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prose-priest-potentate · 10 months

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among my many thoughts about CoS it occurs to me that Imrath and Strahd could have, in a better world, been friends.

Strahd's a dictator, right by might, ruler who has had centuries to master his various crafts - Imrath, upon hearing this, should expect Barovia to be a bustling cultural hub with a booming economy and rich culture - Strahd, if he were doing his job, should have crafted his home and his people into something wonderful in the time that he doesn't have to worry about mortality. This is pretty damn close to the government that Imrath grew up with - he should be in awe of all that Strahd would have achieved. But he didn't do anything useful with his long life, so Imrath is disgusted and disappointed that he has neglected his duties and abandoned his responsibilities (which he specifically conquered for.)

And in addition to the mediocrity, Strahd did the one unforgivable thing to a dragonborn - the ultimate shame and disgrace that is betraying one's family/clan. Strahd threw whatever respect he had out the window with familicide, and no amount of atonement could fix that in Imrath's eyes.

Nevermind what that looks like when, at the end, Strahd (Mr. Obsessed With Legacy) tries to bait Mari AND Izek into taking up his mantle, effectively:

1. Asking other people to pay the price for his sins and fix his mistakes so that he can run amuck in the world, offering nothing of value.

2. Attempting to renege on his duties and position further (potentially reneging on a couple unholy deals by technicality.)

3. Further trying to claim/act on some kind of kinship with what remains of his precious Legacy when it was him specifically that murdered them in the first place and trapped them for centuries to suffer without rest in his broken society.

Death might be a mercy he doesn't deserve, but Imrath would not be willing to suffer him to live another day in the face of malicious neglect of his people and blatant disrespect for the people Imrath has come to love. To the tune of:

"You are a delusional, pathetic excuse for a warlord, and an even worse uncle and father. You have brought such a shame to your bloodline that the only legacy you will be left with is that of a man so disgusting that his own ancestors deny themselves rest just to reign him in like a petulant child. What is left of your miserable existence is futile and there is no soft afterlife awaiting your desiccated soul. You are such a blight on this world that you are guarantied to run out of warrens to hide in before forces beyond your control tire of hunting you."

#imrath amauna #babbling about lore #major spoilers #cos spoilers

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strahd-von-asthmavich · 4 years

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Thrown Stones - Mod Strahd’s Curse of Strahd Campaign [Session 5]

Mod Escher’s back at it again, to relay to you all the shenanigans Mod Strahd’s players got up to!

Last Session

Here are the players that were on the chopping block tonight!

Astrid Morana - Blood Hunter (5) Order of the Lycan With the “heart of a beast,” infused within her, Astrid is on a mission to look for her mentor, after receiving a letter that she needed to leave. Her heart is set on finding her.

Cyrdah Morana - Cleric (5) Grave Domain A vengeful angel, Cydrah was brought back from death to seek the person that killed them. She knows that she will die once more when she completes her mission, but for now, she does all she can within her group while on her way.

Seraphim - Sorcerer (5) Shadow Origin Seraphim is a young lord from Vallaki. They were outcasted but wish to restore order despite being cast in shadows. They are the only one in the group native to Barovia.

Thuinn - Rogue (5) Scout Originally working in the Black Market, Thuinn is skilled in thievery. He was set on the path to Barovia after getting a tip for a valuable treasure within a fortress of gloom - The Icon of Ravenloft. He is set on finding it, doing whatever it takes and not paying any mind to anyone finding his actions questionable.

Varsha - Bard (5) College of Eloquence Varsha is a Satyr, and she was always within the company of friends and family in her homeland. After having dreams that slowly led her to the mists, she takes her skills and her instruments with her to help her on her journey to restore order to nature in Barovia.

With that, let us begin under the cut!

Before going to bed that night, Cydrah and Astrid talk about how Cydrah became an angel some more, now that they’re in private. She talks about her god, Kelemvor: God of death and the dead. Cyrdrah will only be around the living until she completes her mission. Astrid takes exception to that, not wanting her to leave at all. She insists that she wants to try and make a deal with Kelemvor, just so that she can have more time with her sister. Astrid cannot accept the notion that Cydrah would be gone forever. She insists that she’d be willing to crawl to Kelemvor’s domain just to see her sister again. She even brought up some wisdom she’d learned from their father, which Cydrah cannot help but take exception to, despite it being decent advice.

After they rest, Varsha recalls some dreams that she had the night before. They were wonderful, about being with someone that held her, loved her, and insisted that they wanted to start a family with her. She wants to talk to Escher right away, and she has Thuinn wake everyone up. The first thing on Astrid’s agenda upon waking up is getting Thuinn cured. Ireena, on the other hand, just wants to see Vasili as soon as possible.

Varsha tries to find Escher, but she has quite the difficulty remembering how she got access to Escher’s room in the attic. Meanwhile, Astrid found Escher inside the inn. While they’re in private, Astrid assures Escher that she’s okay with him for now, so long as he doesn’t hurt her or her friends. In return, Escher eventually gives Astrid a map of Vallaki, as the rest of the party bring a moping Varsha back into the inn. Varsha’s already so excited to see Escher, but as soon as she puts a hand on him, he seems incredibly nervous and that makes her think she’s hurt him in some way.

She doesn’t have too much time to ask him, however, for soon they all head to the shops in Vallaki. They earn some money from the loot at Durst House, but not as much as they were hoping for. After a while, Varsha wants some time alone at the lake near the town, but she’s soon accosted by her rapier of warning telling her “Something bad’s gonna happen today!” as well as her growing addiction to the dream pastries. She compulsively eats some of the pie Thuinn still had on his person. As they’re still approaching the Vallaki gates, they reunite with Vasili.

Vasili happily takes Ireena back. Now that she has his attention, Astrid asks Vasili if he’s willing to buy the spellbook they got from Durst House. He’s willing to pay 300 gp together and a favor: Astrid should be the witness at their wedding. She agrees.

Astrid also goes back with Vasili to his manor, where he also has his library. As she peruses his collection, she notices that his books are placed… rather oddly. They’re all arranged alphabetically by topic, by title, by author, in that order. It annoys her, but she does manage to find a children’s storybook that tells her another legend about Barovia. This time, she reads about a young prince that wielded a sword of sunlight, who was killed by the “Devil.” The legend goes that people will come to help retrieve the now destroyed sword and bring sunlight back to Barovia.

She also soon finds Van Richten’s guides, picking up specifically the books on vampires and werebeasts. Through the books, she finds out more about Van Richten, originally a healer who turned to hunting after he was forced to kill his son after he’d been turned into a vampire spawn. Through the knowledge Van Richten held, Astrid could discern that Strahd von Zarovich (who she finds out is at least 400 years old) was an ancient vampire, making him more powerful than other vampires.

Vasili returns to a blushing Ireena, after she’d confessed to Astrid in private how much she loved him. She warns him that she is rather protective, but when she shows her true nature through her eyes, Vasili shows no fear.

Meanwhile, Varsha, Cyrdrah, and Thuinn go over to the lake, where the guards first warn them that Bluto, the drunkard, is out and about. Unfortunately for them, they don’t find a drunkard, but a mysterious lady on a rowboat that compelled them to come closer to her. When Varsha and Thuinn looked at her, they soon found that they both were suddenly in love with her. They both try to go to her, but Cydrah pulls Varsha back and snaps her out of what they now realize is a charm. Thuinn, however, jumps into the water. As the others observe the lady, they find that the lady’s flowing long hair is in fact not hair, but part of the water itself. They also find that she can walk on the water’s surface, as well.

Fortunately for Thuinn, Cydrah snaps him out of it just in time, and they’re all able to leave the lake. Varsha isn’t any less upset from earlier. When Astrid reunites with them at the lake, she extends her kindness to her by giving her a flower pin. Varsha greatly appreciates it, even though she still has some doubts within her based off the events from earlier.

The party continues to get their errands done, including buying silvered weapons at Bloodbath and Beyond that will be ready in time for the festival. They then find Jeny Greenteeth outside of town, and she agrees to cure Thuinn of his lycanthropy for a price: 90 gp and 5 days’ downtime, or 13 strands of hair from Thuinn’s head the size of his thumb and 3 days’ downtime. They agree to the latter, and Jeny promptly eats the hair.

Astrid stops for a moment to scent the air for a primate, remembering a “man and a monkey” from her fortune. She does notice that there is a scent nearby. As they’re all going back to the Inn, they’re stopped a couple times by different people. The first asks them if they are travellers or residents, and that is how they find out about the town’s lottery. Every year on tax day, two Vallakians are chosen to offer themselves to the “Devil.” None have ever come back, but that just proves to the citizens that they’re doing their job of keeping the “Devil” distracted. The second person hands them an invitation to the Burgomaster’s mansion for dinner later that night. When Astrid asks one of them about the monkey, they direct her to Blinsky Toys.

Gadof Blinsky greets the party when they arrive. He offers his toys to sell, but Varsha notices a doll that startlingly looks like Seraphim. He insists that it was not for sale, almost fearful at the prospect that they would even borrow the doll. He tells them that Izek would kill him if he let that doll fall into the wrong hands. They don’t have any time to investigate further, however, because his pet monkey, Piccolo, had taken the doll back stealthily. During this, Astrid starts to ask about her mentor, but Blinsky tells her that he got the monkey from Rictavio, a carnival man that often came to town.

Astrid soon finds Rictavio at the Inn, and she asks him where her mentor Muliha is. She knows right away that Rictavio has been in contact with her based off her scent. Rictavio tells her that they will have to wait until midnight to see her. He will be waiting to take her to Muliha.

Inside the taproom, Escher approaches the party just as the nobles from the night before come back to their usual seats at the bar. Cydrah hands Escher an apology letter from Varsha to him, but he assures everyone there that he just doesn’t know how to interact with people. He doesn’t want them to think that he’s afraid of them or that they’ve hurt him. Afterwards, Escher sends a note back to Varsha explaining himself, skittishly sliding it under her door.

Just as Varsha comes out to find him, Escher is outside being harassed by one of the brothers. Varsha takes exception to this, and she hurries to his aid, with Danika and Astrid following soon after. They all threaten the noble, making sure that he keeps his hands off of Escher. Danika even threatened to ban him from the Inn for good measure.

Escher is grateful that they helped him, still a little shaken up, but Astrid assures him that they’d be there for him no matter what. After all, he’s their friend now.

As they’re settling down in the Inn again, Astrid tells Varsha that she should try casting a spell on the douchey noble. Astrid even suggests to Danika that they could purchase mugs from her to pull this plan off. Danika just wants them to not return them after what they could possibly be planning. Of course, Astrid had pointed out to Varsha that there was an outhouse not too far from the Inn. And so, Varsha successfully suggests to the noble that he should drink the… tainted water. He does, and Danika kicks both drunk brothers out when they start fighting one another.

As things wind down once more, Escher offers Varsha his poetry book again while he continues to play by the bar. Varsha takes the book and makes a startling discovery at a poem she didn’t look at the night before:

His arms hold me as I’ve never been held. His every word draws me under his spell. Never have I been so enraptured, Within his hands my heart is captured.

How can I express my love for Vasili? How can I say what he has me feeling? With every day I wish for him near, In his presence I feel no fear.

I no longer wish to die. Being with him brings me life. His smile and voice bring me such joy. Never have I felt this for a boy.

Never have I loved before. In fact, it seemed like such a chore. I hope to him I am no bore, And that he’ll want to hold me more.

Varsha tells Astrid right away about the poem, and she tells her that she doesn’t want to hurt Escher’s feelings by bringing up Ireena. However, when Escher comes back and sees what poem she’s been looking at, he quickly slams the book shut, a look of distaste on his face. He tells them that Vasili was “one of the biggest mistakes of my life.” Fortunately, Varsha is able to help keep his mind off it after she starts teaching him how to play a happy song.

As their session comes to a close, Astrid goes outside to exercise, and Varsha asks Escher about having any strange dreams. She confides to him about her dream the night before. Escher suggests that maybe wanting a family is something she wants deep down, but when Varsha in turn asks him if that’s what he wanted someday, he tells her that there’s no way he could, even when she tries to tell him that there are many ways to start a family. When the topic of Vasili comes up again, Varsha just notices Escher’s expression. It was clear that he hates Vasili.

#thrown stones cos #mod strahd #curse of strahd

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