Session 22

The party found themselves in the The Martikovs' kitchen, and so they settled down for some well deserved dinner and rest. Shalooti fed Lancelot some wolf meat she found in the ice chest, Anakir enjoyed some food after he checked to make sure it was safe, Bardolf drank some of the poisoned wine and immediately suffered the consequences, spending a good part of the session in The Winery bathroom, and Elora looked around and came across some old wine shipment logs. She found recent shipments to Blood of the Vine Tavern, Blue Water Inn, Krezk, and Vistani. Some of the oldest records noted shipments to Strahd.

As the rest of the party relaxed, Pelanil decided to explore more of the winery, and he found stairs down into the cellar. There, he explored the two sections of the cold room, and found only half of it was full of wine bottles. He also noticed that the northern side of the room was much colder than the southern side, and upon investigation, found a secret door.

Opening the door, he finds a tunnel covered in mold that leads into a cave. At the end of the cave, he sees a small animal running towards him. Before he can react, this animal latches itself to his face. Then, we hear the voice of an old friend.

Blinsky calls off Piccolo, and explains to Pelanil how he ended up here:

• he was being attacked by vampires in Vallaki, but Piccolo distracted them by jumping on their faces
• That gave Blinsky enough time to run and hide
• He snuck from alley to alley until he was able to make a break for the woods
• Piccolo found him in the woods and they camped there for a night
• but they woke up to find themselves surrounded by Forest Folk
• they brought them here and locked them in this cold cave

Blinsky was incredibly grateful to Pelanil for rescuing him, and was excited to see the rest of the party again. Then, out of nowhere, Pelanil bit Blinsky's neck, and Blinsky bled out on the floor. Piccolo sniffed around the corpse, obviously grief-stricken, then realizing Blinsky was dead, reached his arms out for Pelanil to take him.

Monkey on his shoulder, and his belly full of blood, Pelanil relaxed in the dark cave for a minute to heal some lost health and to get better acquainted with his new staff.

As Pelanil inspected his staff, he learned that it has the ability to create, control, and destroy the blights that have been laying siege to The Winery (see Gulthias Staff Handout). And as he continued to hold it, he found that small roots had grown from the plant and into his skin.

He makes his way back out of the cellar and encounters an antlered Forest Folk leading a handful of blights into the cellar. The blights start to attack, but don't do anything when they see the staff. Pelanil orders them to attack the man, and they kill him instantly.

Back in the kitchen, the party wonders where Pelanil is. They look out the window to see the blights dancing in the vines. Adrian flies in to meet with the party, and the group is able to see Pelanil on the roof with the Gulthias Staff raised, Piccolo with a small stick raised, and both of them pumping their sticks up and down, with the blights mirroring their every move.

Pelanil commands the blights to leave, and they begin retreating into the woods. Then, we see The Martikovs begin to emerge, the children running across the yard. Adrian thanks the party, and offers to fetch the money he owes them, but is shocked to find their treasure chest emptied.

With The Martikovs all safely back in their home, they invite the party to stay the night and enjoy dinner and wine with them.

Davian has finally come around the party, and strikes up a conversation with Bardolf asking about his ancestors under the mountain. He then goes on to talk about the history between The Martikovs and the Forest Folk, explaining that the Forest Folk were not always all bad, but that the ones who served Strahd were the only to survive.

Adrian begs the party to help save their dying vineyard by retrieving the gems at Yester Hill and the Ruins of Berez. He tells them that their scouts saw a large skull in the swamp at Berez, but dared not get close for fear of the witch, Baba Lysaga.

Pelanil wakes from a strange dream where he was on top of a sacred hill, sticking his hand into an old, bloody tree.

The party starts the hour journey to Yester Hill. Along the way, Piccolo finds a leather-bound bundle and brings it back to Pelanil. He finds that it is a set of medium clothes, and having just been with The Martikovs, realizes that this must be what they do with their clothes when they transform into ravens.

The party shortly arrives at Yester Hill. There, they see this ancient hallowed hill, which seems to have served as a burial grounds of sorts. The hill is circled by dozens of 10-foot-high black rock cairns, and on the west side is a thick wall of fog, seemingly the edge of Barovia.

The group makes their way around the base of the hill towards the wall of fog. Through the fog, they can see a white fortress on a hill above a great city and can hear what sounds like the echo of a church bell.

Intrigued, Bardolf pisses into the fog, but a swimming gray figure gathers it up and throws it back into his face. Pelanil sticks in a hand, and is jerked abruptly into the thick fog. Elora acts fast and is able to grab his leg without, herself, falling into the fog. But the grey being is too strong, and she begins sliding towards the fog with Pelanil. Shalooti grabs on to Elora and pulls as hard as she can!