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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: 7363920" data-attributes="member: 18333"><p>Session 42 and 43 – Chat with Ezmeralda and a Visit to the Abby, A Wedding and A Resurrection.</p><p></p><p>We spoke with Ezmeralda and asked her questions about the Abbott and the readings that Madame Eva gave us. We learned a little and it helped us plan our future travels. When we asked how to contact her in the future, she said we could leave a message at her wagon. We also told her we’d like to investigate Van Richten’s tower, and she said it would be dangerous but we seem more capable and perhaps it would help us. Fid asked about he werewolf den and the incident she investigated earlier. She told us that the pack was led by Kiros Stoyonovich, and she was concerned that a new power was at the cave – something to do with Mother Night. Ezmeralda left that night and we stayed the night at the inn. </p><p></p><p>In the morning, the innkeeper gave us a note from Ezmeralda, which told us that she had to go to Strahd’s Castle, something was wrong and she needed to investigate. We felt bad for the Vistani woman, but knew we could not go up against Strahd yet, so we walked back to the Abby of St. Markovia. At the gate we meet the mongrel men, Otto and Zigfrek. They were jolly and quite personable. Syvrina got them talking, especially Otto, who took a fancy to our Strahd-touched lady. Apparently, the Belviews were a family who were transformed into their misshapen forms by some perversion of the Abbott’s prayers. Otto said they adapted, but some like the screaming one chained in the courtyard (Marzena the spider/bat hybrid), and Mishka, the spider creature in the well, who still had a taste for humans, were less than happy and comfortable in their new forms. Otto took us to the inner building to the north and went in to get the Abbott.</p><p></p><p>Inside, we got to meet the Abbott. He was handsome, in monk robes, but his skin did have a bluish tint. There was some bulging in the back of his robes, which probably were the wings that others had told us about. It did indeed seem like he was some sort of Celestial creature. He introduced us to his consort, a woman named Valiska. Valkiska was pale, beautiful, but not very responsive. Otto had told us that the Abbott made her from parts of dead people, but she did not look like a construct. We noticed that the Abbott wore a wooden holy symbol that depicted the sun. After speaking with us for a little, he began to share some of his plight with us. He railed against Strahd and even the powers he had once worshiped. He told us of his wish to marry Valiska, and asked us to procure him a wedding gown. He said he could not leave the Abby. He also told us that he had the power to bring the dead back to life and would be able to do it three times if we would get the wedding gown and help him complete the marriage ceremony. We thought about and although we were worried, we decided to help. We wanted to see if the Abbott could really bring life back from death, and we planned to speak with Demetri, the Burgomaster, to bring his dead son, Illya, to the Abbott to see if the Abbott really could do what he said.</p><p></p><p>We left the Abbott and made our way back to the Burgomaster’s home. We spoke with Demetri and he said his wife would let us borrow her gown if she could meet the bride and groom so I said I’d pretend to marry Brigby. She could see me and my “groom.” </p><p></p><p>Syvrina chatted with the woman and finally got her to lend us the gown. Before we could leave, we asked Demetri if he would let us take Illya’s body up to the Abby with us. He was distraught and refused to part with the body, demanding to go with us. We thought we would spare him the pain if the Abbott’s power went awry, but he wanted to come with us any way. Truth be told, I’m glad he came with us. If something bad happened, I wanted him to see it for himself rather than hear it through the grapevine and blame us for the mishap.</p><p></p><p>We dug up the coffin, which was in an unfinished gravesite. Brigby, Bynn, Fid and I carried it up the hill while Syvrina held the wedding gown in front of us and Demetri waked behind us wringing his hands and muttering prayers all the way. About half way up, we felt the biting, unnatural cold of Barovia, and the clouds above got darker and formed a huge face of Strahd. His voice burst forth and screamed, “Nobody Shall Marry Tatiana.” I yelled for Syvrina to give me the gown, and Syvrina yelled out to Strahd that nobody was marrying her, silly. A golden glow surrounded Syvrina, something that looked like a protective spell. Then lightning struck down and hit both Brigby and Fid. Brigby crumpled to the ground unconscious, but Fid withstood the blast. Then a shadowy figure appeared only 15’ from us and five hearty zombies erupted from the earth. Bynn immediately conjured his healing spirit and revived Brigby. Brigby stood and called upon his divine power to turn undead. I waited to see which of the creatures were affected as Fid unleashed a flurry of attacks upon the shadowy figure. His magic blade cut into the creature twice doing massive amounts of damage. Syvrina threatened to kill herself if the creature didn’t back off, but it said that although Strahd would prefer she were alive, he would also be with her even in death. It seemed as if 4 of the 5 zombies were affected by Brigby’s turn undead so they vanished back into the earth. The 5th one just watched. With that, Syvrina lashed out with rapier, missing her target, but then struck with her off-hand dagger. The creature disappeared.</p><p></p><p>I was able to jump forward and strike the last zombie twice and then bound back to guard Syvrina. Brigby stepped up to it and hacked it with his magical axe, striking it down.</p><p></p><p>We gathered our wits, the coffin and calmed Demetri and hustled to the Abby after using the rest of the healing spirit to bolster Brigby and Fid. Otto was at the gate and he let us in.</p><p></p><p>We brought our whole party into the chapel building and spoke with the Abbott. We saw the symbol of the Morning Lord above the fireplace in that building and the was music coming from the air around us. Valiska was there and when we showed the Abbott the dress, he asked if one of us could help Valiska change into it. I accompanied Valiska to another room and helped her dress. I couldn’t help but notice her perfect figure. I was looking for scars or signs that she was made from other body parts, but she was flawlessly smooth. It was strange. I also noticed a smell of animal, like the zoo I remembered from my youth, coming from down the hallway. I didn’t want to find out what was down there so I quickly helped Valiska dress and then we exited the room.</p><p></p><p>Brigby performed the marriage ceremony for the Abbott and he was in a state of bliss. Some of the mongrel men witnessed the wedding and after the Abbott invited us to stay for a feast and celebration. We joined him, danced, ate, and made merry for a little while. Then when Demetri asked me about Illya, I asked the Abbott if he could really bring the dead back to life. We told him we wanted to restore life blood to Illya so that the town could become more prosperous. He agreed and we all went outside while the party continued inside.</p><p></p><p>In the courtyard, the Abbott conducted a ritual and although it looked as if Illya’s body was streaked with shadow, he eventually rose to life. Brigby said a few prayers over him casting lesser restoration to help his recovery, and Demetri burst into tears as the boy asked for his father. We thanked the Abbott and he reminded us that he could do that 2 more times if we ever needed it. We told him to enjoy his life with his bride, keep the Belviews happy and we’d return if we ever needed his help again.</p><p></p><p>Demetri and Illya walked down to their home as we walked back to the Inn and rested for the night. </p><p></p><p>Fid, Syvrina, Bynn, Brigby and I spoke about our next move and we decided that we’d double back to the east and visit Van Richten’s Tower to explore that before going south to Arginvastinholt. Undoubtedly we’d be facing dangers in both places, but perhaps we’d find more items or clues to help us finally take our fight to Strahd.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rhenny, post: 7363920, member: 18333"] Session 42 and 43 – Chat with Ezmeralda and a Visit to the Abby, A Wedding and A Resurrection. We spoke with Ezmeralda and asked her questions about the Abbott and the readings that Madame Eva gave us. We learned a little and it helped us plan our future travels. When we asked how to contact her in the future, she said we could leave a message at her wagon. We also told her we’d like to investigate Van Richten’s tower, and she said it would be dangerous but we seem more capable and perhaps it would help us. Fid asked about he werewolf den and the incident she investigated earlier. She told us that the pack was led by Kiros Stoyonovich, and she was concerned that a new power was at the cave – something to do with Mother Night. Ezmeralda left that night and we stayed the night at the inn. In the morning, the innkeeper gave us a note from Ezmeralda, which told us that she had to go to Strahd’s Castle, something was wrong and she needed to investigate. We felt bad for the Vistani woman, but knew we could not go up against Strahd yet, so we walked back to the Abby of St. Markovia. At the gate we meet the mongrel men, Otto and Zigfrek. They were jolly and quite personable. Syvrina got them talking, especially Otto, who took a fancy to our Strahd-touched lady. Apparently, the Belviews were a family who were transformed into their misshapen forms by some perversion of the Abbott’s prayers. Otto said they adapted, but some like the screaming one chained in the courtyard (Marzena the spider/bat hybrid), and Mishka, the spider creature in the well, who still had a taste for humans, were less than happy and comfortable in their new forms. Otto took us to the inner building to the north and went in to get the Abbott. Inside, we got to meet the Abbott. He was handsome, in monk robes, but his skin did have a bluish tint. There was some bulging in the back of his robes, which probably were the wings that others had told us about. It did indeed seem like he was some sort of Celestial creature. He introduced us to his consort, a woman named Valiska. Valkiska was pale, beautiful, but not very responsive. Otto had told us that the Abbott made her from parts of dead people, but she did not look like a construct. We noticed that the Abbott wore a wooden holy symbol that depicted the sun. After speaking with us for a little, he began to share some of his plight with us. He railed against Strahd and even the powers he had once worshiped. He told us of his wish to marry Valiska, and asked us to procure him a wedding gown. He said he could not leave the Abby. He also told us that he had the power to bring the dead back to life and would be able to do it three times if we would get the wedding gown and help him complete the marriage ceremony. We thought about and although we were worried, we decided to help. We wanted to see if the Abbott could really bring life back from death, and we planned to speak with Demetri, the Burgomaster, to bring his dead son, Illya, to the Abbott to see if the Abbott really could do what he said. We left the Abbott and made our way back to the Burgomaster’s home. We spoke with Demetri and he said his wife would let us borrow her gown if she could meet the bride and groom so I said I’d pretend to marry Brigby. She could see me and my “groom.” Syvrina chatted with the woman and finally got her to lend us the gown. Before we could leave, we asked Demetri if he would let us take Illya’s body up to the Abby with us. He was distraught and refused to part with the body, demanding to go with us. We thought we would spare him the pain if the Abbott’s power went awry, but he wanted to come with us any way. Truth be told, I’m glad he came with us. If something bad happened, I wanted him to see it for himself rather than hear it through the grapevine and blame us for the mishap. We dug up the coffin, which was in an unfinished gravesite. Brigby, Bynn, Fid and I carried it up the hill while Syvrina held the wedding gown in front of us and Demetri waked behind us wringing his hands and muttering prayers all the way. About half way up, we felt the biting, unnatural cold of Barovia, and the clouds above got darker and formed a huge face of Strahd. His voice burst forth and screamed, “Nobody Shall Marry Tatiana.” I yelled for Syvrina to give me the gown, and Syvrina yelled out to Strahd that nobody was marrying her, silly. A golden glow surrounded Syvrina, something that looked like a protective spell. Then lightning struck down and hit both Brigby and Fid. Brigby crumpled to the ground unconscious, but Fid withstood the blast. Then a shadowy figure appeared only 15’ from us and five hearty zombies erupted from the earth. Bynn immediately conjured his healing spirit and revived Brigby. Brigby stood and called upon his divine power to turn undead. I waited to see which of the creatures were affected as Fid unleashed a flurry of attacks upon the shadowy figure. His magic blade cut into the creature twice doing massive amounts of damage. Syvrina threatened to kill herself if the creature didn’t back off, but it said that although Strahd would prefer she were alive, he would also be with her even in death. It seemed as if 4 of the 5 zombies were affected by Brigby’s turn undead so they vanished back into the earth. The 5th one just watched. With that, Syvrina lashed out with rapier, missing her target, but then struck with her off-hand dagger. The creature disappeared. I was able to jump forward and strike the last zombie twice and then bound back to guard Syvrina. Brigby stepped up to it and hacked it with his magical axe, striking it down. We gathered our wits, the coffin and calmed Demetri and hustled to the Abby after using the rest of the healing spirit to bolster Brigby and Fid. Otto was at the gate and he let us in. We brought our whole party into the chapel building and spoke with the Abbott. We saw the symbol of the Morning Lord above the fireplace in that building and the was music coming from the air around us. Valiska was there and when we showed the Abbott the dress, he asked if one of us could help Valiska change into it. I accompanied Valiska to another room and helped her dress. I couldn’t help but notice her perfect figure. I was looking for scars or signs that she was made from other body parts, but she was flawlessly smooth. It was strange. I also noticed a smell of animal, like the zoo I remembered from my youth, coming from down the hallway. I didn’t want to find out what was down there so I quickly helped Valiska dress and then we exited the room. Brigby performed the marriage ceremony for the Abbott and he was in a state of bliss. Some of the mongrel men witnessed the wedding and after the Abbott invited us to stay for a feast and celebration. We joined him, danced, ate, and made merry for a little while. Then when Demetri asked me about Illya, I asked the Abbott if he could really bring the dead back to life. We told him we wanted to restore life blood to Illya so that the town could become more prosperous. He agreed and we all went outside while the party continued inside. In the courtyard, the Abbott conducted a ritual and although it looked as if Illya’s body was streaked with shadow, he eventually rose to life. Brigby said a few prayers over him casting lesser restoration to help his recovery, and Demetri burst into tears as the boy asked for his father. We thanked the Abbott and he reminded us that he could do that 2 more times if we ever needed it. We told him to enjoy his life with his bride, keep the Belviews happy and we’d return if we ever needed his help again. Demetri and Illya walked down to their home as we walked back to the Inn and rested for the night. Fid, Syvrina, Bynn, Brigby and I spoke about our next move and we decided that we’d double back to the east and visit Van Richten’s Tower to explore that before going south to Arginvastinholt. Undoubtedly we’d be facing dangers in both places, but perhaps we’d find more items or clues to help us finally take our fight to Strahd. [/QUOTE]
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