A Strahd Tail

Serenity sighed. She took a long drink from a wine bottle and then placed it carefully back in her pack; it clinked against the other bottles that were waiting patiently for their turn to be drained. “How much further to Vallaki?” Serenity asked no one in particular. “About a day and a half” replied Ireena, politely. Serenity sighed again, turned slightly toward Ireena and nodded in acknowledgement. “We will need to find somewhere to set up camp soon” Serenity muttered, again to no one in particular. “The pie eaters will drop to sleep before long”. It had been a treacherous journey of vampiric mists and undead abominations. It had also been enlightening – seeing the undead Revenant cut down the group of zombies as if they were nothing, whilst Serenity and her companions hid amongst the trees; it was somehow reassuring to see that the evils of this land were not all united against them. But most interesting and worrying were the pies. Serenity looked across at Destiny and then to Hoskga...

“Wake up! Mistress, wake up!” Destiny was rudely awoken by Watch. It was hard to get angry at Watch; someone as ugly as him deserved sympathy, not anger. Nonetheless, it was annoying to be woken up from such a beautiful sleep. She did sleep well these days. Adventuring was really suiting her.  Where were they again? Oh yes, the Vistani camp with that Madam Eva… wait… something was not right. “Watch, where are the Vistani? Why is the camp completely empty? Just how long have I been sleeping? Days?” “Mistress, this is why I’ve been trying to wake you.” Watch wondered how both Hoskgak and Destiny could love sleep so much. It seemed nothing could possibly wake them until a full eight hours had passed. “The Vistani just vanished in the middle of the night. And just before they did, a bird flew towards the Castle. Maybe the Vistani are working for the Count! Maybe this whole fortune telling thing is a trick!” Watch reported. Destiny looked around. Sure enough, she could see from the dist...

Hoskgak was ready with his great-sword in hand, the arena was known to him but nobody watching. Just him and the empty ring. All of the sudden a horse neighed with his two front legs in the air, beautiful, confident but menacing. Out of the blue his face turns into a Dire-wolf, the right front leg still in the air turns into a huge claw that swings into Hoskgak's body. Looking down there is a deep cut without blood on his chest. Hoskgak gets a sudden rush and starts a series of movements and blows with his great-sword, the Dire-wolf is cut in half and as it falls it turns into a tiny wolf a few weeks old. The Half-orc turns to the arena, no one cheering, it is totally empty. A strange white light comes from the entrance. Light, white, bright... Snow? Hoskgak is surrounded by rocks, the air he breathes its cold, dry and fills his lungs with a freezing sensation. At the horizon a chain of mountains, peaks and the endless path. The peak of the mountain has no sign, no one has been aro...

Broken one? A story of sadness? There is not a soul in this forsaken land that could not be described the same. As I stand here, drunk, my fur soaked in my own blood, my story of sadness is as clear as my weeping wounds. I have met fortune-tellers like this many times and their tricks are always the same – vague statements and twisting meanings. Usually, they do it for money, but this time I do not know why this Vistani has made such a show of our ‘reading’ or for what purpose she has decided to name me broken. Perhaps just another cruel trick like so much we have encountered here, like the wolves… …there are so many illusions in this land, I should have stayed close to Hoskgak and Destiny to guard Ireena. But I felt compelled to act. I was certain that I could handle the larger wolf until the rest of my group caught up and maybe I could save the horse and whoever its rider was. I could not stand by and let something so horrific happen again, now that I had the power to help; t...

Night 3. Five pies left. Right now, Destiny is sound asleep in the rather inappropriate location known as “on top of Hoskgak”, who is himself in an equally inappropriate location of “the muddy ground” in the middle of the Tser Pool encampment. Her arms wrapped tightly around one of Hoskgak’s leg which, in her slumber, must feel like a comfortable pillow. Her hands… let’s just say Destiny would probably rather her hands be anywhere than where they are now. “Well, that’s serving with pride out of the window.” The Imp stares at his new master and considers the day’s event. Let’s see now… He was summoned last night - check. Got given a stupid name - check. Listened to Destiny go on and on about her Angel, her tail and her blasted “destiny” - check. Then in the morning watched with pure envy she and Hoskgak eating those deeeelicioussss pies. How could they completely ignore poor hungry him? And damn that scruffy dog for getting to those crumbs on the floor before him - anyway check. Guarded...

This town is cursed. The birds stalk us, staring from the rooftops, watching as though spying on our every move. The people we pass in the street are somehow less than people. Mindlessly wandering, repeating their daily tasks endlessly and tirelessly. My companions eat meat pies when we have seen no sign of livestock in this sickly land. I have always tried to do good, but my faith waivers further still in this nightmare. What difference could I make in this forsaken place? I saw it too in the eyes of the priest. He saw what I saw. The hopelessness. For the good of our mission, I had to convince him otherwise, but I could tell he sensed my own loss and crisis of faith. The others do not see it yet. Hoskgak flirts with the Burgomaster’s sister and dreams of his greatness being sung for generations. Destiny sees the world like a child, playing with her tail, or her new pet dog and now with her newest plaything, a demonic imp. But they will see it soon enough. I found solace at th...

"Imps are tiny fiends found throughout the Lower Planes, either running errands for their infernal masters, spying on rivals, or misleading and waylaying mortals. An imp will proudly serve an evil master of any kind, but it can’t be relied on to carry out tasks with any speed or efficiency."  —  Irian’s Compendium of Delightful Abominations. Destiny stares down at the red winged beast opposite her. It has a ridiculously pointy face with all the usual beastly complements of fangs, spike, claws as well as a menacing scorpion like tail. It don't smell that great either. Would actually be a terrifying thing... but it's so tiny! “Oh crap! I must've messed up the ritual.” * * * It’s their first night at Barovia and they rented a room at the Blood on the Vine inn. Since arriving in town all they’ve heard are stories about vampires: vampires attacking villagers, vampires seducing maidens, vampires assaulting homes, vampires stalking people in the street. Don't the vam...

The wet feeling of the mud, the softness of the ground, it was all so pleasant that Hoskgak could not but let go his anxiety. What happened in that house? What sort of evil could play with people like that using babies as bait? He had seen all sorts of tricks on the arena, but these ones were unknown to him. Hoskgak was really close to his end, at a point that he almost gave up inside that house. Only Andralos might know what he was realising. All the cheering, clapping and indulgence of the arena had no place in this world. Death was waiting in every corner, and the worst of it was, no-one would even see his glorious defeat. With those thoughts he let the tiredness and fatigue conquer his body and fell into a deep sleep. It seemed as if hours had passed in that mud and mist. Strangely, what had before seemed an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere, was now surrounded by a dark and pale town still in the middle of nowhere. A mysterious man emerged from the mist towards them. He pre...

The air was filled with ash from the collapsing house. The mists were slightly less thick, though, and through the greyness Destiny could just about hear the sound of someone walking, someone carrying something metallic that was making a regular clinking sound. Eventually, she made out a straight, tall human walking towards them. A long rapier clinked on his belt. After everything that had just happened, Destiny was wary, but she was far too exhausted to do anything about it. "Oh dear," the man said when he was nearby. "You went in the house. Are you okay? Didn't you see the sign?" "The sign?" He seemed to search around, then finally pointed to Destiny. "This one." Destiny looked down and realised she was sitting on a large fallen plaque with red painted words half-obscured by mud. DEATH HOUSE (CURSED). DO NOT TALK TO THE CHILDREN. Destiny swore. “Well, I'm glad you lived to tell the tale. We could use people like you right now.” He took ...

The hidden staircase was narrow, uneven and claustrophobic. Worse still, as the party descended, a distant chanting gradually grew in volume. Serenity could not place where it came from, it seemed to be all around, hanging in the air. Serenity followed behind Hoskgak, she was quite reassured to have the great hulk of a Half-Orc leading the way, he provided some stability as Serenity’s head was spinning from her drinking and she felt she may well have fallen straight down the winding stairs otherwise. Destiny was following behind; Serenity was less reassured by this. They reached a hidden basement that stretched out under the house. It looked almost dug out by hand and was supported by old timbers, more like a mine than a house. Exploring these tunnels was almost a blur to Serenity, she followed Hoskgak as he stomped down the corridors. Occasionally they had to turn back as Destiny had wandered off again. Serenity had spent her life being taught to repress this kind of behaviour, ...