Post 11
We clear the remaining floors of the winery. 4 vats although one has a long split...aged and dry so not recent damage by the druids. But suspicions prove true as a taste test confirms the other vats have been poisoned. The upper floor proves to be living quarters and access to the upper tiers of the vats. And pulley to load the wagon. The cellar...wine bottle storage currently infested with mold blight. A deadly threat for Morthos till we rid the fungus.
By the time we return to the front, Davion has arrived, so we admit taking his silver (to edge our weapons) leaving his other coins. For our honesty, he tells us his shapeshifting...WereRaven. When we tell him our plans to split his available 6 barrels between Krezk and Vallaki shipments, he laments, "Sadly, what you found is the last of my wine. I cannot make more. The druids stole the magical gems used to grown the specific grapes. The broken vat was our champagne; that gem stolen some 10 years ago. A pinecone size and shape. 3 weeks ago they stole the 'Red Dragon Crush' gem. And just 5 days ago, our 'Purple Crush' gem has gone missing. My fellow raven contacts report a renowned human magician Babalysaga is negotiating for the 'Red Dragon Crush' gem. He may already have it; he's claimed the ruins of Barez his keep. I can only guess the 'Purple Crush' gem is still at the druid enclave south at Yesterhill."
We rest the night, rising to cast "Purify" on the poisoned vats. With his sons driving the wagon, we leave for Krezk with 3 barrels; half the normal shipment. Ambushed along the way by werewolves! Fortune the boys smelled shapeshifters and gave warning.
We arrive at the gates of Krezk only to be denied by Dimitri, "That is only half my order. Come back when you can deliver it all and THEN I'll let you in. Diplomacy finally sways his stance as he allows us in to his commune. A self-sustaining village with fields and animal pens by every home. The city buys the wine and distributes evenly to all. Except for the Abbey. "No one ventures up that path. The Abbott and his followers live up there. A storied history of their uprising against Strahd as they stormed his castle. Survivors? If they weren't destroyed, they turned to Strahd or turned mad. Some say cannibalism within those walls. The Abbott arrived a century ago...hasn't aged a day. As the Morning-Lord Priest, he occasionally visits the shrine of the White-Sun (statue and gazebo-pool) to demand tribute.
We've a lot to learn within this city. Now questioning whether Ireena will be safe at the Abbey!
Dom...Davian was pleased we'd reclaimed his winery. Thus his revelation he was a shapeshifter (WereRaven). In fact ravens had reported to him our actions at the windmill. Thus my request he assign ravens to watch the wizard tower on Lake Baratok for signs of Rictavio's arrival (or as Xoji likes to call him, "Riki-Tiki-Tavi"). Although I doubt his appearance as we now suspect HIM of the fortuned warning, "Beware the mad man with the monkey." Now that we learned HE traded the monkey to Blinski for the doll used to train the tiger to attack Vistani. I've yet to settle my own take of these gypsies...are they aligned with Strahd as spies and allies? Time will tell.
ReplyDeleteIt's one thing to come upon goblins slain by werewolves. They were camped off the road. But to have werewolves blatantly attack us while on the road to Krezk! Fortune the WereRaven boys driving the wagons gave warning as they smelled the creatures before they attacked. 6 of the things to attack in packs of 3. While our silvered weapons spelled their doom, I need time tomorrow to cleans myself with a 'Remove Curse' from their bite. Best check my allies if anyone else was bitten and thus risks the cursed infection.
Krezk does not appear the final destination. While we finally gained entrance, the description and history of the Abbey does not sound like the safe-house for Ireena we'd been led to believe. A century-old Abbott in charge, rumors of cannibalism, screams in the night. Yet another mayor willing to turn a blind-eye since his communal village seems unthreatened. Them more than willing to appease the Abbott who occasionally comes down to the shrine of the White Sun where he demands tribute. A minor inconvenience for these isolated farmers locked away behind their city walls plodding along at life. Such as today when a woman ran by screaming what we thought fright only to learn it was a joyous call to witness a birth. The midwife aiding the expectant mother crying thru her ordeal. Then the baby raised high to be spanked. Yet with its first breath, no cry. And then a dejected mother and tearful father who realize they brought another soulless life into the world.
And as if on cue, the mayor revealing his own distraught feeling, "I lost my last son Illya just last week. Only 14 years old. He will soon join his siblings in the graveyard behind my manor. Like his siblings, he too died un-expectantly at such a young age. As if a curse is upon my family name that will soon end as I have no heir to carry on our lineage." Have other families dealt with their young dying early? And that's when we suspected poison. Maybe the central drinking water; the pool by the shrine visited by the mysterious Abbott? A shrine and pool that upon closer inspection proves magical...consecrated...restorative in its properties. OK, just what the hell is going on in THIS town?