Rhenny
Adventurer
Session 28 – Rictavio, Strange Happenings and a Strange New Place
Our carriage continued west in the night as we tried to catch up to Rictavio. We came to an intersection and turned NW to go towards Van Richten’s Tower. In a few hours, we made it to a land bridge that jutted out into Lake Baratok. The mist was heavy, but we could just make out the tower on a small island across the causeway. Our driver said he’d stay here with the horses a we got off the carriage. Brigby opened the carriage door and helped Lady Syvrina out. Fid, Bynn and I just jumped down and started toward the tower.
As we got closer, we saw a fancy carriage just outside the front door of the tower. The door to the carriage was pad locked closed and it had drapes over the windows. There was also a wooden sign hung on the door saying “Keep Out!” Unfortunately, Fid did not heed that warning and he tried to open the door. A huge explosion erupted from the warded door and we all got blown back. Brig and Bynn were both knocked unconscious by the fiery blow. Immediately, I called forth a rope trick to give us a place to rest, but something went wrong. Three strange looking, more powerful zombies wriggled out from the rope trick, so I aborted the spell. I ran to Brigby, took out a healing potion from my bag and poured it into his mouth. As soon as he got up, he presented his holy symbol and turned undead, but only one of the zombies was repulsed. Before we could interpose or distract one of the zombies near Bynn, started to eat Bynn, killing him outright. In anger, Syvrina and Fid slashed at zombies, taking one down, as I stabbed one with my rapier and bounded away. Syvrina finished off the remaining zombie, but we were quite shaken.
Brigby took out a scroll we had found earlier and started to chant. Syvrina and I tried to inspire our cleric, and luckily, he was able to read the words and revivify Bynn. Although Bynn was up, he did not seem right. He didn’t know us or that he could cast spells or turn himself into wolf form as the druid he once was. That’s when we heard a voice from the trees say, “don’t be too sure he’s alive.” We turned to look and saw a man with a sabertooth tiger. It was Rictavio. Lady Syvrina had some words for him thinking him to be rude. We told him we were looking for him, and he told us that he was looking for Esmeralda because he wanted to ask about a curse that may be affecting his pet, the tiger named Piccolo. He told us more about this tower when we asked if we could rest here. Van Richten it seems was a friend of Strahd’s who tried to prolong his life and power, possibly becoming a lich. Finally, we decided to take Rictavio and Piccolo to Krezk, which should only be a few hours away. Rictavio said that there was an enchanted pool that might be able to help him with the curse. He also told us that we had tried to break into Esmeralda’s carriage. Fid wanted to take some stuff from the carriage, but I convinced him to leave it. Instead, we scrawled a note on her sign saying, “Sorry.” We wanted to find Esmeralda and talk with her so we didn’t want to burn bridges. We also felt that we had to make haste to Krezk to find a place to stay for the night, so we didn’t want to stick around.
When we got to the carriage, we put Rictavio and Piccolo into the cab while everyone else rode atop. Before we could go, the driver slumped over and was twitching, unconscious. He must have succumbed to Strahd’s influence like Yut and I had earlier. We put him into the carriage and Syvrina took the reins.
Syvrina drove the carriage toward what we thought would be Krezk pushing the horses faster and faster. She drove like a demon through the night as mists coalesced around us. I remembered the strange mists when I had left Krezk a week ago and we worried that Strahd was making it more difficult for us although Syvrina did not seem deterred at all.
Through the fog, we tried to get Rictavio’s attention inside the carriage, but heard no response. Eventually, we came upon a town near an ocean with docks and a bay. There were no gates or walls, and this certainly was not Krezk. Still no answer from Rictavio inside, so Syvrina drove the horses to town. We were able to speak briefly to a woman we passed who told us we were in Mortenshire and the “Beached Mermaid” would be a good inn to stay at.
We got there and looked inside our own carriage to find that it was empty. What strange magic was at work, we didn’t know. Tired and hurt, we went into the “Beached Mermaid.” It was not too busy so we went up to the bar to get food and drinks and get rooms for the night. Then we saw a strange sight. The innkeeper/bartender looked like our old companion Yut, but he didn’t recognize us. Brigby tested him by asking him to calculate how much change he’d get if he gave him 2 gold. The bartender could calculate the difference, something Yut could never do. He bartender told us to call him “The Captain.” He also told us about a haunted house on Gryphen Hill. He also told us about the horrible dogs that ravage the land at night in this area so nobody goes out. When we paid or food and rooms, he said that Lady Syvrina’s tab had already been paid and she could have the master suite. He also said that a charming man had paid and given The Captain a package for the Lady. After that strange encounter, we went to sleep.
That night, Syvrina stayed up longer and spoke more with The Captain. She found out that there was a sheriff in town and Lord Godefroy used to be the lord of the town, but he was now a ghost. She wanted to leave the inn and find the Lord, but The Captain told her not to and Syvrina decided to stay the night.
In the morning we had breakfast and found out more about the history of the area. The Captain told us about the a tale from 100 years ago when Burton Westcoat had arranged to marry Anne Campbell. It was a strange affair and it seemed as if Anne didn’t want to marry. She killed Michael Westcoat and wondered off into the bog. Burton went in with dogs to subdue Anne, but when he came back, he was crazy with fear. He never spoke about it, but everyone thinks that somehow the Campbell’s cursed the Westcoats. At this point, since Bynn was till a little shaky and didn’t remember much, Brigby tried to cast lesser restoration upon him. As he did, Bynn went unconscious and it looked as if the spell was killing him. Brigby inspected his body and called for some additionally divine healing. That stabilized Bynn and got him on his feet again, and for some reason, now Bynn remembered us, who he was, and how he had studied as a druid. It seemed as if the lesser restoration had reset Bynn back to the moment he was killed, maybe that’s good…we don’t know.
After all this, a boy came in saying that shepherd Dawson had been killed. Then the sheriff came into the inn and asked for help. He deputized us and told us we were going for a bog dog hunt. A shepherd had been killed and he was sick of the terror those dogs were causing. We agreed to help and went out to the farm with the sheriff and what seemed to be the entire town (80-100 people). We searched the area and found a weird looking stick and mud sculpture of a dog towering over the dead body. A wind came and blew it all apart before we could see much more. Then the sheriff took the towns folk out to search the area and he told us to follow up any leads we thought would find those bog hounds.
Bynn assumed dire wolf form and began to track. He led us into a boggy area and soon we heard baying of hounds. Within a few moments we were surrounded by 10 of the bog dogs, stick and mud replicas of dogs that were animate. We had a difficult fight on our hands. I used a number of burning hands spells to weaken the foes, and I also slashed at them with my rapier. Syvrina slashed and cut with her short sword and dagger doing great amounts of damage with her angry huff, as Bynn in wolf form took massive damage, but also attacked ferociously. Brigby used his most potent shatter spell, along with his divine wrath and thunderwave. Fid fared the best of us, taking little damage and hacking away with his sword wielding it in two hands with crazy power. Even though I was quick and my bladesong and mage armor protected me, I needed to use my shield spell a number of times. Even with that, one of the dogs scored a horrible bit upon me and I went down. Brigby got me up quickly and although was weak and it looked as if we might not pull through this battle, we did end up killing all 10 of the bog hounds. Unfortunately, soon after, it seemed as if they were reforming. There was some strange magic affecting them. We would have to run and run we did, deeper into the bog.
Our carriage continued west in the night as we tried to catch up to Rictavio. We came to an intersection and turned NW to go towards Van Richten’s Tower. In a few hours, we made it to a land bridge that jutted out into Lake Baratok. The mist was heavy, but we could just make out the tower on a small island across the causeway. Our driver said he’d stay here with the horses a we got off the carriage. Brigby opened the carriage door and helped Lady Syvrina out. Fid, Bynn and I just jumped down and started toward the tower.
As we got closer, we saw a fancy carriage just outside the front door of the tower. The door to the carriage was pad locked closed and it had drapes over the windows. There was also a wooden sign hung on the door saying “Keep Out!” Unfortunately, Fid did not heed that warning and he tried to open the door. A huge explosion erupted from the warded door and we all got blown back. Brig and Bynn were both knocked unconscious by the fiery blow. Immediately, I called forth a rope trick to give us a place to rest, but something went wrong. Three strange looking, more powerful zombies wriggled out from the rope trick, so I aborted the spell. I ran to Brigby, took out a healing potion from my bag and poured it into his mouth. As soon as he got up, he presented his holy symbol and turned undead, but only one of the zombies was repulsed. Before we could interpose or distract one of the zombies near Bynn, started to eat Bynn, killing him outright. In anger, Syvrina and Fid slashed at zombies, taking one down, as I stabbed one with my rapier and bounded away. Syvrina finished off the remaining zombie, but we were quite shaken.
Brigby took out a scroll we had found earlier and started to chant. Syvrina and I tried to inspire our cleric, and luckily, he was able to read the words and revivify Bynn. Although Bynn was up, he did not seem right. He didn’t know us or that he could cast spells or turn himself into wolf form as the druid he once was. That’s when we heard a voice from the trees say, “don’t be too sure he’s alive.” We turned to look and saw a man with a sabertooth tiger. It was Rictavio. Lady Syvrina had some words for him thinking him to be rude. We told him we were looking for him, and he told us that he was looking for Esmeralda because he wanted to ask about a curse that may be affecting his pet, the tiger named Piccolo. He told us more about this tower when we asked if we could rest here. Van Richten it seems was a friend of Strahd’s who tried to prolong his life and power, possibly becoming a lich. Finally, we decided to take Rictavio and Piccolo to Krezk, which should only be a few hours away. Rictavio said that there was an enchanted pool that might be able to help him with the curse. He also told us that we had tried to break into Esmeralda’s carriage. Fid wanted to take some stuff from the carriage, but I convinced him to leave it. Instead, we scrawled a note on her sign saying, “Sorry.” We wanted to find Esmeralda and talk with her so we didn’t want to burn bridges. We also felt that we had to make haste to Krezk to find a place to stay for the night, so we didn’t want to stick around.
When we got to the carriage, we put Rictavio and Piccolo into the cab while everyone else rode atop. Before we could go, the driver slumped over and was twitching, unconscious. He must have succumbed to Strahd’s influence like Yut and I had earlier. We put him into the carriage and Syvrina took the reins.
Syvrina drove the carriage toward what we thought would be Krezk pushing the horses faster and faster. She drove like a demon through the night as mists coalesced around us. I remembered the strange mists when I had left Krezk a week ago and we worried that Strahd was making it more difficult for us although Syvrina did not seem deterred at all.
Through the fog, we tried to get Rictavio’s attention inside the carriage, but heard no response. Eventually, we came upon a town near an ocean with docks and a bay. There were no gates or walls, and this certainly was not Krezk. Still no answer from Rictavio inside, so Syvrina drove the horses to town. We were able to speak briefly to a woman we passed who told us we were in Mortenshire and the “Beached Mermaid” would be a good inn to stay at.
We got there and looked inside our own carriage to find that it was empty. What strange magic was at work, we didn’t know. Tired and hurt, we went into the “Beached Mermaid.” It was not too busy so we went up to the bar to get food and drinks and get rooms for the night. Then we saw a strange sight. The innkeeper/bartender looked like our old companion Yut, but he didn’t recognize us. Brigby tested him by asking him to calculate how much change he’d get if he gave him 2 gold. The bartender could calculate the difference, something Yut could never do. He bartender told us to call him “The Captain.” He also told us about a haunted house on Gryphen Hill. He also told us about the horrible dogs that ravage the land at night in this area so nobody goes out. When we paid or food and rooms, he said that Lady Syvrina’s tab had already been paid and she could have the master suite. He also said that a charming man had paid and given The Captain a package for the Lady. After that strange encounter, we went to sleep.
That night, Syvrina stayed up longer and spoke more with The Captain. She found out that there was a sheriff in town and Lord Godefroy used to be the lord of the town, but he was now a ghost. She wanted to leave the inn and find the Lord, but The Captain told her not to and Syvrina decided to stay the night.
In the morning we had breakfast and found out more about the history of the area. The Captain told us about the a tale from 100 years ago when Burton Westcoat had arranged to marry Anne Campbell. It was a strange affair and it seemed as if Anne didn’t want to marry. She killed Michael Westcoat and wondered off into the bog. Burton went in with dogs to subdue Anne, but when he came back, he was crazy with fear. He never spoke about it, but everyone thinks that somehow the Campbell’s cursed the Westcoats. At this point, since Bynn was till a little shaky and didn’t remember much, Brigby tried to cast lesser restoration upon him. As he did, Bynn went unconscious and it looked as if the spell was killing him. Brigby inspected his body and called for some additionally divine healing. That stabilized Bynn and got him on his feet again, and for some reason, now Bynn remembered us, who he was, and how he had studied as a druid. It seemed as if the lesser restoration had reset Bynn back to the moment he was killed, maybe that’s good…we don’t know.
After all this, a boy came in saying that shepherd Dawson had been killed. Then the sheriff came into the inn and asked for help. He deputized us and told us we were going for a bog dog hunt. A shepherd had been killed and he was sick of the terror those dogs were causing. We agreed to help and went out to the farm with the sheriff and what seemed to be the entire town (80-100 people). We searched the area and found a weird looking stick and mud sculpture of a dog towering over the dead body. A wind came and blew it all apart before we could see much more. Then the sheriff took the towns folk out to search the area and he told us to follow up any leads we thought would find those bog hounds.
Bynn assumed dire wolf form and began to track. He led us into a boggy area and soon we heard baying of hounds. Within a few moments we were surrounded by 10 of the bog dogs, stick and mud replicas of dogs that were animate. We had a difficult fight on our hands. I used a number of burning hands spells to weaken the foes, and I also slashed at them with my rapier. Syvrina slashed and cut with her short sword and dagger doing great amounts of damage with her angry huff, as Bynn in wolf form took massive damage, but also attacked ferociously. Brigby used his most potent shatter spell, along with his divine wrath and thunderwave. Fid fared the best of us, taking little damage and hacking away with his sword wielding it in two hands with crazy power. Even though I was quick and my bladesong and mage armor protected me, I needed to use my shield spell a number of times. Even with that, one of the dogs scored a horrible bit upon me and I went down. Brigby got me up quickly and although was weak and it looked as if we might not pull through this battle, we did end up killing all 10 of the bog hounds. Unfortunately, soon after, it seemed as if they were reforming. There was some strange magic affecting them. We would have to run and run we did, deeper into the bog.