Curse of Strahd

Session 009 - Burgomaster and Friends

28 min read

Details

Summary

With their most urgent business in Vallaki behind them, the party spent their remaining time exploring the town and gathering information. They visited Baron Vargas Vallakovich at his mansion, where Leoberos made a dramatic first impression and the Baron proved to be a warm but oblivious host, convinced that mandatory joy would protect Vallaki from Strahd’s influence. The town square painted a darker picture, with locals locked in stocks for “malicious unhappiness” — visibly troubling Leoberos, who struggled to reconcile his respect for law with his sense of justice. The party also visited several notable shops, including an apothecary where they purchased healing potions and commissioned Wolfsbane incense, and a bakery run by a woman trapped from another dread realm, from whom they ordered pastries for an upcoming dinner. At Lake Zarovich, they encountered a panicked fisherman named Bluto who had thrown a suspicious burlap sack into the water; Chrystandar’s illusion of the sack resurfacing sent Bluto fleeing in terror, leaving the mystery of its contents unresolved.

The following evening, the party attended a formal dinner at the Baron’s manor, arriving in fine attire — Meathead included, fitted with a bow tie. The feast was lavish, and the Baron’s family provided memorable company: his wife laughed reflexively at his every word, while his son Victor suffered visibly through the meal. The most significant development came when the Baron announced a bounty of one thousand gold pieces for the capture of the legendary monster hunter Rudolph van Richten, whom he called an “incorrigible instigator.” Leoberos was immediately intrigued, seeing van Richten as a potential ally rather than a target. Later in the smoking den, Leoberos discreetly burned a stick of Wolfsbane incense through the mounted bear head above the fireplace — and when no one in the room reacted, he quietly ruled out the presence of werewolves among the Baron’s household. The party returned to the Blue Water Inn with several threads left to pull: a sunken sack in the lake, a missing wine shipment, a monster hunter somewhere in the mists, and the Festival of the Blazing Sun looming on the horizon.

Recap

With their most pressing business in Vallaki concluded — the stolen bones recovered, the church of St. Andral reconsecrated, and Ireena safely hidden within its walls — the party turned their attention to the town itself. Three goals remained on their minds: keeping Ireena concealed from her brother, retrieving the overdue wine shipment for Urwin Martikov at the Blue Water Inn, and simply surviving the oppressive gloom of Barovia long enough to make a difference. With a full day ahead of them and the midday sun doing its best to pierce the perpetual overcast, the group set out to learn what they could about the town of Vallaki and its people.

Their first stop was the Burgomaster’s mansion, a building of plastered stone in the southern part of town whose walls were slowly shedding their plaster like a snake losing its skin. Sturdy, professional-looking guards stood at the door, and after a brief exchange, one disappeared inside to announce the party’s arrival. A servant woman emerged shortly after and ushered them into a grand foyer lined with framed portraits, long carpeted hallways, and — curiously — enormous bundles of twigs heaped against the walls at every turn. They were escorted into a cozy den reeking of pipe smoke, where a mounted brown bear head glowered from the wall and two large mastiffs regarded the newcomers with open suspicion. Baron Vargas Vallakovich rose to greet them, and Leoberos Ulesith wasted no time cutting off Lucien mid-introduction to announce himself with full dramatic gravity: “I am Leoberos Ulesith, and I am here to vanquish the evil here in Barovia.” The Baron, to his credit, took it in stride — though he did slap his knee with delight when he learned that Leoberos’s enormous dog was named Meathead.

The Baron proved to be an enthusiastic and warm host, if not an especially sharp one. He made clear his disdain for Strahd, whom he called “the devil,” and expressed his belief that keeping the people of Vallaki joyful would somehow shield them from the vampire’s influence. He identified the Wachter family — specifically Lady Fiona Wachter — as a source of local discontent, claiming she sought to usurp his role as Burgomaster. He also extended a formal dinner invitation to the entire party for the following evening and directed them to the town square to learn about the upcoming Festival of the Blazing Sun, scheduled for two days hence. Leoberos shook the Baron’s hand with great ceremony and declared they would be the best of friends for the rest of their lives, then called Meathead to heel and walked out the door, leaving the Baron’s mastiffs staring after them.

The town square told a grimmer story. Tattered garlands and dead flowers decorated the shops and homes surrounding a crumbling stone fountain, at the center of which stood a gray statue of an impressive man facing west. More troubling still was a row of stocks along the northern edge of the square, in which several men, women, and two young boys were locked, each wearing a crude plaster donkey head meant to invite public ridicule. A bystander explained, matter-of-factly, that they had been arrested for “malicious unhappiness” — specifically for speaking negatively about the Baron’s festivals. Leoberos stopped dead in his tracks, visibly torn between his deep respect for law and his equally deep sense of justice, and pulled out his small notebook to record the injustice in handwriting that was, generously speaking, entirely illegible. The party also witnessed Izek Strazni, a man bearing a faint resemblance to Ireena’s brother, overseeing guards as they replaced proclamations for the “Wolf’s Head Jamboree” with new ones announcing the “Festival of the Blazing Sun.” The sheer volume of firewood being gathered for the event briefly raised fears of something far more sinister, but locals assured them the culmination of the festival was simply the burning of a large wicker sun effigy — no human sacrifice required.

The party made their way around the town square, visiting three shops that stood out from the general dreariness. At Branimir’s Butchery, the smell of blood and death hit them like a wall, but the butcher himself was friendly enough. He explained that wolf meat was the primary protein source in Vallaki, kept cheap and plentiful by the hunters who brought him carcasses regularly, and that the Wolf’s Head Jamboree had been an annual celebration of that abundance. The Apothecarium was a far more pleasant stop — filled with flowers, vines, and the smell of herbs — where the town’s midwife and herbalist, Senka Tolstoy, offered an impressive array of remedies and potions. She also mentioned, with a conspiratorial lean, that she could craft Wolfsbane incense, a substance deeply nauseating to werewolves, though she was currently out of the raw ingredient. The party purchased three healing potions from her and made a mental note to return with Wolfsbane.

The final shop, the Dementlieu Baguette, was a revelation. The scent of fresh-baked pastries hit them like a warm embrace after the stench of the butcher shop, and inside they found Martine Jacquet, a young woman in her mid-twenties who was clearly not from Barovia. Chrystandar recognized the name Dementlieu as another dread realm — a pocket dimension much like Barovia itself — and when he asked the baker directly, she confirmed she had been trapped in Vallaki for four years with no way home. She had accepted her fate and opened her shop, and the results were extraordinary: croissants, raspberry tarts, crème brûlée, and a rich opera cake that she mentioned was the Burgomaster’s personal favorite. The party commissioned a box of special treats for the upcoming dinner party, paid two gold, and Leoberos — who had been listening with great interest — solemnly informed the baker that he was allergic to pine nuts. She replied that she had no idea what a pine nut was, which seemed to satisfy him completely.

With the afternoon wearing on, the party decided to gather Wolfsbane from the misty forest near Lake Zarovich before the light failed entirely. Ysarissa, drawing on her knowledge of the natural world, identified and collected the herb — also known as Aconite or Monk’s Hood — without difficulty, and the group continued on to the lake itself. What they found was a large, perfectly still body of dark water nestled at the foot of a mountain, its surface reflecting the black clouds above like a monstrous mirror. Three small rowboats were pulled up along the southern shore, and roughly four hundred feet out on the water, a lone figure sat in a fourth boat with a fishing pole in hand, utterly motionless and seemingly unaware of the world around him.

Leoberos, undeterred by the distance, waded into the lake and attempted to simply walk across the water to the man. He failed immediately, stood calf-deep in the lake looking mildly puzzled, and then called out to the fisherman at the top of his lungs. The man did not respond. What he did do, after several long minutes, was pull a large burlap sack — roughly three feet long and a foot around — from the bottom of his boat and heave it over the side, where it sank beneath the dark surface without a sound. The party exchanged glances. Leoberos waded back to shore. They commandeered two of the rowboats, towing a third behind them, and rowed out toward the figure — Leoberos standing at the bow of his vessel, commanding his companions to row, and only realizing after a full minute of silence that no one was rowing for him.

As they closed the distance, Lucien used a whispered sending to reach the fisherman across the water. The man replied, identifying himself as Bluto and insisting he was simply fishing and that “what was done was done.” He was evasive and clearly unsettled. When the party drew within thirty feet, Chrystandar conjured an illusion of the sunken burlap sack bobbing back up to the surface between the two boats, and the effect was immediate and dramatic — Bluto’s face went white with terror. He yanked in his fishing line, grabbed his oars, and began rowing frantically for shore. Ysarissa put an arrow into the side of his boat — close enough to make the point — and he stopped, trembling. He claimed the bag was full of worms and dirt, and that the burlap sack itself was something he used to give him good luck in fishing. He rowed back to shore the moment the party gave him the chance, abandoned his boat on the bank, and ran for town without looking back. The party recovered Ysarissa’s arrow, noted the location of the lake for future investigation, and returned to Vallaki as the last light faded.

Back in town, they stopped at the Apothecarium just as Senka was locking up, delivered the Wolfsbane, and asked her to have the incense ready by morning. At the Blue Water Inn, Urwin Martikov greeted them with the news that the wine delivery was now significantly overdue — a multi-day journey to the winery and back, far too long to accomplish before the Baron’s dinner the following evening. He offered the party free lodging in exchange for retrieving the shipment, and they agreed, settling in for the night. Over drinks, Lucien struck up a conversation with Nikolai and Karl Wachter, the pompous, heavy-drinking brothers they had briefly encountered before. The brothers expressed a grudging loyalty to the von Zarovich line, describing Strahd not as a monster but as a “negligent landlord” — a ruler who could exert his will at any moment but simply chose not to bother with the town’s petty affairs. They explained that the Vistani were the only people permitted to leave Barovia freely, a privilege granted because they had once saved Strahd’s life long ago. Ysarissa kept the brothers entertained with a story about her youth in a port city — a game of knucklebones, a cheating friend, and a frantic chase through the streets with a guard in pursuit — and the evening ended on a surprisingly convivial note.

The following morning brought a formal dinner invitation, delivered by Izek Strazni himself. Sealed with crimson wax stamped with a crooked letter V, the letter named all six party members and requested their presence at the manor at dusk, specifying proper attire. The party spent the day preparing: they visited a local tailor, where Lucien successfully negotiated the price for five sets of fine clothes down from twenty-five gold to eighteen, and arranged for Meathead to be groomed and fitted with a large bow tie for the occasion. Lucien, from his previous “life” already had a set of fine clothes. They collected their Wolfsbane incense from Senka and picked up the commissioned pastries from the Dementlieu Baguette — a stunning array of raspberry tarts with a deep red glaze, crème brûlée with a burnt sugar crust, and the opera cake — before making their way to the manor as dusk settled over Vallaki.

The Baron had outdone himself. The hallway was lined with bowing servants, and the feast that followed was genuinely impressive: beef tartare, gooseneck soup, a pickled cabbage salad sharp with dill and mustard seeds, and glazed pork chops, all followed by the party’s own pastries for dessert. The Baron was delighted by the opera cake and declared it his favorite. His wife Lydia laughed at everything her husband said with a reflexive, slightly unnerving giggle, while their son Victor sat in visible agony, sighing at regular intervals. The Baron repeated his mantra throughout the evening — “Once every man, woman, and child in Vallaki soars with joy, we shall slip free from the devil’s grasp” — with the conviction of a man who had said it so many times he no longer questioned it. When Leoberos pressed him about the children in the stocks, the Baron dismissed it as necessary enforcement of community standards, noting they had been released later that day.

The evening’s most significant revelation came when the Baron mentioned a bounty. He announced that the legendary monster hunter Rudolph van Richten had been rumored to have surfaced in Barovia, and that he was offering a thousand gold pieces for van Richten’s capture — alive. He described the man as an “incorrigible instigator” who spread chaos and unrest wherever he went. Leoberos’s eyes lit up immediately. A monster hunter sowing chaos in Barovia sounded, to him, like exactly the sort of person worth finding. The Baron also pointed out Izek Strazni, standing silently to one side of the room, and called him his “greatest achievement” — a man others had once demanded be put to death, whom the Baron had instead chosen to redeem.

After dinner, the Baron led the group into the smoking den for confiscated cigars and hard liquor. While the Baron boasted about his family’s history and the founding of Vallaki, Leoberos quietly retrieved a Wolfsbane incense stick from his pocket, lit it from a nearby candle, and placed it in the open mouth of the mounted bear head above the fireplace. The smoke curled gently through the room. No one flinched. No one reacted at all. The guests, the servants, and the Baron himself showed no sign of discomfort, and as the incense burned down to nothing, Leoberos concluded — with some satisfaction — that whatever else the Baron might be, he was not harboring werewolves at his dinner table. The party finished their cigars, said their farewells, and made their way back to the Blue Water Inn, with a missing wine shipment, a monster hunter somewhere in the mists, and the Festival of the Blazing Sun all waiting for them come morning.

Scenes

1. Recap and Planning

The party reviews their current goals and discusses their next steps in Vallaki.

  • The party recaps their previous session, confirming they recovered the stolen bones from the coffin maker’s house, fought vampire spawn, and restored the consecration of St. Andral’s Church.
  • The group confirms that Ireena is staying safely at the church, hidden from her brother.
  • The party identifies three active goals: the bones (complete), retrieving wine for Urwin Martikov at the Blue Water Inn, and keeping Ireena hidden.
  • Two absent player characters, Kaelis and Chrystandar, are picked up by players for the session.

2. Audience with the Burgomaster

The party visits Baron Vargas Vallakovich at his mansion to introduce themselves and learn about the town’s leadership and local tensions.

  • The party travels to the southern central area of Vallaki and finds the Burgomaster’s mansion, a plastered stone building in a state of disrepair.
  • Sturdy town guards grant them entry after a servant ushers them inside.
  • Inside the grand foyer, the party notices large bundles of twigs heaped against the walls.
  • The group is escorted into a cozy den reeking of pipe smoke, decorated with a mounted brown bear head and occupied by two large mastiffs.
  • Leoberos dramatically introduces himself and his companions to Baron Vargas Vallakovich, cutting off Lucien mid-sentence.
  • Leoberos and the Baron bond over their dogs, though the Baron’s mastiffs give the party the evil eye.
  • The Baron expresses his disdain for Strahd, referring to him as ‘the devil,’ and claims to be working to prevent his influence in town.
  • The Baron identifies the Wachter family, specifically Lady Fiona Wachter, as a source of local discontent who wants to take over his role.
  • The party is invited to a formal dinner at the mansion the following night.
  • The Baron mentions the upcoming Festival of the Blazing Sun, scheduled for two days hence, and directs the party to the town square for details.

3. The Town Square and the Stocks

The party explores the Vallaki town square and discovers the harsh reality of the Baron’s laws.

  • The party arrives at the town square, which is decorated with tattered garlands and dead flowers, with a crumbling stone fountain at its center.
  • They witness a man resembling Ireena’s brother overseeing guards replacing proclamations for the ‘Wolf’s Head Jamboree’ with signs for the ‘Festival of the Blazing Sun.’
  • The party discovers several men, women, and children locked in stocks wearing crude plaster donkey heads.
  • A bystander explains that the prisoners were arrested for ‘malicious unhappiness’ after speaking negatively about the festivals.
  • Leoberos is deeply troubled by the concept of ‘malicious unhappiness’ and attempts to record the injustice in his largely illegible notebook.
  • The party discusses the suspicious amount of firewood being gathered for the festival, fearing it might be for human sacrifice, though locals assure them it is for a wicker sun effigy.
  • Leoberos makes a note to speak with the Baron about the unhappiness law, believing the Baron may be unaware of how it is being enforced.

4. A Tour of Vallaki’s Shops

The party explores the local commerce in the town square, visiting a butcher, an apothecary, and a bakery.

  • The party identifies three notable shops in the town square: Branimir’s Butchery, the Apothecarium, and Dementlieu Baguette.
  • Leoberos enters the butcher shop to buy scraps for Meathead, paying two silver pieces for a four-ounce chunk of meat.
  • Brandemere explains the history of the Wolf’s Head Jamboree and the abundance of inexpensive wolf meat in the region, noting that hunters bring him meat regularly.
  • The group visits the Apothecarium, meeting the herbalist and midwife Senka Tolstoy, who offers healing potions, a potion of water breathing, oil of slipperiness, a potion of necrotic resistance, and Wolfsbane incense.
  • Senka explains that Wolfsbane incense is nauseating to werewolves but she is currently out of the raw ingredient.
  • The party purchases three healing potions from Senka for 45 gold total.
  • The party enters the Dementlieu Baguette bakery, which fills the air with mouthwatering scents in stark contrast to the butcher shop.

5. The Dementlieu Bakery

The party visits a French-style bakery in Vallaki and meets a baker from another realm.

  • Chrystandar recognizes the name Dementlieu as another Domain of Dread, realizing the baker is likely not originally from Barovia.
  • The young baker, appearing to be in her mid-20s, explains she has been trapped in Vallaki for four years and cannot find a way home.
  • She explains that the path to her home domain is closed and she has accepted her fate, opening her shop in the meantime.
  • Lucien samples a croissant and is overwhelmed by its quality compared to everything else in Barovia.
  • Leoberos mentions he is allergic to pine nuts, though the baker is unfamiliar with them.
  • The party commissions a box of special treats for the Burgomaster’s upcoming dinner party, paying two gold.
  • The baker mentions that the Wachter family does not get along with the Burgomaster and may be seeking control of the town.
  • The baker reveals that the Burgomaster’s favorite treat is her opera cake.

6. Gathering Wolfsbane and Heading to the Lake

The party gathers Wolfsbane in the misty forest and travels to Lake Zarovich as evening approaches.

  • The party discusses their next moves, identifying the Wachterhaus location on the town map and recalling that they previously met Nikolai and Karl Wachter as obnoxious drunkards at the inn.
  • The group decides to head toward Lake Zarovich at dusk.
  • Ysarissa uses her knowledge of nature and survival to successfully identify and gather Wolfsbane, also known as Aconite or Monk’s Hood, in the misty forest near the lake.
  • The party stores the Wolfsbane and continues toward the lake.

7. The Mysterious Fisherman of Lake Zarovich

At the shores of Lake Zarovich, the party observes a mysterious figure fishing in the middle of the dark waters and investigates.

  • The party arrives at the large, dark lake nestled at the foot of a mountain, finding three rowboats pulled up on the south shore.
  • They spot a lone figure in a rowboat about 400 feet from shore, appearing to be in a trance-like state.
  • Leoberos attempts to walk on water to reach the fisherman but fails, resulting in wet boots.
  • The party observes the fisherman pull a large burlap bag from his boat and dump it into the lake.
  • The party commandeers two rowboats, towing a third behind them. Leoberos, Meathead, Ysarissa, and Chrystandar take one boat; Lucien, Kaelis, and Mortimer take the other.
  • Leoberos stands at the bow of his boat and commands his companions to row, only to realize after a minute that no one is rowing for him.
  • Mortimer uses his divine awareness to scan for undead within 60 feet but detects none.
  • Lucien uses the Message cantrip to communicate with the fisherman at 120 feet, who identifies himself as Bluto and claims he is simply fishing.
  • Chrystandar uses Minor Illusion to make the dumped burlap sack appear to bob back up to the surface, causing Bluto to panic.
  • Bluto, visibly terrified by the reappearing sack, begins rowing frantically toward shore.
  • Ysarissa fires an arrow into Bluto’s boat to force him to stop, and he halts his rowing.
  • Bluto claims the bag was full of worms and dirt, and that the burlap sack was something to give him good luck in fishing.
  • Bluto eventually rows back to shore and flees on foot toward town, leaving his boat behind.
  • The party decides not to pursue him, recovers the arrow, and returns to Vallaki.

8. Return to Vallaki and the Blue Water Inn

The party delivers Wolfsbane to the apothecary and returns to the inn to learn about the missing wine shipment.

  • The party visits Senka at the Apothecarium just as she is closing up, delivering the Wolfsbane and requesting she prepare incense for them by morning.
  • The group returns to the Blue Water Inn, where Urwin Martikov informs them that the wine delivery is significantly overdue.
  • The party realizes the winery is a multi-day trip and they cannot retrieve the wine before their dinner with the Baron the following evening.
  • Leoberos initially attempts to leave immediately to investigate but is talked down by the party, who agree to wait until after the dinner and festival.
  • Urwin offers the party free lodging in exchange for retrieving the wine.

9. A Night at the Blue Water Inn

The party gathers information from the Wachter brothers at the inn before retiring for the evening.

  • Lucien approaches Nikolai and Karl Wachter at the bar to gather information about the Burgomaster and the town’s laws.
  • The Wachter brothers express loyalty to the von Zarovich line, describing Strahd as a ‘negligent landlord’ rather than a tyrant.
  • The brothers explain that the children in the stocks were arrested for ‘malicious unhappiness’ after ridiculing the festivals.
  • Lucien learns that the Vistani are the only ones allowed to leave Barovia because they once saved Strahd’s life long ago.
  • The brothers share that Strahd was once a count, prince, soldier, and conqueror who founded Barovia, and that he controls the mists that prevent people from leaving.
  • Ysarissa entertains the brothers with a story about her youth in a port city, a game of knucklebones, and a chase through the streets with a guard.
  • The party shares pastries from the bakery with the Wachter brothers to build rapport.
  • The wolf hunters Szoldar and Yevgeni finish their drinks and head out into the night to hunt.
  • The party retires for the evening.

10. Preparations for the Baron’s Dinner

The party receives a formal dinner invitation and spends the day preparing appropriate attire and gifts.

  • Izek Strazni arrives at the inn to deliver a formal dinner invitation sealed with crimson wax and stamped with a crooked ‘V’, naming all six party members.
  • The invitation specifies ‘proper attire,’ and the innkeeper clarifies that armor and heavy weapons are not appropriate.
  • The party visits a local tailor to commission fine clothes for the evening.
  • Lucien successfully negotiates the price down from 25 gold to 18 gold for the group’s formal attire.
  • Leoberos insists on bringing Meathead to the dinner and arranges for the dog to be groomed and fitted with a large bow tie.
  • The party returns to the Apothecarium to collect their newly crafted Wolfsbane incense sticks.
  • The group visits the Dementlieu Baguette to pick up the commissioned pastries, including raspberry tarts, crème brûlée, and the opera cake.

11. Dinner at the Burgomaster’s Mansion

The party attends a lavish dinner hosted by Baron Vargas Vallakovich, where they learn of a bounty on a monster hunter and attempt to detect werewolves.

  • The party is warmly welcomed at the manor by servants and introduced to Baron Vargas, his perpetually giggling wife Lydia, and their visibly annoyed son Victor.
  • The party presents the pastries as a gift, and the Baron is delighted, especially by the opera cake, which he claims is his favorite.
  • A multi-course feast is served, featuring beef tartare, gooseneck soup, pickled cabbage salad, and glazed pork chops.
  • Leoberos confronts the Baron about the children in stocks, but the Baron dismisses it as a necessary punishment for ‘malicious unhappiness,’ noting they were released later in the day.
  • The Baron repeats his mantra: ‘Once every man, woman, and child in Vallaki soars with joy, we shall slip free from the devil’s grasp.’
  • The Baron offers a thousand gold piece reward for the capture of Rudolph van Richten, whom he labels an ‘incorrigible instigator’ who spreads chaos wherever he goes.
  • Leoberos is intrigued by van Richten and declares the party should find him.
  • The Baron points out Izek Strazni as his enforcer, calling him his ‘greatest achievement’ in redemption.
  • After dinner, the Baron invites the group to his den for confiscated cigars and hard liquor.
  • Leoberos covertly lights a stick of Wolfsbane incense and places it in the mouth of the mounted bear head to test the room for werewolves.
  • No one in the room reacts to the incense, suggesting no werewolves are present among the Baron’s guests.
  • The party concludes the evening and returns to the Blue Water Inn.
  • On the way out, the party asks the innkeeper about Bluto, learning he is a destitute local drunkard who trades fish for wine and has a residence in town.

Memorable Moments

  • [funny] “I am Leoberos Ulesith, and I am here to vanquish the evil here in Barovia.” (Leoberos; Cutting off Lucien mid-introduction to dramatically announce himself to the Burgomaster, then letting it hang in the air)
  • [funny] “His name is Meathead.” (Leoberos; Announcing his dog’s name to the Burgomaster with complete solemnity, causing the Baron to slap his knee in amusement)
  • [dramatic] The party discovers men, women, and children locked in stocks wearing crude plaster donkey heads, arrested for the crime of ‘malicious unhappiness’ for speaking ill of the Baron’s festivals. (Leoberos is visibly shaken, torn between his respect for law and his sense of justice, and begins furiously scribbling in his illegible notebook)
  • [funny] Leoberos attempts to walk on water to reach the distant fisherman on Lake Zarovich, fails immediately, and stands calf-deep in the lake calling out to the man while Meathead watches from dry land. (The party had no other plan to reach the fisherman 400 feet out, and Leoberos simply decided to try walking on water)
  • [intriguing] Bluto, in an apparent trance, pulls a large burlap sack from his boat and dumps it into the dark waters of Lake Zarovich, then reacts with pure terror when Chrystandar’s illusion makes it appear to bob back to the surface. (The fisherman claimed it was merely something for good luck, but his panicked flight from the party suggested something far more sinister was in the bag)
  • [funny] Leoberos covertly lights a stick of Wolfsbane incense and places it in the mouth of the mounted bear head in the Baron’s smoking den to test the dinner guests for lycanthropy. (The party had debated this plan all day; Leoberos finally executed it unilaterally while the Baron was boasting about his family history)
  • [funny] “I also got some other more powerful stuff that I’ve created.” (Senka Tolstoy; The herbalist leaning in conspiratorially while showing the party her wares, prompting the group to wonder if they had found the town’s drug dealer)
  • [intriguing] The Baron offers a thousand gold piece bounty for the capture of Rudolph van Richten, a legendary monster hunter he calls an ‘incorrigible instigator,’ immediately capturing Leoberos’s interest. (Leoberos declared they must find van Richten immediately, seeing a kindred spirit in a man the Baron fears for stirring up trouble)

Session log

From the GM Assistant session lists. GMA doesn’t distinguish visited/met/found from mentioned, so these lists can include things only talked about.

Present in this session

Quests & Threads touched

Also noted (no wiki page)

  • Spells & abilities used: Eyes of the Grave, Message, Minor Illusion

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