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====== Mordinkainen ======
==== Curse of Strahd ====

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Session 47 – 2022-02-05

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Session Summary

We pick up where we left off, with a party separated into groups of two. None knew where they others had gone.

Snoggly and Zanfyr are attacked again. Snoggly casts Protection from Good and Evil. Zanfyr takes some damage and then attacks back. They fight for several rounds and though were connecting with the vampires when they attacked early on, there strikes began to pass through the vampires as though they were apparitions. Around this time, the vampire’s strikes also started passing through Snoggly and Zanfyr. After only a short time later, Snoggly faded out and disappeared. Just a moment after that, Zanfyr did the same.

Kyanna and Victor decided to try for the green gate, or at least get closer and see what the possibilities were. They wrapped up in blankets trying to stay warm and made their way toward the gate. As they got closer, they could see it was made up of a green flame. As they were trying to determine if they could or should attempt to pass through it, they were set upon by some demon like creatures. The battle was on and though they took a good amount of damage, they to, slowly vanished from their scene. Before they vanished, Kyanna was treated to a show of magical power from Victor that she hadn’t expected, and the party had not seen from him earlier. It turns out that he is an accomplished mage in his own right. She wondered as to why he was only now, displaying this power.

Haldar and Dain continue through the woods toward the mountain. Nothing happened to them and while walking, they slowly grew less corporeal and vanished from their scene.

Rinn and Misty, move to the north and south doors attempting to see which way to go next. While listening at the door, Misty heard a dart shoot past her head. Turning quickly to see who had fired it, she saw Piddlewick standing inside the double doors that were now open. He had taken the shot. Misty called out to him and as he heard his name, he began to do his little Piddlewick dance. He seemed quite pleased with himself. Rinn turned at the mention of his name and glancing toward Misty. He didn’t know what had happened only that as he followed her gaze, he saw Piddlewick. He also played into Piddlewick’s ego and called out to him. That’s when they saw Gurtruda standing behind him.

We remembered her as the young lady that the villagers from the Village of Barovia, were searching for when we first arrived in this god forsaken place. We had just finished dealing with Rose and Thorn Durst at the Durst house. Gurtruda suddenly started screaming. Both Misty and Rinn tried to calm her by telling her that we weren’t there to hurt her and that we were lost in this place. She slowly calmed down and after being asked if he was a prince, Rinn played to her shyness by affirming her beliefs. This helped to keep her quiet. She mentioned Rahadin who Rinn knew from Dain’s stories about his dreams, as being a commander in Strahd’s armies at the battle for Argynvosthold. He knew he would be a fierce, battle-hardened elf.

While trying to appease Gurtruda, Misty and Rinn failed to notice Rahadin apparat into the room behind them. He sent Gurtruda away, back to bed, and Piddlewick left with her. Now faced with questioning from Rahadin, Misty and Rinn simply answered his questions honestly, once they got the question of why Rinn’s familiar was speaking to him. Rinn first, had to explain that the Misty was not a familiar, but a member of a race called the “Tabaxi” and that she was a colleague. They continued with the story, about how they had been in a room where they found a portal and when they stepped through, they found themselves here. That posed more questions, such as, where was this portal?

Rinn told the truth about how they found the portal to the mages house and eventually the portal to here except he left out names and placed its portal’s location somewhere closer to the Ghakis mountains, in southern Barovia. Rahadin spoke to us by name and let Rinn know that his sister, Alestra, was here in the castle. Rinn played along as if that were perfectly plausible and suggested that he would like to see her while she was in the area. Rahadin offered Rinn and Misty, rooms to stay in and they accepted. That’s when he attacked. He somehow sent out a psychic burst that put Rinn down immediately. Misty is made of sturdier stuff and attacked Rahadin but after a couple of more psychic bursts, she went down as well.

They both woke later up to find themselves in cells, stripped of everything, with the legs bound and their arms chained to a wall above their heads while they were in about 5 feet of water. Rinn was unable to cast as his hands were too tightly bound. After a short time, both of them slowly faded from this scene.

Snoggly and Zanfyr were the first to arrive through the red portal on the platform where they had departed from. On the plat form, was the wizard who had vanished from there earlier. He introduced himself as Mordenkainen. Snoggly started questioning him and Mordenkainen questioned them. After a short time, Kyanna and Victor arrived through the portal. A short time later, Haldar and Dain arrived, and a short time after that, Rinn and Misty arrived. As the discussions continued, we discovered that Mordenkainen and Kazan were one and the same. It was Mordenkainin, as Kazan, who fought Strahd at the falls where Strahd cast him into the falls and to his supposed death. Since then, he had been hiding here, thinking to escape Strahd’s notice.

Victor began fawning over Mordenkainen as he slowly approached him. In his discussion about the battle, Mordenkainen mentioned that he had lost a book and a staff in the battle. As he approached him, Victor pulled a book from under his shirt, which he then offered to Mordenkainen. As he reached out to hand the book to him but connected with an invisible forcefield. Mordenkainen asked him to put the book down and to step away. He cautiously moved forward and after a brief examination of the book, pulled it within his forcefield and picked it up. Victor explained that he had found it when he went searching for the mage, after the battle with Strahd. He asked if he could remain and apprentice with Mordenkainen. 

We explained that we wanted to destroy Strahd and Mordenkainen told us that to do so, would require the Sun Sword, but that he didn’t know where that was. We told him about the riddle we had been given by Lady Eva that basically said the sword was likely in the Amber Vault. He said, it was as-good-as lost to us. No one survives an encounter with the Amber Vaults. That’s where Strahd’s power really comes from. If the sword is, as Mordenkainen had stated, the only thing that can defeat Strahd, then it stands that we must poses it before we can challenge him. Mordenkainen told us that he does not know where the Amber Vault is, only that it is somewhere in the mountains of Ghakis. He told us that the Dusk Elves, would know the way. We can find them among the Vistani. We found that leaving this platform was not easy, or perhaps it was. After trying to determine how to get out of here. Mordenkainen simply waved his hands, and we were standing outside the portal that was the entrance to this place. We were minus Victor. Mordenkainen must have kept him there to begin his apprenticeship.

We did some healing before we started down the hill. As we reached the lower lands, it got warmer. We picked a place and camped in a tiny hut for the evening. As short time into Rinn’s watch, as he was gazing at the full moon, he started hearing odd sounds coming from Dain. As he looked at him, Dain was starting to growl, squirm, and change form, as hair began growing out of his skin, all over his body. As he writhed in seeming pain, the others woke up. Recognizing what was going on, those capably of doing so, grabbed Dain and threw him out of the hut. Snoggly blocked him from entry, and they watched as Dain attempted to gain entry. When it became obvious that he couldn’t get back in, the werewolf turned and ran off into the woods.

When morning arrived, the party gathered Dain's belongings and set out to find him. It took a while, but they found him on the northern shore of Lake Zarovch. He was naked, curled into the fettle position, and asleep. They woke him and explained what had happened to him. He got dressed and they set out for the Vistani camp. There is nothing they can do, at this time, about the curse. They’d hoped that the Vistani might be able to help.

They moved around the west side of the lake and made their way to the bridge on the main road.

We left off here.