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Lenora's Journal for Our Phandelver Campaign Transition into Curse of Strahd
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<blockquote data-quote="Rhenny" data-source="post: 6961008" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>Session 6</p><p></p><p>After Gerald tended to Brace’s wounds and restored his health with divine magic, we set off for the hidden tunnel that Pip had told us about. Heinrick tried to make it seem as if we were leaving town, but he laid it on a bit thick. I think Toblin, the Inn Keeper, could tell we were going out to the old manor house to deal with the Red Brands.</p><p></p><p>We trudged quietly through the rain and darkness until we got to a forest only a short distance from the east of town. Then Brace, Rasputin and I took point, sneaking about 25’ ahead of the others. I was able to spot the tunnel when we got to the cliff face north of the small forest, and we scouted it out before calling Heinrick and Gerald forward. There were no guards so we navigated the tunnel for a while until it opened up into a natural cavern.</p><p></p><p>At this point, Rasputin used his warlock magic to assume the appearance of a Red Brand. He lit a torch and walked 25’ ahead of the rest of us. When he got to the middle of the cavern area, next to a bridge spanning a crevice, we saw a creature drop down upon him so we rushed up as soon as we could. This creature had one large eye in the middle of its face; it was a putrid green and gray with rotting flesh. It looked like a large humanoid combination of ghoul and a bipedal frog. Evidently, it was trying to use some strange power by staring directly at Rasputin. Fortunately, our warlock friend has a pretty strong will, and was able to avoid the brunt of whatever the creature was attempting to do to him, but later he did say that he felt as if his own memories were being pulled from his mind. Heinrick attempted an athletic feat, jumping over Brace who had fired an arrow at the beast, but instead of clearing Brace, he knocked him down and then fell flat on his face right in front of the creature, but that did not stop Heinrick from attacking. He lashed out with his Elven longsword and cut into the abomination to draw first blood.</p><p></p><p>During our battle, we found that this creature could withstand a number of our blows. Heinrick battled it in close, while most of us kept our distance and used ranged attacks. Brace was able to land a few sneak attacks as Heinrick got raked nastily by the creature’s claws. According to both Heinrick and Rasputin this hideous creature was growling and speaking to Rasputin. It said, “Rasputin. Azuth, your god, will be mine.” Finally, Brace landed the killing blow. I tried to study the creature, but I couldn’t remember anything from the lore I’ve studied.</p><p></p><p>We continued to the east over the bridge, Rasputin leading us in the guise of a Red Brand. We found a dead end, but Rasputin noticed an odd discoloration on one wall. We all studied the area to find that there was a secret door which Heinrick was able to open. Inside this new chamber was more like the basement of a dwelling. There were supply boxes scattered all around at a large cistern with water in it. I washed the blood from my hands and blades as we walked in, but then Rasputin told us to stay out. He continued to another door and opened it. Then he slipped inside and a few moments later he came back out and told us that there were three Red Brands in that bunk room. I was still upset from when the Red Brand grabbed me earlier and threatened to take me to a “nice place to sleep,” so I encouraged the others that we should kill them. Heinrick reminded us that we should try to spare those that we might be able to convince to leave the Red Brands, perhaps to become town guards or to help rid the surrounding area of the blood-thirsty Orcs.</p><p></p><p>We had Heinrick bust in the door and quickly moved in to deal with the Red Brands. I was able to use my greenflame blade to chop and burn some of them before they even grabbed their weapons. As I backed up to get back near the door, I was cuffed by three of them, but their bare hands merely stung me and made me angry. The others used their signature attacks, and we were able to kill or subdue the Red Brands without further harm. We got some information out of one of the foes and found out that the Black Widow was not at the manor. We also took a few of the red cloaks and had Brace and Gerald put them on as I used my disguise kit to make them look a little more like two Red Brands. Then, we left the room, allowing Brace to deal with the prisoner. Brace wanted revenge for when he was taken and tortured by the Black Widow, so he showed no mercy.</p><p></p><p>Exploring more, we found a corridor with a pit trap that Rasputin almost fell into, but Brace and Heinrick were able to re-rig the trap to keep it shut. Then we found a set of double doors and Rasputin felt some evil ahead. We entered this room, Heinrick in the lead at this point. He saw three coffins in the room with three armored skeletons propped up against them. He could sense they were undead so he charged and smashed into one of them. We were able to defeat these creatures and inspect the coffins. Evidently this was the resting place of the Tresanders. We left their bodies undisturbed, even the woman who wore a golden bracelet.</p><p></p><p>We went through another door to the north and found a secret weapon room. I spent 10 minutes studying a detect magic ritual while the others kept guard, but unfortunately none of the weapons in the room were magical. We also found more red cloaks. We had one more door to check back in the crypt room. When Heinrick opened it up, he saw two Red Brand guards and two prison cells. There was a woman and a girl in one and a little boy in the other. All had chained collars that the guards were holding. As Heinrick entered one of the guards pulled the chain attached to the woman close and threatened to kill her. Heinrick dropped his blade and slid it, but then he uttered divine words and told the guard to “release,” which caused him to drop everything he was holding. Then we all jumped in to take care of the guards. One of the hurt guards started to give up and tell us more about the Black Widow. Heinrick started preaching to him and it seems as if he was going to turn from the Red Brands when the other guard attacked him for saying too much. We took down the aggressive Red Brand, and Heinrick continued his sermon. It was very good. The Red Brand, named Onti, swore that he’d take the lady and children back to town and help our cause, and we all could see his sincerity, but just in case, Heinrick bound his hands behind his back and gave Myrna, the woman we rescued, a sword. We told her to go directly back to town, to the Stonehill Inn. It was the inkeeper’s wife who had told us about what happened to Myrna’s husband and her family, so she’d be safe back at the inn. Myrna thanked us and told us about her family business back in Thundertree. She said they had to leave that place quickly so they had left behind a family heirloom. We promised to check it out if we ever made it to Thundertree, and then she took her kids and Onti back to town.</p><p>Onti furnished us with some important information before they left. We learned that the Red Brands in this manor were now led by Glasstaff, a mage. He and the Black Widow had also allowed bugbears to work with them, so we could expect to encounter some of those brutes as well. </p><p></p><p>Not wanting to waste any time we continued to check out the area only to find a collapsed stairway. Then we went west toward where we had heard Glasstaff would be. Rasputin, disguised as Onti now, found a door at the bottom of a stairway. He opened it stepped in and then closed the door and came back to us. He said there were three bugbears in there and they were making a naked goblin do some strange dance. When the goblin saw Rasputin, his eyes bugged out and he fainted. The bugbears looked up, but Rasputin left. Before we could decide what to do, one of the bugbears was already up the stairway next to Rasputin threatening him. While we battled two of the brutes, the third one was able to use a tunnel to get out of the room and appear on our other side. Rasputin took a damaging clubbing, but we were able to kill the three goons and bring their bodies back to their room. We tied up the goblin and left him in there with the dead bugbears and we continued to the north.</p><p></p><p>This room had four Red Brand ruffians, playing cards in it. They told Rasputin, who still looked like Onti, to pull up a chair and join in. Rasputin then told the others that there were intruders and he pointed back to the south. A few of the ruffians went to check out the Dwarf they saw in the hallway, as I ducked behind Heinrick and tried to hide around a corner. We fought them and when Rasputin could fire an eldritch blast into the back of the last ruffian, he caught them by surprise. Two of the ruffians ran to the north and said they would get help as we fought the other two. Then, from the other direction the other two appeared and we fought on two fronts, but we prevailed. I got sliced once more by a blade, but I did not go down although at this point, I was feeling a bit worse for the wear.</p><p></p><p>After killing the ruffians, we went back to the card room and took all the coins on the table. We also found a gold earring with a ruby in it, a pretty nice piece of jewelry.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 6961008, member: 18333"] Session 6 After Gerald tended to Brace’s wounds and restored his health with divine magic, we set off for the hidden tunnel that Pip had told us about. Heinrick tried to make it seem as if we were leaving town, but he laid it on a bit thick. I think Toblin, the Inn Keeper, could tell we were going out to the old manor house to deal with the Red Brands. We trudged quietly through the rain and darkness until we got to a forest only a short distance from the east of town. Then Brace, Rasputin and I took point, sneaking about 25’ ahead of the others. I was able to spot the tunnel when we got to the cliff face north of the small forest, and we scouted it out before calling Heinrick and Gerald forward. There were no guards so we navigated the tunnel for a while until it opened up into a natural cavern. At this point, Rasputin used his warlock magic to assume the appearance of a Red Brand. He lit a torch and walked 25’ ahead of the rest of us. When he got to the middle of the cavern area, next to a bridge spanning a crevice, we saw a creature drop down upon him so we rushed up as soon as we could. This creature had one large eye in the middle of its face; it was a putrid green and gray with rotting flesh. It looked like a large humanoid combination of ghoul and a bipedal frog. Evidently, it was trying to use some strange power by staring directly at Rasputin. Fortunately, our warlock friend has a pretty strong will, and was able to avoid the brunt of whatever the creature was attempting to do to him, but later he did say that he felt as if his own memories were being pulled from his mind. Heinrick attempted an athletic feat, jumping over Brace who had fired an arrow at the beast, but instead of clearing Brace, he knocked him down and then fell flat on his face right in front of the creature, but that did not stop Heinrick from attacking. He lashed out with his Elven longsword and cut into the abomination to draw first blood. During our battle, we found that this creature could withstand a number of our blows. Heinrick battled it in close, while most of us kept our distance and used ranged attacks. Brace was able to land a few sneak attacks as Heinrick got raked nastily by the creature’s claws. According to both Heinrick and Rasputin this hideous creature was growling and speaking to Rasputin. It said, “Rasputin. Azuth, your god, will be mine.” Finally, Brace landed the killing blow. I tried to study the creature, but I couldn’t remember anything from the lore I’ve studied. We continued to the east over the bridge, Rasputin leading us in the guise of a Red Brand. We found a dead end, but Rasputin noticed an odd discoloration on one wall. We all studied the area to find that there was a secret door which Heinrick was able to open. Inside this new chamber was more like the basement of a dwelling. There were supply boxes scattered all around at a large cistern with water in it. I washed the blood from my hands and blades as we walked in, but then Rasputin told us to stay out. He continued to another door and opened it. Then he slipped inside and a few moments later he came back out and told us that there were three Red Brands in that bunk room. I was still upset from when the Red Brand grabbed me earlier and threatened to take me to a “nice place to sleep,” so I encouraged the others that we should kill them. Heinrick reminded us that we should try to spare those that we might be able to convince to leave the Red Brands, perhaps to become town guards or to help rid the surrounding area of the blood-thirsty Orcs. We had Heinrick bust in the door and quickly moved in to deal with the Red Brands. I was able to use my greenflame blade to chop and burn some of them before they even grabbed their weapons. As I backed up to get back near the door, I was cuffed by three of them, but their bare hands merely stung me and made me angry. The others used their signature attacks, and we were able to kill or subdue the Red Brands without further harm. We got some information out of one of the foes and found out that the Black Widow was not at the manor. We also took a few of the red cloaks and had Brace and Gerald put them on as I used my disguise kit to make them look a little more like two Red Brands. Then, we left the room, allowing Brace to deal with the prisoner. Brace wanted revenge for when he was taken and tortured by the Black Widow, so he showed no mercy. Exploring more, we found a corridor with a pit trap that Rasputin almost fell into, but Brace and Heinrick were able to re-rig the trap to keep it shut. Then we found a set of double doors and Rasputin felt some evil ahead. We entered this room, Heinrick in the lead at this point. He saw three coffins in the room with three armored skeletons propped up against them. He could sense they were undead so he charged and smashed into one of them. We were able to defeat these creatures and inspect the coffins. Evidently this was the resting place of the Tresanders. We left their bodies undisturbed, even the woman who wore a golden bracelet. We went through another door to the north and found a secret weapon room. I spent 10 minutes studying a detect magic ritual while the others kept guard, but unfortunately none of the weapons in the room were magical. We also found more red cloaks. We had one more door to check back in the crypt room. When Heinrick opened it up, he saw two Red Brand guards and two prison cells. There was a woman and a girl in one and a little boy in the other. All had chained collars that the guards were holding. As Heinrick entered one of the guards pulled the chain attached to the woman close and threatened to kill her. Heinrick dropped his blade and slid it, but then he uttered divine words and told the guard to “release,” which caused him to drop everything he was holding. Then we all jumped in to take care of the guards. One of the hurt guards started to give up and tell us more about the Black Widow. Heinrick started preaching to him and it seems as if he was going to turn from the Red Brands when the other guard attacked him for saying too much. We took down the aggressive Red Brand, and Heinrick continued his sermon. It was very good. The Red Brand, named Onti, swore that he’d take the lady and children back to town and help our cause, and we all could see his sincerity, but just in case, Heinrick bound his hands behind his back and gave Myrna, the woman we rescued, a sword. We told her to go directly back to town, to the Stonehill Inn. It was the inkeeper’s wife who had told us about what happened to Myrna’s husband and her family, so she’d be safe back at the inn. Myrna thanked us and told us about her family business back in Thundertree. She said they had to leave that place quickly so they had left behind a family heirloom. We promised to check it out if we ever made it to Thundertree, and then she took her kids and Onti back to town. Onti furnished us with some important information before they left. We learned that the Red Brands in this manor were now led by Glasstaff, a mage. He and the Black Widow had also allowed bugbears to work with them, so we could expect to encounter some of those brutes as well. Not wanting to waste any time we continued to check out the area only to find a collapsed stairway. Then we went west toward where we had heard Glasstaff would be. Rasputin, disguised as Onti now, found a door at the bottom of a stairway. He opened it stepped in and then closed the door and came back to us. He said there were three bugbears in there and they were making a naked goblin do some strange dance. When the goblin saw Rasputin, his eyes bugged out and he fainted. The bugbears looked up, but Rasputin left. Before we could decide what to do, one of the bugbears was already up the stairway next to Rasputin threatening him. While we battled two of the brutes, the third one was able to use a tunnel to get out of the room and appear on our other side. Rasputin took a damaging clubbing, but we were able to kill the three goons and bring their bodies back to their room. We tied up the goblin and left him in there with the dead bugbears and we continued to the north. This room had four Red Brand ruffians, playing cards in it. They told Rasputin, who still looked like Onti, to pull up a chair and join in. Rasputin then told the others that there were intruders and he pointed back to the south. A few of the ruffians went to check out the Dwarf they saw in the hallway, as I ducked behind Heinrick and tried to hide around a corner. We fought them and when Rasputin could fire an eldritch blast into the back of the last ruffian, he caught them by surprise. Two of the ruffians ran to the north and said they would get help as we fought the other two. Then, from the other direction the other two appeared and we fought on two fronts, but we prevailed. I got sliced once more by a blade, but I did not go down although at this point, I was feeling a bit worse for the wear. After killing the ruffians, we went back to the card room and took all the coins on the table. We also found a gold earring with a ruby in it, a pretty nice piece of jewelry. [/QUOTE]
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