As the day breaks in the Vistani camp, the adventurers ready themselves for a long day of travel. Before leaving they take time to visit Arabelle. Tilly gives her a gift of a knife, which the girl recognizes as belonging to Pidlwick. Contrary to what the team of heroes believe about their impish friend, Arabelle and others think that Pidlwick is a completely changed little man. Arabelle is more than happy to chat with the group about her recent dreams. She has seen a vision that includes Jaylyn and a powerful wizard across a great big lake. As they talk, the group decides that going to visit the a wizard should be added to their itinerary after they reach Krezk.
With their recent battles against strange beings in the area, they are looking forward to making some progress toward the next town. As they take their leave of camp, they run into Victor. Victor is moping about, thinking about the fact that he needs to discover a cure for his meow-meow woman. As he speaks to the group, he becomes increasingly agitated, unable to settle down.
He tells them of a vision that Arabelle gave him from a Tarokka reading, of a wizard, who lives across a large lake and has immense power. They are able to convince Victor to accompany them to replenish supplies. As they travel, they learn that Victor has been refining his ability to cast several spells. He is still depressed, but he still wields powers that could be helpful to the team in battle.
Penny for Jeny
Knowing that several of the group members have been having fitful sleep, they first stop at a shabby structure that belongs to Jeny Greenteeth. She is rumored to be a resourceful witch. Specifically, Thaldir wants to ask about a mask that he is unable to discard or put down. Jeny Greenteeth looks every day of her age (though, no one knows if that’s one hundred or one thousand years). She flashes a toothless grin and asks what she can do to help.
Thaldir opens his hand and shows Jeny the mask that was given to him by a druid. She takes it from him to examine it, but it snaps right back into his hand. “Ah, the boomerang mask. This is quite the little folly…the creation of a trickster. I can release you from it, but I’ll need a white puppy, a brown cat, and an aged rooster. They must be living when I receive them.” A puzzled Thaldir returns the mask to his pocket and steps back.
She then turns to Tilly, who asks why she has been visited in her dreams by Pidlwick (though she is afraid she already knows the unfortunate reason). Jeny moves close to Tilly and, closing one eye, says that Tilly can see the future. “Though you are untrained in using this gift, you do have visions.” She also tells Tilly that she can learn a great deal about using her gift from Madame Eva.
As they continue to talk with Jeny, she reveals that she can bring any one of them back from the dead.. Tilly seems to be pre-occupied with the idea that Jeny requires some of their blood in order to summon or track them. A lengthy discussion is had about the pros and cons of trusting Jeny with some of their DNA. The group opts not to make this bargain.
When Jeny offers to cure meow-meow woman for the price of one finger (Victor’s or someone else’s finger), Victor declines.
Aydin, who is desperate to be free of Rose’s curse, hands over his toenail clippings, which Jenny says are necessary for the ritual to free him. She eagerly bends down and bites off his toenails, licking each toe, which she says is necessary. For the earwax requirement, Jeny reaches into Aydin’s ear and pulls out a distressing (though not surprising) amount of wax.
Having the payment satisfied, Jenny gives a wide grin to the party. Then all of a sudden is overcome, her eyes turn white and she falls into some kind of trancelike state. She leans forward and in a monotone voice says,
“Through swamp and marsh and lonely bog,
where death comes slain as a creeping fog
she begs my heart, and die I do
For never was there one so true.”
After saying this, she returns to the conversation, she seems to have no recollection of the words she just uttered.
As they wait for Aydin’s tincture to be ready, they continue to ask Jeny questions about the land, especially the Devil Strahd. Jeny tells them of the Ladies Three, also known as the Fanes of Barovia. She begins her tale in earnest, her eyes sparkling as she speaks of the tale.
Tale of the Ladies Three
“Long before Strahd’s conquest, the Barovian valley was once an untamed land watched over by a trio of ancient archfey. The forest folk of old called these archfey, The Ladies Three, and built great, monolithic shrines in their honor.
The Ladies Three were beings of nature, as wild as the land itself. Though they possessed physical forms, they rarely showed themselves to mortals. Instead, they would appear in auguries, dreams, and omens, speaking through the mouths of animals and in the wind that mused the trees.
The Ladies collectively oversaw the flora, fauna and land. Together in their unity, they provided their love and care over the valley. Each sister had her own responsibility.
The Forest Fey oversaw the plants and animals.
The Water Fey oversaw the rain, lakes, and rivers.
The Mountain Fey oversaw the land and the earth.
Together they created a balance and harmony through the seasons.
When the first people came to the valley, the people learned of the Ladies Three. They respected them and saw them as their goddesses. All the people learned to walk in harmony with nature. The forest folk, created three stone circles, known as Fanes, each representing one of the sisters. The first stone circle (Fane) was built on the edge of the forest as a tribute to the Forest Fey. Another Fane was built along the river as a tribute to the Water Fey. The third Fane was build on a hill looking up towards the grand mountains as a tribute to the Mountain Fey.
During the longest day of summer, The Summer Solstice, when the sun was in its zenith, the forest folk would arrive at each of the Fanes (stone circles) and lay flowers around the stones and thank the Fey for a wonderful spring. On the longest night, the Winter’s Solstice, the forest folk would light candles and bring fresh warm loaves of bread as a gift to keep the Fey warm during the long winter nights.
Barovia was a rich and lush fertile mountain valley and was frequently covered with clouds and mists which kept the flora healthy and beautiful but was a conundrum for people trying to track the planting seasons using the sky.
Over time the Ladies Three realized the people and their forest folk were part of the cycle of life in the valley. They ventured into a mountain full of amber. They discovered that the amber had magical properties and that it could harness their power. Each Lady collected a shard of amber and created a Fey Gem, placing a portion of their magic into each gem.
The Fey left their gems at their respective Fane instructing the forest folk to bury the gems under the stone circles. The gems buried under the Fane would provide a sign (a glyph that would glow), four times a year; the Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Autumnal Equinox, and the Winter Solstice. The Fane Glyphs helped the forest folk guide the farmers of Barovia and informed them when to plant and when to harvest. It also told them when to take the herds up to the fresh summer pastures and when to bring them down for the winters.
For centuries, the people lived in harmony with nature in the valley and felt blessed by the Ladies. Four times of the year, the forest folk would bear gifts and seek the signs at the Fanes. The forest folk would recite a poem for each Fey as part of the ritual.”
Jeny sat back looking at the party and looked suddenly sad. She shook her head and continued. “Then war came to the valley…”
A Great War
“A prince arrived in the valley with his army to claim the land as his kingdom. His army was mighty and his focus and aptitude for battle was great. The war brought destruction to the valley and for the first time, the Ladies took notice of man’s grave destruction upon the land itself.
When the war was over the prince stood victorious and claimed the land as his own. The Fey saw darkness festering in this prince. Darkness they thought was forgotten and imprisoned.
The mists returned to the lands of Barovia with a vengeance. They rolled in and meshed with the thick black smoke of war that hung heavy in the Barovian air and clung to its trees. It created a thick gray mist covering the lands in a cold gray pallor. The mists diminished the Ladies magic terribly and unbalanced their connection to the lands and the cycle of life itself. There was something else … undefinable … the mists seemed to have their own mind. The mists encompassed the valley and the cycle of life slowed. The budding signs of life in the Spring were gone, animals were born with hollow eyes of darkness, flowers no longer blossomed, and eggs were black.
New horrid creatures emerged from the woods, the flowers died, crops began to rot, and the land turned dark. The signs of darkness were also seen in the villages, as babies were born would would not cry or laugh, some believed they were soulless.
When the Ladies discovered this final turn of events, they became deeply disturbed and frantic. Their pleas to higher powers went unanswered. Something was very, VERY wrong with the natural order. They believed that the cloud of darkness surrounding the prince gave birth to those terrible mists. It was said that the prince had lost his only brother and his true love during the great war.
The Heart of Sorrow
The princes heart was full of darkness and sorrow and nothing else. He spent extended tracts of time searching for the body of his lost love, and his heart was a bottomless pit of despair. The prince’s bearing was such that it affected everything around him. So heavy was the burden of his loss, that it cast a great darkness over the land and affected the mists themselves.
The Ladies believed that they would need to restore the prince’s heart and lift the darkness that surrounded him to heal the mists that blanketed the valley and strangled the life from the land itself. The
Ladies decided to create a magical gift for the prince that would lift the sorrow in his heart. They called this the Heart of Sorrow.
The Ladies broke their gems in half and used some of their remaining power to meld the three halves into a great artifact and form the Heart of Sorrow. The Ladies poured their love of life and the valley into the gem and gave it the magical properties to absorb the sorrow and darkness from the heart of the prince.
The Water Fey took human form and traveled to the prince’s castle to bring him this great gift, the Heart of Sorrow. The Water Fey explained how the prince’s heavy heart perverted the mists which covered the land with darkness. She explained that the gift, which was crafted by the Ladies gems with powerful magic, would lift the sorrow from his heart. He would be free of the despair and remorse that shackled him, and it would restore the land, and the kingdom would rejoice.
The prince was pleased with the gift and the magical power of the Heart of Sorrow, which invigorated the prince with unbridled zeal and swift decision making. The prince had heard of the fabled Ladies and had previously given them no mind during the great war, thinking them only a myth. However, upon learning of their power and the gems, he could not let them roam free. He imprisoned the Water Fey and ordered his minions to desecrate the Fanes (stone circles), find the other half of the three gems, and capture the Ladies.
A raven, sitting in the window of the castle, overheard what took place between the prince and the Water Fey. However, it was no ordinary raven, it was a Wereraven. The Wereraven flew faster than the prince’s orders traveled and warned the two Ladies and many of the forest folk.
The Mountain and Forest Fey dug up their gems and together went to the Fane (stone circle) on the shores of the river, but the prince’s minions had already desecrated the Fane of the Water Fey (stone circle) and the blue gem was missing. Fearing the blue gem was in the hands of the dark prince and their sister his prisoner, they needed to find others to come to their aid, but the villagers of Barovia no longer believed in the Ladies Three. For generations they had worshiped the Morning Lord, and paid tribute to their new Lord of Barovia, the dark prince.
With only two gems, their sister locked away, and their Fanes desecrated, they hid the two remaining gems with the Wereravens who had proven to be honorable and loyal. They tasked them to seek out third gem and guard it. They told them to plant the gems in the ground and their land would be blessed with rich vines to provide them with wine and prosperity.
Their next course had become more difficult than their dwindling powers could bear, they needed to rescue the Water Fey and restore the Fane (stone circles). Only then could the three Fey and their gems be brought together to defeat the dark prince. They needed to find others who were trustworthy, strong, and had the fortitude to face the dark prince and his minions.
There was no one in the valley who they could turn to, and they would have to find truly powerful people to aid them. The Fey decided to hide from the dark prince and his minions, until they could find agents strong enough to resist the prince, then deputize them to aid them in their battle. The Forest Fey transformed into a human and lived among the people. It is said, that she keeps her eyes and ears open, looking for those who could provide aid and watching those who served the dark prince. The Mountain Fey disappeared in search of those brave enough to aid them to face the dark prince.
The dark prince underestimated the power of the Water Fey. She escaped the prison and in the catacombs during her escape, she found the skull of a great dragon she once knew, the dragon Argynvost who the dark prince had killed. She used the remaining magic she could draw upon and cast a powerful spell of flying on the skull and sat upon the dragon skull, flying from the castle to warn her sisters.
When she arrived, her sisters had vanished, the Fanes (stone circles) were desecrated and destroyed, and the gems were gone. She searched the forests and mountains, but to no avail.
When the dark prince learned the Water Fey had escaped and took his greatest prize, the skull of his adversary, Argynvost, he filled with rage. He called upon dark magic to lay waste to the village on the river, which paid homage to the Water Fey, as a warning to all Barovians. The Ladies were enemies of the dark prince. Any village that prayed, paid tribute, or honored a Lady would be destroyed. The river rose and flooded the once beautiful village. Over time the village became ruins and the surrounding area became a swamp. The dark prince, in his cruelty, cursed the Water Fey to become the Swamp Fey, so that no one but the nasty creatures that inhabited the swamp would pay homage to her.”
Back to Reality
Suddenly, Jeny blinks. She looks around distraught for a moment and then says, well. that is the story. As much as I know anyway. As you can see, Strahd desecrated the Ladies shrines and stole their immense power, giving himself control over nature, and the weather. With this stolen power, Strahd is now literally, “The Land”. But enough of old tales… where was I?
Term recalls one of their earlier conversations with Madame Eva. “So, this is how Strahd destroyed the land. Our quest is to heal it, which can only be accomplished with Strahd’s destruction.”
“Indeed,” replied Jenny. “You must consecrate the three sacred places. There can be no restoration without this.”
Syrren, who is most familiar with the Ladies Three, asks Jenny for a gift or token, considering he is aligned with this faith. She offers him a measure of luck, which she activates by drinking a stein of his saliva.
Tilly gets an uneasy feeling that Pidlwick is up to no good again, and she suggests that they keep moving quickly. Jeny Greenteeth chuckles and mentions something about his age.
The group continues to talk with Jeny. When the potion is finally ready for Aydin, they thank her and continue on their way. Before they leave, Jeny presses a small coin into Term’s hand with instructions for how to summon her. The spell should only be used in the most urgent of circumstances and NEVER indoors. Term nods his understanding and departs with his friends.
The Ballad of the Burgomaster
As they make their way across the land and up a large hill, the air grows cold and thin. The castle walls looming before them are massive. When a man appears at the top of the parapet, he makes a strange request, “Take this dagger and cut yourself. Hold it up where I can see it. ” Each member of the party obliges. When he is satisfied that none of them are werewolves, the Burgomaster, named Dimitri explains the need for the tight security.
He welcomes their party into town and expresses his gratitude for the wine they’ve brought. The move their conversation to the Inn, where Dimitri shares that a werewolf attack killed his son and daughter. “My wife, Anna, no longer leaves the house. Since this has happened, no one in the town leaves the walls, for fear of another attack.”
The team of heroes pledge their assistance in fighting the werewolves. As a sign of how seriously they are taking this issue, Syrren asks Dimitri to cut his own arm. He obliges.
Talk at the fellowship table turns to Vallaki and the change of leadership. Dimitri says that he anticipated this would happen. He heard of Lady Watcher’s desire to lead the town. He also knows of the tax collector Vasili and has had no issues with him. Though, Dimitri says Vasili does seem to be a bit of phantom – often disappearing from places that seem impossible to leave. Dimitri described several events where there was no easy explanation for what happened, but everyone in the town seems willing to set these instances aside without further inquiry.
Term turns the conversation to his armor and the special skill that will be required to construct it. As a former blacksmith, Dimitri offers his services to forge what is needed.
Tilly asks where they might begin looking for lycanthropes while there is still daylight. Dimitri suggests that they go to the abbey. The Abbott there has presided over the abbey for nearly over a century, without aging a day. He is a curious man, and many have speculated that the Abbott may be Strahd in disguise. Ironically, this particular abbey is named for a priest who stood against Strahd when he first attacked.
Before they leave for the abbey, Term and Thaldir order the finest plate armor that can be crafted by human hands.
Abbey (up the) Road
The road from the village climbed above the mist to the wide ledge on which the abbey is perched. A light dusting of snow covered the trees and the rocky earth. The gravel road passed between two small, stone buildings, to either side of which stretches a five-foot-high, three-foot-thick wall of jumbled stones held together with mortar. Blocking the road are iron gates attached to the outbuildings by rusty hinges. Viewed through the gates, the stone abbey stood quiet. Its two wings joined by a fifteen-foot-high curtain wall. A belfry protrudes from the rooftop of the closer north wing, which also sports a chimney billowing a gray smoke.
As the adventurers approached, they began to enter the gates, which make a loud groaning sound as they open. Suddenly two guards jump out in front of them yelling “Who goes there?!”
The party jumps back looking over the two guards, who are obviously not human. One of them seems to be squatting instead of standing. He looks like a beardless dwarf with patches of donkey flesh covering his face and body. he has one wolf’s ear, and a protruding wolf’s snout and fangs. His arms and hands are human, but his legs and feet are leonine, and he has a donkey’s tail.
The other guards left side of their face and body is covered in lizard scales, the right with tufts of gray wolf fur. Between these tufts is pale human skin. One of his eyes is that of a feline, and his fingers and hands resemble cats paws with opposable thumbs.
The guards, Otto and Zygfrek, inform them that this is the Abbott’s Abbey. They bring them inside the gates and tell them to wait a moment in the courtyard while they go to get the Abbott. A few minutes later, they come back and take the party through the doors leading inside.
The sounds of gentle sounding music trickled down from above as they entered the main hall. The floor was one large, fifty-foot-square room with arched, leaded glass windows. A cauldron sat on an iron rack above a fire in a hearth, while above the fireplace mantel hung a golden disk engraved with the symbol of the sun. In one corner, a wooden staircase rose to the upper level and another stone staircase in another corner descended into the darkness.
There were several chairs that surrounded a wooden table that stretched the length of the room. Wooden dishware and gold candelabras were neatly arranged on the table. Standing behind the table, was a young woman with alabaster skin dressed in a torn and soiled gown. Her auburn hair neatly bundled so as not to touch her soft shoulders. She seemed lost in her own thoughts.
A handsome young man in a brown monk’s robe was gently taking the woman by her hand. A painted wooden holy symbol that depicted the sun hung from a chain around his neck. He moved with the grace of a saint and looked at them as they entered.
“Welcome guests! How may I help you on this fine day?”
The party introduces themselves and he introduces himself as the Abbot and tells them that this young woman is Vasilka. He explains that he has been working on her for quite some time. The Abbot then shocks the group by asking if they know where he can get a wedding dress for her.
According to the Abbot, Vasilka is going to be offered to Strahd. He continues talking of his plans for her, who is made in the image of Ireena, Strahd’s great love.
Thaldir, closes his eyes and suddenly feels weak in his knees. He recalls dreams and remembers what Madam Eva told him.
The words of the divine fall on deaf ears, muffled by the shadowed mists. Find the damned one in his place of worship, and free his radiant soul of the madness of mortality. You must kill him.
As Thaldir struggles with this vision, Term has already came to the conclusion that the Abbot is not someone they want to deal with. He turns to his friends and says, “This Abbot is harming people. We need to deal with him now.” When he turns back to the Abbot, he hears Syrren ask a question.
“Tell me, Abbot, when you woke today, did you know this would be the day you die?” and then transforms into a Quetzalcoatlus.
Tilly steps forward and runs her sword through the Abbott. They are all shocked to see him quickly recover and transform into a giant, celestial being. He adeptly wields his golden mace at Tilly, dealing her two devastating blows. Thaldir is ready with a healing word for his friend. However, they are all taken aback by the archangel’s prowess in battle. The golden wounds Aydin. He staggers and misses the celestial being.
As Victor surrounds himself with a shield of protection, the rest of the group tries to bring the Abbott down. They pull out every weapon and spell in their arsenal until, finally, they see that the Abbott is becoming unsteady. Term deals blow after blow with his thunder goggles, making the Abbott’s mace strikes almost ineffective on the other heroes. Even Victor is able to deal some damage with his limited spellbook. The battle continues, with those who oppose Strahd doing everything in their power to halt Strahd’s nuptials.
With one final sword strike, they kill the maniacal celestial, or so it seems…
As Strahd’s would-be bride approaches her maker’s lifeless form, our heroes keep their weapons at the ready.