A Strahd Tail

Ah, Barovia. Land of mist, death, and unexpected surprises. Our heroes, or rather, our band of misfits, had stumbled upon a catacomb, filled to the brim with spooky rooms and dead things. Destiny, the lightning-wielding sorceress, stumbled upon some spiders and promptly declared war. Serenity, the warrior with a penchant for stunning and kicking things, got seriously bored and started opening doors willy-nilly. Hoskgak, the half-orc with a new set of shiny plate armor, spotted a sun sword on the belt of a certain someone and decided to put it to good use. And Zuleika, well, she was just trying to keep everyone alive. But the real surprise came when they stumbled upon a room labeled for Ireena, the woman whom Strahd had been pining after for what seemed like an eternity. Our heroes, ever cautious, stopped searching and wondered if this was where the Vampire Spawns slept. Silenzo, the ever-elusive rogue, decided to explore and found a dead body inside. To his delight, it was his own dead...

It was on the thirteenth day, or rather the evening preceding the thirteenth day, before Ireena's ill-fated wedding to the dreaded Strahd that our band of inexplicably cohesive heroes found themselves in a bit of a tight spot. And by "tight spot," we mean the kind of situation that would make even the most hardened adventurers wince and consider a career change to something less life-threatening, like accounting or perhaps, in Barovia, vampire-slaying door-to-door salesmanship. Destiny, having just been revived by Serenity, was immediately greeted by a magic missile that did nothing to improve her already dour mood. As if that weren't enough to dampen anyone's spirits, the entire party suddenly found a rather lot of vampires dimension doored into a scene of utter chaos. You see, dimension door is a rather nifty trick that allows one to pop in and out of existence like some sort of cosmic jack-in-the-box. In the ensuing mayhem, Serenity and Zuleika made a run for i...

Day 13 days to Ireena's wedding Dearest reader, Our adventures to Castle Ravenloft took an unexpected turn today. We decided to climb up to the parapet in the hopes of gaining a better vantage point. Making our way into the northeast courtyard, we pressed on through the servant quarter, only to stumble into a dead end. Not to be deterred, we climbed along the parapet and reached a tower. There, we encountered Ireena, who, upon seeing us, dashed off to inform Strahd of our presence. As we ventured further up, we discovered the castle's heart, pulsating with dark energy. Strahd, in all his sinister glory, appeared before us and asked if we were ready to duel. Hoskgak, ever the brave one, was willing to accept the challenge. However, Serenity, driven by impatience and perhaps a bit of impulsiveness, decided to take matters into her own hands and stabbed the heart instead. Chaos ensued. Our once orderly plan turned into a desperate attempt to destroy the heart as quickly as possibl...

"Watch? Watch? I need your help." whispers Destiny as she takes a quick glance at her sleeping companions. Silence. Of course, Destiny thought. The poor imp has once again puffed out of existence, thanks once again to sustaining one attack or another. She does not have any ingredients left to perform the necessary ritual to bring him back. This sucks, because she really needs his help right now. A cunning plan entered Destiny's little Tabaxi mind. She's a bit different these days, her mind has, it seems to her, become sharper, smarter and more cunning. The only way she can describe this new her is... better... A spark of lightning flashes in her eyes. That's right, now-a-days actual lightning flashes in her eyes when she gets a bit over excited about things... because, she tells herself, she's... better... She moves over to an empty space in the room a little away from her sleeping companions. She wouldn't want to accidentally electrocute them while she lo...

Hoskgak was looking around trying to discover what sort of magic or potion has awaken him from the long sleep. He thought he was dead, but then reborn, but then after having seen the hooded man, darkness again. It was all a bit confusing but everything started to make sense in his head. He was at the Amber Temple after all, the madam said the Hooded one will help in battle against darkness. And a weapon of vengeance, a sword of sunlight will await at the end of a long road, deep in the mountains. Hoskgak was carried by the Hooded person he met briefly at the outskirts of Krezk. And after receiving the Sun Blade sword, the sorcerer said it wasn’t Andralos sword, that perhaps it was his sword. That was it! Hoskgak was the Weapon of Vengeance, he was the one that will end the battle against darkness. After giving a brief thanks to the Hooded man, that made all possible. He turned to Serenity and asked for Ireena.

A solitary raven perches high in a tree top, hidden from view, peering down at the swampy ground below. The new arrivals are starting to stir. Two white goats are awake now, in the pen. One jumping around like a new born lamb, the other standing motionless, appearing to look around, then letting out a strange bleat-sigh. This catches the attention of the jumper, who excitedly starts to shuffle around the pen, leaving a trail in the mud, gradually a shape forms... the letter D? The raven twitches its head quizzically. Another bleat-sigh. Now the grumpy goat is moving, it looks like it is going to try to ram the fence. Another goat has woken up to watch and Jumpy is prancing around excitedly. The raven nervously twitches and glances at the skulls atop the fence posts, it twitches again, looking between Grumpy and the skulls and begins shuffling further back into the foliage of its hiding place, keeping its head lowered as if cowering. The goat charges, a loud thud and the fence shakes, u...

All right, the wolf has won the pack, in a kind of unfair way, but who cares. All of them cheer and pat the back of the winner as it should be. Perhaps the half orc would not have approved, but probably that’s why he is dead. Life isn’t fair after all, and death, is just closing the eyes to never open them again. Not a big deal. Silenzo followed Serenity, the only righteous character in the party, to the wolves' caves. She wanted to find Hoskgak's bones and save some kids, if by "saving" one understands dropping them on a starving town that barely holds together. From behind, Silenzo was quite pleased watching Serenity navigating a pile of bones and trying to form Hoskgak from them. Impressively she managed to get almost the right bones together, there were a few more femurs than there should have been, but mostly 90 percent of the half orc was there. To his amusement he jumped in and with a serious voice and face pieced together a nice skeleton. All the right bones w...

“I must defeat Kiril to reclaim the pack”, proclaimed Emil. “Ok, so we just go kill him.” Destiny added. “No, I must defeat him in single combat in front of the pack. Only then will the pack respect and follow me.” “Ok, but didn’t you lose against him before?” “Yes.” Emil said sheepishly. “So, how can you win this time? You barely managed to fight off those wights in the dungeon. I think you’ll lose again.” Destiny said matter-of-factly. “I will not lose. I cannot lose.” Emil said, looking across to Zuleika. “My dear, I think first you need to heal up. You are in no shape to fight. Come,” said Zuleika as she runs her hand gently along Emil’s waist, “let’s go upstairs and… heal.” *** The pack gathers around the stone circle as two silver swords are thrown into the ring. Kiril picks one up and throws the other to Emil on other side of the ring. The crowd cheers louder as the two challengers each swing their swords to test for balance. Kiril is visibly larger than Emil. Destiny looks arou...

“Oh my gods, they killed Kenny. TWICE!”. Ok, the escape wasn’t so great for Kenny. In fact, one might argue that he didn’t really escape at all, unless one counts being blasted out of existence by a lightning bolt up the arse, projected off the finger of an animated suit of armour an escape, then yes, Kenny escaped. But even then, it would be a stretch to call his particular escape “Great”. Destiny, however, feels her escape was definitely of the "Great" category, since rather than being stuck in the dungeon of Strahd’s castle, as she was doomed to be a moment ago, she is currently standing several hundred miles away in the safety of the Abbey in Krezh. What’s more, all her companions (if you once again discount Kenny, as so often we have to) have made it out along with the prize they went to steal - Emil the ex-leader of the werewolf pack whom Strahd had kept prisoner. If they could help Emil reclaim the pack, then the Heroes of Barovia will have once again made great allies...

Legend has it that Hoskgak the Brave was reborn as a new hero in Barovia. Legend has it that Hoskgak the Brave became even mightier than he had ever been as his previous incarnation. Legend has it that Hoskgak the Brave was reborn as a woman. *** A good story always has a start, a middle and an end. So let me tell you an amazing story about Hoskgak. I will start with the little known fact that he was, in fact, born as a half-orc. That’s right, he wasn’t even a full orc, he was only half. I know many of you thought that his greying skin was down to malnutrition, but I am here to tell you, Hoskgak the Brave was in fact very well fed and the lack of green pigment in his skin colour was partly due to the human blood, but largely due to the lack of sun in Barovia. *** “You don’t know that mistress. I seriously doubt sun has anything to do with Hoskgak’s skin colour.” Kenny chimes in offhandedly. “Well, how else would you explain his skin colour then?” Destiny asks matter-of-factly. “When I ...

My eyes feel old and weary. I have been staring at, deciphering, this text for so long, I sometimes forget to eat. But now the letters themselves are dancing around the page and my eyes are begging to rest. I will let them, Strahd's secrets can wait, just for a moment or two. It's been a while now since Hoskgak died, overwhelmed by the wolf pack. He could be such a stubborn idiot... but I feel somewhat lost without his straightforward presence. Destiny seems to have forgotten him already, off on her new adventure with two new companions like a kitten with new toys, neither of whom I would trust to watch my back; an arrogant Drow assassin who apparently wanders deep in Barovia without silvered weapons, just for fun and a Werewolf from the very pack that brought us such grief. Their mission? To free yet another Werewolf into the world in the hope they will ally with us against Strahd himself. For my part, perhaps I am no better, instead of avenging my friend and returning his bod...

A hooded man with a longbow at his back entered a tavern in Daggerford. Shortly after a short but moody guy approached his table and began talking. I have brought you 50 gold- He put a pouch on the table and move it forward towards the hooded man. Who do you think I am? A whore? Things don’t work this way. You have to buy the coin. Only with it I will carry the job.  As the waiter approached to leave a beer jar on the table, the hooded man stood up and left the moody guy and his pouch on the table. A few hours later the short guy approached a hooded person at the market.  Here, your damn coin. Well, it is in a way a damn coin. But I prefer to call it, a silent coin. And he did a mischievous smile while picking the coin from his hand. Without further chats the hooded man left the market with the coin in his pocket. He knew a new contract was in, just another job. At the outskirts of Daggerford, a camp was set for the Vistani. The hooded man has tracked them down as he listened ...

The  sun was rising, the dented but polished blade of the half orc was shining some light on his face. Hoskgak has been sitting in the middle of the fighting ring the whole night, but no one approached. This forsaken land has no decent fight with public. I miss crowd, I miss enemy, he faced down and glanced drops of dry blood on the sand while sighing. With a disappointed expression he stands up and follows Destiny. Serenity flew away at the first howling sound a while ago. Taking a turn they reach what seems a wolf head, but made of stone. Destiny approached the entrance carefully on what seemed hours of care and stealth, under Hoskgak’s astonished expression. Serenity reappeared and kept back with Ireena hiding behind a rock. Someone was moving at the entrance. Finally, perhaps the pit boss. Maybe the orc will be able to put a show to a crowd today after all. Innocently Hoskgak waves at the humanoid and approaches him. He says some words but Hoskgak is unable to understand a word...

Are we the heroes of Barovia? Are we even making a difference? Serenity sits listening to Destiny telling, anyone who will listen, of her heroic deeds. The history books will no doubt tell how she single handedly defeated Strahd with one wave of her tail! She looks across at Hosgak, so often oblivious to the magic and the assistance of others, building his own legend within his own mind. Being raised with nothing but stories of heroes, perhaps he can be forgiven for seeing the world through a lens of heroism. What have we done to deserve the title of Hero?  Yes, we survived the House of Death, home to the forsaken Durst family. But surely heroism is more than just staying alive? Was it heroic to convince the Vistani Rado to pay his tab? Perhaps not. But saving the drowning Arabelle from Bluto surely was? Although, Bluto was unarmed and no match for us, we still murdered him, surely not the action of a hero? A work in progress... We did save the winery! Defeating the blighted vines ...

Serenity sits quietly alone, mopping up wine-coloured blood from her snow-white fur with a torn damp rag. She soaks the rag in a bucket and with each squeeze the redness of the swirling water deepens in colour. She meditates, breathing in and out in slow, controlled movements. Under her breath, almost imperceptibly, she mutters to herself "I must not run in ahead of my party... I must not run in ahead of my party..." Why could she not learn? The endless fights, the countless monsters slain, the many cuts and wounds. Even being knocked unconscious and crashing to the ground again and again, still she cannot stop the urge to run head long into battle... "I must not run in ahead of my party..." Perhaps, had she like-minded fighters to battle shoulder-to-shoulder with, she might be unstoppable. But Destiny, who runs as far as possible at the first sign of a fight, Watch... sorry, Kenny, who disappears and only reappears to be devoured out of existence over and over and ...

Destiny performs the now very familiar hour long ritual to bring Watch back into existence. Poof, there he is, cross armed and his cheeks redder than normal. Perhaps it's his expression, perhaps it's his posture, but he looks different to Destiny, somehow with more stature than before. "Watch, you look... different." Watch ignores Destiny. "It's strange," Destiny continues, "perhaps Watch was not quite the right name for you. You strike me more as a... a Kenny. Yes, Kenny I think." Watch ignores Destiny. "No more chatty, let's go finish this", said Hoskgak impatiently. *** It was said that the Heroes of Barovia descended to the Fidatov's family crypt that night to confront the ghosts that haunted it. But little was known about what actually happened that night despite the discovery of some first hand accounts. We do know that the party was joined by a certain "Kenny" who met an untimely end. We also know that the her...

Dearest diary, Oh my god, you would never guess what happened! I found this most awesome tiara and it fits me PERFECT! Sooooo shiny, soooo beautiful… I think it is destiny that I found this tiara! Anyway, I suppose I should just recap how things came to be.  A week ago, after Strahd’s party, Serenity suggested that we go get back the Strahd diary from Rictavio. Serenity says he was probably in Krezh, so off we went. Instead of Rictavio we found a flesh eating boy who ate all the town’s live stocks. What's the chance that this happened just as we arrived? It's like things were waiting for us to happen! In fact he became so hungry that he started eating the town folks. He even tried to eat Serenity and Hoskgak, except Hoskgak chopped his head off. Though not before the boy ate his father. As it turns out, boy’s father was the burgomaster, so kind of an important fellow. But rather than mourning the death of their leader, the citizens was more concerned about being hungry themsel...

As the party approached the walled-city of Krezh, Serenity could not help wondering whether, once again, they would leave another town worse off just by passing through. Hopefully they would find Rictavio, retrieve the Tome of Strahd and leave before they were even noticed. --- No. Such. Luck. Apparently, Krezh does not receive a lot of visitors, so opting out of an invite to meet the Burgomaster Dimitri Krezhkov and his family did not appear to be an option. The party were quickly brought up to speed on events in Krezh, Rictavio (or Vlad as he seemed to be known here) had visited, but was currently out of town, the party later found his empty wagon with no sign of the Tome in the hidden compartment. There appeared to have been a few incidents with missing sheep, perhaps something to do with the werewolves that seemed to roam the area, although the Burgomaster seemed indignant at the idea they could have breached the walls. Lastly, there was the Burgomaster's son Ilya, who had died...

Our near-death in Vallaki, the citizens ruthlessly butchered, the brutal murder of  Father Lucian Petrovich in his own church, in front of his own terrified congregation... The ambush as we left the Wizard's of Wine, the abduction of Ireena... Strahd's vampire spawn had been untouchable. But now there was one less. Fate brought her to us, crossing paths alone in the woods as she rode as a messenger for Strahd. Her own arrogance blinded her to the danger and our unstoppable will to revenge! Knocked from her horse, she thought she could outrun us. Now she lies dismembered, burnt and buried deep in the dark woods with a stake through her blackened heart. No grave marker for Alesia, all signs of our unplanned reunion swept away, even Destiny's carving declaring victory for the Heroes of Barovia was scratched away. Victory against the Hags, one less vampire; perhaps we really could be heroes.