High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #30 | From Beyond the Veil

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

The gang meet an old friend on the road while Rose meets an old friend in her dreams! 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. The perfect summer mix. Bacardi. Do what moves you. Live passionately. Drink responsibly. Copyright 2024. Bacardi. It's trade dress and the bat device are trademarks of Bacardi and Company Limited. Rum 40% alcohol by volume. TD and your small business go together like... TD's small business account managers have in-depth business banking expertise so they can give you the advice and resources you need to make your day-to-day easier so if you're ready to meet your small business match we're ready for you

visit td.com small business match to book an appointment with one of our advisors. Last time on Curse of Strahd, the battle against Babalasaga raged on as the surviving party members attempted a desperate retreat, but found the witch difficult to escape. Fearing Tatiana would be taken, the party did all they could to escape the witch, but found themselves bloody, near death, and on the defensive till as baba lasaga herself grew injured and weak dog's body found himself alone with an opportunity tatiana unconscious and at the witch's mercy dog's body risked his life to deliver the final blow and under the looming presence of a statue of strad drove the blood spear down and killed Baba Lasaga, freeing everybody from the magic that had ensnared them or ensorcelled them,

and now the party stand at a crossroads. With Jesper dead and with the relic still to be found, the party need to decide what they will do next. And that, my friends, is where we begin. Yeah. You are... Level eight. Level eight.

You did level up. You are currently all in the ruined village of Beresztil, this kind of swamp-filled village ruin. It's really no more than a couple of dilapidated collapsing houses in this mansion left. The inanimate form of baba lasaga's hut uh with the gem taken from it just sort of seems to collapse down onto the onto the floor and i believe the maya and ismark rolled out of it um having uh crashed down to the floor and now yeah

you have a couple of were ravens around you The were-ravens seem to mainly be mourning over the body of one of their own fallen, Adrian's brother. And the rest of you are gathered up and we'll just assume that everybody is all together. Nice. What's the plan? Seeing that, well, definitely that all the danger is gone, seeing that well definitely that all the danger is gone

dog's body will take a deep breath and come out of hybrid form thus ending his need to feed yeah and just take a few haggard breaths look around Rose are you alright where are you

yeah i'm fine i'm good i'm fine i'm fine but we need to get there's something in that hut that jesper knows about that i don't know what it is without and i think rose will just sort of at that point just go quite quiet because it's like it's just hit her again that yes for isn't there and and she has no idea what she's doing and like this is an entirely new group of people in comparison to who she originally came to this land with and yeah i think she'll just probably focus on making sure that Irina is okay for now because Irina was pretty banged up. She is unconscious, but she is stable. Yeah, she's bloodied.

She has multiple deep wounds, but she is stable. She's not dying. She's breathing. But yeah, it's definitely in a rough way when you check on her. Cool. What is everyone else doing? Maya, what about you guys i mean for me maya personally i guess knowing there's so much power emanating from this

gem thing the thing that we have uh been looking for i guess we'll we'll uh or i will uh head towards that and try and discover that, recover that, uncover that. Yeah, I think Ismark is currently holding it, but next to him is the other Maia, the two of them. And it's the same stone that you've seen before. You've seen two of these stones before from the Wizards of Wines. This is the same green seed-like gemstone that brought the land to life um around the wizard

of wines it seems to match it uh is mark probably just doesn't even think he just tosses it to one of the mires um he just basically throws it in your direction and then rushes to his sister's side and yeah when you guys uh when the mire touches it there is this intense sense of life um fresh earth spring water rain sunlight it just kind of all of these things contained within the magic of the gemstone um it's nourishing to be around i'm gonna hug around, hug around the other Maya as well, and just contain that power as best we can. The two of you kind of just merge around it or kind of like form around it and just keep it close between the two of you. Just feed off of it.

In that case, yeah, so Rose, Ismark comes rushing up to you. Is she alive? Is she all right? She's fine. she's fine she's fine thank god thank the morning lord and you just see him kind of like put his head uh against her like arm and sort of get down on his knees and just kind of you know he's quiet for a moment um along with everyone else, it seems. Right. Roll call. Me, Rose, Ismark, Irina,

CrunchyMaya, Mulchymaya, WereRavens, one, two, three, and Jesper. Where's Jesper? Dogsbody never saw him did he oh shit yeah

there's no no response dog's body Jesper's dead the fuck she killed him she in fact she didn't she didn't kill him

she turned him into another abomination and then I took care of that so that he could rest. But he's gone. You can see Rose has got the Sun Sword. You can see that it's in her palm still.

I'm sorry you had to do that, Rose. He was a good lad. But you did the right thing. Well, I didn't get to do that for someone else that I cared for so at least I had the opportunity this time I don't know what just picks up I don't know what is in this hut that is this relic that I don't know if it's the stone. I don't know if it's something else, but we should search for it

and get out of here. It can't be safe. Anything around here. What? I think the Wonder Twins over there have already got it. Fantastic. Ismark looks over, he's like,

no, it wasn't, it was the same gemstone that the were-ravens had, the same green gemstone that Ziki took. I don't think it was what Jesper was looking for. That makes sense. I mean, if anyone's going's gonna want that it's probably the the creepy twins over there and i feel like they'll take care of it weirdly so we should search for the rest of it and see what she has on her body as well we need to find whatever yes for whatever jesper was looking for whatever he was leading us towards. We can't let his death...

We can't let him die and not get it from this area. Rose, you and Dog's Body go search. I will stay here with my sister. Maybe have the twins come with you. I believe the were-ravens, they will want their gemstone back for their land. I hope that the mire will give it to them um but maybe make sure that they accompany you for safety but i i can look after my sister for now i feel not great

but i am fighting fit so i can carry her if need be okay good good right on your feet rose come on let's go keep moving keep moving forward let's go keep this mark just kind of pulls uh irena up into his arms so you can kind of cradle he sat down on the ground but he's kind of holding her and cradling her so that if he needed to run he could basically just carry her if need be um maya uh the were ravens do eventually approach you um after spending some time um it seems, burying one of their dead in the swamp itself. The were-ravens kind of come in your direction. Ugh. Preachers of the land. The gemstone. It is, it should, belongs with the other two

back at our winery. Let's split and crack apart real quick. Yeah. Kind of pulling off pieces of fungus and like, you know, insect husk as you do so. Probably a little bit of flesh too, you know. You know how it is. Yeah, just a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, the were-ravens don't seem to react to it, but there's, you know, yeah, maybe they're a little bit disturbed, but they don't react to it.

You will return this to the land with the others? Yes, of course. That is what my family and I have protected for generations. Abelisaga took it from us, but now we can return it to the others, and the land around the winery will once again be as it should be. Keep the land fresh and winery will once again be as it should be. Keep the land fresh and new and green, you will. Of course.

And if your intention is to save the land of Barovia, well, Strahd cannot be allowed to... well, the madness of Strahd must come to an end. If Strahd is destroyed forever perhaps one day this land can become the beautiful land that we are told it once was

and then he just adrian just holds his big feathery hand out yeah he's kind of got like these big feathery muscular arms he just holds it out waiting for the gemstone the swamp which evaded our grasp for too long but now she returns to the mire we will do the same for strad except he won't because we'll turn to dust you know maybe uh but yeah do you guys hand over the seed cool yeah adrian takes that he kind of clutches it close um and uh he will then go approach dog's body and rose kind of like get you guys will gather together friends i know that you have also lost someone close to you but i can only thank you for what

you did for our children i'm sorry that we could not arrive sooner to help save Jesper, but thank you, everything. You will always have a safe place, a safe haven at our home, and if you intend to march on Castle Ravenloft and you need our help, it is yours." And all three of them just bow their heads quite deeply. We must return the seed back to our land and make sure that the rest of our family is safe. We're going to make sure that we try and take whatever precautions we can.

Whatever you seek to find here, if you need to, return to our home. And like I said, you are more than happy to stay as you need. But we must leave now. Thank you. Thank you for your help. Of course. I dare say that would have gone a lot worse

without you, and I'm glad the kiddies are safe. Yes. My brother will be remembered for everything as will you all as will jesper and uh with that they just bow their heads and then they look at each other they just fly up into the air and begin making their way back towards their home leaving you all in this uh kind of stinky damp swamp uh with this ruined mansion and now part of the mansion has been crushed by this giant tree-like hut on a pair of very gray looking chicken legs and the hut is now kind of on its side smashed through an old wall um to the side.

Well, let's start searching. Sure. Anything that seems magical, I guess. Anything that seems useful to us. I'm sure she's got lots of weird things, potions and the like. Well, when you guys begin making your way in,

Maya didn't really get a chance to look in the last time because you were so quickly trying to grab the gemstone with Ismark. The hut is about 15 feet on each side, and it's packed, now mostly kind of destroyed or on its side, with old furniture. There's a wooden cot, a wicker cabinet, a slender wardrobe, an old wooden table stool barrel topped chest uh reinforced with brass bands there's an iron tub stained with blood that now is on its

side with a small amount pooling out uh onto the flat onto the wooden floorboards um yeah uh oh actually a lot of the furniture is actually bolted to the floor so like things like the tub aren't on its side it's upright but now kind of attached to a wall rather than anything else the cabinets all bolted down so they haven't moved the only thing that wasn't which is now tipped over and broken appears to be a wooden crib um inside of which there appears to be a bundle like some something was inside the crib so take anything that's not bottled down is what you're saying which would at the moment be a broken crib and this thing inside it what do you guys want to check out yeah like i said there's a bunch of different things there's a chest um a cabinet a wardrobe um and then the bathtub and this crim creepy ravens as as well

because like the were ravens mentioned that they heard ravens so they appear to be on the not here but maybe you might see some in the very the tops of the hut where it's pulled away from the tree. There are these cages that have been busted open. And it looks like if you kind of look back towards the larger tree in the middle, you do see that there are kind of these tiny cages strung from the branches of the tree. And it looked like they were maybe being used to trap ravens inside them.

But they're now all mostly free. Yeah. What do you want to check out? I'll have a look at the crib. Sure. Okay, so Maya's going to check out the crib. Other Maya? Can I go look at the tub?

The tub? Okay. Dog's body, Rose? Cabinet or wardrobe, whatever dog's body's not looking. Yeah. Likewise. Okay. So yeah, for you guys, there's basically a wardrobe and a chest. Those are the only other things that are still kind of remaining of interest in the room.

I'll take the chest. I like chests. All right. Dog's body, check out the chest. Rose, check out the wardrobe. All right. So the crib for Maya, Tom. The crib, crib when you look at it is kind of a simple wooden crib um it looks old uh looks like it's been repaired but it looks very very very old um the bundle inside when you look at it um there's a moment where you you kind of think it's a it's a human child. You realize it's a doll. It's like a lifelike doll that bears a kind of resemblance to Strahd himself. Dark hair, piercing eyes.

It's been molded with the same kind of sharp features, but like a child version, as if somebody had created a kind of baby doll of Strahd himself. I have found one of you tiny humans would anyone like to cradle it uh no no definitely not I don't hear anything? Are you sure? But basic biology lesson, uh, humans aren't made out of wood, and they generally have a heartbeat.

But I am. And I don't. Am I not human? You're not human though, are you? You are the Meyer. We are the Meyer. We are the Meyer. Other Meyer, whilst Meyer is having this conversation about this doll that's been found, examining the bathtub,

the blood has seeped and is pooling out, but next to it you do see that there are kind of jugs, and the jugs, even a distant smell of rich thick irony blood uh and it is clear that it has been used to bathe in in blood like the the rim of the bathtub is stained where it has been filled with blood and then bathed in um probably to a fairly regular schedule um you don't really find anything else. It's just, yeah, looking around is just a bathtub used to bathe in blood, it seems.

The wardrobe... It's a good sky ritual, you know? Sure. The wardrobe, Rose, when you open that up, contains a number of... It's strange, looking at the the clothes there are clothes hung up here and they they vary some of them look like the clothes of an old woman some of them look like the clothes of a very plain dressed traveler kind of cloaks and things like that and then there are

dresses there are these elegant uh sensual black dresses that maybe a young noble woman might have once worn but they're old and you can see that they are frayed at the the edges uh tattered um but they you know they still hold up as as as a you know piece of formal wear if you suppose um there are several pairs of shoes and boots like this is a fairly well-kept wardrobe of somebody that took care of their appearance. There is actually a small box of jewelry that's got maybe about, you know, several nice pieces of jewelry with different gemstones,

probably worth about 500 gold if you kind of picked up all the jewelry itself. There is cosmetics. There's like, you know, little powder, kind of, what do you call them? Compacts and lipsticks and things like that all arrayed in like a neat box um clearly somebody who took care of themselves um and it does look recently used um things like the jewelry um it looks like it's been

recently examined the cosmetics have been recently used um yeah dog's body the chest uh yeah it's like i said it's like a kind of barrel top so it's kind of got like a rounded topped chest uh with thick iron bands and it does have like latches you have to open it like it you know you have to flip the latches and pop it open one will do such a task okay can you make a what is this um make a fireball save for me each creature in a 20 foot radius which is all of you guys can everybody make a dexterity saving throw please? As dog's body pops open the chest, glowing runes all written along the top of it come and flare

to life and explode in thunderous force. 19. Not 20. 23. 19. I guess this would be against her spell safety because she's the one who would made it. So, Babalasaga.

Hey, Rhi, what did you roll there? I got a 7. All right, anybody who got lower than a 17. 17 or lower. You're taking full damage. Everybody else is taking half. Cool. Half is 11 thunder damage or 22

damage. I'm down. Right, so you hear this cacophonic as dog's body pops open the chest, this wave of force erupts out. Since several of you fly back,

Remire is thrown against the side of the hut and collapses down on the ground. Anybody else down? Is everybody else alive? Still up. I'm fine. All right, so Remire goes down. We'll roll... I mean, I don't really want to roll initiative,

but I'm assuming somebody's going to heal us straight away so i'm yeah are you just yeah okay cool uh yeah 15 healing back level three thank you just as an interest roll a d20 for me please re just a straight d20 for a death save okay yeah you would have been fine just in case there was a one it's just like oh i'm guessing that's a concoffinous i'm ignoring i'm ignoring that part of the adventure because there's something else that happens i'm not doing that so yeah this thunderous force erupts up. And as it does, four hands, four severed hands, fly out of the chest. But they appear to just be inanimate.

They don't move or do anything. They just kind of go... There are other things in the chest. You can see that wrapped up in various blankets and pieces of hide and leather, there are a collection of items within this chest. But these four hands just all go and kind of go like as they fall out of the chest.

Why? Yeah. Why not? If you're a powerful witch, you have that? Yeah, but just grind these down or something. Put them in the bath.

I don't know. Yeah. What a waste of material. So this kind of explosive force erupts out. You hear Ismark like, is everything all right? Are any of you dying? Yeah. My bad.

My bad. I had a moment there and opened a witch's chest without checking that it might be protected, which now I think back to it is probably something I should have thought of before. Is everybody okay? We are okay. You almost woke up the tiny human. Is the mire holding this little Strahd baby doll i'm not even cradling it i'm like

holding it by the head just at my side i imagine like my mind like slowly stands up but i'm like covered in blood from this bathtub so i'm just like well no it's not just the bathtub. You were next to these urns, which have shattered and are now sprayed you, covered you in blood. Like, covered you. Like Carrie style. Just like... Yeah.

Yeah. Maya, you got a little... You got a little... You got a little... You got red wine. Oh. Oh, I know this taste. Oh, God.

Anyway, the chest is now open. What's in the chest? I will tell you what's in the chest. The chest is loaded with things. It's loaded with things. People are going to want to write some of this stuff down. Oh, okay. So there is a heavy bag of gold i'll write it down oh i like that oh trot's still here yeah

you do that trot is here he's gonna come in soon i promise uh once we get this stuff out no i am a heavy bag of gold that has 1300 gold in it wow heavy thick leather bag of gold sick there is also a vial um that has a slightly which has a clear gelatinous oils uh sparkling with tiny silver shards inside of it um file of oil, of magic oil you can put down. You haven't identified it, so you don't know what it does. There are also two spell scrolls inside a kind of sealed container. If you examine them, the Maya and I believe Rose would be able to identify roughly what they are.

It is a scroll of mass cure wounds and a scroll of revivify. Oh. Oh. Oh. How long ago did... Wait, no. More than a minute. Yeah. What level is Secure Wounds?

Rose, it's the base level, so fifth level. So they're both at their minimal level, so third level and fifth level. Rose, you are particularly drawn to... There is a quiver with 10 arrows each of them their arrowheads are engraved with runes 10 i'm just going to say they're plus one arrows now they're 10 plus one arrows there is also three more items a set of pipes, like a pan flute pipes, all made from bones. A bone flute, bone pipes, all engraved with eldritch looking symbols.

They are magical. There is also a stone carved with the symbol of Barovia. There's like an emblem on it that radiates magical energy as well. And then finally, a thing which definitely draws your eye is a silvery emblem in the shape of a sun at the center of which is a gleaming ruby. The actual icon is engraved with swirling patterns and you can feel it emanating goodness.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. I'm going to throw that to the side and look at this Barovian symbol. Sure. Junk. Is it actually silver?

Or is it just silver? It is silver, so it does kind of burn a little bit to touch for you, dog's body. You're like, ah. Yeah. Peace. Can I have one for you? Yeah.

Yeah, you touch it, Rose, and you definitely feel. Take it now. Take it now. In fact, no, it's not made of silver. It's made of platinum. So, in fact, it doesn't hurt dog's body when you touch it. It's made of platinum. So, in fact, it doesn't hurt a dog's body when you touch it. It's made of platinum, shaped like the sun, with a large crystal embedded.

Holding it, Rose, pretty much any of you guys, you can feel that this is something of great power, holding it. Is it a holy hand? Exactly what? Maybe. Okay. The rest of the items, unless you have an ability to identify, you can get a vague sense they're magical,

but you're not going to know what they do until you can have those properly appraised by someone. Okay. Okay. Yeah, I'll hand the Barovian symbol magic stone to uh to other maya um because i mean that's that's literally us that's our symbol we are africa barovia sorry the other one yeah there's a weird reference for you so as a point just to make sure have who's written down what who is carrying what items

uh i've written everything down but um okay so i'm i need to add it to inventory okay dog's body is particularly drawn to the bone pipes because why not oh i want to do some creepy undead dutton with that thing well i've got the sun sword so um is that just sun sword in dnd beyond mark uh yes if you search for sun, it should come up, I believe. Yes. Cool. Okay. So I'm going to add that initially. Trot, correct me if I'm wrong. Yeah, it should just be Sun Sword. Yeah. Yeah. Got it.

I'm also taking... You're taking the gold. Sure. I'll split it with you. It's heavy. It's definitely quite heavy. Somebody who's quite strong will need to carry it. Split it. No, it's fine.

Just carry it for the party, I guess. And then what's the plan? Once you guys have kind of split all this up, what's the plan? Are you guys going to try and take a long rest here? Are you going to head back to the Wizard of Wines? It's like a fairly... It's like a three, four to head back to the wizard of wines it's like a fairly it's like a three four hour journey back to the wizard of wines on the roads oh yeah um are you gonna rest here in the swampy ruins right at home yeah

We love it here. Yeah, exactly. Home turf. It's not very safe. Dangerous, right? We could have some time because it will take a while for everyone to realise that ding dong, the witch is dead. That said, if she has some kind of connection with uh him in the big tower uh which she appears to have something i

don't know uh maybe i don't know what rose what are you feeling? I feel like he's already quite annoyed at us and if there is a connection there, I worry that he'll come looking. I think that this place is just not good, but also the road's dangerous. We're going to have to be careful. We've taken quite

a lot of damage across all of us we're we're not at our best but the wizards of wine is a safe place we know that it's safe there especially now that now that her armies of weird scarecrows are not going to attack them. Crunchy Meyer, Mulchy Meyer, what are your thoughts? Stay here? Go to the were-raven haven? We can rest wherever.

The ravens seem to treat you favourably, however. They hold all the crystals. I got the impression. I got the impression they like you too. You can last alongside all three. Three crystals. I could heal you all if you wish to take a journey.

That would be very kind of you, Crunchy Meyer. Okay. Yes. Way to do. What's the plan? Okay. Yes. Way to do. Yeah, I'll pop out a couple. Who wants my fourth level Cure Wounds?

I'll high five anyone that needs it. Rose. I can also heal if you need it. Rose, you get a million hit points back. Well done. You get 21. And DogesBody, you get 21 as well.

You get 20. How is it the same? It's two different numbers. You get 20 instead. I also took the spell scrolls, by the way. Okay. Cool.

So you've got them. Dog's body's got the gold. The vial with the clear oil. Any takers? I don't mind. Sure. Give it to one of the miles yeah riannon do you want it it's probably better with riannon because the other mile doesn't really use weapons so okay um i've got it's like a weapon oil i'd say that rose you would be able to identify that the oil is something that you would pour over a weapon it's not like a kind of drinking

or on your personal oil it looks like something like you would pour over a weapon. It's not like a kind of drinking on your personal oil. It looks like something you would put over a weapon. I don't use weapons because I am a weapon. That's fine. Okay. Pour it all over me. So just so I'm clear, you guys can sort this out. You guys can sort this out.

En route, is the plan to start heading back to the Wizard of Wines now? Sure. I think so based on the fact that this place is just not nice. Okay. In that case, I would like Rhiannon to roll a d20 for me, please.

Can we have Trot do it? That's a d12. Ignore that one. Don't worry, that one's not much better. Six? Okay. Can you roll me one more? One more d20. Oh, that's a two. Wow. Less than 10 every single time.

I don't know how to do it. You begin, as you are divvying things out, you begin the trip back towards the Wizard of Wines, making your way along the bases the base of the hills that stretch up and seeing the familiar silhouette of argen vost halt in the distance you weave your way around and find a familiar foot trail that begins leading you back to the crossroads and the bridge that heads uh towards krezik or down towards the Wizard of Wines. And as you draw closer and closer to the bridge,

that is when you begin to see figures ahead. They are unlike figures you have seen before. They are not undead, shambling zombies or skeletal forces. They do not appear to be monsters or werewolves or any of the like. They do not appear to be monsters or werewolves or any of the like. Instead, you see three robed humans or humanoids, I should say, wearing these kind of pristine white robes, each emblazoned with a golden sun. And accompanying them is Esmeralda. And they appear to be trying to move quietly

and are looking like they are turning to head down towards the Wizard of Wines as well. And they appear to be in conversation with each other. What do you guys do? If you want to stay hidden, make stealth checks. If you want to approach them, just they'll notice you, unless you try and hide. We, Maya, don't actually know Esmeralda, do we?

No, we don't. You haven't. Maya hasn't met Esmeralda. In that case, I think we'll probably instinctively stealth. And see what the others do. Yeah. Okay. So make stealth checks if you're making stealth checks.

Nice. 14. yeah okay so make stealth checks if you're making stealth checks nice 14 8 I think we should probably talk to her right we know her why would they be going there Maya's kind of trying to slink into the foliage and just try and blend in with the woods around you

as you sort of talk to dog's body irena and ismark irena at this point would have come away because she would have had time to recover but she's pretty injured i think i healed her at the end of the last i did oh you did that's right you did heal her she's not on a lot of hit points but you did heal her actually yes i think she's on like 13 or something um and so she's okay yeah so she's awake and kind of walking with you um is mark will turn and say i think at this point rose we have to take whatever allies we can find she should at least know what happened to yes but i know that you don't have to speak to her if you don't wish the dog's body we're not saying that we're going to join her but

i'm just gonna go hang out with the plants We're not saying that we're going to join her, but... I'm just going to go hang out with the plants. Sure. So as you guys are having this conversation and the Myers begin slinking back, Esmeralda does hold up a hand as they're on the road and her eyes dart towards, you know, where you guys are coming out of this woodland trail.

And she instinctively begins, like, pulling out an axe, like, where are we looking around um having heard or seen something uh she seems to be on the defensive uh trot uh you are with the group uh you and two of the other acolytes um and you have basically been you've come here with esmerelda to speak with these individuals that she mentioned, and the ones that the abbot is interested in speaking with. Esmeralda is just like, something is in the woods. And she brings the weapon up.

What do you guys do? Can I step out and just hold my hands up and pull my hood down so that she sees that it's me as soon as she sees it she rose she's like it's alright it's alright she's she's one of the ones I spoke of Rose I'm glad that you're alive it's good to see you yes indeed I may have some at least some good news where the rest of your companions None of them are alive anymore actually Minus dog's body

I'm so sorry. Yeah, I'm still here. Sorry to tell you that as my older I'm so sorry. Yeah, I'm still here. Sorry to tell you that, Esmeralda. She kind of looks at you. There's no offense. Like, she's not angry that Dog's Body's there or offended. She just seems to be like,

don't know why you would think that that is. I'm glad that you are alive, Protecting Rose. I am suspicious of you. That does not mean that I am, I would be glad to hear of your death. Still, I'm sorry about the others, Rose. The dragons and... Not Jesper. He...

Jesper must still be alive. He must. Babel the Saga killed him. The witch. I did not expect you to encounter her in a battle. Dog's body killed her. She looks, and there's a hint of kind of... Like, she's impressed.

The witch is no easy foe to defeat. I honestly did not think that you would have a chance to defeat her if you fought against her in outright battle i am it was a close call but luckily she's not a strong one she's on the ground not against just pure strength with yes but gone that changes things immensely. He is... he was... The Taroka deck. Do you know what happened to it? I couldn't find it. I'm sorry.

Allow me to introduce my apology. These three... They are from Krezik. Allow me to introduce my apology. These three, they are from Krezik. I wanted you to speak with them. I would like you to come to Krezik with us. The abbot who is leading things there. I think it is important that you speak with him and there's a chance that there are... Well, I think that we have some allies there this is

uh alvarski and one of the abbot's disciples uh the one that is the others do not speak much but alvarski is here and she and she gestures to try if you want to describe what alvarski looks like he looks like he's got almost ceramic white skin on that image there it's kind of a blend but he's just ceramic white very pallid features but very strong features as well

like high cheekbones very handsome really hot he's got long flowing white hair that's kind of tied back right now. You can't see back there, so it's fine. Yeah, long flowing white robes. But they're kind of cut off at the elbows as well.

And of the skin you see on his forearms, pretty muscular, pretty toned. He just stands very stoically. Almost rigid. I guess, what's your perceptions? Your passives? Would they notice Mark at this range? Let me have a look at their passives and I'll tell you guys.

Mine's 14. 15's the highest. Yeah, I'd say 15's not high enough for them to really notice. Okay. It's quite a small detail and it's hidden by your clothes as well. Oh, he's talking about his penis. That's what we're talking about. Every character needs the description.

It's a small detail. Yeah, it's quite shocking. The other two with Alvarski look more like regular Barovians. They're very stoic. They're wearing these robes, but there is a bit more life to them than perhaps some of the people you met in Vallaki and things like that.

But Alvaski stands out. There is something otherworldly, maybe even angelic about him, the way that he is kind of stood he looks perfect almost a little too perfect in some ways um those of you with a high passive so rose and maya you would definitely pick like yeah this he is unnaturally kind of uh perfect like there's definitely something otherworldly about him the other two maybe wouldn't pick up on it as much. He would just look like a very handsome individual, like a handsome human. And yeah, and she just gestures to Alvarski, Alvarski, these are the ones that I spoke of. And I forgot that I gave, Esmeralda has an English accent, not a Barovian accent. These are the ones

that I mentioned to the abbot, the ones who have already fought against Strahd, the ones who I think can help us and help the abbot. They have the sun sword. Yes, they are the ones carrying it, yes. We must go back. What, Alvarski? yes we we must go back what I'll Vaski yeah I really think a Kresik is currently safe come yeah but he waits come on let's go you is this it we have taken a lot of the Sun so do you have it yes I sword, do you have it?

Yes, but... Avatsky, calm yourself. Calm yourself, Avatsky. Esmeralda, we need to know that it's safe there. We've faced a lot of danger so far. I rose. I know. Believe me, I know. I have inspected Krezik. I travelled there.

It is safe from Strahd. It is safe from wolves in the forest. It is safe from the monsters and beasts that roam this land. You should come to Krezik. It is very important that we... Beasts and monsters of the land. Now that I see things are going amicably, I think I'll just sort of backwards Homer from the bush out of the bush.

So there's definitely Esmeralda like reaches for her axe and sword, just like I'm dead. And she's like, goes to like almost grab you Rose and protect you. They're not, they're with us. They, they are,

I'm not entirely sure, but they are part of the land. They're protecting it. They're, they're on our side. At the shock of seeing this thing, Alvarski immediately lurches down into a strong stance and puts his arms up as if it's in a martial arts stance and an open palm at the front.

And you see, you think for a flicker his entire body shimmers with a different skin color but then it goes straight back to us uh the other two acolytes definitely bring out sort of like threshing like they've got like flails and like a mace in their hand but they're standing behind our vaski they look like they're just kind of like uh supporters kind of thing um esmeralda holds her hand up like rose i mean i know that are you sure about them that it that and she's not sure about anything anymore i'm not sure i i came here with an entirely different group of people and now i i'm with these guys and i'm not saying that that's a bad thing. They've been great without this group of people. I wouldn't be here either.

But I don't know what to believe anymore. Where is safe? Are they enemies of Strahd? Yes, all of them. We are enemies of Strahd. Oh, well, it speaks. I thought it's some undead creature. Strahd of Aetor is natural.

I thought it was some undead creature. This is... We must travel. Come to Krezik. It is safe from Strahd. We can talk about this when we've had some rest, please. We really need to rest. No. No time. It is faster.

It will be quicker for us to go to Krezik than to reach the Wizard of Wines. I know that you know them, that you trust them there, but it is faster to K take it will be quicker for us to go to krezik than to reach the wizard of wines i know that you know them that you trust them there but it is faster to krezik from here we have some horses we can take you now last time i was around krezik i had rocks thrown at me can i assume that i will no longer have rocks thrown at me if you stay in this form and you are with me and Arvatsky, you will not be... You will not have rocks thrown at you. The people of Krezik deal with werewolves on a fairly regular basis. Wolves are a particular danger in that area.

They are suspicious, but if you're with us, you should be fine. It's interesting that you would assume what form I was in. I was in very much this form. Turns out they don't like stinky naked people. It's funny from the IT crowd now. Yeah. He's playing by Richard Ayade now. Hello, I am a werewolf.

Every time someone in this party dies, I change my accent. It's a quirk. It's a quirk. It's trauma. It's how I deal with it. I've secured rooms. There are rooms. There are beds.

There is hot food, and it is safe from Strahd. And we'll get there faster. Fast. She leans in, Rose. She leans in. The abbot is a powerful celestial. An angel in disguise. We will come with you.

We will come with you. But we do need the promise that Dog's body will not be harmed or looked down on. He has just defeated a very powerful enemy, and I think that people need to take notice of that. The people there, they follow the abbot, and the abbot is not the type of person to look down on another. Perhaps his previous encounter with Krezik was more born from fear of a creature being,

a person being on their own. With a group, with myself, with these acolytes, he will be fine. I would recommend the Maya perhaps wears some sort of cloak. I'll hold up the wooden doll to prove our allegiance to you. Why is it so purposely terrifying? What is that? Yeah, can I just, like...

Why are you... I'm just going to lift, like, no, no. Just reach backwards and put my hand, like, just no. Just no. I will hold it for longer. This way. You will hold it for longer. This way. You can hold it, just don't show it. Why did you bring it?

I don't understand. We don't need that. It's terrifying. To prove our allegiance to you, we look after your smaller kind. It's not, it's, it's not real. You all seem rather fond of them No, not fond

of that You realise that this is a doll This is not real I'll just drop it Steps on it as you move Alveski is going to put a hand on Esmeralda's shoulder from behind

Time Yes, I know Come is going to put a hand on Esmeralda's shoulder from behind. Time. Time. Yes. Yes, I know. I know. Come. And she just points away over the bridge. Well, you can see there's like three or four horses that have been tied up.

I don't think we have enough for all of you, but the acolytes can remain behind. The rest of us can double up, I suppose. Come. And yeah, given enough time, she leads you, and very quickly, unless you resist or unless there's anything you want to talk about, she will lead you to the front gates of Krezik.

Goodbye, tiny human. That's all. Crushed by a horse's hoof. The village of Krezik, it's a a village but it's a walled town really um it has a high uh wooden uh palisade wall all around it um with a in fact actually i got a map of krezik that i can show you oh fancy um it has like a wooden palisade wall but built onto a top of a hill looking down on the village you see an abbey you see the kind of stone walls of an abbey you can see the kind of glinting of light off of stained glass windows um and a kind of another stone wall on the outside of it protecting it providing this kind of like bastion looking down um you see on spikes around the the walls

of the town you see a number of creatures heads have been spiked at semi-regular intervals the creatures vary um there are wolf heads there are heads that look like undead creatures these almost like giant bats have had their heads impaled on it as well there is a demonic looking creature that's had its skull embedded onto one of the things that there's no flesh or musculature left but it's some sort of demonic creature um and all along the walls, you see more of these white-robed acolytes kind of patrolling with bows, with crossbows, with slings, with whatever weapons they can, you know, muster from their supplies.

They patrol the walls and you can hear the bells of the abbey. Doom, doom, doom, calling out. I'll ask you, this is, you know, this is a common occurrence uh the bell sound for prayers um and for people to kind of gather at the abbey and offer their gratitude to the abbot uh generally um the one thing one of you guys do notice is uh rose and uh reememy. You look up and flying above the canopy of the trees of the nearby woods and returning to Krezik, you see one of these white-robed figures. But this one has this pair of splendid eagle wings

and is kind of flying down back into the village and seems to land amongst it. flying down back into the village and seems to land amongst it. As you are approaching, go on. Another raven? No. More allies, perhaps? An ally, for certain. One of the abbot's soldiers.

Something has happened. The abbot, from what i understand he has he has created soldiers to fight against strad powerful ones not many only a few small number but i believe that if we have any hope of entering castle ravenft, we will need the abbot's help. That is why I wish to bring you here. I want you to speak with the abbot. The abbot has things, tasks, that he would like seen done. I believe that the abbot offers us a chance, a real force to help us breach the castle walls. And that is our greatest danger now. Strahd is up to something.

He's pulled all of his forces from other places. He's forming a defensive perimeter around the castle. Something is happening there. As you reach the gates, you see one of these robed humanoids turns down. By the will of the graceful abbot, who goes? And she, Esmeralda, kind of nudges Alvarski to kind of speak back. We have returned.

We have... the party. Ah, Alvarskiki the abbot awaits you bring in our honoured guests and you hear the doors kind of open these heavy wooden doors are opened and you are led inside I turn around

snap at whoever's closest what of the party or of like a random person I turn around, snap at whoever's closest. What, of the party or of a random person? Of the party. Probably Dog's Body. I lock eyes with Dog's Body. These are pale, ice-blue eyes that he's got. He locks them onto you.

Respect the abbot. Yeah, alright. As long as he doesn't throw a rock at me. A dead duck doesn't fly backwards. And he turns back around. Esmeralda leads you through. I will go and speak with the abbot. I'll ask you, why don't you stay'll ask you why don't you stay with these

why don't you stay with them to make sure that everything is safe and secure I have rooms the burgomaster of this town has given me his home to rest in you all seem to need rest rest there I will go and speak with the abbot before I go

do you need any of my magic is there anything that you wish to ask me? Is there any questions you have before I head off? And she leads you to a very quite nice cottage. Like it's kind of like a, you know, three, four bedroom cottage. It's very well kept and looks clean. Leading you inside,

you can see that there's some basic foods like breads and cheeses and a bottle of wine has been left out. There's a fire. It seems warm and safe. The doors have heavy latches on the inside. All of the windows, heavy latches, reinforced bars. This is the kind of home that has been built to keep things out of it when people are inside. This is like an anti-vampire house you know there are holy symbols of the morning lord above the doorways there are strings of garlic and mirrored surfaces pretty much everywhere uh you know this is very much anti-vampire house as you kind of enter it um

stay here as long as you need but yes if you you need any questions answered or if my magic can be of any use, let me know now before I head off. We do have some things that we picked up that I was wondering if you could help us look at. See what they are. Dogspotty, did you have a question? Yeah, I was just wondering, do dead ducks fly backwards has your boy has your boy been dropped on his head

the people here the dog's body they're very devout in the worship of the abbots but this place has been under siege by strad and other forces for some time not everybody here is as well put together as she kind of looks at dog's body changes her mind looks at rose changes her mind not everywhere is put together as me and she just leaves it at that uh and then she'll turn to rose so what are these things i can identify magical uh abilities and relics and things like that if you need me to can i uh show her the shiny platinum ruby type and alvaski you would recognize this when it's pulled out from Rose's pouch.

Esmeralda kind of like takes a big deep breath, like, Rose, that's a very good thing that you found. I've been reading, studying Ravenloft's, Barovia's lore. This is an artifact called the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind. It was a gift given by an angel to a paladin called Lugdana. Lugdana was tasked with slaying vampires, powers that roamed what were called the Dark Domains, the Domains of Dread.

Lugdana was a powerful priestess and paladin. what were called the dark domains, the domains of dread. Lugdana was a powerful priestess and paladin. She carried this symbol wherever she went. It has the power to summon sunlight, to render vampires immobile for a time. This is one of the things that Strahd sought to keep out of mortal hands for fear that it would be used against him. If this is... I feel that this is something that Jesper was trying to find.

This is a weapon to use against Strahd. But I'm not sure if... I'm glad you said that. I worried that I wouldn't find what he was looking for. The problem is I'm not sure if any of you will be able to use this. It was gifted by an angel to a priestess, a paladin. You would need to be a believer, a devotee, somebody who can channel the power of gods.

I'm not sure if any of you are capable of that. But still, it's good that you have it. Better in your hands than sitting in some witch's den is there anything else i've got i've got this uh this freaky little pan pipe set oh charming suits you and she kind of gives you a look of like evil bone pipe that suits the evil werewolf um yes she waves her hand her eyes her eyes well yeah she's talking to dog's body she doesn't

like dog's body um uh dirty werewolf yeah exactly uh her eyes shimmer for a second she looks in and says these are called pipes of haunting uh you'll need to know how to play them, but if you do, you can cause a spellbinding tune, an eerie noise that can frighten people around it. Clearly not something you require. But yeah, they're called Pipes of Haunting, so you can search for those. Some people find me quite charming.

You see, in fact, Tatiana and Ismark both actually like kind of stand next to you. Dog's body saved our life, Esmeralda. More than that, he slew Baba Yaga. He's been a true and trusted friend and she places her like arm on yours. Like she kind of like, you know, touches your arm in a very kind of delicate, friendly way.

Do not speak to him like that again. Not in front front of me not in front of my brother or our companions you see esmeralda's like a bit insulted and taken back fine anything else that you wish me to expend my magical prowess on yeah bitch we we are holding something we wish to be identified and I'll hold up my hands there's nothing in them I'll hold up mine with the stone and the carving of Barovia in it

so you both raise your hands yeah this thing is far more unnerving still she waves her hand again. Well, you have two things of interest there. She's not sure which one to talk to, so she kind of talks to you both.

The stone is what is known as a luck stone, a stone of good luck. It will bring a small amount of fortune to whoever carries it. The other is called an oil of sharpness. I carry one of these myself apply it to a weapon that weapon will become more dangerous and will be magical for a short period of time i believe about an hour or so uh it takes a minute or so to apply the oil but after that

for an hour it will have magical sharpness and will be able to overcome creatures that are resistant to normal weaponry. Sharpness, luck, fortune, good things. Before I leave for the abbot, if there's any questions you have, ask them now. Then I will let you rest. I don't think so. I think it's just rest. Is there safe earth outside somewhere? I would not venture beyond the walls of Krezik.

Now that you are inside and she looks at Alvarski and sort of nods in your direction Alvarski do not leave the walls of this city without either me or the abbot's permission you are safe here outside that safety evaporates for now

no force of strad no monster will be able to reach you but you must remain inside. There are grounds. There's a small lake to the north of the village. I'm told it is quite tranquil, quite peaceful. But yes, there are trees and plants and things within the grounds, small plots of land to farm on,

but try not to go beyond the walls i will let you rest i will come and speak to you um come morning once i've spoken with the abbot uh i'll ask you would you stay here and watch over them uh see to it that they are attended to as necessary yes good i am believe that the abbot's intent is for you to accompany them on the tasks he wishes to set them and eventually help us storm castle ravenloft so yes nice and she looks at irena and dog's body when she says that in a sense of like i've been told i don't play nice so i'm telling you that you should get on with everyone, and then she goes and leaves the room in a kind of haughty

arrogant way. She's a bit of a bitch. She heads out and leaves you all in this very comfortable home with this new person to chat to, and all of this wonderful information about magic items you carry.

But also, they're ducks that don't fly backwards. I don't actually know what a duck is. Yeah. What is... Yeah. I need a bath. Vasky is just standing like a statue, but taking his time to just stare at each one of you. Is there a window nearby? Can I like move near a window? Just jump out of it, that's what you're gonna say.

jump out of it i thought you're gonna say just get so you want to move next to a window light yeah just yeah i mean there are windows in this place so light is coming in it's probably getting close to kind of like dusk now so the sun is starting to set um but you can stand by the windows and yeah there's there's light that's coming in the windows just have things like interior shutters and bars so that if like you wanted to you could close those and it would be hard for something to get inside you know that's the intention here is you know you've you've experienced this when you were in when you first came to barovia well rose does everybody else is just died but rose remembers like the way that irena and ismark were trying to keep strad out because he needed permission to come inside so a lot of like this

house has been designed in a way that you know you can shut the the shutters on the inside of the window and then you can't see out of them so you couldn't see something beyond those like it's got bars so things like bats can't get in but during the day you can open the the shutters and let light inside which is where they are now um nice yeah um i've asked you just stands there creepily uh is mark kind of sinks down into a chair around this large dinner table well if no one else is going to eat and then he starts like tearing off like hunks of bread and bits of cheese and he starts just eating away drinking wine um helping himself uh he has to kind of pull off his mask a little bit and you can see like all

the burn marks because he just starts like nibbling and eating bread and cheese um as he does so um cool can i just quickly turn to ireina and just like really shyly kind of like, hey, no one's ever stood up for me before. And then with some really nice words that you said, thanks. Dogsbody, you don't need to thank me. Nobody should treat you that way. I know that you've had a difficult time in Barovia, that it's not been kind to you. But that doesn't mean that people shouldn't be. You've done so much for me, for Ismark, for Rose, for everyone here.

You're a hero. I see you that way. You remind me of sergey in some ways i mean i almost you know let the witch take you away and you know stuff like it was very that wasn't just me you know like your brother came for you you know he went right step right up to that witch and Rose Rose you were a part of this as well you shot a rifle of arrows and Maya you guys did stuff

I know you did well I know you pissed her off and I'm pointing at Tom Maya with the dark stuff and it was a team effort I am honestly amazed you embedded an axe in her skull

a spear a spear a spear I mean the Maya probably wouldn't know the difference so he's just like saying whatever he thinks but no she just says you are all I am amazed that any of us

survived that you all did well but do not sell yourself short dogs body and she just kind of like pats your arm I feel at least for a while we can be safe here I'm going to get some rest my mind is still very clouded having too many people

inside my mind is confusing at times but I'm going to get some rest i suggest you all do the same when you can and she just smiles and nods her head and goes off to find a room to sleep in i'm going to get some rest too i i need some time just just on my own, I think. It's been a horrible, horrible time and yeah. I just need some quiet and I think Rose will just go find a room and be on her own for a while. Sure. Anybody else? We can stay and watch this one. We don't know who to trust out here.

What is your... Tell us about yourself, stranger. Alvasku, was it? What are you? Why are you here? Are you from Krezik? Yes. Are you a priest? No. I'm a fighter. A warrior.

Ah, good. We need more of those, that's for certain. Purge the darkness. Is it five o'clock yet? I don't know. He just looks around. I don know uh uh you do begin to probably in like you know a few moments you do hear like a that bell alvasky starts crying and then all you hear

I guess the Maya is closest to him right now is under his breath is take him not me take him not me and then he kind of like looks around and then comes back to normal you're getting out creepied Maya

you're getting out creeped I don't know about this. I'm not sure I'm a fan of this. It's right. Who is taking... Do you need a hanky? Where is he going? Another crazy thing to join our team.

I used to think Dog's Body was the strangest member of our party. Now look at you. You look pretty crazy now too, Mark. I know. I am a fighter. A warrior. What's your speciality? Don't see any weapons on you.

I purge the darkness with light. Oh, light's good. You have light? Yes yes the abbot he bestowed me the gift a gift it's a bad day for lunch it was too windy okay i'm going to go find a room. I'm going to sleep. Oh, jeez. This power, you wish to purge Strahd? Purge Strahd, yes. I'm crafted honed Strahd must be defeated

Strahd must be defeated Sunsword you have it Sunsword we do yeah but we'll be pleased I'm gonna assume everybody everybody can take a long rest by the way because you are safe everybody can take a long rest by the way

because you are safe take a long rest awesome Rose, go on, you go dog's body dog's body just had the very sudden realisation that he was in a room with three people who can't speak in full sentences so yeah

we speak in full sentences it's just not sentences anyone wants to hear it's creepy I just love the fact that Chris Trott was just like Maya, I can out creepy the Maya whatever

man there's something really deep inside me stirred when he said their ducks don't fly backwards just out of nowhere I was like oh god no I don't know, man. No. I like the idea that he's got like a sentence generator and he's just using that and he's just like

the red fox goes underside. It's just like nonsense. Anyway, to take it back to a more serious moment, you guys take a long rest, either whether sleeping, whether resting whether eating, whatever it is but Rose

as you are you feel yourself wake up you were sleeping and something brings you to consciousness it's dark, the sun's obviously gone down and you pause and there's just silence maybe creaking of floorboards from somebody else moving around the cottage but you know probably one of your companions

and then you see that in the corner of this room this is maybe once belonged to a kind of woman or maybe a young girl there's a tall mirror like a mirror. And it's not reflecting the room that you're in. It's reflecting a dark castle's room. Tattered tapestries, kind of encroaching darkness all around it. And you can hear something tapping on the glass. and you can hear something tapping on the glass. Like a fine point, like the tip of a dagger. And then you hear a voice calling out your name.

Rose. Rose... Son of a bitch! It's been a fucking long day. Please, Rose. Shadow? You see, materializing into the... stepping into the... like not into your room, but into the mirror, this reflection of another place. You see Shadow, this tabaxi cleric dressed in these dark robes, but they're tattered, stained with earth and soil.

And her eyes are no longer the yellow cat's eyes, but they are tinged red. And you can see a very pained expression on their face. Rose. Rose. Rose... I've to me, Rose. He has turned me. I hunger.

I cannot deal with this. Please help me. This isn't real. This is just a dream. I don't know. You're on his side now. I tried. I couldn't stop him taking you. I tried. I couldn't stop him taking you. No, this is very real, my friend. While he sleeps, I found his trinkets and am able to speak to you now, but I do not have long. Every second is agony. I can feel the hunger taking over, but I can no longer hear my mistress.

I cannot find the path to the city. Please, Rose. I need your help. Please. What can I do? I can't get to you. I can't... I would have. You know that I would have. I am trapped in the castle. I need you to kill me.

Properly. Free me of this curse of hunger. It is not right. hunger it is not right i was tasked by my mistress to relieve people of their pain and their suffering but now all i want is to inflict that suffering on others please rose i need your light others. Please, Rose. I need your light. I know you are tired, but

you bring the light to the darkness, and I need that now. The mirror begins to turn black and cloudy. You see it beginning to... Shadow's visage begins to fade

and almost like it's being pulled away as the reflection just barely turns back to a reflection of the room you're in. If there's one last thing you want to say, Shadow. Please, Rose. And then it just. Help me. And on that help me, it snaps, and it's the mirrors back to being a normal mirror,

and you are very much awake in a room. It's not a dream. You don't wake up. You are awake. are awake. Rose is probably just going to take out the little beetle and Jesper's dagger

and she's just going to cry. Yeah. You just have this little moment and the night progresses peacefully. And you just feel the rough texture of the beetle and Jesper's dagger in your hand. There is a source of strength there too. There's this weight of responsibility.

You saved Jesper's soul and now knowing that Shadow needs it, responsibility you saved Jesper's soul and now knowing that Shadow needs it there is this kind of strength to that that kind of flows through and with that weapon you've seen what the Sun Sword can do that could be a chance to bring that hope back

and yeah everyone finishes their long rest holy crap And yeah, everyone finishes their long rest. Oh, holy crap. God damn it. Oh, man. I slept really well. Kim had that in the chamber ready to go, and I was just waiting last week for a chance to get to it,

but we didn't have a chance. So I think it matters more now. Oh, my God. That was really cool you awaken to uh dawn uh sunlight streaming in no attacks no vampires no monsters for the rest of you just sleep peaceful sleep we slept through the night for one you lucky little shit i mean you still get a long rest um just you have trauma with your long rest um i don't have enough of that it's fine

esmeralda uh brings in the morning uh she arrives um knocking on the door uh and in her hand she has a basket it has several fruits it has some some smoked meats. It has some more fresh bread. She places it on the table. Courtesy of the abbot and the people of Krezik. Breakfast. I've spoken with the abbot. He wishes to speak with you himself up at the abbey after their morning prayers are done.

It gives you a few hours if you wish to look around, explore the village. There are some nice places to it. Take your time. But yes, once you're done, come and speak with the abbot. He and I are currently forming plans, but he won't commit to a frontal assault until a few things are done. And I don't really think that they're things i can do on my own so i think everybody everybody needs to help each other

there are two main problems but i'll let him explain those uh yes once we can achieve that uh alvarski here is is the abbot alvarski the abbot basically has told me to tell you that you are to assist these companions in any way they need. They are... Onto their shoulders, the abbot places his hopes that this madness, this darkness can finally be destroyed. He bows. Like a stiff bow.

Well, don't need to bow to me. When you're ready, I will meet you up at the gates of the Abbey. I'm going to go make a few preparations myself. A few things that I managed to scavenge from the wagon were still left over. I've been preparing a few weapons and things like that.

But yes, I will see you there in a few hours give yourself some time to do as you wish explore I don't know make preparations and she will just head off leaving you all to your own company once again Irina or Tatiana dog's body

there's a place that I would like to visit would you come with me? You and Ismark, specifically. Yes. Yes, I'll come with you. I'll follow you. It's just a little...

It's like a little pond, really, but there's a little shrine to the Morning Lord I would like to visit. We may follow Dog's Body. If you wish, Meyer. I'll go with you to the pond. I'm just worried that people here might not be as... They might not take as well to seeing you on the streets. So I'll go with you if that's okay.

Rose, you're being the only real human apart and Dog's Body is a bit too clueless. You definitely get the sense of like, she's happy for you all to come, but there's something she wants to talk to Dog's Body about there. Like you kind of get the feeling that she will take the mire. Take the mire. I know. I know.

I know that Dog's Body wanted to get away from us. She knows that Irina wants to go and do something privately, but the fact that they're going outside and roaming, Rose would be like, let's not do that on your own, because people might not be nice about it. Rose, perhaps if you have Alvarski,

was it, accompanying you, that will help alleviate some of the locals as well. Yes, please. I just worry that with the history of, you know, rock pelting and things, I don't want that to happen to anyone. You get to be baby, sir. At least he doesn't have the small doll thing anymore, honestly.

Yeah. That's fine. Isaac likes dogs. You'll be liked. We like you. The abbot likes you. Okay. Okay.

Good. No rocks. No rocks. No rocks. None. This dog doesn't like rocks. That way? He was willing to find the depths. The depths of what?

The depths of the earth? The depths of the earth? The depths of the pond? This one does not seem right. Awaski! Many ones do not seem right. Are you aware of the stuff coming out your mouth? Yes.

So, what was that about depths? About what? You just said something about depths. We must see the abbot at once. We're keeping him waiting. What is the time? We

weren't to see the abbott yet we're waiting for Esmeralda to come and get us we're going to the pond the Abbott is the leader here yes but we don't have to see him until later so we were going to the pond pond just now. Shall we go? I used to love fishing there. No fish. Excellent. Is the water there good? Does the water bring life? Yeah, it's very good, Alvarski. It's very, very good.

Yes. Fresh. Okay. Very good. Yes. Fresh. Okay. Very good. All right. Well, as a crew, you all begin making your way. But after a little bit, yeah, Irina does kind of begin walking maybe a little bit further away from the party.

Kind of probably like her brother is walking, like her brother, Ismark is walking alongside her, but she will also kind of like like, hold out her arm, dog's body, as if, like, for you to take her arm, like Ismark has the other arm on the other side. Like, you know, kind of, you know, walking, being walked by her kind of male companions. You guys make your way there.

The rest of you all kind of follow as well, making your own way. Even under the grey skies of Barovovia this pool at the north end of the village seems to almost shimmer and sparkle near its shore sits an old gazebo it looks like it might be on the verge of collapse ancient but still standing there's a wooden statue of a mournful bare-chested man its paint is chipped and faded it stands in the gazebo with arms outstretched as though waiting to be embraced um and it it feels peaceful and as you draw closer the water looks so pure and crisp and clean um it's not it's it's a small pool but large enough that you know you

couldn't go swimming in it but you can kind of sit on it's on the edges of it and enjoy it's kind of like a small pond really um but as you all draw closer maya you you know definitely begin to feel... There's no taint of Strahd or the dark powers here. This place feels free of his presence. And the rest of you feel a sense of calmness as you approach it. Irena, it's a dog's body, You remind me a lot of my Sergei. He had a very courageous heart. Perhaps he was a little cleaner and a little bit more tidy in his appearance. Hey, not wrong.

I know. I think that this affliction you have, this curse, is it something that you want to be rid of? I don't know, to be honest. If you'd asked me a year ago, two years ago, however many years ago, when I first woke up and found myself this way. I would have said yes, but I've learned to live with it. It gives me strength. I don't think I would have been capable of saving you just then, or Rose, or the rest,

if it wasn't for the strength it brings me. I think you do yourself discredit to throw away your own strengths. There are many sources of strength, dog's body. I have lived many lives and I have seen strength and I have seen weakness. Rage can be strength, it can be weakness. Passion

can be strength, it can be weakness. But you have what is most important. You have the... You have a heart who is willing to do what must be done to protect people you care about that is strength that is what's really strong about you this affliction

if you could be rid of it if you could still be strong without it would you want to change? would you want it to be taken away? maybe yeah maybe would you want to change? Would you want it to be taken away? Maybe, yeah, maybe. One day when we've all had our happy endings, when Strahd is dealt with and you're free to live your life, and maybe I can go home.

Maybe if I was to leave Barovia and and go home whatever that is anymore she's like offers her hand I don't know walk with me to the edge of the pool you're not gonna wash me are you did my best with a flannel last night I know you did no I want to show you something she's got these like dainty and she's pretty like i tatiana is like it's hard to describe she's like got this real kind of fairy tale beauty about her and so like this tiny little delicate bell hand in the beast's giant sort of like you know hairy man hand kind of engulfs it but she leads you to the edge of the pool and for a minute it you just see yourself

as normal but then there is like a ripple like a stone's being cast into it and you see yourself as you haven't seen yourself in a very long time dog's body before you isn't this dirty hairy scarred man instead there is this warrior this warrior clad in armor with this radiant light kind of just billowing out from them and a pair of angelic wings almost kind of stretching out from behind them this heroic looking figure with you know the long hair still there but now the the beard is gone and just this chiseled you know masculine face is underneath it and stood beside it is even irena looks different she looks more regal there is she's dressed in this fine princely uh princess kind of like gown her hair is radiant and beside her in the reflection is another man, Sergei. You see the similarities. You see an element, a trace of Strahd's face,

but there's no hardness. There's no evil. There's these bright blue eyes that are welcoming and loving. This blonde hair and his smile is heartwarming. It's like looking at the reflection of an old friend and you feel that ring around your finger, just comfortably giving you comfort, and you see the

same ring on Sergei's hand as he places his on Irina's shoulders. This pool was blessed by the Morning Lord long ago. The people of Krezig do not remember it.

It shows us things that were, and things that still are. I still have my Sergei with me, even though he is now long gone. And you, this is the person that I see within you. You can, if you wish, be this person again. There is a warrior, someone who once believed in oaths and vows and had righteousness and courage in their heart long before this curse, this affliction took you. And if you want it, if you want to speak those words again, you can. That's a big moral quandary to put on this old dog before he's even had his morning cup of coffee.

Yeah. I don't even remember the god that we crusaded for when we came to this place in the first time. It's not about the god. Dog's body. It's never your powers. Whatever strength you had, it didn't come from a god.

It came from your belief in doing what was right you've lost that i can see that but it's still there you think yourself a madman you think yourself a wounded animal that must survive but that's not who you are you believe in doing what is right it's why you went back for those children. It's why you came to rescue me. It is why you care about Rose. If you wish, that man is still inside. Oh. Can I think on this, please?

Of course you can. This pool will still be here, but I wanted you to see it. And she'll kind of lead you away from the side, back to the shrine. Think on it. We need you, whatever form you take. But that man is still there. But that man is still there. Thank you, Iruna. Thank you for giving me something I haven't seen in a long time.

Yeah, I'm just a bit confused up in the old noggin. But yeah, let's... She gets up on her tiptoes and just kisses you on the cheek um hey what's the maya doing so as as you begin walking away the only last thing i was going to say is is mark kind of comes over and just puts a hand on your shoulder and just gives you a kind of that nod of a guy who's like a brother who's just like good man and just kind of gives you that kind of like nod because he's totally misread the situation um uh yeah uh meanwhile the maya i mean you can sense this power you see irena and dog's body kind of looking into this pool um

is there anything you guys want to do? I think like... Yeah, you go. All right. I think like feeling like the atmosphere of the place, feeling that it's like no harm can come to us here. Like it's very welcoming. I think my mind is going to open up her hand and go,

stretch your legs, little ones ones you'll be safe here and just release bugs and flies are they skitter out they a load of them like go to the edges of the the you know the the edges of the pool where they like you know drink you know little tiny bugs like suck up a little bit of moisture and things like that some of like the flies go and like probably lay eggs everywhere and do things that insects do you know uh but yeah they just kind of fly out and go and you know do their buggy insect stuff you know how like in disney movies like in little mermaid you get like buggy insect stuff. You really grossed up the ecosystem. You know how, like, in Disney movies, like, in Little Mermaid,

you get, like, kiss the girl, and it's, like, fireflies and romantic... Yeah, fireflies. There's some fireflies there. There's just these flies. Yeah. No, there's probably some nice bugs in there as well. It's not just gross bugs. There's probably fireflies and, like, ladybugs.oths moths yeah buzzing around um a couple mosquitoes i love you i love you

and um yeah there's the that they seem almost invigorated by this this water this pool of water um yeah yeah i was gonna say i was gonna head over and kind of like dip a finger into the pond and where it's like this crystal clear water like dust and dirt and i guess some speckles of blood all sort of come out from me as it kind of comes out from you a little bit then it almost vanishes immediately maya as soon as you place it in there that dirt and blood just seems to vanish into nothing as it spreads out from you um if you had any conditions by the way uh like you would basically if you had any diseases so maybe i don't know you can interpret this how you want you're basically affected by the lesser restoration spell when you kind of like um touch the water and you absorb some of

its nutrients because you're the maya normally a creature has to physically drink but i think for the maya just touching it is basically the same because you don't need to eat and drink so yeah if you were affected by any diseases um they are cured so maybe i don't know some of like some parts of the rot or something that affects you kind of like die away and like new growth spurts like you get like a fresher batch of fresh roots yeah i think uh yeah when i pull out that part of my body that was in the pond like it's like fresher wood and almost the vines are now green but that immediately just sort of gets sucked back into the rest of me and goes red and gross and horrible again

but it's very sweet the water is sweet and fresh amazing you feel great are we all right now yeah I believe that you all came here so if there's anything Alvasky you want to do as well Rose yes yes and he puts his hand out and gestures here so if there's anything Alvasky you want to do as well Rose yes yes

and he puts his hand out and gestures towards the pond enjoy the pond it's a very nice pond yes enjoy it like they the trees you want me to touch it

I can it's a gift put my hand in and splash it a little bit same thing it feels I am nowhere near it I ask for you to like walk up to it but I'm staying clear of it

you watch as Rose like puts her hand in. It feels fresh, cool, pure. Yeah, it feels lovely, Rose. And then you come, pull your hand back out. I'm forbidden. It's a very nice area. Oh, why?

It is so. Bong. Bong. what's the time uh that is the end of morning prayers yeah it's two uh no that's the end of like the morning prayers so that basically signifies that yeah the uh the prayers have ended for the morning um which is when esmeralda said to come and meet her at the abbey. We must go. Nice. Yeah, but... Yes. Okay. Meyer, come, stop touching the thing.

Okay. We will be back, Fond. That's my promise. Do you recall the bugs? Yeah. Come back, small ones. They look like go into your fingers and like hollow bits in your body just like oh god they are ready we are all here and then the mind comes walking back all our friends Maya comes walking back.

All are present. You guys make your way. Can you never do that again? Please. Touch the water? No. Never mind. We have to go. We won't mind.

You guys make your way following a kind of winding path that heads up the hill and at the front of these giant gates you meet Esmeralda who's waiting for you. a kind of winding path that heads up the hill. And at the front of these giant gates, you meet Esmeralda, who's waiting for you. More of the white-robed acolytes stand by the door and it is opened and you are led inside and led into a grand church. It is a... I've got like a...

What's inside bit? Yeah, be the main hall. Gentle... Oh, no, that's inside bit be the main hall gentle, oh no that's not going to be the case so the ground floor is this one large 50 foot squared room with arched leaded glass windows there is a fireplace mantle behind which is a giant golden symbol of a

sun, there is also a wooden staircase that leads up, there is a wooden table that stretches the length of the room there's all sorts of like dishware symbol of a sun uh there is also a wooden staircase that leads up there is a wooden table that stretches the length of the room there's all sorts of like dishware and and uh food you know items like candelabras and things neatly arranged um and sat at the end of it uh seemingly having just finished maybe some food or something like that is a very very similar to alvaski this incredibly handsome young man he looks maybe he can't be anywhere older than sort of like early 30s um golden hair that spills down in these kind of like luscious curls around his shoulders this very sort of like angelic face he he looks you know

like a this just beautiful humanoid man almost like a painting like one would paint like a renaissance hero um but he's dressed in these just simple white robes with the symbol of the white sun um he clasps his hands when he sees you um and when he does speak there is that there's a slight sensation that his voice is almost you know uh there's reverberance to it that's gonna be way too much so i'm not gonna do it um at last you have come esmeralda the traveler who seeks to slay monsters told me of your encounters with the devil. And in my commune with the Morning Lord, he has bequeathed me the knowledge that you have recovered relics, weapons that can destroy the evil that has taken root in this place

welcome welcome to the Abbey of St. Markovia you may call me the abbot as all light souls who come here do you have met one of my

chosen Alvasky he nod my chosen, Alvarski. He nods to you, Alvarski. He'll do a grand bow. Like a full 90 degree. Yeah. And many of my acolytes here. Speaking with Esmeralda, I believe

we can be of great help to one another. Strahd, the devil of Barovia. I once thought that this man could be... I believed that I could have cured him once. How foolish I was. Now, something has happened. Strahd has turned to darker powers than I thought even possible.

He's building something in his castle. And I fear, I fear he seeks to escape Barovia and unleash his pain his suffering his evil on worlds beyond this you blessed champions creatures of the earth. And he looks at the Maya. The afflicted. The haunted. He looks at Rose. You have come. And you will destroy him.

And that's where we're going to end today's episode. What a banger. Yeah. He doesn't really, he doesn't refer to Alvasky and he doesn't seem to pay too much attention to irena and ismark at this point he kind of looks at yeah uh yeah the maya dog's body and rose ah ah cool yeah awesome uh but i don't know anything about strad's plans you don't know anything tom hazel crazy wow building something escaping crazy zeros did the fire didn't dead now yeah but yeah uh great episode great episode you're right great episode holy that was that was a lot it was kind of like a big thing it was great

it was good very well done everyone a very, very good job today. Excellent stuff. Great RPs. Big RPs. I do not know what to make of Alvarski yet. There's something going on there and I don't like it one bit. No! There's nothing going on. It's Detrot. There's nothing going on. Nothing to worry about.

Is it Alvarski or is it Chris Trott? Who knows? Who knows? Who knows? Little column A, little column B. Is it five? Where does one end and where does the other begin? Ducks fly backwards. What was it?

What did you even say? Do you even remember what you said? Ducks don't fly backwards. Yeah. There you go. Bam. Love it. I remember that one.

That's it. That one is going to haunt me for weeks. Yeah. It's going to be like, he's going to wake up in the middle of the night. Dead dogs fly backwards. Take him, not me. Take him, not me.

I mean, I feel like if we're going to play creepy characters, Barovia is a good place to do it. So, yeah. So we'll see you then. Excellent. Take care, everybody. Bye. Bye. Bye. see you then. Take care, everybody. Bye! Thank you.