Session 37: Parks and Recreation (3/16/25)

Desnova 17 

The PCs finish up their trades with Orglo, securing the ring of regeneration for Mockleg. They head out into the park where they meet a poet who is trying to impress students. Instead, Bjork performs and gets a better reaction from a student, local gardener and the poet. They head back out into the city, visiting the Silversmith whom Nebol'shoy needs to hire for a job creating a component for his spell. Zmierv warns the party that their (former) friend Sludd had stolen from him, but they claim not to really know the guy. Bjork sings a tune that is noticed by an unusual old lady, who gifts him a seemingly dead mouse (which turns out to still move). He departs with Aldren to check out a few shops while Rucia and Nebol'shoy head into Ptarmigan Park after the lady.

Rucia wanders deeper into the park, and is then confronted by some sort of mime or jester, who is partnered with some shady individual in the bushes that attempts to pick the paladin's pockets. The mime hurls some juggling balls at the dragonkin and then flees to the park exit while Rucia tries to find whoever was in the bushes. The mime confronts Nebol'shoy at a park exit, and a battle is initiated. A spiked ball is stuck into the gnome's face, but then he retaliates with a blight spell that insta-gibs the street performer. He searches the mime's basket and finds more balls, juggling knives, coin and some candles that are evidence he might have worked for the Brothers Dimm! Rucia is unsuccessful at tracking the accomplice, and the two cover the mime's body in the bushes and head deeper into the park to find the old lady Agba...



Aldren and Bjork visit a local pet shop where the ranger purchases a number of woodland animals, a raven and a magpie, all of which he is presumed to want to free outside the city. They notice there is also a large crayfish painted white in honor of the local legend of Old Marrow (RIP). They arrange to pick up the animals the following morning. Afterwards they head over to the Blade and Bulwark to inquire about some armor and any 'special items' they might have around.

Rucia and Nebol'shoy find Agba after sharing soup with another local hobo, there's a philosophical difference of opinion which turns into a brawl, despite the gnome's attempts to separate them. Agba summons the man outside (Griefv) to come to her aid, and unleashes deadly magics upon the paladin, who begins to clobber and smite the strangely resilient crone. As they fight, the tent animates and sprouts a quartet of deer legs, and begins to escape the park, causing much of a stir among the populace in the south of the city. Bjork notices his mouse is fidgeting strangely even at a great distance. After several rounds of combat, Griefv and Agba and their tent manage to shake off Rucia and the gnome, and they choose not to pursue. In the commotion, the guard and most locals don't notice they were involved.

The party members converge back on the Gravers' Guild for a discussion with Ser Arkimedes who tells them he'd be interested in their ideas for a next 'dig' or expedition. Smite-Eyes' Tower is named as a possibility, which the PCs say they might eventually be headed towards anyway. 

Desnova 18

After a troubled night for Rucia, who has a vision of glowing-eyed undead mice stalking the Guild, the PCs wake up and have breakfast with the halfling. A wagon has been arranged to pick up the PCs, their cache and purchased goods and bring them back to the docks. They grab their animals. Rucia visits the Libellum Sanctos and speaks with Father Feydruun, who attempts to convert him to a paladin of Sanctos, as he has heard of the paladin's exploits and is an avowed enemy of Boriya Mikhailovic. He knows that Boriya's family does spend some time at the esteemed Halfwynter Lodge, a favored ski resort for the nobility of Brazoskov, highly exclusive and protected by mercenaries.

They return to the docks, let loose the folding boat and then travel north to the mouth of the Jaggerhead Lake, as the skies begin to storm and rain heavily. They notice a strange disturbance in a cemetery on the shore as they prepare to down-size the boat and cross to the Skorbi River.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs:

Agba (d'vryn female): A hunched, heavily wrinkled old lady with greasy, cropped white hair that is tied back into a topknot. Shuffles along with some assistance from a stick, seems to appreciate good songs, and offers Bjork an undead mouse for one of his performances. This offends Rucia, who tracks the old lady down and realizes that she is some sort of homeless, powerful, necromantic witch hiding out in Ptarmigan park. He confronts her and Griefv but they escape in their ambulatory tent! 

Griefv (??? male): Lanky, tall old man with a grim face and long, straw-colored hair. He wears the straw hat of a local farmer and is short of speech, unless really needed. Seems immensely strong for someone of his frame, and quite possibly undead or 'other'.

Mighty Svatsky (human male): A poet with long, curled hair that is possibly some sort of fancy wig. Hangs out among the nobility of Brazoskov, including stings at Halfwynter Lodge and the Skolareum at Arkany. Possibly interested in hiring Bjork for a collaboration, putting music to his prose, since he thinks the youth of the area are more interested in magic and gossip than the arts proper.

Sven (human male): Stocky and square-shouldered, square-jawed oaf who steers a cart for rent in the city of Arkany.

Session 36: The Claw is the Law (2/23/25)

Desnova 15 

The PCs examine the empty clearing now that the vampiric castle Bloodwalls has withered, recovering their Gravers' Guild cache and checking out the old, broken architecture that lies about the place. They decide to travel a bit west into the Tzarswald before resting to regain the health that they lost to the castle's curse. Several of them notice a rush of breeze or wind across the canopy of the woods, leading back to where they came, and this seems to persist for miles. They set up camp in a secured copse of trees with a leomund's shelter and notice some animals rooting around.

Desnova 16

They return to the Flailing Marsh and decide to recover Old Marrow's claw from the Crumblemoor, since Aldren wants to solve the riddle of the huntress's shrine. A cloud of giant flies has taken residence, feasting on the corpses of the disfigured giants and the crayfish itself. They are 'surprised' by a bumpkin local hunter intent on catching and eating one of the flies, but he is frightened off by Bjork's magic. The PCs carefully approach around the south of the keep, not wanting to provoke the flies, and they make it to the moldering corpse of the colossal crayfish. While they saw away to get the claw, Nebol'shoy communicates with the flies, who are protecting the maggots that are now growing in the corpses of the fallen fomori! They have a rather limited vocabulary...

The PCs next decide to return to Omutny where they can pick up Condor at the Herring House, and cross the Jaggerhead Lake. They have some difficulty getting to shore, but as they do, they meet up with Brother Beandip and decide to leave Marrow's claw on display for the time being (while Aldren tracks down the other two legendary quarry for the riddle). After their business, they decide to head out to Arkany where they can sell or trade off items and report back to the Guild. En route, while Aldren is steering Rucia's folding boat, the ship is attacked by some tentacled monstrosity that resembles an octopus with a human face. It is quickly dispatched by magic once the other PCs awaken and come out to assist the ranger.

They arrive late at night and 'parking' is limited in the Arkany harbor until they transform the folding boat, surprising the guards on duty. They trek back to the Gravers' Guild, using the flickering lantern combo to give the right password and enter. Here they spend the evening after reporting to Sir Arkimedes Oldwater. 

Desnova 17

In the morning, they head out into the city to use the money exchange, where they set up an account that can be accessed through the various city banks throughout Brazoskov, and they swap a bunch of the more valuable magic items with the goblin Orglo in the Skolareum. Aldren has a run in with Rembolt Fuddlemuzz, one of the rogues that had kidnapped him in their last stint within the city walls, and they return the burnt out 'candle' they found in the cellar prison at Bloodwalls, though the gnome still tries to deny that he has anything to do with the Brothers Dimm. After settling their business, the PCs decide their next move.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 35: Family Feud (12/28/24)

Desnova 15, 1423.

The PCs continue to struggle against Csunori, who armors her new corpse up with magic and proceeds to engage them in melee whilst Boriya's skeletal naga hurl spells and create chaos. Aldren runs into an adjoining chamber only to confront the young villain himself, who approaches calmly and asks the elf to hand over what he's carrying. Thanking him for handing it directly over! The gargoyles spray blood into the melee above, greasing up the area and making it more difficult to move, but our heroes have by this point whittled down most of their opposition with whatever desperate strength and magic they have left to them. Boriya magically paralyzes Aldren and then claims the lantern, transporting himself away, much to the dismay of his 'lover' Csunori, who is defeated and then beaten to a pulp (and then some) by Rucia, who has exacted vengeance for his clan at last! He even removes her magical undead heart and then ruptures that, putting to rest another of the unusual relics which seem to have given the Naturalists their strange and effective powers...

Our heroes proceed on through the cellars, exploring a nearby ossuary as well as the library/shrine in which Boriya was waiting. They find a tome called the Codex Nefarium which details the Palace of Splendorous Agonies, supposed otherworldly home to the devil whose very shrine this is. They also come across several crypt chambers, one with the heavily sealed tombs of soldiers, another for what must have been servants or such, in which they find a prosthetic finger wearing a magic ring, and an opaque, cobwebbed bottle of 'endwine.' Other features of the cellars are a distillery for blood-infused wines and liquors, a torture chamber, and several areas with stocks and prison cells for the mortals that the Vilensky family and their kin must have drained through the centuries. They notice there are some emaciated, vampiric humanoids still crawling about the place, but they seem rather skittish, begging the PCs only to not 'take their blood'. They even follow one to to the Well where it is lapping at the deadly contents...but no sign of Sludd down there.

After finding a puzzle contraption in some of the blood stockades, they activate it and gain access to a previously blocked off corridor, leading them into the Vilensky Vault, heart of the riches of the family that last reined over the vampiric castle. In addition to an iron key covered in swirling vines, the object of their search here, they come across a heap of ancient coins, valuables, and a magical medallion and instrument. There are also floor plans which allow the PCs to see how they can shut off the circulation of vitae throughout Old Bloodwalls. Rucia and Bjork do so in the distillery, putting out the flames that activate the steam circulator pipes which pump all the blood being drained from the castles victims and the surrounding Tzarswald. They dimension door outside to the rest of the party, and the castle seems to collapse as if deflating...into a mere stain of blood in the center of a depressed hill, sitting in the forest. The veil has been lifted about the clearing, only the surrounding ruins remain, and the curse that was draining the PCs seems to disappear. Our heroes prepare to rest and do some bookkeeping at a nearby settlement while they determine their next moves.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 34: Blood is Thicker Than Slaughter (11/17/24)

Desnova 15, 1423.

The PCs search the remainder of the rooms that Razakhel was using, and then decide, due to their ever sickening conditions, to move quickly to find the lower level of the Castle. They return through the servants quarters to the first floor, and then search some of the northern side of the castle, finding a large, covered garden terrace. In addition to being overgrown, it contains some strange nests that look like they are built from nettles, feathers and blood. Soon they are assaulted by vampiric winged creatures that can summon up clouds of stirges that will attach themselves to our heroes and drain them. However, the enemies are soon dispatched as they cannot compete with the PCs' power. They search through the terrace and find the remains of the forest gnome green thumb 'VV' whose cart must lie out in the courtyard.



They proceed to find a pair of towers and another battlement terrace, and in each of the towers is a daunting statue, one named 'Prvoslav Kral' and the other 'Dragi of the Stepped', who wields a skeletal longbow. Kral's statue hides a pressure plate which Nebol'shoy and Bjork uncover, that leads down into the cellars. They gather up the party and proceed down, combining and reading the two pieces of the rune to remove the death-rune that Csunori has left behind as a trap. Beyond this is a pair of store-rooms, the first of which is relatively empty other than a black widow spider which bites Aldren as he places his hand into the old vase it calls his home. In the second, more elaborate stores closet, they find an unusual crate wrapped in chains, which is accessed by the copper keys from the ring in the second floor Smoke-Room. It contains a two-headed skeleton with eyes of blazing fire crystal, which seems to animate and follow the PC who frees it. This unnatural creature is quickly dispatched by the others, to the dismay of some.

The next area is a deep, octagonal well of blood that is fed by several gargoyles on the walls that spray bloody mist from other areas in the castle, perhaps as it drains the very lifeblood of the Tzarswald and all who enter. Csunori and a group of undead dragonborn await them, and deadly battle is joined. Mockleg and Rucia dimension door straight behind her, putting the silvery necromancer at a disadvantage as she attempts to mock her attackers. The dead dragonborn put up more of a resistance than the PCs expect, made worse when a trio of skeletal nagas arrive from the nearby entrances to enforce Csunori. In addition, after the dragonborn zombies are felled, the whisper of an incantation arrives through the cellars, and they rise once more!!! The PCs finally cut down Csunori, but she transmogrifies into one of her undead minions and re-enters the fight!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 33: Hotel Blood (8/25/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

After detecting magic, the PCs discover some of the spears held by the statue's horse are magical, and break them free of the statue. Nebol'shoy is also damaged when sweeping the room and seeing what the cat statue from the storage closet radiates. They head south to the next area where there are some moveable columns that affect wolf statue heads, producing a last will & testament from the architect of the castle as well as a magical saber. Next they find the smoking room where Nebol'shoy and Sludd partake of hookahs that make them glow with faerie fire of various colors. Rucia and Bjork enjoy ancient meat that still spins upon a spit in one of the hearths, and Aldren finds a jade key in an illusory hearth which radiates no heat.

They visit a master bedroom where they find yet another magical sword hidden in the spokes of a carriage like bed frame, a robe of stars in an armoire and a magical powdering kit which can de-age the user a few years after use. Rucia thrashes up the room pretty hard. In the next area, a study, they find some valuable tea sets, a spellbook once belonging to a green dragonborn wizard named Glimmerthorn, and a set of valuable encyclopedias too heavy to currently take. Nebol'shoy and Sludd are now fully radiating faerie fire of purple and green, respectively. A door to the south is covered in an undulating shield of blood which turns out to be a portal. Rucia steps through and is deposited outside the castle. The PCs lower a rope through and he climbs back up and in. Bjork fails to dispel the door, so they abandon this path for now.

They next find an organ hall with a few well-dressed skeletons, and while Rucia is dismantling them and Bjork is searching through the musical sheets, the group is attacked by spectral sentries that try to flank them between two doors. They hit fairly hard and manage to kill Sludd, turning him into one of their own number, who also has to be brought down by the PCs. Gentle repose is cast upon the fallen D'vryn, and the PCs decide to take another long rest, though it drains them, by setting up Leomund's Tiny Hut in the servant's closet where they found the cat statue.

Desnova 15, 1423.

Something tampers with the closet door overnight, but otherwise the PCs are unmolested, waking up drained further by the castle's cumulative curse. Rucia uses revivify on Sludd's preserved corpse, and the rogue rejoins the world of the living. The group decides to wheel back to the blood door, and this time Bjork manages to dispel it. To no one's surprise, this is where Razakhel has decided to make her stand, some sort of torture chamber with a cauldron of blood that feeds various taps and pipes throughout the castle. The fight is tough in tight quarters, especially after the blood-fiend summons a pair of sanguine golems to assist her, but she no longer quite overpowers them the way she once did at the brothel in the village of Zolovny. After nearly instagibbing Aldren with a blood-port into his body, she is taken down, which disables her creation.

Rucia finds a sword made of Razakhel's blood-spikes, all that remains of her, while Bjork finds the second half of the rune-key needed to access the subcellars where the rest of Nebol'shoy's former associates must wait in hiding...

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

At this point we will be taking a brief recess for a couple months, and will be updating the characters to the next edition of D&D rules.

Session 32: Between a Rock and His Rocks (7/28/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

After surviving the attack of the hunting trophies, the PCs continue to make their way around the first floor of Old Bloodwalls. They find a pair of gems in the eyes of a demon statue in a southern vestibule, and then a bunch of chambers that must be used for guests and special servants. In one wardrobe they find a gossamer gown spun out of moth-wings, and Aldren finds a skeleton babe in a basinet beneath one of the beds. They find a hideous shrine with a statue of Eshebel and what looks like a torture device to be used on the flock, and then a smaller organ hall with leads to an outdoor courtyard overgrown with thorns. In that area they find a rapier hidden in a wolf's statue north of the fountain.

They continue to explore more chambers and find a poisoner's kit, and then a washroom which runs with blood from the taps. They then arrive at perhaps the largest room in the castle, an Assembly hall where Grittnar the earth-druid awaits them. He laments that Nebol'shoy couldn't have just kept well enough away from it all, and let his guilt lead him to befriend Rucia after Grittnar apparently dragged the unconscious gnome away form the former Naturalists' slaughter of the dragonborn village under Csunori. The battle is ferocious, with the dwarf summoning up a massive rock form to protect him, while his pet Krusty and a bunch of animated gargoyles harass the rest of the PCs.

At one point, Grittnar slams out a devastating force with shatters the windows of the Assembly, nearly destroys his own gargoyles and items, and wreaks havoc on the partys' magical goods, destroying some outright and rendering others temporary useless. Despite the damage done to them, the party manages to survive the grueling battle, and before killing the dwarf, learn that the Bloodwalls' sub-level has been warded off by powerful death magic to prevent access without two halves of a ruin, one of which the druid has upon him. For the other, they will have to find and deal with Razakhel...

The PCs take a short rest and then trek further into the Castle, finding some scant servants quarters where they uncover a servant's note about the many keys in the castle, and that one important one might be found in the Count's Smoke-Room upstairs. They leave the rest of the first floor for now and head up a stairway, ending up in a linen closet. They exit to another broad breezeway that allows access to much of the upper floor of the castle, and find a maintenance entrance to the chamber where they just fought Grittnar, as well as another linen closet which contains an onyx statue of a cat with a pentagram in its chest and a pair of black wings.

They continue to find an iron statue of the war god Bartan aimed at a great window which looks out east over the clearing in the Tzarswald.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 31: Rugs 2 - The Throw Down (6/30/24)

Desnova 14, 1423.

The PCs press the battle against the undead defenders, nearing victory when another spell cast into the courtyard causes the withered old tree to come to life and attack! Though it makes deadly crushing attacks and sends hurtling through the courtyard stones at the PCs, they still manage to come out ahead and fell the last of these initial defenders. They then search through the courtyard, noting the gardener's cart that seems to be a recent arrival and the property of a gnome, as well as the other which looks more like it might belong to Csunori and Boriya. They find broken doll pieces in the fountain and a magic pitchfork in the stables, and also a locket on the corpse of a guard up on the battlement.

They enter the Bloodwalls proper through the Eastern Vestibule, finding a cache of treasure and keys hidden in the floor, and some strange heirlooms and carvings. They search through a nearby study where they discover a letter addressed to Csunori and some precious books, and then they move onward to some servants quarters. The castle seems to have a strange flow of time, and many of its interiors are magical, with animated brooms and brushes in various chambers, and candles or chandeliers that will ignite upon entrance into a specific area. The PCs search through a nearby grand ballroom with strange stone murals of muses that perform music, and a stained glass figure in the window that seems to 'track' them as they wander through the area. They mess with the music of the stone muses to create a blood shower from above!



They next make their way through some kitchen areas off the side of the ballroom, and then find a chamber full of hunting trophies which animate to attack them! Bear rugs wrap themselves around Rucia to attempt to take the paladin out of the fight, while stags' and boars' heads float about, cackling with laughter that effects the PCs sanity! Fortunately, they don't possess the fighting skills of our heroes, and they manage to put down these beasts for good.

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia