#session recap

The session opens with everyone centering in on a clearing, in the woods just south of Barovia.

Melchior and Giselle had met earlier in the day; Melchior introduced himself to her as a werewolf hunter, and seeing that Giselle was lost, agreed to take her to the village of Barovia so that she could start to get her bearings. It's late, and they've just set camp. Suddenly, an elf bursts into the clearing--Lune--and only pauses for a moment to tell them to "run" before they move along, faster than anyone the other two have ever seen before.

Before Melchior and Giselle have a chance to decide what to do, there is another interruption. Falling from the sky is Crafine, the kenku, followed quickly by Vayagol, a cleric who lands on top of them. As the group struggles to get their bearings, with Melchior offering healing word to Crafine, they realize that Giselle has already run off after Lune.

Eventually, the party catches up and gathers together underneath a tree. Up in the branches, Lune is helping Luca (bloodhunter) and an injured hunter, Bernor, down from the tree. Luca is covered in blood down the front of his shirt, and Bernor is limping along with his crossbow.

Crafine's sense power ability reveals a mass of undead encroaching upon the group from every direction except to the north, so everyone heads north. The mists, which seem to be chasing them, funnels them over the bridge and into the village of Barovia. Although to outsiders, the edge of the town is dilapidated, with abandoned houses and shuttered windows, those native to the plane state that it is always in such a state. The party takes note of a mansion nearby, welcoming with warm lights in the windows, though Melchior is disinterested in seeking help there.

Luca goes to seek help in the inn (Blood of the Vine), but the locals are frightened by the encroaching mists and so no help comes. Despite Melchior's warnings, Giselle makes a run for the mansion and prompts the party to follow. They find themselves trapped within Durst Manor, as the fog closes in and gives them nowhere else to turn. Melchior and Luca hint that this might be by design, alluding to a mysterious baron, and the party goes inside to investigate what might be going on within the manor.

Just inside, in the foyer, the party encounters two children: Rose & Thorn. The two children inform the party that their parents are gone (but insist that they will return), and that a monster "lives in the basement, but is haunting them through the walls". Despite Melchior's reticence, the party agrees to help them out. They decide to leave the children with Bernor guarding them, armed with a crossbow in the foyer, while everyone else explores the lower level of the house.

A short rest is taken, and then exploration begins. It appears as though life has frozen in place: the kitchen appears to have been freshly used, a mess with food and dishware scattered everywhere, and there is a hot feast out and waiting in the dining room. No one partakes of any food, though there is some theft of the silverware after Melchior reveals that he is a werewolf hunter, and that werewolves are a threat in Barovia. He says that a table setting is unlikely to do much damage to one of the beasts, but thefts occur regardless.

Upon not finding much on the first floor, save a bungled attempt to open a locked cupboard and an aside that Vayagol might not hear from her god here, the party decides to head up into the second floor. Melchior recognizes the people in the painted portrait at the top of the stairs, and correctly identifies the face of Gustav Durst, the former master of the Durst Manor and whose family used to rule Barovia. He recognizes Elizabeth Durst, his wife, who is scowling down at the baby cradled in Gustav's arms. The two children in front of them, who he states seem to be Rose & Thorn Durst, are smiling unawares.

In the library, Lune discovers a secret passageway; within, they find runic books on the shelves (which neither Melchior nor Crafine had the time to try and translate). Also within the passageway was a skeleton, that had clearly been killed by acidic darts, clutching a letter. The letter reads as follows:

My most pathetic servant, I am not a messiah sent to you by the Dark Powers of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to immortality. However many souls you have bled on your hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms writhing in my earth. You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are. Your dread lord and master, Strahd Von Zarovich

Lune opens up the chest on which the skeleton was propped up, and retrieves several items: three identified scrolls (bless, protection from poison, spiritual weapon) and three more scrolls that have yet to be identified. In the study portion of the library, Melchior reads through the first page of an open journal that was left out near the fireplace, and locates a silver key within the desk emblazoned with the symbol of a windmill; he recognizes this windmill from his travels.

Across the hall in the music room, Luca effortlessly serenades Giselle with enchanting piano music while she dances along. Crafine and Melchior enter the music room to investigate, so Giselle steps outside to talk to Vayagol. While this is happening, Lune travels upstairs to the third level of the manor alone, triggering an attack on the party by animated armors that suddenly spring to life.

In the ensuing combat, much is revealed, such as: Giselle is capable of casting magic, despite her previous claims that she is unable to do much more than to cook or paint. Melchior spies Luca drawing his own blood in combat, and his eyes turning a bright electric blue. Crafine almost falls unconscious, but Vayagol dashes over to him to heal his injuries before he is lost.

the party calls for a long rest.

in the library, Luca reveals to Crafine the truth that he is a dhampir, and that his blood is electrified(?) He alludes to some fonder familiarity between himself and Bernor. the pair of them play cards with the children, teaching Rose & Thorn how to gamble.

in the servants quarters, Melchior is carefully embroidering red thread into a large sheaf of spare black cloth. he tells Vayagol that his mother taught him how to do, and gestures to the red flowers embroidered onto his shirt. he implies that the flowers are of traditional significance, and promises to teach her the art of embroidery at a later time.

in the hallway, Lune speaks to Giselle, who is sticking close to them out of fear from the recent attack and feeling safer with them. Lune learns that Giselle was not lying to the party, but she has only recently come into her powers. Lune ponders over the amulet around their neck before taking their meditative rest.

end long rest.

after the long rest, Crafine and Luca realize that Bernor and the children are missing. Alarmed, the rest of the party is quickly roused, and everyone agrees to ascend to the third level of the house. (Luca and Giselle first investigate the third floor, but Melchior writes them off and convinces everyone else to keep going). The third story is unlike the first two: it is decrepit and aged, walls peeling, cobwebs strung along corners and dusty furniture. Crafine locates a hidden stairwell hidden in the far wall. the party splits at this point.

Melchior, Luca, Crafine, and Vayagol enter the northern room. In this room, they find another dead body--a man, but no one knows whom. They tear this room apart with perception checks: Crafine locates a safe in the nearby wall, and Melchior locates the key locket hidden within the bed. Within the safe is a jewelry box with an expensive looking pendant and three non-magical rings; Luca takes the pendant, and Crafine tricks Melchior into handing over the rings. Vayagol reminds them that they are supposed to be looking for Bernor and the children.

Melchior notices that Crafine is additionally wearing a wedding ring.

In the southern room, Lune and Giselle open the door and are set upon by a specter who does not want to permit them entry into the room. Both of them attempt to calm the spirit enough to enter the room, but fail. They do get the specter to indicate that the missing children are another floor up, on the fourth floor, accessible only by the recently discovered secret passage.

On the fourth floor, the party locates the bedroom of Rose & Thorn Durst. It is discovered that the children they previously met on the first floor were not the real spirits, but an entity mimicking them. Through questioning the children, it is inferred that Strahd likely killed their parents at a dinner banquet, and the children were left to starve alone upstairs.

During this discussion, Melchior becomes visibly distressed and leaves the room; although he occasionally interjects with questions, he is mostly pale and sick-looking for a time.

The dollhouse in their room reveals that passages to the basement are missing that should have been there. The house is sentient, and was hiding the basement access from the party (either to protect us or to protect itself). Crafine wraps up the bones of the children to properly bury them; additionally, he and Giselle both allow themselves to be possessed by Rose & Thorn. Lune takes the dolls of the children at Melchior's behest.

Before they descend to the basement, Crafine and Melchior have an argument at the top of the stairwell. Melchior insists that attempting to fight the creature within the manor is futile, as everything within Barovia is subject to the will of Strahd Von Zarovich: their best attempt would be to flee and chance with the mist. Crafine argues that it is the coward's way out, and that there is no other way but to the basement. Despite his reservations, Melchior makes no attempt to leave the group.

During this argument, Melchior bares his teeth at Crafine, revealing sharp canines; Luca notices this and asks Melchior if he is also a dhampir, something which Melchior affirms. Luca shows off his ability to spider climb on the ceiling.

As they descend, Crafine moves slowly, allowing for some to get a chance to converse. Melchior and Luca discuss dhampirism (with a few interjections from Crafine), in which Melchior agrees that they are strange kindred, but does not reveal what he hungers for (Luca is revealed to be a classic bloodsucker). additionally, it comes out that Crafine is in his 40s, with two children between the ages of 20-23. Luca is revealed to be physically 24, but due to his dhampirism, he is also up into his 40s. Melchior is simply 24, Giselle is 18, and Vayagol is 19. Lune does not offer their age.

Melchior keeps getting tripped by Something as they continue to head down the stairs. Crafine is using his sense powers skill repeatedly, fretting over a consecrated presence that has repeatedly occurred. As it keeps showing up from behind, he begins to shuffle the party members in front of him on the stairs so that he can narrow down from whom it is coming. Surprisingly, the cleric, Vayagol, is not the source of this consecrated energy. It is narrowed down to either Giselle or Lune, before Melchior, now at the front of the group, is violently shoved down the stairs.

As he recovers and gets his bearings, the rest of the party catches up to him. Melchior accuses Luca, who had been behind him, of being the one to push him. Luca denies this and the two bicker until Crafine puts an end to it, saying they need to keep moving.

Melchior indicates the group should go to their right, and lead them to a crypt. Underneath the Durst Manor is the Durst Family Crypt, which Melchior notes with no small amount of alarm seems suspiciously empty. As they head south, they find the four empty tombs of the immediate durst family: Gustav, Elizabeth, Rosevalda, and Thornboldt.

Crafine puts the bones of the children into their respective tombs (and Lune lays their dolls to rest with them), and the spirits pass on. Crafine and Giselle are no longer considered possessed.

As they head further into the crypt, Melchior is attacked by a hidden creature referred to as a grick. Thankfully, it is quickly disposed of, with Lune making the killing blow.

Dec 28, 2021.

The next night Leo takes a long drive with his rented car to the drowning spot with the radio down low; the corpse is in the trunk. He's not wearing his trenchcoat, and it's a bit odd to not have it on. He parks the car at the planned location and starts to get things set up.

["God, did you ever have to do something like this? Fuck-!" He mutters to himself, readjusting his grip on the corpse as he drags it to the driver's seat.]

He eventually gets the body into the car, and pauses before giving it his cross necklace. He sends the car into the lake, and watches until the water is still. Leo is silent and gives a solemn bow. ["And so ends, once again," He says, "The life of Leo West."]

He steps into the water and begins to go to the meetup spot the coterie agreed upon. Besides Leo accidentally heading the wrong direction for a bit, the rest of the escapade went well- he emerges from the correct spot. ["Hey Kid," Blake offers him a hand on the shore. "How're you doing?" Leo takes it. Water pours out of his mouth.] Blake helps him up, the coterie gives him a fresh set of clothes (including the trenchcoat), the Gangrel offers him a cigarette, and on the way back the two older vampires keep an eye out for Lupines as they walk back to the car to start their drive back to San Jose.

As they drive, Leo gets a text from his sister- it's a selfie of Amy at a bar smiling with a girl he's never seen before ("Look who I got a date with!!! <3"). And, of course, he can't respond now.

Notes:

This was a short session bc I was headed for surgery early the next morning! We spent Way too long discussing how to go about the specifics of faking this death lol

I've been wanting for Leo to do a Dramatic Bow to his death for a long time so it was nice I was able to do that

something something i can have him be a bit of a morbid theatre kid if i want. something something slowly losing his sense of self, idk

Something about being attached enough to the coat to not want it to get it wet

The way the ST and the coterie described what if feels like to be full of water as a corpse was So uncomfortable, ty. Leo's having a bad time.

Waugh i imagine there was such an Odd disconnect while Leo was faking his death i am having a Time

Leo's new shirt is specifically this one btw

Amyyyyyy :-( girl im so sorry you found a nice person to possibly date and u have no idea ur brother just faked his death and can never speak to u again or even ask about ur new date aaaaaugh //falls

Many people have remarked on the resemblance Marsillius bears to both Octavio the Prophet and Gesa, the Archbishop of St. Vitus' and de facto spiritual leader of Prague's Christian community. He's lived in the monastery of St. Lawrence all his life, and the circumstances of his birth have never been made clear. It was high time he addressed that.

As such, he consulted the monastery's archives, particularly Garinol's journals, in which the first mention of "the boy" was found in 1157 - and then confronted Garinol directly, trying to wheedle the truth out of his sire. Garinol had sworn to Marsillius' mother never to tell the story... but he could tell him about the story, about the particular sins that concerned him, prompted by Marsillius' confession that he was poisoned by the mortal sin of envy.

Enough was revealed that Marsillius visited the convent at St. George's next, to ask if they had given solace to a woman in distress, in say... the autumn of 1157. Most of the sisters did not remember, but there is of course one nun who was sent to them long enough ago that she might remember the gossip from the day...

Alzbeta did remember. When she first joined the convent, there was still hushed talk of Sister Anezka, who had renounced her vows when she was found to be with child, and disappeared - at around the same time that Deacon Gesa was abruptly withdrawn from serving at St. George's, and instead joined St. Vitus', beginning his slow rise to power...

While @gwenynen-bach decided how angry Marsillius was, we flashed back to the past - a couple of years after Mariam's Embrace, after she'd been presented to Prince Rudolf. Her sire Josef was encouraging her to come out of the tunnels and learn about other Cainites. and her elder brood-sibling Othelio had a suggestion.

It did involve them sneaking out of the city through a water-gate, and making their way into the woods to the north; an almost trackless depth in which Mariam was somewhat overwhelmed. When they reached the clearing with its standing stone that sat between three steads, she became very overwhelmed.

The Cainite sitting on the stone was unlike any she'd ever seen, or heard. Immense and wild, hairy and tusked, almost her height and broader still; a kilt, a ragged shirt, and chainmail clearly torn from three different dead men.

This was Erik! Erik McDonoughue, of Clan Gangrel! Nomad, vagabond, wanderer: elder at large, who'd tramped across half of Christendom in his long centuries of unlife. He had a lot of stories to tell, and Mariam was spellbound - she'd never been more than a mile from Prague, she'd met someone who'd from Buda-Pesthe once, and here was - what even is a Scotsman? Where is Orkney, exactly?

In the course of his yarn, she learned of the powers of the Gangrel - sight at night, talons to rend even Cainite flesh, and sleep in the bosom of the earth. Erik offered to teach her the first of these! She would have to hunt, though: to hunt, to kill, and to drain a predator of the woods of its vitae, to bring her Beast closer to that of a wild thing.

This she did. Erik she also did. Not something she would normally consider, but the sheer rush of new experiences sort of... carried her along.

On the walk back into Prague, Othelio confided this was why he'd wanted her to meet Erik. He's different. He's rootless, masterless and solitary; he walks the Road of the Beast; but he's old. He's survived despite cleaving to a path that's far, far removed from the Humanity, Heaven and Kings that reign over civilised Cainite society within the walls.

We return to the present. A decision has been made. Marsillius was furious. As such, he made his way to the Bishop's Manse and, in a series of fine rolls, performed the full Garrett Special (I am old, and therefore I think of Thief and not Assassin's Creed as the locus of stealth-action-historical-fantasy-stuff).

As such, he came to the Archbishop's very boudoir. Sumptuous velvets, leatherbound books, and a gold-plated crucifix facing the bed, that it might be the first thing its owner sees on sitting up each morning. And then, Marsillius did something genuinely malicious.

Aura of Decay.

All that velvet? Ragged and rotten. Those carpets, with which his footfalls had been deadened? Slick with black mould. That crucifix? Rusted to powder in his hand. The Archbishop? Awakened coughing and wheezing, in a sudden cold sweat, and there at the foot of his bed the thing he'd dreaded most: his misbegotten bastard son, come back to remind him of his sin.

Gesa did not quite confess. But he denied nothing, and he named Anezka. That was enough. Marsillius told him the greatest thing of all: that he would outlive his false and recreant father by centuries, that he was the Way, the Truth, the Light -

Gesa knew of what he spoke. The race of Caine. The damned. Neither was a godly soul.