Curse of Strahdanya | Ep. 13 | The Raven Child: Part 2
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You are back at the Wizard of Wines and listening to Curse of Stradania, a Legends of Aventurist podcast. Last time, the Azran expedition began the journey to the Martikov's vineyard, and on the road they learned of a terrible consequence to their thoughtless actions. The raven they killed at Old Bonegrinder was in fact a were-raven, and a child at that.

However, all was not lost. They returned the body to the Martikovs and with the help of the powerful primal magic of Davion Martikov and his gem of life, they brought little Vasha back from the dead. With the impossible achieved, they began their investigation of the vineyard and were beset upon by blighted creatures that had long afflicted the land. In the end, they were all burned away. Now, all that is left is to discover the source of their corruption.

This episode is brought to you by our generous supporters on Patreon. You can become a patron yourself by following the link in the show notes. We are eternally grateful for your support. With that out of the way, let us proceed with the conclusion of Chapter 6, The Raven Child. Come a shepherd beyond God.

Please approach the door. Yeah, no worries. The rest of us will follow. All right. My flaming spear's gone. Kana, if you want to go first, I got your back. And I'm going to just keep my weapons drawn and move behind her as she moves forward. Be cautious. I will slink forward to the door and try to avoid the piles next to either side that the creatures came out of. And I will try the handle.

you reach your hand out to what itself is, it's old, but it's not rotting. It's not in decay, but it is well worn. And as you turn the handle, the,

familiar sound of rust that you come to expect does not echo throughout the area as you would have thought. You reach out and it turns easily. Metal on metal seems to be fairly lubricated and in normal amounts of use. You slowly pull the door open and let me get a match. Oh, match night!

- Oh my God. - Oh my God. - You know, Sarnax, for as many times you've done that, I've never really gotten used to it, my friend. It does not feel good when you give me the heel and touch, if you know what I'm saying.

you will eventually get used to it. Look, I'm descended from devils and even I don't get used to that, alright? There can be no growth without destruction and pain.

Are we all feeling all right to proceed? I am feeling well enough. We need to take time to rest, but I think that we are more than capable to go through this winery. Rest isn't going to do me much right now. I could do this all day. Let's just make sure there are no druids inside, please. At least not immediately. If we can find a safe place. All right, Connor, I got your back. I'll open the door and peek in.

You fully open the door and you look inside. You see strips of iron and wood lying neat piles on the floor of what appears to be a workshop, the walls of which are lined with tools. Two work tables stand against the east wall. If you turn your head and look through everything, it appears to be that this is where the barrels for the cast of wine are made. It's a small workshop that you're entering in through. And is...

You look around, you realize that, especially with the size of this door, this isn't the main entrance to the winery, but merely one of, from looking at the facade as you approach, one of the many entrances. I'll hold my hand up for all of them to wait, and I'm going to walk over to this door and listen to it. You walk to the door, and you press your ear up against it. I need you to roll a perception check. Okay.

15. You listen in and you hear the faint sound of creaking, the movement of wood. I will listen for a second more to see if it's moving quickly or if it's just pacing.

It doesn't seem to be moving in any discernible way. There's no pattern to it. Okay. It's a creek here and a creek there, and you almost center yourself hoping to count the moments between the cadence, but there is no cadence. It's haphazard, and it's in no rhyme or reason. I'll try the handle. Okay.

You turn the handle as you push it, push the door open. You look inside.

Rolls of new barrels fill this room. A narrow stone staircase spirals upward in the southwest corner. I think I do. I see anyone. You look around and you see nothing, but you sniff the air around you. It's almost a musty scent. This room does not seem to be touched as often as others. You listen again.

The creaking sound is there. As you look around, the movement of the barrels, they're circular, rotund barrels that seem to be continually settling in on each other, pushing wood against wood. I will...

Trying not to speak audibly from my pack, I'm going to pull out my war fan and I'm going to flip it to the white circle side and flash it at Shepard and beckon them in, holding my lips like this, and I will enter the room. Keeping my weapon strong, I'll follow. You make your way into the storage room. It's a tight fit, but you're able to squeeze yourselves in between these barrels.

Which way should we go? Well... I'm going to listen to the next one. Roll a perception check. You can continue. 13. That's it. Given what we know, they said that there were going to be lots of casks in the basement.

I know that it might be tempting to try to clear this whole house, but what if we can just start getting these things out of here? I mean, we've already carved our way in. We should do as we said and purge this wicked place of all of the wickedness that is within. If these evil druids that have sought to corrupt this winery, if there's a single one remaining, we should kill all of them and return this vineyard, the winery, to these were-ravens. All right, then we'll come back.

And we'll make sure we do a sweep of the whole place, all right? We're going to have to... I will say that you would remember that he had told you that there were full casks, three full casks that were in the wagon ready to be transported. Okay. There were also three casks in the basement as well as a plethora of wine bottles and other smaller...

arrays of lines. These might not be the casks we are looking for. Perhaps we should learn from our experiences in Voktor House and start from the top and head down. So the spiral staircase literally goes down. I thought it goes up. That's what I'm asking, if we're in a basement or not. Because I was under the impression... No, you're in the ground. But that spiral staircase goes up. It looks like it goes up. Okay. Yes, it spirals upward. I propose...

We investigate this entire floor, and then we can make a decision whether we go up or down. Sensible. Is that amenable? Very well. Either way, they probably know we're here, so let's make haste. All right. Be our new guard. I rolled a 13 for perception on the door. You listen at the door and you hear nothing. We're going through this door? Yes. Keep moving. I try the handle. It's not locked. I will open it. You peek in. You open the door and you peek in. Okay.

The rich smell of fermenting wine fills this large two-story chamber, which is dominated by four enormous wooden casts.

Each one eight feet wide and 12 feet tall. A wooden staircase in the center of the room climbs to a 10 foot high wooden balcony that clings to the south wall, which has four windows set into it at balcony level. Stacked against the wall underneath the balcony are old empty barrels with the Wizard of Wines burned into their sides. The balcony climbs another five feet as it continues along the west and east walls, ending at doors leading to the winery's upper level.

Underneath these side balconies are several doors, some of which hang open. Beneath the sloping roof stretch thick rafters, upon which scores of ravens have quietly gathered. They watch you with great interest. I suggest we split up and investigate this entire floor. I mean, just the usual. They know we're here already. There's no reason to continue to be stealthy. I agree. All right. Let's tear this place apart.

And I guess we'll split up. Does anyone have a preference of where they'd like to go? So you're moving into the room? Yeah, we're moving. Yes. The wine elemental rises now. You make your way into this large room. The smell of the wine almost overwhelming your senses as you hear a creaking from overhead.

The balcony creaks, drawing your eye to a wild-looking figure hunched over the westernmost cask, pouring a flask of thick syrup into it. She wears a gown made of animal skins and a headdress with goat horns. Her hair is long and unkempt. You hear skittering movement from all over the balcony.

She looks up, noticing you for the first time. A smile darts across her face as she quickly punches down. The sound is skittering, intensifying. You look over. You have no idea where she's gone. Come out! If you would like to live, show yourself! You yell this up into this large room and

Your voice echoes back at you as it bounces off the walls and the ceiling. It's skittering, very faint. But it seems to disappear and fade. I want to heave myself over the railing here and start making my way upstairs.

to the balcony. Where was she? She was pouring it into one of these open barrels. She was up here? Yes, she was up there. Or was she on this side? Um...

She was on this side closest to me. Right over here. Oh, into the empty one. Okay. She's pouring into the empty one. She had a flask and she was pouring something into the vats. There is wine in these vats.

It just hasn't finished fermenting. These are the fermentation vats that are mixed after the grapes are smashed. They're mixed together as it ferments. And once this process is done, it's put into casks and sealed up as wine to be shipped out to the villages.

So this is unfinished wine, and she's pouring something into the vat. Let's give it a chase. Let's go. We'll give it a chase. Let's go. So we'll follow after where we think she may have gone, because we don't, she just vanished, right? You begin to make your way up the stairs as you hear skittering behind you, below you. What is this? All around you.

Keep moving, just keep an eye out. All right. I want to go to this barrel. Is that a tap on the bottom floor? I just want to turn it open and let some of the liquid come out and then stop it and just bend down and kind of like smell whatever came out and see if I can smell anything weird like not wine. Roll a perception check. 21. Nice. You relieve the tap, the pressure a little bit and you let a few drops of the wine hit the floor here.

As you bend down and you begin to breathe it in, the pungency is almost overwhelming. This is in the middle or towards the very end of its fermentation process. And it does not smell like normal wine, but you don't notice anything about it that seems to be off more than you would for unfinished wine. Strange. I'll catch up with the rest of the group.

I'm sprinting towards where I think she was. See if I can find her. Since I took the athlete fee, climbing doesn't cost me any additional movement, so I have to climb over these barrels totally well, ninja warrior style. Climbing speed style. So we are going up here and we are giving chase to where we think. You make your way to the balcony, and as you look around, you...

From this vantage point can see the entirety of this open room. And though you can hear the skittering this way and that, you see nothing. You can find nothing, no shifting of shadows, no changing of light, no disturbance of dust.

What do you want to do? Just keep going. It's all right. Keep your wits about you. We're ready for anything. I'm casting my lantern everywhere to see if there's anything invisible. There are stairs there. We should go up. Yes. Let's split up. I'm going to start taking the bedrooms. Yeah.

And as a bonus action, I'm going to channel my blossoms on the spring wind and cast Expeditious Retreat on myself so that I can move, I guess, 90 feet per six seconds. Shepard, you open the door, or you walk towards this room. The door itself hangs open.

In this chamber, or desk, a chair, a tall wooden cabinet, and a strange contraption that takes up most of the northern end of the room. Looking around, you can see that at some point, there had been entities in this room. The dust, what little bit of it is that there is, has been disturbed, and you...

It's easy to see the bits of vine and needle that have fallen off of what appear to be some of the creatures that had encountered you outside. So this contraption is just, I'm not able to distinguish what it is. It's just a thing. You can look through it if you want. Yeah, I mean, I'll examine it a little closer, but I'm very much in a hurry. Okay.

My investigation is a 16 total. Looking about the room, you begin to notice the cabinet that's up against the side of the wall is haphazardly thrown open. And as you look into it, you see a rope of twine hanging on a nail at the very back. The end of it suspended, an iron key.

Looking around again, you make your way towards the contraption standing near the north wall. You look through it and you begin to see that this appears to be a printing press. It looks like the press that is used to make the labels for all the wine bottles. I'm going to take the key and basically retreat out of the room, poke my head out and be like, nothing here but found a key. You know me.

There's always a key. But no cats. No cats. I'm basically just going in the room, seeing if there's enemies, found the key, and I'm leaving because I'm trying to clear this place as quick as possible. So that's my action. Okay.

All right. And then who's in the next one, Clayton? Oh, the natural one plus each. So it's a nine investigation. As you make your way into this room, two pairs of bunk beds occupy this room. Against the west wall rest four identical foot lockers. I will open all of them as quickly as possible.

Except for a Blinsky tag. Carved into the wooden nightmare is the name...

Bocephalus. Oh, shit. In smaller lettering, the slogan is no fun, is no blimsy. Interesting. Other than that, it seems to be clothing and personal belongings with no real intrinsic value. Wait, so Bocephalus is the name of the horse? But it feeds. Okay. And it's a nightmare? Yep. Yep.

Okay, and that's all I find in the footlockers? That's all you find. Nothing in here. It looks to be a children's room for young children. 16 for my investigation in the next room. Yo, you're in the next room? Correct. All right. And they slip on in.

Looking through, you find something similar. It seems to be another room for small-ish children, foot lockers containing things of very low intrinsic value. Nothing in here.

I'm going to be quiet in the next room. This room contains a rectangular table surrounded by eight chairs, an L-shaped cupboard, and a floor-to-ceiling closet pantry. Next to the pantry is a small iron stove. I'd like to just kind of glance over the table, see if I see anything unusual. I'd like to...

open the grate of the stove and see if there's anything inside of it, and then I'd like to also go into the pantry. Roll an investigation check. 17. Nice. Looking through the...

All right.

I mean, Kana's running downstairs. Full 90 feet for six seconds. So should I move this map so we can see? This turret contains a stone spiral staircase. Windows in the outer wall allow light to enter.

As you stand into this stone spiral staircase, you see that it appears to go both up and down. Oh, shit. I do. With my enhanced speed, I'm trying to sense what direction she might have gone, so I'm looking at the ground for any disturbed footsteps. No, it's a suction check. Okay.

Uh, fuck, 11. Looking around, it's, uh, the stone doesn't seem to retain any, uh, it doesn't seem to retain any clues as to which direction, if any, this creature would have taken. Uh, I'm gonna head down. Uh, it seems to open up into the main landing, but it also seems to continue further down.

So main landing is where we were on the second floor. You've gone down to the main landing. It continues to descend. I'm hastily looking around to see if she's trying to make an escape through the main landing. I'll roll reception check. Natural one. So there'll be a six. Looking around, you've seen no... So far, in the path that you're taking, you've seen no indication that she's gone this way. Um...

I'll keep going in the basement.

What are you all doing? We'll assemble out here, right? So we all stepped out, based on our respective rooms. Professor, there's a spiral staircase down that way to the east. Does it look like it goes up or down? Yeah, we'll just peer in and see which way the staircase is leading. The spiral staircase in front of you, it appears to be leading down. I believe that this is the staircase we saw on the first floor, so we know where it leads. Does it keep going down?

We only saw it going up, I believe. Well, then there's only one way. We're after Kana. Let's go follow. Kana, where are you? I'm in the basement. So we're going to book it after Kana. Okay. You make your way. You just bend all the way down the spiral staircase. And as you make your way into the lowest level,

I look around for any sign of a woman.

You look around and you hear and see nothing but roll a perception check. So we don't hear the skittering anymore? It's all silence all around you. 21. Even when we pass through the first level floor? 21. You look around and the dust is much thicker down here. And you see no...

that anyone or anything has moved from here recently. This makes no sense. I mean, where did it go? Magic, it's gotta be. I think at this point, let's just continue searching and making sure there's no other presence. She'll make herself known eventually. As far as we know, those large barrels that were on the first floor, those are tanks. We can't do anything with those but destroy them.

Perhaps we should take the staircase back up. Perhaps she fled higher and higher to the top of this building. Yes, yes, yes. I mean, this seems... There's nothing down here. No.

There are the casks down here, right? With the wine or the full bottles of wine. You see that there are wine racks on either side. One's completely empty. One has full wine bottles along it. And there are three casks of full wine. These are the casks that we spoke of. This seems fine for now. I can use some magic later to see if... You are so far only in one corner of it. I want to actually get you to that. Oh. Yeah, so I think we'll just quickly kind of run through the whole thing and just take a look around. Yeah.

I would have sped to the... Yeah, we'll all look around. We'll just kind of split up and tear through it. So looking through this, you make your way around the five-foot-thick wall to the other side where you see the three wine barrels. You also see a winding ramp that leads up on the complete opposite side. It looks like the ramp is used for rolling the full wine barrels upstairs to the ground floor. Um...

potentially for loading. Is there any way to know if these casks have been tampered? We can investigate that later. I just need to make sure there's no more danger left. Do you want me to go upstairs? Let's all go upstairs together. When we get to the first floor again, I'm going to use style material to make my voice boom and shout, Come out, you coward! Roll an intimidation check.

Charisma is not my specialty, except for when I really fuck my mom. I think it's a plus zero, but let me check. It is, so an 18 total. You make your way back to the ground floor, and you are standing in this room of bats, and you look up to the ceiling, to the floor above you, and you yell out. Your voice echoes back at you, and then you hear...

It seems to echo from all sides of the room. Where are you? A discernible way to tell where the voice itself came from. This is enough. I'm going to clutch my bees. Oh, shit. Let's go. You know where those bees are going. No. Wait, wait, wait. A torch sequence. Whoa. A torch sequence.

Secret! Secret! Come on! You guys have filthy minds. I got an email for this. I've given you no reason today. I've given little, and yet I ask again for your guidance. Show me that which I cannot see on my own. And they work to how, what's the radius? The last minute, I think.

Yeah, for one minute, Ilmeja's guiding hand points you in the direction of all secrets within 30 feet of you. You feel that beneath you is the only... Through the floor and down into the cellar is the only place in which you can find any secrets. I've got to go back down. All right. Leave the way. We got your back. Go back upstairs? No, come with us. Let's go. Okay.

So we'll make our way back down into the cellar and once I'm down there. You make your way back down the stairs and you feel your prayer beads, the guidance of Illmater as it pulls you towards the five foot stone wall in the very center. And as you approach it, you begin to see that not all things are what they seem. You feel along the wall

And there is a door here. You take some effort to push open the secret door. You are greeted by a blast of cold air. A dark tunnel stretches for 15 feet, ending in an archway beyond which lies a shallow cave.

Well done, Victoria. Nice job. Shine your light, Sarnax. I'm gonna bullseye it and just shine it. Lead the way, buddy. Okay, let's go. You shine your light all around. You see that there is a small, what almost appears to be altar on the floor in the front. Fetishes, sticks and stones.

bits and pieces of animal skeletons littered around the area. But the thing that catches your attention is what appears to be a thick coating of brown mold covering the walls, the floor, and the ceiling.

What does Sarnax know about brown mold? Why don't you roll for it? He knows that it's everything that he ever has. Roll a, what would nature check? Please, please, please, please. Not bad. 16. Yeah. I would say you know whatever you know about brown mold. And so I will allow you to tell whatever you'd like to tell. From a meta perspective?

Stop me if I am saying anything that I think does not sound out of sorts. It finally loaded, so I'm just having a hard time getting this to load. Brown mold feeds on warmth, drawing heat from anything around it. A patch of brown mold typically covers a 10-foot square, and the temperature within 30 feet of it is always frigid.

When a creature, and I would say you know this, moves within five feet of the mold for the first time in a turn or starts its turn there, you have to make a DC or take a significant amount of cold damage on a failed save or half as much on a successful one. It is immune to fire and any source of fire brought within five feet of it, of a patch of it, causes it to instantly expand outward in the direction of the fire, covering a 10-foot square area.

A patch of brown mold exposed to an effect that deals cold damage is instantly destroyed. I will immediately... I'm sorry. A patch of mold that's exposed to cold damage is destroyed. Got it. I will immediately, and this is the first time you've ever seen me do this. I would say roll an intelligence check. So it's immune to fire damage. Yes. And it makes explosive growth. This is not high. Oh, well. Eight.

Not that low. Okay, cool. So do I not... No, you know what you know. I was just checking to see if I was going to give you any additional information. Okay. As soon as I cast my lantern on the mold, I am going to... My eyes will get wide, and the first time you've ever seen me do this, I'm going to wave my lantern, and the flame is going to seemingly just go out. What the hell, Sarnax? Hold, Doomgum. No further. Are you all right? What's going on? What is this?

No one use any flame. Victoria? Sure. Yes. Victoria, come forward. What? You have a chilling touch, do you not? I'm going to start backing up very slowly, keeping on it. You want me to use it on the mold? Do you see all of this mold? Starnax, it's cold down here already. It will get... Shepard, I want you to make an intelligence check for me, please. Okay.

I'm the dumbest tiefling that ever lived. Aw, but you're cute. You said just straight up insane? Seven. Okay, thank you. I will bet...

This... It is cold, yes, but if we decide to warm it up, we will all die in this basement. All right, all right, calm down. So you can't burn it? No. There are many things...

Almost everything in life that is evil and wicked I wish to burn, but if there is one thing on this planet, this plane or otherwise, that I do not wish to burn or get anywhere near my flame, it is this brown mold. What do you know of it? If we expose it to heat, to warmth, or even worse, to direct flame...

It will consume all of us and we will all die a terrible pain in the neck. All right. If I know anything about Starman, he is being deadly serious right now. Yes. So let's all just... I'm backing up like terrified. So you were in the lead though. You're like backing up into us. Yes. All right. All right. All right. All right. I want you to roll an intelligence check for me, please. Come on.

Come on. Less than a 10. Natural 1. Wait, wait, wait, wait. I don't know if I want to use a portent. I don't know if you want to use a portent. I don't think you do. They were pretty low. I'm not going to use a portent.

Okay. Six. Oh, you don't know nothing. Mr. Sarnax, should I, should I chill it? See this patch here, the closest... I want you to, there's no close patch. The entirety of the walls and the floor and the ceiling are covered in this mold. Are we standing on it? No, you're still in the hallway leaning towards it. I would like you to roll an intelligence check.

This is even worse. Destroy enemy subterms. Can we just not leave this place? Intelligence? Yep. Hold on. You don't know shit. Can I make an attempt and... Not yet. Not yet? Okay. Okay.

There have been things that they have done that have triggered them rolling back. So if you...

Do what you need to do, then, Fjord. Why not just turn around and leave this place? Why would there be a door to this brown mold? This is what the druids were doing. They were fostering this evil, evil mold. You said it yourself. We were going to cleanse this place of all evil so that they could get back in here. Why don't we wait and make sure that they'll know there's no further danger until we deal with this? This is quite a lot of mold. It's coating everything.

Very well. We will return to this place. We will deal with this. I do not want a druid to stab us in the back while we deal with this problem. I have no way to produce gold today. Do I see any path leading up to the fetishes? Like, do I see any way that the druid... Roll a perception check. Thirteen. Thirteen.

there's any way for them to get to the fetishes? Or does it look like it's fairly abandoned? There looks like there's a path up to it, but looking at it, the haphazard altar is haphazard because now that you're looking at it, it almost looks like it's been thrown in there. Not as if it's someone who's been sitting down in there and worshipping at it, but have been throwing things into it. Interesting. I will have you roll an intelligence check for me.

different decks. I just feel like they came close to it. That's why. Alright, a little bit better. Is it 10 or higher? Yes, it's a 16. Looking around this entire room, you begin to look at the walls around you. They were built in to

to this building. And you see that there is enough light that spills in that encapsulates the hallway. It's simply the archway and the cavern behind that is near complete darkness now that Sarnax has extinguished its light. And you breathe in, as you breathe out, you can see your breath and the cold around you, and it clicks. This is a winery. This is a cellar.

cold is required to keep the wine from expiring. And it wasn't the cultists that brought this mold here, but it's

as an attempt to refrigerate the salad. Oh. Oh, so the mold was created on purpose. It's not evil mold. It's literally just like a wine chiller. But what is just they hide the door for the purposes of keeping the mold safe? What is the purpose of fetishes? Well, that we don't know. It looks like the druids are

in some way revering this mold. They definitely said they threw them in, though. Like, threw them in. Do you relay this information? I do. This appears not to be, although the mold itself may be dangerous from what Sarnax can infer, I think this is simply here to refrigerate the wine. We may not benefit from entering here. I don't think she's going to be hiding here. Would it be the mold that they are attempting to remove them to this wine? Yeah.

We don't know enough now. I think we've dawdled enough. The vile woman is probably at the top floor. What another lesson for us to learn? Always start at the top floor. Would it have been more than ten minutes? No.

Has it been more than ten minutes since I cast the extra trajectory? Yes, it is. Let us go together and face this woman where she is. Lead the way. These various stairs take you to the top, so I suggest we go this way versus the ramp. All right. Professor, forgive me in my...

zest to look around this house and find that woman, I fear I've missed some doors above through the kitchen. So where else to go? We should continue looking. All right. So we're going to run back here and just kind of basically thoroughly investigate. So you're going to go the opposite way up the stairs on the side to the opposite side. And I think you said we wanted to go into this room first. Yeah.

This room contains a four-poster bed. It's headboard carved in the likeness of a giant raven. A soft black rug covers the floor between the bed and the door. In the corners of the south wall stand two slender wardrobes with the tapestry of a church hanging on the wall between them. Beneath the tapestry sits a handsomely carved rocking cradle. To the north under a window is a plain desk and chair. Other furnishings include a wooden chest and a freestanding mirror in a wooden frame.

Let's tear it apart. Quickly. And we give it all to her. Roll a group investigation check for me, please. It's pushing on my blades. Six. Nineteen. Twelve. Ten total. Eleven. Okay.

Victoria. You begin to look around the room, rifling through the desk, and it seems to hold manifests recording wine shipments for the past century. As you look through it, you see abbreviations. B.V., The Blood of the Vine Tavern in the village of Barovia. B.W., The Blue Water Inn in the town of Valaki. K., Kretsk,

In all caps, VISTAMI. And as you continue to rifle through them, going further and further back, you're getting hundreds upon hundreds of years in the past, where you come across a large red S, STRADAVIA.

What was the first one? B something something? Blood of the Vine Tavern in the village of Barovia. That's where we were. You make your way around the room from here and you see the wooden chest. It appears to be locked. A key! Alright, everybody just step back and I'll use the key.

or attempt to use the key on the chest if it looks like it fits. You attempt to use the key, but it seems to be a bit too large for this. Yeah, this isn't it. Not the right key. You make your way to the bed, checking beneath the mattress underneath, and as you anchor yourself on the side of the bedpost and lean down, you stumble as a bit of it turns. There seems to be a compartment here.

I think that's found something. What is it? You unscrew a bit of it. And you look inside and find this small silver key. There you go. I'll try to put it into the chest. Oh, that's to do it. You place it into the chest and it clicks. It fits. Rifling around inside, you find 50 gold pieces.

270 electrum pieces, each with a stamped profile visage of Shreddanya Vanzarovich, and 350 silver pieces. There's quite a large sum of money in here. This belongs to the were-readers. Can you please roll a perception check for me, please? 16. Well, they seem 50.

As you rifle around with the gold pieces, you let them fall towards the bottom. You hear a hollow thud. The bottom is not the bottom. And as you move your hand around, you are able to slide it over. It appears to be a hidden compartment. It holds a golden locket worth 25 gold pieces. Containing a painted portrait of a beautiful woman.

As well as a pouch containing five 50 gold piece gemstones. Do I recognize the woman? There is a familiarity to her face, but you can't quite put your finger on exactly what it is. Um, roll perception check. Uh oh. Is it perception? Uh, 18. Uh oh.

Staring down at this image, you're trying to think through all the people that you've seen in Grovia. And it finally dawns on you. The face of the mother. She cried of the lifeless body of her daughter. They're not the same. There's a similarity to them, but a difference. And then you think of the wizened face of Davian. It's a mix of both.

Hmm.

We should return all of this to where it was. Well, I'll take this one. At the very least. And now that you've seen him, I can show you Davian. That's what he looks like. Oh, wow. He's an old, he's even older than I thought. Yeah, he's a grandpa. He's a grandpa. While we're at it, let's relock up this chest and take the key with us and make sure that the key doesn't fall into the wrong hands. I think we should put it back. It was deliberately pieced in. I don't want anybody here who's not supposed to be here to find that key. How big's the chest?

It's fairly large. It's roughly the size of a footlocker, a little bit larger. Could it fit in the case? Yes, it could fit in the case. Okay. You're going to steal this old man's possession? No, we'll keep it. I'm safe. No, I think we should take this and make sure that at least this gets back to them. That key was a little too easy to find. I don't know if these people have any need for money, but we're not letting the money fall in the wrong hands. Agreed. I believe that if there's one thing we can do, this is probably all of their savings. Agreed.

Yes.

As long as it's a bag of gems. What did you say? Yeah, it's a bag containing five gemstones worth roughly 50 gold pieces each. You should return everything as it was. Anything strange about them? Are they just regular? No, they just seem to be coveted, really beautiful gemstones. And then I wanted to also just look closely at the manifests that were...

like in relation to Stradania. Let's see. Looking through them, you seem to notice that this is a timeline of the beginning of the winery. And you see that at the very beginning, wine was delivered to Stradania. She was one of the patrons.

What was the earliest delivery to her? She was one of the first. Okay. I mean, like, how long ago was that? Like, hundreds of years? Hundreds of years. Okay.

Very interesting, Professor. It seems as if we actually have found an ally we can trust. Yes, I think you're right. I can't wait to ask them about the Vistani. I've been hearing all caps. We need to find that creepy voice. We do. We cannot delay anymore. Yes, I'll put the footlocker in my case. One more door to check. I also want to look, just a little, before we go into the cradle...

and just see if anything is in there. Looking into it, there doesn't appear to be anything in it. That's small bed linens for an infant. It doesn't look like it's been used for a long time. Make sure there's something creepy in it. I can put something creepy on it. Ask and you shall receive.

So let us continue. We're going to go here and just look around, try to find her. So you're going out into that... Into this little hallway, yeah. You walk to the hallway and you make your way towards the nearest door to you, the only door in this hallway. Okay.

And one second. I have to make sure I'm in the right place. So you make your way into this doorway. It opens up. This room has a wooden floor with a 10-foot square hole cut into the middle of it. Looming over the hole...

is a wooden wench. Perched atop it is a woman with wild hair, rotted teeth, and skin painted red with blood. She waves a gnarled staff made from a black branch and babbles at you.

Don't move. What did she have for me? A GC-16. Oh my goodness. If I had to guess. I'm scared. She... It is. She fits. Uh-oh. Uh-oh.

So is there anything that we would know about us breaking the person? Like you can't, this is a bad question. So if we don't know, we don't know, but I have my weapons drawn. Every six seconds, she gets a chance to break. Yes. So once around basically. Yes. Okay. All right. Tie her up.

Was she on our level or is she above us? She's on your level. If she were below you, she would be outside on top of the wagon. Listening to Sarmax, I'm going to move forward, spring forward and attempt to grapple slash, try to put her hands behind her back and try to... So she's paralyzed, she can't move at all. I want to help him. She is the...

paralyzed, but Ken repeated every six seconds. So I'm going to attempt to, once he says to tie her up, attempt to do so. I'll do the same.

Who are you, woman? If her limbs will move, I'm putting her arms behind her back and I'm tying up her hands. I'm tying up her feet. Let me try to keep her down. Check in to see if she makes her way out before all this is done. You jump forward and you pull rope from your pack and you begin to tie up this woman. Your

there's blood coating different parts of her body, matted bits of muck and dirt and grime, viscous liquids that you're unsure of what they are or where they came from. Transfer from her body to yours as you're wrapping her up. She smells fetid. There's this

stench that's billowing from her unwashed body. Her mouth open as she was about to say something. The foul stench of rotting teeth is nearly billowing out of her mouth and it's hard for you to keep yourself together as you tie her up, but you are able to tie her up. She holds firmly in one of her hands a dark black staff.

a twisting, rotting, um,

Almost festering looking staff, unlike anything that you've seen before. Once we have her tied up, does she wear a shirt or something? She's wearing a gown of animal skins, furs draped over her. You're gross. Furs draped over her. She has a skull on her head as a headdress. I want to grab her by the scruff of the front of whatever she's wearing and kind of pick her up.

You know, she's not like up, but like, you know, she's on the ground and I've got her close to me and I said, Connor, take the staff from her. Absolutely. And I'll try to wrench it from her. She is paralyzed with it in her hand, so you are unable to pull it from her hand. I will just keep holding it so when she's unparalyzed, I'll break it. Her eyes dart back and forth between both of you. How long does this last? Because I've got an idea. Let me see very quickly. Uh...

One minute. We do not have long. But she cannot speak. I'm going to say get. That's ten opportunities. I'm going to hold onto her really close, by the front of her shirt or whatever, and say, I suggest you start talking. And I'm going to cast zone of truth as I'm holding her.

I'll cast a zone of truth around me. It's a DC. The DC is a 14 charisma. I'm hoping that she's not very charismatic with the disgustingness that she is. Zone of truth. Yeah. Natural 20. Well, okay. So I know that she, uh, yeah, Eugene is out of truth. You do know that.

Its duration is 10 minutes. So, uh, it didn't work as well as I hoped it would. And what was your, your, or what was the save? 16. But what? Wisdom. Wisdom. Okay.

Do I see on the person the flask that she was holding before? You see that it's dangling from her side. Is it too late to use it? Huh? Too late to use a portent on the saving throw. On what saving throw? On the saving throw against Zone of Truth. Okay.

Uh, no. I don't see why. I will make it a rule. She rolled a seven. Okay. She rolled a seven. She can't lie. I'm going to grab the flask off her and open it. Smell of it. You easily grab the flask from her side. Um, as you smell it, the pungent smell of it, there's an acrid smell to it. Um, a, uh,

a very tart, potent, sick sweetness to it, unlike anything that you've smelled before. And it is as you do this, as you pull this away, that she moves quickly. I need you to make a strength contest, Kana.

Alright, guys, let me down. Is it managed to shepherd Nazar by the scruff? No. Can I tell what's in there? Can I tell what's in the box? Like, can I identify it? Fuck me. You, um...

So five. You feel as she, you have her tied up. You didn't say you moved her. So you have her tied up where she was standing over the edge of this, of this loading area as she lurches backwards.

her eyes darting from all of you as she yells out. She looks between all of you, holding the staff as tightly as she can. Nature bows to my every whim, for I have the vampire staff. Ha!

And she lurches herself backwards off and begins to roll. Can I make an opportunity attack against her? Sure. If she's within 10 feet of me, I can make an opportunity attack as a sentinel. Make it a grapple. Fuck me. What are these dice rolls for shit? Nine. That probably misses. Nine. Nine. It misses. If I can see her, I'll cast whole person again.

I will say that is it a reaction or is it an action? If it's an action. I'm going to say... Did she just fall out of my hands? So she did a strength to see if she could pull away from Kana because Kana was holding her the most firmly. You were tying her up. And you had her by her clothes, but Kana had her by her person and the stack.

That will be a 21.

21 as well? Initiative. It's just the two of them. Initiative. Okay, so you go first. You see as she hits down onto the cart down below, as she makes to roll her way, her arms and legs are bound...

but she is attempting to roll herself off of the cart and down into the underbrush. Hello, dogs. Wolves begin to howl in the night, but you get to go first. Go. I will leap back to her. I have a 20-footer. I think it's just the two of them. Oh, I thought it was just the two of them. Oh, my bad. Hold person. Stop now!

What's the DC? 16. Once again, her body clenches up as she is attempting to roll. She is now in the very back of the wagon. So she's fallen down. She's fallen down. She goes, think. No! I'll leap after her. Everyone! I'll jump down too. Yeah, I'll do the same.

It's 20 feet. I'll jump. I'll take my chances. Whatever fall damage you take for jumping down 20 feet. Is there a saving throw to jump? Or an acrobatics check. Then do an acrobatics check. Yeah, we have adventurous pugs. We've got two of them. They don't like guesses. I've got a second.

There we go. 18. 11. I got a 16. 17. What did you get? Yeah, I would say you're all able to jump down carefully enough as you see she is now on her back.

staring up at you, her eyes darting back and forth. And she is trapped. One minute. I want to run over to her, flip her on her stomach, and then sit on top of her. I'm going to straddle her and pull her hands behind her back. They're already tied behind her. They're what? She's already tied up. She's back. So I'll flip her on her stomach and just sit on top of her and just have both my hand on the back of her neck and on her shoulder. Ooh.

Close the door so she can't escape. Are we outside? You're outside. Is it like a garage type thing? It's like a covered... So the winery is here and then there's essentially...

with wooden posts on one side that hold up the area up top that has an open square in the middle and a winch. So essentially what they do is they pull the wagon in here, they roll the casks upstairs to the winch, lower them down in, and when they're bringing the empty casks back, they unload them into the main room.

so that they can fill them with wine and roll them down the stairwell and store them in the cellar. Cool. I'll just, I guess once I've landed from jumping, I'll take a few steps back towards, you know, one of the open spaces in this place and just kind of like keep my facing her and my back to the outside. Okay.

Okay. You're sitting on her? I'm sitting on her. If she makes any sort of move to escape, I'm going to try and knock her out. I'm going to put my foot onto her neck. Okay. And I'll say, I suggest you do not try to move. Who are you and what are you doing with these good people's wine? I'm letting them handle this. I'm just going to stand with my back to all of this and just keep an eye out to see if there are any other druids or plant business coming upon us.

Roll a perception check. You wait and you watch. She is motionless beneath you.

But as the minute is about to fade, she begins to wiggle and move beneath you. She's trying as hard as she possibly can to move out from under you, but at this point, you have your foot on her neck. Are you touching her at all? No, no, it's just Connor. I need to make a strength saving throw at advantage and she'll be at advantage. Rip the staff from her hands, Connor.

I can't while she's held, but I will try not to hold anymore. 21 for strength saving throw. You are able to hold firm with her beneath you, the armor that you wear around your body, weighing her down. And as she moves from side to side against you, she's unable to... You are unyielding, and she's unable to move herself out of the way. I'll try to take the staff from her hand, even though my strength is like... Strengths, please.

I got a nine. Well, I rolled two, so. Small miracles. You wrench the staff from her hands. She looks up, her eyes wild as she screams without a blood-curdling scream. She attempts to reach for it. She's tearing at you like a ferocious animal caught beneath Kana. And she's screaming and lashing at you. All right, that's enough. That's enough. We've got it now. Settle down.

Speak. What is your name? 17%. She looks up at you and she spits in your face. I swallow it and grimace at her. What is your name? She spits at you again. But this time you feel, um, you, you see it as it comes at you. It's not just spit, but blood. Holy shit. I don't make any move to wipe it off. I'm just literally face to face with her, trying to keep her down.

Look at you. You think you're so pretty. You think you're so strong. You will die here. All of you will die here.

Take the vampire staff. It won't stop them. The ritual has begun. What ritual, woman? Oh, wouldn't you like to know? Yes, I would very much. And you will tell me. He rises from the earth. He gets bigger and stronger. And he will come. And when he does, your blood will rain upon the land. I look to the professor's back to just say, Professor, I...

I don't know what to do with this. Can you check this thing out? Give it here. I'll toss in the vampire staff. I will cast identify over 11 minutes if I have that time. I guess you'll find out. Who are you calling? You have a vampire staff, but you are a druid of the forest. What is this madness? Kill me.

Make it quick. Let my blood seep into the ground and feed that which moves within. I don't like the sound of this at all, Sarnax. Neither do I. Make it hurt. Perhaps we should bring her to the were-ravens. Yes, bring me to the Martical family. Let me taste them.

What on earth are you? What are you? I don't want to bring that family any more trouble or danger. We got to deal with what this is here. But we don't want to just give in to whatever the hell she's saying we should do either. I don't know what to do here, Professor. Let him come. Who? Let him consume all. Who is he? Who is coming? Who's coming? Can't you feel him walking?

And as you, as she says this, you do feel a slight vibration beneath your feet. I start, I just start punching her in the face to try and knock her out as quickly as possible. You begin to punch into her, and as the first punch lands, "Yes! More!" And you punch again, teeth splinter off, blood's flying everywhere.

She starts moaning. She's enjoying every last bit of it. Stop it. You're giving her what she wants. Until finally you see as her eyes roll back, her tongue lolls to one side as she falls unconscious. She's no use to us. She will not speak. She's better off knocked out. She said something about the blood. We gotta be careful. I didn't spill any blood. Oh no, there's tons of blood. She's not dead.

That is not my definition of blood spilt. Do you know what magic is? Jesus, we spent enough time with the goddamn professor to know that this kind of shit has power. Let's be careful. I will not let this prisoner escape my grasp. She almost did just now. Professor, hurry up!

I'm giving the professor some time. I guess if 11 minutes managed to pass. It's been like a minute since then. Are you doing anything else while she's laying unconscious? I want to pat her down and search her body for anything. I'm just going to rifle through all the muck and the weird grime and all that dirty fucking shit. Roll an investigation check. Dirty 20.

Looking through her stuff, you find teeth, many, many teeth, feathers, appearing to be raven feathers, a few bones. A lot of them look like finger bones, foot bones, one femur, a bunch of pieces of animal skulls, and some decaying rat body.

Anything that looks familiar to the bones, the children's teeth and all of that that we've found previously, it would be hard to tell. I think that we should start bringing this woman to the were-ravens. Look, I'm not opposed, but she wants that. We need to be careful. She does. Look at these raven feathers. We don't know if that's their ilk.

That is a good point. Perhaps they were warding off the magic of these druids. It would be a death sentence for them to bring one. I would say from your conversation with them, you know that they're not fighters. They've been trying to keep them away from the winery. They haven't been fighting them. And they've been in raven form investigating where they believe things have been taken to, but they haven't gotten them back because they don't engage with these entities. Yeah.

Then perhaps a boast to her temple is what she needs. I say we bring her to the hill. Isn't that where she's from? Yes, but we may be able to bargain with them with her, depending on how powerful she is. If she has the staff of the vampire, they may want her back. I am hesitant. I try to give them what they want if they are corrupting the soil of this land.

and using it to raise how many of those plant creatures did we slay? What blight did we purge today?

Can we give them what they want? I want to tie her up some more, and then I also want to gag her while she's passed out and just fucking BDSM the shit out of her and get that shit behind her back, legs, everything. It's easy enough to gag her. She's missing the majority of her teeth at this point, and those that still remain are severely rotted. While this conversation is going on and the professors focus on the staff, I want to take a few steps out of this conversation

garage style thing out into the field where we kind of came in and, and put my hands down on the dirt and like, listen and use primeval awareness. Uh, I'm as an action, I'm going to spend one range or spell slot, one minute per level of the spell slots. All you know, how many minutes to sense whether any aberrations, celestials, dragons, elemental safe things are undead or present within one mile of you. The feature doesn't reveal the locations, uh,

creature's location or number, just the type that are around. And basically, she talked about this creature, this beast. I want to see if I sense anything other than undead. I'm expecting to sense undead. I want to see if I sense something else. And it's a mile?

It is one mile from me or up to six miles if I'm in favored terrain. I would say technically this vineyard is not in the forest. So that is up to you as the DM. Favored terrain is either desert or forest for me. I mean, it's in the forest. It's just they've cleared out the area for it. So if you feel that I'm still in favored terrain, it would be up to six miles. Oh, up to six miles. If this is considered the forest, which is one of my favored terrains. Okay.

I would say... So what does it show you? It shows you undead. Yeah, let me read them again. So it'll be for one minute because I may expend a level one spell slot, but it is...

That's very smart. It is. Um, aborigines, celestials, dragons, elementals, fae, fiends, or undead. So it tells me if any of those are around, but it doesn't tell me the location or the number of them. It just tells me if any of those character, those, uh, categorizations exist within six miles. Okay.

And I'm expecting undead because I've done this before. Yes. But I'm trying to see if I get anything else because she's talking about, you know, I don't know if the plants are undead, right? I'm just trying to see if I can learn more. I'm not going to put a name on it because I don't know off the top. I'm a horrible DM. That's fine. No, no, no. You do sense something else as well, but it's not...

So undead Faye and something. Yeah. All right. So anyway, I'm going to go and say from a, from a character background that I don't even know what they are really. So after the minute is up, I'm going to go back to the rest of the group and say, uh, all right. Um, I,

I know I did this before and I know that none of us are shocked to learn that there are lots of undead around. So yeah, no, it doesn't fall within that. So fan undead. But there's something else. There's something other than undead and it's not something that I recognize or know.

But there's some other creature source, some other creature type that's somewhere near here that I didn't pick up the first time I did this. And yes, I guess fiends. Fiends would be right. I would say I know what fiends are. I don't think Shepard would know what fey are. Probably not. So there's undead. There's some sort of fiends around here and something that I've never encountered before and I'm not so sure about. And I don't know if it's this thing that she's talking about.

But anything other than undead is sending me off on edge a little bit. I never thought I'd say that. No, they are druids. I don't know. I wanted to kill her, but I think that we're playing into her hand. And if we take her up to those poor defenseless family, that's even worse.

I don't know what to do here. I'm hoping the professor can hurry the goddamn up and tell us what to do. Examinos! Examinos! I will say it is right about that time that you are able to finish your... So tell me how this works again. Um... I'm going to use properties, how to use it, uh...

Whether it requires attunement to use, how many charges it has, if any. So basically you learn everything about it. Basically. Whether it was created by a spell, I learned where spells created it. Is there anything you don't learn? I think that's the better question. I mean, I don't know what I don't know. So...

The Galthias Staff. That sounds funny. Made from the branch of a Galthias tree. Is that how you pronounce it? How do you spell it? I've never heard of this thing. Sure. Made from the branch of a Galthias tree, a Galthias Staff is a spongy, black length of wood. Its evil makes beasts visibly uncomfortable while within 30 feet of it. The Staff has 10 charges and regains 1d6 plus 4 of its expended charges daily at death's end.

If the staff is broken or burned to ashes, its wood releases a terrible, inhumane scream that can be heard out to a range of 300 feet. All blights that can hear the scream immediately wither and die. Vampiric Strike. The staff can be wielded as a magic quarterstaff. On a hit, it deals damage as a normal quarterstaff, and you can expend one charge to regain a number of hit points equal to the damage dealt by the weapon.

Each time a charge is spent, red blood oozes from the staff's pores, and you must succeed on a DC 12 wisdom saving throw or be afflicted with short-term madness. Blightbane. While you are attuned to the staff, blights and other evil plant creatures don't regard you as hostile unless you arm them. Oh, shit. Do you really have this? Yes. Yes! Oh!

Don't let that goddamn thing out of your sight, Professor. The things I've seen. Professor. She might just be mad then. Maybe she can be cured of this madness, Sarnax. Yeah, bolts of the brain ought to do it. I think that she is truly mad, but there is something. There's a rumbling in the ground. Is there a huge beast wandering towards us? I'm telling you, Sarnax, there's something out there. He's set Sarnax's name all over it.

so

I don't know if we should use it, but we can destroy it. We'll at least destroy all blights. At least if we get surrounded again, is what you're saying. I think it's capital B blights as in creatures that have the blight suffix. Yes, I see. Of the creatures that we just slayed. Yes. So destroying the staff would have killed all of them instantly. But we should use this as an emergency. We don't need to attune to it to use that feature, I don't believe. No, just blight bait. Okay.

Blightbane and Vampire Strike. Yeah. No, that feature is just if it's broken or burned to ash. The whole stuff. So someone has to attune to it to do that. Wait, no, to burn it, no. Okay. So we can use it to destroy things. We can't use it to suck blood from people. Or Blightbane, which allows you to walk through them and be friendly. Oh, okay. That was a kind of point. I believe that we just...

Let me put this in my case for now. Don't, again, don't let, well, is it going to be all right in the case? I don't mean to assume, but yeah, as far as we know, there's a bunch of cockroaches in there. Is the doll in there?

Yeah. Can the doll wield the staff of this? My question, exactly. I don't think the doll's really a creature. It's not a thing. It's just animated. It does creepy shit. You can pick up that green gem and all those children's teeth. Do you think it could pick up a staff? Sure, but it's not probably... Look, I don't know anything about magic, so I'm talking about this from a meta perspective, but I don't think that the doll would be able to wield anything magically. It just has...

It's just a table of fiction. He's worried about it escaping from the chest with it. Sure, I mean, that's certainly an issue. Yeah, that's why I asked the professor if he thinks that's a good idea. I think my case is fine. It's a family heirloom. Past family for generations. Sorry. So, inhuman screen, 300 feet, and... You can add... It's in D&D Beyond. Okay, cool. So, we must figure out what to do with this woman.

I don't have an answer. I told you, the things that we want to do, I don't think are good ideas. To be quite honest with you, Sarnax, she's probably not going to tell us anything unless we can cure her of her madness. Why don't we just kill her? The only reason I hesitate is she said she wanted her blood to return to the Earth. So let's not return it. I think it's probably metaphorical, but... I think she was one with nature. She said that herself.

I don't, there's not a good alternative. We can't let her loose. I mean, we can put her in an empty wine barrel. And then she'll die and... Well, yeah, I mean, we'll kill her in a wine barrel. I mean, they're sealed. They're airtight. If I may, Mr. Shuffler, do you all agree it's an unusual form of torture? It's not torture. We'll put her down. That's it. We're done with this. She's crazy. Are we all on board with ending her?

I'm not. I'm afraid if the staff is what caused her madness, she may still be saved. There is no saving with demons. How is this? And I want to remind everybody that after we're done here, after we've saved the day here, we're rolling over to that other hill. What was it? Yester something? What was it? Uh... Yester Hill. And we're killing all the druids there, too.

you were able to commune with...

- Garrix today, Sarnax. - I... - Receive his wisdom. - I... The fight with all of the blights was quite the exhausting experience. - We should save our energy in case there truly is some sort of horrific creature. - I'll do you a favor, Sarnax. Here, ready? Look into the flame. Go ahead. Burn it all. See, is it any different? Come on, we're going to Yesterhill, and we're killing this druid before we kill all the others.

But we need to make sure that this winery is completely clear of danger. Absolutely agree. Absolutely agree. I was going to do something rather than say, I'm going to take the rope from the crane and wrap it around your neck and then...

Head upstairs to where you would crank it. Victoria? I'm still sitting on her. No blood will be spilled and we'll be rid of this creature. I'm going to start cranking. I don't know how hard that is for me. Dealer's choice. I'm just going to take my hat off and be like...

She's unconscious. As peaceful as we can let her go. She won't delight in it. She won't suffer. It's a neutral kill. I can just snap her neck. Hanging her here

I feel like this is a little... And then it won't be on our heads. Wine barrels? What is wrong with you? I mean, I understand she's mad, but this all seems unusually cruel. Has this land gotten to you? No, she's evil. She might be evil, but we can silently put her out without hanging her from the rafters or throwing her in a wine barrel. I mean, both are pretty silent. And to be fair, Victoria, I'm not upset. I'm just kind of upset I didn't think of it. That's all.

I will not be part of this. If we're going to hang her, I would prefer not to be here. I was just going to say, just don't overwind it or otherwise.

But if you're... I'm happy to turn the witch. I'm going to walk outside. You figure out what you want to do with her. Her face is completely bloodied and annihilated from the constant bashing of Kana's fist against it. Your hands are bloodied as you begin to wrap the rope around her neck. Her face is completely mangled.

Yeah, I'm cranking. I'll be still on the first floor. Are you sure you got that, Miss Victoria? I could use some assistance. I'll be right up. I'll go up and I'll help her turn the winch to see if we can draw this...

lifeless body up. It's easy enough to turn the winch as you crank it and you are able to hold her aloft. That'll do it. Gonna wait an appropriate amount of time, I guess, and then let her back down. You do that. I'm outside.

Should we burn her? As long as you think that won't spill blood, Sarnax. That was the whole point of this. She would then return to the earth. But is that what she wants? I don't know enough about these ritual type things. This isn't my wheelhouse, so to speak. Let us do this work. Have her join the other druids.

All the remainder of the blights, pile them up, away from the farmland, towards the wood. Let's put an end to this, and hopefully the fire will purify this whole vineyard. That's going to take some time. I'm willing to do it, and I'm willing to help, but we need to be careful about whatever might be approaching, because I'm so concerned about whatever we sense out there. But I'll help.

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a folk horror tome for Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition. And don't forget to snag all of the extra goodies, like dice, miniatures, plushies, a tarot deck, and more. Thank you. Uh, are you guys still inside around the wagon business? No, I've left. I'm with you. Okay. Well, I, again, uh, whatever happens, it's up to you. If you feel that it's appropriate to burn everything...

She had the vampire staff. It's not unreasonable to want to burn her. Leaving corpses unattended to when a skeleton doesn't reach us is not wise. Agreed. And when the corpses of ravens can be transported halfway across Barovia and planted at our feet. Agreed. There's no wish we have to resurrect these druids. Let's just confirm that there's nothing left in...

the winery. Very well. I will begin dragging all of the corpses out of here. Can we do like a... I'll just do like a once, or I guess whoever wants to help. Yeah, I'll just go through and make sure there's nothing left in the winery. We need to make sure when we get back to that family that we make sure that they're very well aware that some of this wine, if not

The more than we'd like to admit is changed. Yes. Perhaps we should drain it from the barrels just to be safe. It wouldn't hurt. Roll a group investigation check. Natural one. A lot of ones tonight. I've been rolling horribly tonight too. It's like today is tough. I got a 16. We were all rolling well last night. I was rolling like five last night. 11. 16. 3. 4.

I'm outside helping with bodies. This is for you to discern whether you've gotten all of the lights and the druids. And just if sort of we feel like there's been time, I would have ritually cast detect magic while we're doing this. And so as we go through the barrels, I want to see if I get any sense of like magical taint. Oh,

Okay, I will see you. You were able to scour the entirety of the vineyard and the winery, do all the things that you had said you were going to do. And you're able to see that it looks like at least in the vicinity of the vineyard itself, that there seem to be no more twig blights, needle blights, fine blights or druids in residence here. Their bodies still remain.

burning and smoldering out on the battlefield where you fought them. It looked like most of what had been inside of the winery had made its way outside to fight you upon your approach. And you spend additional time at the vats, and you find that three of the vats have been poisoned. One of them seems to be untainted.

So you take the necessary time that you need to empty the vats and dispose of the tainted wine. And you, I'll say you take the time that you need to roll the barrels up and load them onto the wagon to prepare them for shipment to the town of Vallaki. You address the issue with the body and the cleansing of all of the horrors of this place. Yes.

Your intact magic doesn't seem to go off outside of the few places you expect that it would. The secret entrance down in the basement where the brown mold is. But there doesn't seem to be anything else strange about this place. At least one of the areas that you promised to cleanse seems to have been affected.

I would use prestidigitation to put a green skull on the three that I think were corrupted. It lasts an hour, the simpler color that I can place. Assuming that whatever I feel, I can get down and talk to them and then bring them back in so that they can see, hey, by the way, these are the ones that are marked. Okay.

You emptied that, my thought. Oh, yeah, sure. You did, yeah. As long as it's not going to fall on the wine. If I don't feel like it's going to spill everywhere and corrupt stuff. Okay. It's just poison. Okay. It's just a simple poison. And it is with that that you find yourselves accumulating outside of the winery as darkness is now descending around you.

You look out over the horizon, up the pathway that you know, you believe leads towards Yestra Hill and far off in the distance, you see the flickering flames. Is everything assembled? Yes. So I'll kind of pull out my oil and just do, be sparing about it because there's a lot of bodies here. There was no doubt in my mind that this was...

A horrible blight that brought a great evil to the poor were-ravens. To the soil. But through destruction, there is renewal and cleansing. And that is what has happened here tonight. And what will continue to happen. May this evil blight...

Never again haunt this thing. I'm gonna flip a little flame from my lantern onto the pile.

They flick a flame onto the pile of needle and twig lights, and as one catches fire, a domino effect as it ripples down. They roar. The flames roar up and lick at the bodies as they all begin to burn and turn to ember and to ash. Far enough away, controlled enough that it doesn't reach its way to the

the lands that will eventually be once more fruitful vineyard, but nor towards the building itself controlled. You stand around it. This night is firmly setting into place. You watch the flames dance.

- Well, let's return to the treeline and inform the Motokal family that their vineyard is safe for now. - How heavy is the wagon that we've loaded up? I mean, is it something that we can push?

Or do we kind of have to leave it where it is? There are stables, but you don't see horses that seem to be there. It looks like you could probably pull it, but I would say you would know that you don't really need to. If they're returning, they're going to have to turn around. You don't want to believe it, that's all. But if it's going to be a colossal pain in the ass, I just wasn't sure if it was how heavy it was, that's all. Perhaps some of you could stay here and the rest of us could...

I will try to pull it to the tree line. I think it's fine. I think we just go fetch the family. We'll escort them back down here and make sure everything's all right. Yes. All right. Then we'll go to the tree line. You quickly make your way to the tree line and you roll an investigation check to see if you can figure out where the tree line or where they were.

Yeah, he's right there. Oh my God. I rolled really well. Come on. Vienna sausage die. I rolled over 10 all night. I think it's you. You said 14. Oh,

Oh, okay. That's not bad. Way better than I expected. You make your way along the tree line, and it takes a while. It takes you all about 45 minutes before you finally find the small outcropping. As you make your way up to it, you immediately hear the flapping of wings as ravens begin circling overhead. As they seem to realize who you are,

you see them land on the ground in the center of this outcrop as all of them turn back into their human forms. It's done. Yes, we're safe. And the vineyard itself in the winery

Inside, I believe it has been cleansed. At least for now. They have poisoned three of your four vats of wine. We've drained those. What could have been the purpose of poisoning the vine if we couldn't even get to it?

I suppose perhaps they were intending to distribute it on their own to kill as many as they could. Or they were anticipating it. Oh, yes. They, I'm guessing... Are horrible creatures. Yes. You are not looking well, any of you.

Well, we wanted to make sure that everything was safe.

There were foul druids throughout the entire place. It would make the most sense. We just didn't want them to grab any of your belongings. Yes, in case for whatever reason they snuck in in the interim. But it is safe. Everything is here. You can take a look. I trust you, friend. Are you here? Would you mind carrying it back up to the... Of course. I was going to suggest the same thing. You should stay deep. You cannot go out like this tonight.

I mean, at the very least, we could help to clean up because things were a little bit of a mess. Are you planning on leaving in the morning? We will leave in the morning, yes, to deliver the body. Yes. It is dangerous to travel these woods at night, especially now. I think it would be a great idea for us to all sleep here. And in the morning, we can continue to the hill and take care of the rest of the druids. I think that'd be great.

We will cook dinner, have an evening in together as new friends. Sounds lovely. They pack up their belongings, they break down their bed rolls in these small tents and they sling them over their back as they make their way, all of you, make your way back up to the winery. It's a somber moment.

There's little talking. The small girl and her mother are... She's held in her arms. She's afraid to even let her go for a second. And they speak to each other in hushed tones, but occasionally laugh and smile. And the small girl nuzzles her head into her mother's neck. She seems happy. And...

She still looks exhausted, but she's where she needs to be. As you make your way up to the winery, they take you in through the actual doors that lead in. Four large doors that open in directly into the room through the wine bags. As they lead you all upstairs and directly into the kitchen and the dining room area. What's the man's first name? Davian. Davian. Davian.

Is there any way to keep the wagon safe behind lock and key? The wagon has no stable or port for it. It simply sits there.

Well, I believe either way we should keep a watch tonight and the five of us will happen to do so so that your family can get some rest. We have many at our disposal and you notice that now that the winery itself has been cleared of the infestation that was here that there are at least 20 ravens flying in the sky circling around this place.

We have eyes. We will be safe tonight if none remain in this land. Yes, and your mold is safe downstairs. Again, apologies for going through that secret door. You should have seen Sarnax. I've never seen a match like that before. You're afraid of a little mold.

Little brown mold, yes. Do you have a favorite mold? He says as he pulls one of the benches over, he pants the seat next to him. Sit, talk to me. All mold that can be burned is my favorite mold. Well, you seem to have a penchant for fire. I do, David, and I know that we've just arrived, but... Would you like to light the stove? I believe we would like to get dinner ready.

I would love to. And I'll ignite it, and I will wait. You know, if everyone's kind of settling in, we're all able to talk to them. I will sit down. Yeah. What you see is they pull some more chairs around. You're all able to sit around this wooden table. The children, two small boys, the one small girl are playing. They've gone to their rooms, into their toy chest, and has pulled out...

different toys, blocks, dolls, a small wagon with a makeshift wine barrels that they are filling and loading onto the wagon and playing with as they laugh. Um,

The mother of the girl, who you remember his name was, Estefania, begins to tend around the stove, pulling out plates and starting a stock on the top of the oven. She throws in some bread to bake and some meat to cook. So, Davia, I have to ask...

What you did earlier today was incredible. It was. Never done anything of the like. I did not know if I... He looks over and kind of hashes his tongue. I did not want to tell her this, but I was not sure I could do it. Yeah, you could have fooled us. Did our energy and assistance help in any way? I do believe that it did. The returning of the crystal, of the seed, and...

The magic in all of you, I believe, sealed it together. You... Are you able to do more than restore life with that crystal in your staff? I did not know it was something it could do. I do not believe that it is something that should be pushed to those women. I will return it to the earth and we will use it for what it was given to us for.

The power of the earth did that today. It did, yes. I have not seen the power of the divine achieve such a thing. I hope to one day be able to do that myself. But, Davian, several times today I have been humbled. You seem like the type that does not say that you're locked.

I haven't once said that since I've stepped foot in Barovia. A slight smile appears on his face. When you get as old as I, you find yourself saying it far more than you would like. I have encountered three instances today where what I would have done immediately, in my best wisdom, was not the appropriate situation. I do not know if you've left Barovia, but where I come from,

Birds are foul creatures. Well... To be destroyed, burned. Apologies. They are not birds. They are dare-ravens. There's a difference, I'm sure. You see, as all of them look a little uncomfortable. Apologies. I'm sorry, is that a threat? No, not at all. Allow me to continue. I apologize. But it has been you, were-ravens. You are not of the...

type of bird I have encountered where I come from. But you have shown us hospitality, kindness, power, and friendship in a comfort in a world that is full of shadow and death, for which I am grateful. Truly, you have shown me that I should not always presume

And where I initially think fire, dragon fire, should be the way to cleanse a problem. Had I done so, terrible tragedy would have followed twice today. So I thank you for teaching me. And I'll just nod and kind of awkwardly shamble away. I'm not out of the room, but like to the corner. He looks down at you for a moment. He's...

difficult to admit when you find yourself proven wrong. It is a valuable thing to own up to the things that you do that are not right. Yes. You have a strength of character that we are lucky to know. There are not many here in Grovia that have that type of a soul. Today has not been easy for any of us.

But let us find joy in the night hand, in new friendships made and grossed,

In the left of the tube, he looks down. He seems to be completely unaffected by the conversation. You see the small girl run up to her mom. She's not small. She's like 12. The girl run up to her mom and put her arms around her waist and just nestle her head into her back. I look on in disbelief. I completely still can't comprehend what's going on. You see as Stefania looks over and she tussles the hair of her daughter and

She tries to be sneaky about it, but she's not as she gives her a piece of bread and meat. And she looks down, she kisses the top of her head.

you see as the small girl, as she takes it, and she looks around to make sure that her brothers aren't watching, her smaller brothers, and she slowly eats it and smiles at her mom and goes back to play. I want to walk up to the, to Stefania and the small girl and see

I mean, I don't know if I noticed her chewing on the bread. I want to...

kneel down in front of her, smiling at her and Stefania and just beaming at her, glad to see that she's okay and that we did not burn her body today. I'll look at her and say, in my land, we say a kite breeds a hawk. In this case, a great raven.

She looks at you and a smile graces her face. Well, I'm a woman now, so I will be great someday. You look familiar. And she reaches up and she rubs your cheek. I've seen you in dreams. But she reaches down and she hugs you. I give her a hug too. How are you feeling? Very tired. I want to sleep, but...

She looks over and her mom is busy making food. I don't want to make mom cry again. And I think she's still very sad. She says, I was sick. Days have passed since last I was feeling well. I must have eaten something that was not good for me.

take her hand from my cheek and put both of mine in it and look down and look up at her. Well, I'm sure you'll feel better soon. A great raven like you won't stay on the ground too long and you will soar far and wide in the skies above you. She looks up at you. The greatest of ladies. Absolutely. I'm going to go play now. I just pinch her nose.

Well, if you don't mind, assuming that we have a nice meal as we're winding down, I say, if you don't mind, I'd like to just put some protections around all of us. The children make their way off to bed. Stefania and her husband make their way off to bed as well. And you're left with Damien.

as the rest of the family says their goodnights and they head off to their rooms. So I will just begin pulling out my silver thread and little bells and just, I'm going to Felix-style kind of ritually cast alarm a few places around the theater. I was going to say in five... 55 minutes? Yeah. Five casts?

So whatever exactly what Felix did last night strategically placed by the alarms. Sir, I know you said you have lots of eyes watching. We do, yes. We appreciate that, but if anything, for any reason, we want to alert you. Do not hesitate to wake us up and let us know. I will not hesitate to let you know, but now that the family has retired, I think we couldn't speak plainly.

What brings you to this land? Do you not know how dangerous this land can be?

How much time you got? Well... The rest of the evening, at the very least, and hopefully many years after that. He smiles. Based on all the tales, I knew this place was dangerous, but... You read tales, Marwad? Yes, that's why I believed it existed. I heard tales of these Vistani, these travelers telling legends of... Are they the ones that led you into this land? No.

To play cat and mouse with the countess? They certainly aided in us getting here, yes. It was... we sort of stumbled through a church in the plane that we are from. It was an intentional accident then. Perhaps it was the workings of the Vistani. If the Vistani were the trap, the professor was the cheese.

I see. And which one of you does she have her eyes set on this time?

We all just like really awkwardly like kind of look at Victoria but like look away like I'll have my I'll have whatever fucks me can root tea Can you hold up a ceramic alma? I just grab some water and I just sip None of us really say anything we're just kind of like awkwardly like looking around the room She has shown some interest in me I don't know why

You must be the weakest. I don't care. I suppose that would make sense. I apologize. That was rude. She... Sick bird. Sick bird. Damn. Damn. Damn.

Well, at the very least, sir, we'd be lying if we said we weren't a little bit concerned. It is wise to be concerned. If she has her eyes set on you, then you have a far more dangerous road ahead of you than that which you have faced here today. What does she want from us, though?

Now that is the question. What do you have to offer? I don't know. I'm just wondering why she hasn't slaughtered a soul sail yet. Exactly. We've come upon her a few times now. It seems...

She's not asked us anything. She's not explicitly threatened us with harm. But it's as if she knows exactly what we're doing. We have souls. We do. Perhaps that's why. As far as I know, we do. And I believe maybe she wants to trap us eventually so she can feed on us for who knows how long. But why wait? Why string us along like you said?

The fun of the chase, the thrill of it. She has her eyes set on you. And she will watch you. She will toy with you. She will play with you until you are no longer valuable to her. Well, we are taking precautions to make sure that no individual... I'll look around. I'll look around, but I'll sort of linger a little longer on Victoria. We're making precautions to make sure that no one

is bewitched and taken away. We understand it's very dangerous. You must play her game. We are. If you anger her, then your life will be much less pleasant than it is now. She is kind to you in this moment. You hold on to that for as long as you can, and you use that. You play the game back, but you play it smarter. Yes. You've been nothing but...

respectful of her so far and then you are doing better than most we plan to eventually destroy her and free this land of the mass I would not say that out loud in this land you never know what ears are where what eyes are where we watch

But she is very powerful. She is aware of our intentions. Is she aware? I would imagine so. But if she is not, that would be the fourth time I was humbled today. That was the best of us. Well...

But are your plans? I am an old man. I know many things. We are... Should we mention the cards? The cards? Madam Ava, do you trust her? That is a tough question. Even for one as old as I, Madam Ava lives far longer than I have. How old do you think she is?

I could not tell you, but there are stories of her for as long as there are stories of the vampire. That would mean she has an unnatural life. So it would seem. We watch. She does nothing so far that has caused us pause or room to believe that she is in league with the vampire, but there is more to her than just what she has shown.

Well, I mean, we've been warned about the Vistani and how some of them might be good and some of them might not be so good. While we don't necessarily trust anybody, Madame Ava's reading has come true more often than not. That's for sure. At the very least...

As a divination wizard myself, I can tell a very powerful divination wielder when I see one. And the magic she was doing was real. Oh, I have no doubt that it was. The fate that she predicted has come true, that's why.

I have no doubt that it will. But you are not the first group of people to find their way into Barovia, into a reading with that woman on a mission that they attempt to complete. Each one a story told.

None survived. How? What makes you different? Perhaps we're not. I believe we are in the sense that the stories that we've heard, there's been one person that's stumbled through, gotten their reading. Clearly, Madame Eva, it seems, is an enemy of the Devil's Trial.

She wants to convince people to defeat her. And now, here we are. There are finalists, all capable in our own different ways. Well, for all of your sakes, I hope that is true. The key difference is that the previous adventurers and parties that have wandered into Barovia do not have the

The flame of the Fire Lord. That's right. I have seen Ravenloft burning in the fire. Wouldn't we all like to have visions of such? By the way, we are well on our way to fulfilling the prediction, and if we do, we will defeat her. That is great news to hear. Are you an enemy of the Countess?

He looks around for a moment. I am Beulah. Is that what the purpose is of the Order of the Feather? You see his face, he tries to keep his expression motionless, but he can't help but turn his mouth up the corners. Far more than you should, Fred.

An entertaining man with a monkey. Ah, yes. He thinks he is discreet. But with a walk like that and the voice as loud as his...

Our sweet carnival master does not go on this by those he chooses to follow. Especially traveling with a saber-toothed tiger. I did not know he had one of those. So he does get some things over on us then. He does. Well, but what is the purpose of this order?

What is your quest? What do you do beyond growing wine? Making wine. Going with us. It is not often that people of your power find their way into this land. Hundreds of years ago,

This winery used to provide wine for the Devil's Throat, but we no longer do so. We are no longer on good terms. She does not... She does not come around our parts and we watch from the shadows, but then we do see people entering the Barovia.

They have this fire in their eyes like you do. They will to cleanse this land of the evil that lives within it. We do what we can to help. We frequent the dangerous places and we try to warn them against succumbing to their doom. We cannot help you in the fight against the death of Straub, but we can help you fight against the dangers of the land around you. And so we do.

We watch and we look and we help. Davian, you mentioned that you are no longer on good terms with the Countess.

May I ask if you were ever on good terms with her? Myself, no. But the owners of the winery, yes. At one point they were on amicable terms. But this is hundreds of years before my time. I know I'm old, my darling, but I am not that old.

Is this a winery's vineyard? Has this been passed down through generations of your family? It was here before the Devil's Throat came to this land. Far before she took it in her cries to wield it against us. I see. So hundreds of years ago, we could maybe triangulate. That's when she turned into a vampire.

In the days when the dark, the sun stopped its shine. Lost her taste for wine, perhaps. Traded it for blood. You are a smart man, Mr. Clayton Ezra. That's why they pay me what they do. Anyway, speaking of the dangers of the land, is there anything else you can tell us about the Druids of Yesterhill? The Druids are secretive. They have been getting far more...

They've been taking far more risks as of late. Since they've recovered the final one of our seeds, and they encroach on our land more and more, coming down from the hill, but for the most part, they stick to the forest. That is not the only place they frequent, but it is their main base. That's where they come together for their rituals, but any time you're out in the forest, you could meet them.

There are many. For what it's worth, while we were doing the job here, one of them mentioned something was coming, and we could feel some sort of disturbance in the earth. I sensed a lot of undead, a lot of fiends. Nothing unusual for Barovi, except for something I couldn't put my finger on. Any ideas?

Well, there is a... There is a mansion in Barovia. It is a piece of ancient lore, but there was an order of the Silver Dragon. Wait, wait, wait. I'm sorry. I don't mean to stop you right there. Silver Dragon? Silver Dragon?

Yes, it was a name. They were holy men that fought against Stradania. But it's folktales. I don't believe any of it to be true. The ruins are far to the north. But

But the ruins of this place, it says that Vaan, the founding member, was himself a silver dragon in disguise that created an order to overtake and overthrow Stradania when she first began her terror on this land. But she rained hell upon them, and they have been dead ever since. Some say they hear the whispers of the silver dragon, but it is all...

I have not known any who have. It's all but a story, a tale. Of course, of course. I'll look at Shepard, give him a knowing look. I'm very deliberately avoiding talking to him. You'll feel my eyes. I can feel him looking at me, and I'm just not having any of it. I don't know if that answers your question, but we see a lot there are...

I try to think of, but that is the only thing that's really aside from the horrific woman, obviously, to the... Obviously, Indorez. Do you know where this shrine of the Order of the Silver Dragon is, if we...

Dave showed you a map. I could look at it and maybe I would be able to tell you. I've left the map. Just in a meta sense, I know I told Sarnax about my dream. Did I tell everyone else about the dream? That's up to you. That's what I thought. If I did, I would have RP'd it. And I didn't think that I did. I RP'd it with just... Okay, that's what I thought. I just told Sarnax. Clayton does not know. That's all I can say. I don't know. I couldn't remember. I know that I told Sarnax. I didn't think I told anybody else yet. I believe you just told him prior.

Oh, okay. So he finishes telling us he marks on the map and I'm minding my own business. I'm like, I'm done. I'm out of the game. Outside of that, I cannot think of any other creatures that I've heard of. Today, the hag, is the first time you've made me think of this. Is there more you can tell me about hags?

I don't know much besides we killed three of them. Pure goddamn evil. In a coven, they were summoning some foul fiend.

They were preying on children. They had children in cages. They were slaughtering children, turning them into pastries, collecting their bones in a stone circle. That is absolutely horrible. We killed them all. Is there a defining feature or something to know what this creature is? Foul women. They had clothing that was made of

Goddamn children flesh. They were shaped, they had disguises to appear more human. Or more beautiful. Oh, purple skin. Do I remember that they had purple skin? When you saw them, they didn't. They summoned some foul little creature.

It just appeared. We killed that old fucker too. They had a cauldron. It seems like a... I don't know. He flashed and he was gone. Bye, Peach Cackle.

Yes, yes, Latin. Latin. Do they live longer than most do? I don't know. I mean, look, I'm making an assumption here, but they looked old. And I know that looks only go so far, but they looked old. And that's all I can really say.

it didn't seem natural to me at all. Can I discern, based on what I've read at that early, just in my life, have I heard that hags are long-living? Yes. Okay.

Yes, yes, I believe that they all long live... Wait. That is an interesting thing. Old women. Yes. Long living. Long living. Disguising themselves as normal humans. Yes. I believe I understand what you are guessing at. Yes. Yes. I believe that the old woman that lives in Perez is a hag.

I have a sickening feeling about that. Why stop there? Perhaps Madame Eva is a hag as well. Bullshit! Long-lived? Why not disguise yourself as a Vistani? That is a good point, friend. It would take one to know one. Don't you think? Yes. Well, when we pay her a visit...

We will get the information we seek. Far, far from there, but next time we go that way, there's definitely a lead we will see. Oh, I mean the woman in the hut. Oh, the hut, yes. She is mad, absolutely raving mad. She claims to be the other mother of Stradania. What? Other mother?

Yes, it is a thing that we have heard in our scouting of the area of Perez. You've drowned ruins of an old city beneath the hut and she, her windows open on dark full moon nights, she chants. She claims to be the other mother of the vampires.

What wrote that even to me? I do not know. Well, wait. It seems to be quite obvious to me, Professor. It is obvious to me now as well. Does a vampire not have two births? Exactly right. Oh dear god! Was she the one that turned Shraddhaanya into a vampire? I have not thought of that.

You found them, mother? Is that what you're getting at, son? The place is a place of pure evil. It is infested. It is horrific. We try not to go there often. We've realized she had the gem and we have kept ourselves from it. Afraid to venture anywhere near it should she see us. We do not want to incur her wrath.

You will not live in the shadow of this hag forever. Her hut will burn along with her flesh. Well, we can only hope. But you say that we should wait before paying her a visit. You could go now if you wish, but if you had trouble with what was here at the winery, I fear she would bring you to your doom.

I wouldn't call it trouble. I'm doing all right. We were going to go by Yesterhill anyway, before we made our way down to that swamp regardless. They're not in the same place. Well, I didn't think so. I just wanted to make sure your druid problem was all shored up before we left too far. Yes. I think what you're getting at is we take care of the druids and perhaps come back later. There is time. We still have time. The druids have been amassing.

And it is more unified than I have seen lately. They are up to something, but what it is, I could not tell you. They will be taken care of tomorrow. Yes, agreed. We can only hope that that is true. By the way, I trust your wisdom that we are not quite ready to deal with the hag in Perez's

Yeah, but these druids are just vermin. Let's be real. We've cured three of them or four of them today. And we can deal with vermin. We can deal with a few more, especially with... I totally forgot. Curio, my case will open up. I will pull out... You know, speaking of which, that you mentioned the... Well, I mentioned the Order of the Silver Dragon. It's very close to Barazan.

The orders. They are... Or the tales. He's a trick, but they are close. So this is Berez, probably, and this is the order. So it's down the dotted pathway through the forest. Yep, I see that. On the north side of Mount Gagas. Yep. Yep.

Well, maybe we investigate both. After we deal with the druids, we will plot our next course. I guess it couldn't hurt. It looks like you have a lot ahead of you. Yes. I wish there was more that I could do. You've done plenty, trust me. So much. I will keep my ravens in flight. They will be your ears for when yours cannot hear.

And I will send them to you, should I learn of anything more. But I have one request. I know you said that you would not send any children to dangerous areas, but even if they insist... I will not. No, not again. Twelve is far too young to engage in our lifestyle. When you go searching in a place of death, usually it is death that you find. And so if we are in a dangerous area...

Only send those willing to find that death. I will take what you say. I will hold it close to my heart. I'm a very old man. I find myself tired. As do I. I'm going to be feeling this in the morning. It is not the most comfortable, but in the main area, in the main room next to the vats, they've set up

bedding for you. I do not have extra rooms here, but it is safe, it is comfortable, and it will be warm. Say no more. It is more than enough. And if you need anything, he looks to you. I believe you know which room that I sleep in. Yes, I do. Thank you so much. It's all right, Davian. I'll stay up a little bit longer just to watch him. You may stay up as long as you would like, but for me, I am going to sleep. Thank you.

We appreciate your hospitality. You as well. Thank you. To new friends, he raises his glass of wine. Cheers. Cheers to all of you. He knocks back the rest of it. Good night. That was enough wine for me to sleep well, I think. And he reaches for the lockbox, the chest, from you.

And you, uh, and don't forget the key. Oh, yes. He, uh, opens it, and he, I'm assuming he's done this already, and he looks through it, and he pulls out the locket, opens it up, and you see, uh, small tear run down his cheek. Come, my darling, let's to bed. And he puts it in the, uh, in the pocket of his, of his cloak. Good night. Good night.

And he makes his way out of the room and heads to the bedroom. Did we get the other key back?

We never found what it went to. Oh, shit. It's not our problem. We should still give them their key back. We can. I honestly didn't think about it. If you'd like to remind me, feel free. We gave them the small silver key that goes to the locker, but not the larger iron key. Oh, my goodness. I completely forgot. I'm sorry. We

We did a little lot, a lot of snooping, and I'll pull up there and key and say, I didn't find what this went to. Oh, this is just for the front doors downstairs. Oh, thank goodness gracious. For a split second, I thought maybe we didn't get the whole place. Oh, no, they were unlocked when you came in, but thank you. I will put these back in the room. No, no, no, it's all Victoria. When you're looking for trouble, it seems everything is just even keyed.

I understand that completely. We missed a lot when we evacuated so quickly. Have a good night, friends. You too. Sleep well. Thanks for everything. There will be warm breakfast for you in the morning. I may be out tending to the grounds. If I do not see you, I wish you well and you are welcome in our home anytime. Thank you. Don't hesitate to get us for any reason.

I feel not good night. Good night. And he slowly makes his way out of the room, down the hallway. You hear the click of his door. As he makes his way to bed, you're still sitting around the table in the kitchen. What? In the dining room. I'm gonna go to bed. I'm beat up. Me too. I'm a little worse for wear, but I'll be alright in the morning, even if I'm just a little sore. Good grief. You should get some sleep. Sure. Um...

I guess I'll just pick one of the spot. They didn't have to go through all this trouble. I appreciate the hospitality. It's more than enough. The kindness is limitless. It will be good to get a good night's sleep before we deal with whatever deadly danger lays in wait. Anybody have any preference? Because I'm just taking one. It's as you say this that the door creaks open. And at first you don't notice anything. You hear a howl.

I was just going to put my dishes away. Oh, R.E.M.?

Are you hungry? Yes, a little bit. Just come on over, please. I can have some, are you sure? You live here, we're guests. I'm not supposed to eat after I go to bed. Wait, what? I'm not supposed to eat after I go to bed. We won't tell anyone. We're not going to. What, do you promise? If you're not rambling, it's fine. Oh, great. Then she scrambles up and she starts piling a plate full of food. I would just love to eat on the breakfast plate.

But don't tell anyone. Keep it a secret. Can you start to drink? Can I have some wine? I don't know about that. Just a little bit. My mom gives me some special occasions. I think we draw the line there. Are you sure? Do you have any wine today? Today, no. I believe that of all the special occasions of your life, today may be the specialist. Fine. It was just sick. Carnac, you don't even drink.

Is this not what child children do? Drink wine? Not generally. Sometimes. You can have one sip. Is that all right? Yes. All right. She reaches out for your goblet. I'll hold out a wine cup, and then I will made chancel monum, and then the way chain will pour just like a sip or two.

This is yours, all right? And don't tell anyone. We're breaking wings here. Don't before you drink it. You have to make a toast. I do? Then I'll pour everybody else's a little. Okay, I think I've seen my mommy do this before. This is not a good habit, Professor. Here we go. To the saviors of divinery and to...

The family that I love so much. I'll drink to that. And she looks to Kana, being a very big raven. Here, here. Cheers. And she takes a big swig. There is not much. She drinks it back. It is very good. You can have more when you're home. I know my sister told me that. Did you get enough food?

Okay, goodnight! Goodnight!

She makes her way out and you hear as her feet slowly... She thinks that she's being really quiet, but she's pattering down the hallway. And you imagine that everyone can hear that she's gone to the kitchen and gotten food. But the door shuts and all is quiet. I hope David doesn't have anything to say about that tomorrow. I think Stonix is right. Of all the days, let's indulge just a little bit. It feels like we might have finally had just a minor victory. There...

are very few opportunities where tragedy can be reversed, not just prevented. Agreed. If I had that kind of power back home, imagine the good I could do while I still draw breath. I mean, we're going to get home, Sarnax. You're going to get home. There's plenty of good for you to do still. We're not going to be stuck here. We're going to get home. Perhaps. We're stuck here.

Oh, yes. Pull out of the case. This is what I was doing when I was doing this. I was pulling it out. The ribbons. The sawbacks, I believe. You pull the staff out of the case and hanging onto it. Morbid Molly, her eye lolling to the side, her hands firmly gripped around the shaft. Get off you son of a... Yeet! One of the hands drops and you see as her head turns...

Please? No, you do not have that. And I rip her off the staff. She falls limply down. I'll shut the case. Sarnax, I believe you should hold on to this at all times. I'm really starting to love her. You may use this at a moment's notice. Anything happens to me. Yeah. Sarnax is the best person to hold on to. Yes, you can burn it instantly. I can. Morbid Molly is the reason why I have a perpetual wedgie in this campaign. Ha ha!

Always top of mind. That perpetual wedgie. Perpetual wedgie. I'll take the staff and say, this is a staff of wickedness, but I will derive great pleasure in burning it when the time is right. And I'll kind of spin it around a little bit and then sling it like through a belt loop on my back. You do that.

All right. I'm going to bed. Me too. Is there anything else any of you need? I'll look lean in. Dream well, Shepard. Yeah, you too. And I'm going to like... Dream well. Get yourself. And then I'll like...

So in one of the places that I would have placed the alarm is around or near the child. I'll say you have fully alarmed every intermiss place. You've had time. So I will go to bed. You've been here having dinner and enjoying time with them for hours. It's encroaching really late to the evening. Perfect.

I'm trying to be very stealthy about this, but I'm purposely staying up and avoiding contact with Victoria to see if she leaves.

I'm basically rummaging through my pack, like, organizing, reorganizing, like, reclassping my armor, like, sharpening my blade, doing, like, menial tasks to make it look like I'm busy. Not deliberately trying to foil Kanna's plan. Sarnax will... Not deliberately trying to foil her plan. ...to get Victoria out...

Because Sarnax would never indulge Satara's say. As you're kind of doing that, you'll hear the door open and you'll turn and see Sarnax and I'll say, I'll be holding my lantern, my foot will be up and I'll look at you, Kana, and I'll gesture the door. Kana, would you care to go for a walk in the night with me?

Can I infer from what he's saying that he's trying to pull me away from Victoria? I think Mikey would say he's not trying to foil you. He just wants to go on a walk with you. He genuinely is asking to go on a walk. Not realizing what you're trying to do. Yes, that's...

I want to look at Victoria and just get a gauge of how deep in prayer she is and if she looks like she's getting ready for bed or if she's still fully... Yeah, I will say that just for you to be able to do what you were going to do, I was planning to kind of walk out to where the wagon had been before and kind of pray on my own. Okay, I was planning on doing first watch of the wagon.

Oh. Because that's where the wine is. She wanted to watch it. I wanted to watch the wine so I wouldn't get poisoned. For a first watch.

Got it. Not that we have to do watches, but she's paranoid that the wine's going to get poisoned, so she was going to hang out there for a first watch. As you make your way out there, you see that there are about ten ravens on their own all around the stone area, staring down at the wine. And watching you. I will take one last look over at Victoria, and then I'll look at Sarnax and nod and silently follow him out.

You make your way out to the darkness, the still of the night surrounding you. All is quiet. You can see the faint flickering of lights off in the distance that you know leads towards where Yesterhill ascends up at its sloping angle. As you make your way through the empty vineyards. I will remain silent as well.

as I will walk us towards the pile of ashes where we burn all the bodies. And with that, I will switch my lantern magically to the bullseye, and I'll cast the light all along it. Connor, do you see this? Field of ashes. Yes.

You say that with such disdain in your voice. Why? Where I'm from, we do not believe in scattering the ashes in such a vulnerable, laying waste fashion. We like to keep things contained, clean, as homage to those that have passed, whether they were good or evil in their world, in our world.

in their time, have different ways of burying their dead. I... Perhaps. But observe. There was a great delight here. I know you were disturbed by what happened to the women, the staff. But observe the state of the vineyard.

As you looked out,

you see one small green tendril already beginning to curl up out of the earth. Where once was ash, regrowth has begun. And I'll step forward, I'll beckon Kana over, and I'll crouch down. I'll point. Where you see ash...

The result of destruction, yes, that's true. But I see fertility. I see the regrowth, the rebirth, and the rejuvenation. Where once was corruption and blight, the staff on my back, condensed evil, will be purged by fire. Now grows a tiny seed.

You believe in the rejuvenation of water, and I do not believe that water alone can do the level of renewal that we've done here. The cleansing, however, it does have its part. And I'll step forward, and I will reach into my cloak, and I will pull out a little bag. I'll pull out a seed, and it's not the black seed.

It's a small, just a little standard seed. And I'll put it into the ashen soil. I have been planting my seeds throughout this land. This here is from Sfrigga, from Erios, from my home. It is a native bush that has roots that make the best tea. However, although fire has provided the ideal soil, it requires one more thing.

Water. Would you do the honors, Connor? You speak wisely, Sarnax. For once, I do agree with you. And I will pull my water flask out and I'll pull out my ladle and very carefully pour the water over the ladle, fill it, and then I will pour it over the seed that you just planted. As it turns out, after the rain, the earth does harden. Indeed.

And in our journeys, there will be situations like this one, perhaps far darker, and fire will purge the wicked. It will be brutal. It will be painful. It will be dark, and it will make you feel sick. However, the field of ashes becomes a bed of renewal, and the ravens return to roost.

We ask you a question, son of us. Not to play devil's advocate, but you turned that raven to ash today. To feed it to the soil, to rejuvenate. How heavy that have weighed on your conscience, knowing that that was a child. In my lands, we return the heroes to their families.

And once I learned that that was no mere raven, I knew I had to do something to get her back to where I thought she belonged. The same goes for that mad woman today with the staff. I am convinced that that staff is what drove her mad. Everyone deserves a second chance. That raven, that woman, these druids, I'm not suggesting they can be

convinced out of this cruelty, but something may be grasping at their minds that we don't even understand. We cannot act, burn, and destroy so quickly when we don't know all the facts. I don't know if I could have forgiven you, but I learned later that that was the body of the child that you burned. It weighs on my soul

I do not know such power existed in this land to return life to a child. Now that I do know, I will temper my flame. However, she, like pure water, was innocent. The woman that we hang here today was the most putrid, vile, corrupted water of which there was no coming back, as are the rest of the druids, the innocents.

shall be spared the fire, but the wicked not a chance. And from their ashes renewed. I'll stand up from my crouching. As I'll turn, I'll say, you have assisted in bringing some of my home to Barovia, I think. Much obliged. Happy to help.

Learning more about you has made you less strange and creepy. But as you will temper your flame, I will make every moment to be less hasty, more understandable.

Would you speak of the wicked? Yes. Do you hold the same feelings for Victoria? She is... Her soul is wicked, but I do believe that there is much good in her. Would you give her the same fate today as you did to that woman, hanging her from the rafters? I...

I don't know. I feel differently today after seeing what she did. I would have gladly snapped her neck and given her a quick death. But her long hanging, knocked out, like absolutely defenseless. I see her in a different light. If

the darkest path is the one that we walk down, then of course I would not hang Miss Victoria. It would be death by fire. However, I do not believe that she is unsalvageable. I do see wickedness. I do see what Shraddhaanya sees in her. However, I believe

That her heart is stronger. I disagree with Davian that she is weak. I believe that it's her strength. That is the reason why Shraddhaanya desires her. She may be stronger than all of us combined. She has much mystery about her I have not uncovered yet. I believe that may be the case. But I intend to purge whatever wickedness there is and bring about renewal in whatever way I can.

And I will step forward. Before we retire, there's one thing I must do. I'll step forward and I'll get to the center and I'll get a general sense of where, what's her face, what's crazy old lady. And I'll put away my root seed and I'll pull out the single black, large, basically an equal size. And I'll lean down and I place it in.

You are gone, wickedness. To the tree, rise. Until your limbs fill the sky. Until your sighs fill the air at night. Raise your mighty limbs and give praise to the fire. I'll stand. Shall we retire? We shall. And I will guide you back.

Giving Victoria tons of time on watch. Can we just get a quick round of applause for Victoria?

I, for one, am looking forward to devoting my life to characters in the plot. They are writers. My blood pressure, my head's going like, who's your writer, Mike? Who's your writer, Mike? That was great, guys. Wonderful job. That got me like boomy. I love it.

Well, I mean, I think it's kind of hard to get. No, before that! Before you threatened to kill me. Before you threatened to kill her. Seriously, you guys, that was awesome. Yeah, that was so good. Victoria, what are you doing? I don't want to do it now! Don't be a meta butthead. Yeah, don't do it. Stick to your intentions. Yeah, well, keep your expectations low after that. Um...

So I would have kind of gone out. I guess I would have gone out and looked at the wagon and seen that there were all the ravens up above. I would just kind of glance like at the wench. Wench? Wench. Wench. Yeah, sorry, not wench. I wrote wench in my book. No, it can be a wooden wench. Dummy you are. That's one. It's a wench. There's one hot wench. I made a wood wench.

Big hot wooden window. So I would basically want to pray and I'll basically, this won't be out loud, it'll be in my head, but for the sake of kind of conveying what I'm praying about, I would say, oh, Nader, I've struggled for so long to balance what you...

which you teach us to take suffering from others and take it upon yourself. Um, you know, that,

It's so difficult to straddle the light in the dark, to bring light to others. You are constantly taking darkness into yourself. And I feel today that we've done something wonderful for this family, but at the same time, I have acted in such a way that darkness has nearly overcome me. And the man was right when he said that I was weak and weak.

I can't be weak and let something like that happen to me anymore. I need to find the strength to stay in the light and spread that light to others, banish the darkness instead of collecting it within me. So starting tomorrow, that would be my goal. And I will bring light with me going forward. And I'll just pray in class and I'll lay down when I'm done.

You have this moment and you feel invigorated, this sense of willpower within yourself to fully fight off the shadows that have always hidden at the fringes of who you are, that wickedness that creeps into your soul, your thoughts, your dreams, and you seal yourself to push away with the power of your God. You will be the person you were meant to be, not the person you were born to be.

and you lay yourself down and slowly drift to sleep. Either one of you doing anything? I'm doing wizardry. You do wizardry and you go to bed. All right, we'll leave it at that. Thanks, Rich. Are you doing deep leadership? I went to bed. Yeah, you went to bed. The two of you slowly make your way into the room. All is quiet. You see Victoria tossing from side to side. You can tell she hasn't fully drifted into sleep yet, but she is...

on her way there. Clayton is asleep off to the side and one of the further beds. A book held open in his hand as if he'd been mid-writing when he fell asleep. Jewel is stringing down the side of his face as he snores loudly as it echoes throughout the room. This is a sound you are not unfamiliar with. Shepard sleeps silently off to the other side.

Would you both make your way to your beds and go to sleep? Yep, my lantern down. I'll curl up around them. I'll spend like the first watch. I know we don't have to do watches, but I'll spend like a couple hours staying awake, just being vigilant, watching around the wagon as the ravens come and go.

If any of them decide to speak to me, they can, but I'm not trying to be an intimidating presence. I'm just kind of sitting on the ground, leaning up against the wagon. For the few hours you choose to do this, none of them change out of their raven forms. There are always at least 10 that stay near the wine. But you do see that they seem to be changing posts, flying around. You begin to kind of discern their pattern. They seem to be not only...

surveying the area immediate to the winery and the vineyard, but also heading down the path. And even along the path to Yesterhill, they come back and they change and they head out. And you just, you have an uneventful first few hours, but it looks like the Ravens have the watch on lockdown.

And then when I feel pretty confident in their ability and nothing has happened, I'll slip inside quietly into the bed. You slip inside and you find yourself slowly drifting off to sleep. A shepherd. Deep in sleep. You find yourself standing atop a cliff looking down at the smoldering ruins of Barovia before you.

And as you look down, you notice the silver armor adorning her body. An icy blue cloak whipping around your back in tune with the wind. And as you look down at your hands, you see a large two-handed sword

You take it and sheathe it behind your back. You feel like you have no control over this form as you're watching through these eyes. You feel the wings unfurl from behind you. You take flight into the air, circling the land you have claimed, the land that you have ridden of evil. As you fly directly towards Castle Ravenloft, still standing but barely moving,

The crumbling ruins of stone toppling down over the edge of the hill and you feel victorious. Victoria. You find yourself walking through a cold wooden hallway. Your feet, every footstep echoing against the walls. As you look down, you see that you're wearing a beautiful dress.

cloth nightdress. But you realize just as quickly that though it covers your body, it barely covers anything at all. The entire shape of every bit of you can be seen through it in the soft flickering candlelight of the lamps that are escombed to the wall. You find that you can't stop yourself from moving forward.

The candles flicker from side to side as you hear the creaking of a door up ahead. You're propelled forward almost against your will. You're attempting to hide every bit of your immodesty, but there's nothing you can do to hide what's beneath this ship. As you find yourself propelled in through a large, double-arched doorway, intricate wrought iron knotwork adorning every bit of it.

A large, massive four-poster bed sits in the very center of this room. Dark velvet bed hangings open at the front and laying there, arms outstretched, blood dripping down the side of her face, completely nude, Shraddha in her mom's arms. She looks up at you and she licks the blood from her face and she beckons you forward.

It's at this moment that you see three beautiful nude women bare their fangs at you as they pull themselves up out of the covers. All of them giggle and beckon to you. One of them jumps from the bed and makes her way towards you, pulling at your dress, pulling you towards the bed. And as you reach it,

Clayton. Are you sure we didn't have the wrong dreams? As I read. What was the last thing you said? As you reach it, you wake up. I wake up. But we're going to address what happens to Clayton in the evening. Oh, boy. Clayton, you find yourself in the midst of an earthquake. Your body is shaking and shaking. Looking around, it's nothing but darkness. Darkness.

As your eyes open and you realize you're not in an earthquake, but you're being shaken awake. You look around and you are in the winery. Your friends sleep, some soaring softly, others completely devoid of sound. Victoria tossing and turning, not in pain, almost in pleasure. As you look to the side and sitting on the floor next to you, it's the small girl.

She looks down at you. Hello. Are you awake? Yes, yes. Well, now I am, yes. You are snoring really loudly. I could not sleep. I'm sorry. I don't know how the rest of my companions can put up with it. I think they are used to it. And she looks over at Victoria, and she seems a little uncomfortable. You're also very loud, too. Oh, she does that all the time. How do you sleep so loud?

I've trained myself. At the beginning it was tough and slightly confusing, but... She reaches her hand out. My name is Vasha. Vasha, yes. No, I know you. My name is Clayton. I know what you did. What did I do? You killed me. I won't tell my family. It was an accident.

She looks at you and there's sorrow in her face. I know. I'm so sorry. I was trying to warn you, but my mommy told me not to. I just, I knew what they were doing and I didn't want you to get hurt. And I thank you so much for that. And those bad people, they are dead now. She puts her hand up to your mouth. I can see the sadness in you.

I know.

You're right, you're right, I need to... It's okay now. You're fine. You feel okay. I still feel kind of sick to my stomach, but I'm okay. And the wine helped a little bit. Well, can I give you a special treat?

Okay. Curia. And my case will open up, and I will... You see she kind of jumps back a little bit, almost scared to see you casting spells. I will dig in, and I will pull out a little...

a little satchel that is kind of wrapped in like a pastel pink. Can I have that? And she points at morbid Molly. No, no, no, you do not want that. It looks cuter than it is. It's really ugly, but I kind of like it. No, you don't want trust me. Once you get it, you can't get rid of it. So, but this is much better and more suited to your taste. I assure you.

And I kind of press the jitation it open with some sparks. And in this little pink kind of wrapper, there will be some toffee. This is from home. Can I have some? No, you can have all of it. She takes one. My favorite confection. And she puts it in. Those are very sweet. It's very sweet, but then to save it, you only need a little bit. But you can have the whole thing.

I'm going to have the whole thing. I've been saving it because toffee is my favorite sweet and it reminds me of home. It's my favorite sweet now, too. Well, it's yours. Thank you. She wraps it up and she holds it. She doesn't really have anywhere to put it. It is from my home city of Brie, the finest confectionery shop in the whole city. I will not eat all of them tonight.

If you want to, you can. I won't stop you. I won't. You're a liar. I won't. It's your candy now. You can do with it what you will. But I just, I feel like you, you should have it.

Thank you. And it's the least I can do. She puts her hand on the side of your face. Don't cry anymore. I did not tell mommy and I won't. They don't need to know what you did. They said you killed the women in the, in the hand mill. We did. Yes. Yes. Very shortly after. I'm glad I was not.

I'm glad I did not scare you with a... my... death... deed.

Yes. We've ended all of it. We've ended the cycle of murder. It's called children. And you, you're alive now, so it's okay. You're okay now. Yes. And I want to kind of like, I'll like rub my hand on her. She leans in and she gives you a really tight hug.

She's warm and she's real and you give her a hug and she holds you tightly and she says, Thank you for giving my mommy back a gift. My family's back at home. It was a mistake. I'm so sorry and

Please, let me know if there's anything else I can do. I have to go to bed now. Yes, just stay out of danger. I won't eat all of the candy. Don't eat all the candy, if you can help it. I know it's very delicious. But I won't eat the rest. There's a lot of sugar. You'll be up all night if you eat all of it. So get some sleep. And keep it hidden so that you don't have to share. I won't tell anyone. I will hide it in my course for you.

My fiery horse, Bossephalus, nightmare speed of the dread lord.

Oh, that sounds very ominous. Indeed, you're very powerful, I can tell. A very powerful raven. I feel being, she looks at Connor, a big raven. Powerful. You will, I can tell. You've been given a second chance. Go to bed now. Yes. For being a very bad man. Oh, I know. Yes, you're right. Go to sleep. I will go to bed right away. You give a little girl alcohol. I won't tell anyone. I won't tell either. And she's scampered up. Good night. Good night.

And I will smile to myself and feel warmed in my soul and I will go to bed. That is where we'll end the session. So it is true what they say. The ravens will always come home to roost. The source of the vineyard's blight may have been uprooted and purged, but dark druid's corruption still lingers. Threatening to consume the Matico family once more,

Will this good deed go unpunished? Find out in Chapter 7 of Curse of Stradania, Creeping Rot. 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. You can also enjoy our many campaigns on YouTube, support us on Patreon, and join our community on Discord. All links are in the show notes. We welcome you to the Aventress family.