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

Session 30: Bones to Pick (5/21/24)

Desnova 13, 1423.

After spending considerable time looting through all the bugbear corpses, T-Rucia discovers something odd about the statue to the goddess Odhinnei, and soon the PCs confirm that it shifts aside and a stone stairwell descends into the rock beneath. They decide to rest in a Leomund's Tiny Hut and then venture down in the night. During one of the watches, a pair of ettins happens on by, but ignores the opaque barrier of the spell and focus on all the bugbear bodies our heroes had stacked off in the woods nearby, eating some and then dragging several others off with them.

Desnova 14, 1423.

Well before dawn, after watches, the PCs explore the hidden crypt below the statue, and find that it's some sort of abandoned hunters' sanctuary, with several chambers devoted to the bones and remains of prey, a lot of weapons which have brittled with age, and in some areas, skins hanging from the walls. They also find a riddle in one of the chambers, which asks the following: Bring to me, these prizes three, that I may brand my gift on thee. The gift of Claw, Great and Deep, The Beak of Eternity, stalking Steep. And between these objects, thou must lie, The Heart of Forest’s frenziest Eye. After farming for some difficult mushrooms that can be used in potions, and catching a slick blind cavern fish to remove a glittering ring from its stomach, they leave the place.

The PCs forge onward for several hours towards their destination, and soon arrive at a massive clearing which has been circled with a ward of bone relics that prevent the strange 'nightening' effect within the clearing from spreading. Sure enough, there's a misty castle ahead of them, though strangely it seems to stand renewed among the ruins of some older structure or outer wall which is more what they would have expected to find of Old Bloodwalls. The old architecture of the castle seems to pulse with an eerie crimson light, and the place is surrounded by silent dead who stalk the fogs, possibly sentries left to waylay them. After loosing an arrow at a random zombie, they all seem to moan and activate in unison, moving in to defend the courtyard from incursions.



Led by an intense Rucia, the PCs follow their undead quarry into the courtyard and a mass battle ensues. With area effect spells, they manage to destroy a lot of the lesser undead who await them, including most of the skeletons and zombies, some of which they recognize as former residents of Zolovny! Some of the other enemies seem more difficult to put down, including zombified beasts like a giant serpent, a bear, a small black dragon and a hill giant! What's more, certain lasting effects that are cast into the courtyard by our heroes cause ribbons on a central tree to set ablaze; obviously there are some wards in place. As Aldren kites about as many of the beasts as he can, and Rucia is regurgitated from his near-devourment inside the giant's stomach, the tide of the battle evens out...the PCs have used up many of their best tricks, and the remaining dead are starting to land their blows!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

Session 29: Everything's a Drum (3/26/24)

Desnova 12, 1423.

After capturing the second ethyrean prison relic from the hidden rotja stocks at Crumblemoor, the PCs decide to trek eastward into the Tzarswald before camping. They manage to clear the marshland, and Aldren finds a suitable covered grove in which they can rest. Throughout the watches, they hear some occasional horn blasts off in the woods somewhere, perhaps belonging to a hunting or war party.

Desnova 13, 1423.

Our heroes press on into the woodlands, but soon encounter strange rows of pines, several of which seem to sway or uproot themselves to create formations on the forest floor that seem more like a curated garden than a wild wood. They are 'approached' by one of the trees, which wields a set of drums and has a halo of birds fluttering about it. In a low-toned timbre, it introduces itself as 'The Roost', and is quite surprised to find that Bjork Two-horns is among the party. A friendly bard-off is initiated, and The Roost turns out to have lost to Snowcock the Sonorous in the past, so a prize is determined to be that disgraced bard's instrument, if the minotaur should lose.

A competition ensues, and the pine tree metes out an incredibly moving performance, with its low, rolling tone, steadily escalating drums, and tweeting bird accompaniment. Though Bjork does his best in return, using mage hand to play his cowbell while he slings his lute, it's not quite enough to dazzle the already entranced audience. In the second round, The Roost adds in some swaying pines that he animates with his natural ability, while Mockleg and Nebol'shoy attempt to spice up Bjork's next piece with some shimmering illusions and giant owls that can fly through them, an impromptu air show! Alas, Bjork critically fumbled his performance, breaking strings and causing the giant owls to misdirect and crash into one another, a disaster. Since The Roost has clearly won the first two rounds, there is no need for a third. It offers some wisdom to the PCs, and a warning to Aldren to 'watch his Six' after learning the half-elf's identity. It returns to its pines, the circle changing form to rows once more.

The PCs travel deeper into the Tzarswald, the sounds of horns seeming to close in on them, from all directions now, and an occasional thundering of paws or feet somewhere off in the wood. They come upon an idyllic scene of a statue to the goddess Odhinnei, surrounded by a man-made brook, but in a state of some disrepair, and they decide to make their stand against whatever it is that must be tracking them. It turns out that it is indeed the Blood Lake Band, the bugbears whose camp the party destroyed some weeks back, and whose scouts have spied them from a far once or twice since then. They are arranged into a quartet of small warbands, each led by a fearsome chieftain riding a dire wolf.



The PCs press into a defensive area about the statue, but it actually works against them as the bugbears rain javelins down upon them, and seem to be canny to avoid some of the defensive spells set up by Aldren and Nebol'shoy. The wolves and riders rush in to combat while their underlings continue to press the missile attack, eventually closing themselves. While the Blood Lake Band gives a good accounting of themselves, they are inevitably no match for the magic, missile and melee prowess of our heroes, and as the tide turns, several lightning bolts from Mockleg, and a polymorph turning Rucia into a T-Rex, help the party finish off the fanatical remnants of this hunting party!

PCs: Aldren, Bjork, Nebol'shoy, Rucia

NPCs

The Redhatch Roost (male? treant):