The Abbey and the Abbot - Session 23

Day 13 - Midday

  Earlier this morning, the party trekked from Vallaki along the Old Svalich road to the edges of Krezk. They were refused them entry on the grounds they could be allies of the Dark Lady or worse--her enemies.   The Burgomaster Dimitri Krezkov looks sternly upon the party and states flatly, and without ceremony, "Our town is closed to you. Good day."   Denied entry, our heroes discuss their options. Whispers of various approaches including such ill-advised methods as an attempt to overwhelm the gates are exchanged before they decide to regroup in Vallaki before the sun sets. After several hours traveling along Old Svalich road, they reach the western gates of Vallaki. Recognizing the group, the guards open the gates and greet the adventurers.   Nazgog responds, "Little man wants wine that doesn't exist. How we give him wine from dirt? Do you have dirt on Burgomaster?"   Confused the guard asks, "Why would a noble have earth upon himself?"   With a scoff, Nazgog retorts, "I want gossip about hidden secrets on man. It's called a metaphor."   Finding little luck from the rather dull guards, the party continues past the gate and down the main road towards the The Blue Water Inn. Inside they find a crowd busy with the fairly standard tavern business of drinking and eating, and so they head for a chat with Urwin, whom they find in the kitchen, to learn of the recent wine delivery. To their dismay, the party learns the supply of wine is rather more restricted than they expect as Urwin explains, "I've already gone through an entire barrel. Typically I go through a barrel every three days."   Drained from the day's activities and the lackluster options for wine, they retire to their mansion to rest.  

Day 14 - Morning

  Before dawn, the group gathers in their mansion kitchen for a hearty breakfast served by Chef. As they dine, a knock comes from the front door, and some minutes later Lars enters. "Morning! I just had a discussion with the guards on the northern gate. Last night, there was lightning flashing across Lake Zarovich. It's unusual considering there were no storms last night."   Fidelia inquires, "You say you saw lightning came from the lake? How could it do that?"   "Forgive me, but you misunderstand," Lars responds, "The guards on duty saw it and they say the lightning seemed to come from the woods across the lake, but skittered over the surface. They've no idea what caused it, but it was far from the norm so I wanted to let you know. I can tell you've got a busy day, so I'll leave you to it."   Finishing their meal, the party decides the Amber Temple must wait and instead they'll head back to the winery in hopes of fresh barrels. The party heads back to the Blue Water Inn and finds Urwin puttering in the kitchen. Nazgog gets his attention and asks, "Heading to Vistani camp. Need barrel to appease." Urwin heads to a corner and strains to roll a barrel toward her. Nazgog takes it from him and places it on her shoulder before leisurely leading the way toward the western gates.   Opting to pay their respects to the Vistani before approaching the dusk elf, they climb the hill toward the large tent. Pausing at the entrance they overhear voices in heated argument.   "Why do you resist," the first voice yells, "the Dark Lady ordered their deaths!"   A second voice which you recognize as Luvash, father of Arabelle, loudly retorts, "You know how it is with her! One moment death for them, the next they are willing servants. Why upset the apple cart before there's need. Besides, she saved your niece,my daughter. Is this how you repay kindness as a Vistani?"   "Argh!" says the first voice, which you now place as his brother Arrigal, "It wouldn't be so bad if we had something to wet our whistle!"   Fidelia smiles as she whispers, "That's our cue." and opens the tent flap. Nazgog strides forward until slinging the wine barrel at the feet of the two Vistani leaders, proclaiming, "We honor our friends by delivering barrel of wine."   Arrigal frowns, "Only one? That seems poor tribute."   Fidelia explains, "Supply is very tight right now. The Wizard of Wines Winery was overtaken by fell creatures and we only just liberated it. There will be more wine coming, but for now we offer this barrel to tide you over."   Luvash gestures with his arms widely, "This is another kindness that will be treated in kind. Please join us in a celebratory drink!" The entire party along with several Vistani raise a glass in friendship. After the toast, Fidelia asks, "Do you mind if we go chat with Kasimir? We've a few things to discuss."   Luvash responds as Nazgog raises another cup, "Sure. Bottom of the hill as you know."   Fidelia and Morgana head down to the only hovel with guards standing outside. Fidelia greets the Vistani guards, "Morning. We brought a barrel of wine to share. You should go get some." They step aside as she then knocks on Kasimir's door. Upon entering, she states, "I know we promised to travel to the Amber Temple with you in a few days, but there are a lot more problems than we anticipated. We need more time before we journey with you to the Temple. Can you lend us the Sun Sword now?"   Kasimir smiles and waves away the delay as he responds, "The trip can wait until you are ready. It will be dangerous as it is at the southern end of the valley and while my sister continues to haunt my dreams, this is how it has been for years. However, I will keep the sun sword as collateral until you are able to accompany me." any ways Baba Lysaga made Strahd into who she is today. It is said that Baba Lysaga was the midwife for Queen Ravenovia and was there for the birth of Strahd. After delivering the baby, she saw the terrible darkness that Strahd could bring forth so she cast unholy protective spells upon the baby girl. During those first few years, before Queen Ravenovia saw the treachery of her midwife, Baba Lysaga would sing magical and mystical nusery rhymes in the darkest and stormiest of nights which supposedly bloomed the spark of magic within baby Strahd. Eventually, reports of her unhealthy attachment reached the Queen's ear and Queen Ravenovia banished Baba Lysaga from court and kingdom. She'll do anything to protect Lady Strahd. To still be alive, she must've made many sacrifices to her god, Mother Night, and grown in power. She was already a formidable threat and she likely brought about the death of Queen Ravenovia through her dark magic."   Both Fidelia and Morgana pause to digest the information, then Morgana asks, "Do the witches worship Mother Night too?" Seeing his perplexed look she continues, "The ones at the old windmill east of here."   "No," understanding lights his face as he explains, "those hags worship the darkest of feys, Ceithlenn of the Crooked Teeth. This is why they take Barovian babies and grind their bones to make dream pastries which they then sell back to the Barovians as a momentary escape from this hell of a land. I've even heard of the hags trading a handful of dream pastries to a parent for their child."   Morgana's eyes lose focus as she remembers purchasing and eating a pie from the cheerful old lady a few weeks ago in the Village of Barovia . As she returns, Morgana violently retches trying to get the chalky taste out of her mouth. Finally she cries out, "Celestian! Forgive me for I knew not what I did."   Heading back up the hill, Fidelia and Morgana hear a strong voice in an unfamiliar language singing a discordant melody. Entering the main tent, they observe Nazgog belting out notes while sloshing her wine around apparently trying to lead everyone in a round of orcish drinking songs.   "We should be on our way," Fidelia announces. The party heads back north to the Old Svalich road before turning westward. A few hours pass before they turn southward toward the Winery when they see a strange solitary figure walking strides toward them fearlessly. As it gets closer, they see a mummified face whose body is shrouded with rusty armor but carries a bright gleaming longsword.   Sticky steps forward and greets it, "Hail stranger. What's your name?"   "It's been so long that I remember not," it rasps before asking, "Do you serve the dark lady?"   "No!" Sticky answers, "We seek to overthrow her. Would you like to join us?"

"I am a knight of the Order of the Silver Dragon," it answers, "I serve under the command of Vladimir Horngaard. I urge you to go to him at Argenvostholt and have him sound the order to attack! I have wandered these dusty roads seeking vengeance for too long. I need to rest but can not. Now, I must continue onward." The knight then trods past the party onward along the Old Svalich road.   The party continues onward to the Wizard of Wines Winery where Davian welcomes the party, "Welcome! What brings you back to the winery?"   Fidelia responds, "We were curious how many vats you've converted to barrels since we left."   "We're still in the process of the first one." Davian continues, "We've got three barrels out of six. Each vat takes about a week to completely convert."   "Can we direct those barrels to Krezk?" asks Fidelia. Upon receiving confirmation that the wagon will be ready in the morning she continues, "Also, when's your next harvest and how important is that fourth vat? Is it something that can be repaired?"   Davian nods, "For us to get back to supplying enough wine for all towns, we need all four vats working. A single harvest fills all four vats and then it takes us a month of continuous work to change them into barrels. We generally get a harvest of Purple Grapemash every three months, so it usually works out to have enough supply. We could get ahead if you recovered the Red Dragon Crush seed from Baba Lysaga."   The party then spends several hours cutting down trees, mixing a sealant, and shaping the wood to the huge rift in the fourth vat. Finally repaired, the party beds down for the night.  

Day 15 - Morning

  As the gloom fades with the sun filtering through the clouds, the party leads the Winery's wagon northward toward Krezk with three barrels of Purple Grapemash within it. The heavy wagon slows the party to a mere walk as they head north and west. Several hours pass monotonously before they reach the crossroad for the town where four animated scarecrows ambush the party.   The party immediately advances toward the constructs blocking their route to the wagon. Sticky flanks toward the north, while Nazgog pushes up the middle and Jagger summons a whirlwind of daggers in their path. Fidelia channels her eldritch blood to blast a scarecrow as Morgana flanks another against Nazgog. In the choas, the constructs step closer to the wagon. Jagger shifts his concentration from his whirling daggers to shattering two scarecrows. Nazgog cleaves through the straw-laden torso of another and very quickly the rest of the constructs fall to pieces.   Leaving the detritus behind, the party escorts the wagon to the gates of Krezk where guards call out a greeting, "Back so soon, eh? The Burgomaster will be here in a moment."   Nazgog fumes, "I'll break it all down. We didn't fight our way through strawmen to be turned away."   Fidelia responds calmly, "Wait a moment. I'm sure we can gain our way peacefully."   "Fine," Nazgog retorts, "We'll see how long I resist smashing."   Appearing above the gates, the Burgomaster says, "That doesn't look like a full wagonload to me."   Fidelia explains, "Lord Krezkov. it's what we could gather today. The Winery was overtaken and supply has been disrupted. We are slowly getting supply available, but that takes time. We brought what we could and some is better than none. Will you allow us access along with this delivery?"   Shaking his head, the Burgomaster relents, "You have done what you could in good faith. Please do bring the wine and you'll be considered a friend of Krezk." The gates rumble while slowly swinging inward and allowing access.   The party walks into Krezk and the mist-shrouded village beyond the wall is a scattering of humble wooden cottages. Dirt roads stretch between stands of snow-dusted pine trees, so many trees that it's a forest within the walls. To the northeast, the abbey stands above gray cliffs and a winding road. The burgomaster leads the party and the wagon to his humble cottage where they see four gravestones with three of them disturbed and empty. The fourth, fresh, holds the body of Ilya, Dmitri Krezkov's youngest son.   Moving closer, Jagger and Sticky examine the plundered gravesites. They notice fading claw marks along the empty holes in addition to shovel marks. Standing, Jagger asks, "Did anyone see what happened?"

The Burgomaster denies that anyone would see as the villagers always close up their houses at night. As the crew unloads the barrels into the Burgomaster's basement, the party follows the winding road up the gray cliffs. As they ascend, just south of the north wall, they notice a pond with water shimmering and sparkling beneath the dark scudding clouds.   Finally, the party reaches the summit with the gravel road passing between two small outbuildings with a five-foot-high wall of jumbled stones extending from either side to surround the abbey. Blocking the road, iron gates attach to the outbuildings on rusty hinges, although they do appear unlocked.   Nazgog pushes against the gate as it squeals open when suddenly piles of animal pelts go flying as two mangy creatures leap up and confront the party.   The first, wearing a plain wool cloak, looks like a beardless dwarf with patches of donkey flesh on his face. He stoops and hunches instead of standing upright. His body is a mismatch of parts with legs and feet being leonine, but human hands, balancing with a donkey's tail.   The second, standing less than five feet tall, huddles under a cloak but appears to have lizard scales covering the left half of her body while the right sports tufts of wolf fur. She greets the party, "Hold! Why you here?"   Fidelia starts to answer, when the mongrel abruptly cuts her off, "No look at me. I hate judging stares."   Averting her eyes a bit, Fidelia says, "We're here on behalf of a friend. We want to find her a safe place in this land."   "Abbot, you see," she replies, "I Zygfrek will take you."   The other mongrel adds, "I join too. I'm Otto. Otto Bellview. Follow."   Together they lead the party along a path that wends past several graves before splitting into two. A trail leads to the foot of a fifteen foot high wall that joins the two wings of the abbey while the other bends northward toward a garden.   The mongrels open two ten foot tall reinforced doors and walk into an open courtyard. Surrounded by fifeteen-foot-high curtain walls, the courtyard is filled with a thick fog swirling as if looking for an escape. Wooden doors lead north and east into the Abbey's two wings. Atop the wall stand several guards with their backs to you, but upon closer inspection these are merely scarecrows propped against the battlements. Along the perimeter are several stone sheds with padlocked wooden doors. In the center of the yard sits a stone well with an iron winch fitted to a rope and bucket. Next to the well, two wooden posts stand erect within the stonework. Iron rings are bolted to both of them and from one of those is chained a short humanoid with bat wings and spider mandibles.   The quiet that held tightly to this serene space is shattered by screams emanating from the stone sheds.   Zygfrek pauses for a moment as she holds up a hand, "Wait here. We get Abbot."   The pair of mongrels head through the doors to the east. As quickly as the doors slam closed, Nazgog moves to the creature tethered to a post. As she gets close, the creature flaps it's monstrous wings and takes flight. A chain rises with it until the chain goes taut holding the creature near. Nazgog calls out, "I'll not hurt you. I'm a friend and I'll light this place on fire if needed."   The wings slow but the creature keeps to the edge of it's tether as she replies, "No! No friends! Enemies everywhere! Always watching." Nazgog offers to release the creature, but she responds, "No. They watch me everywhere. I'm not brave enough to escape them."   Sighing, Nazgog replies, "If you are not courageous enough, then you'll never get anywhere."   The sound of doors closing comes from the east as a tall handsome human gracefully walks toward the party, "Welcome friends. Welcome to the Abbey of Saint Markovia. How may we help you?"   Studying him, the priest appears to be in his late twenties, which contradicts Burgomaster Krezkov's claim that the abbot took over the Abbey one hundred years ago, however, sensing no ill intent, Fidelia explains, "We here on an errand for a friend. They've gained the attention of Lady Strahd and need a place to rest and recuperate. How safe are your walls?"   "All who seek sanctuary will find peace within these walls," intones the abbot. "The Abbey is safe, even from the Lady Strahd. Which of you seeks sanctuary?"   "You misunderstand," replies Fidelia. "We want to ensure that the Abbey is safe before bringing our friend. And we have a wagon load of questions. For beginners, what has happened to these folk. Did you do this?"   Lines briefly crease the priest's beautiful young face as he responds, "Alas yes. The Bellviews's came to me decades ago with horrible diseases. I was able to cure them of their leperousy, but it was not enough. They kept requiring complete healing. I've tried to acquiesce to their perfection, but I keep failing as they never seem perfect. A failure for which I will never forgive myself. But I will keep them here, healthy and safe, until I am able to achieve their perfection."   "And this abbey, what else does it hold?" Fidelia probes.   "The abbey of St Markovia," intones the abbot, "is a place of sanctuary for all. Would you like a tour?"   "Sure," responds Fidelia, "but can you tell me about the gods of Barovia?"   "Walk with me and we'll discuss it as we go," answers the Abbot.