So the brave adventurers once again found themselves in an extremely well thought-out situation! Facing the proverbial "Lord of the Land" who has been described as enigmatic. Something between a mighty ruler who has ruled for a very long time and at the other extreme with power beyond measure here. The truth isn't 100% known but he is at the very least powerful up to and including quasi god-like. So the lord as well as two of his 'children', on a road, in the deep forest, at night, alone, with no town in sight, they came up with a clever and amazing plan ... They decided to attack??? YOLO!!! Actually, it was mainly Talia who decided to attack enraged by what Strahd had done to her she worked herself into a blood frenzy and launched in a flurry of claws at him. The other adventurers at that point were somewhat along for the ride as it was clear Talia wasn't going to relent still very confused, scared, and angry from the events of the previous night. So though initially Strahd was talkative and almost pleasant his tone and demeanor shifted (literally) to quite unpleasant. So we went from this--- to this.... virtually instantly. He chided the group about their actions attacking the innocent who had done nothing except wish to make new playmates. He also rebuked the arguments that he had somehow harmed these children saying that the fate that awaited them was far worse than had he not intervened on their behalf. He also excoriated (look it up!) the group for being so quick to judge and that so called monsters are often men and the terrible monsters that men fear are sometimes misunderstood or nothing of the sort. Did the words ring true or ring hollow? Time will tell... but in the interim Talia wanted to 'play' just as the children did. So play they did! Talia launched into Strahd and her strikes were true slashing into him with bared claws. He apparently was not terribly fond of that and almost casually waved a hand Talia's direction. Effortlessly he fired Talia through the air like a ragdoll slamming her into a tree trunk and pinning her there. Your overall perception was that of a parent holding a petulant child at bay while it is throwing a temper tantrum. Strahd be all like... Amused Mastery After some back and forth with various attacks and counterattacks from the two groups, the children and Strahd employed several of the supernatural abilities of their side. This started to turn the tide of battle where the party was either frightened or ensorceled in some way so that they began to fight one another. By this time a creeping Mist had encircled part of the area (shocker!) and as things seemed to be going poorly Tess leaped out of the mist with a grievous rapier strike to the throat of the vampire child. She was about to pounce on Sana but the wound was so severe Tess pierced all the way through her neck from one side to the other impaling her. Vampires being somewhat interested in keeping their blood at least as much as humans, if not more, aren't too keen on gaping neck wounds. The creature shrunk back in terror clutching at the horrific wound. Strahd become enraged by this and declared "play time was over". He launched a small flaming missile directly into the middle of the group which exploded into a conflagration of flame inflicting heavy damage on nearly everyone within the effect range. Now with part of the group still feared, others charmed, and the remainder smoldering from the explosive attack things were looking fairly grim. Valeros dragged the unconscious body of Talia out of the radius of another potential attack. Everyone steeled themselves for another potentially fatal ball of flame, Except Vitallis who continued running quickly into the woods to summon a horde of woodland creatures to assist. He found chipmunks, and some froq squirrels to help, but sadly, no manbearpig could be found! Just then something rather odd happened, and Tess even announced ahead of time she may be killed for it. She grabbed up the heavily injured vampire child and ran to Strahd placing the child at his feet. She quickly explained this was a "peace offering" of sorts and asked to be let go with no further hostility. Turning up the charm / persuasion to 10 it apparently worked. Strahd's demeanor returned to normal (There is an actual physical transformation when he fully 'vamps out') and his voice and tone calmed. He once again chided the group for meddling in things they do not fully understand and being unable to separate monster from true monster. He left with parting words and an ominous warning. This time you may leave freely, circumstances may be very different when next we meet. With that, he grabbed the child and both dispersed into a large swam cloud of bats flying off into the night. After regrouping and making sure everyone was in control of themselves again, the group decided making camp here in the forest was a -really- bad idea, they pressed onwards to the City of Vallaki. After another hour and a half and a mercifully uneventful trip they arrived at the city which was heavily fortified compared to the village of Barovia. Some quick banter with the guards revealed the location of the Inn and also the potential whereabouts of the Mayor of Barovia. They seemed to have some urgency in their voice regarding this last part so the group decided to seek him out first even though they were road weary from travel and battle. Upon crossing the cityscape to the far side they came across a large cathedral that looked like it had been started to be renovated. Still broken down and dilapidated like most everything in this land, it had a fresh coat of paint in the way of fortifications and reinforcements to its exterior. Giving the appearance of a fortress as much as a house of worship. A large stage like platform had been erected in the street directly in front of the church and a big group of people had gathered though it was fast approaching midnight. Once the group got closer they saw why. There were 3 people who appeared to be the target of a public execution. With typical pomp and circumstance some familiar faces exited the church and alighted onto the platform with the requisite church bell tolling for the midnight hour and the pending "Cleansing" ritual. The familiar faces were the zealots from the Eye and Fist of Torm order, who apparently were now calling themselves the Church of the Salvation in this new place. Some quick chatter with the crowd had revealed they'd been here 3 months or so but had made amazingly fast progress converting the townsfolk to their cause and beliefs. The old priest of Lathander the Morninglord was largely seen as ineffectual since the land was plagued by evil and he seemed powerless to stop it. His prayers going unanswered with the morninglord apparently forsaking the faithful for whatever reason. When newcomers appear who wield -actual- power and promise redemption and hope, it takes very little to convert the faithful. The usual suspects identified themselves prior to the cleansing. High Confessor Gaius Meritus Servitus Luskania Pontificate Avitus Regulus Mercurio Vindicator Tarkus Quintus Brutus After more long winded religious diatribes and preaching from the High Confessor about sin, heresy, salvation, and repentance, the list of crimes for each of the accused was read off to the crowd so they understood why the punishment was needed. First up was "Mad Mary" Mary Mardigan who had just recently invited strangers into her home for dinner and to play with her children who were sometimes shy. She was accused of heresy and conspiring with dark powers for unholy favor, she was to be burned alive at the stake like any witch would, of course... She seemed incredibly calm about this proclamation a look of complete hopelessness and defeat in her eyes. The second up was a tiny odd creature with a somewhat draconic and dog-like visage. Not even 3 feet tall this pathetic being had been heavily beaten by the obvious bruising and scarring on its body. It was wearing a ragged jester's cap and suit. It's 'crime' was pronounced as skulking and waiting in ambush to obviously attack small children since that is the only prey it would be capable of catching. It was inherently evil vs. choosing to be like the 'witch' so would be swiftly beheaded by the headsman's axe. Most of the group had seen this creature before, and in point of fact, rescued it from other would be tormentors once before. This was Queeqeg who had been useful with information pertaining to the cultists though that seemed like a lifetime ago now though it wasn't so far away. And the last person to be ritually cleansed was one Mayor Kolyan
Ismark Indirovich the Greater, AKA Mayor of Barovia. The person the group had been tasked to find by his son Ismark the Lesser. He was also bound and shackled like the others and looks like he had undergone some "faith healing" since he was as battered and bruised as Queeqeg was. His crime, was a high crime, being a public official. Treason was high crime by abusing the power of his office for ill deeds, the punishment for treason was death by hanging. (of course!) The actual pronouncement of his crime was as follows-- "Attempting to exchange ill gotten goods
with the heathen Mad Abbot of the old monastery. Brought gifts and bribes in
exchange for dark knowledge of sorcery and blood. The abbot freely admitted he had met with the mayor in exchange for some rare
materials he was looking for. The abbot said that the mayor asked only for
knowledge in exchange for the materials. Since the abbot is a known madman who
is rumored to experiment on the dead, it is clear to anyone not stupid or naive, that any knowledge one would
seek from him would be forbidden and heretical in nature." The group was very conflicted about this predicament because it certainly -seemed- like this was a set of trumped up charges. Mad Mary was attempting to help her children, that was all the group knew for sure. Queeqeg hadn't been a menace whatsoever since he was first encountered, and the Mayor's story was new and not clear but given the first two and the Church's propensity for giving 'salvation' to those that wanted it or not, it seemed like a fair assessment. Valeros and Tess in particular had really had enough of this pompous old man telling everyone how wonderful the Church of the Salvation was and how righteous and just their cause was while preparing to execute people in a public display of force. Tess 'spoke up' rather loudly and rudely before the act could be completed. The crowd was stunned and hushed at the bold proclamation and the "asshole" tag given to a holy man. Valeros piled it on as well claiming they were false prophets who had changed gods in short order since he knew the true history of the "Church of the Salvation", he was also quite fuming about their intolerant and rigid belief system. Right around the time that the High Confessor was growing more angry at this insubordination he whipped the crowd into a frenzy and attempted to turn the mob on the party. With some quick thinking and really lucky dice rolls (praise be to RNGesus!) Uriel was able to fascinate multiple targets on the stage at once. The High Confessor doubled his rage at this sight but with some other good dice rolls the group was able to point out some of the flaws in the ideology of the Church and some of their hypocrisy. This had just enough of an affect to quell the lynch mob and instill some doubt. The mob cooled and the High Confessor sensing the change called off tonight's ritual for a 24 hour period. After the drama and almost disaster (again) a man who had been skulking around the base of the platform came over and introduced himself as Father Lucian Petrovich. He was apparently the deposed abbot here at this church that used to be dedicated to Lathander. Because the townspeople saw him as inept with no prayers for help being answered when the Salvation Army (lol!) arrived they were all too quick to toss him aside. He appeared to feel guilty for not speaking up louder and letting them take root as fast as they did. He did mention in their defense though, that they had done many good deeds and been of help to the townspeople so he understands the commoners' draw to them. When Uriel informed him of the potential source of their power he was horrified that they themselves may be dealing in the same dark arts they denounce publicly. Around this same time Nano made it clear that there was another considerably more powerful ('higher clearance') AI operating inside the building. He also made clear that there was an acute danger he could be co-opted and overriden by this rogue AI. He decided that a minimum safe distance would be 2km to avoid such a thing from happening. The party made a large mental note of this. They concluded their business with Father Lucian hatching a nascent plan to perhaps infiltrate the Church and at the very least rescue the accused with the possible secondary (and more risky) goal of disable or liberating the other AI, destroying the power source, or bringing the church itself down in some way. The details of the plan were not clear yet, but Father Lucian seemed happy and invigorated that someone had finally come to help him figure out how to best remove this nuisance that had been disrupting the natural rhythm of Barovian life and perhaps return things back to something more normal before their arrival. They agreed to meet an hour after dawn behind the Blue Water Inn.
