A Strahd Tail

“Why?” That is the only thought in Serenity’s head as she races for her life through the backyards and backstreets of Vallaki. “Why didn’t we listen to that old lady in the shop”, Serenity leaps the fence, the fur on her back and neck standing on end at the thought of what is in pursuit of her. “She said there was more than one person there… but six… we should have listened… six vampire spawn”. “Why didn’t we tell the city guard and let them deal with it”, she vaults over a pile of firewood. “We didn’t have to tell them about the bones, just the theft… Millivoj and Father Lucian would have backed us up”. Mud splatters the wall as Serenity dashes down a swampy alley. “Why didn’t we interrogate that man more, if only we had listened to him about the box…”, Serenity lands badly and stumbles through white sheets hanging on the line to dry, she leaves a streak of blood across them. “He said he was warned not to touch it… “ “Why was I in such a hurry to open the box…”, she knows the ...

Optimism is an inclination to anticipate the best possible outcome in a given situation. Over optimism is holding such an inclination when most sensible people would simply run. Destiny is feeling rather pleased with herself (along with Serenity and Hoskgak of course). In less than an hour since being told by Father Lucian of the missing bones, they have manage to track down a solid lead. Millivoj is the name. The 17 year old altar boy who is conveniently missing and is the only other person Father Lucian disclosed the location of the bones to. As it turns out, he was in his room at the orphanage and in possession of a rather large bag of gold. Gold which he couldn’t have earned sweeping the church. Very suspicious. The only real snag is that the boy is currently under some kind of magical sickness and is basically too out of it to talk. But, thanks to some seriously efficient investigation work - even if Destiny says so herself - they quickly deduce that Millivoj’s condition is l...

Serenity sat back in her chair, listening to the conversations around her. In her hand she slowly rotated a small mirror she had asked Destiny for. “He seems a good person” she thought to herself. “But perhaps that is too simplistic for Barovia, what little good we’ve found always seems to turn out tainted”. She rotated the mirror again, playing with it, letting it pass between each of her fingers in turn. “He said himself, trust no one”, Serenity’s eyes narrowed, the mirror was suddenly held completely still. She waited until everyone was occupied in deep conversation and then lowered her eyes to glance in the mirror. In the murky, scratched glass she could make out a Half-Elf bard sitting across from Hoskgak, chatting away. Serenity let her eyes close, the mirror once again began to play in her hand. “Not a vampire then, that’s a relief.” Serenity opened her eyes and looked straight at Rictavio. “There may be worse things than vampires in this land, but for now, this Half-Elf is the ...

"Please don’t tell anyone the bones are missing, the villagers will go mad with the news, and the church has to keep the reputation of Holy ground." As father Lucian was getting overwhelmed by the realisation of the new situation, Hoskgak kept wondering who would want some old bones. Bones should be left alone and return to the earth at the end of a glorious journey. The cats started their daily routine of asking questions, this time to Father Lucian. One day they will be as wise as mother or even the Chaman with so much information. At least he got to see the altar where Andralos might have been. Father Lucian was keeping the alcove as clean as it could be, and it was rather easy to spot, as it was the only one with fine ornaments and carvings. Finally the cats found a trail to follow: Millivoj, a kid who slept at the orphanage and worked by day at the church. Time to pay a visit to that house of noise and child madness. The half-orc took a moment to think about the dog they...

All is well in the town of Vallaki. All is well with our little heroes; Destiny found out that she wasn’t dying after all, and that her restoration magic did indeed work in reducing pie addiction. A few more days of self healing, and she and Hoskgak will be back to their normal self. Serenity is also doing better thanks to her finally getting some good nights' sleep under the protection of the St Andral church. All is well. *** “I’m confused, why can’t Watch and I enter the church? You say it stops bad people from entering, but we’re good people! Is it because we killed this Bluto person? You know it was an accident right and he was a BAAAD person. Killing a bad person is good, right? Please please please explain this to Father Lucian so he let us in! I don’t want to sleep in the inn by myself!” Destiny pleaded. Serenity shook her head. This was the third time she'd tried to explain things to Destiny. “Hoskgak, you explain it. St Andralos is your idol, after all.” “Hoskgak try....

Night 7. Pies... 0. Destiny thinks she’s dying. Hoskgak looks like he’s dying. Serenity is definitely dying. Watch... is fine. “Of course you’re fine, you ate ALL our pies!” Destiny grunted at Watch. It’s night time, which means she managed to survive her first day without eating any pies... well, survived is an over-statement. All she felt the whole day was her life and powers being slowly drained away with every passing hour without eating those children... er, no, pies. Keep going like this and she will surely be dead by the morning, two mornings at most! “Stay strong little cat. Just cold chicken. Sweat and you’ll be fine.” Hoskgak said from across the table. He looks even worst than Destiny and for most of the day could barely walk unaided. The resourceful warrior that he is, he is now using his great sword as a walking stick. “Or...” Watch suggested with a sly smile, “eat a pie and you’ll be fine. The windmill is only half a day away, I can fly th...” Destiny snapped her fingers ...

Serenity rubbed her eyes, held her head in her hands for some time, then stretched out her arms; she seemed to wince as she did so. Her movements were slow and laboured. When she stood, her head hung forward and her shoulders seemed lopsided. “The night terrors came again?”, asked Ireena. “I tried to wake you when they started, you were tossing and turning and nothing I could do would wake you up. You look completely exhausted." Each night since the windmill the terrors had come to Serenity in her sleep and each morning, she woke unrested, weaker both physically and mentally. “I feel my life fading away. If these terrors continue, I do not think I will last much longer” The party of adventurers who promised to escort Ireena to the town of Vallaki had succeeded. But they were broken. Hoskgak and Destiny, fighting their addiction to the dream pies, were weak and suffering the effects of their withdrawal. Serenity, who had avoided the pies all along, was even worse, a shadow ...

Destiny is on her knees in front of three strange graves. They are strange because the soil are loose on top, and yet the wooden grave marker seems old. There are vampires in these parts, ghosts in these parts, deadly snakes in these parts, what dark secrets could be hidden in these graves? “Should I?” Destiny asks Watch. “Since when do you care what I think?” “Come on, don’t be like that. I do care what you think. So, should I?” “Not unless you are mad,” Watch replies in his squeaky voice. Destiny readies a hand in a shovel-like form, the tips of her fingers touching the damp soil. “What if there are children trapped in here? After everything we’ve seen in the windmill, don’t you think these could be the very graves those old witches use to hide children? I feel so awful for liking those pies... I ate children. Children! If we couldn’t save those two left back in the house, maybe we could save these ones.” “Ok, you are mad. Why would anyone hide live children in graves? Besides, those...

The night was approaching. Hoskgak's eyelids started to close involuntarily. After the encounter with snakes and insects, he was feeling tired. Very tired. So tired. Luckily the windmill was here: some shelter for the night. Perhaps it would not be luck at all, if those cold chicken pies were made in there, though... Knock knock. Here we go again, more chat for the cats, let's see if they achieve their end of the deal. Hoskgak was starting to believe he would do the fighting and the cats would do the chatting. It was a good deal, he guessed. After all, he clearly wasn't getting his message across as fluently as the cats. An old woman opened the door and the Half-orc barely could hold his stance falling into the windmill as the door opened, completely asleep. Waking up outside the windmill with the sunrise, he quickly realised the cats failed to secure shelter for the night, and a glance to his party gave him the missing bits. Destiny probably fell right after him, so Sereni...