The adventurers know not where they are supposed to go, or what they need to do next, have found themselves now being side tracked to help Barovians everywhere they go; desperately trying to get themselves back on track… 

With the frey finally settled and the hags lifeless on the ground, Shamesh attended to the children, asking if they are okay, and if they knew what was happening. The children point to the bones on the dirt floor and say the hags were making ‘burnt pie’. After a slow pause, the adventurers realize that the evil beings were cooking children into the pies. Shamesh asks about the children’s families and they tell the heroes that they were sold to these hags and never want to go back where to they are from. Not knowing what else to do the adventurers decide to head back towards Valaki and bring the children to the Inn. As they exit the home they hear the creepy sound of the old windmill in the distance and on the road up ahead they see Bent heading towards them. They catch him up on what they found and what has happened then they continue to head back toward Valaki. Shamesh, Bent, and Andromeda walk with the children while Lythander and Melrick set out up ahead to scout the path and get back quicker in order to make arrangements for the children at the inn before they arrive with their companions.

On the way back the second group travelling with the children encounter a very fast moving wagon heading towards them directly; Shamesh steps in front of the wagon to find out why it is recklessly traveling so fast up the road. The dragonkin priest introduces himself and inquires about the hurry; the human looking man appears to be tattered and a bit enraged. After questioning each other, the man realizes that the group is not a threat to him and drops the edginess from the conversation. He explains that he has been held captive by Strahd who has killed his family. He is intent on bringing him to ruin, and he wants justice for his loved ones; apparently he is on a suicide mission back to Castle Ravenloft. Shamesh explains that they are not yet ready for that battle, and further notes that they have already encountered Strahd which did not go well. The Paladin insists that this man would be throwing his life away if he tries to avenge his family in this manner. Shamnesh, with sincerity in his voice, explains they need to know more about their foe before they engage the powerful vampire again. The man, who finally introduces himself as Hugo, agreed to join them as they were all committed to the same goal: ending Strahd. The horses on the wagon had become frightened amidst the setting sun and arguing; they simply do not want to press on further. Andromeda, with a gentle hand, tries as she might to calm then, however unsuccessful, she agrees that they should not push the equine beasts. As such the group decides to make camp and wait until morning. The night passes uneventfully but when they awake Shamesh shares that he had nightmare about seeing the dead walk around him and in the end he saw his companions, even himself, as a dead minion of Strahd. The dream seems ill timed and doesn’t make sense, but they do not speak more of it and head back to the inn. The morning was heavy with wet dew, and on their way they meet another group of commoners; a dozen or so in number. They seem to be mostly frightened and unwilling to talk too much; it’s clear they are keeping safe by staying in a large group and travelling to the town of Barovia. Nothing comes of the encounter and they finish their journey back to Valaki. 

They arrive back at the inn and they see their friend Irwin, the innkeeper who had bailed them out of jail. He offers to find a safe place for children however he has a problem, requesting their help. The adventurers are feeling indebted to him, and agree to help despite their pressing desire to find their way home. Irwin says his wine supply is waning and he needs another shipment for his inn. Irwin grants them use of his cart to make the trip to pick up the shipment and return with the wares. He offers them a free meal before they leave, to which they happily accept. During dinner they realize they don’t know why the shipment has not been coming and thought it might be good to ask. When done eating they go to find Irwin to inquire more about the situation, however they find he is not available; oddly, he is gone on an errand not to return anytime soon. All of a sudden this simple delivery request has become all the more complicated by this uncomfortable set of coincidences. However, in a strange place, Irwin has been the closest thing to a friend they have met, so they decide to carry out the agreement with the greatest caution and resolve themselves to a conversation when they return. Before leaving Hugo wants to buy some equipment because currently he only has the clothes on his back. Andromeda offers him a silver longsword she had procured along her travels and he gladly takes it. They head to a store to find him some additional equipment; namely a warhammer, scale mail, and a crossbow. Their new warrior friend was now ready to join this band of unsung heroes and contribute to the demise of Strahd! Lythander and Melrick have business in town, needing to attend further to their weapons and armor stay behind to ensure the safety of the children and attend to their own needs before setting off on this delivery effort.

Finally the rest of the group head out of town west toward the vineyard; as they travel on the roadway they saw a sign at a large crossroads where there was a directional mile markers pointing at key areas around Barovia. As they checked for proper instructions, the group notices and empty grave, that appears to be dug up just off the road from the cross section of heavily traversed roads; they go closer for further inspection. While the group ponders if this is the work of Strahd’s minions, Hugo dismisses the notion asserting this is not typical of his work or his minions. Inside the grave they find a left behind necklace; Bent examines it determining that it is not magical however there is a symbol depicting a raven on the necklace charm. Another referral to ravens, and the group recites the gypsies clues and thinks this may be alluding to something they need to find in order to ultimately make it home, they decide it best to hold on to it, handing it to Andromeda to keep in her pack. With no need to stay further they look back at the map and realize this trip could be used for two purposes. One off the key riddles they heard in the gypsy camp was specifically about a lake with a wizard tower. They had discussed heading this way many times before but had been repeatedly sidetracked. However, this time their travels will take them near the lake where there appears to be this wizard sanctuary. It was an easy reroute for the party and they decide to head towards the lake en route to the vineyard; finally excited by the possibility of key to the clues given to them by the gypsy fortune.

As they travel off in the distance they see the tower which is, in fact, sitting on a lake; this, they believe, is the very “tower on the lake” that contains the wizard from the riddle. Hugo sends his owl off into the distance for no apparent reason; Andromeda takes quiet note that the owl is not an ordinary creature of the forest, while not giving notice to anyone else. The owl returns and while nobody else saw the simple connection, Hugo proclaims to the group that the tower is occupied; clearly he had a way of garnering the info from the owl that nobody else seemed to realize, save for Andromeda. As they approach the tower there is a wooden cloth covered wagon out front, obviously used, old, and somewhat broken down. It was resting alongside a rickety sign that states clearly and simply “KEEP OUT!”. The adventurers will not be this easily deterred at this juncture and they decide to investigate. Shamesh knocks on the door and there is no answer; however the owl flutters to the window sill and draws attention to the broken window. It was perched next to an opening too small for it to fly through, but to small for Andromeda who transformed herself into a field mouse and ran up through the window and into the wagon before her friends could even protest. She rifled through the wagon that had little in it save for a rough drawing, and before the rest of the heroes even knew what was happening she burst through the now broken door waving the piece of paper in her hand excitedly as if waking up to presents on her naming day. Bent received the paper quietly and inspected it, but unable to discern with the stick figure markings were that had been drawn on the parchment. 

They approach the tall brick spiral building, adorned with wood framed windows up high with metal grates in front of the stain glass windows, with a pointy roof just as you would imagine at the top made of wood shakes that were old, needing of repair but still functional, if only barely.  In front they see two large dragon heads almost as if they are guarding the door on either side, of a very thick old tall wood door. Right out of  story novel, adorned with antique black metal hinges a handle, but no lock of any note. As they approach there is clearly a sign on the front the large wooden door; it has something inscribed on it, a single word: “Kazan”. They try to detect magic as well as some other incantations but realize that the eerie silence surrounding them is not happenstance; they have been in an area that dampens magic. Not knowing what to do next Andromeda, naively and eagerly, knocks on the door as vigorously as she can; but to no avail as there is no response. The party members are trying to figure out the answer to getting inside the tower, Bent stares intently at the sign above the door, then again at the parchment he was given early by Andromeda, then back at the door, again to the parchment. After a quiet pause where the rest of the party realizes he is focusing in on something, Bent starts making some funny motions in a pattern of sorts, almost a poorly rehearsed dance… and at the end the door opened! After a high five from his friends for the fancy “dance” moves, the group enters.

They find a platform in the middle of a stone circular room, with light dewy moss and a dampness in the air from time spent completely undisturbed.. There were golems on either side of the room positioned as if they were holding onto something, aiming the palms of their guantlets toward the ceiling where a large wood door was, but with no perceivable way to access it. There was tattered drapery along the walls with no particular significance to the symbols that the group recognized, and a rope that seemed to be tied to the tapestry that landed behind the golems. In the center of the room was relatively well kept wooden platform, well made, and not as worn as the rest of the room; somehow still showing polish and shine more so in the very center of the platform more than the outer edges. Hugo moves to the center of the room and stands on the platform, directly in the center. As soon as Hugo stood on the center of the platform the golems turned and started to pull on the rope behind them; it was not tied to the tapestry but to the door above. Slowly the door descended; it was a concealed elevator large enough for the group to fit. They realize this is their ride up, and figure out quickly that the golems must be magically animated by their presence on the platform; in the elevator they went and up it brought them.

They arrive at the top where they see another stone lined room with even more dampness  than the room below that smells more dank, and with what appears to be an ironclad golem to one side, larger than the ones they had encountered below. Bent instinctively says the word Kazan aloud; immediately the iron golem animates, loudly, with a puff of dust and rust that startles the adventurers making them all clutch their weapons watching the metal soldier march forward toward the sorcerer and stop three feet away from him. He looks at his friends, surprised, and Shamesh, now understanding, says the same word from across the room, and watches as the golem turns heading directly toward him stopping three feet from where he stood just as it did in front of Bent. It’s clear Kazan is the trigger word and the golem is following their instructions. Now understanding how that works, they decide to inspect the room further to see if there is anything else they can turn on, open up, or decipher.  There is a slot in a wall that appears to be of some significance. Shamesh walks over and carefully puts his hand in the slot and nothing happens, and he feels nothing. Bent, now starting to fully understand how the animation in this room works, instructs the golem to put his hand in the same slot, to which it obeys.  Walking over loudly, clanking with every step, it stretches out a metal hand into the slot and out it pulls something out… a secret compartment containing a beautiful chain symbol with the Ravenkind on it. Bent walks over to the golem and the revealed compartment; after a quick inspection that suggest nothing dangerous about what’s been revealed, or the necklace, he picks it up and turns to the group states he believes they have found what they have come for and they should head out. They agree and make their way down the elevator and out the front door.

As they leave the tower they head toward the main road again and see a woman riding up toward them that is on a horse with dark hair and dressed in noble garments, but appears the part of an adventurous noble at that. Hugo immediately recognizes her as Esmerelda, the person who rescued him from Strahd’s castle. Once she came closer they could see she was not in good shape and had been injured. The group asks her what is wrong and she tells them she had just escaped from Castle Ravenloft as she had gone there after her rescue of Hugo, and tried to slay the Vampire Strahd, but failed; however escaped with her life. His minions were after her, they are on her tracks not far behind. The group tries to convince her to come with them but she maintains they will not stop until they catch her; she assures the group that she can handle the incoming attack now that Strahd is back at the castle. Hugo and Andromeda protest leaving her alone, but she reaffirms they are safer if they leave and Andromeda, despite her clear conflict with the notion of leaving her behind listens to Shamesh; before leaving she emboldens Esmerelda with a druidic blessing.

They leave her to head towards the vineyard and as night falls they approach their destination only to see a skeletal horseman approaching them with a lantern that shines no light. They sense no intent of harm from the horse rider and they let him pass gripping their weapons tightly; nothing happens, they hear him head off into the distance. They press on and arrive at the vineyard, an expansive green grove, that they cannot see the full size or scale of in the evening light. It smells pleasant enough, a living freshness they really haven’t smelt since arriving in Barovia, but still with an undertone of dank that they have become familiar with as well as the thick mist that seems to follow them wherever they go; including now surrounding the vineyard on all sides. They meet a person at the front of the vineyard who proclaims himself to the be the owner and Shamesh introduces himself, and the group, stating they are here to pick up the shipment for Irwin. He is a grumpy man but acknowledges their purpose, and mumbles to himself a bit. Shamesh tries to inquire as to why the shipment is late and the man grumbles more to himself but does not answer the question. The paladin considers pressing him harder, but looks around and notices there are a lot of people around, including children, and does not want to escalate the situation further. In the mist that is surrounding everyone, figures start to emerge, seemingly, from the air. The children around them turn into a flock of ravens and fly away and the adults turn to what appears to be wareravens; the adventurers realize that the people of the vineyard are about to be besieged and the ravens are, in fact, allies to our heroes in this situation. They draw their weapons and engage!

Andromeda was first to act and she immediately emboldens Shamesh, growling an incantation with a noise that sounded almost like a bear; subsequently the paladin steadies himself for battle with his own divination of heroism. Bent demonstrates his sorcerer prowess and slings a fireball into the group advancing on them from the mist, despite them still being too far away for the heroes to discern what they were even fighting. The magical ball of fire wiped the whole cluster of creatures he targeted leaving only a smoldering cloud. Despite the casualties the enemies closed even faster, and there was more to their numbers than originally thought. Andromeda turned her attention towards the nearest group and a growth of spikes emerges from the ground and the creatures ran right through it. While they weren’t slowed, the magic eruption of vines and branches damages them further. Bent continues to level the clusters of creatures with another fireball turning more into a pile of burnt embers. As they approach further, the adventurers are disciplined in holding their line but the creatures now have enough range to put what appear to be darts; blowing them from their claws into both Bent and Andromeda. Both heroes took damage, and they saw one of the ware raven friends fall and another wounded. Now close enough the heroes could see the createres are some kind of animated wisps of wood, stick, and vine; many of them and all rushing the heroes despite taking casualties. Bent fires another magic missile and another creature falls, meanwhile Hugo and Shamesh are now close enough to get into action. The paladin misses, however Hugo engages the last group that appear to only be armed with their own claws, but not before watching another of their new raven friends fall. Andromeda, now having time to react with Hugo intercepting the on coming group of stick creatures healed herself and quickly backs to a safer distance to protect her friends should they need her healing hands. Bent, working himself into a frenzy, unleashes another trio of missiles and takes three more down. With just a few creatures left, they turn their attention to Hugo; the cleric producers a thunderous wave that eviscerated the remaining enemies. As dust settles, the adventurers escaped unscathed, and went to see if any of the vineyard workers can be helped…  

The vineyard is safe, and the heroes are growing in prowess, however they are now on a mission for a man whom they barely know for a reason they were never give being attacked by creature they have never seen. Next session will they find answers to any of these questions?

The heroes were left being overtaken by the city guard of a town in Barovia, and we not not of their fate, the druid escaped, and the rogue was left behind and everyone else was capture; is this the end?

The next morning Shamesh and Melrick wake up in a cell battered, beaten, and bruised. They are awoken by the clang of a mug against the bars on the jail cell they are lying in and the clink of keys opening the cell door. As they exit the station and pick up their belongings they see Andromeda with Lythander, who himself had missed the whole previous incident, and their new friend the Innkeeper. Being a business owner in town he had some political sway and made arrangements to have them released. Bent is nowhere to be found, but they are told he is at the infirmary. Before they leave the area they are warned by the local authorities “no need to cause more trouble here”

The adventurers are now desperate to leave town and simply want out, they decide not to rest and press on immediately to find any clue that might lead to their way out. As such the group heads toward the Bonegrinder to find another piece of this puzzle that hopefully leads home; the heroes travel in the direction noted on the map where they expect to find this character. As they approach Lythander checks the entryway of this dilapidated home for traps, finds one, and steers the group around it. Over the archway of the door they hear another crowing raven; Andromeda fears that this is a dark omen, and does her best to warn her companions.

They enter the creepy looking home, and as they make their way in there is an awful smell from something apparently cooking in the kitchen. They inspect the area briefly and see what appears to be a pot of ichor and a box that might contain some toads. They don’t open the box but they decide to descend to the lower level before heading toward the upper levels where they hear some noises. When they head to turn the corner to the sunken old living room they see an oddly chipper old woman who is alone and mildly cackling to herself. She speaks in a very high pitched voice and is offering them some odd looking pie, “would you like some pie?!?”. Shamesh looks around and notices the crunching below their feet… it’s bones; he immediately identifies the pie as evil and the woman as a covert demon! He loudly calls the old woman out as an evil creature, and demands she show her true form. She is not bothered, and does not respond. Melrick draws his weapons and demands again she show her true form. While this is happening Lythander hears some children upstairs and immediately strokes an arrow and looses it into the demon woman, the arrow sinking deep into its flesh but seemingly doing no damage. In response to the damage the demon woman finally shows her true form: a sickly, gangly, older woman. Melrick then charges and sinks two axes into the creature and again seems to do little damage. The old hag turns her anger towards Lythander and pours her unholy might into a blow on the rogue; Lythander is unable to dodge the incoming claw and is struck, whimpering and falling back after taking the impact. Andromeda heals Lythander’s wounds and heads to the corner of the room to steer clear of the melee. Shamesh then calls down for some divine help to smite his foe, and finally the abomination is wounded. Melrick is not deterred as two new creatures descend the stairs talking to the old woman as if it’s their mother. They are oddly cavalier and don’t seem to be in any sense of rush; they seem to be discussing, loudly, whether to help their “mother”; and then, nonchalantly join the melee. Andromeda sees the creepy younger hags leave the stairs to engage the rest of her companions and the druid girl climbs the wall to the upper level in order to avoid the eyre of these creatures. Once upstairs she sees a bedroom of sorts, with a tattered throw rug on the floor pealing pale red and green wallpaper exposing the wood sheath underneath and the worn wood floor and baseboards that smell of moth; she goes directly toward the crates that are the source of the whimpering. She opened the wooden boxes, prying it apart with her staff and watching the wood splinter around her; she finds wounded children inside. Andromeda immediately helps them out of the crates and conjures some good berries in her hand offering it forward encouraging the children to eat them. Her kind eyes and gentle touch makes them feel safe enough to eat the delicious berries; they immediately feel better. She finds their clothes in the corner of the room sitting on an old single cushion sofa chair that has several rips and a spring poking through the seat. She gives them the clothes to put on; even without words they understood she was helping them.

Andromeda, making sure to keep the children safely behind her as she moves to re-engage the melee below stepping lightly to the top of the wooden stairs only to see Lythander ascending the stairwell toward her; he stops pivots and drops another arrow in the back of the mother demon who finally fell where she stood. Her two children became enraged when they saw their mother fall and they turned their anger toward Melrick and Shamesh; the paladin took blow after blow as his holy aura drew the focus of their hate and down he went. Andromeda went immediately to her friends aid, and healed him to keep Shamesh in the fray. Melrick, still fighting feverishly, but is failing to overcome the evil hags. Lythander, stumbling his way up the stairs further, failes gain his footing and tries to loose another arrow but is unable to be accurate. Shamesh finds his feet and heals himself further to continue to stay on his feet. Andromeda pushes past Lythander, and she takes the form of a large black panther, as the room turns to hear the roar the beast leap off the stairs and surges forward to pounce on the hag fighting Melrick. With the hag now pinned to the ground beneath the panther Melrick, Lythander and Shamesh beat down the hag. Andromeda is forced back into human form as she took damage from the abomination in a last gasp. Seeing the holy weapon of her paladin friend fall to the ground, as she transforms back to her natural form landing on her behind; the druid girl finds her feet quickly growling some incantation and the air around her staff swirled as the shape of the quarterstaff began to curve, bend and look like a crooked shillelagh. She then turned to her attention to help Shamesh; saving him yet again, this time before she would watched him fall in battle. With another grunt, Andromeda was able to stabilize and keep the paladin from bleeding out. He rose, and the two continued to sink magical attacks into the last remaining hag. Melrick closes in on the final melee, and the evil creature made a desperate grasp at the stunty foe to try and bite at his neck, in a move to repulse the creature he pulled his axe up through the middle of the creature to split it in half. The frenzied melee ended, and the adventurers looked upon each other with both a sense of relief and terror. These creatures were torturing children, to what evil end they do not know. While they saved this day, the real challenge is still ahead. Weary, they silently left the home, with the children in tow, ready to face whatever horrific thing may come next…

Our heroes have lived to fight another day, but grow weary in Ravenloft, the prospect of escaping grows ever more dim. They have a map, but no clues on where to go next, we’ll see if they can figure out anything in the next session! 

We left our heroes back at the inn looking for more clues that would lead them out of this nightmare when the realized they were being surrounded by ravens!

… the ravens the adventurers had discovered were decorating the inn all around. The more they looked the more they saw the theme of the ravens surrounding them, including above the bar where they saw a diorama depicting a nest of ravens. This clearly harkens back to the tarot cards where they were foretold some cryptic info about their future by the gypsie. What it means they do not know, however they have keep moving; they are losing time and need to keep gaining ground on Strahd if they are going to survive and ever return home. After some quick discussion, they decide to head to the toy store to investigate further.

After they arrive at the Toy Store, they arrive at Bolinksi’s to find an eclectic collection of creep toys. As they are looking around, Gaydolf Bolinski himself comes out to the front to greet the group of adventurers, he’s a robust man above average in size with a monkey on his shoulder. “Welcome to Bolinski’s, I make magical toys for children”. He was a bit odd, but it seemed genuine that he was a shopkeep with no hidden agenda so far as they could tell. Andromeda meanders around the shop but finds nothing of particular consequence. The group notices that there are two dolls in particular that are notably interesting; one that appears to look like Strahd and the other that looks like Irena. They ask why there is dolls that look like these two characters, and Bolinski that he made the one that looked like Strahd from what he heard in the stories, and the other doll that looks like Irena he is asked to make one each month and it’s picked up by the Burglemeisters’s main thug Isaac. This seems to anger Shamesh and Bent in particular. They press him for more information and the situation escalates quickly. Bent becomes very aggressive as he rips a head off a doll and demands answers as to why the doll is being made and when it’s being picked up. Gaydolf does not seem to want to back down, nor answer anymore questions, and demands the adventurers leave, immediately. Bent nearly loses his cool as the rest of the group watches on in disbelief, the sorcerer charges the shop keep and knocks him to the ground, then unleashes a whirlwind of cantrips that tear up the shop. Bolinski is visibly shaken and tells them that Isaac comes each week to pick up the doll; then he begs for the his safety as his monkey climbs to a high shelf to get away from harm and screeches at the group. Satisfied with the information that Bolinksi has now given up, the tiefling drops a gold on the shopkeep and leaves, followed by the rest of the group. Andromeda, who seemed to be unaware of what was going on, comes to the front, noticing the shop in disarray, helps the shopkeep to his feet and consoles the monkey that has returned to his master. She scratches the monkey lovingly on the head and gives Bolinski another gold coin. Elated he gives the little girl a handful of dolls to which she accepts and excitedly runs outside eager to show her friends. The group then decides to bring it’s cheer to the Burglemeister’s house.

Because the Burglemeister is asking the toymaker to create this doll that looks like Irena, which seems uncomfortable at best, they want to know more. They arrive at the home and they are welcomed in by the Burglemeister and his wife, plus his dogs. After the Burglemeister greets them, and introduces his wife; she laughs lightly in response, in a relatively uncomfortable manner. Bent and Melrick start in, without much tact, on questions around the dolls. They explained that they went to the toy shop and found the dolls and were interested in the collection of dolls that he had. The Burglemeister seemed miffed by the conversation and asked Isaac, who was overseeing the conversation, to escort the group out. The group questions the motivation to have them removed so quickly; then, attempting to de-escalate the situation, they trying to explain they are only interested in resolving the issue of the missing children that belonged to Mad Mary. He concedes his position and offers to let them see the collection of dolls that belong to his son. His son is in the attic and doesn’t come down, he doesn’t explain why stating only that he wastes his time in the attic all the time. He continues to deny that he has dolls made and that there is even any interest in having dolls made. The adventurers brought to the son’s room and there is in fact a collection of creepy dolls clearly from the toy store.

Melrick presses the conversation and wants to know the stance the Burglemeister has on Strahd and the situation in the land of Barovia. The nobleman states that he thinks Strahd is a monster and the constant celebrations are what is keeping his town of Valliki safe. The Dwarf boldly suggest that it’s possible that Isaac may not be loyal and could be working for Strahd; the Burglemeister is skeptical but is willing to listen. Melrick and Shamesh suggest they can get proof for the Burgelmeister if he would be willing to give them a letter for Bolinskii which would allow them to release the next toy doll to them instead of Isaac. He agrees, goes to a desk in the room, scribes it, signs it, folds it neatly and hands it to the dwarf, they heads downstairs to find that Isaac has his own plans, and was waiting with a dozen soldiers. He demands they lay down their weapons; without hesitation, the Melrick draws both weapons, and Bent ignites his palm and the battle ensues. Isaac immediately is on Shamesh and buries him in a big swing from his great axe. The Paladin was staggered but steady and fought back breathing fire. Melrick was overwhelmed quickly, but steadfast, despite being surrounded by four combatants. Bent litt up half the guards with fire and despite the burning they were emboldened, surrounding him. Andromeda realises quickly how desperately the situation is getting  and moves to the wall, crawling like a spider to the ceiling. Shamesh continues to try to fight off Isaac, and it barely making a difference, fighting to what will likely be his last. The dwarf was not dismayed landing two axes, but felled neither guard; this was bad. Isaac was furious, landing another great axe into Shamesh who was on his knee and finally onto the ground. Andromeda was quick to respond, and growled in anger about her friend being felled, and the Paladin was saved. Bent was not faring well, but still burning the group around him; he was running out of life to give. The guards were continuing to press their advantage on the heroes, but were starting to falter. Shamesh tried to save himself by doing some additional healing but it wasn’t enough. Isaac wasted no time in putting the Paladin into the dirt, again. Andromeda would not allow her friend fall, growling in anger, and keeping the Paladin breathing. She moved to above Isaac, and leaped from the cieling to knock the captain guard prone, but he still gripped his great sword. Shamesh, unable to gather himself, is unable to land any blows on Isaac, despite him being on his back. The guards them jump to the opportunity to get to Andromeda, and they start beating her, forcing her to disengage immediately. Bent made a decision he was going to give his life, unleashing a fireball on Isaac, while he is exposed, but it cost the sorcerer dearly, as the guards around him beat him to the ground. Andromeda makes for the wall again and climbs quickly, and Isaac turns his attention back toward Shamesh, and brings him down yet again. Melrick finally took down two guards, but that was the last he had, before he was taken down by the remaining guards around him. There was one hero still standing, Andromeda was alone. She look around and realized there was no salvaging the situation and climbed across the ceiling to the door, and the guards were unable to reach her before she escapes, leaving the heroes battered, beaten and on the floor surrounded by the guards…

Will our heroes survive?! See if Andromeda can save them next time… 

We left our heroes on the edge of their seats finding out what may be all they need to know to find their way out of this nightmare, or is it? 

With the group in adventurers hanging on every word from Madame Eva; she decided to make it a spectacle ensuring they received their monies worth. In a wisp of magic she took a map of Barovia (the land they are in not the town they had just left), and telling them what they were looking at and threw it into the fire… and the map did not burn! Instead it was emboldened with marks that indicated specific locations and places. In awe and afraid to touch it as Madame Eva heald it out, Andromeda, the only one among them that was unafraid, reached forward and took this magic riddled unburnt parchment very delicately in her hands.

As they left Madame Eva’s tent they heard an older gypsy man telling stories to children in the camp. They stop to listen for a few minutes and they hear about a man who lead a group that had battled against the vampire Strahd. Could this be the people from town that tried to rebel that they saw as ghosts just a night ago? The location where this battle occurred was called Tser Falls; they were ultimately defeated. The legend goes that anyone that is defeated by Strahd has their soul trapped and is eternally bound to the cemetery. They rise every night and march to his castle… to what end they do not know. Before they leave the camp they take some time with the older male gypsy, and they find out that there is a tower in a lake that was a “wizards’ tower”; which seemed to connect with one of their tarot card clues. The tower is somewhere to the east of Vallaki; it is supposedly in Lake Baratok. One last question from Melrick to the old gypsy before they left is how Strahd became a vampire. There was a story about a knight that came from another realm, that was mortally wounded by a group of assassins; he was saved and nursed back to health by the gypsies, and while the details aren’t known of how he transformed to the tyrant he has become, what they could share was that the gypsies were granted the ability to come ago in the land as they please as payment for their kindness, the only ones that have ever been allowed to leave Barovia. Supposedly the legend goes that he can only be killed by fire, sunlight, or a stake through the heart. With that, they did not speak a word and headed solemnly toward the lake that may house the wizard tower they have decided to try and find as the first step in solving this nightmare.

As the group was preparing the leave town, Lythander decided to try and sell his wares. He found a merchant in town who did not have enough in gold pieces to buy what they rogue had but he was willing to trade. After some negotiation, he was able to garner a couple potions, a couple more scrolls, a hat, and a dagger; the latter two appeared to be magical (according to Bent). The group seemed happy with the haul, and off they went heading west…

Heading down the road, not too far into their new journey they come across a man at a distance who appeared to be cloaked feathers. While Lythander is jittery and immediately hides, Melrick scoffs and heads right toward the stranger and addresses him, “hello there!” It turns out the stranger is heading to the town they just left, en route to Barovia proper; he is in search of a larger quantity of wine. “My name is Sergei Martakov” is how he introduces himself and the group chats with him for a bit. The dwarf questions why the man is travelling alone, and the man dismisses the questions as erroneous. During the conversation Lythander reappears in an uncomfortably conspicuous manner and asks some questions about Boliski, stating he is a toy maker in Vallaki. Sergei also mentions to them to visit his brother if and when they arrive in Vallaki; he is the innkeeper of the Blue Water Inn. He also warns them to not leave the roads, as it’s much safer than the roaming off.

As they continue to travel along the path, they find themselves in a large canyon with ridges rising up a thousand feet above them; as they gaze up they see a large stone bridge connecting the two ridges on either side of the canyon on the far side they see a castle, the adventurers believe this, indeed, is Ravenloft Castle where the vampire Strahd calls home. As they exit the large cavern it appears to the group that something is amiss; in fact this would be a perfect place to spring a trap. Their fears were quickly affirmed as a they see an animal looking creature, that was something between human and animal bipedal but crawling, flanked by animated twigs. Melrick immediately heads toward the bipedal animal and lands an axe in the middle of it’s chest. He carves through and buries his second weapon just to be sure in a complete coup de gras. As the dwarf pulls his axes from the rib cage of the fallen animal, the twigs were easily dispatched by the rest of the party, save for Andromeda who put two bursts of flame into a nearby twig figure and is unable to bring it down; apparently her druid sense compelled her not to destroy the animated plant life. Thankfully Ismark and Irena were there to finish off the final animated twigs despite Andromeda’s best efforts to keep it alive.

After more time passed, however uneventful, they see a gate that leads to… well, where they don’t know; they believe it might be the manner of Castle Ravenloft. The gate is fallen and on the ground and they decide to leave it be and head further toward the task at hand. As they journey farther they come towards a fork in the road and find a sign that says “Bonegrinder”; they look farther up the road and see a windmill on a hill. They decide to stay the course and go farther, still, up the road and after another half mile or so and they come up on another lone figure clad completely in armor, appearing aggressive in nature and seemingly looking for a scuffle. As they approach further they noticed a symbol on the breastplate of the human figure. They move close enough to see the anger in his eyes, but he does not charge but puts his hand on the hilt of his sword and once again Melrick fancies himself the party spokesperson and calls out “do you serve the cursed one!?” only to hear him respond “it is YOU who serve the cursed one” in a gruff voice. Shamesh does not recognize the symbol but denies the assertion on behalf of the heroes. Seeing that the group was questioning him looking for a better answer, “I serve the order of the Silver Dragon and if you are who you say you are you should find Vladimir Hornguard, leader of my order.” The knight of sorts proclaims his crest of that belonging to the Ravenkind and he advised the group that his order is found Argynvostholt and dedicated to clearing the area of the cursed Strahd. The heroes ask if he wants to join them in their pursuit of Strahd, however he advised they have to go to Vladimir to seek his counsel before going further.  They agree to seek out Vladimir and head toward Argynvosltholt.

As they leave together they pass a lake and see a man in a boat in the middle; after a closer look Lythander notices a sack next to the man in the boat that seems to be moving a bit, almost as if there is something or someone inside of it. As they are watching he throws the sack in the water and then drops a fishing line into the water. Aghast, the group hurries to pull out the magical hat that they had, which they previously found out was a hat of water breathing, and the dwarf heads in the water with the hat to find out what was in the sack that was moving. The Dwarf rushes to the sack under the water and slices the bag open to see a little girl in the sack who was not moving. He brings her to the surface water and then rushes her back to shore where Andromeda grabs the young girl and immediately forces her to spit up the water she had swallowed finally able to stabilize her. While the druid was saving the little girl Melrick was rushing back to the boat; however Lythander was even quicker to notich an arrow on his longbow; he loosed an arrow dead on target at the man in the boat and caught him square in the chest. By time the dwarf got to the boat to capsize it and pull the clearly devious man under, he found the man with an arrow through his chest. With a disdainful look backs toward shore, he let the man sink to the bottom got into the boat and rowed it back to shore. Once there he finds the group having a conversation with the girl who shared that she was taken from her family, is currently only seven-years-old, and doesn’t know why she was taken. They offer her some food but she doesn’t want anything to eat; she is, however, from Vallaki, so they tell her they will take her back home.

They arrive, finally at Vallaki, and they are greeted at the gate, but not granted entry; told by the guard at the front “if you’re alive in the morning, we’ll see you in then!”. They set camp outside, set watches, and take rest until morning. While the group sleeps, Lythander and Andromeda are on watch. Throughout the watch Lythander starts to nod off (pretending he would later say) and the Druid enters a meditative state. Suddenly, Lythander’s awareness kicks in and he notices four wolf shaped figures on the edge of the camp, not engaging but lurking. He wakes the group, and Andromeda eagerly moves to the edge of the camp ready to defend her friends from the incoming frey, but does not engage. As she is waiting Shamesh lunges forward and sinks his blessed weapon into one of the wolves. Immediately following that Bent and Andromeda are unexpectedly put asleep; falling to the ground. From the opposite side of the camp, they hear that silky regal voice “that was not kind to do”. Shamesh wheels around, and sees for the first time… Strahd. He walks up to Irena, the woman of his desires and caresses her face as he strolls through camp. Shamesh demands he get away from her, and with a wry smile that seemingly encouraged his apparently pet wolves jump the paladin from behind tearing at his clothes. Not too long after, the Burgermeister’s children both fell asleep. Melrick lunges towards a wolf and puts an axe into one wounding it badly and Shamesh turns around lands another blow in the hurt wolf, but it does not fall. Lythander proceeds to engage and fight, however is quickly and inexplicably turned into a toad. The situation is quickly growing dire; Melrick and Shamesh are determined to go down fighting and take down two wolves with them, and while they are busy fighting the overgrown canines, Strahd whispers something in the Irena’s ear then turns snapping his cloak around him is gone. Shamesh is overcome by one of the remaining wolves, not before being fended off by Melrick then the wolves take off into the wood; the dwarf is the only remaining hero on his feet.

Looking around he is absorbs the situation in enough time for Lythander to turn back from a frog as quickly as he had turned into one while Bent and Andromeda wake from their forced slumber. The rest of the night passes uneventfully, however the group is clearly aware of what they are up against at this point and they are terrified at the disadvantage they face. Nearly despondent the group barely rests through the night  and when morning approaches they clear camp and approach the gates again. This time it’s a different guard of Vallaki and they announce their desire to see Sergie’s brother, the innkeeper from the Blue Water Inn and they are granted entry into town.

As they walk through town they see a man posting an announcement about a great celebration called the Wolf’s Head Celebration, and no sooner are they done reading the announcement when a man walks by ripping the announcement down and putting up a new one called Celebration of the Rising Sun. Lythander briefly questions the change in celebration notices and the man will have none of the questions. As the man walks away he is hawk eyeing Irena in a manner that makes the whole group uncomfortable after Lythander points out to everyone the glare of the man. After looking around, with some urging from Lythander and Andromeda, they decide to bring the little girl home while Irena and Ismark decide to go to the Inn. They approach the camp of the Bisconi and they find their way to the little girl’s house. They speak with her father who is elated, he gives the group a large sum of gold in great gratitude for returning his daughter. As they go to leave Melrick steps in and asks the man why his daughter would have been taken; he claims he doesn’t know. The group tries again to leave, and the dwarf presses further and asks, “does it have something to do with Strahd?” The man rushes over in hushed tones and asks them to keep their voices down when they speak his name. He advised he only serves Strahd as he must but that this camp is loyal to Strahd. They find out that those who complain about the festivals are deemed malcontents and draw the eyre of the Burgermeister of Vallaki. About this time they notice that those roaming around outside are taking extra notice of their conversation and decide to bring it to a close, thank the man for his generosity and head back to town.

On the way back to the town the group decides to head to the inn to find Irena and Ismark. When the arrive they find the familiar face of Sergei who is back already and he introduces them to his brother, Irwin. After sitting down to a good meal and making arrangements for the night they find out some more of the happenings around the town. Apparently the Valleki Burgermeister is a bit overbearing to all save for one woman in the northern part of town. This particular woman is very much despised by the Burgermeister here but he leaves her be because she is rumored to have strong ties to Strahd. They also find out about an abandoned camp outside of town, it was supposedly by Strahd for an offense against him; though that has never been verified. In town the continued celebrations are supposedly to keep Strahd away, though the people in town don’t believe it works nobody will dare speak out against it because of the Burgermeister’s fear mongering. This week is the celebration of the Rising Sun. With further discussion the site of the fallen dragon comes up again, and once again they find themselves being compelled towards Argynvosltholt. a silent nod amongst the group and they all concur this site of the religious sect and fallen dragon needs to be visited.  After a good meal they decide they to find Irena and Ismark and update them on what they have discovered. Irwin agrees to show them to their room, and en route they hear what appears to be a large congregation of birds in a room, they stop and…

The heroes are seemingly never safe! Next week we find out what the inn had waiting for them… 

Once again our favorite gamers from DOGC are embarking on another heroes journey, this time in the world of D&D, where they have new comers and veterans alike to tackle one of the most classic story lines in the history of RPGs, and so it begins… 

In the the most famous of settings and in the most famous of cities in all of D&D is where we find our group of heroes. Welcome to Daggerdale, where many of the greatest adventurers that have braved the Forgotten Realms have begun their journeys. We find our newest band of adventurers on the edges of a rocky enclave just a mere days walk outside the town. These were an eclectic group, with nominal history working together for this noble before. We meet Lythander, a rougish chap who favors his bow, known to have a good hart and quick draw is always available for good coin. Melrick, a dwarf who is never seen without his two trusty axes that he uses for all manner of activity not the least of which is dealing with rif raf around Daggerdale. A shadowy Teifling that most don’t interact with named Bent, he dables in the dark arts, and is only available for the most dangerous of opportunities, or is that the only the most dangerous things find him? Lastly we have two long fast friends Shamesh and Andrameda, a holy Dragonkin that befriended this lost and wild young woman who doesn’t seem to speak any discernible language but somehow the two have an understanding that nobody else can follow. They are rarely found apart and the young human girl rarely interacts with people in town and prefers to be on the outskirts in their woods encampment and leaves the business of adventuring to her friend, and Shamesh has ever been loyal to her and kept them far from harm and gainfully enough employed. 

This motley crew has worked together before, once or twice; this time themselves here, on this enclave, after being propositioned by a familiar noble, tasking them with dealing with a pesky group of bandits for a more than modest 10 gold pieces each. These undesirable petty thieves have been harassing the travelers and traders along the main road into the city and the local aristocracy want them dealt with in an expeditious manner. The bandits were found at the top of the rocky incline just before dusk, after a simple ambush, they were soundly defeated by our heroes. Due to the steep incline and the rapidly falling sun with nightfall upon them, the group decided to stay atop the enclave and wait for dawn to make their way back to town. After a completely uneventful evening, they wake in the morning surrounded by a thick heavy cold mist, and after a bit of gathering themselves, and their things, all with an uneasy manner compared to when they fell asleep they realize the all-of-a-sudden uncomfortable setting is really not where they were when they fell asleep. In fact they are longer on an the edge of the rocky enclave at all. Bewildered, Shamesh and Melrick concur that they should head east back in the direction of Daggerdale, or at least where it should be; it’s a good a place as any to start. Clearly bewildered by some magic, the group was keenly aware, with weapons in hand, that they should be ready for anything.  After travelling for long enough to realize that despite the fog obscurring Daggerdale is clearly no where near where it should be, and in a rather unexpected turn of circumstances, as they begin to realize they are not close to where they should be, the fog begins to lift. A town, slightly gothic in appearance, perhaps abandoned, with an ornate gate out front flanked by two guaredsmen is now nestled directly in front of them on their path; it was not Daggerdale. They pause, look at each other and head towards the gate, the Dwarf addresses the guards out front, but they don’t speak, and upon closer look they appear to be inanimate. Having few options at this point, they decide to go through the gates and see what they can find out, and try to figure out this rapidly developing bizarre circumstance. They enter the town through a large iron gates and as they go through the gate slams behind them…

Weapons drawn and fully gripped, they find a body just past the gate, Andrameda does not hesitate to approach the deceased, after looking closer she can see the body has begun to decay and has been dead for a long while, partially eaten by crows. The body was a man, and he is holding a note with a large B on the front and sealed in wax. She gives the letter to her friend, and the Dragonkin, despite potential danger, opens the letter. After a cursory read through, it’s from someone named Colian writing about his daughter, Irena; her health is poor and he is writing a letter to ask for help from the town. The letter is not addressed to anyone but appears to be written to a Burglemeister, otherwise known as the mayor, presumably of the town they are in; but who knows such things. As they look for any evidence of where they are or what they are doing there, Andrameda notices that there are paw prints that lead to the body that came from the road but the road is heavily trampled; they can’t see beyond that. As they walk to the main road of the town inspecting the tracks, or trying to, seemingly out of thin air what looks to be two young children in the road appear, drawing them further into this town. The child is whimpering and the older of the two states there is a monster in their house. They point to the row of town homes that appear to make up the bulk of the town they are in. Looking abandoned, and the town might be lifeless aside from these two children for all they know, but looking in the direction they were pointed by the children the find the house they are referring to as their home and the monster is supposedly in the basement and a baby on the third floor. There seems to be no easy solution to this situation, and Shamesh does not detect any evil on these children, with Lythander and Bent having hardly spoken a word to this point, and the inept Dwarf unable to make heads of tails of the situation; the group decides they will take the clear direction this unexpected journey has set them on and they head towards the home to see where this child may be and what monster awaits them.

Once inside everything is covered in dust and the home looks like it hasn’t been lived in for a very long time, they search the main floor and find that there seems to be a basement below as well as stairs going up. They ascend the second level and decide to skip it and head to the top floor where the baby is supposed to be. They go to the third floor and look around but there seems to be no access to what they now see as a floor above; oddly the home did not appear to have that many levels from the exterior, but nothing at this point was what it seemed to be. The group, adamant in staying together, decided to exit to a terrace outside the home and see if they can climb to the next level. Despite the Lythander’s best efforts, there was no way to ascend the the top level. As the Dwarf is looking around, and watching the rest of the party search the third floor he leans unexpectedly onto a wall taking a load off from carrying his two weapons and the dust releases from the wall and slides the wall aside to reveal the staircase to the next level they have been looking for all long; an all too convenient answer to their problem. The group feels this a clear problem and apparent solution so they quickly make the decision to take the mysterious stairs and find, on the other end, what looks like it was once a child’s room, and in the middle of the room are two skeletons that clearly look like those belonging to young children, perhaps… those that they had just met in the street?! As they look around there is a pile of toys near a chest to one side of the room. Lythander, who had helped himself to a teddy bear on one of the previous floors unbeknownst to the rest of the group, decides to take the doll and place it with the rest of the toys. Andrameda notices quietly, however Melrick couldn’t help himself, “what are you doing?!”, Lythander claims he was keeping the toys together, and the Dwarf with a quizzical look accepts the answer not knowing what follow up question to ask. 

As they look around the room further looking for a clue as to what they are supposed to do next, the two children they met outside on the street in town appear inside the room at it’s center adjacent to the bodies. The fear was tangible among the group, as at least this part of the story had now come together. The adventurers tried to leave the room but the children protested, “don’t leave us” they yelled; indicating they were left before, suggesting that this the reason they are now ghosts and their skeletons lay at the center of the room. Lythander, with an unspoken look towards his companions, offered to play some games with them and their dolls while the rest of the group tried to find a solution to their protests. The group looks at each other while Lythander sat and folded his legs on the floor to interact with the children, and the beads of sweat could be seen on his brow. Melrick became tired of the whole situation and in a display of his mounting frustration attempted to leave the room; immediately as he made for the exit one of the children rushed him in a terrifying ghostly form with a loud shrill shriek. He seemed to stumble and shake off a bit of fog as the ghostly form of the child washed over him; he appeared to be okay, despite the encounter. Seizing the opportunity the rogue realized the time for games with the children was over, he made for the bones of the children threw them in his satchel and made for the door not before being rushed by the second child and being consumed by the ghostly form of the second child complete with a second shriek, unlike the Dwarf, Lythander broke down into frightful tears and frustrations that amounted in nonsensical ramblings. It was clear the ghosts, in their rush washing over him, had done something to affect his temperament and were testing his will. Andrameda pulled him to his feet and dragged him out of the room where the group made for the door to leave the building but find the stairs only lead to the second floor where they had failed to investigate previously, instead of leading down to the main level where they could exist; the house was one illusion after another.

While inspecting the room to find a solution, Lythander finally gets his wits about him, and starts to help the group, just in time to encounter a bewitched broom in a closet that beat the unsuspecting rogue and thankfully he was saved by the Dwarf, and healed by Andrameda so he could muster on to help find a way out of this house. As the Dragonborn, who had been mostly on looking the day thus far, continued to look around the room; he encountered a creature in the the only other doorway in the room where he thought they might have a way out. He was lashed savagely, and Andrameda had to rush to save her friend before he fell victim to this abomination. The Melrick rushed in and split it in two with repeated axe blows after the Tiefling lit it up with consecutive bursts of flame. After clearing the creature the group decided they must find a way to the basement to clear this monster in the house as it appears they will not be able to find their way out until this thing is dealt with. As they descend the stairway they are able to make their way to the basement, finally…

In the basement the heroes are immediately attacked by what Shamesh would later identifiy as a grell, and the Dragonborn priest is savagely attacked once again; stumbling back the Druid used the remnants of her healing power to keep her friend upright. While distracted the Lythander found a vantage point with his bow and mortally wounded the creature; then the Dwarf put the final blows to make the situation stable again. With the group still whole, barely, they gather to their feet to figure out what pieces could be left for them to resolve so they can simply get out of this house, they notice in their are three empty caskets. Lythander realizes that the bones he had instinctively taken from the top floor should be laid to rest in these caskets, he received some odd looks from his companions, but they help him sort the bones into the casket for their final resting place. Once done they realize they only have bones for two of the three caskets; they cannot yet leave… 

Until next time when we see if our heroes can find their way out! 

In the opening week of the Dark Omen Guild Ball League we saw the stars rise to the top, and an exciting start to the season. Here are the box scores and summaries:

In the most exciting (and bloodiest) contest of the week, the Butchers and Union traded 8 take outs before it was all said and done! Gutter had his team out to an early lead with two quick take outs, before Ox evened the tally by taking out Rage and the opposing captain Blackheart. However after Meathook failed to take out Mist, this left her free to score. On the following turn Blackheart returned to the pitch to take out Boiler, just before he was taken out by Ox a second time, then Gutter closed the game by taking out Meathook; nobody left this one unscathed.

The Engineers win in a stunner in the opening week, as they mounted a comeback after being down to two early scores by Jac and Shark. The the Engineers responded by putting a flurry of shots on goal with Hoist and Colossus connecting to even the tally before Ballista took out Salt to win the game.

In an unexpectedly mild contest this one was a defensive struggle that ended in rapid exchange of goals in the last five minutes of the game where Friday took over scoring two of the games goals over the final few moments to end the contest in victory for the Brewers.

Masons put on a team effort with three different players scoring goals, in stark contrast to the one man show that was the Alchemists lead by Midas. Flint had his team out to an early lead with a goal, Midas responded by taking the rock down to the opposing goal but missed on the opportunity. Tower took advantage of the miss by giving his team an 8-0 lead on the follow up score. Calculous took the goal kick but was quickly taken out by Honour; however Midas was not going down with out a fight. He redeemed himself by taking the pig bladder from one end to the other and scoring, then stealing the ball on the opening possession of the next turn to bring his team within 2 and and within a goal of winning. However the comeback fell short when Compound lost the ball to Mallet who went on to score the game winner.

Standings

League Leaders

Most Points

Most Goals

Most Take Outs

We return to find out adventurers amidst a myriad of tasks; from searching from lost loved ones to avenging fallen comrades…

Back at the Five Fingers, while Nigel is busy doing his forensic work, neither Taiga nor Percival had interest in witnessing those tasks; however they did discuss Kyrthea. Percival, while not as well connected as his father, was able to use his father’s network to find out that Taiga’s sister was last seen with someone by the name of Trent Macy, a mercenary with the Black Hounds Company. Apparently they were seen with an east Cygnarian Garrison force; with this new info, Taiga prepared to depart immediately. Taiga and Nigel reconvene and talk further to Percival and garner more information on Trent Macy; he was last seen boarding a train out of Point Bourne heading south. Additionally, Percival mentions that the leader of Macy’s mercenary company, The Black Hounds, is a man named Marshall Reed. Nigel, now motivated by this new information, suggests that he and Taiga should travel together to Point Borne to find the mercenaries, alluding to the fact this may indeed help his investigation into the murder of the elder Winston. Percival provides Nigel with a mount and some gold to help cover expenses.

…

Back out to the Gnarls, a few days after Zebalon took over his new encampment, one of his Bogrin patrols did not come back. Angered at either their desertion or failure to repel invaders, he set out after them. He was ambushed by a gaggle of Trollkin, and was overrun by their numbers and sheer Toughness. Surrounded, wounded, and with his Boneswarm reduced to a harmless pile of debris, Zebalon offered the Trolls the opportunity to surrender! Fools that they were, the Trolls raised their axes rather than retreat from Zebalon’s sovereign domain. His fate is as of yet, is unknown.

…

Across the forest, the Tharn hunting band regrouped in the woods and waited for the next train to arrive with another garrison force while healing their wounds. They would have to try again to capture an informant. This time a new plan, more covert; when night fell Calder shadowed an overnight guard patrol and with a Force Bolts pulled the pair towards the woods and his fellow Tharn were able to apprehend one soldier for interrogation. The interrogations revealed that Cygnarians are extending the train tracks through the Deamon Head Pass and that they are reinforcing the area to discourage raiding parties or other potential problems. Satisfied with the information, they feed the soldier to the Rotterhorn accompanying them.

They return back to their tribe to inform the Chief only to find their village decimated and their Chief gravely wounded. They are informed by the bedraggled survivors that a Troll contingent descended on their tribe and ravaged it. Caldar immediately gathers those still able and sets out on the path after the invaders. With their intimate knowledge of the forest, they rush the through the woods and quickly come upon the warband. Calder orders the immediate strike and the Trollkin are caught completely off guard; a half dozen are struck down before they even know what is happening. The White Maw tore through the descendants of Dhunia with ferocity that was quick and viciously decisive. Calder ended the battle by separating the female troll Warlock’s head from her body to take back to his Chief.

…

While the scrum was happening in the Gnarls, Taiga and Nigel were a day and a half into their travels to Point Bourne when they were harassed by travelers on the road. The would-be bandits tried to shake them down for a fee to pass by on the road. Nigel and Taiga evaded the bandits by taking a fast gallop through the woods, disappearing behind a Blizzard before fleeing to the woods under the effects of Occultation.