#lydia vallakovich

[eliotbaum]

some Lydia expressions 🌤️

[vanhelsingapologist]

Victor Vallakoposting to celebrate the beginning of his Unwilling Burgomaster arc + his medieval goth fit I never felt like drawing and family doodle.

[localghostgorl]

The Vallakovich family. Vargas, Lydia and Viktor as invisioned by me.

I do commissions!  

[costhursdays]

A quick plan was made of Nick and Cash presenting as people from the town of Barovia, with Cash using Disguise Person, and from there the two were brought inside. They met the lady of the house, a one Baroness Lydia Petrovna, and while Cash went to explore the house a bit more, Nick was left to examine some of the things the lady of the house was doing. She had going on a small circle of her closest 'friends' where they were making bits for the large effigy in the center of town in two days for the festival, and others were busy sewing clothing for the play that some of the children in town were going to preform before the burning. Nick asked some of these women if they knew anything about what else would be burned, but everyone simply said that just the effigy would be, as a placeholder for the actual sun in the sky. As Nick attempted reconnaissance, Cash found himself heading upstairs into the library where he met with Vargas Vallakovich. Cash excused himself as the Burgomaster was flanked on either side by two dogs, and it seemed that the man was paranoid after a supposed two servants had gone missing.

As the two of them did this, Chiaroscuro, Kenshi, and Alexir waited outside, the three of them circling the building to try and attempt another entrance. As Chiaro got a boost from Alexir to the second floor window, he realized he couldn't enter the building, as the windows were sealed shut and unable to slide open. He attempted to do some recon regardless, and summoned Flicker within the room as the door opened to an exploring Cash in disguise. With this, the two of them went to look for any other things in this house to try and suss out where it was that Strazni stayed, and upon entering the main bedroom where Vargas and Lydia lay, the two saw the rope to the attic and used it to climb the stairs up. In the attic, they saw a mess of items and a clear path through everything where a room at the end of this maddening hoard stood closed. On the outside of the door was a skull painted on the door and a sign on the handle reading "All is Not Well", a jest at Lydia's tic of a phrase that Nick had been hearing all the time they sat, eating and drinking from this small tea party they had intruded upon.

Chiaroscuro was informed that Nick had been cajoled into sewing for the play, and left Kenshi and Alexir to join Nick and the other ladies in the sewing circle. Here they found out that Strazni was a drunkard and a brute and that no one in the town truly liked him, as he was an intimidating sort. Lydia actively did not discuss him, almost afraid of him and requested any other conversation be brought up. Nick was informed mentally through their Psionic Whispers that Cash had found a weird door and excused themselves from the sewing table to go and find it themselves. From here, the other two were also informed and the whole group entered the attic, Chiaro included as he had to excuse himself from the tea party much like Nick. Here, the group kept knocking upon the door, bothering the inhabitant. The door opened to no one in the room and a shout of "Go The Fuck Away!" astonished everyone as the door then closed again.

Following this, they decided to head downstairs to check on a room that Cash informed was locked prior, and upon picking the lock, the five of them stood agape at a room filled with dolls. Every single tiny doll looked exactly like Ireena, all in different little outfits. Nick took a doll as the rest of the party looked around, finding nothing but a chest with a hidden sword at the bottom, and a bunch of cheap wine bottles littering the floor under the bed. This was definitely Strazni's room.

The group decided to try one more time to see if they could approach the door upstairs in the attic, and so they began knocking again, eventually talking the inhabitant into letting them in as well.

Victor Vallakovich was a scrawny man with heavy bags under his eyes, as he dispelled the Invisibility spell he had cast upon himself. He discussed his plans to attempt to leave the country, and showed them his paperworks with the designs to do so on it. He admitted that he had talked two servants into attempting the Teleportation circle he had made and the only thing he saw happen was that they disappeared into a flash of bright purple light. He informed the party also about Strazni and that his father hired the man when he was but a child and that Strazni already had a body count by that point. He also informed them that Strazni's Monstrous Arm was a newer development as he had been missing an arm as a child, and the new one could cast some sort of magic. Victor asked if Chiaro knew anything about that sort of thing because as a Tiefling, Chiaro should have known fire magic, right?

After leaving Victor to his strange magics, the group exited the home no better having entered, only slightly more knowledgeable in the interim. Before heading out of the building, Chiaroscuro decided to leave Flicker in Strazni's bedroom to spy on him as needed during the night. He didn't know if anything would come from this action, but it was better to keep an eye on the man than not.

As they walked back to the Blue Water Inn, Chiaroscuro asked Cash about Tiefling history, as the young man had never known another Tiefling before. While he questioned him, Chiaro shared a bit of private information with Cash about the makeup of his body, as it had been changed by the Khayal that made up Chiaro's patron. Cash commented that he didn't have anything like that at all, and that he should feel proud of being so blessed anatomically like that. It was here that Nick overheard the salacious information, having been left out on overhearing such juicy gossip in the past.

Upon reaching the Blue Water Inn, the group felt slightly demoralized. They hadn't made much progress today, and it was nearly nightfall. The didn't know what left lay ahead of them from this point.

[rahadaddy]

Session 20 Recap

We had Session 20 this weekend! It was a wild ride because it’s one of those games where political intrigue dominated the session and I learned just how deep the conspiracy well runs within some of my players. 

The warlock had a confrontation with Father Lucian, her adoptive father, first thing in the morning, about her hasty engagement to Doru Donavich. Lucian confronted her about whether or not Doru is a vampire and received an honest answer, much to his dismay. He tried to forbid the marriage, but Theo managed to convince him that she has the situation well in hand. Ireena, Ismark, Yeska, and the church staff joined for breakfast and preparations.

Alistor, our cleric, awoke alone in the Blue Water Inn. He tried to rouse the ranger, Tam, but Tam’s player was absent, so Tam was ruled too hungover to join in. Alistor then went downstairs and learned of the first stirrings that all is not well with the Martikovs’ wine supply. He spoke briefly with Nikolai Wachter about the masquerade plans to restore Stella’s broken mind and the two of them (separately, but not that far behind each other) arrived at church late. Theo realized that Nikolai is trying to be seen at church, not unlike the way her uncle, Vargas, Tries To Be Seen, but is also very much trying to fill his late father’s shoes. He spoke with Theo briefly and mentioned that his cousin, Lavinia, would be back in town for the masquerade and he hoped his mother had the good sense to match her with his Bachelor Uncle, Rafael Buckvhold. Theo and Alistor concluded that it would be a lavender marriage and, you know? Good for them. 

The party then ventured to the clothiers’ for masquerade costumes. I told the party they have one week to surprise me with what they’re going to wear. I’m excited! Then, they went to Vallakovich Manor to peruse the baron’s library. On the way, Izek Strazni revealed that he has shifted his Intense And Possibly Violent Romantic Longing from Theo to Ireena, based on things that have happened since the last festival. No one liked this information. The party arrived to the manor. They agreed to lunch with Lydia after they did their researchl. They caught Vargas practicing his speech for the Festival and they began researching the Teray family tree on behalf of one of the revenants. The family tree showed interconnection among the nobility of several of the towns, including Vallaki and Barovia Village and the party learned that Sir Robern Teray’s last living (“living”) descendant is either Doru Donavich, Thorn and Rose Durst, or a woman named Anastrasya Karelova who appears to be a clerical error without a death date. They plan to go to Barovia Village at some point to deliver the Teray family crest to Doru. They then had lunch with Lydia, which I thought revealed more than it did. Oops. They also checked on Victor and tried to dissuade him from using his teleportation circle to try to find Ez D’Avenir again. While they were upstairs, Theo and Ismark clocked a voice in Lydia’s private chambers and Theo saw the outline of a woman in the mirror fading away. Vargas invited Ismark and Alistor back to dinner to discuss politics because the party successfully convinced Vargas that they know about political organization and, yes, Ismark is still definitely the burgomaster of Barovia Village. Theo and Ireena decided to get more information out of the Wachter boys about Fiona’s book club. During preparations to speak with the baron, Alistor caught Ismark checking him out and Ireena made fun. The group split.

Ismark and Alistor went to the manor and went on the weirdest double date with Vargas and Lydia… and Izek who kept asking if Ireena is single. Through some really good rolls, Alistor persuaded Vargas to consider building a council so he can focus on the truly important things in rulership (“Like festivals!”). Ismark clocked that Lydia was upset and scheming and he told Alistor of his fears as they walked back to the inn. 

Meanwhile, as Ireena served as a decoy for the very drunk Karl Wachter, Theo challenged Nikolai to a vodka-drinking contest and asked him about the book club. Nikolai drunkenly revealed that it’s not really a book club, but a place to discuss political and religious dissension and that his mother has introduced (or perhaps reintroduced) worship of The Lady of Shadows, with the belief that Strahd is her prophet. Nikolai expressed some disagreement with this view, stating that worshipping monsters never prevented tragedy from happening, never prevented him from losing Elizaveta (Vallakovich, his fiancee) or his father, never prevented Stella’s curse. He then drunkenly revealed to Theo that he doesn’t think his father died from sickness like everybody says. He said that the night he died, his father had a cold and went to bed early, his mother was out, and while Nikolai had the house to himself, he invited Elizaveta over. They heard a strange noise and Elizaveta ended up leaving. The next day she was gone and his father was dead. It had been mere weeks before their wedding and he’s never recovered from the double loss, which is why he thinks his mother is pitching him to Lavinia. He told Theo the book club will be kind of like a church event, kind of like a town hall, but that “miracles” happen - always for other people and often involving money that answers people’s prayers. Karl then interrupted the conversation, trying to get the girls to dance and Nikolai took his brother home. Alistor and Ismark rejoined Theo and Ireena and decided to walk them back to the church for the night. When they did, one of the PCs asked Lucian if it was ridiculous to think Lydia might be an assassin and Lucian got really quiet and said that he didn’t think it was ridiculous at all. 

That’s where we ended the session. The PCs are in the Church, asking Lucian for information about Lydia and possibly getting the reveal of a lifetime. Tune in next time for a “book club” meeting and the impending Moonlight Masquerade, the best festival of the year!

[prose-priest-potentate]

There's a lot of fun symbolism and a lot of fun looping plotlines in our cos game that I just totally fell in love with man.

MOST recent on my mind is Marileina and Arabelle as morbid little best friends - like yeah, on the surface it's two girls of similar ages who meet and have similar powers and attitudes and get along like a house on fire. Love that.

But also Mari as Strahd's heir and Arabelle with direct ties to Madam Eva sort of just inheriting a better version of that relationship where technically the Zarovich royal line, the legitimate line, is integrated into the Vistani people again by this friendship between the girls instead of dangling by the aging remnants of Eva's care for her bro. And then Viktor! GOD I hated him at first and he IS awful but he's grown on me. And deciding that he's not Vargas' legitimate son???? That Lydia cheated with a Vistani man? WILD. Vargas Vallakovich who is OBSESSED with legacy and image, with a fucked up heir who causes problems politically who isn't even HIS and an orphan he picked up specifically to groom as a knee-breaker who he treats like a dog but doesn't adopt -because Izek doesn't deserve to be part of the family can you imagine?? But Izek's the one whose loyal and Viktor ruins an important marriage alliance. I just love seeing Vargas lose.

and IZEK AND VIKTOR and their budding romancing KILL me. STAKE to my HEART the symbolism isn't lost.

Viktor who runs to Krezk and meets Vasilka and just thinks she's the most interesting girl in the entire world who adores the fact that she's this brutish amalgamation of dead bodies given life, and Vasilka who has rarely met someone who didn't recoil in disgust at her, a young lady who meets a young man and they try to run away together and make a little life?! Adorable! Precious! They're going to grow together and make each other better! Viktor will learn to love and see the value in the world, and Vasilka will get to follow her dreams of adventure and curiosity!

Izek who meets a beast of a man who gives him the time of day and specifically is friendly to him when so few people (none) are, so he runs away from his obligations to Vallakai on a paper thin excuse and starts chasing down a future he didn't even know was an option.

Both of them as cruel, obsessive, vicious sons of Vallakai who meet people who want to see them grow and be loved.

Izek, who leaves behind a place that has crafted him from something bad into something worse, who then has a chance at a happily ever after laid out in front of him on gilded tableware; he gets his little sister back, inherits a step-brother along with her, ends up with two or three unlikely and very annoying friends that adore him, and ultimately will 1.) get his soul and 2.) see even his sitting foster-ish-brother Viktor doing better and having a second chance too.

There's just an ENTIRE generation of young people set to inherit the ashes of the world and build it back up and it's beautiful and I love it and I always wanted them to turn into this extensive dysfunctional family where they don't always see each other but Viktor and Vasilka send Christmas cards, Mari and Arabelle get their own little spin-off of high school slice of life, and Izek and Ismark get to settle down in positions as noblemen and finally have some say in their own damn lives.

[glittercleric]

Curse of Strahd, Session 7

Last session, the group explored more of Vallaki, and the manyfold threads running through the town.

Beware: Curse of Strahd spoilers below. If you play this campaign yourself right now, you probably shouldn’t read this.

A New Friend

A new hand touches the beacon joins the party: Gawain, yuan-ti warlock, who like Savra came to Barovia with a mission, and decided to tag along for the party’s endeavours in town.

Wachter Shenanigans

They overheard the Wachter brothers talking about wanting to break into Rictavio’s carnival wagon, and accidentally unleashed the saber-tooth tiger hidden within. Hilarity ensued as they tried to wrangle the beast, with Gawain successfully Suggesting it calm down, and Wren playing a tiger-charming melody on their shawm. While Wren and Savra checked out the contents of Rictavio’s wagon, the tiger managed to knock Gawain prone and escape. The party chased the beast to the toymaker’s shop, where a terrified Blinsky sat atop a high shelf while the tiger played with its monkey bestie. Gawain conjured a net as pact weapon to catch the tiger, dragging it out of the shop. In that moment, Izek and the town guard marched up to them, intent to arrest the troublemakers, but once Izek saw Gawain, he smiled widely and let the issue go, just taking the tiger with them. The party was very uncomfortable with the way Izek kept staring at Gawain.

Meet the Vallakoviches - Lydia

Bright and early the next morning, Izek collected the party from their lodgings at the Blue Water Inn for their meeting with Baron Vargas. People were bustling in and out of the mansion, bringing bundles of twigs and other decorations inside. Baron Vargas was not quite ready yet to see guests, so his wife Lydia interrupted her brunch with other noblewomen to entertain the party. Lydia was overtly polite, but nervous - an Insight checked showed she was, deep down, terrified of the situation.

Meet the Vallakoviches - Vargas

Shortly after, the Baron finally welcomed the party in his den, smoking a pipe while they feasted on the charcuterie boards brought out for them. He showed great interest in the possibility to strengthen diplomatic ties to the village of Barovia through Ireena’s presence. However, he made his agreement to house her dependant on the party doing him a favor: Investigate Lady Fiona Wachter, a noblewoman who he is convinced has aspirations on his position as burgomaster. He recommended they speak to his son, who allegedly harmed the daughter of Lady Wachter, then excused himself - “there is much to be overseen for the festival, all will be well!”

"Is it just me, or is the baron ... strange?"

After a brief discussion with Ireena, the party decided that they do not trust the Baron at all, and would rather not have her stay in his mansion. The general opinion was to bring Ireena to the abbey in Krezk. However, the Baron’s offering of 200 gp was rather compelling, so they agreed to at least look into Lady Wachter, in case she truly is in league with Strahd as the Baron alleged.

Not-yet-skeletons in the closet

Their first lead was, of course, the Baron’s son, a boy who according to Vargas is “of a difficult age”, and rather unwilling to talk to his parents. A maid showed the group upstairs, pointing out Victor’s bedroom before scurrying away, clearly uncomfortable with being on this floor. When Victor didn’t answer his door, Wren broke out the thieves’ tools, finding only an empty room that is almost suspiciously devoid of personal belongings. Shrugging, the party figured he might’ve wandered off to another room, and started looking for him. The very first door they broke open revealed to them a man chained to the back of a closet, severely beaten and unconscious. Good Samaritan Savra rushed in to heal him, and he introduced himself as Udo Lukovich, the local shoemaker. The Baron had arrested him for protesting the Vallakoviches’ reign at the previous festival. To the party’s surprise, Udo said he preferred that he was just taken to the mansion and beaten up, because the Reformation Center would have been a much worse fate. Unnerved, the party smuggled him out a window using the rope they carried with them, telling him to go to the local church, before returning to their investigations.

Copycat Dolls

The next room was possibly even more unnerving than the closet: It was filled with what seemed to be hundreds of dolls, lined up on shelves and sat on the bed, sitting on windowsills and whatever other furniture was available. And all of them, to the last doll, looked uncannily like Gawain. When asked by the party if he has any idea why someone would have so many dolls of him, he said he had no clue, he has only been in Barovia for about a week, after all, and hadn’t made a lot of acquaintances yet.

Meet the Vallakoviches - Victoria

Still not having found Victor, the party investigated a massive library (that did not contain anything of value or use for them), and some personal rooms of the Vallakoviches, including the master bedroom, which contained a trapdoor leading up to the attic. Climbing up, the party found themselves in a dusty room chock-full of forgotten furniture and knick-knacks. Among antiques and paintings, Kyra found a bag full of curious scarlet dust, and Wren picked up a shiny gemstone. At the end of the room was a door carved with a skull, with a sign on the doorknob reading “All is not well!” in all-caps. Wren attempted to open the door, but triggered a Glyph of Warding on it, which Suggested to them that they don’t really want to be here, and aren’t they craving some more cake? Kyra managed to stop Wren from absconding, and Savra passed the door with no problem. 

Inside, they found their quarry - however, she’s not quite what they expected, for the Baron does not, in fact, have a son, but a trans daughter, and a magically inclined one at that. Victoria, as she wished to be called, was rather prickly and defensive at first, wanting the party gone, but warmed up to them as they made  it known that they have no intention of aiding her father. She told them the truth about what transpired with Stella Wachter: The two of them were brought together for a potential arranged marriage, but Victoria had no interest in marrying a girl, “at least not in the way I am expected to”. However, Victoria noticed latent magic in Stella, and offered to teach her some spells in exchange for Stella showing her how to do her makeup and how to dress femininely.

Spell Experimentation Gone Wrong

As part of their studies, the two of them experimented on each other with magic. One fateful day, Victoria expressed interest in mastering the Fear spell, and Stella encouraged her to try it on her, saying she’s strong enough to take it. Unfortunately, that proved not to be true, and in her desperation to console a terrified Stella, Victoria attempted to wipe her mind with Modify Memory, a spell she had never tried before. It went awry, leading to Stella breaking down and fleeing the mansion in mindless terror. Victoria has since been trying to construct a teleportation circle in the hopes of escaping Barovia and getting Stella the help she needs - a rather unsuccessful endeavour so far, as Wren noted that the teleportation circle is incomplete and would likely disintegrate anyone who tried to use it.

Don't piss off the baron

The party promised not to tell Vargas about Victoria transing her gender, or anything they learned from her, really. In parting, Victoria warned them not to anger the guard or her father, lest they are brought to the Reformation Center. Curious, the party asked her what that Center is, and Victoria explained her father employed some mages who are brainwashing people into being “happy”. The party resolved that maybe the Baron’s reign needed to come to an end. (Gawain also learned that the room full of dolls belonged to Izek, which made it abundantly clear that Izek was downright obsessed with Gawain for some unknown reason.)

Bone Theft

The party collected Ireena from the den, where she had been patiently waiting as to not be in the way of their investigations, then headed for the Church of St. Andral’s, hoping the local priest could give them some information about the Abbey in Krezk. They found Father Lucian comforting a grieving woman - Udo Lukovich’s mother, as it turns out. The shoemaker himself is nowhere to be seen yet, which caused some concern. They asked Father Lucian if Ireena could stay in the church, it being consecrated ground and thus a veritable protection against Strahd and his minions. Father Lucian took them down to the crypt hidden below the altar, “for privacy”, and told them Ireena would unfortunately not be safe with him, as the bones of St. Andral, which consecrate the church and grant him his divine powers, had been stolen two days prior. He and his altar boy, Yeska, were out tending to a dying man the day it must have happened, but the gravedigger, Milivoj, was preparing a plot in the graveyard, so Father Lucian suggested they talk to him. However, Milivoj had not come in for work since, and the headmistress of the orphanage he lived at had not allowed the priest to come inside. The party came to an agreement with Father Lucian that they will look for the bones in exchange for him writing a letter of recommendation for Savra so they may be let into Krezk to see the Abbot under the guise of Savra wishing to be fully ordained as cleric of Lathander.

We ended the session there, with the next task at hand being the investigation of the orphanage to hopefully recover the bones.

[survivors-of-barovia]

Tiny Hut is back! This time it’s an NPC Tiny Hut aka the most awkward Tiny Hut of Barovia. There’s Victor who just got purged of his Dark Gift and ain’t feeling well. His mom who has gone through yet another traumatic event in her life. His priest uncle, Father Lucian, who was coming to terms with approaching death just an hour ago. Alexander, formerly known as Izek, having an existencial cirsis of his own. Stella Wachter who’s doing fine actually but would prefer to talk to Victor without his mom and uncle there. And Illyria Krezkova, just being her giant werewolf self bc being in human form is highly overrated.

If you need more context, here’s a recap from our DM

[morbiferous-art]

Lydia Petrovna, wife of Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich

My take on Lydia, I will be using the second portrait for my game, as I felt that someone who has an entire room in her home dedicated to her beauty routine would have some jewelry. 

[m0nkz]

DM: Lays out several clear clues, generously telling us something is wrong in the Vallakovich house. Maybe like - oh I dunno - someone is pretending to be Baroness Anna Krezkova (Who in our game is cousin to Baroness Lydia Petrovna). 

Us, Himbo Squad Power Level Over 9000: 

[eliotbaum]

to Have & to Hold ❤️‍🔥 cover for my artbook revolving around the romance between my Curse of Strahd PC and an NPC

[arrenkae]

Curse of Strahd NPC sketches

[localghostgorl]

I present to you Grisha Vallakovich. As he left Vallaki to travel Barovia, he also took half of the massive tits in town with him.

I do commissions!

[costhursdays]

Waking up from their sleep with so much on their minds, the group found themselves still in a battle on whether or not they'd take the Lady up on her offer to kill the Burgomaster or not. Several were in agreement that such a thing would not be the "right" thing to do; others were less so inclined, stating that while he had not done anything 'bad' persay, he had a hand in the creation of several new orphan mouths for the Church to tend to. All the same, they had decided yesterday to tell Lady Wachter their answer the day after tomorrow, so today was their time to get through the everything with the preparation for the Festival of the Blazing Sun while deciding to see whether or not the murderous nature will come upon them.

First thing Chiaro wished to do, even prior to getting food, was to retrieve Flicker from their spot spying on Strazni. Upon returning to the Burgomaster's estate, they swung around the back, and Chiaroscuro gently called out to his familiar. Slowly, a small ember slid through a few cracks in the plaster and cobblestone, transforming back into the little flaming ball of darkness that the party has grown to love. Chiaroscuro asked Flicker what it was he saw, and much like how Chiaro looked when he was witnessing through Flicker's eyes, he now saw a playback of the prior night.

He saw under the bed, the spot that Flicker chose to hide out for the night, and the vision was rapidly passing by, almost like Flicker was playing out the scene at five times speed. He saw the feet of Strazni enter the room, kick some of the discarded bottles strewn about further into the back corners under his bed, and lift up out of sight. Flicker's vision then slowly crept out from under the bed, jumping from the floor to an elevated corner watching the scene from on top of Strazni's closed trunk. Here, Chiaro saw Strazni take several swigs out of a bottle of wine, before dropping it to the floor, having finished it off. From here, he dug to find one of the dolls of Ireena, stroking its hair and muttering something with glassy, bloodshot eyes, and finally rolling over to fall asleep. From this position he remained, back to the doorway, for several hours until he rose with the overcast sky, redressing himself in clean clothing, and heading out for the day. He took a glance at Flicker's position once, but did not seem to have noticed the shadowember cat.

Chiaroscuro questioned if Flicker was able to hear what Strazni had said and with a small chirruping meow, Flicker was able to replay the sound for Chiaroscuro into his thoughts. Chiaro heard a gruff, stilted, slurred voice as the thought of Strazni stroking the doll's head replayed. He heard him question why she was there, why was she plaguing him so severely, and how he could fix this sight he kept seeing. Chiaro relayed this information to the group, and while it did paint Strazni in a different light, everyone came to an agreeance that Ireena should not be told about this. She had made it clear prior that she had no interest in hearing about some freak who was obsessed with her, especially seeing as how Strazni made the count of those up to two.

With Flicker in arms, they went back to the Church of St. Andral. From their spot, they were pleased to see Ireena had joined Father Petrovich with handing out food, which today was a small loaf of bread coupled with a meaty rice porridge. She asked how the day fared them after they had left yesterday, and while they said that, while they managed to have an eventful day, they felt like they didn't have a lot of information on anything that could help them in the future with regards to the festival. Father Petrovich proffered the return the the Burgomaster's manor to check in on Lydia, his sister, as he hadn't seen her in services in some time and was worried about his brother in law's temper, as he had become quite controlling in the recent years. They agreed after having some breakfast, with Nick deciding that Chiaroscuro should be the recipient of their Psychic Whispers, and returned to the manor to make their entrance back in Lydia's good graces.

Entering the home, a lot of the decorations had been finished and were laying on the floor to be assembled fully later, or set aside for the festival proper that was to happen the following day. The maid that took them in and directed them towards Lydia Petrovna did so again, and she was happy to see so many new people in such short notice. She took them into the dining room where she was having a midmorning tea break, and sat them down with glasses. Kenshi took charge of the conversation and inquired about how she had been lately, stating the information they had received from Father Petrovich. She sounded dodgy in her answers but did not stray from her fully committed "all will be well" personality that had been built into her. During the conversation, Chiaroscuro excused himself for the bathroom, and left to do some quick recon on the rest of the house, summoning and resummmoning Flicker into rooms to scope them out. A few times he nearly was found, the chef that seemed to be preparing lunch for the Burgomaster and his wife nearly running his hand directly into Flicker's burning little shadowfire forehead, but never was he found. This brought him upstairs as he looked around in the rooms that he was not privy to from the last time he looked around. While keeping quiet from alerting Vargas of his presence in the house, Chiaroscuro's searching lead him to discovering a locked closet at the end of the hall, where a mostly naked, battered and bruised man lay gagged and unconscious. Picking the lock quietly, Chiaro lay a gentle hand on the man, causing some of his scratches and scrapes to disappear, but he did not stir further. Chiaro Whispered to Nick the findings, and Nick excused themself from the table as well, citing that they were also heading to the restroom.

From here, the rest of the group was kept in the loop with Nick's psychic whispers as well, and they all were aware of the beaten man in the closet. Nick and Chiaro tried their luck at picking the lock to his manacles, coming out with two sets of broken lockpick tools and a jammed lock. Chiaro sent Flicker into the next room so that he could distract the dogs so that it would muffle the sound of a precisely placed Eldritch Blast, and Nick stole a bedsheet to cover the man with. They escaped the home with some help from Cash, who disguised himself to look like Lydia and having the maid take a nap due to how tired she seemed, and the rest of the party took their leave as they all brought the man back with them to the church.

He informed the group that his name was Udo Lukovich and that he was kidnapped by the Burgomaster's beast of a bodyguard and was being kept prisoner for speaking out against Vargas' constant festivals. Father Petrovich feared that the man would end up dead if he went home and asked if the group would take him and his mother, Willemina Rikalova, to the Vistani Camp just outside of town. Here, they should find some respite, and at least would be kept safe from any sort of attacks from the Burgomaster.

[rahadaddy]

Session 23

The party had another encounter with Strahd and one night to prop up the Vallaki government after the deaths of all three of its major players.

Last session ended with Anastrasya, in her capacity as a general, announcing that Vallaki had eight hours to set up their new government after the deaths of Vargas Vallakovich, Lydia Petrovna, and Fiona Wachter. Our warlock, Theo, threw a guiding bolt at Anastrasya and that was where we picked up.

It hit, dealing a searing 25 points of radiant damage to one of Strahd's brides and commanders.

Combat broke out. Soldiers in the crowd began to attack fleeing nobles. Guards attacked soldiers. The party and - in a wild turn of events - Izek Strazni teamed up to attack Anastrasya. Once she'd seen enough of the chaos, Strahd set up a wall of fire between the party (Theo, Strahd's son, Alistor, her other son, Godfrey, the reincarnations of Sergei and Ireena, and Ismark, Victor Vallakovich, Stella Wachter, and Nikolai Wachter) and she, bathed in firelight told them to end their quarrel. Alistor, ever her son, used his movement to break through the fire - taking nearly total damage in fire - to get to the stage and convince the people of Vallaki to mobilize. Strahd called her soldiers off with the promise to return at dawn. The party split. Theo and Victor went to Vallakovich manor to gather records for the meeting and everyone else went to the Blue Water Inn.

At the manor, Theo and Victor discovered Victor's missing sister, Elizaveta, trapped in the mirror in Lydia's room. She revealed that only her mother knew the rhyme to open the passageway between Elizaveta's Immol apartment and the manor. Theo found the diary of Leo Dilisnya and used it to allow Elizaveta to return. Victor told her the truth (which only he and Alistor witnessed): their mother murdered their father and died herself. Elizaveta did not want to stay, but went with the two of them to say cursory hellos to the party and her (former?) fiance, Nikolai. She and Alistor are On Sight because tensions are HIGH and neither of them seemed to take that into account during a first meeting. She ran out before the other nobles arrived. When they did, the party convinced them to take roles in the government and to vote for a new Burgomaster (an elected, termed position). By one vote, Nikolai Wachter Jr. has become the new burgomaster. No word on how his uncle and the only other serious contender for the role, Raphael Buckvhold, feels about this. They managed for finish with four hours of the night left, so they are able to short rest (Theo, as a reborn, can long rest), but will be suffering a level of exhaustion come dawn and their meeting with Strahd.

I don't know what I expected, tbh, but I didn't expect so much of the session to be about voting, laws, and government disputes. I don't know why I didn't expect it. I also didn't expect them to find Elizaveta this early. Or to vote for Nikolai Wachter as the new burgomaster. Fascinating!

Strahd was the highlight for me. Absolutely love this woman. She's terrifying.

[thelostbarovianroyals]

Session 5: Fuck you, Boomer!

 Or The Gang Tries Politics.

Party heads back to the Blue Water Inn where the Marakov children are refusing to go to bed like normal kids do. Urwin calls them over to have a meal. 

Ulstra goes to talk to some drunk nobles in the inn & Scout joins her cause drunk men are assholes. Oh. These ones are Watcherus… es. They fail to chat up the women at all. Worse than Frat boys. 

Dorinn checks in with Trevor about how he is doing which seems to be confused. The two have a comforting moment. 

Ireena saves Scout & Ulstra from the Drunks. Bless her.

DAY 6 IN BAROVIA

Come morning, the boys get a letter from Lord Silverguard. The party must guard Izek as the village guard can not be trusted - he was their Commander. Someone else from Castle Ravenloft will be present at the funeral. 

Dorinn, Trevor and Jane go to the Vallakovich Manor in order to guard Izek. The curtains are all drawn around the house. A sign of mourning for the Baron. More than the man deserves but it is expected. 

The Maid greets them, leading them into the Foyer. Jane & Trevor stare at some paintings. Dorinn mills about but hears some furniture being shoved around from upstairs. He bolts up there, tugging along Trevor with him. 

They find 2 green-ass guards shaking in their boots outside of Izek’s room. Furniture is being thrown around inside as the man is clearly feeling confident enough to try & leave. Izek tries to open the door but is shocked by the glyph of warding.

Jane goes to get Victor Vallakovich. They chat a little awkwardly & he apologizes for being a nuisance.

Izek bursts out of the room only to be grappled by the guards & Dorinn. Victor Suggests that Izek stop resisting & promptly tied up.

Dorinn & Trevor stay to watch over Izek. Jane joins the Vallakovich funeral procession to the Church of St. Andral. 

Meanwhile at the Church, Scout is helping Father Lucian write the eulogy for Vargas - as diplomatically as possible to preserve the Family’s reputation. She tries to get Lucien to think about taking on the role of Burgomaster himself. 

Ulstra helps out wee Yeska with getting the chapel ready for the day ahead. 

There is a strange mournful sound like a yowl outside. Ulstra and Scout peer to see what the hell could be making that kind of noise. There is an Elk with a strange greenish tinge to its fur with an Elf riding on its back. It is towing the von Zarovich carriage - most likely with Vargas’ casket. 

The church begins to fill up. Given the nature of the funeral, all of Vallaki seems to be present in the Church. Attendance might even be mandatory.

The Elf Man has an eerie aura around him which sounds like thousands of Elven woman screaming out in terror + pain. 

WE TAKE FUCKING PSYHIC DAMAGE!!! 

The funeral goes off without a hitch. 

Scout stares down the Elf Man as he goes to leave, which manages to stop him in his tracks, staring back at her. Completely confused on both ends. He says to come find and they should talk. The DM later describes the moment as a Zing a la Hotel Transylvania. 

HE LEAVES OUT A SIDE DOOR?? Like she makes him change course.

Scout goes to talk to Rahadin (learns his name from either Ireena or Victor). Ulstra + Ireena follow along to keep an eye on her. What occurs next is a WILD conversation. Rahadin tells her that she is more or less impossible - that she is a Dusk Elf. The “last” female Dusk Elf. She violently rejects the idea. Calls him a liar & his words are nothing more than spewing bullshit. She doesn’t want to speak with him any more or ever again. Really. He flinches at this - simply giving her a warning to stay far away from the Dusk Elf encampment. 

FUCK YOU BOOMER.

Finnegan shows up in the town square to fucking wreck Rahadin with vicious mockery & Suggests that Scout go to the Baron’s manor. She flips him off as she is forced to walk away. 

The party accompanies the Valloviches to the Ceremony installing Lady Lydia Petrovna as Burgomaster. This also goes off pretty well. Izek is also publicly executed for Vargas’ death. 

Scout nearly chases down Rahadin before he leaves town but is stopped by her brother. It is not worth it - the man was clearly trying to agitate her. Somehow. 

Trevor takes Victor to go drink at the Blue Water Inn. Scout teases Ireena about her admiration for Dorinn when Jane comes to tell them all that she is going after the Mad Mage people keep mentioning. He might be Frankenstein. Or VV is… or was. At some point. Dorinn gets a picnic basket made up by Urwin to take Ireena on a date. Ulstra goes to the church to speak with Father Lucian and do some community outreach. 

SCOUT DOWNTIME: Stays at the Blue Water Inn to continue reading over the Tome of Strahd, sitting at the bar. VV joins her so neither of them have to be alone. Trevor left to visit Finnegan at some point and he rather not deal with questions from the townsfolk. Scout pushes the Tome of Strahd to him, suggesting that there could be spells in the book he would find useful. She shifts her focus on to the book bearing Sehanine Moonbow’s sigil. The one that was in the chest from Frankenstein. It seems to be a diary of a Priestess of Sehanine. There is something familiar about the writer but Scout cannot place why that would be the case. The woman starts talking about a man named Kasimir - and their blooming relationship. Entries become more infrequent and scattered. When they pick up again, there is a tone of distress in her quick notes. Along with what looks like hasty math equations. It dawns on her that this diary in fact belonged to their Mother, Anya. A Dusk Elf priestess of Sehanine. Who had lived in Barovia… even before Strahd invaded the valley. Rahadin had not lied to her. They are Dusk Elves. Scout feels as if the entire world has shifted from under herself. She starts having a panic attack, fighting against crying at the bar. VV notices & helps her get away from the crowded inn. He takes her back to the Vallakovich home, offering up a few different rooms for her to rest in. They end up in the main attic where she feels the safest for now. Scout grabs a spare pillow & blanket to cocoon herself in a secluded corner to think the entire matter over… Along with what now feels like an earnest warning to stay away from the Dusk Elves. 

DORINN DOWNTIME: Asks Ireena to join him for a late picnic out by Lake Zarovich. She very happily agrees. They walk with Jane out of Vallaki (She is going to the mountain where the Mad Mage has been seen). Quiet small talk is made until they split ways at the lakeside. Dorinn & Ireena walk east to find a spot. He forgot a blanket but darling Ireana must’ve noticed as they left - bringing her bed roll for them to sit on. They talk more about their lives. Dorinn tells her a few deeply sanitized stories about working along the Sword Coast for the illustrious Captain Zord (re: Jarlaxle). Ireena confesses her feelings for Dorinn - he makes her feel safe & loved. He makes her laugh easily which he says is good, he tries to do that. Her smile is the brightest, most brilliant thing in all of Barovia. She jokes that is not a high bar - also Dorinn kisses her hand in a disgustingly sweet gesture. While they relax, a man appears at the lakeside. He seems to set on fishing on what seemed to them as a dead still lake The man also is carrying a large sack along with his fishing gear. Packs it all in one of the boats then rows it all out to the middle of the lake. Ireena notices the sack wriggle as the man picks it up again. Like a person might struggle when bound. Dorinn starts for the lakeside then bolts for a boat when the man drops it into the water. Him & Ireena manage to get across the lake to the Fisher in record time thanks to his big ol’ muscles. Dorinn dives in the water to see a young girl sinking into the depths - caught up in the sack. He is able to grab her & bring her to the surface, setting her into the boat. Ireena threatens the Fisher who jumps out of his boat to swim to shore, running away. Never has there been a worse time for Dorinn to be so painfully turned on - ever. Dorinn takes a moment to collect himself before trying to get into the boat with the young Vistana girl. They row back to shore where they give her some of the food left over. She introduces herself as Arabelle & she lives on the hill with her family. This surprises Dorinn but they offer to walk her home. Arabelle says some odd things but largely, is a very sweet kid. They talk through the woods to come to a hill where a sizable tent has been set up - there is also a collection of shabby looking homes at the bottom. They follow Arabelle into the tent where they find a large Vistani man beating the living daylights out of another. He stops when Arabelle calls out to him. OFC - this is her Father. Ludvash thanks them profusely for saving their future. She is the Leader of their Caravan and a Seer. Very important kiddo. He says that they can take something from their treasury in repayment for their actions. Dorinn picks up the iron chest full of gold & Ireena falls more in love with this idiot. They start down the hill when he recalls being told that the Dusk Elves live in those houses they saw. Dorinn wants to go check it out since it was mentioned to him and Scout. A LOT.