So after our last lovely scry of the evening, we learned a few things: Strahd was taking the merfolk and turning them, Rahadin was in full gear war mode, and Nadia had been taken and was already turning others in the lake.
We had work to do.
While most of us slept in the Tiny Hut inside the Inn, the artificers Kalina and Tanner got to work prepping everything we needed. Silver powder. Ruby dust. Some bombs. You know, average supplies. Leaving the clerics their requested supplies, Tanner and Kalina then went to meet with... the elves.
Kasimir is my cleric's least favorite person, but only because Alkali isn't counting Strahd and Rahadin as people. BUT Tanner rightly guessed, Kasimir and Patrina also wanted to see Rahadin suffer, and so he supplied them with spellbooks (since as "GUESTS" of Ravenloft, theirs were confiscated) to gain their assistance.
Patrina was fucking giddy and sprinted off with hers to prepare and I'm betting this girl never needed the promise of vampirism to be blood thirsty. Kasimir kinda just grimaced a lot and looked at his sister like 'something's going to burn down, okay, lets come to terms with it now.'
For the Record: Tanner, a whole ass day later, still hasn't told Alkali, because he has an INT of 20 and she has a SPITE of 30
On the way back to Kalina's place to pick up some other things, our vamp courier friend Lexx came streaking like a bat out of hell towards Tanner demanding to know what she just delivered to Strahd.
APPARENTLY Strahd DID NOT like Tanner's Very Thoughtful prosthetic gauntlet and DOES believe in killing the messenger.
Tanner apologized, explained, and watched a vampire get somehow more pale. He then told her she best get out of Vallaki asap cause it was about to become a No Go space for all undead, and he didn't want her hurt. Chased by vampires and werewolves, maybe, but not hurt.
And because he's an Artificer™, Tanner had been having ideas. Ideas about motes and running water around the town, connecting the water to the lake, etc. Tanner didn't have the time for this, but he knew two crotchety old women with specialties in moving parts and liquids.
Kalina's grandmother Ethel and the local alchemist Faraga fucking hate each other, but they're the best in their games around. Big "If she dies who the fuck do I harass?" energy with them. Tanner found a questionable temp youth potion from the Bonegrinders... and he was offering it to the victor.
So while the rest of us fool are dealing with vampires, these two horny and hateful old women were racing to invent plumbing out of sheer spite - you love to see it.
What you DON'T love to see is Tanner trotting over to the tannery where he left Strahd's fucking HAND to be turned into a GLOVE because he AND the lowercase-t tanner are both absolutely fucking haunted.
Thankfully, Alkali had already drained the hand of its blood for her own haunted uses.
Meanwhile, since all this shit was happening at like 5am, around 20 minutes to sunup, Alkali got to work. Planning to do the ritual downstairs in the inn, she had a word with Denica about using the floor space and was told she'd received post.
Alkali was handed a letter with achingly familiar handwriting, and sort of felt her stomach drop. A vistani man had dropped it off, but it was marked with post from the port where she was supposed meet her twin.
She had no idea how this letter got to her, what this possibly meant for her brother, and she really really hated to think on it. She had just held Mina through her grieving and now had to go save 1 of 2 mertwins she promised to protect — THIS was already too much sibling crisis without factoring in her own.
So she put the letter away, trusted her brother was Far Far Far Away from this, and actually got to work with Forbiddance. Now. Forbiddance is a damn good spell. But it's not Protect the Town good. Vallaki's pretty big.
But you gotta love a fish with faith huh?
Her casting of the spell at the heart of the town was amplified by the town's guarding Saint, a being Alkali once animated the bones of to also defend the town in new and exciting ways, leaving them in her debt. This spell rolled out like crashing waves to the walls of Vallaki and held.
Now the fun thing: all of Alkali's magic is wet. It's just how it be when you're an Umberlee bitch. So for the first time EVER, these landlocked, lake-fearing Barovians are all hearing the sounds of waves and ocean, like she just slapped seashells to all of their ears.
Now there was some unrest about that, and maybe we should have given Burgomaster Ismark a heads up, but eh. They're fine.
As long as you hear the sea in Vallaki, you're safe.
Back together again, the party split up once more with the majority going to find horses and Tanner and Alkali off to pay Lady Wachter a visit. Von Holtz had promised to send us a carriage to speak face to face, but we were on a time crunch. Fish to save. So. Horses.
Lady Wachter... we know she's fucky. We don't know her whole ass deal, but we know Things™ and we know she's pro-Strahd even if she sat on the Vallaki Council. So Tanner made it quite clear that she had a choice. She either heed our words and understand Vallaki (and thus herself) were in danger OR we eliminated her as one of those dangers. She was Not Pleased. But we promised her we could be more rewarding than Strahd if she swore herself to the town entirely.
Restoring her family seemed to be the incentive she needed (but never a knock a death threat).
That all set, off to the Von Holtz estate we went. Along the way we saw your fun and casual and totally new roadside grave, sensed some undead lurking in the woods, and just sort of rushed on by all of it because it's a Ride to the estate and this was only a bullet point on our to-do list.
We get there, we stated our business, and we were asked to wait. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. 20 minutes. We joked that this motherfucker was taking so long we could have cast Forbiddance in here. For funsies.
Von Holtz arrived, said he didn't expect us so soon, and sat across from us. Now. We're quite the party with our NPC friends, six strong. And dear Kalina... is a newfound Paladin of Gond. The moment he walked in, she nudged Tanner under the table because her God Senses were tingling.
So not everyone knows, but things start to... feel off. Tanner runs the conversation, having been the one to strike the deal about trading some manner of protection to Holtz for the dragon skull in his study. And the rest of us start to... pay attention.
As the deal proceeds, Tanner moves to shake Von Holtz's hand, and holds out his left one, putting Holtz in a position to do the same. But Holtz strictly holds out his right. Because for as much as it SEEMS he has a left hand...
he doesn't anymore. We have that in a bag.
And the moment Tanner asks why he didn't like the gift, all the remaining pieces fit into place and we realize we're in a small room with Strahd.
It fell quickly into mayhem. We were not prepared for THIS encounter exactly, but we made do. He pulled some funhouse shit and melded into the walls, as these runes started flashing around the room and we realized we were locked in.
(Oh, and don't worry. The hellhound there is ours. His name is Bandit.)
We started busting down the door, we know we did some Good Startling hits to Strahd before he vanished, but the goal was to get out, get the skull, and Peace. We mostly all got out, he showed himself again, AGAIN tried to fish and bag Arabelle, but I twin Reaper cantrip'd him (thank you Death Domain) and the fish and the polymorph dropped.
Then we started wailing on him.
Maybe we don't run yet. Maybe... Maybe we see if we can mist him. Or—
A few of us dropped to 0 when the runes in the room went off, but Mass Cure Wounds is a very good scroll and they're back up. We got... wildly close to making him HURT, but he just phased into the wall and was gone again, so we move.
Fool just keeps underestimating us though. He had prepared to give us the skull. Had had it loaded onto our cart outside well before we realized what he was. So Tanner shrunk it, shoved it into the bag of holding, and we Booked It to the lake.
We short rested out there, everyone checking in on each other, and Tanner gave Kalina the protective ring he was going to give Holtz. Alkali squinted angrily at a boat out on the lake, but most importantly, we recovered so much HP. Oh my gods were we low.
And it's about this point that I, Kaitie, started to run through EVERY Fucking Encounter with Holtz and shriek a little now knowing he's Strahd. Lads. I said so much shit to his face with a smile and a courtesy and he couldn't do shit. I WINED AND DINED HIS BRIDES WHILE HE WATCHED. Bless.
But I'm also left thinking of the original 'deal' Von Holtz wanted to strike where we let Arabelle and Rowan stay at his estate for a time and how he PROMISED Strahd would never know and I just
BUT we still had to get in the lake and see the damage. No rest for the weary in Barovia, folks.
