High Rollers DnD - High Rollers: Curse of Strahd #6 | The Blue Water Inn

Episode Date: May 19, 2020

A glowing skeleton and a hungry old man greet us in the Blue Water Inn! 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

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wall it's artistry a master painter carefully applying Benjamin Moore Regal Select Eggshell with deftly executed strokes. The roller, lightly cradled in his hands, applying just the right amount of paint. It's like hearing poetry in motion. Benjamin Moore, see the love. Welcome, friends, to High Rollers Presents The Curse of Strahd. in motion. Benjamin Moore, see the love. 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. Last time on Curse of Strahd,

the party travel to the town of the Laki, a supposed safe haven and place to gather their thoughts after their mysterious and traumatizing events since their arrival in Barovia. Along the old Svalik road, the group's horses are attacked by a pair of direwolves who nearly succeed in killing one of Jesper's beloved horses. Shadow beyond the veil intercedes and halts the icy grip of death.

Arriving at Vallaki's gates, the party are at first refused entry due to the presence of the dragonborn and a tabaxi, a frightful rarity to the people of Barovia. However, with the arrival of the town's Burgomaster, they are welcomed inside. Burgomaster Fiona Wachter and her husband Nikolai welcome the group and assure them that it is safe from the monsters outside, and leave them to explore and find lodgings within the walled town. Jesper and Ismark lead the group to an inn they know, but find it has been closed and left abandoned. But a raven makes a trade with Ziki, giving up a key to the house, and inside the party find something unexpected.

And that is where we begin today's session. The door to the Blue Water Inn is open and you have stepped inside. And as you make your way in, you are approached by two figures. One is a human man dressed in dirty and tattered priestly robes. He carries a mace in one hand and clutches a holy symbol in the other, a symbol of a rising sun. His hair is unkempt, his eyes are wild, he looks partially starved, and he issues a warning.

Get back! Get back, you servants! You servants of darkness! As he thrusts the holy symbol and the mace in your direction. And stood next to him, radiating with golden light, stands a skeleton, brought to life by magic, each of

its bones inscribed with detailed fine script and glowing with a white radiant light. A sense of goodness and protection washes out from this being into the inn itself and it stands next to him and raises a hand. I will not allow evil here.

Speaks. And that is where we begin today's episode. Now, correct me. Just enlighten me. Who was the first to go into the door of this inn? Zeke, I believe. Zeke, you had the key.

I think Zeke got the key and then you opened it and stepped inside. Because you did feel this overwhelming sense of safety and goodness emanating from this building. You and Shadow both kind of felt this divine presence here. Hey. Sorry to intrude.

I'm so sorry. We thought this was abandoned. Hi. I'm Tiki. The human man looks with wild eyes, struggling to take in your unusual form, something that he clearly has never seen before. And you see him kind of struggling for a moment.

And you can see now that the moment of panic has passed. His arms are trembling and he seems very frail and weak. And he barely manages to rasp out, just like, Ah! Have you been sent by Wachter? Are you here to kill me?

To take the bones? I will not allow it! I will defend it with my life! Oh, no, no, we're not here to hurt you at all no we're just we're just looking we're just looking um I have some friends with me um and I'll turn around and gesture to the guys

there's there's some there's somebody in here um you can see this light like from behind Ziki you can see this glowing holy light emanating. You step forward, Rose.

We're not here as servants of darkness, I can assure you. You are human, unlike your friend. And he points at Ziki. You are not sent by... You have not been sent by the burgomaster

none of none of my party here have any connection to this town thus far or the devil uh we are we are strangers just as new here yes yes we've learned a lot so far he brings the holy symbol to his chest and in deep ragged breaths you see he actually just collapses and sits down um his kind of frail body no longer able to kind of keep him standing the the bones simply stand there uh the jaw doesn't move, but this voice kind of echoes out. I will not allow evil in this place. And it just raises its hand up again, repeating what it said before. If you are not a servant of evil, then you are welcome here. But quickly, do not let others see you enter.

If you are to be here here then enter and shut the door this sanctuary must not be penetrated what's going on I can't see is that the innkeeper I don't know I can't see there's some sort of light

at this moment Zeke and Rose are kind of crowding the door I mean yeah you can start pulling them in I don't know. I can't see. There's some sort of light. Can I try and direct everyone in? Crowding the door. I mean, yeah, you can start pulling them in. Like, it's just a doorway into, like, the common room of a tavern. You know, you can start pulling people in. There are lots of round tables with chairs kind of up on top of them as if the place was closed. There is a very thin amount of, there's a small amount of dust

kind of that has settled um you can see a lot of places have been lots of furniture have been covered with broad sheets of cloth the windows have all been barred from the inside wooden boards nailed in um but yeah yeah you can start funneling people inside and as they do you see the same thing as everyone else you see this kind of ragged looking fellow sat on the floor a mace kind of fallen to the wooden floorboards beside him

and then this standing glowing skeleton that radiates this light. What? What is that? I'm guessing this isn't normal here, then. Well... Jesper? No.

A skeleton that's radiating a glow? What sort of abomination is this? Is it a stride? Construct or something? No. No, no, it is quite the opposite, dear Fastani. It is no friend of the devils, nor of the Waktas. Right. What is it, then? Do you have water? Anyone? Water? Food? Anything?

My wagon has some things, I think. I have some rations, here please hand out my rations yeah he he takes the food especially and uh just in a starved kind of frenzy he begins shoveling it into his mouth um you can see there is this you know small tears forming in the corner of his eyes as he kind of begins eating and then quickly takes a water skin or any sort of liquid offered to him

and drains that just as quickly I have that too yes, thank you strange creature you don't want to get cramps it has been days I will gladly suffer cramps in exchange for

not starving to death. I thought that I was done for. I thought that I would have to brave the town once more. Leave it undefended. The town? What is wrong with the town? You must have... Perhaps you have... Perhaps you have not met them yet, but this town is...

This town is not as it appears. It is ruled by a woman of evil, malicious intent, of murderous intent. A woman who serves not one devil, but two. My name is Father Lucian. I once looked after the church here the church of St. Andrew although I hear that it is no longer it no longer has that name nor that it should

these bones you see these are holy relics animated through a dark magic that I had no control over but it seems to have retained its its protective nature its hallowing it is the only thing keeping the vampires seems to have retained its protective nature. It's hallowing.

It is the only thing keeping the vampires and worse, away. It's consecrated this place. Vampires. But what are you doing here? How did you get in? This place was locked. I locked it and the key, I threw it away.

Ravens. Raven gave us the key, I threw it away. Ravens. Raven gave us the key. Raven. Raven. Perhaps he is part of the family. Perhaps. Yes, you must have done something to earn its trust, then, the raven. They are not normally trusting strangers.

Apparently, ravens are an omen of good here. They're lucky. So, we've seen a few now. Perhaps there is. Perhaps then you have been brought here for a reason. I recognize at least two of you

and he gestures towards Ismark and Irina. You are the children of the Burgomaster and Barovia. I remember you when you were small. Your names escape me. It has been some time. Irina kind of steps forward. She offers some food that she's taken from a pack, kind of in supplement to what Shadow's given.

I don't remember you, Father, but uh, Ismark? He's like, I remember something of a father when I was a young boy. I am Ismark, this is my sister Irina. Yes, we are Kalyana's children. We're, are, are Kalyana's children.

These are friends of ours. They rescued me and my sister and they're here to slay the devil. They're here to end our curse. End the curse on Barovia. Father, we could...

You say that this place is protected. Could we stay here? Is it alright if we remain here? You are no allies of the devil. Or of Wachter, then, yes. The bones of Santandra would not have allowed you to enter if you were not, so yes. But you must keep it safe. We must keep the doors closed.

The windows must remain barred. You must limit your comings and goings. I'm not sure how much, how strong its effects will be. Come, come, sit. There is only, there is only a few bottles of wine that remain and little or no food. But there are beds here and there are it is safe if nothing else Lucien was it yes father Lucien yes Lucien of the morning Lord my apologies you mentioned the burka master here in for lucky that she is corrupted by two devils there are two yes what do you mean by that one you know

one you know the devil who rules from castle ravenloft yes we all know him of course but fiona walked her she has only recently become the Burgomaster, after she murdered the previous Belakovich. She killed him and his family, and then took his position, in a night of murder and debauchery. She has made some sort of deal with a creature of a realm beyond Barovia. A devil, a fiend that has given her powers and servants and given life to her dead husband. Oh, now she has ensorcelled much of the town. I did wonder about that one.

How do you see the murder about him? Yes, once a good man. I'm not surprised. Fiona is it is

difficult. She overtook the town through murder and death. Many good guards and good people lost their lives, but now she welcomes others. Claims that the town is safe. In a way, she is right. Strahd has not attacked it.

The wolves leave it alone. But there is something darker going on here. A plot that I have not been able to foresee or fathom. She has servants, beings of strange power. Vampire spawn of Strahd himself. But she allows the people to do what they wish. She encourages them, she gives them food, drink, safety.

I do not know what she is planning. She tried to kill me and she killed many of my flock. Many of the good people in this town. Whatever it is, it is not good. She mentioned the church of

the Ruby Rot. A new name that she has given to my temple, my church. Once blessed to the morning lord. I do not know what this name that she has given it means. But it is no longer a holy place. Perhaps it refers to the fiend she has made a pact with. That would be appropriate, I suppose.

Strange creature. I am weary. I apologize. My mind is... I have been here on my own without much food and water apart from what I could scrape. I am glad that you are here. Please.

But I think I need to... You must understand that... Yes, yes, Vistani. We are friends, all of us. Although some of us may seem strange to you and people of Barovia, we are all allies here, especially in front of

Sir Andrew's bones we have been tested have we not you are safe with us well the effect that he projects it does not stop it does not stop people with ill intent

but creatures undead fiends those clockwork men, they cannot enter. But I do trust you. If nothing else, I have little choice. You are the first faces that have not tried to kill me in some time. So I have no... What do you know about those...

I have nothing left. The clockwork men that you mentioned. Not much. Not much. They came with Fiona to attack the church. They killed many of the previous guards. I don't know where she got them or how they function. She just had them,

along with these vampires and devils that she used to overrun the town. It's like her little personal army. Whatever guards survived have sworn allegiance to her, perhaps unwittingly, perhaps willingly, I don't know. But the Clockwork Men, they are not natural. I've never seen anything like them before in my life. And the closest that I could think of is some of the toys that that strange Blinksy fellow created. I saw a few wind-up dolls and monkeys, but nothing like that. That is far beyond a toy maker's skill. I'm just nudging Rose.

I told you. I said. I know, I know. The toy thing is weird. It's creepy. It's very creepy. I think that is, yeah, I'm afraid of that. He points a shaking hand at the Dragonborn siblings.

You are... I sense from one of you, and he points at Ziki, there is a sense of joy and a sense of purity within you but this one, and he points towards Zeros, you seem more of a soldier than

anything else. I am... strange. Strange to be allied by. I am strange strange to be allied by but we've taken very different yeah roots I suppose well I am merely glad that

beings of your kind are here to assist and not enemies you look formidable oh they are bones he kind of gestures to the bones I have no control over them but

they do not seem to do much they just keep this place safe as long as it still stands I think that well I believe that we are mostly safe here what are you protecting? I wish to know

are you asking the skeleton? Zeros? I'm asking both of them I am he looks very sad at this question you kind of see his eyes droop, his shoulders slump. It was my duty to protect the people of Valaki, and I feel I have failed. I have...

I have not protected their souls, at least. As for St. Andral... St. Andral was once a figure, a hero who stood against the devil strad. But he was slain. His remains were recovered and the morning lord sought fit to bless them. For years they

remained beneath my church, protecting it, hallowing it. And then just before Fiona launched her coup, a young gravedigger, a boy that I'd taken in, he stole them, leaving the church defenseless against the supernatural.

I fled and Milovoj, he regretted what he did. He aided me in claiming the bones again. But by then we had found them in this state. Some sort of a young necromancer had animated them. It is strange. The spell should not have lasted this long. My understanding of their magic is the necromancer

is needed to keep the spell functioning, but the bones just remain in this state. I don't understand its purpose. This is great. The bones look at Zeros. Yeah, the bones look

at Zeros and it just, its head kind of creaks and its dark sockets stare in your direction and it just its head kind of creaks and its dark sockets stare in your direction and it is just bones kind of barely held together it looks at you uh protect

protect life well we're not too different then different well we're not too different then different zero's bonding with the skeleton he's made a friend friend friend

friend he's spoken more to the skeleton than he has to any of us including his own sister yeah just nod it nods to any of that. Including his own sister. Just nod. It nods. And then we do a secret high five handshake thing.

Yeah. The skeleton does seem to be probably like you see its head twist up and it almost it's hard to tell where it's looking because it just has these dark eye sockets but you could swear it's looking at one of xeros's swords it's like looking at the three

swords on his back and you get the sense that it's looking at them and then it looks back to xeros well don't you let me feel that maybe we're not friends they're my sorts my friends Irina kind of like gestures to all of you just like I don't know what you intend to do next my companions but

it does seem that this is at least a safe moment if what father Lucian says can be believed, perhaps it is best if Ismark and I remain here whilst you decide what you wish to do next. Jesper, I know it is a difficult memory, but Madam Ava, she seemed to be guiding all of you towards something before what happened.

Perhaps that is what you should pursue if there is any way that I can be helpful of course I will and Ismark I know will pledge himself to whatever cause you have but we are now beyond our experience I know little of the world outside of our village

we follow your lead my companions companions, my friends. Whatever it is that you wish to do next, whichever way that you wish to stop the devil, we're with you. But this decision is yours. You're right. We must take action.

And our best course was Madame Ava and her guidance and somehow I need to finish the reading that she started to give us a fighting chance you know to know where to go she gave us two and we all remember the cards

what? yes yes we have yes but what What? Yes. Yes, we have. Yes, yes, but... What were the two that she revealed? You understand her readings better than any of us, I imagine. Yes. Absolutely.

Shadow. Hello. Hello. Shadow hello hello you give Chris Trott a cool role in the story and what does he do he fucking forgets

oh god I got a quick question I bet some people in chat you can give Chris Trott some time to ponder on things. Yeah, sure. I do have the cards written down, by the way, Trott. Yeah, I know you do.

Given Shadow's god and given St. Lucian's god would the Bones really not be a bit funny towards Shadow? No. Lucian's god, would the clones really not be a bit funny towards Shadow? No.

They don't appear to be. Okay. No. It's weird. They don't appear to be perturbed. One thing, like, well, actually, I suppose you've not used your Eyes of the Grave and stuff like that yet, but, I mean, yeah, it's clearly an undead creature, but it is yeah, imbued with this

hallow holy magic that is very odd um but yeah yeah i mean the the the morning lord i think that shadow uh and ziki as well the morning lord that he refers to now you both know that in feyroon in torel um the forgotten realms universe you know that the morningerun, in Toril, the Forgotten Realms universe, you know that the Morning Lord is often called Lathlander, which is one of the gods of that realm. But the symbol that Lucian is holding up is slightly different. It doesn't quite match Lathander's symbol. It's similar, but you don't know if this is like a Barovian interpretation of Lathlander or if this is a different god.

You don't really know. But there's definitely similarities there. But yeah, like Shadow, yeah, maybe that's something that is kind of like, you're like, why is this thing not freaking out more at me? But it doesn't seem to be perturbed. Go on, Tom. Can I, like this dude's looking at my sword.

That's fine. Can I instead bring out what i've written down on my character sheet as strad's danger dagger the um the shadow dagger and see how it responds to that the red blade the the crimson bladed dagger hmm what, do you hold it out to the skeleton? Yeah, because see what it does with it. The bones look down. It looks, it kind of, the skull creaks down towards it.

Tilts the skull. Profane. Stench of fiends. Not fit for a warrior. Interesting. interesting hmm hmm

I don't know that weapon seems quite unusual my draconic friend uh Strahd's shadow attacked us

you survived impressive carried this weapon a shadow with a weapon it was used on Madam Ava Madam Ava Madam Ava ah the Vistani

the fortune teller I have heard of her I'm sorry to hear she has suffered yes and the Vistani are no longer allies of Strahd we are obviously given passage outside of Barovia and the Vistani are no longer allies of Strahd.

We are obviously given passage outside of Barovia. His eyes go wide at that. The Vistani have been cut off from the outside? Yes. You have been entrapped within the mists? We are as an enemy as you are. That is... That has...

For centuries that pact has been honored by Strahd. That is, for centuries that pact has been honored by Strahd. That is bizarre. Yes. As not like him, as foul as he is, he has always been a man of his word. To revoke it as such is grievous. Well, who knows what his intentions are. All I know is Madame Ava was trying to take a stand and sent me to find these people to do something about him.

people to do something about him. I whatever aid I can offer, I have a little magic. And once I knew how to once when I had my strength I could wield a hammer and a shield but I will need some

time before I am fit to fight again. But my magic what I have is at your disposal. The prayers of the Morning Lord are still answered here, even if others do not feel his presence. So, for example, that

dagger you carry, I could analyze it for you if you wish. I can heal wounds, answer questions that you may have thank you friends what do you think is the best course of action

do shall I try and finish the reading what do you need to do to attempt that is there anything that you need that we can help with I think Adam Ava works in mysterious ways and she's been alive for who knows how long she's very wise and she had a very methodical system she tapped into something that no one else has the power to do. But she saw something in me, at least.

And we've got nothing else. I just need to be able to recreate. Tap into her energy. Somehow. And follow the same path that she was trying to show us. Through the cards. I don't know how to do it but I guess the best we can do is

follow exactly what she did and continue it I say we begin okay so the first two were absolutely these ones do you need the exact cards or do you start again were absolutely these ones.

Do you need the exact cards or do you start again? Because remember it was the one with the man with the knives, remember? Stabby, stabby. And that was the first to be drawn. The torturer.

Yes. And then the one... Show me the cards, Jesper, so I can refresh my memory. Oh, yep. One second. Let me find the torturer. Torturer. Torturer.

I mean, I can just tell you what the cards were as well it was the abjurer as well it was the wizard but I'm enjoying I'm enjoying this let me have my simple pleasure yes you want the abjurer as well torturer

okay wait he's trying to do a thing torturer there it is and then yes with the knives fancy abjurer the wizard

yes big deck yes here we go The wizard. Yes. Big deck. Big. Yes. Here we go. Oh, halfway through. There it is.

How's your day going? Absurd. Yes. And this was placed. The placement is important, you see. For they mean certain things. Well, I didn't know that. I'm a tabaxi. I don't do fortune telling. But if you know the order, then she put this down.

I don't know. I'm a cat. Tabaxi, not a cat. Thank you. It's okay. I know. So long as this was placed first, the torturer on the left-hand side... The torturer was the first. Yes. The torturer was placed on the left side.

Then Madam Ava left a gap and then in the third placement was the abjura. She actually changed the order. She didn't do the second card. She went straight to the third card. So the Abjura is the third.

And I can tell you something about these two. If it's not changed from the teachings that I have read, then I will give you... Well, let's have yes but make a check uh to see how accurate his memory is of the teachings of madam ava and like your interpretation of the cards so this would be a what is a suitable skill check for yes on this one

a suitable skill check for yes on this one really arcana history it'd probably be your ability to like interpret maybe an insight I think because it's like reading that yeah I think an insight check would be what this is 14

14 it did it twice so it did because I think you're doing the advantage thing that's fine it's we just take the 14 it's fine um so the 14 um yeah you as far as you know you can base it on what madame ava taught you wink wink nudge nudge um and you can interpret those cards as you see fit um right so yeah the torture was in the first placement and then the abjurer was in the third placement. Now, the torturer, the placement of this card is important because it tells us

of history. It tells us the knowledge of the ancient that will help us better understand our enemy. Okay? So something to do with history or acquiring of knowledge.

And the torturer card is a reflection of this. And I need to look into my notes as to what correlation that has with Barovia. But we'll see. Anyway, the second, which is actually the third placement of the card. She did it in a strange order. Strange order. This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance.

A sword of sunlight. Interesting. And that has a... The Abjara was drawn on this one now to continue the reading I need to first draw the second for you see there are five cards

and they're positioned in a cross and we have done the two left and right of the cross. I need to do the top, the bottom, and the middle to complete the Taroka reading. Right? Yes. Good. Okay.

I'm just going to let you continue, and then if, you know... For me, I think this is all based on Jesper, and maybe things will change, but we don't know. He's getting his money's worth, isn't he? But before you draw the next card, Jesper, well, go on, continue. But before you actually draw the card, let me know. I'll shuffle them first.

I need everyone to sit around me as you were in the tent of Madame Ava. I need you all to remember what you felt at the time Oh. Ismark and Irina fetch one of the tables and they begin pulling the chairs off of it and draping the cloth over it like the tablecloth that Madame Ava had. They kind of

arrange it so that everyone can sit down. Okay. Are we all prepared? This time we have the bones of St. Andral. He is hallowed. We are protected. The events of that

tragic night, they will not happen again. So try not to focus on what happened after the reading, only what happened before. Before you draw the card, Chris Trott, you need to roll a d100 for me, please. Well, you know, Jesper's not fully practiced at doing this yet. 29. Okay. Okay. well you know jesper's not fully practiced at doing this yet so 29 okay oh i dropped all my cards your hand reaches down touches the deck and you try and focus your energy

sensing the atmosphere of everyone around you try and remember remember what I'm Adam Ava taught you to let go of your preconceptions of what the future will be and instead allow the fates and the powers of night and sun reach out through you and instead allow you to draw into

fate's touch the threads of destiny connected you try and make that connection draw your card the trader this card placed in the top of the cross suggests

a powerful force for good and for protection a holy symbol of great hope and this you draw it Jasper but there's

something missing that connection to Madame Ava to the thread of destiny, it doesn't feel the same as when she drew the card. You never practiced. You trained a little, but never quite... There's something not quite right. You're not sure if this reading is as accurate as it needs to be.

This is not right. We need to focus. Is everyone here with me in the room? You're focusing. Are there worries and fears? Yes. I don't really know what to be focusing on. I've never been a part of anything like this before.

I don't know if that's affecting things. I'm sorry. I don't know either, but the best I can tell is we need to embody ourselves before the events of Madame Ava's untimely death.

We need to be the people we were in that tent as the reading was happening, none of the events after that, the windmill, the wagon, the shadow of Strahd, that needs to exit your mind,

and we need to focus, back when we were at the Vistani, and we were hearing that music in the background, the joyful atmosphere, we need to embody that again. Vistani and we are hearing that music in the background, the joyful atmosphere. We need to embody that again. I can keep trying. Can I keep trying?

I don't know. You can. Roll another d100. Okay. Okay. That's a six. So here we go. Okay. The powerful force. The raven. Has been drawn.

I'm really trying to find it as well. In what slot? The same one. This is still in 2. Yeah, still in 2. Where the fuck are you, Raven? Even I can't bloody find it. The spirits

are unclear with this one. They are very unclear on this one. I know why. This is a king. That's why it's not meant to be there. Wow. It has to be separated. Nice.

So I think you draw the card. you draw the card. You draw the card. This is not right. There is something blocking this. You get the sense that the nature of Madam Ava's death... It's like you need a part of her with you. Like some

figment of her soul or her memory or something. Something is not right and something is blocking you. You know that the first two, the ones that she drew, are accurate. You know that those will be

true to what they are but you need something before the next before you can complete the reading something about madam ava something about her specifically needs to be resolved or found or something before you can complete this reading uh well the you. You are but an apprentice trying to dabble in the works of a master. I'm sorry, friends. I am doing her a

disservice by trying this reading. It's not quite lining up. I need to hone my skills and find something of Madame Ava. A source of her that I can embody and do the reading again.

But for now, we are stuck with just the two readings. That, we know for sure, is true. What about the blade that took her life? Oh.

You have it? Still? Yeah, I mean, I was holding it to the skeleton earlier. Oh, that one. It might work. Strauss Danger Dagger. It's also the thing that stopped her from continuing her reading. Maybe the thing that could be stopping this whole reading from...

From happening. Who knows. I had the sketch that I did of the night that we were there. Did that work? Maybe draw on the energy of that? That could be something. Absolutely. I'll pass over Jesper and Per out.

Thank you. Sure. I think I'll meditate on this and think about my next actions. I won't keep us any longer clutching at something that I don't know

how to fully grasp yet. For now, we must focus on our first two clues. The historical, the ancient knowledge to better understand our enemy and the weapon of sunlight. Torture.

I... I remember she said something about a house of silent ghosts when she mentioned the torturer right do you know

if that's somewhere here can I give that information yeah you can if that's somewhere here? Can I give that information? Yeah, you can interpret that card. You can understand her. It's a strange thing, these card readings. You know what the cards mean, but there was something about the way that when Ava would draw them,

she would almost become aware of what they meant. They have their general meanings, which you as Jesper know their general meanings, and you can use that as a role-playing tool if you want to make decisions and things. But when it came to a destiny, when it came to a person's fate, each card could almost reveal a brand new meaning to Ava as she did it. But you remember the words that she spoke. I'm not going to make Chris Trott remember them because I know he doesn't. But Jesper would remember those words. A town that's not well?

And they match the ones in the book. Yeah, it matches the ones in the book. There is a town where all is not well. There you will find a house of corruption. And within, a dark room full of still ghosts. Father Lucian seems to kind of prick up as you say as you read that out to the rest a town

where all is not well the previous burgomaster of Vallaki had a phrase an irritating one that he would often repeat he was a mad man really a danger to many but an irritating one that he would often repeat. He was a mad man, really, a danger to many, but he had good intentions.

He would host festivals almost every week, every month, to try and dispel the dark presence around Vallaki. They would vary. Sometimes it would be a burning of an effigy. One involved parading wolf heads on pikes, children dressed in costumes and ribbons dancing through the streets. But every festival, he would say that all is well, all is well, all is well in Vallaki. It's a strange choice of words, and as you read them, a town where not all is well, where all is not well, I can't help but

think that that is what Vallaki has become. Without the previous burgomaster, that has gone. I do not know what this, well the house of corruption could easily refer to Wachter

but I must admit that the previous Burgomaster was not entirely clean himself. Perhaps the two of them are a place for you to search? It seems that fate and destiny have drawn us closer to our first clue anyway, friends.

Yes. What about the other one, Jesper? The second, the drawn us closer to our first clue anyway friends yes what about the other one Jesper the second the next one the wizard yes I see a fallen house guarded by a great stone

dragon and we must look to the highest peak well Father Lucian kind of leans in dragon the only what was it you said

stone dragon the only dragon I can think of is... There's a legend. There's an old mansion. It's haunted. Spirits are there. There's a legend that a dragon died there long ago. A statue was made in its memory.

Argenvost. Argenvostholt, they called it. Oh. a dead place yes it rings a bell perhaps you've known of it I know the Vistani sometimes pass by it it is not too far from Vallaki

I've heard strange tales from some of the Vistani travelers about that place and they make up scary stories to tell the children I was one of those children. But I don't know any credibility to them.

It did mention a... That is the only place I can think of that there's only ever been one legend of a dragon in Barovia. It was Argen Vosthold, then it must be true. Right.

I'm beginning to realize that most of the ghost stories here are very much true, so yes. It's easier to believe. Certainly, my young lady, these are not just stories meant to frighten children. They are the way that we warn them, that we prepare them for the world that is to come. When we speak of wolves carrying off children in the night, it is not merely a scary nighttime story. It is a warning. We teach them lessons through these stories.

As young Master Jesper here is much aware the Vistani when we tell them to be careful of women offering treats in the woods it is because that creatures like hags and witches live there and they will abduct our children if we let them wander too close Barovia is not

an easy land never has been and as long as the devil lives it never will be yes unfortunately so an easy land. Never has been and as long as the devil lives, it never will be. Yes. Unfortunately so. But we're safe here at least for now. We have a location

where we can plan our next move. I recommend you do not let Wachter know that you are here, that you have come here on staying here. She wants to get inside, I know. She has not the manpower to do it. Right.

She might try and recruit you to destroy the bones of Santandru. If she believes that you can be corrupted through greed or avarice. Perhaps she may just simply eliminate you. that you can be corrupted through greed or avarice. Perhaps she may just simply eliminate you as she tried to do with me. She's a powerful woman and she has control in Valaki. The three vampires

under her command, they are stationed around the town. They only come out at night but they are powerful and they have minions of their own. If they were to be destroyed, perhaps Velaki would be able to fight back against Fiona. If she could be eliminated, perhaps this town could at least find some peace. We could free ourselves from under the grip of both Fiona and Strahd,

whom she serves. But whilst she is in power, this is very much her town. And you should be cautious. Thank you for your help. I think we will... We do need to

fix the wagon. If we're going to definitely continue on this journey, we should probably see to it that we fix that before Fiona tries to kill us or make us, I don't know, try and corrupt us in some way. I think that, yes.

There is also the matter of the children and the promise we made them yeah there is but yes it depends what we want to do here um

have you heard anything about children in this town being being sent away to windmill uh no uh i'd heard i'd heard of some children going missing parents claiming that their children had wandered into the woods that is not entirely uncommon in barovia i must admit admit, but no, and I've, since Fiona, since Wachter took over the town, I have been trapped here.

I have not been able to leave. I don't know what things she may have been doing or encouraging, but I can't say that I know of people. The windmill, I know that there was some women who lived there.

They would make pastries to sell. They would come to town occasionally, visit here in Barovia with pastries for sale. I do not know of anything of children being abducted. Those women with the pastries, definitely hags. So there's definitely something going on. Fiona has done something here. The children are not missing. They are gone.

They have passed on. And Shadow had a conversation with one of them. They're trying to pass on. Then you must see to it it is done. The lives of such children have must have been... The lives of children in Barovia is miserable at best. They cannot even have peace in death.

That is truly a tragedy. Do... I wish only that I had the strength to aid you. Do you know of any names? Rasha and Waldo, Pharaoh and Vlada, Morgantha, any of these names?

I'm afraid I do not, my dear. I'm afraid that even before I fled here, I must admit I was mainly in my church, trying to console the spirits of the people here. I was not a... I did not have many friends or indulge in much gossip.

I had a solemn duty and one I tried to perform as best as I could, but I could only do so much. It seems to be that in all of these scenarios, Fiona is the problem and has encouraged the behavior. So like you say, if we can perhaps take out her three vampires and herself, then that would certainly do well. I offer you this.

I offer you this, my dear. If you truly seek to end Strahd, Fiona is his ally. Whatever you can do here, you would rob him of a powerful ally and many of his dark

servants. And he seems disinterested in this place of late. He has not returned here in many nights, many days. This may be your best chance to rob him of such allies. With regards to your wagon, I am afraid that the only man I knew who could have helped was the old coffin maker but sadly

he was the one who had stolen the bones of St. Andral or hired Milovich to do it and they slew each other in the night of Fiona's bloody murder afraid he is dead perhaps the toy maker perhaps

he has a good hand for tools and engineering but I'm afraid I we do not have much of a carpenter anymore I bet he does right well friends do we rest

yes we should we should. We should rest. You should rest and decide what you wish to do. I'm going to take Irina upstairs and we're going to lay down for a little bit, I think. And I suggest perhaps you find some time to do the same. This mark kind of gives you a nod. Yeah. this mark kind of gives you a nod yeah what sort of time is it now

it's gonna be like you kind of got here about just after midday I think because the travel time yeah you're gonna be looking at sort of like coming into like late afternoon yeah Irina and his mark basically head upstairs there's like a little wooden staircase that leads to a second floor um

lucian probably asks for a bit more food and then it will kind of potter off into a corner and fall asleep clutching his mason the bones of St. Andral just stand in the middle of the room and just occasionally turn to look at you all but don't say or do anything else well friends

that wagon battle took a lot out of me so I will take my leave now and rest unless there's other important matters we need to discuss I think

this is a good time for all of us to have a rest This is the first safe place that we've been in since arriving I can't even remember how long ago that was is the first safe place that we've been in since arriving. I can't even remember how long ago that was now. Something to say?

Oh no, nothing. I'm just totally fine. Carry on. Easy for some. Well, Zeros doesn't have to take a rest. If everybody else is taking a rest, Zeros doesn't have to. Is it a short rest for all taking or or long um i like to take a long one because i want like

five hp or something ah yeah nine hp spell slots i'm feeling that cleric long spell slot like I'm missing the warlock short rest spell slot in now like god damn it I'm missing a barbarian do you want to rest? no I can keep going it's fine I'll make it clear to the party that

this could be the best chance of a good sleep we're going to get in a long time. Especially if we're going to cause unrest in Vallaki. Three vampires. Three. Three vampires. Three. Did anyone else

hear that? Three. She has three. Vampires. Yes. And hags. One was bad enough. And clockwork soldiers and devils yes fiends and undead husband

that was one too yes yes I think the general he wasn't undead if it helps I accidentally broke dragons instead of vampires so it could be worse I mean If it helps, I accidentally wrote dragons instead of vampires, so it could be worse. I mean... Okay.

There's also a hundred vampires. I've summoned dragons into a campaign before. Yep. We still haven't forgiven you for that, by the way. No. So, anybody who wants to take a long rest can just you guys can just take one

you can do that who is not taking a long rest is anybody not taking a long rest what do you guys want to do during your long rest it doesn't have to be sleeping you could literally be just taking like 8 hours to like sit there and chat and do nothing like it doesn't have to be like I will sleep now

if there's sit there and chat and do nothing. It doesn't have to be like, I will sleep now! If there's plans you want to make, if there's discussions you want to have, if there's topics on your mind, if you want to get... Lucian did say that he can potentially identify stuff for you, so... I got some RP.

Yeah, you go ahead, Tom. You first, Tom. Thomas. I was just going to say, just get any, Tom. You first, Tom. Thomas. I was just going to say, just get any magic items we've got, because I've got like, I say Irena's ring, the ring. The ring.

And also the dagger. I don't know. That silver bracelet, that wasn't magical, was it? That was just a silver bracelet. It was not. And also, Zeke gave it up to the raven. Yeah, raven's got it.ke gave it up to the raven. Raven's got it now.

You can identify those. Cool. Yeah, I mean, so does what? I mean, yeah, let's play it through. So Zeros goes over to Father Lucian. He's kind of sleeping, but it doesn't take too much to wake him. As soon as you walk near him, he's like, Ah, yes, Zeros, was it?

Your friends called you. Can I help you? These are magical. I don't know why. Yes, no, I felt them. It is not uncommon for a being to sense power in a thing, magical properties. Yes,

I can help analyze them for you if you wish. I'll just hand them to him. Zeros is the best character you've ever made. I know, got a buddy. He

takes the ring first and he holds it and he's like I feel a sadness melancholy with this as if it never accomplished what it was meant to do he holds up his holy symbol and he

closes his eyes morning lord, may your light shine truth and reveal to me the secrets of this enchanted relic. He closes his eyes for a moment. He passes you the ring back. This ring, when you wear it, will protect you, grant you additional protection against things such as spells or blows. It is a wedding band, though I do not know for who.

When you are separated from whether it is the person who it was meant for or perhaps the person it was meant to be wed to there's a sadness to it I've added that to your inventory what was the inscription in this yes to my dear brother

okay and, and he gestures to the blade. Ah. Ah. I can already tell that this thing is foul. Yes. He chants the same prayer

and this time he convulses. As he finishes the prayer, he drops the knife. Ah! That is a thing of wickedness, a blade of evil, crafted in the forges of

fire and hatred, envy and jealousy and sin it is it has a name dragon man is called the blade of nessus it is forged in a place

is forged in hell created by a being of untold evil and power a being that I have that I could not even name or understand it is magical it will cut through

steel and flesh easier and it is enchanted with brimstone and hell flame that you can summon against your foes easier, and it is chanted with brimstone and hell flame that you can summon against your foes. There is something more. Five names were etched

upon this blade, though I cannot read them. One has been scored through. Four remain. When this blade strikes those creatures, their soul is sent to that place, to the place that this blade was made.

I have added that to your inventory, Tom. Interesting. Cast it into the fire! When you hold it, you get the same knowledge he does when you hold it so you can read the description and you know everything that the item says I can read abyssal so can I read the names on it

no there are no names on the blade when you look at it there is nothing inscribed on it it's almost like they are magically inscribed into its essence. Spooky. Right. Okay, I'll

pick up the two items, say thank you while holding up the ring and then slowly turn away and then turn back and then sort of lift the dagger a bit I'm sorry and then walk off

aww be careful such a thing was not meant for the hands of anyone of good intentions calls out to you as you make your way back who said I had good intentions exactly exactly he doesn't know

what Zeros is about. But yeah, there you go. You have a strange wedding band. And the blade of Nessus. Anyone else? Anything else for anybody else? Tom's got a cool thing he can look at. Go on, Shadow. Can I

curl up next to Rose? And I guess as we're sort of settling down for a rest, and just be like, Rose, my dear, how are you feeling after dealing with those dire wolves, given, you know, that? One got away. it's not ideal but at least there was no death this time

it didn't feel like I was any less angry though yes I think peace for you will come with time uh you realize we are probably going to meet actual werewolves here yes the thought has crossed my mind i don't think that a place like this would would... Look at Mark's smile. God's sake.

A place like this has a lot of horrible creatures around. I'm just hoping that we can delay the inevitable or at least that we'll be more prepared when we do

encounter any. I wouldn't want anyone here, anyone ever, to be a victim of them. What happened to Ben shouldn't happen again. I think with your wisdom and knowledge

on the subject, I feel safer than most that we would give them a struggle. I feel safe with you here. I am glad. And I, with you, I think that we just have to keep our wits about us. This place clearly is... You can trust no one here. I trust this group of people,

but I still don't fully understand the rest of them. The dragons are quite quiet. I think that... Yes, I don't quite understand their relationship. Brothers and sisters, not brothers and sisters. Dragons. Perhaps, or... I don't know.

It seems Zeros has a protective nature towards her at least, and that's the main thing. No matter his feelings there, he is devoted to protecting. So I think glaring. I think he knows we're talking about him. Now he's just looking

at that dagger like it's something very strange. That doesn't strike me as very healthy, does it? Not entirely, but let's just keep aware and always be vigilant. And if you hear any other creatures or if we hear any other stories, it's likely to be true here. So keep your wits about

you. I know you always do. Yes, but keep your spirits up, Rose. I will try my best. Get some rest. Anything from anybody else?

Anybody want to take a few minutes I think Ziki would like to in her own way thank the thank the spirit that brought I guess that led her here like thank the skeleton

and to thank the dude and just to make sure everybody's feeling good. So I'm just going to start dancing around. Okay. I'm just going to... It's like a prayer to like Lira

and there's a way to say thanks. Just very loose. Just, yeah. Just dancing around. I think that like, yeah. just yeah just dancing around what is that I think that like yeah you kind of watch as Zeki

you watch as Zeki begins kind of moving around the room and it's graceful right it's quite a graceful very happy kind of sense of somebody just kind of letting their emotions go that kind of like almost like watching a child just kind of playing. There's an unabashed

joy to it. And the skeleton, like the bones of San Andral watch for a time. It seems to follow your movements and then it slowly makes its way over towards you, Ziki. Each bone kind of creaking as the pulsing light kind of emanates from it.

And it just stops in front of you as you're dancing, and it just is kind of standing, waiting, looking at you. Uh, do you want to dance as well? Oh, she's too pure. It holds up a hand, and then it holds up its other hand

this is the best day ever it's bones it's bony fingers grip around your claws as you feel this kind of dull flaky texture and then it kind of pulls you into more of like a waltzing

kind of dance it kind of pulls you into more of like a waltzing kind of dance it kind of pulls you into almost like a waltzing position one hand sort of like kind of gently holding at the side and then the other holds it out and then it just begins to very gently sway it doesn't dance much its move its body doesn't even seem capable of movement in that regard there's a sense of like a like a dance it barely remembers something that it learned long long ago and it doesn't show any emotion it's just a blank skull that looks down into your own eyes it's empty sockets looking at you but it has the movements of this quite gentle very soft waltz um it gently rotates you round um and you hear the floorboards squeaking as the two of them move around uh the bony toes of the skeleton wrapping uh on the on the floorboards um and then after a few

moments it just kind of stops it takes a step back and it performs a very slow and gentle bow and then it just turns and walks away making its way to the corner of a room where it sits and just stares dead straight oh it's so cool that is both unsettling and strangely beautiful that she can find joy anywhere and yeah

I admire her for that this is fine the skull turns and looks towards Zeros and then up towards one of the hilts of his swords again hmm sigh I'll appease it towards Zeros, and then up towards one of the hilts of his swords again. I'll appease it. If Ziki's gonna appease it by giving it a dance, then I'll appease it

by drawing a sword for it. Do you draw the sword and what, you hand it to him? You hand it to the skeleton? I'll hold it, one hand around the handle, so it can't just take it away from me, right? But I'm holding it out to him. It wraps one bony hand around the hilt.

You can feel it kind of tugging. Not hard to take it away from you, but you can tell that it wants to hold it properly. Puts another hand on the blade weapon good good feeling straw again you can see its bony grip tightens on the grip and it tugs a little bit harder, wanting to hold, fully hold it. Can I feel some sort of like, like some power from this thing? Like, like it used to be. I mean, the way that it walks

and the way that it holds itself, you're a soldier, right? You're like, he's actually, Zeros is a soldier. He's a served soldier. Yeah. Yeah. right you're like he's actually xeros is a soldier he's a served soldier yeah yeah uh in that case i think that um i'm just checking something about saint andrew actually give me that good insight if you want no i don't think you need to i was just i'm just checking something for my own benefits because obviously this isn't my own law so i just want to make sure i don't completely cock it up um but yeah i think that you get the sense that since android not a dance that's true i did just make

that up so yeah it's um you get the sense that this creature you don't sense power from it or anything like that but you can tell that it knows how to like hold a weapon like this you know the way that it's you know holding the blade the way that it was even moving with ziki and stuff like that like this is these are the bones of something that remembers how to fight um and the way that it kind of holds the sword reverently you kind of get the sense of like yeah it's longing to have a weapon in its hands again it's longing for that sense of power that you know you you feel this is another warrior there's a difference between walking around and then there's a difference between holding a weapon like you feel safer you feel stronger you feel like you can fight off what you need to and you get that sense that that's

why this thing is drawn to one of your blades it wants to feel that way again or at least have some sort of like maybe it's a maybe it's just going through the motions maybe it can't feel that things but it's somehow drawn to it you don't know it's a weird skeleton thing you don't really understand undead i mean i think i understand like the the grief of not being what he wants to be and uh the knowledge of being a fighter that it can't be or whatever and how powerful it is to have a sword and be a warrior. So I'll let go of the sword and take it back. It holds it in place for a second.

As soon as you step out of range, its bone comes down to the grip and it takes a two-handed grip and then it snaps the sword up. Takes a few practice swings and they're precise. You know, these are precise cutting motions. A little bit robotic. There's no natural kind of movement to it.

It's very kind of... And then it kind of puts it down and it puts it on the ground holding it in front of it good blade can i and then you see now can i bring out like one of my swords and hold it in the same position and then say how about a different kind of dance? Oh. Oh boy! Risk.

It kind of seems to look around the room the close quarters, Ziki and some of the others in the room with you. Risk. in the room with you. Risk. It just puts the sword... No, but it flips... It kind of flips the sword back and it kind of

offers it back to you. Okay. I'll sheath my one, take that one back. Here's one. just a blank skull yeah and then I'll that sword that he had I'm going to rest it on the wall where he was

and then leave it there and sit in the other corner of the room okay it turns it sees you leave it there, and then it turns back, and just there's a slight nod of its skeletal head in your direction. Lucian looks over to you.

Father Lucian is like, St. Andrew was a holy warrior when he was alive. Said that he and some other priests of the morning lord they marched up to castle Ravenloft intent to slay the devil himself

many of the others Strahd turned into a spawn vampire spawn servant vampire but his battle with St. Andrew was so fierce that he incinerated him, melted the flesh from his body, leaving nothing but the bones. So defiant was Sir Andrew in his last moments that the Morning Lord offered one last protection. The bones were cast out into the moat that surrounds

the castle, each inscribed with a holy prayer to the Morning Lord. You are to give him that weapon. Perhaps, when you need it, they will come and assist you once more as a warrior.

I look forward to it nods his head anything from anybody else he is my best friend if not then yeah you guys stay in the inn for about 8 hours

so by the time you guys You guys stay in the inn for about eight hours. So by the time you guys finish your long rest, we are looking at into the evening. Nighttime, best time. It is the best time. You don't hear the baying of wolves, the howling of wolves. You don't hear the sound of bats or of mysterious visitors uh instead around midnight you begin to hear singing distant echoing but you hear singing and through the tiny slats of the windows that where they've been boarded up you can kind of

look through them you can see a procession of barovian citizens dressed in clothing uh carrying flaming torches uh led by lady fiona wachter and her husband nicolai make their way through the town and seem to be going somewhere. And there is a joy, there is a kind of like you know, singing and clapping. Anybody who's looking can make a perception check. Anybody who wants to.

I wasn't resting so I guess I will. Sure. Yeah, I'll take a peep take a little peep I'll just be stirring away at this point what is this what is happening yeah

oh look at that actual 20 so you all three see stuff but it's different levels of detail right so everybody shadow uh ziki and mistan you can see that the procession um most of them are carrying torches but not everybody some of them are carrying um kind of like very shallow bowls and long knives kind of resting in the bowls themselves. And they appear to be carrying those,

um, Zeros and Ziki. You notice that quite a few faces amongst the crowd do not want to be there, but they are pretending that they are happy to be there. They're doing that thing of like singing along like looking like like they're smiling and then as soon as like like attention's not on them it's like glum desperate looking faces um ziki you notice on several of the the barovian citizens carrying the bowls and the knives and some of the torchbearers thin scars all along their wrists and arms as if they've

been cut multiple times by a blade um decorate their hands you also spot uh fiona's husband nicolai um you saw him when you first came in and he had this kind of shouldered cape over one arm this kind of large very muscular looking handsome fellow. The wind catches the cape for just a moment before he snatches it and pulls it back down and you see that in place of an arm is an enormous grotesque

claw, like the arm of a demon itself projects from his torso and ends in a huge misshapen claw and he quickly covers it back up again as he continues making his way along with the procession. And they appear to be headed in the direction

of a little church at the top of a hill. That's what you guys said? Yes. Would Shadow know anything, knowing a bit about religion, would she know anything knowing a bit about religion would she know anything about ruby rod can i roll a check you can make a religion check

absolutely let's see i'll definitely give you some stuff but i want to see what you learn i rolled a nine well you're gonna know some stuff you're gonna know some stuff you're gonna know some stuff just because you are

a person it definitely rings a bell well you're a priest as well definitely rings a bell you're trying to rack through your brains like what does Ruby what is it it's related to something

and then it kind of clicks the bowls the knives the name the mention of devils it suddenly all clicks into place and you remember that the ruby rod is an artifact wielded by Asmodeus. King of the Nine Hells, Lord of the Nine Hells, ruler of all devils, only recently became ignored. And you know this because Sha,

at one point, there was a bit of a conflict between the followers of Sha, Netheril, and some followers of Asmodeus. The chosen Asmodeus, a tiefling woman in particular, had some conflicts with Sha several years ago. And that was

maybe something that you became aware of. A very troublesome tiefling who had a twin caused a lot of problems for Asmodeus. And yeah, the servants of of amodius have maybe always kind of been at conflicts with char sometimes you might like they work together sometimes they don't generally i don't think any of your order would have worked with him um a hundred percent you know your order wouldn't but you know of them at least and yes as modius is lord of the nine hells

he is the god of god of devils and all sorts and bargains contracts especially and that's you can't remember the exact details you know the ruby rod has something to do with contracts but you just remember that yeah devils are all about their contracts and and deals they love making deals. Bringing in some elements of my other favourite campaign. Woo! Oh dear. Dear, dear, dear. How religious, apart from Zeke, I can tell you're full of it.

Like, yes, religious, yes. How up to date are you all with your religion, your pantheon of gods, your knowing of hell, who rules it? I have a feeling you're about to tell us about hell and who rules it. Well, it's ruled by a very lovely chap by the name of Smodius. He's a devil. Quite powerful. Happens to wield an artifact called the Ruby Rod.

Might be here. Bloodletting. Oh, so he is the other devil that Fiona is following then. I would hazard a guess

he is Ruby Rod. That can't be possible. This is a place of Strahd. He controls it. How can a different plane... I've never heard of... Yes.

At this point, Lucian, Ismark, and Irene are also with you, and Lucian looks very confused. Ismark is like uh these i've never heard of the gods from your realm having any much much influence or power here i know that some travelers have arrived before but this is as jesper says this is a realm of strad perhaps the morning lord and the Nightmother have some power here, but... No one else. Well, perhaps Strahd made a deal with the devil. That's what Asmodeus does.

He makes deals, he makes bargains. It's clear Fiona has made some sort of bargain. he makes bargains. It's clear Fiona has made some sort of bargain. I do not believe that Strahd would ever serve someone else. No, it is below him. Is it not? He is the devil of this

plane of existence. He would not need to call on another. He's not a god though, surely. Sirus, do you know anything about this the dagger it's from Asmodeus

there you go one thing I actually I completely forgot about this I completely forgot to mention this the hilt of the dagger it has a very strange pommel in that it's like a puzzle. It's like

three metal rings that can rotate and twist and three triangles that can rotate and twist as well. I completely forgot to mention that detail about the knife. So... I don't know what it means.

Hell, razor, ring, puzzle... I mean, yeah, puzzle block. What? Hey. Oh. I would also like to mention that I know that Nikolov guy, he seemed kind of weird, right? We can all agree on that.

He's a bit weird. Yes. He's been a little strange, yes. Unless he's had some kind of terrible curse or affliction, I glimpsed he has this claw arm. I saw him just now. Like this awful, terrible, like, crustacean like appendage

it's very odd oh well that sounds demonic he might just like the look of it this could be part of the ritual that brought him back we knew that right that was told to us yeah yeah father lucian at this point is just like as a point

that that that is not nicolai's body. I mentioned he was brought back. Nikolai died years ago. We thought him dead and buried, but it turns out that Fiona had been preserving him. When she took over the town, the previous burgomaster had a servant, a deranged man with a curse,

a cursed arm. That servant's name was Isaac. Isaac. Isaac. Not Isaac. Isaac. Fiona captured Isaac, took him to her house and then the next day

she revealed him as Nikolai he spoke with Nikolai's voice but not with his soul Nikolai was a good he was a good man I knew him when he was alive he

wanted what was best for Vallaki and he wanted his family protected he was a good soul but Fiona is ambitious she has long coveted the favor of Strahd and I fear that yes the person, the thing

that she now claims is Nikolai is but a dark echo is this not a good distraction friends if we are to pursue something go hunting without being seen

if most of the town is in the center we could use this something, go hunting without being seen. If most of the town is in the center, we could use this to our advantage. Ismark slaps you on the back, Jesper, and is just like, that is an excellent idea, Jesper. Yes, this Wachtel woman and her

cronies are at the church. This is, we could explore. We could try and find this... The card. The card that pointed you to your clue perhaps. Or we could find this toy maker to fix the wagon or something. That is an excellent idea. And let's go. I knew I could count

on you, friend. And he puts his hand on your shoulder like, I knew I could count on you. Well, let's keep focused. And let's also keep an eye out for three vampires who may well not be

with the rest of the town right now. Read. I wish I knew where they were. I could advise you, but I do not. Yes, go on. My insight is, Mark, that seemed a little bit odd to me just because it seems like he's desperate to not go and follow these people sure um 18 how do i i was gonna try and like message you i can do it in uh in thingy chat can i no i was

gonna try and like privately message you so that then only uh in thingy chat can i no i was going to try and like privately message you so that then only you would know but i can't think of a way to do that so what's that you know yeah i could watch that it's fine um no i you watch is mark and no it doesn't that you don't get a sense that there's anything untoward in fact like looking at him it's more that like he genuinely appreciates like jasper's taking a forward thinking with this like he's he looks at jasper like really fondly like ah this is a man i can trust this is somebody who wants to to do what i want to do like you get the sense that he feels a kinship towards jasper and he wants to encourage him and he to do. Like, you get the sense that he feels a kinship towards Jesper

and he wants to encourage him and is like, ah, great idea, buddy. You know, great idea. That kind of vibe. Okay. I mean, if with an 18 I don't see, I'm not going to go to the church because I am Asmodeus, then fine.

Holy shit. Trust me, Tom, if Ismar is Asmodeus, you've got some big fucking problems then fine holy shit trust me Tom if it's Marcus Asmodeus you've got some big fucking problems so yeah sure it's the long game I appreciate that you thought I could be that clever

and manipulative but no that's you don't get that sense it just seemed odd that he was just like yeah good, good idea. We're not going anywhere near that fucking place. Well, yeah, I think he is saying that because he sees that as like

that's fucking risky and I don't want to... Like, we don't need to go there. We should go and investigate the other stuff. Yeah, as long as he's not veering us from the correct path. That's cool. He might be. You don't know.

It might be that he's doing that completely unintentionally. Yeah. If he was Asmodeus, surely he'd want us there. He'd want us in the middle of it. Like, join in it. Hail Satan. Genuinely, if it was Asmodeus... The only way to find out is to stab him with that dagger. If it's Asmodeus, it wouldn't

hurt him. It's true. So, the thing is, Tom, is all you can tell is that he's earnest in what he's saying. Maybe going to somewhere else is the wrong move, and he

is going to lead you astray, but not intentionally. Because NPCs don't know everything just because Mark does doesn't mean the NPCs are like, this is the correct way to go. My friend, the NPC is just living out what the NPC sees is the best idea. Yeah,

no, that's what I mean. I, it, yeah, that's why I was inciting it. Cause it just sounded like he was encouraging as a means to then say yeah no don't go to that place where you'll find all my

secrets he's not doing that he's he's he's being genuine in that he thinks that what Jasper said is a really good fucking idea he's like okay that's a fucking great idea we should do that okay you can see that he looks very fondly at him he looks very fondly at him like he's like

you see a kind of like i want to be friends with this guy you've never given us a reason to trust anyone ever in any campaign ever ever so forgive us when we when we try i mean that's fine keep keep trusting irena so that's fine you just you know mistrust trust the one with the bite marks yes fine i just like at least we're actually doing it oh yeah yeah you did yeah well absolutely it's a shame that is marks wearing a ring of mind shielding which prevents any please could you guide us to the burger masters whereabouts are the the residents oh I I I must admit my own cowardice I'm not sure if I'm in a state to leave. I'm still quite weak and weary. You can only point us in the right direction so that we don't leave town.

Yes, yes. My apologies. I just do not feel I'm in any place to leave. Of course. Safety is the sanctuary. Yes, of course. Do you wish to head? Now, when you say Burgomasters, do you mean Fiona's townhouse or do you wish to head now when you say Burgomasters do you mean

Fiona's townhouse or do you mean the previous Burgomasters I don't know which way the card is trying to sway us I don't know if it I think if we take into consideration what Shadow

had mentioned about the ghosts in a place that I think the old Burgermaster is potentially somewhere that we should look towards. There may be spirits there that have something to do with it and that did come from Madame Ava, the town where all is not well. A silent ghost. Yes. Sounds like a good idea. town where all is not well. Silent ghost. Yes.

Sounds like a good idea. It's also less dangerous right now, so that's a good place to start. Probably less devils roaming around in her basement. Alright, where is that Svartalution? Yes, I just am thinking for a moment as I try and

remember where it is. In relation to the church yes my memory is not what it once was let us see we are here at the inn and yes it is

two streets to the south on the corner, there are trees around it. You will see it. It is a large estate, but two streets south follow down the curved road, and you will find it.

Thank you. Mark, where are we on this map right now? So, I can actually reveal some stuff. So, you are here. You are at N2.

And the Burgomaster's Mansion is here at N3. So, you can see if you go ahead south and follow the curved road, it's about two roads south. Where's the church? The church is... Go find it. B-Rod. Church is N1. So it's over here.

So you need to scroll a little bit. It's on the far west. It's on the far western side of town. So yeah, you see the procession going down this main road is where you saw them heading towards the church. How far are they right now? Oh, like within a few moments, they're far. They're not going to see you if you leave the inn at this point.

Okay. Then let us... I say we go. Okay. Straight for the old burgomasters. Shall Irna and I accompany you? We're more than happy

to come and lend you our swords if you need us. I think the more the merrier. Sure. So long as we can all stay

silent, stealthy, keep out of sight. We'll do our best. Right, let's go. Alright, okay. Alright, and then you guys make your way out. It's a little bit early, but that is

an ideal place to end the episode, just because then I can, next week we can actually have it start with you guys making your way to the Burgomaster's mansion and infiltrating it and stuff like that. Perfect, that was a good stopping point. Cool, good episode. we can actually have it start with you guys making your way to the Burgomaster's mansion and infiltrating it and stuff like that. Perfect. That was a good stopping point. Cool. Good episode,

everybody. Did you guys enjoy it? Was it fun? You have to say yes. You have to say yes. A lot of it, obviously, has been man, yeah, you like the bone. I really like the skeleton. Creepy. So, i want to clarify on that so where it came from i mentioned this a little bit last week but i saw some confusion on it so

when trot ran this for myself harry mike and smith harry was playing a necromancer who stole those bones from underneath the church and animated them and the rest of us were like what the fuck you doing like because it protects the church and everything and and the rest of us were like what the fuck are you doing like because it protects the church and everything and he it became like his companion and we took it on our adventure with us and stuff like that and it was such a cool idea i thought it was such a cool visual that these holy bones were like walking around and still had this like you know this echo of the spirit that's great ah it was yeah had to like, he dressed it up in like a cloak and he bought armor for it.

And, but he thought of it as a real person. Like his necromancer character was just like, no, it's a real person. You have to treat it as a real person. And like, it became this whole thing. It was fucking great. It was, it was so cool. And I loved it so much.

I was like, well, I want to throw in a little, little reference to that. Throw a little boat. Throw a boat, yeah, exactly. Throw a little bone. Throw a bone. Yeah, exactly. And he got him. Yeah, he got him. Yeah, no, so I'm glad you like that because that was...

Arnold Schwarzenegger style like handshake between Xeros and but one of the bones is just... Just a little bony arm. Yeah. What's the matter, Lucian? Got you pushing too many pencils? Wow. Amazing.

Yeah, we will be back on Sunday. We're going to let Kim go to bed. We'll be back on Sunday for Eros. We're back this Sunday. Spread the word. Stay safe. We love you. Take care.

We'll see you next time. Take care, everybody. Wash your hands, you nasties. Bye, y'all.