Ravenloft Game Log - Session One
Game game game! Yay! These are just notes, mostly for my own purposes. They will contain spoilers for Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (as heavily rewritten by me). My players can feel free to comment and correct any errors I make!
We are introduced to our party of adventurers: Yves-Michel, an aristocratic fighter of Montaigne who carries an inordinate number of axes; Zidara, a priest of the Creator from a small fishing town in Vendel; Niccolo Sanza, a spymaster from the mysterious streets of Vodacce; Delphae, a very withdrawn elven ranger from Lyonesse; and Redford Thorne, an investigatory transmuter with a penchant for fire spells.
While traveling through the Eisen countryside, near its southern border, the party is flagged down by a coachman desperately looking for a healer. The coachman is leading a group from the House of Maurgen, a minor house of Eisen. Inside one of the coaches, Lady Helene Maurgen is unconscious, pale, and barely breathing. She has a terrible bite wound on her neck, near her shoulder. Zidara's cure spell does nothing to heal the wound, and Thorne detects that the lady is under the effects of both necromantic and enchantment magic. Zidara casts a restorative spell that eases the effects of necromancy and Lady Helene awakens.
Speaking with Lady Helene, the coachman, and listening to the servants, the party is able to learn the troubling tale: Lady Helene's husband, Jeref, is a hunter of some renown. He specializes in hunting shapeshifters. He received a letter from the Burgomeister of Barovia, an old school friend, asking for help. Evil was afoot in the valley, and the Burgomeister's daughter Ireena had developed a mysterious wound. Jeref Maurgen believed that there were werewolves in the nearby forest and went to investigate. He never returned. After days of waiting, Helene, who had been staying with the Burgomeister's family, became ill, developing a wound that she could not explain. She sought help at the church, but the priest denied her entry. Desperate, she had her fortune read by a local gypsy woman. The gypsy, Madam Eva, told her that her husband was dead and that she would follow him if she stayed another night in Barovia. Still, she was reluctant to flee, but she also feared for the lives of their servants, and so she hastened to the border with Eisen. The border crossing was terrifying, and none of the servants will speak of it in detail.
The party decides to travel with Lady Helene's company back to a nearby village, to attempt further healing magics. In the morning, Zidara's prayers to the Creator are able, miraculously, to lift the powerful enchantment spell which prevented Helene from speaking about her wound. She tells a disturbing tale of a man entering her room at night, believing that she was Ireena (whose room she was using). The man was tall, handsome, and formally dressed. He revealed himself to be a monster of some sort, perhaps a vampire, when he bit Helene on the neck and then commanded her not to tell anyone of what had happened and to leave this place. Helene begs the party to help her find her husband and to confront the evils in Barovia. The party agrees that their help is needed, but sends Helene and her retinue home, promising to send a message if they find Jeref Maurgen. They gather all the information they can from Lady Helene and ride for the border of Barovia.
The border crossing is uneventful and the countryside looks normal for a time. But as they approach the village of Barovia, a heavy fog rises. Soon it is impossible to see more than five feet ahead. The party moves forward cautiously. They are attacked by zombies! A nasty fight breaks out, more zombies appearing out of the mist. A mysterious spell-caster, whom they never see or hear attacks them from out of the mist with magic missiles and paralyzing magic. The priest is the first to be paralyzed, unable to call down the wrath of the Creator on these undead. With Yves-Michel and Delphae hacking at the zombies with their weapons, some of Niccolo's well-placed arrows, and Thorne's fire magic, the party manage to defeat the zombies, but not before several of them have been bitten and infected with some sort of disease. They are unable to find the spell-caster, who has apparently fled. Niccolo breaks into a village house and calms the inhabitants. The party takes refuge there for a few moments to bind their wounds, before continuing out into the mists...
We are introduced to our party of adventurers: Yves-Michel, an aristocratic fighter of Montaigne who carries an inordinate number of axes; Zidara, a priest of the Creator from a small fishing town in Vendel; Niccolo Sanza, a spymaster from the mysterious streets of Vodacce; Delphae, a very withdrawn elven ranger from Lyonesse; and Redford Thorne, an investigatory transmuter with a penchant for fire spells.
While traveling through the Eisen countryside, near its southern border, the party is flagged down by a coachman desperately looking for a healer. The coachman is leading a group from the House of Maurgen, a minor house of Eisen. Inside one of the coaches, Lady Helene Maurgen is unconscious, pale, and barely breathing. She has a terrible bite wound on her neck, near her shoulder. Zidara's cure spell does nothing to heal the wound, and Thorne detects that the lady is under the effects of both necromantic and enchantment magic. Zidara casts a restorative spell that eases the effects of necromancy and Lady Helene awakens.
Speaking with Lady Helene, the coachman, and listening to the servants, the party is able to learn the troubling tale: Lady Helene's husband, Jeref, is a hunter of some renown. He specializes in hunting shapeshifters. He received a letter from the Burgomeister of Barovia, an old school friend, asking for help. Evil was afoot in the valley, and the Burgomeister's daughter Ireena had developed a mysterious wound. Jeref Maurgen believed that there were werewolves in the nearby forest and went to investigate. He never returned. After days of waiting, Helene, who had been staying with the Burgomeister's family, became ill, developing a wound that she could not explain. She sought help at the church, but the priest denied her entry. Desperate, she had her fortune read by a local gypsy woman. The gypsy, Madam Eva, told her that her husband was dead and that she would follow him if she stayed another night in Barovia. Still, she was reluctant to flee, but she also feared for the lives of their servants, and so she hastened to the border with Eisen. The border crossing was terrifying, and none of the servants will speak of it in detail.
The party decides to travel with Lady Helene's company back to a nearby village, to attempt further healing magics. In the morning, Zidara's prayers to the Creator are able, miraculously, to lift the powerful enchantment spell which prevented Helene from speaking about her wound. She tells a disturbing tale of a man entering her room at night, believing that she was Ireena (whose room she was using). The man was tall, handsome, and formally dressed. He revealed himself to be a monster of some sort, perhaps a vampire, when he bit Helene on the neck and then commanded her not to tell anyone of what had happened and to leave this place. Helene begs the party to help her find her husband and to confront the evils in Barovia. The party agrees that their help is needed, but sends Helene and her retinue home, promising to send a message if they find Jeref Maurgen. They gather all the information they can from Lady Helene and ride for the border of Barovia.
The border crossing is uneventful and the countryside looks normal for a time. But as they approach the village of Barovia, a heavy fog rises. Soon it is impossible to see more than five feet ahead. The party moves forward cautiously. They are attacked by zombies! A nasty fight breaks out, more zombies appearing out of the mist. A mysterious spell-caster, whom they never see or hear attacks them from out of the mist with magic missiles and paralyzing magic. The priest is the first to be paralyzed, unable to call down the wrath of the Creator on these undead. With Yves-Michel and Delphae hacking at the zombies with their weapons, some of Niccolo's well-placed arrows, and Thorne's fire magic, the party manage to defeat the zombies, but not before several of them have been bitten and infected with some sort of disease. They are unable to find the spell-caster, who has apparently fled. Niccolo breaks into a village house and calms the inhabitants. The party takes refuge there for a few moments to bind their wounds, before continuing out into the mists...