Curse of Strahdanya | Ep. 12 | The Raven Child: Part 1
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You are back at the Blue Water Inn and listening to Curse of Strahdania, a Legends of Avanthrys podcast. Last time, the Azran expedition uncovered a mysterious cult that Fiona Voctor seemingly leads in her basement. They explored the rest of the Manor house, absconding with the Voctor's malnourished daughter Stella.

With even more innocents rescued by the so-called heroes, I visited the enchanting young Victoria Isaacs in the night, planting the first seed of doubt in her conflicted mind. With sights set to the vineyard, can they restore the Martikov's livelihood and ensure sanity for the upcoming festival? This episode is brought to you by our generous supporters on Patreon. If you would like to become a patron, please visit patreon.com and search for Legends of Aventress.

With that out of the way, let us proceed with the first part of Chapter 6, The Raven Child. The Raven Child

You wake up in the morning and you're all feeling a bit out of sorts. The previous day, the encounters that you delved into having been quite a moment for all of you and causing some internal conflicts. As you wake up in the morning, knowing that there are many paths ahead of you and which one is the right one to take.

And I'll wake up in your room. So what do you do? So when I cast clairvoyance, that was it before I went to bed, right? And I didn't tell anybody anything, I believe. That was my understanding. We're in the lab's room. The lab's room. I'll assemble everybody. Thank you.

Professor, before you begin, I don't mean to interrupt. I wanted to take a moment to apologize to you and everyone here. These last few days or weeks or however long it's been since we've been together, it all starts to blend together. The point is that

I didn't quite handle myself in the most professional way yesterday. And I understand what needs to be done moving forward. And I will try not to be so rash as we advance. I guess my only question for you is, and I heard you loud and clear, Professor, and I won't step out of line again, but what do we do if she makes the first move? Well, Shepard, first, I understand emotions are high and

we find ourselves in quite the predicament. Our very lives are at stake, and there's a very good chance we will all die. Or whatever else you do here in Boromir. As far as if she strikes first...

At this point, she hasn't made any move to attack us. I'm hoping that she, at least in series, she knows that we're all capable, and I believe that's why she hasn't just right out killed us. Or perhaps she wants to dine with us. Maybe she doesn't know exactly what our plans are. She is toying with us, Professor.

She's playing her little game, treating us like mice as if you were a cat. When she intends to strike or when we become too much of a threat to ignore, she will not ignore us. So, just so I understand, if it comes to it, we are to defend ourselves? Yes.

to the utmost of our build. Yes, yes. Self-defense is key. It trumps everything else. And we are all on the same page. And I look at Victoria a little bit.

If she raises a finger to harm us at all, harm, then absolutely. But I don't want her to open her mouth. We see fangs and you shoot her in the face. We shouldn't do that. Please avoid that. All right. I will not slay the Countess until we are in her throne room in Castle Ravenloft.

Exactly right. Garrix has commanded me to follow the fate of the cards, and I intend not to strike until the time is right. But before we continue, Shepard, there is no need to apologize. Well, I mean, I just wanted to make sure, you know, we're all on the same page, and I will try to keep myself more level-headed like I know I can be. Level-headedness.

can be pragmatic, but pragmatism is not everything. Remember our conversation earlier. You mentioned professionalism. The fire inside you, the fire in your blood, is an asset, not a threat, not a detriment. You have to apologize for when it flares up and guides your actions.

Duly noted. Alright. Thanks. Yeah, alright. I should probably tell you all something. Last night I looked into the tea leaves and I peered into the bedroom of Lady Wachter. Uh...

presuming that she might go back there without the threat of us killing her. And she was indeed there. The body of her husband had been returned, charred beyond recognition, but sure enough, there it is, preserved yet again by her magic. She was there,

And life goes on for her. We should have let it burn. Yes. But it was a precaution to keep it somewhat unburned in case we needed proof. I suppose I should have thought, I'd use my magic. But either way, what's done is done. I don't believe we need to actively pursue Lady Walter.

She may come after us, but I believe we've learned all we can from her and we have the journal. And I believe that we've made enough of a power play where she won't come against us. I may be wrong. I agree. She may be wicked, my last professor, but she is not a fool. She knows that if she desires to seek vengeance against us, she will die.

That's right. We should take some caution, though. She might have someone follow us again. We should beware. Yes, I agree. I believe while we're in this land, we can't let our guard down. We should keep our eyes over our shoulders at all times.

I agree. And if we do notice we are being followed by that shambling creature she calls a manservant, Shepard, I would pray you would not temper that fire within you and remove the man's brain from his skull. I'm not going to let anybody hurt any of us. Thank you.

Kana will have walked over to the professor and poured herself a cup of tea that I imagine you have prepared for the morning. She'll sit down next to him and hand him the other cup if he has not started drinking yet. I believe it is best that we pursue our original course of action and that we make haste for the vineyard. If we dawdle on

Madam walked her too much longer. We may become distracted and unfocused. Agreed. After all, as they say in my homeland, one who chases after two hares will not catch even one. That's really wise. You know, Connor, you keep blowing me away with those phrases. Thank you, Chef. It's strangely appropriate for our situation.

Yes, Kana, exactly right. From now on, that will be the motto of the Azran expedition. Chase one hare and one hare alone. We can circle back to the lady on our return. I imagine this will not be our last time in Vallaki. Yes, yes, and I believe that getting the wine and perhaps making an ally of this burgomaster...

especially with Lady Wachter still at full power, is definitely ideal. And, Kana, I must ask you one favor. Of course. Just throughout our journey, if you could just stay with Miss Victoria. Don't let her wander off alone. I am an adult. Oh, I understand. Yes, I understand. I just... We...

You've shown some troubling... Yes, troubling signs. And I'm not saying you've done anything. Of course not. I just... I worry that...

If you were to get snatched, you should have someone by your side to defend you, is all. I think what the gentlemen are saying is that this is just very dangerous territory and it keeps getting more and more dangerous by the day. And we can't risk losing anybody because we need to be at full strength. Well, I think you're meaningful. I will not be babysat, for sure. And I don't mean to say babysat, but I'd rather have someone in a very large suit of armor and a very large weapon at your side in case...

foul creatures, Trudania or otherwise, were to descend upon you to carry you off to Ravenloft. We all know you're more than capable. Yes, yes, of course. None of us would have gotten this far if we weren't. But you are like me. Us arcane wielders, we are not the most durable. Heh.

As they say. So, why not, you know, we should all pair up, isn't that right? Victoria, I would never question your allegiance to this expedition, but I would be honored to protect you. Yes, thank you, Connor. Oh, hell, I don't go anywhere without Sarnax. You stick the two funny-looking guys together and we just do our thing. That's right. I suppose that leaves you alone, then. I have...

I have Lucas! I point to the invisible space, and he picks up my teacup. And to be fair, I don't let the professor go anywhere alone either, really. That's wise. Another cup, Lucas. Thank you. Thank you. And you see the tea pour. If it is any consolation cup, I do not think that Victoria will be snatched up by the Countess.

Rather, I think she will go willingly when the time comes. Now, now, sorry. Come on. That's quite an accusation for you to make. Simply a prediction. Not an accusation. And we shouldn't presume at all. I just, we all need to keep our wits about us. We know that her charm is very, very strong. Almost magically so. I won't deny that I feel so pulled to this land in general and to the Countess. Yes. I believe that's

It means I'm on the track of what I'm looking for, the reason that I came here in the first place. I just hope and worry that your heritage may be pulling you in wicked directions. That's all. I just want to keep everyone safe. It is my expedition and my plan to ensure that all of you survive and make it out of here.

That is all. So what's on the docket for today? We find the wine. If that takes us all the way to the winery, then that's where we're headed? Yes, we should leave immediately. We will head out the gate to the west. We'll find this Wizards of Wine winery.

or vineyard. I forget exactly what it was called, but we shall go there. Along the way, let's keep an eye out over our backs to make sure we're not being followed. And let's see if there's any sign of the shipment being stolen, beset upon by highwaymen, anything like that. And then as we get there, perhaps we can figure out where this gem goes. We can speak to the men there. Connor, why don't you take the lead? Let the professor tell us where we're going with the map. Sarnax and I will bring up the rigor of the storm. Is that all right?

I approve this. I will be in the lead. Thank you. I look forward to the break from this town. Yes. I need to get out of town. If it is all right with all of you, I'd like to make a stop at the church to speak with Father Lucian, just to ensure that the safety of the child. I'm concerned in your vision, Professor, that there was no movement from...

Lady walked her to check on her child. Perhaps she doesn't miss her at all. Perhaps she...

snatched her up too. I'd be best to check on her to make sure that Stella's okay. I hope she's just getting along with the other children, all right? I mean, that would be lovely if she'd have some people to talk to for once and maybe forget about all those horrible things. If it were up to me, I would send Stella to a different town altogether. I think she is far too close to her wicked mother. As long as she is on holy ground, she will be safe. The father and Irina will take good care of her.

We can make a pit stop if you'd like. On the way out, if you don't mind. Yes, of course. So I will finish my tea, and I'll finish reading my book so I can prepare and divine. And then I guess we'll proceed out to Westgate. You're rolling for how you're going to fuck me later today? I am going to roll how I'm going to fuck you later. Oh!

Jeez, guys. Hard. You don't need to tell me what they are. I just know at some point during the session I'm going to roll really well and he's going to say, I don't care what you rolled. It's an eight. Don't even bother. So I used to be like, oh, I keep rolling low numbers. Oh, I want to roll at your natural 20. And like, no, that's you is way better than me.

getting on. Super clutch. It's just also flexible, right? Whatever you roll, there's going to be a perfect moment for it. So are we going to the church and doing the RP thing there? Yeah, we can do a nuke pit stop. While we're on the way to the church, if you guys are going to lead, I'm going to pull Sarnax back just a little bit so we're out of your shot. Sarnax, buddy. I don't mean to be

forward, but have you ever heard of being a little too blunt? Maybe just be a little bit more tactful with the things that you say to our party members? For what purpose? Well, listen, I'm not the most tactful individual either, but at times it helps to be a little bit more gentle and not offend anyone that we have to live with.

But I have found in dealing with the common folk, the non-believers, that it is what they wish not to face. They wish not to speak of. They wish not to think about. That is what they need to hear. And eventually, the truth drags them along. Is that how you feel about me, common folk?

We are all common folk, Shepard. I say that as a compliment. If you were highborn and noblefolk,

I do not know if I could feel anything but hatred before you. Well, I've said before that you certainly have a way with words, and that stands true. So thanks again for this. I just kind of give him a pat on the back and proceed to follow the rest of the group. And so you are heading to the church first? Yes, I am.

You make your way through the streets of Vallaki, and you notice that you're getting significantly more looks from the townsfolk as they pass by, almost as if your name, your reputation, precedes you. Yeah.

You see those who might have given you a slight smile now look at you with questioning eyes as they dart back into their homes or down alleyways or shuffle past you with a much more quickened pace. No one confronts you, but no one attempts to speak to you either as you make your way through the streets.

You find yourself at the entrance to the church. The door is closed as it normally is. You take one of the handles and pull it open. You see that inside is once again completely empty. It's all but Father Lucian, who is at the very front of the altar kneeling down in prayer. I will...

step in and make my way to the front and I will, um, have a seat in the first queue and, uh, just wait for him to finish before I grab his attention. I would say you've been here enough times to see that he is in prayer most of the day. So you have to interrupt him. Um, I'll, uh, walk up to the behind him, a couple of stairs down from where he's praying. And, uh,

I'll do like a 90 degree bow and I will say, good morning, Father Lucian. How are you today? You see a deep breath as he turns around. His eyes are significantly more sunken in. His cheeks seem to be hollow. He looks exhausted.

I hope you do not have another child or woman or anything for me to take care of today. No. I know we're not trying to start an orphanage here. I'm sorry, Father. He looks at you and you see a faint smile. I know the town has its problems, but I am of capacity. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. No, no, it's quite fine.

We are eternally grateful for your hospitality and for taking in all of these children and women. We are very concerned for their well-being and we feel this is the safest place for them to be in your arms.

Well, since you have recovered the bonds, the land itself is sacred now. It is the safest place for anyone to be, including yourselves.

What brings you, Lady Connor? I wanted to check on Stella and see how she is doing. She is... kindling the change as best as a girl in her state can handle it. She is mad. There is madness in her. Hmm.

She's weak and she's been starving and it will take days, maybe even months for us to discern how to best help her. But we have a gentle hand here and we will make sure that she comes through alright. Her mother has not even bothered to ask about her when I have sent my ears out to find out what is going on throughout town and

She pretends as if her daughter has not even left the home. So I believe that she's probably relieved that she's gone. That was my fear. Would it be all right if I spoke with Stella? No, it would not. She needs rest. She needs care. She does not need to be reminded of what happened last night. But in a week...

It would be great for you to see her. I will most certainly return and pay her a visit. I'm sure she would love that, but we need to keep her coming.

She needs to sleep most of the day. And Irina, how is she doing? Well, she... You know Irina. She comes from a much more well-to-do family than this church can provide. So she makes do with the meals and the sleeping quarters, but she...

does not like them and she lets us know. But she is bubbly and happy and she takes care of the children. And that is the best that we can ask. I'm glad she's able to be helpful to you as well. Yes. Brighten up the storm. I don't think we could handle the influx of aid without her help. Well, thank you again. We really are indebted to you. He reaches out and he grabs your hand.

Thank you for what you have done. Do not mean to seem ungrateful for the aid you have provided this town. I am but very tired and weary about what lies ahead for all of us. And he squeezes your hand tighter than you would expect. Be safe. Darkness is coming. Is there anything we can do for you while we're out? We will be returning, but we have other...

Aaron's to run. The church has survived many years. It will survive many years more. We are just as we need to be. But thank you for your thoughts. So keep yourself safe, and he looks between all of you. And pray. And he looks at Sarnat's first moment. To whatever God brings you comfort. I do beg your leave. Thank you, Father.

May I use your washroom before I leave? He's so juicy. I'll bow 90 degrees to him and I'll go in the washroom, turn on the water, pull the ladle out of my bag, and I will fill it, pour it over my left hand, fill it, pour it over my right hand, fill it, pour it in my hand, rinse out my mouth, and dry it, put it back in my mouth, and back in my mouth.

back in my pack as I just take a moment to meditate for like two minutes just to calm my breath and lower my blood pressure as I cleanse myself for the day and I walk out and meet up with the rest of the group. Anybody want to do anything else in the church?

You meet outside and you begin to make your way outside of, along the path that leads outside of the city of Vallaki. This is a road you have not traveled before, but it is similar in size and in structure to the road that you used to travel here. You make your way through the barricaded gates of Vallaki. The guards look at you,

Almost as if they're looking into you and through you, as if they know something that you don't, suspicion. Yeah.

lines all of their faces, but they don't hold you. They don't pause you. They simply allow you passage and continue to watch. You can feel their eyes burning into your backs as you make your way out of the city of Valafia, down the pathway, constantly checking on the small faded map that was given to you. The winery circled in black.

red ink and you make your way down the path the sky is overcast the wind is slightly chilly it feels strange to be in the wilderness again

Though Vallaki wasn't what you'd expected it to be, there was a comfort and a safety to being in town with life all around you. People there to question and find comfort in and answers. And now you are on your own again, winding paths through the unknown land of Robia.

Certainly feel a bit hooked on it, Tom. Now that you mention it, yeah, a little bit. Professor, I know you did whatever you normally do, but I wouldn't be surprised if when we get back, we might have to answer some questions. Well, hopefully by then we'll be saviors of the lost wine. We've saved the festival. And we can use that social capital to quell their fears. We did get mixed up in

some unfortunate business the past few days. I think that people are held to this unnatural fear from the lady walker. And

living in the same city as she is in, I imagine they feel, they fear her anger for what we have done. I believe they have a feeling that we are going to purge their way of life from fire. We'll change everything forever. And the change is what scares them.

Perhaps part of me fears maybe they wanted Virgo Master to be relieved from the situation. Maybe we stopped something from happening that they wanted to happen anyway. It's hard to understand what the majority of the people feel.

in the city. It's a strange land and I hope we've not put our noses where they shouldn't have gone. Made changes to things that we have not enough information about. By the way, preventing a staunch ally of Shadania from becoming the Burgomaster is a noble task. And we did the right thing. But is it our place? We're here to learn, to observe.

Yes, and we're here to survive. And the more power that the Countess gains and her allies gain while we're here, it makes life harder for us. I do sense a bit of imbalance ever since we stepped foot in this land, but ever more so I fear that that imbalance is growing. I think we may have helped it in some way by doing what we did when the lady walked away.

Many people may not believe the tale we told yesterday. Well, either way, we can just continue onward. Let's let Vlaki escape your minds for a few days. Let's not think on it. I think we all need a break from that tale. We must return before the festival. Yes, yes. And that will hopefully be a nice enough break to regain our wits.

We'll see how this gem reacts to the soil. So I guess we'll continue onward. There's a fork. I don't know if we've been to the fork. Can you continue to walk? So I would suggest that a medicine and tell me if the group disagrees that we would be in a hustle. We wouldn't be taking our time. We would be pressing forward at a good pace. Yeah. At the risk of not being stealthy. Right.

Trying to make it back in time for at least, maybe if we don't get to the beginning of the festival, trying to make it before the festival ends, I think. So you know that the festival starts the very next day in the morning, but it culminates in the evening. So we have one night and then a lot of tomorrow.

Right? Yes. And you know that the trek down to the winery is going to take you around five hours. Okay. Yeah, we'll help out. Yeah, we're going to just haul ass. So you travel for 15 minutes or so, communicating with each other, talking about the situations in town. When you find your way

When you find yourselves coming out into a small clearing with a road fork into different directions and standing in the very center of the clearing appears to be Skeleton, completely lifeless, his arms draped over his head, completely slumped down, not moving at all. What is it, draped over?

It's just standing there. It's just standing there. It's just standing in the very center. We all see this. Of the road or a clearing? Of the road where the road forks. So you're coming out. It's completely lined with trees. You come out into a clearing where the road forks. So it's the fork on the map that you just asked about.

and in the very center of that fork you see a skeleton standing there. Its arms are hung down, its head is bent over. As the wind whips around it, you hear the jingling or the tingling of the bones as they clink against each other in the movement of the wind, but the skeleton itself does not move. I immediately look at it and use Hunter's Sense.

As an action, I choose one creature I can... Damn it. I clicked it. Basically, what it does is as an action, I choose a creature I can see within 60 feet and I immediately learn whether the creature has any damage, immunities, resistance, or vulnerabilities and what the creature is if it's not hidden from divination magic.

I can do it three times for Laura. So my, my, my monster hunter features. You channel your innate monster hunter abilities and you focus in on the skeleton, the middle of this junction and you can't discern anything about this. All right, everyone. Hold up. I do not know what that is.

I'm going to whip around and see if there's anyone behind us. If you look and there's nobody behind you. I have one hand on one of my weapons. If that was some sort of undead or some sort of skeleton like we've seen before, I think I'd know. Well, then perhaps it's simply a skeleton. Maybe that's how they denote forks in the road in Barovia. May I take a closer look?

We'll get with your spear. Does it look like it's, like, is it on, like, a post or anything? It looks like it's literally just standing there. Take a closer look and we can proceed. All right, Connor, let's get a little closer. Just be ready.

I'll walk up to it. As you walk up to it, you hear the grinding of bone on bone as it writes itself, its head still down. As its head leans up, you watch as the jaw falls open. It looks like it's screaming at you as you see the body of a raven tumble out of the mouth and land on the ground. You immediately realize

This is the raven that you killed at the windmill. Its body now beginning to decay. Feathers completely removed from the sides of it, where the flesh beneath is slowly beginning to fall away. Oh, gosh! Oh, no. This is clearly the illusion treachery of the Countess.

I'm staring into the gaping eyes of the skeleton with my spear, my bow. I'm at the ready. The hollow eyes of the skeleton stare back at you. Its mouth completely agape. It looks, though no sound issues from it, in an eternal scream.

As you hear the grinding of bones once again as the arms move and one of the arms raises up and begins to point in the direction you're heading. I'm going to go with Sarnax on this one. It's some more trickery. We're being taunted. Whoever this is, they know where we're going. So is it pointing to one of the forks? Yes, it's pointing in the direction you know that you're heading. Oh, okay. What is the meaning of this skeleton? Well said.

Roll a persuasion check. I got a 21 for persuasion. I'm not scared of it at all. You continue to stare into it. You say this and it stares back. It's empty eyes. Issues out of the inside of the skeleton, but the jaw does not move.

There's no motion to the skeletons. Strange, disembodied voice that bubbles up and spills out this horrific feminine tackle. That sounds very similar.

to a laughter you had heard before from the hags. From the hags. Oh my god. I have now drawn both of my weapons, and I am pointing them at the skeleton. It's probably an illusion. Just spell it, and let's get on with it. Let's get on with it. Did you hear that?

Professor, tell me you heard that. Yes, I heard it. These are tricks. Just like the body in the gallows, it'll just vanish. Just disturb it. I'm going to hold up my hand, recognizing the laugh and continuing to make unblinking eye contact with it. I will say, are the hags still alive? Roll persuasion check. Fifteen.

You stare into the empty eyes of the skeleton and you hear nothing. There's no way. Sorry, man. Allow me. And I cast a spell magic on the skeleton. Okay, roll for it. Okay. It's a fail. That will be a six. We have two twists. We do? Okay. A six. Okay.

And you extend your hand out and you cast this magic over the skeleton. You see as it's staring directly into your eyes, the jaw hanging up and limp, wide open in an eternal scream, as all of a sudden the skeleton, the bones begin to shake and it collapses to the ground. This is real.

There's no way those foul creatures are still alive. I will Mage Hand and gently pick up the Raven Corpse to see if it's actually an actual Raven Corpse. Your Mage Hand moves its way down and grabs a whole corpse. You expect to see the

uh, incorporeal fingers of your mage hand disappear into the illusion, but it firmly grabs hold as it carries it to you, and as it gets close to you, you're able to see that this is the body of that raven. You can see the same markings you remember seeing of the impact when it fell from the sky and stayed asleep. "V-Viktora, what did you say?"

What if there are more hags? Why would you say something like that? Why are you taking that tone with me? It's a reasonable logic to bring forth. You want to know what'll happen if we find more hags? We'll kill them. We'll kill every goddamn hag we see so the children are safe. Well, that is just fine, Mr. Shepherd. I would ask you to not take that tone with me. More goddamn hags? You're kidding me, Mr.

Shepard, I would not potentially worry about that. There may be an alternative that we are cursed. It is a possibility, my hypothesis, that in a dying breath, Hag may have cursed us, or all three. So now we're just dealing with some echoes, some whispers. Yes.

This is a physical skeleton. This is the actual corpse of the raven that I killed. A curse can manifest in many ways, Professor. And we know that the raven isn't necessarily tied to the Countess. We know that the raven is tied to the Order of the Feather. Indeed. Why wouldn't it shift back into its true form when it dies? Do I recall back when I had to detect magic and the raven died, it no longer has magic on it?

So I will say that you detected the magic, so you knew it was magical, i.e. what you detected was the fact that it was a shapeshifter. So it didn't have a school of magic in the same sense why it was a difficult role, or it was a difficult thing for me, right, to try and determine how you would have seen that. So you knew that it was magic, but you didn't know how. You don't know the age, right?

of the person he was. Do I think that to spell magic might shift them back? Is that a reasonable thing that Clayton would think based on...

I would say it's definitely worth trying. Oh, boy. This is going to get real ugly real quick. I'm going to take the raven, like, literally not stealthily, really, but, like, sort of as they're talking and Shepard's yelling at Victoria, I'm

I'm going to kind of like take the raven just sort of to the side of the road, rest it down, and I'll kind of go over. It's a 50-foot cone of yell. I'm yelling towards you. I'm just yelling in her direction. It doesn't matter. Hold on. Sorry. I'm

While he's looking that up, could I lean over, kneel over the bones and kind of tumble over them with my Nagiata and see if there's anything suspicious about them? Anything through Nick? No.

roll an investigation check. This is probably a natural one, so three. Looking through them, you definitely see that there are scratches in the bones, but it's hard to tell, especially with them completely disassembled like this, where they would have lined up, if it would have been markings when it was active, etc. And they're piled all together. It's hard to sift through. You're spilling up dust and clouding your vision. You're unable to find anything.

So I will lay it down, take a good couple steps back, and I will say, "Augumentum," and cast a spell mapping on it. Oh! 16. You begin to cast your spell, and you wait for a moment. You see as nothing changes.

So finally the form of the raven begins to shift and elongate. And you watch and you hope as you watch it elongate and elongate. And it stops far too soon. A small girl, maybe 12, chubby cheeks, an eternal smile on her face, her eyes closed, her hair matted.

covered in dirt. Fucking not, hell. Alright. I turn around from the bones mid-sentence. Professor, do you want me to...

What? Where did she come from? This was the Raven. I dispelled her magic. This was the true form. We just can't fucking win. We need to... I will write several notes.

I want to kind of write down a general description of what she looks like. Maybe do a little sketch so that I know in case we meet anybody. And I'll say, we need to bury her. We must take her to the inn. Do you have a way to prevent her from decomposing? Not at the moment. I'll get to fucking digging.

We cannot bury her out here away from her family. We should return her. Yes. Do we know what family she belonged to? And I want to run over to the body and gently see if there's like anything about her that would discern who she is. 12. Looking at her...

A lot of the Barovians almost seem to look similar. None of them are wildly different in feature. There are a few, but she definitely looks Barovian in nature, but it would be hard to discern a particular family. You know that you've met very few of the Barovians. She could be the daughter of anyone in the

I don't think it's right to try to take her all the way to the winery and then all the way back to Vallaki. It isn't right. Then you give her a proper burial and return her to the soil. I'm going to... Sorry, go ahead. No, no, I was going to say I'll just take... I think we've done it. I had a shovel from earlier in the expedition. Section Zero, whatever, right?

Go off to the side, just not into the woods, but off the path and just start to dig. Shepherd, save your strength. I'm not. It's fine. It's fine. We will burn her body. Well, we should still make some sort of small gravesite, right? Maybe we create a grave for her and we burn her in it rather than leaving her ashes out. No, no. We must take the body with us.

Why, Professor? We have to inform the family. We can't just show up and say, oh yeah, we found your daughter's corpse. And just have them trust us, outsiders. We saw how everyone was looking at us this morning. This would just be another man in the coffin, so to speak. Why must they know that we had anything to do with this situation? Because it...

It was us that killed her unknowingly and accidentally for certain, but... I would... We had to lie about that. I would put the blame on the evil nature of this land. I and I would as well, but it wouldn't be right to just lie about something so brave and sus. People are gonna just accept that, Sarnath.

Word on the wind travels fast. I imagine the happenings of last night have already spread all over the lands of Barovia. We may already be guilty before we even arrive to the vineyard. Having her in our grasp, I don't think will help our cause, but I will certainly follow any direction. I'm happy to carry her if you'd like. Mr. Morgan, wrap her up.

Professor. Producer Takana. Chef. Sonax in the morning. Professor. Yes. Understand that you feel a particular need to make things right, given that you are the one that killed this creature. I killed a child. You did kill a child. Knowing or unknowing, this being deserves respect. You killed a bird, Professor.

That does not mean his conscience is not clear. I didn't kill a bird. I killed a child that can turn into a bird. Did I think it was a bird at the time? I didn't even think it would die. Professor, I have doubted your judgment several times, but I am doubting it the most and the most gravely in this moment. You would weigh us down with this burden.

Yes, I would. You would distract us from our goal, potentially endanger all of our lives from the guilt that you feel from this. I would walk many miles with this child in my arms if it meant returning her to her family. I would do the same for my master. I would carry him home where he belongs and bury him if I ever found his body in Barovia. She deserves a proper burial.

And I disagree. I don't think she should just be burned here in the middle of these woods alone. No offense to your god, Sarnax, but I don't believe this is the time. It's not our decision to make how she is set forth to this earth after death.

I was the one that first suggested we take her to the inn, but if we do not believe that she's related to the innkeeper, we should... It will bring nothing but danger for us to wander about with the corpse of a child seeking out her parents. All eyes will be on us more than they already are. It will delay us with our goals getting to the winery, finding the nature of the soul. All right. All right.

Just give me a moment, please. I would like to very gently and delicately search her person for any kind of memento or anything that shows who she is, if she's like a name tag on her dress, or anything that would be like a keepsake that we could keep as proof that we... Roll an investigation check. 13.

You begin to carefully look through the clothing of the girl before you. And at first, you don't notice a thing until you find a small folded up piece of parchment. As you unfold it, you are met with a letter written in common. My dearest Basha, be safe and

As you travel through the woods and report back to us as often as possible. It is dangerous out there. Do not get involved in things that you shouldn't. Simply scout the area and let us know the dangers that are there. If they've taken our gems, we will find out. Do not communicate with them or anyone else. Stay safe. Stay with your brothers. I love you.

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You can also go to the crooked moon.com to pick up your own copy of our first published supplement, the crooked moon, a folk horror tome for dungeons and dragons fifth edition. And don't forget to snag all the extra goodies like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. I have a letter. So, so, check. Oh,

I don't, but this letter says they may be from the wine. She may be from the wine. Let us carry her there, and then we can burn her if they are not aware. The skeleton did point towards the winery with the child and its clutches. It may be best to take her there first. Damn it. Wrap her up, please. Wrap her up. May I please get the letter back, please?

I'll help you wrap it up. Okay. All right. We shall go and see who's still at the winery, and perhaps we can bring us rest there either way. Shall we make haste? I think we'd better. Yeah. Yes. All right. Professor. Yes. When lives are at stake, when there's danger abound...

Terrible things must be done, but beyond that, terrible things can happen. Innocence can be collateral. Do not let that reality cloud your judgment. Please.

All of our lives depend on it. You're right. Arnold, please. It's a case. You slowly wrap up the body of the girl before you. Kana, you take her into your arms and you hold her against you. Her form is cold and limp, but you hold her tightly.

as you solemnly begin to make your way down the path in which the skeleton pointed you to. And you walk for hours, quietly, silently, the eeriness and the stillness of the trees around you unaffecting you as you make your way along the path. So you've traveled for about two, maybe three hours. You know that you've got another hour and a half to two ahead of you. Is there anything you'd like to do?

Not me. I would like to keep an eye out for any hag business. Any, like, wooden fetishes tied up in trees. I'll be casting my lantern, kind of be walking to one edge, casting my invisibility-revealing lanterns around. Okay.

I think I would want to be, just given that I had a very narrow run in with like a huge wolf, I would be keeping an eye out. You know, that scared me a little bit. I'm keeping an eye out. Listening for twigs snapping. I'm keeping an eye out for any signs of strachonia. So then let's roll a perception check. Glad I didn't roll super eight. Natural 20! Gotta give it up. 25!

25. 24. 17. 10. 21. You continue in silence for the next hour and a half, nearly two hours. The woods around you are quiet. You find no other strange event, though you're looking over your shoulder at every chance you get.

expecting anything, everything. But you're traveling in the early hours of the day, you've got an early start, and the forests themselves don't seem to have come alive just yet. As you find yourselves spilling out into a clearing, the vineyard up ahead.

Situated in the midst of the vineyard, the winery is an old two-story stone building with multiple entrances, thick ivy covering every wall and iron fencing along its roofline. Following the trail, it ends at an open loading dock on the ground floor. A wooden stable of more recent construction is attached to the east side of the winery, next to the loading dock, and west of the winery is a crumbling well and a wooden outhouse.

The actual vineyard extends in front of you. There are now two paths forking, one into the vineyard and one slightly into the vineyard and through to the winery. To the winery then, Professor? Yes. What does the soil look like, the ground going up to the winery in this vineyard?

I'm sorry, what? Like the soil on the ground. Is it long, fertile farmland? Or what does it look like? It looks like normal ground. There doesn't seem to be anything special about it. Are there like vines growing out of it? Or like is it a... Is it stuff growing? So you're not at the vineyard. You see it's way, way ahead of you. So you're not actually in the vineyard. Sorry, I thought we were there.

I would say, I mean, you're, this is just what you're, I'm saying like it opens up and you can see this down kind of in the valley. Let us proceed. Yes. Is the child's face hidden? She's wrapped up. Let us proceed. A light drizzle begins to fall.

Unpainted faces blindly follow the trail that skirts north of the sprawling vineyard before bending south towards the stately building of the winery. The fog takes on ghostly forms as it swirls between the neatly tended rows of grapevines. Here and there, you see rope-handled half-barrels used for hauling grapes.

North of the trail is a large stand of trees. A man wearing a dark cloak and cowl stands at the edge of the trees, beckoning you to it. Oh, yes, yes. I'll put my hat back on. And I will... I'll be in the back, Professor. Yes, please, please. It's too obvious. So you are at the vineyard.

There is a pathway that leads toward the winery. Along the tree line is a man, and he's beckoning you towards the tree line. Oh, away from the vineyard? I narrow my eyes, and I just start approaching. Careful, Professor. Hello, my good man. The man looks up, the hood falling away from his face, and you immediately see the resemblance to the innkeeper.

I immediately use Hunter's Sense on this thing. If it's not hidden by divination magic, then I know what they really are. Where, Raven?

Damage immunities, invulnerabilities. Immune to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from non-magical attacks that aren't silvered. Okay. Yeah, that's cool. Alright. Thank you. Are you the owner of this winery? I am, yes. What brings you here? What are you doing? The winery. It is not safe here.

And you see, as he says this, as you step up to the edge of the tree line, that more shapes begin to emerge. As you see two men, two women, and two small children begin to crowd around the man.

Tell them while we're here. Yes. Let's get into the treeline first. Please. He beckons you in and as you make your way in through the treeline, you see where they've chopped down a bit of the foliage that was encroaching along the treeline. They've set up a small encampment, tense fortification where they've taken down some fencing and built their own small barricade.

Well, first, before we discuss, my name is Professor Clayton Azran of Missalary University. This is the Azran Expedition to Barovia. We are here to learn more about Barovia, document it, and return home. We arrived here because we heard that there has been an issue and that the shipments have been missing.

The inn. Tell them where we're staying. We're staying at the inn. The Blue Water Inn. Yes. I believe the innkeepers are related to you. They're also... We see a look of disgust on his face for a moment. So we have heard of the family relation. You are not unknown to us. And first, can you give us any details about the danger that...

Yes, why are you out here in the woods? Because the land itself has overtaken the vineyard and the winery. The land? We cannot go home. But you want the wine.

Yes, that is the goal. There will be mass unrest in Vallaki. He looks between all of you and his eyes linger on Kana for a moment. He looks back around all of you, almost unfazed. You look capable. Could you remove the scope? I mean, we're here to help. We just need to know a little bit more about what we're actually looking at here. Yes, what exactly do you mean the land has taken over?

The land itself, the creatures of the earth climb up out of the winery and they have overrun the entire place. There are six full casks of wine in the winery currently. Three that were loaded onto the wagon to be taken into town and three in the basement, in the cellar. As well as many, many bottles of wine, but to get to them, you will have to get through

Creatures of the earth. Professor, this is an orc dying over. They are creatures of the earth. You do not mean exhumed corpses. Do you mean plant matter? Yes. They are fine, thorny men of plant in the air.

ravaged the entire finery. We were barely able to get out with our lives. How did this happen? When did this happen? What caused all this? It was but maybe a week ago. You've been hiding out in the woods for a week? This is my livelihood. I cannot leave it like this. But we don't know what to do. We're not asking you to abandon it. I'm just, I'm upset for your position. What is the nature of the soil that produced these creatures?

We are lucky that we built this winery on fertile land. Can I see if this guy's telling the truth? If I get decent vibes. Um, like...

That's hard to tell. He definitely seems nervous, uncomfortable. He definitely doesn't seem like he trusts you, but he seemed worried to just let you walk up to the vineyard. But now seeing you, seeing Shepard's muscles, the weapons at his side, seeing Kana in her armor...

Seeing what you're potentially capable of, you can see a bit of hope in his face that you might be exactly what he needs to free his winery of this infestation. We will solve this problem for you. Return your livelihood if we can deliver these casks of wine to Vallaki.

If you can rid the winery of the infestation that is here, you may have all that remains. Sonax, produce the gem, please. And you see his face drain completely of color. What do you mean? And you see as the people behind him hold on to him. They're all looking at you, strangely. All but one.

One of the women is staring at Connor and at what you hold. I'm just reverting my gaze, but acknowledging that she's staring at me. What gem, Professor? What are you holding? Your child. Oh, got it. I'm just trying not to look so suspicious. I see. The gem, Professor. Shouldn't we wait?

What gem do you speak of? Do not wait. Show me now. I believe we need to show him the gem now, Sarnax. We have other things to show him, too. I would rather show him the gem now. I'll reach into my robe. I'll pull out the gem, keeping it very close to myself.

This gem? Where did you find this? And he reaches for it. No, this is mine. This is my livelihood. We have none left. You do not understand. They have taken it all. What? The other mother, she took one and then the druids, they came and they took the other. Where did you get this? Wait, who is the other mother? We found this.

In a pile of children's bones. The wicked woman of decay and death in Verres. She took the first, and then the druids came and they took the other. But this one, this one was lost to me. Where was it? You said you stayed at the inn, my foul son. No, it was not in the inn. Where was it?

No, my girl, my sweet daughter, no, she did not die.

She crumples over the woman, over the girl, tears streaming, all of the people behind her, tears streaming down their face, gasping.

She looks to the old man and he is staring down in near horror as he looks at her.

I don't know if I can, but I will try. I will try for you, Stefania. You can help her. I will try. And you see as from his cloak he pulls out a long withered staff.

sinks it into the ground. Give me the gem. Give him the gem, Sonax! Of course. His hand shaking as he rips it from you and you see as he places it into the staff and firmly embeds the staff in the ground. Link your hands with me now. Do this. Us? As I say, all of you on the ground now. Of course. Of course.

I grab hands. You all wink hands as he gets down on his knees. Stefania in the middle, crying over the body of this girl. All talk of everything that you had brought to them completely off the table as they focus 100% of their attention onto this child. He gets down onto his knees, sinks his fingers into the ground, and you see as his

shape shifts for a moment, almost raven-like, but back into human form as he begins to chant. As he begins, as he begins to emanate a strange green magic, he chants. And he chants. I need all of you to roll a d20. Oh! Okay, roll my good. I'm gonna go roll my good boy. Goddamn roll. Come on. Just a good boy? Come on.

That ain't good. Natural one. Seven. Can we twist some of these? Yeah. I don't know what we're rolling for. We're just doing a straight roll. We're not adding anything to it, right? Eleven. Let's twist your one. I think that's reasonable. Let's twist your one at least. That one is just so fucking bad. A two. It's faded. It's faded.

So what did everybody get? I got a seven. Should be two more in there. I got a 13. Was I only one over ten? Eleven. Eleven. I got a four. A two and a four. We suck. Hold on, hold on. From a metagaming perspective, I would really feel comfortable having at least three over ten. Can we twist it? We don't even know what we're rolling for. Roll an arcana check for me. Both you and Sarna. Or you can roll a religion check. Okay.

A two, okay. It's just the rolls, you know? That's my good die, too. Twelve. What did you get? I got a seven. A mask and maya.

I rolled 11. My arcana was a 12. I rolled a 13. You got a what? So I got a natural 2 for my d20, and my religion was a 9. Okay. What did you get? What did you get? Me? I got a 13 on my d20 and a 12 on the arcana check. Okay. It can't all be happy yet.

We do what we can. Sometimes the fit, sometimes fate is just dictated by the dice. You... They are. He begins to chant as all of them. All of them, but Stefania begins to chant in unison. You feel the ground move beneath your feet.

The sound in his voice as he chants is almost as if he's begging the earth to do his bidding. And none of you understand this ritual. None of you understand this magic that he's using. Sarnax, you are the closest to anyone that can understand what he's doing. There is an earthly magic to what he's using, but it is unlike the holy fire that is within you. It is far more primal.

far more natural as he digs his fingers into the earth and begs and begs all of you linking hands around him. The people who you have yet to even introduce yourself to are swaying and chanting as Stefania cries and cries. And slowly...

The chanting stops. Silence. All but the weeping of this woman over the body of her daughter. Nothing happens. As slowly you see her head move is a deep intake of breath from this small girl causes the head of Stefania to bomb up and down. You did it! Oh my god, she's in her flesh!

And she holds her tightly as I rolled a natural 20. Oh my god. So the dice do have an impact. Yes! Oh my god. And you see as she begins to breathe and she reaches out for me.

My back hurts a lot. Sweet girl, please, please do not say anything. She wraps her arms around her and then one arm shoots out without even looking and grabs Kana's hand. Thank you. Thank you for bringing her to me. Thank you. She holds her tightly. What happened, my dear? What happened? Your brother said you flew off. I told you to stay with him. And she says...

I don't know, Mommy. I fell asleep while flying. I don't know. It's all hazy. I don't remember anything, Mommy. But my head hurts and it was so dark. But I just want to go home. I'll look at the professor and try to get his gaze. Give him a knowing look.

Well, surely we found her body along with foul hag magic. And I want to kind of get a sense. I feel like she's not undead. She's like straight up fucking like alive. She looks normal. She looks like some type of resurrection magic had been used. You look to Davian.

And he looks far more exhausted. You can see his chest heaving, his heart pounding. Every ounce of magic he had within him seems to be sapped. And he looks like he's on the verge of passing out from the energy that he expended to do this. No doubt, shall hag magic we need... Are there any other hags in the area? You have...

You have done us a great service this day. I'm glad we could. I could not have done that without this. And he looks to his staff and the gem that's centered in it. This gem produces life magic. It is what fertilizes the ground that this vineyard stands on. This is what allows us to have a livelihood here.

Honestly, it was just pure dumb luck we even found it. If you had not brought both of these to me, and as quickly as you did, I... Tasha could have been lost to us. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time, that's all. I will not lie to you any longer. It is these gems that we've lost. That is the reason these blights have cursed this land.

Did the gems keep them in bay? No. But once they knew that the gems were gone, I sent out so many of my family, so many members of the Marticles to look for these gems. Years ago, I believed my son had stolen these gems and brought back today. But a part of me believed it might have been these women on the hill. Who are these women on the hill? I'm unsure.

I sent out my children to look. Not because I wanted, but because they begged me to. Without this winery, we could not live. Without this winery, we have no livelihood. We have nothing. And when the second gem went missing, and the druids began to haunt our winery, we knew they must have taken it for whatever foul magics they do upon Yesterhill.

Yes to him. But we still had one until recently when we believe that horrible woman of death in Verez took it. That we had none and we panicked. I sent all that I had out. All but who you see here.

to scout everywhere to find at least one gem. And my little, my little sweet granddaughter Vasha, I did not want to go, but she is getting older and she promised, and he looks down, but a smile graces his face, that she would stay with her brothers. I will not make that mistake again. When our defenses were weakened, the blights came, they overtook the winery.

And we have been unable to do anything with the stock we had left. With at least this one gem, if the winery is clean, we can return home. But I fear that Yesterhill and that wicked woman in Perez, they will not leave us be. Where is Perez? It is along a path back from whence you came.

Damn. We... I do not think it is a place you want to go. You look strong, but that woman, there is something about her. She is not... It is not safe. Where does she live on this hill? She does not live on the hill. The ruins live on the hill. Where does she live? In what sort of dwelling? I do not know.

We have scouted the outskirts. There is something strange about the home she lives in, the small hut. It has a magic to it, but what it is, I don't know. Have you ever seen this woman? I personally have not seen her, but my eldest have come back and they have told me tales that she has deadened the land around her. These swampy

We don't have much time now. What can we do to help you restore the winery? I don't know. Can you kill me?

The infestation in it. Yes. The barbarity of the druidic plight on this land. Yes, we can. If you can do that, he reaches out. He stumbles for a moment. He's old. He's at least in his late 60s. He stumbles forward and he crumbles to his knees, but he motions you back as he digs his staff into the ground and rights himself. He reaches out and grabs both of your shoulders. Do this for me, please.

I ask so much of you. But you have... You have done so much for me already. I wish to feel sorrow that I ask you to go into this dangerous place and do these things. But I need your help. I will not...

I will humble myself and tell you I need your help. My family needs your help. Some of that wine is more than an even trade. It is the least we can do, I assure you. We can have all the wine in the winery now. With this gem alone, we can begin to rebuild. One of the plots is still fertile. If I can replant this soon, I will have grapes. We will have wine production again within the week.

You have saved our family. You have saved our winery. I want to be clear. We're not doing this for the wine. We happen to be here, and we're only trying to set things right. We're here to help. If you want to feel like you need to repay us with anything, you can do me one thing.

Anything for you. You tell me everything you can find out about that woman and that damn swamp. I will send out two of my most capable sons. Not the children, please. No, not the children. And anyone who's already seen her. Just get as much information as you can. I will have them scouted and I will have them bring back what they know. Thank you. That's all I ask. Please keep your children and your grandchildren away from...

from Hags. I was unaware of what they were. We've slaughtered them all. You see a look on his face, almost questioning look, but not necessarily pride, but almost admiration.

...

But I will take your word for it that they are gone. They were obviously very dangerous. Do what you can. If this woman in this swamp turns out to be anything even remotely related to a hag, she will die if it is the last thing that I do. I hope it is not the last.

And he looks down at Vasha, who is just held tightly in the arms of her mother, both of them crying, just completely wrapped with sobs. But it's that quiet, deep sobbing of happiness, of thankfulness, of hope. And he looks down at the both of them. You have already done much for my family. I cannot thank you enough. No, no, please think nothing of it.

But we owe you this. Would you honor a very simple request? I do not see why not. That, what you just did there, was the power of that crystal. It was, yes. And in your hands, this crystal and the others...

year-round maintain that level of fertility and life magic on Barovian soil. They were planted before the days of

He looks around, almost as if checking to see if you're being listened to. "They were planted before the days of Stalamiah. Their magic has persisted since when the land fell dark and began to die. The land in which these seeds were buried. They did not succumb to the darkness, and we have upheld them ever since.

Right.

So one crystal is with the druids, one crystal we just returned, and one is with the wicked woman on the throne. Probably a hack. Okay. Do we know where the third crystal came from? We don't really know. We know that based on our investigation that we think with what else was in that clone of the

That doll probably dug around that pile of children's teeth and bones. The other gem might have been with the other hat. In the stone circle. The stone circle after the windmill. Do we know... He looks at you. I will do this. We have gone many years without the champagne. I would not do that to the land of Barovia again.

but they could do without the weakest of our wives. I will cut the weakest yield. The land is not the weakest, but the grapes did not make the best wine. I will give you this land, this land only, but only half of it. It will be a very small plot for trees. I shall be able to make that work, and I find that amenable.

And you promise me that the crops that this soil yields you will do nothing to disturb? I will not touch it unless it begins to encroach.

on the land around it. I don't presume that it will, but I do not know what the nature of this soil combined with the magics of old will do. I hope it does not disrupt, but I thank you for your agreeableness to my proposal. I thank you all for reuniting my family. There's the least we can do. Bringing back this gem.

Thank you for letting us be part of that ritual. It was gratifying. And we will return your livelihood right now. Please, be safe. Do I get any response from the Yesterhill troops? I have not been there. They began to encroach on our lands and we did what we could to...

to keep them back. But once... Once they had the gem, they have been relentless. Are they allies? They chant rituals. I've never heard the like. Are they allied with the Countess? I do not know. If she visits the...

I would not see it. We do not venture up to that land. It is cursed. Do you often get visit... Are you often visited by the Countess herself? She does not come. She does not bother you? She does not. This is what we will do. We will reclaim the vineyard. You now have that gem. We'll get you back to your life.

Do not worry about the druids and the woman beyond reconnaissance. Do not engage. Do not get close. Just learn what you can. You return the wine to the vineyard. To Vallaki. I will do you one better. Do not waste your time heading back to Vallaki. Yes! I will... Sorry. I apologize. Keep getting. It is a horrible point. I have stayed away from it for a long time. But I do owe my son a visit.

I will personally, with two of my sons, take the wine back for you. If you read the vineyard of the blight upon it. Damn right we will. Unless you quell the evil with yesterhill, they will multiply. All right then. You're doing us a bigger favor than you could ever know. Yes, thank you. The reconnaissance will be valuable information so we know which to strike next. When you are done, if you survive, we will meet again.

Back at the vineyard, when the vine is delivered and the hill is quelled, and I will have for you the information you seek. I deal my friend, and I put my hand out. He reaches out, his hand still shaking. He steadies his arms. He reaches forward. He shakes, and he tries to grab your hand firmly, but you can tell how weak he is. It's going to be all right. I promise. It will. Together, we will win.

We will bring hope back to the market of him. Professor. Yes. Team E. All right. Yes, we will be on our way, and if it's worth anything. I don't believe your son means you any ill will, and they've done nothing but be kind to us. I owe him an apology, and that he will get. That's good to hear. Thank you. For more than you could possibly know.

And if you need anything more of us, please call upon us and I quickly introduce the whole group. I will send a raven if I need to. Keep an eye out. But no, not all are of my ilk. How will we know that they are of your ilk? You will have to ask questions. Of the raven? Yes.

Keep your eyes out and look for a few signs. We will. Thank you, Jumbus. We will. Go with caution always. He walks over and puts his hand on Vasha and saying to him... I'll turn to the rest of the group and I'll say... Oh, but before you go, he reaches his hand out with the staff...

And with a dexterity that you did not expect, he spins it around and slams it into the ground as a rush of energy spills out around you. You all now have the blessed spell. Oh, shit. Go for it. You are now blessed. I'll turn to the group and I'll say, all right, Tasman Expedition, let's get to work.

You make your way out of the small outcropping that the Mardukov family had created for themselves, the shelter, against the infestation at the winery. And you find yourselves once again...

along the tree line and staring out at the vineyard in front of you. You see three plots, one of them still looking slightly fertile. And you're staring out. One of the plots looks more fertile than the others. And you can almost see the procession when the stones themselves, the seeds, as Devian called them, had been taken. One of them far off towards the back of the winery.

seems to be in significant disrepair. The next in less. There are still hints of life left in it, but for the most part, it is nearly completely dried up. And the final one, looking as if there is potential there. You know this to be the one he plans to renew with the return of the first scene.

But all seems to be quiet as you look out over the three plots of land. The vineyard off to the back, the two-story stone building, is large. And it's definitely in a bit of disrepair, but you can tell that it's lived in, that it's worked, that it functions. But all is quiet. There are no signs of life. The infestation he spoke of, so far, no remnants can be seen.

Go ahead. I knew you were just so ready. I'm so sorry. I'm literally getting, I'm all fired up now. Is the loading deck that you mentioned connected to the two-story building? You can't see it from here, but you imagine that it is. Okay. Please. That was a great question. Okay.

I'm glad that you listened to my descriptions. Before we head down there,

We got a little bit of talking to do. All right. Yes. Sarnax, this is it, man. This is the fire. This is what you were talking about. I'm ready. This is the best I've felt since we set foot in Barovia. And my friends, I've got good news. We're heading down there. We're going to clear out whatever godforsaken druid magic or whatever bullshit he was talking about. And him offering to take the wine back to Vallaki is the best thing that could have happened to us.

Please, please tell me you heard what he said about where this woman lives. And I'm going to stop you for just one second. This bless spell is different. It has a duration of one hour. So it is not a one minute bless. It is a one hour bless. We'll get moving shortly. So D4 to attacks and saving throws, right? Yes. Okay. Tell me any of you heard what he said. He said it was in Verens. Verens.

Therese. E-R-E-V-E-R. Oh, but the name's not Porter, Professor. All right. What is in Porter? He described it as drowned.

We're going in there. We're going to kill whatever godforsaken creature she is. We're going to make this right, and we're going to fulfill one more fucking card. Well, you're a genius. Quite right. I was a little emotionally overwhelmed. I must have missed that part. All that matters now is that we kill whatever fucking bad creature she is.

And we're one step closer to getting the fuck out of this place. Victoria, remind me the exact wording of our reading. Yes, it's from the Nine of Stars, the Conjurer card. This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope. I see a dead village drowned by a river, ruled by one who has brought great evil into it. And that's going to be a ye fucking ha!

Shepard, it is good to see you in reanimated spirit. I feel a real good siren ass and I give him a slap on the shoulder. Do not waste your energy. Let's go. We must make haste. The fire is in you. And you know the best part about dealing with plant creatures. Oh, I bet I do. They are flammable.

Now, just let's remember that this is dangerous. Yes. I'll mark us, and I cast Major Armour on myself. Please, let's be ready for anything. Please do not act recklessly. The intent here is to give these people their home back, not to burn it to the ground. We're going to keep everything intact. No wayward fires. No. Understand? I have a vested interest in keeping these fine were-ravens in business.

That is true. They will tend to my sacred crop. If Garrus is there, I hope he's watching. I hope he is as well. All right, can we satisfy Mr. Morgan's itch and get on with it? I just want to say one thing. We did promise that we would take care of the druids on the hill. Oh, that's going to be another stop as well, my friend. That will be first. I just want to stop here. I believe we need to stop there after here. I agree. That's...

That woman, she ain't going anywhere until we have something to say about it. We'll make sure to strike her after. When we are ready. There's one place she is going, the soil of your life.

That's right, my friend. All right. I'm glad everyone is very excited. Let's focus. I withdraw my weapons, like give them a spin. I'm like, to the fucking thing. Yes, Shepard. Continue. Continue. And I just stand in the back. That's my second time.

he's ever smiled at the campaign. A tearful grin. Are we ready, Professor? Yes. All right. Let's lead the way. So you're doing anything beforehand? You're just charging in? Team Age Armored? Oh, you Mage Armored. I'm Mage Armored. That's kind of what I meant. Are you anybody doing offensive spells or anything? Hold on. Can we at least approach someone? How long does Shield of Faith last? One minute. Oh, fuck.

Well, I will get ready to catch you. The plantain is sweeping back and forth as it's swimming. I have to use the post-test. I'm also going to cast major on myself. I'm sweating, but it feels good. Perhaps we should spread around the house a bit and get a look at the outside. As long as we don't get too far from each other, I agree. We find a point of entry, we locate the wine, and we clear a path. All right.

You begin to make your way through the rotting fields of the vineyard.

And you find yourself to be about, I would say, a hundred feet from the building. The ground beneath your feet begins to move. The earth begins to turn. Hands reach up out of it. Branches, twigs, vining and covered in thorns.

All around you, the soil begins to pop and turn over and explode with this strange infestation of life. As you begin to see, encircling you, all around you, as far as your eye can see, vine creatures. Vine creatures.

They pull themselves out of the earth, dirt still clinging to the mud on their strange, elongated, vegetative faces.

And as you look at all of them, you see as their teeth, almost thorn-like, begin to chop and chatter as they all begin to move towards you. I need you all to roll for initiative. You see as all of these entities pop out of the earth around you, and they...

They look at you, their wooden appendages clattering against their wooden bodies as they begin to move forward. Victoria, it is your turn. What do you want to do? So I want to ask a little bit, though, about the earth that they turned up. Like, what... Is it rough dreamer? Like, hard...

difficult terrain, or it just... They just came out of it. And it's filled forth out of the earth. Okay. You now understand why it looked like there was no infestation, even though he had claimed there was. It seemed that they had been sleeping beneath the earth. I see. So, I am going to

to... I'm going to look off to my right where these have come forward and I'm going to put my hands out and make like a sweeping up motion and cast... What the hell is this called? Erupting Earth out in front of me trying to just keep them from coming at us.

Yeah, so they have to make a dex saving throw. And then how many are in there? Three. One fails, one makes it. So two fail, one passes. Yeah, so 23 damage to 28 and 10. All right, you see 28 and 10 are hit.

with this earth. And even though they seem to be made of plant matter, the magic imbued in them, this strange shadowy shimmer seems to rip the life out of both of these entities. 28 and 10 are removed from the board. And 17 would take 11 damage. You see that happen to 17 as well. Oh, perfect! Okay, and that is now just difficult for you. I'm gonna move up.

5, 10, 15. And take aim and say, we got this! And fire at this guy right here. It's going to be a 10 plus 9 is 19. That hits. I'll hit it for 11 points of damage. That's max damage. Nice!

You let force your bolt fly. It pierces into its chest and you see it explode into nettles as it is revealed. Then I'll take even another one next to it. Okay, which is probably not 15. That's going to be a 17. To hit? Yes. That hits.

Nine points of damage. You let forth your second bolt fly. It pierces into it. It lets out a loud shriek, but it continues to lumber forward. Bonus action or attack on the same one. Okay. A lot. 28. That hits.

Another nine points of damage. You seize, it shambles forward, you let loose another shot, and it erupts into a pile of nettles. They're not real tough, give them hell! That's my turn. Alright. You see as directly out of the front of this winery, the door opens up a hooded figure in a large animal skin cloak. Antlers atop its head.

makes its way out, a staff in its arm as it lunges forward. It parts through these blights. It looks directly at all of you. Tilts its head up and you can see the skull of an animal placed directly on top of its head, the horns protruding out, but its eyes glowing with a strange greenish-orange magic as it looks out at all of you.

Excuse me, what the fuck? So it is going to move forward a full 30 feet. Actually, if you say cast something on itself, it's going to get right into the middle of you, so directly behind Shepard. Oh, no! Cast something, fog, and that will be its turn. Fog. Now it's Kana's turn. I'm going to take out my Naginata. I'm going to swing at this druid

creature. That'll hit with a 26. Oh, will it? Yes. It's presumptuous, don't you think? So that does seven points of slashing damage, and this is silvered. To which? To who? To the druid. Okay. Druid. To the druid. Druid. Druid.

Your naginata makes contact as it slides into this entity. You see as the blade makes its way through the leathery outfit that's... or the leathery hide that's slung over its shoulders.

It grits its teeth as you, as it takes the damage. You begin to see the blood pool around the front of the cloth, and it takes how much damage? Seven points of slashing. And then I'll use a bonus action to channel my fighting spirit to give myself advantage. Oh, no, never mind. I should have done that at the beginning of my turn. I'll just take another swipe at it. I'll do that next time. Okay.

This one should hit with a 25. That hits, yeah.

Ooh, very nice. 13 points of... Sorry. Yeah, 13 points of statue damage. Once again, you slide your Naginata up through this entity, and it takes the full force of the damage. It just stares down at you, completely shrouded in a kind of little skin. Layton...

Don't forget you have got Bless. Oh, shit. So he is... He clearly means a swarm, right? Like, we know based on everything that we know, this isn't, like, a nice guy. Yes, exactly. That's a decision you have to make on your own. Is he... Is that he or she? Can we tell? I can't tell. Um...

Is it holding any weapons? It's a staff. A staff? Like a walking stick staff? Yeah, very much like a walking stick staff. Not nearly as intricate or interesting as the staff that you saw Davian holding. It's much more of just a rotting piece of wood. Firebolt at this one here. It's looking to hit. It does... Oh, it's two.

Eight fire damage. That's a better cantrip now. And I'm going to move over here. You let loose the fire bolt. It is... One second. Should you, like, heist in your briefcase? Yeah, like, you're adjusting your pads and, like, you're like, cool, move! You let loose your fire bolt, and it sinks into its chest and...

And it does the amount of damage you expect it to do. It's still shambling towards you. Oh, fuck. So it's still alive. So it didn't feel like it did extra damage because it was fired. Nope. So I will just call out if I can. I would say with these ones as close, you can see they seem to be made from like nettles. These like needly, fine, like the stalks of rose bushes. Very thorny, but it's more like needle-like.

Priv. I will say, call off your constructs or we will kill you! That's what else.

Is that you or did we hear that? That's what you heard. That's all I needed. I didn't know if that was just DM's or what. It is now monsters. One monster. They are going to move 30 feet towards you. So one is going to attack Clayton. So that one's going to miss. One is going to attack Sarnax. 16? No, it doesn't. Actually, two.

three are going to attack Victoria at range. What's your AC 12? One of them's going to hit. I think it's 13 because I didn't major. I got a natural 20. So one of them's going to hit. And then it's not 13. It's 13. Oh, 13. So two of them are going to hit. Wait, natural 20? One hits normally and then I got natural 20. Lime.

If they can't be blinded, then it doesn't work. Oh, condition immunity is blinded. No!

I appreciate you being honest. I appreciate you being honest. So would I tell that they don't have eyes? Would Sauronax realize that they don't have eyes? I would say this close you can see that the wood that they appear to be made out of, like this vine-like structure, it seems to be, I hate this word, juicy. Fleshy. Well, it's

They're like... Succulent? Yeah. And so they do have approximations of faces. They have these mouths with sharp needle-like teeth. Where their eyes should be are these almost knots where it's like the material they're made of kind of twists and turns into this rough approximation of what an eye would look like, but there's no actual eyeball in the stock. So I was assuming you were thinking one. Yeah. For all intents and purposes, they're needle blinds. Got it.

I think I'll still use it. I'll try. If they have a rough approximation of a face, I'd go for it. So, one of them is a natural 20 on you, the other one's a hit, and one of them could fail, so the natural 20 is going to be 22 points of piercing damage. As they raise their hands up, and you see as they...

shoot needles from their body directly into you. Alright, so that's those three. There are three that are going to attempt to hit Kana at range. Both of those guys.

And then... Poor Shepard. Yeah, bring it on. Eight are going to attempt to hit Shepard. It's been fun. Yeah, you're fine. It's like they're all ringing. So your AC is still 16, right? Correct. So that's two misses.

Natural 20. Okay, so when that one hits me, I'm going to hellish your view. Okay. Well, it's hitting you from range. I can hellish your view from 60 feet. Oh, 60 feet. Oh, perfect. Then yes, you can. That's awesome. Okay, so four hit, one's a natural 24 miss. Okay.

So four hit. So why don't you... I'm going to do the natural 20 first. Holy fuck. I'm not going to survive this. There's no way. 16 points of damage for the natural 20. Okay, so then what I'll do is just resolve. It's dex 11. You only have to make it a dex DC of 11 and take half as much of this damage. What is it? 10s? Yeah.

So he passes, but takes half of 17 plus six, half of 23, which would be 12 or 11. You let out a burst of hellish magic as flames incinerate this entity in front of you. It made a critical hit on you, but it was also a critical error as you watch as it shrivels and burns.

and returns to the earth. 26 points of damage. For the other four? Yes. For all the other four. Holy fuck. I remember when I said I was going to dumpster the, uh, the, the druid. It might not even get to my turn. Uh, that's all of their turns. The other ones are not close enough to, to do anything. Are they going to sprint? Uh,

No. Sarnax, yes. Yeah, I'm going to hold up my lantern seeing that... Don't forget you have health potions. Lots of them. Do we? Health potions? Yeah, you all have health potions. I think I have one. I think I have one. You stole health potions. I have both Sarnax and... That's right. I'll hold up my lantern and my hand will glow and a small little, almost like a seed of fire will appear in my two claws.

And I was like, you are all still flammable. Yeah, fucking get it. And then I'm going to cast it into the middle of everyone close to our squishies and trying to get as many as I possibly can. Yeah, baby. You can get that entire area you can get. Yeah, I can get all of them. Okay.

And I will cast Fireball. Can you tell me how many are in there? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,

They only have like 11 HP, right? Yep. If they pass, they still die. Really? 27. Oh, yeah. There. You let loose this raging hole of flames. And you completely incinerate this entire... My fucking man. All of these? Yep. Every single one of them. That's my lizard! By fire be burned!

Holy shit! That's fucking clutch! Gotta fucking give it up. Alright, Victoria, it's your turn. So I'm going to just step over here. I know it's a rough trade, but I'm not going to get very far.

So I'm going to hold up my hand and a swirling energy is going to appear in my hand. It kind of looks like a skull sometimes. And then I'm going to throw it out at the druid in front of me and cast Chaos Bolt. That ain't good. You rolled max on Bless. It's 12 to it. Oh, 12.

So I'm guessing a 12 misses, probably. 12 hits. Oh, fuck. Let me double check. Yes, your AC is 12. Okay, so now I do 2d8. Who did you target? The druid. Oh, the druid. Oh, sorry, yes. Oh, yeah, no, it still hits. Oh, shit. I'm going to dump through this waterpump. AC is 11.

He's a girl. He's not dexterous. He's not wearing armor. Okay, so it's going to do 18 damage, and it's going to be psychic damage. 18 psychic damage. You... I'm clutching onto your prayer beads of Ill Mater. You...

Extend your hand shakily as you channel the chaotic magic within you. The eternal fight of good versus wickedness as you let out a bolt of psychic energy. These two bolts swirl and twine as they slam into this creature. It barrels over...

grabbing onto its temple as it lets out a loud scream. You see as it rears up its eyes flaring with light as it looks up to the sky and begins to say something as the life drains from them and it falls to the ground. Oh, shit. Oh, shit.

That's a shit ton of damage, dude. So Druid's dead. Yes. Yes! So that's the whole fight. Shepard. I like spin around like, what the? God damn it! And I just, I take sight on the next two palaces to me. Probably these front two up here. Oh, your turn is done? Oh, yeah. The ground beneath you begins to shake. Oh, no.

As it becomes even more tumultuous than it had been before, for all of you, this is now difficult terrain. As the rocks rumble and move, I need you to move every single thing that you'd killed back onto the board, but upside down, these are different creatures. These look to be larger, made of twigs and vines. As they move towards you, every single one of them, it is their move now as they begin to move.

You hear a knocking sound coming from the vineyard. No fucking way. Shaking and shaking as the door once again bursts open. Another druid, slightly frailer, more feminine in shape, begins to make her way out. Did all the other guys die? No.

No, they're still there, but you have all of these ones as well. Sarnax, I hope you save every spell slot in Fireball Pills. I should not have spelled magic. Resolve in there, buddy. There should technically be 24 of these. Is it Shepard's turn? It is Shepard's turn. I cast fucking Hunter's Mark and put his action on this motherfucking druid, and I unleash two fucking multi-shots on him. Headshot, headshot, headshot. Bless the demon.

Oh, I might need the bless.

You can cast on both shots. Yeah, I'm gonna do... So that's gonna be 12 plus 10 is 22, and then... 50. 0.2 and 50. That's gonna be 8, 9, 10, 11, 21 points of damage to the female-ish druid. You see as she walks her way out, there's almost a regalness about her as she looks out over the land around you. You do not hesitate as you let loose a bolt from judgment and then from redemption. One hits her in the shoulder, she rears back,

She lets out a gasp as she's hit in the opposite shoulder. She looks a look of shock on her face. The feathers tied into her hair fall down over her face as she slumps forward. She looks like she's feeling pretty rough. I spin my gun and say, one more, baby!

baby. And that's somebody else's turn. It is Conestar. No, I'm going to run up and say, fight me, you fools. And I will take the dodge action. Clayton. Oh, well,

I'm not sure I'm capable of much here, but... And I would like to move over here. You take opportunity attack from that one guy? And I would have to take an opportunity attack from that guy. Okay, sure. I'm gonna need to hit some fucking shit. Oh, no, that was a 17. Let's see, a 20. I would like to cast Shield as a reaction. Okay, so it doesn't hit then. And then I will say...

It won't be quite as flashy, but Ardentos and fire is going to shoot in a 15-foot cone. That's perfect. Those were quick, though. Yes, you do that. Deck 16, saving throw. And you said it's a 16? A 16, saving throw.

Do they take half or no? Okay, so one... One saves. It's only 3d6. I mean, that could be way more than a fucking... Come on! 14 damage. So the one that passes stays. The other ones all die. You let forth a blast of fire from your hands in a conal pattern, being able to shield your friends from this magic that infuses your veins.

as you blast away a significant portion of them. Is all ground difficult terrain? Yes. Okay, so I'm out of movement. I will stay right there. Okay. Monsters 1. Yeah, no, they're all going to attempt to attack Kana. So two of them are attempting to make an attack on you. So at disadvantage. Yep, you're at disadvantage. You're going to miss. You're also going to miss because you're at disadvantage. You're going to miss.

and then the other three are

How many are missing now? All of them, thanks. Is that four? Yeah, no, I'm rolling with disadvantage. Yeah, no, they all miss. I'm going to... Shepard's really hurt, too. Really hurt is... I'm going to step forward behind Kana three spaces. I can only move three spaces, right? Yep. Look, I don't have a lot of hit points, but that's just because my max isn't great. I'm feeling all right. And then I am going to look at Shepard, and I will say...

Garrix will cauterize your wound, Shepard, and I will cast a healing word at a second level. And it's going to hurt so good. And we're going to do 2d4 plus 5. That could be worse. 12 points of healing. Oh, I'm like, I'm good as new.

I could do this all day, baby. Hell yeah. And then I am going to look at the one next to Kana and Sacred Flame it. Okay. And just has to make a deck saving throw. 16. Fails. Fails. It explodes into hopefully plant matter, but what is how much DMs do? So horribly as a DM. I was rolling like

hot fire last fight. You really were. That'll be 11 points of radiant damage. Okay, so it kills it because it's 11. Victoria. It's your turn. I'm just gonna cast like a black flame is gonna come up from my fingertips and I'm gonna reach out and cast firebolt at just the closest one over here. Okay. 17 to hit. That hits. Six.

Fire damage. You let loose a bolt of fire as it swirls and undulates. It makes contact with this, and it almost explodes upon hitting the dry, wooden surface of these creatures, doing significantly more damage than you'd expected. It ignites into flames and then ash as it crumbles to the ground. Barely any remnants of it left. Do I see that? Oh, yeah. My eyes widen and a big...

grin. Now these are flammable. This is your time to shine, Mr. Tenex. It is Garrix's time to shine. And it is Monsters, too. They are all going to move their 30 feet. They do not, or 20 feet, they do not seem to be hindered by the rupturing.

Sorry, they can't get to me. And so they're just moving straight towards all of you. I'd like to not be a devilish pincushion anymore. They're 30 feet? 20. The druid is going to move out the 30 feet. Even better, baby. You see as the druid hunkers down and you notice as the outstretched arm begins to shift and warp as her skin turns to bark.

Casting parts never even once. It's just like druidic major armor. I'm going to fucking blow that off. Shepard, it's your turn. My hunter's mark is still on the old druid, so I'm going to start by taking one attack at the druid. Get it. Yeah, I mean, that's an 18 plus 4 is going to be 22.

To hit? To hit the druid, yeah. Oh, yeah. So that's going to be 18 points of damage to her for one attack. You see as she moves forward, not caring about the damage that you had done to her, she is set on a path. They are claiming this vineyard for their own. As she moves forward, she...

She shields herself with skin of bark, but that does not deter you as you let your bolt fly. It pierces into the knotwork of her chest. As you see her gasp, a look of shock on her face. As she opens her mouth to say something, blood begins to spill from the corners of her lips.

she reaches down and feels the blood on her chest. She falls forward dead in front of you. All right, who's next? And I take two more shots at these guys coming up here. Fucking something up. I just feel like we're fucking something up here. I don't feel good about this. That's going to be a 25. So I'm not going to move my hunter's mark yet. So that's only going to be 7.5.

Sorry, six points of damage. Okay. You let your bolt fly. It pierces into it. Oh, this is one of the new ones. Yeah, one of the new ones. You see it splinters apart. Then I'll take one more shot since it didn't die. Oh, no, it did die. Then I will attack. Yeah, the next one. Sorry. So it's going to be 22 plus three is 25. It's...

Damn. Yeah, another six points of damage. Their AC is 13 on these ones. So, exactly the same. Two of them splinter apart as you, once again, bring your weapons back to you ready for more. Yeah, and I move back 10 feet because of difficult terrain. That's my turn. Okay. Um...

You now see, as once again, the ground begins to shake, as five more of these needle-like creatures, the original ones that you faced, spill up out of the earth directly in the ground next to you, as if they're reanimating themselves from the broken bodies of the former. So they are going to make an attack on each one of you. These are the new five.

Sonnet has not disadvantage, but I should have done that. 20 to hit. So he is making a claw attack. Eight points of piercing damage as it sinks its elongated twig-like nails into your flesh and begins to pull your skin apart.

I'm going to use my reaction to make an attack on the one that hits our axe for Sentinel. Okay. Was the DC or the AC? The AC of these ones is 11. Okay, this hits for the 12. Wow.

and that'll do seven points of slashing damage. You take your naginata, and you pierce through it, and you sever one of its limbs from it, but it is still hanging on. So, one is 18. 21 to hit Clayton. 21 to hit me. Shield the cave. Uh,

13 to hit Victoria. 15. Barely hit. And 11 to hit Shepard. Miss. Okay, so just you. Just go ahead and applause. Six.

points of piercing damage as it rends your flesh with its boss. It's Kana's turn. Oh, no, it's there still before round Kana. So they are going to, uh, two of them are going to attempt to attack Sarnax within, from range. Um,

One of them natural one. The other one misses. And then three of them are going to attack on us. Two 17s. So that's a 20. Okay. To hit. Yep. And so that is going to...

Four points of damage. Uh, and I'm resistant to it because I'm dodging, so two points. Okay, now it is comms turn. Okay. Well, I will hold, um, hold my ground, uh, back to back with Sarnax, and I will just continue using the dodge action, just trying to see, keeping an eye on the door to see if any more druids come out or if I hear any sort of commotion on the inside. Uh,

in case there are additional waves of these coming. So I will just continue to dodge. Clayton. I'm going to look at him and be like, You're not worth it! Incendium! And I'm going to summon a flaming sphere and place it right there.

Beautiful. That's beautiful. I'll look at that d2. As a bonus action, I will send it into number 19 here. Okay. That means a dex saving throw. 16. Ah!

Twelve. It takes seven points of fire damage. All right. You see this is engulfed by flame, but it is still holding on. Okay. Tarnax, it's your turn. I'm going to pick up what the professor is laying down, and I will say, Excellent idea, professor! And I will swirl around and also cast my own flaming sphere.

Within 60 feet. I'm going to place that. And I'm going to slam it into this bad boy. Deck saving throw? I made it 12. 12 fails. Duty 6, right? Is it 2d6? They have 4 hit points. 2 points of fire damage, but if they're vulnerable, they die. Yeah, they are. Just in time! You curl it into it, and you watch as it erupts into flame. That's amazing.

So we just need like 30 turns to bounce the flaming spheres around. Got it. So Sarnax, Victoria. Give me hell. Vicky. Vicky. Vicky. Only Stradonia can call her Vicky. Yeah. I'm just going to, the one that's popped up directly in front of me, I'm going to kind of startle, cast my firebolt again. So 16 to hit. That hits. Damage. Damage.

Right, you, um, it singed the needle light in front of you, but it seems to be able to hold on. Actually, I'm going to drink a potion. Okay. You see as the ground on either side of the door begins to till itself as it turns over and over and over again.

almost humanoid sized vine entities pull themselves up out of the ground. I need you to put this on either side of the vineyard doorway area. Monstrous one. They are going to rotate. They're all going to rotate around, staying within Kana's grasp. Which ones are these? The ones that are in front of Kana. All these guys. Oh, wait, they have to... How many are in there? Oh,

Four of them. 14, 16, 18, 16. So all but one pass. Okay. So the one that failed takes 10 damage and the other takes five. Okay, you can take the one that failed away. Which one is that? Just pick whichever one you want.

Okay.

And these two moving forward, or these three moving forward? They can actually, I'll say they can reach. They're going to move forward like 15 feet, just around the side. They're just going to skirt around. There you go. And so one, two, three, four on Farnak. And the other two are still going to attempt to attack. So, yeah.

What about 27? So one of them around us. I assume the other ones are just seven points of damage to you, Mike. One miss for you, Maya.

and one hit for you. Okay. Ooh! Nine points of damage. Okay, so that is reduced to four. And then I'll use my reaction to hit, I'm guessing, the same one that I hit last time that went to hit Sarnax. Does that make sense? So it should already be kind of damaged. Okay.

I don't need to use Blessing. That should be a 22. Yep. And that'll be... I can reroll one, since it's juicy. There we go. Uh...

Eight points of... Okay, that one, you slash into it and it falls to pieces. And then I rolled for the ones that are on Victoria, Clayton, and Shepard. One hits Victoria for seven damage. This is the opposite of plans versus offense. So that was Monster's one, it's now Shepard's turn. I move my Hunter's Mark to this creepy-looking dude right here as a bonus action, and I fire off one shot.

26 plus 3 is 29. That hits. For 8 plus 5, which is 13 points of damage. All right, you shoot into its chest. It rears back, but it continues to slowly make its way toward you. I take another shot at it. Ooh, 17? 17, yes, 17.

For another 12 points of damage. You let another bolt fly through into it, and it looks like it's having a rough time, but it is still holding strong. All right, and that's my turn. I don't move because I want to take an opportunity attack. Kana. Seeing that more of them are moving past me, I'm going to use a bonus action to...

I channel my fighting spirit so I have advantage on these attacks. Until the end of my turn, I'm going to attack the one behind me next to Sarnax. That should hit with a 22. That does hit. 10 points of slashing to this one. 25. If you see as it, you obliterate it with that. They're all at about half health. Okay. Okay.

So they have roughly five health left apiece. Number 20 behind me. I will use death on this one. An 11. Eight. Twelve. That's 11, okay. Nice. That'll do 13 points of slashing damage to number 20.

Yeah, they all have five health left. It's easier if I can tell you that stuff so you can help me manage it all. I will preserve my action surge for now, so that is my turn. Clayton. As a bonus action, I'm going to shove the flaming sphere into this guy here. Okay. So we need to make a dex save. 14. Um.

I hold a 3. A 3? Yes. So he takes 11 points of damage. Right. He's annihilated. And then as an action, I will look at...

the one on Victoria. I will take Matos and shoot Firebolt at it. And do some damages. It looks... It's not even wounded a little bit. Nine points of fire damage. You let forth the bolt of fire and it ignites. And withers. He has monsters too! So all of the...

All of the blights are going to move forward their total amount of speed, which is 20. Are they in melee range of anyone? Yes. Three in Kana. Yes, so three in Kana's range are going to attack. So one misses, one hits. Another one. So one hits, and it is doing...

Three points of damage. Okay, and that's the end of their turn? Yep. So let me just roll... They only have a melee attack. Okay, so they all... These guys... They all have four hit points. Yeah, so... Wait, it was here, right? Yeah. So they die, and they die. That's... It's turn X's turn. I am going to...

Look at me as I grab this. I'm just fed up with this at this point. Yeah, fucking give him the business, man. How good are you at dodging, Shepard? You would know from our time together that I have a close relationship with Flyer. I would say I can get all of these, right? Yes, I would say you could.

I would say, but yeah, I would say I will say I will look at Shepard and I can see, I see the fire in you Shepard, now be bathed in fire, along with all of you and I will cast Fireball. Deck saving throw 16. I think all the right tokens instantly die. There's no way that you can roll less

Natural 19 plus age is 27 for dex check. So when I'm resistant to fire, I'll still take half and half. There's no way you can roll eight damage. Or six damage. 18. So every single one of them. I take a quarter of it. 33.5. 15 and seven. Yeah, every single one of the blights in the area. You see it once again. Stardust raises his attack.

Well, that... I...

What happened to the two fine blades? I've got a question about the fireball. Yes. One of the guys that I targeted took massive amounts of damage. I'm imagining he died, but it was 30 points of damage to the other guy. He died as well. If you failed or if you passed? That's a great question.

So, because we already swept them off the board and I wanted to make sure that that mattered. Because those guys are busy. What's the DC, Mike? 16.

I rolled 33 points of fire damage. I rolled a 16. So me to beat. He has a negative one dex. Fuck! These are the guys with the 20 speed, so they're not dexterous at all. They're completely gone. They have 26 hit points. I love it.

annihilated them. Victoria, it is your turn. These guys are gone now. I'll spin around. Let me repay the favor, Professor. And I'll, again, with the black fire, I will shoot from my fingertips and I will fire bolt number 27. Get it, girl. Let's go, Victoria. 19. That's 25. That's a whole bunch more. And...

That is 11 damage. Okay, you extend your arm out and a swirling bolt of fire makes its way through the air as it collides with the body of this entity. It singes the needles along its form as it turns to ash at Clayton's feet. Is that your turn? That is my turn. All right, there's only one of these left.

And I believe it's one of the stupid ones. Yeah, I rolled a three. So it's going to attack. Kana, are you... Not a disadvantage. Okay. I'm not dodging. Well, that's fine. It's still going to miss as it attempts to swipe in on you. Shepard. I'm up. You're up. Okay, so... Three left in play. There are only three left. So I'm going to focus the one that's behind Kana first. Okay. As I'm taking aim and I'm smoldering from the fireball, I say, all right, Sarnix. Ha ha ha!

You did well, Shepard. Yeah. Give him hell, buddy. Embrace the fire, Shepard. So I'll take one shot. Thank you, 54 Vampire. Oh, my God. Thank you. We are truly blessed. Thank you. Thank you. So it's going to be 22 to hit. That hits, yeah. I did not move my Hunter's Mark, so that's just going to be nine points of damage to this one. Okay.

Nine points of damage? Yeah. Oh, yeah, it is four hit points. I will target the one that's in front of Kana. All right, you let loose one bolt, and you incinerate it as you let your next one fly. That was a 12 plus 23 points to hit. That's going to be nine to the one in front of Kana. Yes, you let the bolt fly through. This one was already looking weak.

as it was roughly at about, it was severely damaged and you let your bolt fly and it incinerates it. Bonus action, last one. Of course, yeah. Oh. Bless. Hashtag bless, you best be stressed. Yes! You best be stressed. Nine points, 11 points of damage. Um,

You watch a shepherd looking around, seeing the remnants of this vineyard alight in flame from the fire bowls, the fire bolts, the two flaming spears that are still swirling in the air around you. The corpses of what feel like hundreds of...

of plant-like entities. As you center yourself, you take out judgment and redemption. You let one blast fly and another, and as you spin around, you aim for the last one. As the bolt enters in on its chest, it lets out a loud screech as the damage overtakes it. And in just as quick of a moment...

Silence overcomes the vineyard. I notice that my hat is smoldering. I take the hat off. I throw my hat on the ground and stomp on it. I'm like, damn it, Sarnax. You got to be a little bit more careful next time. Glory. You did phenomenally, Shepard.

You too, buddy. That was nice. You got that Garrus, man. He knows what he's doing. Never better. Perfectly fine. You all use the power of fire phenomenally. Except for you, Kana. But thank you for being our shield. I will always stand back to back to you, Sarnax, even though water and fire do not quite meet. But when combined...

We will destroy all of our enemies. Let us proceed with caution. There may be more beneath us.

You look out over the land around you and the ground is still the embers of the remaining remnants of the fireball and the spheres of flame are still crackling as they're slowly succumbing to the mist and the moisture of the ground around you. The silence is almost eerie as you listen. You can hear the faint creaks of the wooden structure that is the vineyard up

ahead of you, but as you listen in, you don't seem to hear anything more than just the resting of the house, the natural movement and the faint wind that is whipped up around you. Karma Shepherd, be on guard. Please approach the door. These mortals now think that they have mastery over life and death in Barovia, a foolish presumption that will only seal their doom.

The girl may live, but far worse things creep in the darkness drawing ever nearer. What manner of blight lingers over the vineyard? Find out in the next part of Chapter 6, The Raven Child. In the meantime, if you wish to watch Legends of Aventress tell similar stories of Dungeons & Dragons every week, you can follow us on Twitch, join our community on Discord, and support us on Patreon. All links are in the show notes.

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