High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #4 | The Flour Children

Episode Date: May 6, 2020

Leaving the Vistani camp the team find an old and foreboding windmill... 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. Bumble knows it's hard to start conversations. Hey, no, too basic. Hi there. Still no. What about hello, handsome? Who knew you could give yourself the ick? That's why Bumble is changing how you start conversations. You can now make the first move or not. With opening moves, you simply choose a question to be automatically

sent to your matches. Then sit back and let your matches start the chat. Download Bumble and try it for yourself. Welcome friends to High Rollers Presents The Curse of Strahd. 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 Jesper the Vistani Bard, Kim Richards as Shadows Beyond the Veil, a Tabaxi Cleric,

Katie Morrison as Rose Vanandi, the Human Ranger, Tom Hazel as Xeros Mistan, the Dragonborn Fighter, and Rhiannon Gower as Ziki Mistan, the Dragonborn Sorcerer. Our last time on The Curse of Strahd, our dear guests have come to the dark and joyless land of Barovia and met with its vampiric overlord, Strahd von Zarovich. Having saved a young woman called Irena from from strad much to his ire they journeyed to a camp of vistani led by their guide jasper here they enjoyed a brief moment of respite before meeting with madam ava a fortune teller who revealed that each of them were destined to

free this land and end the curse of strad however However, as Madame Ava read their fortunes and began to reveal the location of powerful tools that would help them in this task, a shadowed assassin appeared and struck, killing Madame Ava instantly before turning on the party, vanishing to only leave a strange dagger behind. Now, our party traveled to the town of Vallaki, hoping to find safety and unravel the clues Ava had begun to give them. And that is where we begin today's session. I believe you had all left the Vistani camp, but if there is anything you would like to do

or anything you want to discuss or plans you wish to make, now is the time to do that before we get on the road. Mark, I would like to make the plan to not die. Please? Sure, yeah. By all means, go ahead. A flimsy plan.

Do we have time for a short rest? Well, we are travelling for a while, so we could do it on the road, probably, and shift. You can, yes. Absolutely. Because some people can be in the wagon. Yes, you basically... So the travel arrangements that you currently have,

you have a wagon. Jesper has a wagon, which is pulled by two horses. What are their names, Chris Trott? Nelly and Furtado. Thank you. I was trying to see if you remembered them. So you have a wagon, which is pulled by two draft horses. Now, draft horses are a little slower,

but they're strong enough that they can pull a wagon with people in it. You also have two riding horses, both of which can take a rider and a passenger. They're a little bit faster, but they can only carry two people at a time, obviously. You also have Irena and Ismark with you, both of them traveling, and they will be on one of the riding horses together,

as it's their horses. So, you basically have, yeah, you can have three people in the wagon, and then two people on another horse at the current situation. Anyone that wishes to rest, you can use the wagon I'll try

and keep Nelly and Furtado doing a nice slow pace so we don't hit any bumps in the road I could certainly use a little nap catnap sorry yes

the shadow slit my throat. Not this shadow. Thank you. Let's make a distinction here. Yeah, we saw that. Yeah, perhaps get some rest as a priority. So that would mean Zeke and Rose traveling on the other

horse if Shadow and Xeros are going to take a short rest in the wagon does that sound good? sure, yep that's fine alright, Jesper you will know that it is about 12 miles from where you are

to Vallaki following the roads you can probably reach that in about four hours and it is quite late in the evening. Dawn cannot be far off. Not that dawn offers much protection

in Barovia. Right. So just as a heads up, that's how long it's going to take, basically, to get to's how long it's going to take basically to get to Vallaki you travel about 3 miles per hour so you're looking at about 4 hours to reach Vallaki on the road

right so after an hour I'm definitely going to wake up the people in the back to make sure that there is a fresh rotation of people keeping watch and I'll teach anyone that doesn't understand make sure that there is a fresh rotation of people. Keeping watch. And I'll teach anyone that doesn't understand. Well, we have Irina and... Ismark.

Ismark here as well, right? Yes, they're riding along beside you. Yeah. If you guys wish to take a rest as well, you're more than welcome. Ismark who kind of look over and just say, like, I think that we can travel for a bit longer, friend.

We weren't injured in the battle, so we're still fighting fit at the moment. Yes, we'll be more than fine, so you and your companions should make sure that you are all well-rested. Who knows what the road has in store for us.

Oh, you know too well, I'm sure. Regardless, do you mind taking the reins? I think I could do with the next. Oh, of course. Irina will say, like, I can take it. Ismark is a better rider than me anyway. I'll take the reins if you wish. Thank you. Much obliged. I'll take the reins if you wish. Thank you.

Much obliged. I've got a lot to think about. So do you want to swap over so you'll basically go in the wagon and then Shadow would need to jump on the horse or something like that? Yeah, whoever wants to swap. I'm fine with that.

Yeah, I'll swap. Okay, so Shadow and Ismark are on one horse. Rose and Zeke stay on one. Yeah, I haven't got any need to take a short rest at the moment, so I'm good to keep going. No, me neither.

Okay, so the current order of things is Shadow and Ismark on one riding horse, Rose and Zeke on the other riding horse, with Zeros, Jesper and Irina in the wagon with Irina at the front. I'm glad you're taking very specific details for our

positioning. Why do you need those? So, as you travel, as the first hour comes to an end, you begin winding your way around about just maybe like 30, 40 minutes after the journey. You cross a stone bridge that goes across the river that flows down from the lake,

the pool that the Vistani camp was sanctioned around. It's a crumbling ancient stone bridge that seems well-worn, and it begins weaving its way through hill lands. These criss-crossing, deep shadowed hills,

long, dark grass. You can occasionally see just the haunting silhouette of a single grave marked on the occasional mound of earth and in the distance behind the hills rising up no more than another hour's journey away looming over everything is a castle an ominous presence silhouetted against the moon and the tree line with tall spires, winding bridges and platforms, flying buttresses and the distinct shape of gargoyles around its parapets. that draws your eyes to this castle as it stands before you like a towering, shadowed giant, watching you pass like ants beneath its feet.

You eventually draw along the road and see a set of gates, very similar to the ones that you passed when you first entered barovia giant headless statues with iron fences between them but unlike the first gate these fences are open and the road continues to the west just outside the gates you see a black carriage with two pristine black horses just grazing off the side of the road as if waiting for travelers as your own wagons and horses draw close to the gates you see that the forests nearby begin to shake and shudder and twist as hundreds, if not thousands, of bats fly up into the air, disturbed from their resting places. And you watch with a mild horror as the bats begin to take a shape of the visage of a man's face.

Tall, dark, a man's face tall dark handsome man's face a giant mouth looms and the bats form into this amorphous blob that gives its shape and texture as it booms out towards all of you remember your place vermin return Tatiana to me and that is where we are going to roll some initiative oh my he needs to back off no

dude has issues no no he's fine he's needy he is He's needy He is a little needy Let's not joke So Ziki what's that initiative total

That's 19 total 19 total 18 for me 22 for Jesper 18 for Shadow Rose 4 4 for Zeros 21 is my total 22 for Jesper, 18 for Shadow. Rose? Four.

Four for Zeros. 21 is my total. 21. And then I'm going to roll initiative for Irina, who I've actually given some proper stats to this time. She is at 13. And then I will auto-roll everybody else, and we will begin. So, Jes Jesper you're the first to react in the back of the wagon the bats are ahead of you

just beyond the gates that the road leading to Valaki they are in front of you towards your destination the bats are forming this mouth shape,

and they are descending down towards the wagon and the horses. There's probably about five swarms of them in total, but they're all kind of bundled together into this distinct shape. What do you do? I'll probably scrabble to the front of the wagon. Irena's like holding the reins. It's just Irena. Just Irena, We must get out of this place. Immediately.

Are you taking the reins off her or are you just giving her instructions? No, I'm just giving her instructions and I'm going to look up at the bats and kind of draw my swords in a defensive manner if any of them start attacking Irena. I'm protecting the rider. So you want to take hold action and then if any of them come down towardsna. I'm protecting the rider. So you want to take hold action

and then if any of them come down towards Irena you'll take a swing. Perfect. Rose, you are currently controlling the horse which means that firing a weapon like a bow is going to be very difficult. You can use a one-handed weapon but any two-handed weapons while you've got the reins is going to be tricky.

Damn it. Okay, so I'm probably just going to do the same, ride as close as I can to the wagon and draw my sword. And yeah, hold action. And if any of them attack within range, if any of them attack me or Zeki within range, then I can attack back.

I think Rose being a natural kind of ranger and monster slayer, you can probably guess that the bats won't be as fast as the horses that you're currently on. If you kind of push the horses, they'll be able to escape. But because they're ahead of you, they're definitely going to at least get one sort of momentum to rush you and then there's the hope that you'll be able to outpace them but they're going to at least get one go

at it all in which case I will just say to shout to the rest of the group keep moving keep going fast we can outrun them and just keep going. Perfect. Ziki. These bats

are all swarmed up in the air and they're gone. Okay. So when they get to about 15 feet from us, I'll cast color spray and try and blind at least some of them. Okay, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Alright, perfect. So you're just going to wait until they're closer.

The horses are basically acting under whoever's controlling them's initiative. So they'll just go then. Shadow, is there anything you would like to do in preparation before these bats descend?

Can I... I'm quite tempted to cast resistance on the horse I'm on. But I'm not sure if that's kind of like I think what I'll do actually is I'll cast I'll cast sacred flame on the well if any

bats are within 60 feet any of the swarms sure if not they will be very soon. Sure, yeah, you can. So that's a DC 12-deck saving throw. That is going to be a pass.

The bats themselves all kind of split apart as this sailing bolt of energy comes flying out of your hands. The bats kind of break apart, and you see almost like a gap in the face that they've formed, like this kind of hole opens up as it passes through. And then as soon as the attack passes, they reform

into the mouths, into this giant mouth. It's almost coming down as a big scream. You've seen the scene in The Mummy. It's the same thing. As this giant mouth comes descending down towards you. And as it does, some of your reactions are going to go off but the bats all basically split apart at the last minute um several of them descend

on the horses and then some of them descend on uh you guys as the riders uh so uh yes but ziki and rose your ready actions will go off as you wish. There's, I mean, there's enough of these bats that basically, yeah, two groups, probably three groups will fall on the wagon, and then there'll be a group each on both of the horses. Right. So I guess in order, then I will do my double attack as per usual. Sure.

But I'll do it with a defensive flourish when the mouse has stopped working you only get to make the one attack because you readied an action you don't get your offhand attack as an FYI here comes my rip your attack a 13

that's enough to hit the attack doesn't do as much damage as you would hope as this is just a swarm of bats you manage to kind of pierce and kind of uh fend off a few of them but there's so many of them they kind of descend down upon you and they completely engulf the wagon and the horses uh katie what did you roll so you rolled 13 what's the total 18 to hit 18 that, that's going to hit, yeah, for sure. So 9 damage altogether. 9 damage, okay.

So the same thing there again, like you're striking out with your weapon, but because there's so many individual bats, you can cut down several of them at once, but it's just like 20 more just kind of fill the space that they were in. They're just all around you, you can cut down several of them at once but it's just like 20 more just kind of fill the space that they were in um they're just all around you you can hear nothing it's almost deafening the sound of these flapping wings screeching and you begin to feel the bites and

scratches along your skin uh ziki is that a color spray to affect uh one of the swarms are you going to try and catch as many as you can i'm gonna try and affect the swarm that's coming towards uh me and uh rose you and rose okay so the one that just got damaged yeah so you you blast it with this spray of color magic what does it look like when ziki casts the spell so it's um she dips her three fingers into her powder paints so she has like a blue red and yellow one and then she blows that powder off her claws and then as the powder blows out it becomes a spectrum of bright colors and light that blinds them amazing you see it engulf this swarm of uh bats that's descending on you and rose um and you just see the paint smears all over the different bats eyes and in its ears and they completely lose cohesion they begin just flying around um uh you know they

they can still see to an extent because they have like their bats they've got echolocation but they're completely disorientated as they begin kind of flattering around unsure of what to do and everything else um and yeah the the spray seems to take them all um off kilter um so the two attacking the two horses i'm gonna make attacks for these guys now uh the wagon the one that's attacking the wagon hasn't quite got there yet so uh the one with rose and ziki i'll give it disadvantage that's gonna be a 16 to hit your horse actually it's not actually gonna damage you um it seems to they're swarming around you but they begin biting and scrabbling at the horse itself uh and that is going to be 2d4 damage

all right uh so your horse which is one of the riding horses um takes about three points of damage and you can see it's already beginning to bleed from several bites and scratches all along its sleek, pristine body. It's like a dark, chestnut brown horse as the bites tear into it effectively. Shadow and Ismark, you are on the other horse and the bats are going to do the same thing. They go for the horse itself.

These ones don't have disadvantage. They also hit your horse. And yeah, you see the same thing it begins biting and clawing uh into your horse causing rivulets of blood to begin spilling down and you can smell that irony scent in the air as fresh blood mixes into the air itself um irena will uh focus on the wagon for the time being she can can see that she can't quite hold the wagon and draw a weapon, so kind of next to

Jesper, she's just going to focus entirely on controlling the animals. So she's going to make an animal handling check. And yeah, she manages to keep the horses steady. She hears calls out to them like, stay calm my friends, please, let us just keep going, I know you can do this. And she's kind of speaking to the horses

as she hits the reins and manages to keep them under control from panicking. Ismark will, with one hand, try and swing his sword into the swarm of bats around him and Shadow as well. In fact, he actually gets two attacks, so he'll attack twice. So his first attack will hit. His second attack will also hit, surprisingly. Four.

Eight. So 11. Okay, double max damage on both of his attacks. So that's 11. 22. Damn. 22 halved is 11, because I've just done the same thing. So he's hacking into these um bats he's

kind of got one hand on the reins shadow you're behind him kind of holding on to like a part a paw around his waist and with one hand he's just kind of whipping the sword around his head and down on either side of the horse's neck kind of catching all the bats that come in to bite it um but the bats still a number of them are, but he's cleared out a large swathe of them at this point. Then some of the bats around the wagon begin to attack. One of them is going to go for the horses, and then the other two are going to go for Jesper and Zeros. So this is against the house, which is a hit.

House? The house. Nelly or fratato one of the uh this will be let's say nelly takes this damage um they're sturdy horses but again they begin biting and tearing into her flesh um the next one is going to be against yes but himself which is only a i believe that's a 12 to hit you, Jesper. That does not hit. Okay, so you kind of managed to kind of bat the bats away, keeping them off your skin itself. Nice. Bat the bats away.

I just realized what I just said. And the last one is going to go for Zeros. That is a 22 to hit you, Zeros. Yeah, that'll do it. As you're kind of resting in the back of the wagon, just this black swarm descends on you and begins biting and tearing at your scales for six points of damage. Damn, okay.

And then it is your turn. So, wait, how many swarms are there? There are five swarms. They kind of split off into these five groups. You currently have One attacking your horses on the wagon The two Nellie and Furtado The ones attacking them

And then there are two swarms attacking each of the other Horses and then Jesper's being attacked by a swarm and you're being attacked by a swarm I'm guessing That this Wagon isn't great sword swingable Like You can definitely swing but that this wagon isn't great sword swingable. You can definitely swing, but if...

Yeah, you can definitely swing. I'm not going to give you punishments for that. Like, if you speed the wagons up next turn, it's going to maybe be disadvantage on your attack rolls, but you can definitely do it. It doesn't really have a top. It's kind of got like a loose canvas top, but the bats have shredded all of that getting inside

and it's now kind of flapping in the wind okay well two questions one sweeping attack can i use this against a swarm because it hits absolutely things within five feet of it um yeah so you can i'll let you either do the damage to another swarm or you could do the set that the damage to another swarm, or you could do the damage you would normally do to another creature to the same swarm you're attacking. Okay. Yeah, I'll start off by just trying to clear the swarm that I've got on me, in the wagon.

So, I need to hit... Let's see if I do that, shall we? Great sword. 23 to hit. Yeah, that will hit. That's 9 damage. 9 damage plus another D8 to this one swarm. Another 7, so 16 damage to that one swarm.

Okay. So, again, the weapon itself, it cleaves through several of these bats at a time, but there's just so many of them. Even with the weapon itself, it cleaves through several of these bats at a time, but there's just so many of them. Even with the sweeping motion, they still kind of descend down upon you, still surrounding your body. Okay.

Now, if I look through that canvas, is there enough of these things in, like, a line? Like, or are they quite spread out across the room? Let's say, for example... You can make an attack against one swarm. Yeah. What's that? What's your breath weapon again? Is it acid? Acid, a 5 by 30 foot line. So 5 foot wide.

You can catch one swarm in it, yeah. You can absolutely hit one of the swarms with a line of acid. One? I want all five! Or nothing. No. Once doesn't get. That's okay. I'll leave it there. That's my turn. I'd have to action search to do that anyway.

So I won't do that. You would. Rose, your horse... I need you to make an animal handling check to keep your horse from panicking, basically. Okay. Okay. Okay, basically. Okay. Ugh.

Okay, yeah. Oops, sorry. That was a 17. No, that's all right. The 17's just perfectly fine. Yeah, you managed to keep your horse from panicking. You can see it's being bitten and torn at, but the horse, you keep its focus, and already at this

point, the bats are beginning to drift behind you and as as long as you can keep the speed up you'll outpace them um jasper i'm going to uh encourage arena to say uh we must go faster please i'm trying. I just don't want them to panic, but yes, I'm getting them to go as fast as they will. They can take it, and I'll lay a calming hand on Nelly and Fatato. Come on, you two. Let's get this together.

And maybe an animal handing check or something like that. Yeah, you can make an animal handing check too. To make sure they're okay. Okay. Okay. 22. Okay. 22. Nice. 22, yeah, they're more than enough. They're definitely under

no threat of panicking there. Rose, your turn. So am I past the bats now? If you want to use your action to make the horse dash, because at the moment you're just going at your normal movement speed, if you want to basically force, like, be like,

and get the horse to speed up, you'll leave the bats behind. Yeah, I pretty much would like to do that. Um, and just encourage everybody else to do the same, to speed up. Um, because then I'm out of their swipey swipe range anyway yeah absolutely so yeah with a kind of like crack of the reins you and Ziki lurch forward

ahead of the rest of the group and the bats are desperately chasing after you but they just don't have the speed to catch up to a full galloped horse and they begin falling back as they do. That's going to be your action pretty much in your move. Zeke, they're now behind you.

Is there anything you want to try and do? You can see that the bats begin to fall away but they are still attacking the other horse and your companions as well. Yeah, can I cast Ray of Frost on the bats behind us? Yeah, which one do you want to go for?

Do you want to go for the ones that are attacking Ismark and Shadow or the ones that are attacking the wagon? The wagon. Oh, sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, go for it. Cool. So it is a ranged spell attack. Is that in total? Yeah, that is total, yeah, because it adds to your plus four.

So the ray sadly just goes a little bit too wide to the side and the bats kind of break apart in a kind of fluttering of mad wings as the beam of ice just shoots past them, scathing the ground and covering it in a degree of rime and frost as it goes past. Shadow, unless there's anything else, Zeki, on your turn? I'll just shout back to the group.

Keep going! Let's keep going, we can do it! Okay. So is there a way that I can assist Ismark in encouraging the horse to go faster? You are not riding the horse to go faster. You are not riding the horse. You're not the rider.

So you can't get them to take their right. You can't make them dash on your turn. But you could definitely use guidance or any spells you've got that you want to try and do. If you just want to try and make an animal handling check to keep them calm, you could try an animal handling to keep the horse calm. All I've got is resistance,

which isn't quite what I want. could try an animal handling to keep the horse calm all i've got is resistance which isn't quite oh i want um i see yeah i don't think there's anything i can really do maybe an animal handling check just to like try and if they get attacked again like stop them from uh losing control or sprinting like yeah i just want to focus on assisting um ismark ismark managed to clear ismark managed to clear out quite a lot of them from around you um so the the bats themselves are diminished in number so there's not as many of them now but yeah you can do that so give me give me an animal handling okay uh is that rolled uh that's a 19. Yep. 19. With a soothing voice, you kind of stroke the flanks of the horse,

even though it's bleeding, maybe kind of like a very minor amount of healing energy just to kind of keep it calm. Yeah, and it remains focused on its purpose. Its eyes down. You can hear it kind of, the spittle in its mouth kind of flying back as it desperately tries to just outpace this thing attacking it, basically. It's natural instincts to run

take over. Sadly, the bats will get an attack in before Ismark can kind of muster the horse to speed up. However, they do seem somewhat diminished. They continue to bite away at the poor horse,

but not enough to bring the horse down before moving on Rose the one that had drift is just continues trying to chase after you but can't keep up and then basically Irina and Ismark have the next two turns so they

both kind of kick the horses into a dash and the group basically as a whole you all manage to gain the up both kind of, hyah, kick the horses into a dash. And that was a bit of Halo that came out there. And the group, basically as a whole, you all manage to gain the upper hand and sprint and dash. The horses continue this gallop for perhaps another 10 minutes

or 20 minutes as you pass through into a narrow corridor of woods on either side of you. But the bats kind of disperse and eventually fall so far behind that they no longer pose any threat, and the horses begin to slow down as you just begin to emerge from the other side of this wooded path that leads through these ancient set of trees.

Can I stand on the wagons and make myself very visible and shouty to the other people on the horses in front? They are ahead of you, the other two horses. Everybody stop. We must check on everyone. And the horses.

Ismark pulls the horses to a slow road. Do you do the same? Get away from them. I keep going. No, I don't. I stop. Yeah, so on the other side of these woods you're in these kind of nestled hills so small valleys almost with the sides of the road sloping up

and away from you. And yeah, you bring the horses to a slow. Irina stops the wagon and pulls it to a calm. You can see her kind of breathing deeply but she seems a lot more composed than the first time she was in a sort of combat-y situation. Yeah. You bring them all to a close.

Has anybody hurt? Just the horses, I think. Yes, this... Our horse is... She's bleeding quite badly. I think she's okay, but... Not one of yours. One of ours.

One of my father's horses. I think one of yours took a little beating as well. And yeah, you can see that three of the horses have definitely taken some injuries. I will cure Wins. Couple of the horses. Okay, sure. So, yeah, yours Nelly has

taken, I can't remember if it was Nelly or Fatado, one of them has some injuries but not too much. The horse that's the worst off is the one that Ismark and Shadow were riding. I'll focus on that one first then. Seven healing. Seven points?

Yeah. Yeah, you don't manage to heal up all of the wounds and bites, but the damage that's remaining is quite superficial. It's mainly cuts and bruises. The kind of thing that a horse probably won't notice too much now, and it will just heal naturally over time. It's mainly kind of cuts and bruises. The kind of thing that a horse probably won't notice too much now, and it will just heal naturally over time.

It's a tough hide. Without these precious beasts to get us through the woods, we would be dead. Yes, the road is still quite a journey without these to carry us, and if anything chases after us, if wolves come, then we're in trouble.

Thank you, Jesper. I did not expect you to use magic on the animals. I thought that you would bandage their wounds. It's much a part of us than anyone else, human or horse. They all play an important part, do they not? Irene looks around like, what about everyone else? Are any of you injured or horse? They all play an important part, do they not? Irene looks around like, what about everyone else? Are any of you injured or hurt?

I am fine. I'm good. Can I walk to the side of the road and sort of scan the tree line and just see if I can spot anything in this trap forest. This danger forest. I think Rose

would probably do the same. Especially after Ismark said wolves as well. She would be kind of making sure that there's nothing else. Should I roll as well? Yeah, you can make a perception check. Look at the tree. Yes, that looks like a tree.

21. Okay, so Xeros, you're kind of looking into the tree line. Without a doubt, there are things moving in the forest. That's without a shadow of a doubt, Xeros. You can see things. The occasional eyes

glowing look back at you and then seem to turn away and continue on you see dark shapes hunched you think they're animals you kind of blink for a moment but were they or did they look like people you're not sure you it's hard to see it's still the light is only just beginning to come up um and the forests themselves are quite dark rose you have a trained eye and there are animals in the woods but nothing that you think will present any threat um there's definitely you can see the telltale signs of animals coming going um wolves have definitely been in this definitely you can see the telltale signs of animals coming going um wolves have definitely been in this area you can see the footprints you can see their tracks even out here on the road you can see that they've come and gone these woods are definitely there are there

are dangerous creatures that live in them but you don't think they present any immediate threat to you right where you are one thing does catch your attention uh you you glance it by kind of walking a little bit up one of the hills to get a better vantage point and maybe a couple of hours maybe an hour's ride away um on the edge of another forest that the road seems to follow you can see what appears to be a uh a windmill uh best you could describe but the the the windmill isn't turning the the the blades of the windmill aren't turning anymore it looks quite run down and tattered um a broken stone shell of what it once was it's quite in it's quite far in the distance but your keen keen eyesight picks it out in the morning light and that's that's something that the rest of you notice

is as you take this brief moment the light level doesn't change enough it's not a radiant dawn but it's enough to let you know that dawn is is here there's just the faint lightning uh like a faint a faint pale light in the air the clouds are so thick that no sunlight actually comes down you're kind of getting this diffused dark gray mingling this kind of muggy atmosphere to it all but dawn has come not that it's brought much joy with it I think we're safe for now but did I hear correct in that he asked for Tatiana who's Tatiana

Irina looks as confused as Mark and Irina don't seem to. They're like, we don't know. I've never heard that name before. He was after Irina. Perhaps he, I don't know, said another name by accident? Unless one of you know a Tatiana or are a Tatiana? But that's a very Barovian name.

I'm just concerned that is he looking for multiple people? Has he got a list of people he's demanding as his victims? I don't know. If there's other people who are at danger, then we should definitely find out.

We should, yes. I'm sorry, Miss Rose, the devil is insane. I can't, i don't understand his reasoning or his methods at all but what you say is likely true perhaps there is other people he's trying to collect certainly arena is not the first woman that he's shown an interest in we've all heard the stories of young girls pretty girls girls who go missing, taken up to the castle. That's why we were so... That's why I was so desperate for him not to take

Irina. Yes, given how he... I still don't quite know how he spoke to me, but there was a part of me that wanted to go with him, even though I didn't. Magic in my mind telling me to go with him.

Perhaps there are other victims out there, other women he's looking for, but I've never heard this name. Perhaps she's someone from Vallaki or someone from your world. I don't know. Yes, maybe we could ask when we get to the next time. It might be worth just checking. It just seems strange to me. He seemed very fixed on Arena, and I would hate for this to be multiple people,

monsters who hunt down victims like this have to be stopped. Absolutely. He's been doing it for centuries. I wonder, the girls he chooses, does it have anything to do with the thing on your neck? And I point a claw at Irina's neck. What thing on my neck? And she kind of brushes it with her hand. But the marks are so small that there's no

physical dents for her to feel. It's like an old scar, just brushing across a mark that was there. She's like, what thing on my neck? Ismark, is there something on my neck? You see Ismark kind of looks for the first time and is like, yes, it's like small scars.

I'm guessing I would have noticed this by now. Yeah, yeah, it's been pointed out 100%. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Make a make a nature, no, a medicine check for me, but with advantage. So add, give yourself advantage on the roll. Maybe it's a bug bite two bugs

maybe although we don't have a lot of we don't have a lot of bugs like that here in Barovia out in the swamps maybe but in the villages it's not very common Rose for you with that total of seven the highest seven

dear god I mean there's some things you know as a basic Rose, for you, with that total of seven, the highest seven. Dear God. You, I mean, there's some things you know as a basics, right? Like you learned, you've trained and honed your skills as a monster slayer. You certainly were taught about vampires by your old instructors and mentors and things like that. Vampires suck blood blood they drink the blood of victims um but even with a seven you would know that being bitten is not enough to

turn somebody into a vampire right the vampire has to will it it normally has to be several times over that the person is bitten um and there is a certain element of compulsion that's needed as well. The bites themselves, you don't know how many times Irina has been bitten. Maybe this is once, maybe it's twice. It could be a dozen times. It's hard to tell. You don't have the medical knowledge to gauge the scarring and the age. But yeah, she's clearly been bitten by a vampire um whether or not that

means i mean if she was a vampire you have a feeling that she would not be as compliant um as she has been she would not be resisting strad normally a vampire once turned is completely beheld into their master once they become a spawn they do whatever the master wills them to do um so you don't know love it how long i mean that's not to say in terms of a paranoid if if rose is a bit more of a paranoid person there could be a the thought there of well what if strads told her to act compliant and to play the part of the victim. That could be something that a clever vampire would order one of his spawn to do.

You don't know. And you say how long have you had these marks? She's like, I don't remember having them at all. I didn't know I had them. I just... When he's appeared... To me, it's always like he came to me in dreams

it's like i was speaking to someone from like someone i used to know somebody that's uh like a a friend or somebody like a brother almost um and it would be in dreams I would think that I was in a palace a castle wearing fine gowns and he would speak to me sweet things and play music for me and then the last couple of times Ismark has

woken me and I've been at home in my bed and he's been there at the window and I've once I was almost out of the window and I've well, once I was almost out of the window myself, I was leaning out of the window and it was only because Ismark and father pulled me back that I did not fall into

the devil's arms, but I don't remember anything else. A couple of times at the window. Ismark, has it been two times? Has it been three? Twice. Twice. Twice. The last time was the time that Jubald came, though,

and he hadn't gotten to her. But the first time, she was basically in his grasp. He was distracted, I think. That's why me and father could pull her back. She was stood out on the window ledge. He was holding her like a lover would, I guess.

Well, we managed to pull her back in and deny him. We told him that he was not welcome, and then he could not enter anymore, and he was enraged. The next time, though, is when you and your friends came when he sent those creatures, the devils against us. The spined monsters. Shadow, can you take a look at this and tell me, do you know how many times that she's been bitten?

What is wrong? Can you tell? Is something wrong? Is something going to happen to me? Looks like fang marks to me. And then I'm going to kind of do a little hiss, like, and reveal my own little cat fangs. Can I make a sort of medicine check then? Yeah, you can make a medicine check.

That will be a 23. Yeah, you taking make a medicine check. That will be a 23. Yeah, you taking a look at these and having treated injuries and dealt with the dead and things like that before, you think that she's probably been bitten in the last week or so. Everything about the marks and the age of them, the way they've healed up, kind of collaborates with what is mark just said that you know maybe a week or so ago she was bitten and then he's she's been visited

again but wasn't bitten a second time um and certainly like as you're like if you if you're touching her like neck and stuff like that you can feel a pulse you can feel that her blood is still warm um there's no sign of undeath that's something i think shadow would be able to tell quite easily with a medicine check of that nature this is not an undead creature this is a living woman um i would say the bite is about a week old i wonder where where it is he bit you in, you say he has to be invited in. I wonder what opportunity he would have.

She was standing out on the window ledge. So, outside of the house. I think he had called her to her through the window and she had gotten up onto the window itself. He plays mind games. He can be persuasive. In good news, your blood still runs hot.

Your skin still is warm. You are not undead. No, no, of course not. To think that maybe I've been turned into one of his things. Strahd is a vampire, and he is clearly trying to turn you into one to join him. I don't

know if this is the case with multiple women, but we have to prevent that. Yes, yes. I don't want that at all. Please. And I would... he must have some power to charm

or to confuse me or something because I would not allow him to do this I don't want this I want to be safe, I want to be with my family I want to just live in peace we all do and that's the scary thing about monsters is they have ways of persuading you

ways to get what they want and of course we know that you don't want that but in the moment his powers could overcome anyone he is a vampire, he is a powerful creature but that doesn't mean that he is undefeatable What are Zeke and Xeros doing at this point? Just out of interest,

because I want to make sure you guys get a chance to say or do anything you guys want. Just listening, crossed arms, standing there looking badass. Yep, standard Xeros then. What about Zeke? How does Zeke react to any of this? Or is anything in the vicinity distracting her?

Or is there anything she's interested in? I think she's listening to the conversation. Just like unbelievably just trying to take it in. Hoping that it is just a bug bite. Maybe it is a bug bite. There's that kind of false hope of like yeah but it could also be this okay it could also just be a mozzie bite like no biggie right uh is mark looks around to everyone is like we should perhaps discuss more of this in safer

areas we're still not out of danger here and do not be confused do not be fooled by the presence of the sun. It holds no power over the devil or his minions here. It's not strong enough. Some of the weaker ones, perhaps, but him, he can come to us now if he wishes. Well, let's keep moving then. Yes. It shouldn't be too much further now.

Perhaps a few more hours and we should reach Velaki. I've not been there in some time, but it's got high walls and plenty of guards, and certainly the Burgomaster there was never a friend of the devils, so perhaps we should be safe. With that, he kind of gestures to Irina and begins making his way over to the family's horse and I'm assuming the rest of you make your way into your own horses as well

I go into my horse into your wagon yes go on how would the rest of us react to hearing the word vampire like would we know you know much yeah like you guys you guys are from the forgotten realms um so there are there are countless stories of adventurers who fought vampires um you've all heard of characters like elminster and drist who

have fought these powerful creatures you know that they are powerful undead um you know that they have powers of you know draining the lifeblood out of somebody they can turn people into a vampire um they you you kind of know the basic mythological stuff about vampires you know like ah yes they don't like holy magic they you know the power of the gods is effective against them and stuff like that um yeah you guys know what a vampire is we know if anything like that holds truth or if is it just their stories that is going to make i mean you can make a arcana check or a religion check for me and then yeah you might know some stuff you might know some weaknesses of some vampires. Vampires.

Vampire. Vampire. Seven. Alright, so Zeros doesn't. Zeros has heard the stories, but you don't know anything more concrete about what is true or not. All of that.

As far as you're concerned, all of that works. As far as you know, all of that is the case. Zeke, you can make a check if you'd like as well. Yeah. Arcana or religion. Ten total. Ten total. Same thing. So yeah, you've heard the stories, but no

specifics. Like you don't know 100% what will and won't work. Cool. Yeah. Anybody else? Anything else? Anything else from anyone else? No.

Just absentmindedly shuffling my Taroka deck and thinking past them. But like, I suddenly snap two and it's like, yes, we must keep going. We can't stay idle here for long.

Come on, everybody. Back on the wagon. Okay. Perfecto. So you guys mount up and re-continue your journey. I just want to bring up something for my own benefit, if you don't mind.

I do. I do mind okay so you begin traveling once more and after about another not even a full hour maybe about sort of 30 minutes have passed traveling down you make your way through the nested hills of this uh land and like rose saw you now all see and are fast approaching a small road that turns off um the old sphalic road transitions here from being a winding path through the mountains to a lazy trail that hugs the mountainside as it descends into a fog-filled valley in the heart of the valley you can see a walled town near the shores of a great lake in the distance a branch in the road however leads west to uh uh i can't even read that word uh a dilapidated stone windmill it's warped wooden veins stripped bare you can see from the trail from the road uh the door is banging open and closed, caught in a wind.

It looks quite abandoned and dilapidated and just seems to be devoid of any signs of life as this windmill just kind of creaks and just looks there. And there is something strange about it. just looks there and there is something strange about it. This very ominous, like, just on the edge of a forest, there's just this old, dilapidated windmill. That's a hard pass on that windmill there, Mark.

Okay, so that's what Rose is doing. Do all of you just want to just skip past? Friends, we have a few hours until we reach Vlaki. Maybe it's worth stopping.

It looks quite abandoned. Perhaps we could seal the door and get some rest. I know none of you have probably managed to get any sleep since you arrived. Maybe there's some supplies in there. Some old flour or something? Or, I don't know. Maybe.

Can you bake? Yeah. I'm not too bad at it, actually. Interesting. I know my way around a cake or two oh I like cake with a windmill

there are multiple floors so we would be safer on higher floors from wolves and other beasts that lurk in the night. It would be good for us, I think, if we need a longer rest, say, to rejuvenate our abilities and whatnot.

The horses have been running for a good couple of hours. It wouldn't hurt to give them a moment to rest either. Let them graze for a bit, perhaps. I don't think we should stay long. It's daytime now. I think we're going to travel. I don't say that in character.

I do neither. I'm having a very difficult time saying go to the windmill right now. Sorry. Do you guys want to go to the windmill? Sounds like Ziki's up for windmill. Jesper's up for wind windmill Jesper's up for windmill who else is up for windmill Shadow's up for a long sleep

alright Shadow wants to sleep Xeros is going to follow Ziki that sounds like you're all going to the windmill let's all go to the windmill yeah let's all go to the windmill you can see that the the onion domed edifice leans forward into one side as though trying to turn away from the stormy gray sky you see gray brick walls and dirt covered windows on

the upper floors and a decrepit wooden platform encircles the windmill above a flimsy doorway leading into the building's interior. Perched on a wooden beam above the door is a raven. It hops on one foot and squawks. Ah! Yeah. You guys approach.

The raven, as it sees you approaching, flies up and settles at the very top of the windmill. I do need to practice with my deck. Maybe I could give some sort of sense as to our future here. The door just slams open, caught in the wind. It just kind of smashes to and fro, kind of constantly slamming as the wind is blowing against it. You can to and fro, kind of constantly slamming as the wind

is blowing against it. You can see that part of the door has broken off as well, and it seems that the interior is empty. That would be nice, Jesper. I for one do not trust ravens.

Alright. I can try it. You should be careful here Catman Lady Thing. I'm sorry. I don't know what you are called. Shadow. My name is Shadow. Shadow.

You should be careful, Shadow. Ravens are precious here in Perovia. Never kill a raven here. It's bad luck. Bad omen. I wasn't saying anything about killing it. I'm just saying that it looks ominous. Cats and birds.

We all know how that goes. I am making faces at it. I am like... The raven's just kind of cocking its head as it looks around awkwardly and kind of looks down. When it sees you, Shadow, and it kind of bobs its head. Ah! Yeah.

Yeah. Well. I'll draw a single card. I'm not being hostile. I'm just pulling faces. Okay. So you see Jesper kind of gets out the delicate wooden box of Madame Ava's cards.

Do you, like, get down on the ground trot and pull one out, or are you just pulling it out and showing it to yourself? I'll put it down for everyone to see, but very delicately. I'm shooting with this deck because it's Madam Ava's with the utmost respect. I'll just close my eyes and put the deck down,

shuffle them, and then slowly turn over the top one. Sounds good. I'm so excited for this. The Conjurer. The Conjurer. Make a charisma.

Just roll d20 plus your charisma for me. Okay. Okay. This is you channeling, trying to channel the power of the Tarot Credec and your gift of foresight through your force of personality. 19. Okay.

This is where I would like to find out what the country just default means. Okay. So you focus for a moment, and given the situation you are in, you are testing to see, you know, are you asking basically what will happen if we go in the windmill? Or are you asking, what's the kind of question you're asking? Yeah. Not like that specific,

but will it be more of a positive experience or a negative experience? What is our destiny? So the conjurer represents in this, in this circumstance, represents in this in this circumstance the conjurer represents the possibility uh for uh change um for reward for transformation but only if it is if it is worked for only if the only if the person who is seeking is willing to push their will against it to conjure it from misfortune. Well, destiny lies in our hands, friends.

That is all I can say about that. As long as we are together, we make the right decisions, and we are safe and alert, things will go in our favor. But we must keep our eyes open. Okay. We've done well so far. Okay. Uh, who is the first in? This guy! who is the first in this guy Zeros just makes his way straight in yeah I mean I guess with the group behind me

sure you're leading the charge go on Shadow as he's walking in and as Jesper says with eyes wide open can I activate eyes of the grave and describe it to you as it do so similar to when we were at the gallows it basically you open your awareness to magically detect undead I know the

location of any undead within six feet sixty feet of me that isn't behind total cover and isn't protected from divination magic and it's an action so um yeah i guess it's not it doesn't last it's just instantly so you just get a flash of it basically can i do it as close to the windmill as possible i guess but if anything's behind like total, you don't see it. So you can't see through walls with it and stuff like that. So you do not sense any undead immediately in the area that

Zeros is about to enter. Is that if I'm looking through the door? Yeah, if you're looking through the door. If you're looking into the room, you don't sense any undead. Yeah, I guess I'd see her casting that, and I kind of nod to her and then turn to go through the door. I guess I recognise this from the graves as well.

So shadows would just fill my eyes, kind of just flood my golden eyes, and probably then just flit away and I'll just say well, there is no undead but that's not to say that there are other creatures and ghastlies and ghoulies. It's not undead in any

area you can see. Exactly, and that's true. I do not have divine sight so take that as you will it is not a certainty okay I'll open the door

the door is already half open where the wind keeps knocking it open when you look inside Zeros the ground floor of this windmill was once a makeshift kitchen, but now it's just filthy and full of refuse. Broken baskets and dishware are

scattered in the corners, and a pretty wooden cabinet with flowers painted on it has been ransacked and left open. The whole room has a lingering sweet scent mixed with a burning ash like smell that burns your nostrils a long cold brick oven is built against one wall and a broken staircase leads up to the second floor and as you step inside you hear the unmistakable giggle of children

playing sounds of footsteps from above okay I don't like that I don't like children at the best of time children in an old decrepit windmill that's not good yeah the rest of you will come up you see the same thing xeros does and

as more of you begin to approach i think that shadow you probably hear the kind of like a giggling and footsteps but as the larger sound of the group gathering, that quickly fades. Did anyone else hear the giggling of children? No. Oh, that bodes well. That's definitely a great start. If there are children here, then we should help them.

They should not be playing out here. They need to be back somewhere safe. They sound fairly playing out here. They need to be back somewhere safe. They sound fairly content being here. Children do not know the dangers that they face. They're young, so they could well be here from

a nearby village or something. This could be their playpen, play den. I trust nothing around here. He's already shown me... Hello, children. Ziki, you're calling... You kind of call out.

Yeah. You... There's not really... There's a silence that the kind of silence where the door is banging you can hear the chatter and the squeaking of floorboards but there's an a noticeable

lack of sound where there once was something that maybe you didn't notice or pick up on, as you kind of call out, there's suddenly an absence of that thing that you didn't know was there. And there's an unsettling element to that.

You maybe make... Everyone make a perception check for me. Sure. Three. Natural one. Nineteen. Five. Nine. Cat eyes.

Okay. So Shadow. Fourteen. Fourteen is that total on Ziki? Yeah. Okay. Zke and Shadow. Echoing from the floors above, you just hear a very faint whisper. Quick, hide! They're back!

Wonderful. Did anyone else hear that, or am I the only one going insane? No, I definitely heard that. You want to tell the others what it said? Are you still talking about the children? Yeah. I nod. They said, quick, hide, they're back.

Children? Yeah. I nod. They said quick, hide, they're back. Oh, so that's... I'm sorry, but I find it hard to believe that there are children around these parts, given that the nearest town is quite a distance away, and the fact that I've already seen my own dead corpse as an illusion. I trust nothing.

Understandable. Uh, what do you want to do? Leave? What if their children are unsafe? Here. All I know is I've seen a raven and now there are children giggling and telling me to hide. I don't like it.

Well, we could hide. That sounds like a good idea. Well, if nothing else, the idea is... Jesper's thoughts to rest for a moment. I mean, they are only children. They cannot... Well, perhaps they are not only children. Perhaps there is something more sinister, but they have not

leapt out to attack us yet. I hate the thought of people that they are... Which leads me to believe that there is danger here. I'll follow your lead.

It looks abandoned. It doesn't look like anybody would have a reason to come back here. Perhaps they think we're adults who have come to find them or hurt them, perhaps? It's not above some of the people in Barovia. They are twisted by this place. Oh, they were laughing. So maybe it's not all that bad. In my experience, ghosts often don't leave footprints.

Ghosts? Hmm. You think it could be the spirits? Well, I tend to the dead. I often watch over the dead as they make the transition to the fugue plane in the city beyond. Sometimes, sometimes they need a little encouragement. And if not, yes, I have seen the odd ghost in my time. This is not filling me with hope for sleeping.

Let's go check on the children. I'll go quietly. Is there somebody going upstairs? Give a shake. I'll go quietly so is somebody going upstairs give a shit I'll go very quietly okay alright so you make a stealth check for me Jasper is anybody else going with Jasper or is he going on his own Irina will probably go with you are there places to hide

down here no it's pretty empty down here there's really just this kind of remnants of a, you know, the ruined remains of a makeshift kitchen. There's like a broken dresser. There's not really anything to hide in down here. There's clearly like marks on the ground where things like chests

and tables would have once been, but they're now not here. They've been taken somewhere. So Jesper begins quietly making his way upstairs. Irina will also move quite quietly. She'll follow up behind Jesper. Anybody else going with them?

I will. Alright, do you want to make a stealth check as well, Ziki? Yeah. It's a seven total. Okay. So the three of them begin making their way upstairs. Zeke, you can't help

but your tail kind of accidentally catches against the wooden parts of the staircase kind of making a thumping sound. You kind of pick your tail up but the sound echoes up as you make your way up but the the sound echoes up as it as you make your way upstairs on the second floor um you those of you who head upstairs on the second floor there is uh what appears to be a broken millstone for the for the windmill itself um you can see

the gears have all been removed but the main sort of like shaft stick remains. There is a large stone basin with a kind of white powder, like a white flowery powder on the inside of it. Just a little bit of a remains of whatever was being ground up here. The flower that was being ground up here. And then there is a second set of stairs that leads up. And it's very, not very tall ceiling. So you're kind of, anybody who's like nearly six foot, their head's nearly touching the roof.

And then the second step stairs leads up to what you imagine is a third floor. Quiet. Hold the tail, please. Sorry, I'm not good at cramped spaces. You don't have to come up. I'm just checking on the children. If there's a problem, I'll not good at cramped spaces. You don't have to come up. I'm just checking on the children. If there's a problem, I'll... I'll go over for you. Maybe wait at the doorway.

I'm sure it's fine. Okay. Okay. So you're going to stay on this floor, Ziki, and then Jesper and Irene are going to carry on. All right. Okay. Yeah, so you're just left with this broken millstone and the remnants of the flower ziki there's not really anything else on this second floor it seems uh jesper and

irina when they head up to the third floor you see a rotting wooden closet set against one wall there appear to be three crates set into it and stacked on top of one another. Each has a small door. A heap of discarded clothes and small shoes is next to the closet, and a moldy bed with tattered canopy rests on the other side of the room. You think for a moment there is something else in this room with you. I will not. Do you have your weapons drawn, Jasper?

No, I do not. That's what I was going to say. I'm keeping them down because if there are children, I'm not going to frighten them. Okay. Children, you should not be playing in a place like this. Hello? you should not be playing in a place like this hello you kind of as you speak you kind of let the words echo out and there's also a broken ladder uh that leads up to the well would have once led up to the very top of the windmill but the bottom half of it has long been broken so it's just kind of the top half of the ladder remains um when the the hello echoes for a moment and ziki you can hear it and the rest of you down on the ground floor

kind of here yes but calling out to them as well um there is no sound you look around doesn't seem to be anybody up here when When you turn back towards the stairs, you see standing there two very quite plump children wearing clothes. But you see right through them. You shouldn't be here. They'll be back soon. There's a young boy and a young girl. Both are very clearly ghosts as they just stare at you.

Okay. Who is coming for you? The mean ladies. Friends, we need to leave. They ate us. They've not been back in a long time. But they...

They left and we don't know if... They ate us. Where are you now? Do you know? Yes, we're in the windmill. This is where they made... This is where they made the cakes. Do you know where you last were?

Here. This is where they ate us. Specifically where? Down in the kitchen. They fattened us up in the cages and then they would take us down. They killed us and ate us. And then they ground our bones

up to go in the cakes. Oh. Okay. Irina's just looks white as a sheet as she's looking at them. Zeke, you hear this. I think Zeke can. You can hear

some, I think you don't hear the full thing of the conversation, but Zeke can. But the rest of you can hear that there is a conversation with kids I think you don't hear the full thing of the conversation but Ziki can but the rest of you can hear that there is a conversation with kids but you don't hear the details of it and Ziki like when you look over you can see there is this white powdery substance in the

millstone and there is a sudden realization of that's not flour that's bones that's oatmeal I start like's bones. That's bone meal. I start like scrabbling up back against the wall, just trying to get as far away from it as possible. Just like...

Yeah, you hear Ziki like scrabble, like her claws scrabble against the wooden floor. Why are you here, mister? We are here to... put you at peace. You shouldn't be stuck here in the windmill. You deserve...

to lay to rest. They don't... They look at you, not quite understanding what you mean. They don't quite... They seem to know they're dead, but I don't think that they would necessarily understand what you're implying, like they're kind of like, you know,

laying them to rest and stuff like that. I think it's time for you two to go home. We'd like to leave. No, we don't... When you say that, there's a clear panic in their eyes. We don't want to go home. Home is... Our parents are the ones that gave us to the mean ladies for more cakes.

We never want to go home. We hate home now. And you see them get angry. You can see their kind of demeanors change. And one of the baskets in the cupboards begins to shake and begins slowly moving out as you can see them getting tense and angry. Okay, okay. Don't worry. You'll never have

to go home again. You'll never see your parents. They will never harm you again. Okay? They're the ones that should be dead. They're the ones that should have... They should never have given us away. Right, well...

Destiny has a way of fixing these sort of things, so don't you worry about that. You worry about yourselves, okay? You can hear like a knocking coming from above you, Jesper. From the attic, you can hear like something knocking against wood. I'm just going to check on my friends. You stay here, okay? We can't leave anyway.

And the two ghosts just vanish. I'm gonna swiftly move my way back downstairs. Irina's following you, but like, kind of shakily. I guess it really was

ghosts. I know. Let's get with the others, shall we? And make a swift escape. What was that knocking noise from upstairs? I don't want to know. Do you? Okay. Not, well, not really, no. Right.

Friends, Ziki, we must go. Tell the others we're leaving. Uh, reason? Ziki kids? Illusions? You guys will make your way downstairs. Don't take any of the flower. Why?

I don't think we need the flower. Don't take any of the flower. Okay, I don't think we need the flower I don't think we need to do it okay I don't think we need to we don't need to bake cakes it's fine um it's all good I just start crying Irina

Irina looks over to Shadow as Ziki starts crying into her claws Irina looks over to you Shadow andeki starts crying into her claws. Irina looks over to you, Shadow, and is like, You were right, Shadow. There were spirits. Two young children that are trapped here from the sounds of it. It is pretty

ghastly. Their parents gave them to some ladies that ate them and ground their bones into flour to make cakes? Would I know anything about that kind of monster?

Sure, make a arcana check. You can have advantage as you are a monster slayer. While she's doing that, can I just look at Irina and just... Yes, I did tell you that children are fairly ghastly, but... You said that you could lay them to rest.

Is there anything you can do? They're just stuck here. It will be difficult. A grave wrong has been done against them, so their souls are anchored to this place. If you wish to guide them to the fugue

plane, we need to... I guess one thing would be to find any remains of their bodies, to right the wrongs, the great injustices that have been done against them. I don't think there will be any remains. It sounds like the remains went into these cakes. Rose, for you, for that 15 on your Arcana check.

Yeah, there's the description of mean old ladies and this horrific thing that they've done there's definitely other creatures it can be shape changes there are all sorts of shape changes that can take on forms of things like women and and creatures and and trick others but the very nature of what they've done, this sounds like the work of hags. Hags are fey beings normally that are the kind of subject of evil fairy tales and stories. Wicked witches that turn people into animals or, you know, trick people into horrid deals that bring them only misfortune. They live to basically make a misery out of other people's lives. And if there's three of them, that generally implies that they're a

coven, and that means that they are more powerful than a single hag on its own. We should move out of the windmill. We should leave. There are hags here. Hags?

I don't want to stay to find out. They're witches and if there's more than one of them then... There's very clearly nobody living in this windmill now.

It's abandoned. Like there's nothing here that could make anything. Like all of the equipment of the kitchen is gone. There's nothing really

left except refuse. It's just broken parts of anything. So whether they're still here, you don't know, but certainly they wouldn't be able to make anything in this windmill as it is. The millstone was broken. Everything here

looks abandoned. For months, maybe weeks. Do I know anything about so if they turn things into animals, would I be able to assess the raven and the way the raven was loitering about and looking at us as potentially anything to do with that?

You can make a nature check. See if it was acting weird or if it's a, you know, a raven. 20 altogether. You don't get the sense that that raven was... It didn't seem to be...

It certainly wasn't behaving like a normal raven, but you also don't get the sense that it was trying to spy on you or anything like that. If anything, it looked like it was trying to spy on you or anything like that. If anything, it looked like it was trying to guide you upstairs, which is where the ghosts were, where the children were. It's almost like it was trying to get you to go up there.

What are you thinking, Rose? That hags can turn things into animals and that generally more than one can be quite powerful I don't know how long they've been gone or if they're still around if they have any possibility of coming back then that

could be quite a risk a risky battle for us right can I check the ground and do like checking for recent tracks that sort of thing and see if there has been any recent activity survival check

what's Zeros and Shadow doing while Jesper is doing that um Zeros looks like he's just sort of like and Shadow doing whilst Jesper is doing that. Xeros looks like he's just sort of like a windmill. Yeah, just sort of listening and assessing and just trying to figure out

I don't know the full detail of the conversation, but like I mean, I guess they're saying get out of the windmill. So I'm kind of moving to the back of the group and kind of like shoving. Okay.

Yes, but looking down at these tracks and stuff, you couldn't really follow the tracks, but you don't get the impression that anything's been here in weeks. You kind of get the impression that there was quite a thick layer of dust. Or not even dust, actually, because there wouldn't really have been any bodies here.

There's just dirt and grime. You don't get the sense that anybody's been in this place for weeks. But you don't know when people left or where they went or anything like that. You couldn't follow any tracks to determine destination. They could have been gone for decades. We don't know.

There doesn't seem to be any sign of activity in recent times, at least. These ghosts could have been here for a long time. Did you ask the ghosts how long they've been here?

Ghosts? Ghosts are often confused. A year could be hours for them. They do not know that they should not be here. You said you heard a knocking from the attic.

Yes. Seems like that might be somewhere to start looking. For what, exactly? Closure. Right. You seem like you're an expert in this field. I'm willing to help you. I'll come up.

But maybe you know a ritual to help these two poor children pass into the fugue plane, you call it? It may not work so good here, but you can try. That is what I am worried about after meeting Barovians with no souls. I worry as well that my powers are somewhat drained at the moment but

I cannot leave such suffering unanswered I'll come with you If you are worried Miss Rose I can wait outside keep an eye on the road for anything returning. I wouldn't want... Hmm. I think it does

need someone to watch, but I worry leaving you alone in these lands. Don't worry. I'm more used to these lands than you are. I'll be fine. Don't worry. As long as you look after Irina, I'll be alright. I worry as long as you look after irena i'll be all right i'll give you a signal if it comes back i used to go and hunt wolves i've done a lot of traveling

through the woods in my time i'm no greenhorn i know how to look after myself and and ismark definitely gives you this air of a man who can fight and look after himself he does not seem overly he doesn't have the arrogance of somebody who's kind of puff after himself. He does not seem overly... He doesn't have the arrogance of somebody who's kind of puffing himself up. When he speaks, it's coming from a, trust me, I do genuinely know what I'm doing. You're more than welcome

to join me if you wish. Shadow, I know how much this is something that you would want to put right. So, I follow your lead if you how much this is something that you would want to put right. So I follow your lead. If you think that this is something we should take care of, I think we just need to be aware of what it was that did this. And keep clear of it.

I am concerned, as you say, of the return of these hags. Or, the other thing is, ghosts can often become volatile. And ghosts in their own way can be quite powerful. So, do not anger them. Right. I think it best not to say anything to them. Unless we know that they will respond well to it. right I think it best not to say anything to them unless we know that they will respond well to it

perhaps Shadow should talk you have done this before with many things yes but I am not very good with children I can help Vistani have a lot of children

sounds good they do have a lot of children a lot of children. Sounds good. That's true. They do have a lot of children. A lot of children. What are you implying there? Anyway. Nothing, nothing, nothing. Well, Ismark will... Go on.

I'll just look at the two dragons and say, if we solve the ghost issue, we'll all have an easier night's sleep, right? Yeah. They had such a torturous end to their lives. The least we can do is at least take them somewhere where they could feel joy again. In some small part. At least.

That is the correct sentiment, Ziki. That is what I will try and do, and I certainly need your help and your joy in doing so. I'll try and find as much as I can. For the children. Yes. Right.

Zeros? Zeros? Whatever you need me for. Perhaps you would be best keeping an ear and maybe an eye on the thing that bangs in the attic. Let us go.

Ismark will head out the front door and you see him kind of trot out a short distance kind of like lower himself onto the grass and he seems to take a watching position out the front and the rest of you begin making your way back upstairs I'm assuming the group of you with Irina

make your way back up and you see the same site you see the third floor with the rotting wooden closet with the three crates. Those of you who haven't been up here, so pretty much everyone except Jasper and Irina. Yeah, this is very clearly like a closet with three children-sized crates with lockable doors on the front. Might be where these kids were kept whilst they were being waiting to be ground up into bone flour. There is a disgusting bed and then the pile of discarded clothes with lots of small shoes discarded next to it. Unedible, it seems.

And then there is a broken ladder, so like the top half. So the room's about nine feet tall and then the ladder comes down about two feet so it's still kind of a big distance between the the floor and the ladder itself you'd have to jump up and kind of climb up and pull yourself up to to go up into the attic itself but as you all come up uh you initially kind of look around um and a single probably like a small wooden ball just rolls across the floor and just stops dead in the middle and then it lifts up and you see a small translucent child

holding it, a young boy and then appearing, materialising next to him is a young girl um hello again there's so much, there's so many more of you yes uh

we're all here to play that that does seem to not quite they don't smile but that that seems to set them at ease uh and you see them this very real wooden ball in their hands they throw it to you, Jesper and they kind of are like

Catch! and they throw the ball to you and yeah, it's yeah, it's just like a kind of children's ball, like a little wooden rolling ball or something like that Well, friends if you wouldn't mind

I'll keep the children this uh playing hey can you catch do you throw them the ball yeah yeah so you throw it and it just they stop it mid-air they don't catch it it just stops about a few inches in front of their hand and then they pluck it midair. They don't catch it. It just stops about a few inches in front of their hand and then they pluck it from the air. Wow. Good catch.

Are you going to get the bad ladies? Oh, no, no, no. That's the last thing we want to do. We just want to have fun. Seems to make them a little sad. But, yeah, carry on. What's the rest of you doing? What would Shadow seems to make them a little sad but yeah carry on what's the rest of you doing what would what would shadow know in terms of of i guess laying them to rest because i'm kind of going off of kim ghost knowledge here but i'm just thinking in the dnd world so um there's a couple of things i, you could destroy their undead forms.

That would put them to rest, but it's not a pleasant experience. It kind of destroys their spirit. You will go to sleep. Yeah, it's also, it would almost ensure, I mean, the thing is, as far as Shadow can sense, this realm is very different to what Shadow knows um the idea of the soulless barovians you're not quite sure i mean i think they the vistani told you that the souls here can't leave they're trapped here yeah so it's not like you can send them to the shadow fell or the fugue plane or anywhere like that but generally destroying a spirit is a very harrowing experience um to something like this

um you could still lay them to rest though the reason that their forms are taking us abound here is because of the tragedy of their deaths um their souls might not be able to leave barovia but you can at least make it so that they're not bound to this place and that they could at least be reborn right because that's a way that you know the souls are kind of stuck here and whilst their souls are in this ghostly form they can't be reborn into new bodies um there's a couple of things you suspect it will likely involve if what they said is true and that their bones were baked into cakes you won't be able to bury their remains, which is a common way of laying

the dead to rest. So instead, it's likely to be a righted wrong. Whether that's against the creatures that killed them and did this horrible thing to them, or whether it's against the parents who gave them away in the first place, that's something you're not sure about. But generally,

doing one of those two things will likely set these kids to rest. What is Ziki and Zeros and Rose doing? So this ladder is 11 feet up, right? Or the trapdoor is 11 feet up?

No, it's only about 7 feet up. You can probably just, with a short hop, grab it and start pulling yourself up if you wanted. But certainly a smaller creature or a less athletic creature would not be able to do so. So wait, who was planning on going up? Was it Shadow and Rose and Zeke? Was everyone?

I'm going to keep nobody was hanging so far. It's just this attic level that's above you. I mean, who was planning on going up into the trap? Nobody was planning on that. I think that you are the only one planning on that at the moment. And as you're kind of looking up at it, you again hear this kind of... wooden knocking sound.

Sure. Sure. Yeah, why not? Okay. All right. Just make an athletics check for me. It's really basic. It's only DC 10.

Just to kind of get the jump. Yeah. So with a short jump, you kind of grip your claws onto the rungs of the ladder and you feel it kind of creak and almost break. But you kind of pull yourself up and with one hand you can open the trap door. No sounds. You don't see anything.

You pull yourself up to look into the attic itself. Sure. Yeah. Pull yourself up to look into the attic itself. Sure. Yeah. Pull yourself up. And at first, it's quite dark, but you see that a single beam of light has been made through a small hole in the thatched roof of this windmill. And stood on a bird's nest, with something glittering catching the light

you see a raven and it cocks its head towards you pecks down at the shiny thing in the nest cocks its head back at you and flies up through the hole

and out of the windmill. Okay, I'll put one hand down through the trapdoor and call for Shadow. Yes? Your friends are up here, the raven. Wonderful. What do you see? Arms are starting to get a little bit weary as you're like holding yourself up

one handed Oh I thought I went up, I thought I was in the room Oh yeah, okay, okay So if you pulled yourself up in and then you've got one hand leaned out, okay that makes sense It's very like you are crouched up in here it's a very small space you can see that there's a few different birds nests um and if you're up you can see that

the thing that was glittering in the bird's nest is a very beautiful golden ring uh there appears to be some sort of inscription on the inside, and there is just a faint kind of silver edging that goes around the ring itself. It looks like maybe a man's ring. It doesn't look as delicate and pretty as a lady's ring. I mean, I've picked

up two magical items already. Let's go for a third. Third time's the charm. Sure, I'll the charm take the ring you have a golden silver ring okay in that case I will

drop back down again after holding this ring for a few seconds there is this feeling holding the ring there is this a feeling of a deep sadness and grief and melancholy

like as though you have a purpose that was never fulfilled and you're kind of holding the ring and as you kind of rejoin the rest of them suddenly it goes away and you're kind of holding the ring, and as you kind of rejoin the rest of them, suddenly it goes away, and you actually feel quite content,

and you have a sense of belonging as you're stood with the group. All of the rest of them, so Ziki, Shadow, Rose, Jesper, and Irina, there is a kind of relief there. But for that moment where you were separated from everybody as you were making your way down, there was just this deep melancholy and sadness

that you... There was something you never did, something that you were meant to do but you never finished it. But when you rejoin the others, it goes away. Hmm. I'm kind of holding it a lot tighter. Even the mean ladies didn't go up there

the ghost says as you are crawling back down what did you find I found a ring I'm just like holding it up for everyone to see it I found a ring. I'm just like holding it up for everyone to see it. Okay. Shadow, I think,

and I think maybe Rose as well. When Irina looks at the ring, there is like, she's looking at it and there's like a weird, she has like a weird expression on her face like as if she's seen it somewhere before but she just kind of shakes her head and turns back to the rest of the group uh would i recognize any of the writing on it abyssal celestial yeah it's written

no it's written in common um if you examine the ring more closely it's written in common and on the inside it says to my dear brother to my dear brother interesting how have the kiddies reacted to saying it they don't seem

to pay any mind they don't seem to pay any mind. They don't seem to notice it in any sort of significant way. The other thing I'd say you'd notice, Shadow, I don't think Shadow would have ever conducted a wedding before, but anybody who knows anything, I mean, it looks like a man's wedding ring. It looks like

a man's wedding band. I'm more the other celebration of life. Yeah, I figured. So maybe Shadow doesn't know that but maybe i imagine that like rose jasper and ziki would all recognize it as being like a human's wedding ring like a man a human man's wedding ring but the kids don't seem to react uh Jesper, you were saying something as well, I think? Nope. Okay.

Why did the ladies not go up there? Did they tell you that there was something bad? No. They were just always busy making more cakes. They didn't seem to care about it. They didn't like the birds, though.

And they kind of look up at the ceiling, and then they just start passing the ball back and forward. They don't like the birds. Huh. What are your names, dear children? So you ask that, and they kind of turn to you

and look in your direction the young girl answers the boy barely speaks by the way the boy has not really spoken the whole time you've been here it's always the girl that speaks to you I'm Myrtle and this is Fleek we're from Vallaki

or we were when we were alive right We're from Vlaki, or we were when we were alive. Right. And your brother and sister? No, we're from different families. Oh. Right. You're friends, though.

We became friends. We were in the cages together. We've only got each other now. Was there any other little boy kind of like shuffles on his feet? Is there any other children? Not here. They used to be before us. Hmm.

Kind of stare at you, blankly. They kind of... Occasionally they do glance in the direction of Zeke and Zeros, like curious children would when they see something that they don't quite understand and think is really cool. They kind of look up at the two dragon and also shadow as well like they kind of look at shadow xeros and ziki like in amazement um but there is also something something about their death which has robbed them of some of that enthusiasm and excitedness that children have

did you say there was like a wardrobe in here? A rotten wardrobe as well? Yes, yes. The wardrobe is, imagine the doors were taken off and it's been stacked with these kid crates, basically. Kid crates, yeah. Yeah, the kid crates are what fill the wardrobe, basically. And then the only other thing is a bed and then the pile of clothes,

which all appear to be children's size clothes. And there are, there's dozens to be children-sized clothes. And there are... There's dozens of pairs of shoes and clothes there. Can I, like, lean down to them and say, they look up at you

with wide eyes. Yes, we are dragons. And dragons kill those who have done wrong in this world. Anything from that? Yeah, they look at you. They, like, take it all in and they nod.

Then you need to deal with the mean ladies and our parents and the nasty lady in Vallaki. And what are their names the old the head of the baking ladies her name was Morgantha we don't know what the other two were called but they were her sisters my parents were Petrov and Vlada fleeks were Russia and Waldorf and the mean lady of Vallaki is Lady Fiona. Where are your parents' houses in Vallaki?

Whereabouts? I lived near the Burgomaster's mansion. My mother was a servant of his. And I think Fleek, or I think he lived near the burgomaster's mansion. My mother was a servant of his. And I think Fleek, or I think he lived near the tavern. His dad used to drink there and get very cross. Were your parents married?

Mine were, but I think Fleek's ones didn't like each other very much. Okay. They wanted to buy more of the mean lady's cakes, but they couldn't pay any more money, so they gave us away instead. They ate the cakes. They nod. They said it made them

happy. Oh. Oh. Oh. I don't like cake anymore. No, I'm not making a cake again. Irina kind of looks and cake again. Irina

looks and you can see Irina's got tears in her eyes and she's wiping them away and stuff like that. And she kind of grits her teeth. This is why this place is cursed. The devil just drives people to horrible things like this.

She just turns away and begins making her way downstairs clearly upset by everything go on shadow can I crouch down near the children and I guess try and take hold out my paws to them as if to try and take their hands and I'm just going to say they gently kind of place them and I think for you

you know that they're spirits but you can feel that energy so you can kind of hold your hand there and they kind of place them. And I think for you, you know that they're spirits, but you can feel that energy. So you can kind of hold your hand there and they kind of put theirs out. Little children, I feel your sadness and I feel the sorrow in these walls. We will right your wrongs as is deserved. I am so sorry for the crimes and the injustices

that have happened against you. We will make this right. Thank you. They don't disappear, but you can see that there is a a glimmer of hope in these spirits um that the first the first people like to actually

recognize their suffering and you shadow you can feel that connection with your mistress knowing that this is something that the the dark cloaks would approve that this is something that the dark cloaks would approve of. This is something that you were meant to do. Perhaps one of the many reasons you were brought to this place not just to deal with Strahd but perhaps to ease the suffering that he has brought

on these lands as well. Cool. And I'll just I'll just stand up and say look at everyone and say we must go and seek vengeance okay uh the last thing is as irena as shadow does that irena begins making her way downstairs um xeros as she does that feeling of melancholy and misery falls on you again as Irina makes her way

downstairs as that ring sits coolly in your clawed palm and yeah you just you can't shake it and with that is where we will end today's session as it is 10pm I see i see i see i see

i see i see nice so that was uh see look like you had to fight off some bats and then you explored a spooky not terrible windmill not terrible windmill dude they were grinding down kids here yeah tom let me tell you something let me tell you something could have been a lot worse that's why I didn't want to he's changed things here let's just say that those hags

they were still there in the original Curse of Strahd I've switched I've moved some stuff around so you could have been talking to the hags and fighting the hags themselves but I thought that this was creepy I didn't want to make the final call on that windmill I was like I know what

they're just there I could see you and Trot like Trot went from the angle of like I don't know anything about the module so let's go and then Katie was like how was that as a setting how was that as a session I like that creepy ghost kids

I love it I think that made it I just feel like the witches have fucked off to Vallaki and have set up a very successful baking business like Amy's Baking Company or something like that and they're just like we're going to off to Vallaki and have set up a very successful baking business, like Amy's Baking Company or something like that, and they're just like, we're going to go to Vallaki, and they're just like...

Kim, now, wouldn't that be a thing? Wouldn't that be a thing? Wow. Wouldn't that be a thing? I say, adjusting my notes rapidly. Oh, Tom, I don't need to adjust anything. Oh, Tom, I don't need to adjust anything. It's almost like Kim can see where I was going with some of these things. We need Gordon Ramsay, damn it!

Some great RP. It's creepier than not being there, right? If it was just me going there and there's spooky, creepy, scary hags and they're just there then yeah it's yeah hello deities would you like a weird cake yeah but if we go into a place and we don't die and we don't like find anything that's just going to kill us and it's even creepier somehow it's like the expectation i love uh but there was two things i love from this One was Rhiannon's reaction When she found out When it was like they made the bone

They made the cake from the bones And then Rhiannon's like Don't take the flower And then just like Don't take the flower I love that The other one I loved was like The classic thing of me doing the creepy knocking up in the attic

and at first everybody's like get the fuck out of there we're not going up there, no fucking way, because obviously I knew that I'd put a treasure up there and it was just like, well, maybe they won't find the treasure then if they don't brave it, and that's why when Trot did the card reading I was like

well, there is a reward and there are things to find here for those willing to look into it and to make it manifest because you had to brave the spooky attic of noises to get a treasure. And then Tom's now hopefully got some theories on the treasure itself

because he seemed to have a like, oh, I see. No, Irina, don't leave. Alright, with that, that's it. We're done. We will see you on Sunday. Thank you, friends. We love you. Stay healthy. Thank you for joining us once again.

Play that some damn D&D. Wash your damn hands. Wash your damn hands. Enjoy that cake. Love each other. Enjoy the child cake. Oh, God. Bye. Enjoy the child cake.

Oh, God. Don't do that. That would be yummy. Get that out of the podcast. Thank you.