Transcript
bladesedge: Hello and welcome back to the Blade's Edge D and &D actual play podcast where we are running through cursive Strahd. We are currently in the village of Barovia. The characters Desan, Inabi, Bash and Alma.
bladesedge: Are entering the blood of the vine tavern. In an attempt to find a man named is mark. um Dishon coming back from the church after just having. Rechained Doru son of Donovitch in the basement. On his way back, seeing a. A an older woman who he does not know, but who is.
bladesedge: reminding him of the death of him and his compatriots at the windmill old bone grinder. Uh, but as the four of you enter blood on the vine tavern, uh, you see the man behind the bar, uh, looks up and just says, well, we've got some newcomers. What can I get you?
Alma Graves: What do you have?
bladesedge: Um, he says, um, which this rings, um, a bell to all of you, but I mean, Fez rack to you, maybe specifically. Uh, but he goes, you know, we've got purple, great match number three wine. We've got a red dragon crush. And then I've just got a pint.
Tommy: Say that again.
bladesedge: He says, Purple Great Mash number three, Red Dragon Crush, and then I've just got a pint.
Tommy: Holy shit. The Martikoffs. And I start like scribbling down in like a notebook.
bladesedge: It worked. He brought back the production of the line. He says, so what can I do? What can I do you for?
Alma Graves: I think I'll just take a pint.
bladesedge: Alright.
Kyle: I will also take a pint.
bladesedge: but bla up bla but Pours up to pints of ale for you two gentlemen sets it down one copper per pint.
Trevor: Uh, could I just put like, uh,
Trevor: like four gold down for him and be like, what would this do to just keep all this coming?
bladesedge: oh
Trevor: Uh, in a knobby said he's been stuck in a fucking ring for 78 years and hasn't eaten or drank anything.
bladesedge: Ah.
Trevor: So he just wants to taste and indulge in whatever he can, he can do.
bladesedge: yeah
bladesedge: Totally.
Trevor: So he's hoping.
bladesedge: Yeah, this the pudgy pudgy little human man behind the bar says, All right. All right. Oh, my name's Arik, Arik Lonsack.
bladesedge: I tend to ball here.
Trevor: And Abhi.
bladesedge: He's cleaning the glass while he's talking to you. um He says, ah yeah absolutely. um He immediately pours up a pitcher of each wine. So you have a pitcher of each wine and he pours up two pitchers of ale.
bladesedge: Puts them all four of those down in front of you guys at the bar, puts down a cup for each of you. Uh, puts on a second cup too, just in case you want one for wine, one for ale, um, reaches back, take, doesn't seem, doesn't seem to have much food, but puts out like a plate of nuts, a plate of very Russian stylies, like some cold meats, just like some, some breakfast cold meats and beans maybe.
Trevor: Oh yeah. Sick.
bladesedge: Um, and, uh, He says, all right. Nice to meet you guys. Yeah. Thanks. but I'll keep it coming. Yeah. Enjoy yourselves. And, uh, anything else you need, just let me know.
Trevor: Hey, what was his name again?
bladesedge: His name is Arik.
Trevor: All right.
Alma Graves: Eric.
bladesedge: Lonsack. Eric.
bladesedge: Lonsack.
Trevor: Thank you.
Alma Graves: Eric Long, sir.
Kyle: Um, how close are we to his mark? You said we saw him when we walked into the bar.
bladesedge: Yeah, this place is not too big. This place is like, um, 60 feet square, you know, 60 on all sides. Um, so it's not too big. There's just three, there's three hooded people sort of talking in a corner, kind of maybe about a fire. And then there's this guy who you assume is this Mark, uh, just sitting at the bar alone, um, drinking a wine head up back straight, but by himself.
Kyle: Is there an open table for us to sit at?
bladesedge: yeah
Kyle: Cool. I'm going to pick up my pint and I'm going to say, anyone fancy a game of cards? And I'm going to look around and I'm going to try to make eye contact with Ismark and just ask if he would like to join into our group to play some cards.
bladesedge: Yeah, make a persuasion check. You get the sense. He's he's he's down. This persuasion check is for the three other individuals.
Kyle: Uh, 17.
bladesedge: All three of them look over an interest.
Kyle: Oh.
bladesedge: as As Mark also says. Honestly, that sounds like a great distraction. You guys are playing cards.
Alma Graves: The great game is a foot.
bladesedge: The grand game.
Kyle: The big game is on.
Alma Graves: The grand key at the big game.
bladesedge: Big games on? Nobody told me.
Trevor: Okay, Broncos?
bladesedge: um your denver Your Denver is showing, Trevor.
Kyle: Um, cool. Yeah. and i'll I'll pull up a seat.
Trevor: Yeah, yeah.
bladesedge: ah What were you saying?
Kyle: Yeah, I'll pull up a seat at the table and pull out my deck of cards.
bladesedge: OK.
Kyle: Give them a shuffle.
bladesedge: um Eric brings over the the the pints for gold, you know, enough to probably be for everybody puts them down, ah brings up another table. So there's two tables next to each other, puts them down, gets enough glasses for everybody, puts out some food. As Mark sits down and says, I'm as Mark, what's what's your name?
Kyle: My name is Bash. Bash Bloodsinger.
bladesedge: ah You say blood singer, and he goes blood singer. Like. Like Kavan blood singer.
Kyle: Hang on, I'm mentally deciding if I want to lie to him or not.
bladesedge: Yeah, he doesn't seem like he's mad about it. He just is.
Kyle: Okay, okay.
Alma Graves: No relation.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Kyle: No relation, I'm just being sad.
bladesedge: Yeah.
bladesedge: It is really, it's given it's it is reminding me keeps I keep having this with D &D or keeps reminding you of that scene in Austin Powers when he's. Like, would you like to hit? And he goes, I'll stay. And they're like, sorry, I suggest you hit. He goes, I'll stay.
Kyle: um Yeah, I'll say ah yes, unfortunately, like Kavan.
bladesedge: He nods, he goes, he goes, wow, that's the the stories. So with this, you were. The story is true. Are you a son? Where have you been?
Kyle: ah How much time do you have? That might be a story for another six nights.
bladesedge: He, uh, he goes, right. Okay. Okay. Uh, yeah, let's, let's, how about we just play some cards, huh?
Kyle: Good. And then I start dealing with cards.
bladesedge: Okay. Um, the other three hooded figures seem to be interested in playing. Are all of you guys going to play?
Alma Graves: I'm in on it.
Trevor: They all play.
Tommy: Yeah. Yeah. If we're not putting any money on it, cause I have none.
Alma Graves: They're putting money on it.
bladesedge: They look like they're trying to put some money on it.
Alma Graves: I'm in. Yeah.
Tommy: Okay. Then I will not, i I got no money. Um, I'd probably, um, if I'm not playing cards, I'll probably like, um, position myself towards like a window to look for who I believe is like the hag selling the pastries.
Kyle: Mm.
Tommy: And like, I'm also kind of like keeping an eye out of like any spiders that are around big paranoid energy coming out of the sun.
bladesedge: Yeah, I say right now you don't see her out the window, you don't see any spiders.
Trevor: I think if Desan goes off and is looking at all distraught or anything, ill I'd follow over to his table and pass on playing, let them all play, and I would just pull out a, I have like a dragon chest set. I, Trevor, have no We're going to do how that game works.
Trevor: But I assume Anabi would. um And if he would want to teach him how to play Dragon Chess, if he doesn't already know it, if he does, see if he would like to play.
Tommy: Yeah, I'd play some dragon chess.
Kyle: Oh babes.
Trevor: Oh, yeah.
bladesedge: Well.
Kyle: Wait is that, that's a... Dragon chest? What is that?
Tommy: I think it's just regular chess, but I don't know.
Trevor: It's like, it's not, I looked it up and it's like, there's three like planes, like on top of you.
Kyle: Oh wow.
Trevor: There's like a board and then one above, and then one above that, and then all these different pieces that move differently.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Tommy: Oh, God, it's like.
Trevor: Similarly to chess, but yeah, yeah, literally.
Tommy: Yeah, it's like 4D chess, kind of. but like Literally, literally 40 chess.
Trevor: but it Literally it's 4D chess, yeah.
Tommy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
bladesedge: Well, let's let's let's roll your guys's game first winner of your guys's game will get it will get inspiration for this session.
Tommy: okay
Alma Graves: go.
Tommy: sir
bladesedge: So if the first player to succeed on three checks will win this game would be contested skill challenges.
Trevor: Oh, sweet.
bladesedge: Um, you can make, you can choose to make one of different of three different skill checks to play around an intelligence check. with proficiency if you're trained in Dragon Chess, if that was one of your tools.
bladesedge: A deception check or an insight check.
Tommy: Oh, okay.
bladesedge: So intelligence check with proficiency, deception, or insight. Players reveal which check they're making only to me, who then calls for roles as the check select requires. An intelligence check represents you're playing the game normally using wit, strategy, and foresight to attempt to outplay your opponent with sheer game skill.
bladesedge: Deception check represents the character playing deceptively feigning weakness or incompetence to try and trick their opponent into making mistakes. An insight check will represent your character playing by reading their opponent, searching for clues to their plans or their general confidence in their body language and nonverbal cues. Um, if you're not proficient in dragon chest, you'll only use half your proficiency bonus rounded down, uh, to deception or insight checks rather than your full bonus. So that's an interesting note there.
Trevor: Okay. So if it's, for example, an intelligence check, if you have a plus three, you would roll that and then add the three proficiency to that. Is that what you're saying? If you used just intelligent.
bladesedge: If you're proficient, yeah, if if you're proficient in dragon chest and you do an intelligence check, it'll be adding your proficiency bonus.
Trevor: Okay.
Trevor: Okay.
bladesedge: If you're, if you choose a deception check and you're not proficient in dragon chest, you use half your proficiency for your deception check.
Tommy: Okay. Let me see if vesrap was proficient dragons just.
bladesedge: Cool.
bladesedge: and A lot of this hinges on you guys. You'll whisper me privately.
Tommy: Nope.
bladesedge: You can do in, in roll 20, you do slash w space, my name, and you can whisper me, which check you'd like to make first, first to win three checks wins.
Tommy: Ooh.
bladesedge: Okay. So.
bladesedge: Um, okay.
Trevor: Do you want us to just DM roll you a D20 and whisper you what the modifiers would be?
bladesedge: This is sure, sure. You can just, yeah, you roll the D 20 to me and then you can announce your total for this.
bladesedge: You don't, nobody will know why Trevor, uh, both, you can both roll your, your thing. Let me know what you get. Trevor, you're rolling at advantage.
Trevor: Oh, okay.
bladesedge: Mm -hmm.
Tommy: Oh man.
Trevor: um Wait, and you want me to, you want everybody to see it or?
bladesedge: Or you can just roll the D20 in the end and then announce what your score is.
Trevor: Okay. Let's see.
bladesedge: As Vesrak now dison the Paladin of Lathander and Inabi sit down to play this game of three -dimensional chess.
Trevor: Oh, wow.
Trevor: 13.
bladesedge: um me Tommy, you're rolling straight.
Tommy: Okay. Uh, no, ah no ads.
bladesedge: Are you proficient in dragon chess?
Tommy: I am not.
bladesedge: So not only that, but if you're proficient in the check that you're rolling, you'll only use half your proficiency.
Tommy: Okay, got it.
Tommy: So 17.
bladesedge: 17. So this first round goes to you to son.
Trevor: Nice.
Alma Graves: Nice.
Tommy: All right.
bladesedge: You knock some of his pieces off the board on one of the three layers on the second layer. You both begin working away and please DM me, which sort of check you'd like to make.
Tommy: It has to be different every time.
Tommy: Uh, Brian, it has to be different every time.
bladesedge: It does not have to be different every time.
Tommy: Okay.
bladesedge: Okay. So, um, Trevor, you once again have advantage.
Trevor: Okay.
bladesedge: Go ahead and roll again.
Alma Graves: He's hacking.
Tommy: Hey, is hacking the game?
Trevor: Ooh, that's gonna be a 25, I think.
Alma Graves: Holy.
Tommy: Oh, shit.
bladesedge: All right. Let's get it, Tommy.
Tommy: All right. 16.
bladesedge: Okay. So we've got one for Inabi and one for Dasan third round.
Tommy: OK.
bladesedge: Let's go. First three wins the Emmy, what you're rolling.
bladesedge: OK, so now I need to do. um
bladesedge: OK, cool. ah Tommy, you are rolling with advantage.
Tommy: Oh, all right.
Alma Graves: So let's go.
Trevor: Ooh.
Tommy: All right.
bladesedge: And Trevor, you are not.
Tommy: Mix it up.
bladesedge: You're rolling straight.
Tommy: Who's rolling first? Does it matter?
bladesedge: Doesn't matter now, because you guys already chose.
Tommy: 12 for Desan.
Trevor: That is a 24.
Tommy: Oh, my God.
Kyle: Oh my God.
bladesedge: There it is.
Tommy: Oh, no.
Kyle: We got Magnus Carlsen over here.
Alma Graves: Easy game, yeah.
Tommy: Yeah, dude.
bladesedge: Uh, Desan, but playing this first game, you know, uh, maybe has played before figuring out against maybe a guy who's been sitting in a ring playing this against himself for 78 years.
Tommy: He gets himself.
Trevor: Yeah, yeah, 100%.
Tommy: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Trevor: Wait,
bladesedge: All right. Let's get these next roles. What are you going to do, Trevor?
Trevor: that was three rolls, yeah. Do we keep going?
bladesedge: Or it's first to three.
Trevor: Oh, got it, got it, got it.
bladesedge: Yes. First to succeed, three checks. If you get this, you will.
bladesedge: Cool. So, um, uh, Tommy, once again, you have advantage.
Tommy: All right.
Tommy: 17.
Trevor: Oh, shit.
bladesedge: Okay.
Trevor: Oof.
bladesedge: The natural 20.
Trevor: And that's 26.
Tommy: Shit.
Trevor: And that 20, yeah.
Kyle: My lord.
Tommy: ah Oh, man.
bladesedge: The the first round of the game.
Tommy: All right.
bladesedge: um You see in Nabi using his intelligence of the game to play, and you we see Desan inciting him trying to determine where his moves go, but in Nabi, too familiar with the game.
bladesedge: had advantage on this role. The second round. Same way. Disarm was trying to insight in obvious next next moves, but his intelligence was too much when Disarm switched to deception.
bladesedge: His deception gave him. Advantage against the intelligence of an abbey. But it did not hold up all the way to the end as an abbey is victorious and an abbey you have heroic inspiration, so you
Tommy: And I'll be just that blasted, just straight intelligence every single roll.
Trevor: All right.
Tommy: He's like, yeah, I'm just doing it every roll.
bladesedge: Every role.
Trevor: Every time.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Tommy: He's like, I'm just going to.
Trevor: Yeah.
Tommy: Yeah.
bladesedge: He did say that he DME was like, I'm doing this for every role.
Trevor: right Yeah.
bladesedge: I was like, okay.
Tommy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I got a plus six to it and that's it. Game over.
bladesedge: Yeah. There's fun little rules about like, depending on what each player does, it gives, it could give somebody advantage or somebody, you know, disadvantage or whatever.
Trevor: yeah yeah
Tommy: ah
Kyle: and That's really cool.
Tommy: Uh, Yeah, I'll i'll give, uh, and I'll be like, you know, the handshake, you know, post chest mass handshake, and I'll go over and, um, position myself kind of like back towards the window, keeping an eye on the alleyway.
bladesedge: Cool. Uh, so Alma bash, the three hooded figures and is Mark sitting at the table is Mark says to you bash. He goes, um, Hey, have you played, uh, you ever played dead hand?
Kyle: I've not played dead hands. More of a blackjack guy myself.
bladesedge: He goes, well, what do you say you want to give it a go?
Kyle: Sure. Maybe one round of each.
bladesedge: Sure. He says, uh, dead hand goes like this. You draw as many cards as you want from the deck.
bladesedge: Uh, he gathers some more from Eric, the bar key puts them all together. There's like a million cards in this deck. Now ah he says you draw as many cards as you want and you add the numbers together.
bladesedge: Whoever gets the highest amount wins, but the catch is that if you draw an ACE,
Trevor: Oh let's go.
bladesedge: You lose automatically.
Alma Graves: that
bladesedge: If any of the cards you draw are an ace, you lose.
bladesedge: Which this game were represented in, ah you wrote D6s. You can roll as many D6s as you want to try and get the highest score. If you roll a one though, you auto lose.
Kyle: Gotcha. So now it's not d10s d6s.
bladesedge: D6s, yeah.
Alma Graves: in that head.
bladesedge: I guess it doesn't matter. We can do detends. It's the same shit. Yeah. Let's do detends.
Kyle: Yeah, if we're doing d10s for blackjack, then let's keep it
bladesedge: Sure.
Trevor: Should do D13s.
Alma Graves: Yeah.
Trevor: You know what I'm saying?
bladesedge: Yes.
Alma Graves: Sounds fun.
bladesedge: Your D fourteens. All right.
Trevor: Fuck it, dude.
bladesedge: Let's do D 52s.
Trevor: I would prefer a D68 and a half, but you know, we could do 52.
bladesedge: Um, and is Mark, uh, just puts, he puts a single gold piece. on the table, as do all three of the, uh, robed figures.
Kyle: Cool.
Alma Graves: As do I.
Kyle: As do I.
bladesedge: And do you hear them? Uh, the three robed figures, they look to all be women. Uh, one says, I am Mirabelle. The other one says, I am a Lenka. The other one says, uh, I am Serbia.
Alma Graves: um And as we go around the table introducing ourselves, I say, my name's Ahoma. And I um whisper out some words and then snap my fingers. And you see this kind of like um like halo style overshield kind of shimmer across my body as I cast my armor of shadows. Not necessarily trying to protect myself from harm, but more showing them that I'm putting on my ah like game face in a way.
bladesedge: Hell yeah. Um, we've got three, four, five, six, six gold in the pot. It's winner take all situation. Um, you guys don't have to tell me how many deeds, D sixes you're going to roll.
bladesedge: Just go ahead and get it lined up. Um, and I will choose sort of an arbitrary number for me.
bladesedge: Actually, I have a D 20 right in front of me.
Kyle: Wait, so we are doing D6s.
bladesedge: Uh, D10, sorry.
Kyle: D10s, okay.
bladesedge: You should tell me how many you want to roll. I'm going to roll a D20 in front of me real quick to see what they all want to roll. Is Mark's going to roll?
Alma Graves: We love that sound.
bladesedge: ah Okay. okay. Mirabelle's going to roll that. Okay. Alenca is going to roll that. And Sorvia is going to roll that.
bladesedge: ah so that That's hilarious And you'll see why. All right. Would you guys like me to roll first or do you guys want to roll first?
Kyle: Um, you can roll first.
bladesedge: Um, I actually think you guys, I think the two of you should roll.
Kyle: Okay.
bladesedge: You two should roll at the exact same time. So you can't change your number because I'm not going to.
Alma Graves: Sure.
Kyle: Okay.
Alma Graves: I already got mine typed out.
Kyle: That's great. Yeah, I have mine.
Alma Graves: So, so it's just slash roll and amount of D 10.
bladesedge: Yeah, I'm not going to change mine.
Kyle: Same.
bladesedge: So yeah.
Kyle: Yeah.
bladesedge: Slash roll space, however many detends you want, but if any of those rolled or a one you lose.
Alma Graves: Okay.
Kyle: Cool.
bladesedge: All right, three, two, one, go.
bladesedge: Oh.
Kyle: Oh my god.
Trevor: Holy shit.
bladesedge: Holy shit, dude.
Alma Graves: Let's go.
bladesedge: Alma ah drawing cards from the deck, your total equals 60, not one of them being an ace.
Kyle: Wow.
Kyle: What?
Trevor: wow
Alma Graves: 90 -10.
bladesedge: Kyle, you draw three less cards.
Trevor: Wow.
bladesedge: ah Sorry, bash. ah None of them being an ace, but only reaching 31.
bladesedge: Now I will start, I will start with Sorvias.
bladesedge: She rolled, she pulled one card thinking her strategy smart.
Trevor: Hell yeah. Playing it safe.
Kyle: i I raise one eyebrow as high as I can and look at her.
Trevor: It's off your face.
bladesedge: She looks at you and she says, uh, well, if everybody rolls a one, then I do well. No.
Kyle: Yeah, she's not wrong.
bladesedge: I mean, get the a, uh, a Lenka goes, uh, does it all happen at the same time?
Tommy: She's not wrong.
bladesedge: A Lenka also draw draws six Kyle for 35.
Kyle: who
Alma Graves: oh
Kyle: Yeah, would have just barely beat me out.
bladesedge: Also no ACEs have been drawn yet.
bladesedge: mirabelll
bladesedge: Mirabelle picks 17 cards gets an 83, but draws an ACE.
Kyle: oh
Alma Graves: Oh,
Trevor: oh
Tommy: ah Oh my goodness.
Trevor: oh
Kyle: Wow.
Trevor: Ohhhh! That's single A's.
Alma Graves: what a beast.
Trevor: That's crazy.
bladesedge: And, and is Mark rolling a natural 20 on the D 20.
Trevor: No way!
Tommy: Oh, no way.
Alma Graves: Hilarious.
Kyle: Imagine.
bladesedge: But before I rolled the natural one for Sorvia, which is hilarious.
Alma Graves: Come on.
Tommy: Go go ahead.
bladesedge: I wrote both, um, draws 20 cards out.
Trevor: Wow.
bladesedge: Big smile on his face.
bladesedge: Oh, sorry. Roll one D 20.
Alma Graves: Oops.
bladesedge: What the fuck am I doing?
Kyle: are
bladesedge: Uh, 20 D 10 Jesus.
Trevor: You can run all of these individually?
bladesedge: Okay. I don't know. Um, he pulls.
Trevor: Oof.
bladesedge: three aces, 102 total, but pulls three aces.
Alma Graves: Oh.
Tommy: Oh, man.
Kyle: am Wow.
bladesedge: So Alma six gold that goes to you in between the game is Mark sort of looks at you guys and says, uh, so what, what brings you guys to the biggest shithole in the world?
Alma Graves: Thank you, boys, ladies.
Kyle: um I look at
Kyle: Vesrak.
bladesedge: Desan sitting across the room staring at the window.
Kyle: Sorry, I didn't mean to deadname you, I'm sorry.
Tommy: car Is one ah Do you like call over to me I'm like looking out the window okay, I look over give you a wave
Alma Graves: and didn't mean to dead name you
Kyle: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kyle: e We...
Kyle: and see how to word this I just got here and all I know is that I have one mission to complete.
Alma Graves: I didn't mean to detonate you.
Kyle: I just happen to be along with this group.
bladesedge: What mission is that?
Kyle: We want to put Strahd's reign to an end.
bladesedge: He smiles and he gives you inspiration bash. So you, you know, have a D 20 you can reroll the session.
Kyle: ah Beautiful.
bladesedge: He passes long sword at his side as the other three people at the table look a little uncomfortable, but he pats his long sword at his side and says, uh,
bladesedge: been training my whole life to kill that motherfucker.
Alma Graves: Well, I like him.
bladesedge: He goes well.
Kyle: My, uh, my father was used by Strahd.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Kyle: And while I don't think my father was completely innocent,
Kyle: Strahd knew how to manipulate him. And I'm not going to allow that to happen to me or anyone else ever again.
bladesedge: He says, I got a couple more questions, but ah let's play your game. Let's play some let's play some blackjack.
Kyle: Okay.
bladesedge: um Eric, the bartender comes over and will act as the.
bladesedge: Dealer for this, somebody has to be the dealer.
Kyle: Cool.
bladesedge: Let me go ahead and just pull a. Over on them talking, I have here.
bladesedge: Here you go.
Kyle: I put a ah gold piece on the table just preemptively.
bladesedge: There she goes. There she is.
Alma Graves: oh yeah
bladesedge: This is this is Eric. The barkeep comes over and is going to deal.
Alma Graves: Oh yeah.
bladesedge: um I'll say Mirabelle and Alenka step back and begin like lighting up cigarettes just to watch the game, but Sorvia stays in.
Alma Graves: I'll stay in. How do we play Blackjack?
bladesedge: Are you saying?
Alma Graves: Are we just going to roll 2d10 or something?
bladesedge: Yeah. So, um, you'll roll it and you'll roll it privately to me.
bladesedge: Um, are you guys going to both play?
Kyle: Uh, yeah.
bladesedge: Is Mark says, um, he goes, I got a pretty busy day ahead of me. This will have to be my last game, but, uh, we say we make it a little interesting and he puts three gold on the table.
Alma Graves: I'm hot off winning I believe I'll win again.
Kyle: Yeah, I add two more gold pieces to my pile.
bladesedge: Sorvia does the same. OK. And I'll have to keep track of this pretty. pretty
bladesedge: but let's Let's actually have um Tommy.
Tommy: What up?
bladesedge: Uh, and Trev, we're going to have you guys roll for them.
Tommy: OK.
Trevor: good
bladesedge: Um, so just whisper roll me to D 10, a design you can roll for is Mark, uh, and Abby, you can roll for Sorvia.
Kyle: um Why do we have to whisper, isn't it? Like aren't our cards just face up normally?
Alma Graves: Well, one's one's down, one's up, right?
bladesedge: Oh yeah.
Kyle: Not for us.
Alma Graves: Or, oh, yeah, true.
bladesedge: No, not for you. That's right. That's right. That's right. Sorry. Okay.
Trevor: That's good.
bladesedge: Yeah. Just roll them out in the open. So Trav, you rolled 10 out of five.
Trevor: A 10 and a 5.
Tommy: OK, so I'm not going to.
bladesedge: So maybe, maybe it's a so Trav, you have 15 showing.
Tommy: All right, 2D10.
Tommy: I have 10 showing.
Kyle: Yeah.
bladesedge: Well, one is either a one or an 11.
Kyle: yeah
Tommy: OK.
bladesedge: So you would have 20 showing.
Tommy: Deal.
Kyle: I have a 19 chip.
bladesedge: 19. Um, I forgot this is like money against the house. So Eric is down for all this.
Kyle: Yeah, I was just about to say is...
bladesedge: I know Eric's gonna lose much money. It's like okay. Um, he has it weirdly. Um, okay. I've got three roles. I need showing and the dealer is showing.
Alma Graves: All right, here it comes.
Alma Graves: Seven and a nine.
bladesedge: Oh, seven.
Kyle: You roll the 1d10. Oh, oh, showing.
bladesedge: I know. Cause the dealer has one.
Kyle: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Trevor: one that's a shine
Kyle: Are you looking at the book?
Tommy: I'll stand.
bladesedge: Um, ah I have to Google something.
Tommy: The boys, the boys play blackjack.
Kyle: What does the book say?
bladesedge: Okay. Okay. get Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good.
Kyle: Yeah.
bladesedge: Good. Good. Good. Good. Good. Good.
bladesedge: Good. is smart with a fifteen
bladesedge: um sorry is mark with the ten of twenty sorry fucking um
Tommy: Yeah, I'll stand.
bladesedge: okay um sorvia with the fifteen
Trevor: That's who and i'm I'm rolling for, right? fit I'll fuck it. Fuck it.
bladesedge: Tough one.
Kyle: The book says to hit.
Trevor: I'll, I know it does. I'll hit.
bladesedge: Okay.
Trevor: Fuck it. I'm going.
bladesedge: Roll a G10.
Trevor: Oh, let's go.
bladesedge: Oh, 20.
Kyle: what Nice.
Trevor: Hell yeah. yeah
Alma Graves: Beautiful.
bladesedge: First Orvia. All right. Uh, 19 for bash.
Kyle: I stand.
bladesedge: 16 for Alma.
Alma Graves: I hate, I'm gonna hit.
bladesedge: Go for it.
Alma Graves: Oh, fuck, I bust.
bladesedge: Bust.
Alma Graves: I'm gonna bust.
Kyle: Too many, okay.
bladesedge: All right. Um, dealer flips over her other cards to seven, another seven. So I didn't know if dealer could split. They can't. Um, so, which is a 14. So has to hit 18
Alma Graves: Oh.
bladesedge: has to stay, which means, uh, is Mark Sorvia and bash each get three gold.
Tommy: Classic dealer.
Alma Graves: Nicely done.
Tommy: All right.
bladesedge: and almost three gold gets taken.
bladesedge: um
Alma Graves: Life and death, winning and losing.
bladesedge: After that game is Mark um looks at you guys and says. He goes well. um You guys seem pretty capable. Saw you guys heading in buying some armor next door.
bladesedge: ah
bladesedge: Listen, my sister, Irina, Kolyana, my adopted sister, truth be told, not blood related.
bladesedge: um She's been hounded by. Strahd, he sort of looks up towards the castle outside. um He says, I want to get her out of here. But I need aid in protecting her. And escorting her to Valaki.
bladesedge: settlement in the heart of the valley beyond the view of Castle Ravenloft, and I hope beyond the reach of Strahd. And I know it's a gamble. He looks around at the cards all around the table. I know it's a gamble, but it's I've heard assertions that Velaki is well defended.
bladesedge: I don't know why, but for some reason, unknown reason to me, Strahd is attracted to Irina and desires her above all others. I want to get her somewhere safe. What do you say?
Kyle: I think we'd be willing to help, but I'd just like to know one thing.
Alma Graves: I think I'd be willing to help.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Kyle: It feels like my life's mission is to make sure Strahd can never hurt anyone again. And if it came down to it, I'd give my life if it meant that I was able to succeed. Would you be willing to give yours?
bladesedge: Yeah, mine in a heartbeat. Irina's never.
Alma Graves: I respect that resolve.
Kyle: Then let's go.
bladesedge: um As you as you get up, he says ah he like downs his drink really fast and goes. so Yeah, I'm coming with you, by the way. Five swords are better than four taps his long sword.
Kyle: I was hoping you would say that.
Alma Graves: I'll drink to that brother.
bladesedge: Um, he says, uh, she's, um, she's at the burger master's residence, the South of town. We'll have to get out of here, um, pretty quickly. Uh, but as he goes to stand up, Sorvia, the woman grabs his wrist and says, um,
bladesedge: um,
bladesedge: She looks up at him and then to us, uh, to you guys and says, um, you should see Madam Eva outside of town. She would be able to help you on your journey.
Alma Graves: No, we had that on our list as well.
Kyle: I look at his Mark.
Alma Graves: Go ahead.
Kyle: Yeah, I just look at his Mark and see what his, uh, reaction is to that info.
bladesedge: Hey, he's like, he's like, yeah, not bad. Like that kid who does like the thumbs up, the not bad look.
bladesedge: He's like, yeah, i mean that could be cool.
Kyle: Well, then maybe that's where we'll head first.
Alma Graves: I love that shit.
bladesedge: This is what it looks like.
bladesedge: Yeah. Okay.
Alma Graves: The classic.
Kyle: oh yeah
bladesedge: Uh, she says, um, you can find our camp at the tesser pools.
bladesedge: Uh, which, um, if I go back to this map of the whole place, you guys are over here.
bladesedge: Focus pain.
Kyle: Oh yeah.
bladesedge: And the tester pool is right here.
Alma Graves: the
bladesedge: You can even see their little, uh, wagons on the water.
bladesedge: See what I'm saying? You guys see what I'm talking about?
Alma Graves: yeah
bladesedge: Okay.
bladesedge: Um, he gets up and says, uh, what about your boys over there?
bladesedge: Motioning towards the two guys who finished playing dragon chess.
Alma Graves: They're with us.
Tommy: Yeah, sounds good. I mean, you're right. Five swords are better than four. Six is better than five. Eight's better than seven. Nine's better than eight.
Alma Graves: You're just saying numbers, my friend.
Tommy: Watch it.
bladesedge: He's, he's nodding along. Like you're making the most sense he's ever heard. 10 is better than nine.
Trevor: yeah
bladesedge: I've 11 is better than 10. Let me 12, 12 is better than 11. 13 is even better. 14 would be even better than 13.
bladesedge: Yeah, exactly. It's like, yeah, that white shrewd.
Trevor: yeah That'll obviously.
Alma Graves: yes innocent
bladesedge: Hmm.
Tommy: yeah yeah um Yeah, we're in. so So I guess we're heading to the Burger Master's house and then to the SARE pools for Madam Eva. We need to get a Taroka card reading.
bladesedge: Ah, he says, all right, sounds good. I'll, uh, I don't know if you guys get a closure tab or whatever, but I'll be outside. I'm going to smoke one.
Alma Graves: What are you smoking?
Tommy: I'll go ahll go outside with them.
Alma Graves: and
bladesedge: This seems to get a little rolled cigarette tobacco, whatever I can get to escape.
Alma Graves: Cool, I'll cruise out and have a seat with her.
Kyle: Yeah, I'll throw down a copper piece under the table for my pint and then an extra copper piece for the the bartender.
bladesedge: Okay.
bladesedge: Cool.
Kyle: And then head outside.
bladesedge: Sorvia. Alenka and Mirabelle stay.
bladesedge: You guys head outside, is Mark just like, you know, whenever you're ready, it's ah down there points to the.
bladesedge: Directly south, Guj.
Alma Graves: Okay.
bladesedge: E4.
Tommy: Hey, good job guys on getting that, uh, information, uh, pass. She said, did you say they call you black Jack bash? I feel like I'm starting to get it now.
Kyle: Well, they didn't call me that for no reason.
Alma Graves: Classic blackjack bash.
bladesedge: His mark leads you guys down the road with a ah cock sureness that you can only describe as refreshing, given the dourness of all the people you've met here, especially you just on how long you've been here.
bladesedge: um ah Refreshing and. ah Probably a little like a frat boy, bro. Maybe he should be a little more. Nervous seems a little too sure.
Alma Graves: He, he, he hasn't been humbled yet.
bladesedge: No. Well, okay.
Trevor: D12?
Kyle: he's He's... Hahaha.
Tommy: Roma D12, D12, Brian, D12, Brian, D12.
Alma Graves: Yeah. D12. Yeah. D12.
bladesedge: D12 is crazy.
Alma Graves: D12.
Kyle: Roll him a d12 right now.
Alma Graves: Yeah. ah twelve oh Wait a second.
Trevor: Damn dude, what the fuck?
bladesedge: Wow.
Tommy: Dude, we're all, we're all acting 10 in three.
Kyle: WHAT?! Dude.
bladesedge: Yeah. I think if you, I think when you enter Barovia, you become very well endowed.
Trevor: Holy shit.
Kyle: Is this part of Strahd's curse?
Alma Graves: The average.
Alma Graves: Well, now I'm terrified.
Trevor: but
Kyle: That's fire.
Alma Graves: What, what kind of, uh, I don't know.
Trevor: Yeah, most of Brovius sucks, except that's so funny.
Kyle: Yeah, go go ahead and roll a little, bro.
bladesedge: um You guys head to this a weary looking mansion squats behind a rusting iron fence. ah The iron gates are twisted and torn. The right gate lies cast aside while the left swings lazily in the wind.
bladesedge: ah The stuttering squeal and clang of the gate repeats with mindless precision. Weeds choke the grounds and press with menace upon the house itself, yet against the walls, the growth has been tramped down to create a path all about the domain. Heavy claw marks have stripped the once beautiful finish of the walls.
bladesedge: Great black marks tell of the fires that have assailed this mansion. Not a pane, nor a shard of glass stands in any window. All the windows are barred with planks, each one marked with stains of evil omen. Would you guys all give me a perception check?
Alma Graves: Yes, sir. Percepy show me that a salad. Oh, that's a five from Alma.
Kyle: Wow, that's a natural 20 on land, but unfortunately is a 13.
Alma Graves: natural twenty on land
Tommy: One. ah Twenty two for Dishon.
bladesedge: Okay. Um, you guys notice, uh, maybe with the help of Tucson and a knobby that these trampled weeds all around the mansion, um, are. The doing of, you see these wolf paw prints and human footprints, but the footprints look in human. And then there are all these wolf paw prints as well.
bladesedge: Um, you enter the front door, which looks heavily barred. And, uh, is Mark gives a little, uh, shave and a haircut ah the and door unlocks and you see opening the door from the other side.
bladesedge: This person who I am showing you.
Alma Graves: Uh -oh.
Kyle: Who is that?
bladesedge: And is Mark says, Irena. She looks. Dubious like the doors only open a little bit until she sees is Mark and then ah puts her hand out to stop him from entering and looks at each of you and says.
bladesedge: um
bladesedge: She goes one by one. She looks at you bash. Do you have an allegiance to Strahd?
Kyle: She asks, do I have an allegiance to Strahd?
bladesedge: Yep.
Kyle: I just give her a grimacing look and say, no.
bladesedge: and Okay. Uh, looks at you and Abby. Do you have an allegiance to Strahd?
Trevor: Of course not.
bladesedge: Looks at you Alma. Do you have an allegiance to Strahd?
Alma Graves: My only allegiance is to the morning Lord.
bladesedge: Uh, looks at you, Desan, do you have an allegiance to Strahd?
Tommy: Absolutely not.
bladesedge: Um, you, as you say, absolutely not. Um, your bright hands.
bladesedge: And Desan sort of jumps. Like when you're like, just touch something, you didn't know you're touching something gross and icky.
Tommy: Oh, it's like hot or yeah, you kind of like recoil.
bladesedge: No, you know, you look down and you, you were like, you're going to stay in the doorway, old dilapidated house weeds everywhere, blah, blah, blah. And your right hand just went through a spider web. yeah
Tommy: I like shake it off, right you try to like not think about it.
bladesedge: Yeah, you shake it off. um She says, OK, well, come in. See this young woman with a young striking woman with auburn hair. You see, she's wearing a scarf that um you well from what you've been told is because she's been bitten by a trod twice.
bladesedge: um The interior of the mansion is well furnished, yet the fixtures show signs of great wear. Noticable oddities are the boarded up windows and the presence of holy symbols in every room. um You see a very dire sight as in one of the ps side drawing rooms. You see what um Is Mark does a little, uh, you know, cross, you know, over his chest sort of thing silently. As you can see, the burger master, uh, is lying in a simple wooden coffin surrounded by wilting flowers and the faint odor of decay.
Alma Graves: How long has it been since he passed?
bladesedge: Um, she said, yeah, she says, um,
Alma Graves: I ask her Irena.
bladesedge: It's been, he died three days ago. Um,
bladesedge: she says, well, as Mark says, these are the characters I, these are the, the people I met that I was telling you one day would come that would take you out of here. I finally found them. Prophecy was foretold.
bladesedge: just as Madame Eva said it would be. It looks to you guys gives you a little wink. um
bladesedge: ah but She begins to tell you a bit about herself. um And ah she has a strong will for sure. But she goes to say, I don't remember my past. I don't know how I came to Barovia or where I'm from.
bladesedge: But most importantly, my encounters with straws so far have been fuzzy memories. He has something, this blazing hunger in his eyes that makes the encounters something I can't remember. Uh, she goes on to tell you guys, she goes, uh, there are wolves and other terrible creatures that have attacked our house night after night for weeks. Same with the cemetery up north.
bladesedge: The burger master's heart couldn't stand the constant assaults and he died three days ago. Strangely, since his death, our house has not come under attack.
bladesedge: um But she looks at his mark who's standing up straight and proud, and she says, uh, no one in the village has been brave enough to help his mark take Kolyan and Derevich to the cemetery for proper burial.
bladesedge: If you guys can help Ismark deliver my father's body safely to Donavich, I'll go with you guys wherever you want to take me." And he quickly says, Velaki, we've talked about this. He says, we can't go to Kresk. Kresk has overrun ever since the Burgomaster died 78 years ago.
Tommy: Allegedly.
Alma Graves: We're familiar with the cemetery in Donovitch. We can head back that way.
bladesedge: She says, ah I'll be waiting here if you wouldn't mind burying um my father, then I'd be willing to head out with you guys.
Alma Graves: You don't wish to be there when we lower him into the earth?
bladesedge: She says something she says, she smiles and goes. There is a thing.
bladesedge: Our transportation of me will be dangerous for a multitude of reasons. One of which being that, so the legend goes, it's true. Vampires, much like Count Strahd von Zarovich, cannot enter your home unless invited in.
Alma Graves: I see.
bladesedge: So while I'm in here. I'm safe for going to risk exposure. I'd rather limit it to our trip to Valaki. I said my piece. She puts her hand on the, on the, uh, coffin, which all my, you know, is so pretty poorly made coming from a family of coffin makers.
Alma Graves: Sure.
Tommy: Do you guys have some sort of like wagon or cart that we could use to transport the body?
bladesedge: um She says, Yeah, outside. um Years ago, my my father. um Traded for these two horses, tenacious D.
bladesedge: And he's there, right?
Trevor: oh
Tommy: There's no shot today. Since D is still alive 78 years later.
bladesedge: She says ah it's it's it's it's a title. It's a title, OK?
Tommy: ah Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
bladesedge: She said they're they're outside.
Alma Graves: It's a lineage, yeah, it's like Clydesdales, Tenacious D.
bladesedge: Yeah. Cause there's two of them outside with a wagon. Um, as Mark looks at you guys and says, yeah, this will be the same wagon that will take the Valaki or enter the tester pool as well.
Trevor: Ah ha ha!
Tommy: All right, well, let's, uh, slow them up and get them on out of here. How do you guys feel about that?
Alma Graves: That's fine by me.
Trevor: Let's do it.
Kyle: Sounds good to me.
Alma Graves: We can do right by the Burger Master.
bladesedge: Okay. You guys load up this coffin. You take it over to the church. Donavich helps you guys find a plot of land. Open, ready for burial.
bladesedge: You guys bury Kolyan in Dierwitsch. And as you do, his mark says,
bladesedge: Sorry for everything that happened to you pops. And for all the adventurers who got duped by those letters, all those letters that had your name on it, that adventurers kept finding.
Kyle: oh
bladesedge: I know sh straw was writing those.
Trevor: Oh.
bladesedge: I know it wasn't you.
Kyle: Wow.
bladesedge: I'll find him.
bladesedge: I'll kill him. We're going to get Irene to safety.
bladesedge: Gonna bring out a Valaki. Then we're gonna confront this guy. Head on. Wham! Give him the old one -two pop. Love you.
bladesedge: Does the first ah bit of dirt on top of the coffin.
Alma Graves: Hell yeah. I'll throw some on there.
Kyle: Yeah, I'll assist, I'll kind of use my great axe to push some of the dirt from the pile onto the coffin.
bladesedge: Push some of the dirt onto the pile.
Alma Graves: I'll be using my mage hand to not get my hands dirty.
bladesedge: Nice. You guys see, um, it's not, it's not late in the day by any means. It's probably, you know, 3 PM at this point, but you do see the, um, the starting the early, this, the the beginning whispers, the wisps of green.
bladesedge: Smoke begins to waft off all of the graves. Except for the one that you see to sign with the name Vess rack, Bainfall on it.
bladesedge: Is Marxist. All right. Go get our arena and head to the tester pools. What do you think?
Kyle: I'm ready.
Alma Graves: Sounds like a marvelous plan.
Tommy: Uh,
Tommy: uh, before we, I'm like glancing over at Vazrak's grave and I just, I have this sensation that I, I can't shake this like darkness lingering presence.
bladesedge: Hmm.
Tommy: So I think that I actually am going to take the book.
bladesedge: You did, you guys did make it look like you put all the dirt back, so you'd have to re dig it out.
Trevor: Oh, shit.
Tommy: Yeah, I'll ah I'll re dig it out and ah I just.
bladesedge: His marks are like, what are you doing?
Tommy: I. ah There's just I.
bladesedge: As a guy, as a guy buried here, man. Is this sacred? We're in a graveyard. You can't like dig up some guy's body.
Tommy: I just and bear with me.
Alma Graves: i'll do I'll do a persuasion, say it's a Lathander thing.
bladesedge: They.
bladesedge: Are you going to put a disadvantage as is Marcus wearing the symbol of the thunder?
Alma Graves: Sure, disadvantage.
Trevor: And what left the enter thing?
bladesedge: Yeah. And Donovan should write there.
Alma Graves: ah that's it that's That's a 10.
bladesedge: Um, he says, dude, that is, I don't know where you guys come from, but this guy, Fess rack, Bainfall, uh, and his group, they're the point of year gang, man. They were the first, so many adventures have come here after hearing about what they did for the wizards of wine and, uh, helping that family. They stopped the, you know, the.
bladesedge: with the great ballot of winter splinter that everybody sings. They stopped that from happening. You know, they broke up.
Alma Graves: i
bladesedge: There was supposedly there was some, some witches in these parts back in the day and they stopped it. No more witches. Never will be ever again.
Tommy: Are you sure about that?
bladesedge: A hundred percent. Never more sure of anything in my life.
Alma Graves: and
Trevor: i was there i saw it
Tommy: Yes, I'm still like kind of digging.
Alma Graves: i I kind of chuckle under my breath and say, so we did make a name for ourselves after all.
Tommy: I haven't.
bladesedge: Yeah. He goes, dude, hey he's like, I gotta actively try and stop you from digging.
Tommy: Oh, I'll just say he has a drow artifact on him. That is going to help us in the fight against fraud.
Trevor: It was there, I saw it, dude.
bladesedge: Okay. Make a persuasion check DC 15.
Tommy: Okay. Persuasion 24.
bladesedge: Nice. He goes, Oh, why didn't you say so travel artifact fucking sounds sick. All right. I'll be waiting at the car.
Trevor: ah
bladesedge: I'll see you guys in a bit.
Kyle: Folds immediately.
Alma Graves: but Yeah, yeah, hey that is no problem totally cool
Tommy: yeah yeah Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um,
bladesedge: He goes, oh, yeah yeah, yeah, yeah. The legendary drow artifact that they've always talked about. Got it. Cool. I'll be by the car.
Tommy: Yeah. um And I go and I dig up and I, I, I assume I kind of get to the book and I just go seems like I can't hide away my past in a grave.
Alma Graves: yes um said
Tommy: I'll, I guess I'll have to take it with me.
bladesedge: As you say, I'll take it with me. Um, you grab it and it feel, you feel like you're being tickled. Like in the center of your palm by like the faintest finger. And you sort of like involuntarily like have to like o shake and you drop the book. It hits the ground.
Kyle: I'm gonna look at him and say sometimes it's best to let things go even if he says it shouldn't.
Trevor: I'll reach down and just pick it up and I'll be like, I'll like point at, uh, dis on with the book and be like, this is your decision.
bladesedge: Okay.
Trevor: Yes.
Tommy: Just like Doru in the basement, I choose to focus on the light of a new dawn, and I will work through this in the light of Lathander, and I go to grab the book.
bladesedge: You hear him say, I choose to work on this with the limbs of a new spot, the light of a new dawn.
Tommy: Yeah, the limbs of a new spawn, light of a new dawn.
Kyle: ones.
Tommy: and i
bladesedge: Yeah, like like you quickly directed yourself.
Tommy: Yeah, correct myself. Yeah. i'm like um And I'd like to clasp a book kind of like around my belt, like in a chain, you know, so it kind of hangs at my waist.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Tommy: um The darkness exists to be conquered by the light of a new dawn, spawn of a spider, spawn fact just like let's go.
Trevor: and That was good.
Alma Graves: it
Kyle: Um, did we pay a visit to the tarot card lady?
Tommy: We got to go.
Alma Graves: No, we're on the way there.
Tommy: No, we're yeah we're on the way there.
Kyle: Okay. Okay. Just making sure.
Alma Graves: Well, we need to get back to Irina first, but.
Kyle: Yeah.
Tommy: Yeah, let's lets let's head back before ah anyone else starts asking any questions.
Kyle: okay
bladesedge: Okay. You guys get back to the house as you exit the, um, uh, sort of wagon that you're on, you know, it's not very comfortable. It's just a wagon. Enough to hold the bodies for sure, but it's not like a, uh, it's not a covered wagon. Um, as you guys exit the, uh, wagon, uh, design, you get up and walk out and you look back and the.
bladesedge: book is sitting in the thing and you see where it was connected to the change. The chain is broken. It's sitting in the cart.
Tommy: I just let out a sigh and I just, God, Lathander dang it. Uh, I, I just, I go and I just like put it under my arm. and I just go, ah you're coming with me. I don't know what else to say.
bladesedge: Okay. Uh, you put it under your arm, you guys walk inside. Irina, um,
bladesedge: says, well, thank you for doing that. I, um, I'm glad that he finally got the burial that he deserved. Um, I do want to get out of here. So whenever you guys are ready to go.
Alma Graves: With all haste.
bladesedge: nice She seems decked out, by the way, as you come back, she's fully got armor on.
Trevor: Fire.
Alma Graves: Oh yeah.
bladesedge: And a sword. A breast, a breast plate and a rapier.
bladesedge: um And for anybody who did not have inspiration, you now do. Everybody should have a heroic inspiration from the DM now.
Tommy: Frick yeah.
Trevor: That is both exciting, but also makes me feel as though a second TPK is coming up, you know?
bladesedge: Yeah.
Alma Graves: ah
Kyle: Hey man, come on.
Alma Graves: na na na na no na na no
Trevor: yeah Cool.
Kyle: Wait, wait till you see what I can do, what I'm capable, what these hands are capable of.
Trevor: Let's go.
bladesedge: Is Mark gets in the, uh, in the wagon arena seems like she wants to be the last one on because she wants to just kind of like run out of the house straight to it.
Alma Graves: No,
bladesedge: As is Mark is like, you guys are ready to go?
Alma Graves: no,
Tommy: Yeah. Should we start like a slow, uh, like Cantor and like, she'll like run and jump in.
bladesedge: He looks at you though, Dasan, and he goes, are you, wait, are you going to bring the legendary drow artifact?
Alma Graves: no, no, no
Tommy: I go, what are you talking about? It's right here under my arm.
bladesedge: You look under your arm. It's not there. You look back and it's on the footsteps of the house.
Tommy: I go back and I go,
bladesedge: It's, it's actually, it's open. Um, it's open to a, uh, page in the book. It's like open to a very specific page.
Tommy: i I look at the page while bending down to pick it up.
bladesedge: It's a you see that a spell that you weren't able to cast yet, but that you had you knew like you knew about it. And it's a ah spell called Soul Cage.
Tommy: um Do I know about that spell, like what it does?
bladesedge: Yeah, you can't cast you couldn't cast it. You never could cast it, but you knew about it.
Tommy: OK.
bladesedge: Pretty, pretty under dark evil kind of spell snatches the soul of a humanoid as it dies and traps it inside a tiny cage.
Alma Graves: That's great.
bladesedge: um And then you can use the trap soul for stuff, steal life, ask it a question, borrow its experience, eyes of the dead, see what it saw in life.
Tommy: I go down to, I bend over to pick up the book, close the page on Soul Cage. And I find myself almost subconsciously whispering to myself, Ilja Lothu, Loth test me as I like pick up the book and like run back to the wagon.
bladesedge: Okay. Pick a book, run back to the wagon. Uh, is Mark begins to go at like a like a yeah slow gallop out and says, all right, are you guys ready?
Alma Graves: Let's roll out.
Kyle: Ready?
bladesedge: Everybody in.
Kyle: As I as I sit down, I grab my axe and I wipe the dirt off of it. And I pull out a dagger. And I start um etching, scratching into the metal around where it meets yeah the the hilt.
Kyle: Or the ah I don't know what was that called?
Trevor: Shaft.
Kyle: Yeah, the around where it meets the shaft, I just start etching into it.
bladesedge: Okay. Um, and what are you, are you doing anything in particular?
Kyle: No, that's just before we head off and as we're as we're traveling. That's what I'm doing.
bladesedge: Cool. Um, you guys make it there by nightfall. Um, it was already getting a little late and then you ended up, you know, re digging for that artifact.
bladesedge: Move your guys thing over here. to Do do do if you remember this little token. As you guys reach the tester pools, you look off into the distance.
bladesedge: Above you, even so, if you look at at this map here, you see how that where I'm pinging right now, that is Castle Ravenloft.
Tommy: Yep.
Alma Graves: Okay.
bladesedge: So these were the hills I was talking about to the east. So like the graveyard, you can see is right there.
Kyle: Mm hmm.
Tommy: So we're literally in the shadow of Ravenloft.
bladesedge: You were in the when you were in the village of Barovia. Now you're closer, technically, when you get to when you arrive, the tester pools, but you are coming around still much further, like the it's you knows it's very high up. It's above you.
Tommy: Okay.
Alma Graves: It's a dangerous place to be.
bladesedge: As it's getting late, you're starting to see these green ghostly figures speak in their march. From the village of Barovia. Up towards the castle.
Alma Graves: what What direction do they take? What path do they take?
bladesedge: ah They're ghosts, so they're just kind of like float straight up.
Alma Graves: OK. Cool, cool, cool.
bladesedge: You. easy um You guys reach the tester pools as you do, uh, you arrive do, do, do.
bladesedge: Here we go. You arrive to the road gradually disappears and is replaced by a twisted muddy path through the trees, which you follow. Deep ruts in the earth are evidence of the comings and goings of wagons. The canopy of mist and branches suddenly gives way to black clouds boiling far above. Some lightning even. No rain where you are, but lightning off in the distance. There's a clearing here.
bladesedge: ah next to a river that widens to form a small lake several hundred feet across. Five colorful round tents each 10 feet in diameter are pitched outside a ring of four barrel -topped wagons.
bladesedge: A much larger tent stands near the shore of the lake, its sagging form lit from within. Near this tent, eight unbridled horses drink from the river. This is where Ismark is bringing tenacious to eat your horses to um to stop.
bladesedge: um The mournful strains of an accordion clash with the singing of several brightly clad figures around a bonfire.
bladesedge: And he did he did he did he did he. As the Vistani encampment that you are, as Mark lets you know. Yeah, so these are the.
Alma Graves: Mmm, that is stony.
bladesedge: As you approach, yeah, he goes, they're wondrous, they're traveling about and horse drawn barrel topped wagons, they build them all themselves, you know, they're listen compared to most Barovians, they're flamboyant, just bright colors, laugh a lot.
bladesedge: uh, only people I know who feel at home here in Barovia. Um, some of them are silversmiths, copperfists, haberdashers, cooks, weavers, musicians, entertainers, storytellers, tool makers, horse traders. They also earn money by telling fortune, selling information. Uh, they got a lavish lifestyle. Listen.
bladesedge: they They display their wealth openly as a sign of prosperity, show their good fortune with ah family and friends, so let's get in good with them. I know some of them, as you guys met a couple of them today, but each family or clan of Vistani is its own little gerontocracy with the oldest member ruling the roost. The elder will carry the bulk of the responsibilities, enforcing traditions, settling disputes, ah settling the course of the group's travels, preserving their way of life.
bladesedge: The Vistani elders make all the important decisions, whether by choice or, uh, because of their age, they always tend to speak in cryptic flowing riddles.
Alma Graves: I honestly don't think I've ever heard the phrase gerotocracy.
bladesedge: Uh, Jaron talker season and in there.
Alma Graves: Jared.
bladesedge: Yeah.
Alma Graves: Yeah, sure.
bladesedge: Or maybe it's, it might be Garen talker secret. That's a G, but.
Alma Graves: I don't know. It's geriatric is what I'm assuming.
bladesedge: is yeah, these Visani families and their clients are closely knit. So they resolve disagreements through contests that end with the reconciliation, singing, dancing, and storytelling, sometimes even fighting. ah
Alma Graves: Dance fighting, I can get down with that.
bladesedge: they're They're quick to act and their lives sisters are threatened and they're merciless when they believe they must be. the Any Visani who knowingly bring harm or misfortune to other Visani are banished, the worst punishment as a Visani can imagine. It's even worse than death.
bladesedge: Um. Uh, he says, um, so just, uh, keep all that in mind. Let's get on these people's good sides. We're trying to get you guys a, uh, tarot reading for free here.
Alma Graves: Right. Well, capiche.
bladesedge: Capiche. Capiche. He looks at you bash and goes Capiche.
Kyle: Peace.
bladesedge: Capisce. That's what I'm talking about.
Alma Graves: That's what I'm talking about. Okay. Um, then I would like to make my way across also this, uh, soundtrack sounds like white noise.
bladesedge: don't Don't fall asleep on me.
Alma Graves: Yeah, I'm trying not to. Um, I would make my way towards, um, you said there was a purple tent.
bladesedge: Yeah. So as you guys park your horses, you finally arrive and do, dode do, do, do, do.
Kyle: who I start swinging.
Alma Graves: ah
Trevor: XP farm.
Tommy: Uh, Bash, Bash, you're originally from Barovia.
Alma Graves: XP farm, brutal.
Tommy: I mean, like maybe you could have some inside and talk with the Vistani. Do you think you guys, you would have been on good terms, like your, your people and their people would have been on good terms.
Kyle: It's tough to say.
bladesedge: za itbi da da it da so it out da it out i
Kyle: I think
Kyle: While I am from Barovia, I think my views differ from my people's by quite a bit. Can I do, can I do a history check and see if, if, uh, these people will get along with any of the Kavan warriors?
bladesedge: Yeah, give me a history check.
Kyle: It'll be a 15.
bladesedge: 15, you remember some pretty interesting stuff as he asks you that takes a second, but you begin to remember, you begin to remember as you're already here, it's already parked. Many Vistani are straw servants.
Kyle: Mm.
bladesedge: ah the So the legend goes, during one of Strahd's many military campaigns before he was a vampire, years before he became a vampire, a group of Vistani rescued him after he was wounded in battle. These Vistani not only nursed him back to health, but also delivered him safely home. As a reward for their generosity, Strahd declared that all of Vistani had the right to come and go from his land as they please. And this privilege, you know, extends to present day, meaning that this fog that surrounds Barovia, the Vistani, can travel through to the outside world. They are not trapped here.
Kyle: Mmm.
bladesedge: Strahd honors his debt to them in part because he envies the Vistani way of life, that they have the freedom that he doesn't have. um Uh, but he, he ah he, he admires them. Um, the stony have allowed themselves. Many of the stony have been corrupted by shrub, which, you know, because your father was. So you, your father had dealt with the stony to help stride. Um, but it's not blanket. It's not all, um,
bladesedge: A lot of Vistani consider Strahd to be their king. Vistani who serve Strahd are usually less lively and friendly than normal Vistani. And their hearts are considered poisoned with dark intentions. And Strahd a lot of times uses the Vistani to lure adventurers into his domain and to keep him informed about the events occurring in lands beyond his reach.
bladesedge: um So you know that. Yeah, they would. They would know of your people for sure. But yeah, you know that some of them. Some of them worship him. Some of them are indifferent.
bladesedge: Very few openly hate him, but they don't all love him, but you do know that all that.
Kyle: Yeah.
Kyle: ah Yeah, I mean, I guess I'll say, does Izmark know this?
bladesedge: Uh, no, I mean, he did any and he andy didn't mention it.
Kyle: Yeah, I'm gonna relay a lot of that to the group and just say, if asked about Strahd, just try to keep it neutral. Don't give way to believing in him or opposing him. Just keep it friendly.
Alma Graves: I understand.
bladesedge: zaby da dabida dabi da da dabi da daby da da
Tommy: ah I guess we just jump in.
Alma Graves: I would, I would just start dancing around the fire.
bladesedge: Oh, yeah. You see the familiar, this is Sorvia over here. You see Sorvia again, Alenka, like where you gambled with Mirabelle.
bladesedge: um Yeah, is as Mark immediately goes over and starts talking with Sorvia, him and Irena both, um mention motioning over to you guys. um And that, do, do, do.
bladesedge: Um, one of the Vistani as you guys approach, uh, some of them just see you guys approach. Don't even question it. Uh, who approaches Alma is Mark.
Alma Graves: Alma.
bladesedge: Irena and Nabi dash into song. What about you three?
Trevor: I'm not trying to jump into any conversation, I'm just being observant.
Kyle: um
bladesedge: Cool.
Kyle: Yeah, I'm also not trying to jump in. I am looking around. Did we see like a particular tent that looks like where we would go for the tarot reading, or is that here?
bladesedge: Yeah. I mean, you see one, two, three, four, five, six tents.
Kyle: Okay, yeah.
bladesedge: One of them is bigger than the others. The one right next to you. This is the bigger one, but you see this one and there's this one over here. And then there's three to the, um,
bladesedge: West.
Kyle: Gotcha. Yeah, I mean, I'm i'm just gonna be kind of surveying the land, surveying the little small camp and then when it seems like everyone's done with their conversational kind of motion towards the ah the bigger tent.
Tommy: Yeah, I'd probably be on the outskirts, kind of like tapping my foot along to the music. um um I'm pretty paranoid right now, so I might actually ah use my Define Sense ability.
Tommy: So I'm detecting, ah detect good and evil until the end of your turn, sense anything affected by a hollow spell or anything in a location of, or know the location of any celestial fiend or undead within 60 feet.
Tommy: That's not behind total cover. um'm just I'm pretty on edge with like the hag, the book, and everything.
bladesedge: Yeah. Um. Slash of a fiener undead. What a good question. Let me get a little check. Although I think I have bad news for you. Well, good news, I guess. ah You use that. You don't think anything.
Tommy: Okay, I sigh in relief.
bladesedge: Yeah. Alma. Is Mark and Irene are all handed flagons of ale by Sorvia, Mirabelle and Alenka.
bladesedge: As they welcome you, Alenka maybe grabs your arms, Alma, and just starts dancing to the guy that's singing right now. fatty niy we hoy dlo And then all of a sudden he goes, somebody, somebody.
Alma Graves: Yeah, I'm dancing along.
bladesedge: Oh, and everybody stops dancing.
Trevor: What language is that?
bladesedge: And he says, um, what a good question. Let me check whichever they speak, because it'll be, it'll be that language. Uh, what the frick.
bladesedge: Any language of my choice? No. Tell me fuck any two languages. Fuck you.
Kyle: yeah
bladesedge: Uh, any two languages. Fuck you.
Alma Graves: Oompa Loompa!
bladesedge: Um, I'd say it's, it's, it's probably, uh,
bladesedge: Maybe like, let's see here. I got it. I got a good idea. It's, um, okay. They were singing a song in Sylvan.
Tommy: Nope.
bladesedge: Anybody speak Sylvan?
Trevor: I do not.
Alma Graves: No, I do not.
bladesedge: Okay. You'd recognize it as like the language of the fae realm mostly.
Trevor: Okay, sick.
bladesedge: um As they stop. soity tury They all stop and look at one guy who stands up on a box and says with big a lot of bravado, he says, a mighty wizard came to this land over a year ago.
bladesedge: Over a decade ago. Over a century ago, the story continues. I remember him like it was yesterday. He stood exactly where you're standing. A very charismatic man he was. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the Devilstrad. He stirred them with thoughts of revolt and bore them to the castle en masse.
bladesedge: But when the vampire appeared, the wizard's peasant army fled in terror. A few stood their ground and were never seen again. The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other. sho wa Their battle flew from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking the falls. I saw the battle with my own eyes. Thunder shook the mountainside. ah Lightning lit the space.
bladesedge: And great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard, yet by his magic he survived. Lightning from the heavens then struck the wizard, and again he stood his ground. But when the devil's shroud fell upon him, the wizard's magic couldn't save him. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death, I saw it. I climbed down to the river to search for this wizard's body to see if, you know, he had anything of value, as we do, right, right, right.
bladesedge: But the river, Iveless, had already spirited him away.
bladesedge: The Mad Mage. Just a little bow and everybody goes, yeah classic story.
Trevor: Classic starting. Charismatic wizard? It's normally a dump staff for wizards, right?
Alma Graves: specific
Trevor: I'm just kidding.
Alma Graves: you unless he's a sorcerer.
Tommy: but and Not this guy.
Trevor: True.
bladesedge: Um, it's at this time where is Mark and Karina, uh, Irena, when the story's done, uh, walk over with Sorvia who says, um, and Alenka maybe pulls you over Alma as well. And Sorvia says, um, yes, I told, uh, Madam Eva about your,
bladesedge: um approach approach she waits for you in the tent and points to the one ah to the east she says after you meet with her you may stay the night at our camp if you need we've got plenty of ale and food to go around
Alma Graves: Thank you for doing that. I'd make my way to the tent.
bladesedge: Yeah, as Mark looks at you guys, especially, uh, not be bashed just on right in front of him and sort of says like, after you, uh, I will follow your lead.
Kyle: Yeah, I'll head towards the tent.
Tommy: Yeah, I'll go on.
bladesedge: Okay.
Trevor: Ugh.
Kyle: Oh.
Trevor: Ugh.
Tommy: Oh, hell yeah.
bladesedge: See if I got a full.
bladesedge: I don't OK. You guys head into the tents, magic flames cast a reddish glow over the interior of this tent, revealing a low table covered in a black velvet cloth. Glints of light seem to flash from a crystal ball on the table.
bladesedge: as a hunched figure peers into its depths. As you guys enter the room, ah is Mark and Irena with you? As you enter the room, the crone speaks, her voice crackles like dry weeds. At last you have arrived. And then she looks at you and starts laughing.
bladesedge: Laughter bursts like a mad lightning from her withered lips. She says, ah, Inabi.
bladesedge: She looks in the crystal ball. Inabi, priest of Osiris. But on which side of the seesaw do you lean?
bladesedge: Or is your heart someone else's? Bash.
bladesedge: Bash. What's your last name? Bloodsinger?
Kyle: Bloodsinger, yeah.
bladesedge: Bloodsinger. Very cool. Bash. Bloodsinger. Son of Kavan. Bloodsinger. Oh, here.
bladesedge: To destroy his father's legacy.
bladesedge: I love it. To some, fizz rag pain vow, a complicated individual indeed.
bladesedge: The devil and the angel on your shoulder indeed, isn't that right?
Tommy: I feel the book in my hand ah wait like weigh a thousand pounds. And then I feel the sword. I feel like both the sword and the book in my left hand and in my right hand.
bladesedge: Yeah, you, the book's so heavy, you drop it. Lands on your feet.
bladesedge: Alma Graves, daughter of Dixter Graves, sister of one of the pointy eared gang. Wow. And a new champion of the morning lord. Mm.
bladesedge: Well, now that we are acquainted, I am Madam Ava.
bladesedge: um She says, she looks at all of you, the four of you, expectantly. She nods to Ismark and Irina behind you as if acknowledging that they're there and their importance, but knowing that this is for you, um looks at the four of you and says, well, do you want your fortune read?
Alma Graves: I would love to have my fortune read. I'm dying to know.
Kyle: and God.
Alma Graves: I'm dying to know.
bladesedge: dying to know.
Alma Graves: Choice words indeed.
bladesedge: Interesting. She waits for a audible response from the other people in the room.
Trevor: Yeah.
Tommy: ah Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.
bladesedge: Well, she puts four cards on the table. Instead of the five. When you originally did this.
bladesedge: There were five cards. Put on the table. Now there is just three.
Alma Graves: o
bladesedge: And she says, starts shuffling the cards.
Alma Graves: Ooh.
bladesedge: And looks at the four of you with four cards and says, who will decide their fates first.
Alma Graves: I'm happy to.
Trevor: I'll draw one.
Alma Graves: Oh, go ahead.
Trevor: Oh, go for it.
Alma Graves: Oh, no, you're all good, brother.
Trevor: No, you you you after you.
Alma Graves: We're we're both excited. We're both excited.
Trevor: After you.
Trevor: Anabi will take your card.
bladesedge: OK. And now the you draw a card. And.
bladesedge: Let me just make sure I have this up. Okay. As you draw this card, unlike the first go around, this is a T -shaped. The one is on the left. Two is up top. Five is in the middle. Four is down below. And on the right side, there should be another card, which she leaves empty.
bladesedge: As she does, your attention is brought to the sword on, um, ah formerly known as Vesrak side.
Trevor: Mm -hmm.
bladesedge: With the first one, she says, ah, this card tells of history.
Trevor: Yup.
bladesedge: This card tells of knowledge of the ancient that will help you better understand your enemy.
bladesedge: um She she says that which I will then go ahead and tell you right there. That's for number one and she flips over the card that you draw and She says the one of swords How apt this saw this sword they call the Avenger The treasure you seek
Trevor: Sweet.
bladesedge: lies in a dragon's house, in hands once clean and now corrupted." She looks at you as if expecting you to have a question.
Trevor: I'll just write this down.
Trevor: um of Swords, the Avenger. Treasure lies in a dragon's house.
Trevor: um
Trevor: Do you know which house this card speaks of?
bladesedge: She smiles and.
bladesedge: On your map, she puts she actually pulls out your you know, it's your map and you have no idea how she got it from whoever was holding it.
Trevor: Okay.
bladesedge: ah But she pulls out your map. And she marks. On its. um
bladesedge: Uh, do do do.
bladesedge: Um.
bladesedge: She marks on it right here.
bladesedge: I just it's Q. We.
Trevor: oh i see it this year
bladesedge: I mean.
bladesedge: As she marks it on the map, you hear, um, Ismark say, Oh, Argen Vastolt.
Alma Graves: I'm sorry, what did you call me?
bladesedge: ah sir
Trevor: Oh, I see it, I see it.
bladesedge: Argen Vastolt. That's what they call it.
Trevor: the location of the dragon.
bladesedge: the location.
bladesedge: He says, um, the, so the story goes when Strahd drove his enemies into the valley long ago, determined to annihilate them. The last thing he expected to encounter was a dragon. The dragon called himself Argenvost. He apparently had come to this valley years earlier in the guise of a nobleman named Lord Argenvost.
bladesedge: He didn't layer in the valley solely because of its beauty. He knew of a place called the Amber Temple, which seems to be a repository of dark power guarded by the voices of good. He wanted to make sure that whatever was trapped inside the Amber Temple wouldn't be allowed to escape. So he built his fortified mansion, Argenfostholt.
bladesedge: yeah He had ah an order, the Order of the Silver Dragon. which drove away many male factors searching for the Amber Temple. It also sheltered Strahd's enemies and proved more than a match for him first and his battle weary soldiers. But the early victories or so it goes, didn't win the war. knights His and him and his knights were ultimately overwhelmed when his reinforcements swept into the valley. After the dragon was slain, Strahd had his corpse hacked to pieces, stripped to the bone and transported to Castle Ravenloft as a trophy.
bladesedge: Since his death, people say Argan Vostalt has become a haunted ruin.
Alma Graves: Fascinating a dragon in Barovia I'll do it
bladesedge: Madameva says, ah, Senhuas, flip the second god. Okay. You come forth.
bladesedge: Let me go ahead and she says, this card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope.
bladesedge: She flips the card over.
bladesedge: She says, ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear. Seven of swords, also known as the hooded one.
bladesedge: She says, um I see a faceless God. He awaits you at the end of a long and winding road deep in the mountains.
Alma Graves: The hooded one, I see.
bladesedge: um
bladesedge: ah Trev, I think you are AFK. Yes. yes um She and and does not elaborate any further.
Alma Graves: Okay.
Alma Graves: Thank you for your telling.
bladesedge: Seven of us hold.
bladesedge: We'll draw the third card.
Kyle: I'll go.
bladesedge: Okay.
bladesedge: um
bladesedge: ah andnoy When she mentions the faceless God awaiting you at the end of a long and winding road deep in the mountains, you immediately think of Osiris.
Trevor: Mmm.
Trevor: Oh, okay.
bladesedge: All right, Bash, as you step up, as there is no third card, you go for the fourth card. And she says, yes, this card sheds the light on one who will help you greatly in battle against darkness.
bladesedge: Do you flip your card?
Kyle: I do.
bladesedge: She says... She flips it and almost lets out a very, uh, laugh.
bladesedge: ah i ah
bladesedge: ah
bladesedge: ah
Kyle: i start laughing
bladesedge: ah
bladesedge: Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. She flips the corn card and it says, ah, broken one, the king of diamonds.
Alma Graves: Ha ha ha ha ha ha.
bladesedge: She says, I see a man whose I see a man of faith whose sanity hangs by a thread.
Kyle: I start laughing.
bladesedge: um As she says that, everybody make me a wisdom saving throw.
Trevor: ah
Kyle: Wisdom saving throw.
bladesedge: Yes.
Alma Graves: ah That's an 11 and then I'm probably going to depending um I'm gonna use my pack to the talisman to add d4 That's a 12
bladesedge: Cool.
Trevor: 17 for Anabi.
Kyle: Yeah, that's a.
Tommy: 16 for Dishon.
bladesedge: Cool.
Kyle: Okay, yeah.
bladesedge: Um, you all feel a presence, a power, something within the fabric of the world itself. Shake and the card in her hand changes.
Alma Graves: Oh.
bladesedge: And she says, Oh,
bladesedge: And she looks at it and smiles and says, I am mistaken. Your greatest ally will be a wizard.
bladesedge: His mind is broken, but his spells are strong.
Trevor: Haha That's the she's talking about the mad mage isn't she?
Alma Graves: Interesting.
Kyle: I rolled a five on that wisdom saving throw, ah just so you know.
bladesedge: Cool.
Kyle: um
bladesedge: It would seem so. And then she says, uh, well, who is last to draw.
Tommy: Desan has been sitting, sweating this entire time, second Toroka card reading for him in his lifetime for sure. And I like slowly raise my hand, spell books still firmly planted on the ground between my feet.
bladesedge: um As you go to ah flip over the card, roll me a D14.
Tommy: Okay. D14. Seven.
bladesedge: Two, three, four, five, six, seven. She says,
bladesedge: About this card, she says, um, your enemy is a creature of darkness whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him. And as she flips over the card, it is, ah,
bladesedge: the ghost, the king of hearts. And she just looks up at you. and locks eyes and says, look to the father's tomb.
Tommy: Who, who's father? Strads?
bladesedge: Is Mark says, whoa, that's heavy. I mean, if it is, if she's talking about straws father, then that means you're talking about King Barov, Queen Ravenovia.
Tommy: and What yeah is, is Mark, where, where, so where are they buried as Mark?
bladesedge: He opens the flap maybe on one side a little further and you see off in the distance castle Ravenloft. He points at it.
Tommy: ah Rats Okay, so he'll be at the tomb of his father in Ravenloft We need to find a treasure in a dragon's house a holy symbol in the mountains
bladesedge: He goes, well, when when we're ready to find him, that's where he'll be.
Tommy: ah Wizard who's gone crazy and let half the country do their deaths and easy peasy.
Alma Graves: Yeah, easy peasy.
bladesedge: He pulls up the map and says, um, well, all right. Well, let's, let's start marking off where we're going.
bladesedge: Everybody pick a different color, mark off of spaces. You can see, I'll do, I'll go first. So we're talking the locky.
Alma Graves: Vlocky.
bladesedge: This is where we're getting. Irina. Okay.
Alma Graves: I think getting her to Vlaki is priority number one. The longer that she's out and about here, the longer Strahd has to seek her out and potentially ruin everything.
Kyle: And.
bladesedge: 100%. Then we've got Argan Vostalt right there. Okay. Now. A long and winding road deep in the mountains. Where do you guys think that is?
Alma Graves: Well, when I think mountains, I think either Mount Baratok or whatever's to the south. We haven't really been in this area, but I have this strange memory of something being down here from, from my brother.
bladesedge: Ah, sure. Why doesn't everybody make it? Everybody can make a history check.
Alma Graves: It's an 18 from Alma.
bladesedge: Nice.
Kyle: 15.
Tommy: 11.
Trevor: Five.
bladesedge: You remember indeed that right here where this X is, X marks the spot is the Amber temple.
bladesedge: You can even zoom in there. You'll see a little opening in the.
Alma Graves: Oh, there's a little opening.
Kyle: Oh, wow.
bladesedge: He says, Oh God. Okay. Vlaki, Argan Vostholt, Amber Temple. What's next? Nine Hells? Abyss?
Alma Graves: Yeah. Um, hu what do you know about these places?
bladesedge: My fucking mother -in -law's house? Come on!
Tommy: Says the abyss, I start sweating, I throw up.
bladesedge: Oh, are you okay?
Tommy: Yeah, I'm fine.
Alma Graves: We, uh, we have, well, I look over at best rack. I say we've had some acquaintances. stumble into places that were a little bit more brutal than they had anticipated. I'd like to mitigate that kind of situation in the future.
bladesedge: Here's honestly, I don't know. I mean, Argan and Vostol, they say it's haunted. So ah maybe let's let's bring our proton packs. The Amber Temple, there's no shot I would ever go anywhere near that place. ah They say that it is riddled with ancient and dark powers.
bladesedge: Uh, in Abby at the mention of that you, uh, you feel a presence inside you as if to say that is true.
Alma Graves: So we're not going to go to the Amber Temple until we've acquired some more artifacts and some more experience. um
bladesedge: Because we have lucky obviously. And then, and then they're talking about you guys have to meet a wizard. His mind is broken, but his spells are strong. This isn't the story that I was just talking about outside.
Alma Graves: I think that sounds quite familiar and, uh, well, uh, he led Doru to the, uh, to his demise.
bladesedge: What the hell? Guy who led Doru?
bladesedge: Psycho shit.
Alma Graves: Yeah. Within every psycho is someone with a lot of ambition.
bladesedge: You guys.
Alma Graves: So maybe we can channel that.
bladesedge: You guys really want to trust that? I would rather us stay with, you know, we all have really good sensibilities and he like pats, disaunts back. as he says ah
Alma Graves: i don't know
Tommy: Yeah, we all we all have good sense and sensibilities.
bladesedge: Yeah. He goes, yeah, we're all, we see more sound of mine. Hey, you got a little throw up right here. Let me get them for you.
Tommy: i Wipe it off.
bladesedge: Okay.
Tommy: ah Allegedly.
Kyle: The cards never lie though.
bladesedge: Hey.
Tommy: and every time someone Every time someone calls me Vesrak by accident, then one more page grows in the book.
bladesedge: ah Do we need to, uh, do we even really need that guy?
Alma Graves: I don't know. Have you experienced an issue with having too many allies and succeeding?
Kyle: if
Tommy: Didn't we we just talked about this? Eight is greater than seven, nine is greater than eight.
bladesedge: or 10 is greater than nine, 11 is greater than 10, 12 will be greater than 13.
Alma Graves: Exactly.
Trevor: ah
Alma Graves: It's true.
Alma Graves: You know it. You've said it.
bladesedge: He says, all right, well, what's let's make a, let's make a plan here. Let's make a, uh, it's like a plan of attack here. He says, what's of all the places he goes, okay, wait, so where is this?
bladesedge: Is this, is this mad mage?
Alma Graves: On the Northern shore of Lake Zarovich is where I believe him to be.
Trevor: Well, that was also 78 years ago. He could have been moving around.
Tommy: Maybe we could ask her.
Alma Graves: Go to places I need to start considering we're heading to Vlaki.
Tommy: Yeah.
Tommy: I guess we could ask around in Valaki when we get there and.
bladesedge: Yeah, you want to mark want to go ahead and mark where you would you you think he is though, just so it's on the map. So you guys now have a visual.
Alma Graves: Yeah, all market.
bladesedge: Now there's a visual representation of the places you could go.
Trevor: Yeah.
bladesedge: Oh, the places you will go.
Kyle: Yeah, let's go to the Velaki Church and start asking about the Mad Mage. I think that's a good idea.
bladesedge: Yeah, that feels like a good idea.
Tommy: yeah
Trevor: ah do Even better idea yeah
bladesedge: What if we pretend to be him?
Kyle: Is Mark?
Alma Graves: ah
Tommy: and don't i yeah I have a sneaking suspicion. You know what? Let's do it. let you know um And before we ah close the map, I'd like to point out um um the windmill on the map.
Alma Graves: I was just thinking the same thing.
Tommy: yeah and just be like
bladesedge: as you As you pointed out, he goes, what's that?
Tommy: i look ah Drow artifact.
bladesedge: Make a persuasion check.
Tommy: um and ah reg chair
Trevor: That should totally just auto work on this guy for now.
Tommy: 15.
bladesedge: Yeah. I mean, that sounds great. This, this first one that you got is that is like, is like, it seems so, mad it seems so magical. It's really cool. It's like the book that like nobody can hold on to.
Tommy: Yeah, don't touch it.
Trevor: ae
Tommy: I slap his hand away.
bladesedge: Right. It feels like I'm not even trying to do it. It feels like it's it like when I watch you with it, it feels like you're holding something covered in butter.
bladesedge: That's like, and that's cool. That's like what it's supposed to do, right?
Tommy: I, no, I don't know what you're talking about. I go to lift it up and it slips out of my hands.
bladesedge: You go to the WK and lift it off the ground as if it was like a million pounds.
Tommy: Oh God, real sort of the stone action here.
bladesedge: You go to lift it and it won't even go.
Tommy: I go, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm like, ah,
bladesedge: Are you, all right to be honest with me, are you putting together a tight five?
Tommy: yeah
Tommy: i what no, just, yeah.
Kyle: What?
bladesedge: A tight five. Like is this part of a stand up routine? Cause I'm liking it.
Tommy: yeah
bladesedge: It's very, this is very the curly Mo and whatever.
Tommy: Uh, yeah, it's all part of my hat stand up. oh Yeah. d
bladesedge: OK, all right.
Tommy: Uh, yeah.
bladesedge: So the windmill, there's another artifact there, so we'll stop there.
Tommy: But after we get to the lucky.
Alma Graves: Yeah, we'll head to Velaki first, then the mad mage. And then, you know, when it comes time to make our way to, um, Argan Spargans, um, we'll stop at the windmill.
bladesedge: OK. Madam Ava says, it's been a wonderful time talking to all of you. You may sleep here the night Good luck on your journey She smiles
Alma Graves: Thank you, Madam Eva.
Alma Graves: May the morning Lord bless you.
bladesedge: She smiles, and ah you guys can um yeah go go straight to bed.
Trevor: Sweet.
bladesedge: They give you guys your own tents, or if there's anything anybody wants to do.
Trevor: Yeah, CP time. Trans time.
Alma Graves: a
Tommy: I'm going to bed. It's been a long day.
Alma Graves: um pretty good
Trevor: yeah cp time
Kyle: Um, yeah, it I head over to my tent and sit down on my bed, cot, whatever they have for me.
Trevor: trance time
bladesedge: OK.
Alma Graves: you
Kyle: And I again, pull out my dagger and just begin etching continue, continue etching into my blade.
bladesedge: Okay. You etch into the blade. The morning comes. You all are long rested. um The ah half of these people are already gone in the morning. The other half are loading up their caravans and moving along as Sorvia says. I will see you guys um soon. It's nice to meet you all.
Alma Graves: Sure was.
Trevor: you as well.
bladesedge: Okay. So yeah, heads out, uh, is Mark and Irene are loading up tenacious D and the wagons. You guys ready to go?
Kyle: Right as I'll ever be.
Tommy: Yeah, just let's just get out of here.
Alma Graves: I think so.
Trevor: yep
bladesedge: All right, let's go.
bladesedge: Okay.
Alma Graves: Lays another trail.
bladesedge: You guys head to move your token to right here.
bladesedge: As you can see where I moved it, right?
Kyle: Uh -huh.
Trevor: Yep.
Alma Graves: isn it
Tommy: Yep.
bladesedge: Yeah. um As I read you something.
bladesedge: You um you follow the river up. um You see that's to the west. There is a waterfall spilling into a pool, billowing forth clouds of cold mist. A great stone bridge spans this canyon.
Alma Graves: Ooh, there's a waterfall.
bladesedge: um Yeah, right over here.
Alma Graves: Brian, can we do the ultimate video game thing? I wanna go underneath that fucking waterfall. Is there any any treasure hidden underneath the waterfall?
bladesedge: investigation check.
Alma Graves: Oh, I'm so excited. Give me a nat 20, baby.
Trevor: sharp rocks to the bottom.
Alma Graves: oh Ah, six.
Kyle: We still have inspiration to reroll.
bladesedge: Um, Yeah.
Alma Graves: Oh, I still got inspiration. I'm using it, I'm using it.
bladesedge: yeah
Alma Graves: Ah! ah That's an 11. I'm gonna use one of my packs. Give me something more than a one, please. Four, that's 15.
bladesedge: Nice. Roll me a D 10.
Alma Graves: D10, yeah, maybe.
Alma Graves: That's a seven.
Kyle: Seven rocks.
Trevor: yeah
Alma Graves: Oh yeah, let's go.
Alma Graves: And Trevor, I told I got your emperor's new groove.
Trevor: Let's go.
Alma Graves: 19.
bladesedge: um You find there's like a little bag with 19 gold in it.
Alma Graves: Holy.
Kyle: BAM!
Alma Graves: What a score.
Trevor: Hamridge, lady.
Alma Graves: 19. Thank you.
Alma Graves: Bounty of the morning Lord. He left that there for me to find.
Trevor: Put it on black.
bladesedge: You guys follow this dirt road um as it clings to um this bridge, mold encrusted stone that spans this natural chasm. Gargoyles cloaked in black moss perched on the corners of the bridge, their frowns weather -worn.
bladesedge: On the mountainous side of the bridge, to your right, to the east, um
bladesedge: there is a this pool, this river that meanders into the fog, shrouded pines, the blanket, the valley. And to the other side, the waterfall spilling into the misty pool, 1 ,000 feet below you once you're on the bridge.
bladesedge: so um The bridge slippery and sheer ah slick with moisture but safe to cross.
Alma Graves: Off we go.
bladesedge: Off you go. You continue up as you guys get right about here. You come across
bladesedge: Even here in the mountains, this windy path, the forest and the fog are inescapable. Ahead, the dirt road splits in two, widening towards the east, where you can see patches of cobblestones suggesting that the eastern branch was once an important thoroughfare,
bladesedge: and one going west.
Alma Graves: We ain't going east. That's for show.
bladesedge: As you begin to go west, fog spills out of the forest and swallows up the road behind you. Ahead, jutting from the impenetrable woods on both sides of the road are high stone buttresses looming gray in the fog.
bladesedge: Huge iron gates hang in the stonework. ah Dew clings with cold tenacity to the rusted bars. Two headless statues of armed guardians flank the gate, their heads now lying amongst the weeds at their feet. They greet you only with silence.
bladesedge: And there's a gate here in the way.
Alma Graves: who wants to investigate the gate.
Trevor: We go around it? No, I'm just kidding.
Tommy: Give it a big open sesame.
Kyle: Uh, does the gate seem locked just from this? I'm sitting in the wagon.
bladesedge: Give me a perception check.
Kyle: Oh, you bitch. Gonna be a natural one.
bladesedge: You're not sure.
Kyle: Did we come through this gate before?
bladesedge: 78 years ago now.
Trevor: no
Trevor: No.
Kyle: Alright, well I'm going to hop out and try to stay as vigilant as possible and take a look at the gate up close.
Tommy: um
bladesedge: Okay.
Trevor: I'll jump out with him.
bladesedge: Okay.
Tommy: I'll go too.
bladesedge: As you approach the gates, it doesn't appear to be locked. It even begins to open as you approach it on foot.
bladesedge: But it begins to open. Now you maybe see why as it opens. A carriage is coming through the other way. A large black carriage drawn by two black horses.
Alma Graves: Ruh -roh.
bladesedge: Snorting the snort puffs of steamy breath into the chill mountain air. as this black carriage comes to a stop right in front of you. And the side door of the carriage swings open silently.
bladesedge: And we'll see you guys next week.
Trevor: Eeee!
Alma Graves: Oh,
bladesedge: Oh, really? We've got our new. Stuff. To go after.
bladesedge: And, uh, thank you guys for tuning in and, um, uh, mystic visions, dude, we'll see you guys next.
Kyle: Hm.
bladesedge: We'll see you guys next time.
Alma Graves: Yeah. Fucking mystic visions, man.
bladesedge: All right.
Alma Graves: Wow.
bladesedge: Bye bye.
Kyle: Geez.
Alma Graves: Later.
