Session 1 — The Mists Don't Care Where You Were Going

Session 1 — The Mists Don't Care Where You Were Going

What Happened

Four travelers woke up in a forest that had been completely replaced overnight. The trees were different. The road was different. A low mist was eating the landscape behind them as they walked, which the party correctly identified as a hint to keep moving. Celeste tested this by throwing a rock into the mist. The rock still existed. The mist remained unconcerned.

Five hours down a road flanked by trees clawing at the fog, they reached a 30-foot gate flanked by two enormous headless statues. The heads were lying in the weeds. Nobody remarked on this. Celeste tried walking sideways into the mist to look for another entrance and earned a level of exhaustion for her trouble. The mist deposited her back on the road. The gate, when Merich eventually pushed it open, swung easily — which is when the party discovered the young man lying dead on the other side. He'd been there about a week. He looked like six levels of exhaustion. His name was never learned. Celeste immediately cut his head off.

He was carrying a letter from Kolyan Indirovich, Burgomaster of Barovia. The letter described a vampire that had drained the land for 400 years, an adopted daughter named Ireena Kolyana who had been bitten, and an earnest request to please just leave them for dead and put up some holy symbols to keep the evil contained. The party read this, noted the seal was pretty, and walked into Barovia anyway.

The mist followed them to the edge of a gate and refused to go further. This was somehow less reassuring than if it had followed them in.

They camped outside the village proper. During Brother Moro's watch, a scarecrow with a carved, glowing pumpkin head shambled out of the trees toward the fire. The party engaged. Celeste blasted it. Merich missed with a two. Sable put an arrow in it. Brother Moro waited, then when the scarecrow left the mist and came into range, he shot it with a crossbow, then ran behind it and punched it in the butt. The scarecrow died from this. The stick holding it up shattered. Its head rolled down the road. Everyone agreed this was its cause of death. The rest of the night was uneventful. Celeste recovered from her exhaustion. The party ate breakfast and moved on.

Entering Barovia village, they found it empty, cold, and quiet in the deliberate way that implies something has made it quiet. The mist ushered them toward a tall townhouse at the end of a lane with streaked white walls, a groaning iron gate that opened on its own, and windows that felt like eyes. Standing outside were two children: a girl of about ten in a tattered red cloak, and a boy of about six holding her sleeve and a stuffed animal, crying. The girl asked the party to help. There was a monster in their house. In the basement. Their parents were keeping it there. They hadn't seen their parents in a while.

The party walked inside. The children did not.

Ground floor: hunter's den with three mounted wolves, a cask of wine that had turned to vinegar, a locked cabinet containing a heavy crossbow, a light crossbow, a hand crossbow, and 60 bolts. Sable took the hand crossbow and the deck of playing cards she found in an unlocked cabinet. The dining room had crystal and silverware the party pocketed (silverware specifically, with vampires in mind). The kitchen had a dumbwaiter, a pantry with suspiciously fresh food, and a small door to a closet containing black cloaks, a top hat, and wood paneling carved with serpents and skulls hidden among the decorative motifs. The stairs only went up. The front door, when someone tried it on the way back, was locked. The children were innocent. The house was not.

Second floor: a library where Sable found a hidden door behind the bookshelves by pulling books off until one opened a passage instead of rotting in her hands. The room beyond contained fiend-summoning and necromantic literature, a skeleton in leather armor with three darts in it (the chest's trap no longer functioned, mercifully), and a chest holding three blank books, three spell scrolls (bless, protection from poison, spiritual weapon), the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill east of Vallaki, and a will bequeathing all property to Rosavalda and Thornbolt Durst. The desk in the library held an iron key. Merich took the longsword off the fireplace mantel. Also found: a letter from Strahd von Zarovich addressed to someone in the house, informing them they were not his chosen servants, that he found their altar work and torture dungeon distasteful but convenient, and that he preferred them as they were — worms in his earth. A raven cawed when his name was read aloud. Sable shot at the raven. The raven was not hit.

Third floor: a dusty balcony with a suit of black plate armor in a cobwebbed corner, which Merich touched. The armor came to life. Initiatives were rolled. Several things missed. Brother Moro flanked the armor and punched it. Merich hit it with the longsword. Sable put an arrow through its neck hole and the magic keeping it together dissipated. The armor fell in tarnished pieces. Merich did not get to keep it.

Master bedroom on the third floor: a four-poster bed with tattered gossamer, a tiger skin rug, a jewelry box containing three gold rings and a platinum necklace with a topaz pendant, and a portrait of the family — Gustav and Elizabeth Durst with two smiling children and a swaddled baby. The mother appeared to regard the baby with something the DM called "a hint of scorn."

The final room of the session: an adjoining servant's bedroom led to a nursery. Celeste opened the door. A specter — a skeletally thin young woman, screaming — appeared in front of a crib. The specter did not explain herself. She screamed at the names of Gustav and Elizabeth. She screamed at the names of Rose and Thorn. She screamed at the crib when Brother Moro knocked the shroud off it. The crib was empty. The specter screamed louder. Eldritch blasts connected with moderate reliability. Brother Moro was life-drained for 10 necrotic damage and rolled a nat 20 on the constitution save that would have reduced his maximum hit points. He was very pleased about this.

The session ended mid-fight with the specter.

Key Decisions

NPCs Met

Locations Visited

Items Found

Loose Threads