no longer welcome in these lands. You must go with them. He points to the others.

Madame Eva said that your story was bound to theirs. These Vistani, we will find somewhere. We will ready ourselves. If you need us, we'll come. Thank you, brother. Knight nods. Go, little sparrow.

Fly. He turns to the rest. Come. Let us get the horses and the wagons. We must travel as far away from the castle as we can. Gather our strength. Mourn our dead. And then be ready.

You see the Vistani begin nodding and sort of beginning to pick themselves up and get ready. We will do right by her. Know this. We will not go down without a fight we do it for her for her

there's this echoing kind of remark that kind of goes around as they begin making their picking things up Ismark comes over to you Jesper and just kind of looks at you quite firm puts like a hand on your arm and is just like

brothers we'll take him down together I know that pain I know that suffering that burning anger of vengeance we'll see this done he kind of nods at you hard and he turns to Zeros turns to all of you like

you see now? This devil? What he is capable of? Even his own people he turns against. We need to be rid of him. This land needs to be rid of him. He's a curse, a blight. Plague.

Brings nothing but death and despair. I worry for all our hearts. In doing this, we become more like him. Let us not turn as dark as he does. Do it for the right cause. No more. Ismark kind of doesn't say anything,

but you can see that maybe there's darker thoughts in Ismark's mind. Irena comes up and is like, You're right, Jasper. We cannot become like him. And thank you once again for everything you have done, all of you. And she looks around.

She said that my story was bound to yours, that you would be my protectors. I hope that that is still true and whatever help I can offer, I will. I'm not much of a fighter, but if I have any value to him, to the devil, I'll do whatever

I can to help you. She kind of brushes the side of her neck for a moment and then puts her hands beside Have I seen that yet? No, I keep meaning I keep meaning to tell you What's your passive perception, Rose?

How about that? Rather than making an active check Thirteen Maybe not yet Okay I mean, yeah, I saw it the last 13. Maybe not yet. Okay. I mean, yeah, I saw it the last time. Yeah, because you examined it.

I need a quiet moment. I need a quiet moment. We haven't had any quiet moments. No, you've not. You had like an hour. You had an hour around the campfire. Loud scream. Yeah, I know, but my camera froze, so I've missed that.

Damn it. Technical difficulties! All the Vistani are basically beginning to pack up. They take, you know, they're starting to, like, pack away things into the wagons. They're starting to get the horses ready. They don't show any sign of remaining here. Irina kind of looks to all of you.

So what now? There are a few towns that we could head to. But the reading, I don't know what any of it meant, but it sounded like that there were things that could help us, help you defeat the devil.

I don't know what any of it means, but perhaps that is where we should start? Yes, they are important. Very important. We must follow them. I wish we could have had the full reading. I'm not fully trained. I don't know everything.

I'll do my best. We must follow what we know. The first two cards. Here is the second. I'll hold up the wizard. The conjurer. Yeah, the abjurer. Abjurer, sorry.

Do you know of any wizards in this land? I'm going to do my checks now. Yeah, sure. So make a... Just make a straight up intelligence check for me. So just a d20 plus your intelligence. Actually, no, charisma. We'll make this because charisma is your highest stat

and also it's like a force of personality thing. This isn't just interpreting cards. It's a mystical thing as well. So d20 plus your charisma. It a blessed as well oh that's true you are blessed you can add a d4 okay one eleven eleven so there's a couple of things which you don't even need to check to know like as shadow asks you that question, you know immediately that the name on the card and what the card depicts, it isn't always as direct and as obvious as that. It might show the abjurer,

but that doesn't mean that a wizard is the one that's going to help you is where it's located. Normally, it means something deeper or something has a greater meaning, necessarily. something deeper or something has a greater meaning necessarily. You remember the details of the Abjura are odd. You can't quite remember everything it means, but there are elements that you seem to remember something about a great fallen house a dragon

perhaps a light something about a dragon's light an old mansion something along those lines I fear if it is what I recall is not a good path to go down.

Let's just say... And the Torturer is a better one? This, I mean, the other card had bloody fingers on it. So you know, Shadow. Every card is as important as the other. We need them all. We can't choose. I'm just saying, are there any nice

cards? You know, maybe a nice holiday retreat or something? Are they all as graphic and dark as these? I appreciate your attention. Given the land that we're in, it seems like we're not going to find

a holiday getaway right now. But Jesper, is there any way that you can finish a reading? That you can do a reading that might help us? Finish a reading that Madam Ava started? It's never been done. I can try and... Because she's always been here. Now it's your turn.

You can do it. Okay. I'll need to collect my thoughts and be in a better frame of mind. It takes a certain state to do so. I can't just do it on a whim. Why don't we get some rest somewhere?

That'd be nice. Here would have been great. Yeah. Yes. Ismark looks around he's like the closest place we really don't want to be out on the woods we don't want to try camping outside is not advised

if possible the closest place from here it's hours away there's a town Valaki The closest place from here, it's hours away. There's a town, Vallaki. It's further along the old Salvik road. We'll need to pass through the gates of Barovia. We'll need to go past the road that leads to the castle.

And then there's an old windmill through the wood, past the woods. And then Vlaki's just on the edge of Lake Zarovich. It's got walls. The burgomaster there is no friend of the devil's. I can sell you that much. He's an odd

fellow, but it's been years since we've seen him, but he's no worshipper of him, I can say that much. But it's hours, perhaps a day travel. We won't arrive until the morning, I don't think, or perhaps early afternoon. Well, I know this place is a target now. So, we need to move somewhere. We can just keep going. But, yes, it will be difficult.

I don't know. I'm at a loss, everyone. I'm sorry I'm not the beacon of light that you need right now. I'll try. I'm sorry I'm not the beacon of light that you need right now. I'll try. Can we get some rest traveling with your fishtani brothers? Maybe. Maybe they'll provide some shelter for all of us. My wagon can house a few of us if you want to rest in the back, but not all of us.

My brother and I, we don't need any rest for now. All of you have done far more fighting. You should rest. We can ride for a time. I'm afraid that yes. Yes, yes, we could. It will be at least...

As Mark looks, you're looking at Yes, yes, we could, yes. It will be at least... Ismark looks... You're looking at about maybe eight, nine hours before we can reach Vallaki, traveling along the roads, providing that we don't have any more... encounters with any of the devil's agents. Yes. But what choice do we have?

That's true. The storyteller Vistani is like, I'm afraid that we will be heading in a different direction. We will be traveling back to the west. We intend to go and find a point on the other side of the river

to find camp near the woods. We can look after ourselves. We have the numbers for now, but you should all move on. But be careful with Vallaki. I've heard that things have become more desperate of late.

It's a walled city, but well, I don't think that there is any such thing as a safe place in Barovia. Take whatever you can find. There used to be an inn there, run by some good people. They have wine, and they're no friends of the devil either, so perhaps that is somewhere you can head to.

There's also the church, St. Andrew's Church in Vallaki. That is also perhaps a place that you can find some respite It still has the power of the Morning Lord in it as far as I know If not then the Blue Water Inn. It's run by good people. Try that I've heard of it Hmm. Maybe we should go

to Vallaki Hmm. If there's any stopgaps on the way, we'll take them. Alright. Good luck to all of you. I hope to see you again. You will,

little Sparrow. You will. And with that, we will end today's episode. Oh, lovely. Boy, howdy, eh? What a rollercoaster. Lovely. Boy, howdy, eh? Roller coaster. Curveball? Yeah, so as you probably guessed

from Trot's reaction, a significant deviation from the module there. That has some wider reaching implications. How do you guys feel about this third episode? do you guys feel you're settling more into the characters and the tone has it got creepy

has it got creep-tacular has it got creepy we saw a dead body that came alive and looked like Rose and then didn't look like Rose we had the creepy dismembered hand with the bracelet. Yeah. That was a good time.

Grave desecration. It's all good. Yeah, a little bit of grave digging. Some scarier episodes of Hello Kitty. Yeah. Okay. I need to ramp it up then. I'll ramp it up for next time for sure.

Not quite what I was suggesting, Mark. Did you guys have fun? I had a great time. Always. Love it. I love Madame Ava. I'm just sad you killed her because I want more. Crazy old lady and you can see the future.

Yeah, well, maybe there's a good reason that she had to go. I think if you can shock Trot, who's played it before, then it must be good, right? Well, it kind of throws everything on his head, which is great. It's unexpected. Yeah, for those not in the know, that card reading is kind of a big part of the campaign where it kind of tells you where to go

and where to find the tools you're going to need to beat Strahd. So without it, without a reliable source of it you are a little bit more in the woods lost in the woods but you've got two cards what are you talking about you got two two out of five that's less than a half two out of five right that's it's a place to start though isn't it that's a good place to start we just gotta believe in the heart of the cards and yes yes no pressure there might be some time to duel but it's not now uh cool how's everyone feeling character wise like are you are you feeling a bit more settled in now or like i'm intrigued because mark has clearly got some plans that i'm like

that we kind of touched on a little bit but really not much at all so i'm still like what's happening i'm intrigued by you two over there on that side of the screen you two dragonborn brothers not brothers lost once and not right what was that what was that sorry none of my business tales the fact that Zeros was like the first one to go to Jesper and basically be like get up you've got a job to do now that was like I thought that was super fucking cool I thought that was good RP

there Tommy boy I think Zeros has a ton of respect for Jesper yeah I also know more than one word my god I think that that makes it more meaningful though right like when you just mainly speak in these short sharp words and then you have that moment of like i'm now gonna speak properly that gives it some real oomph behind it right it gives it that cool way real contrast

yeah it's uh it's weird it's weird playing uh xeros it's gotta be said because he is not me yeah no it's good though i think sometimes playing a character that's super different to you is a great way of building up your RP skills and like expanding on what this game can be yeah I'm just super glad that you're all enjoying it I'm glad that you guys as players are enjoying it stay

safe we love you don't let any creepy vampires into your window wash your hands you nasties wash your hands you nasties. On your butts. Thank you.