Lessons from the Mists: Session 11 - Lake Zarovich

Welcome back to Lessons from the Mists! This session, the heroes investigate Lake Zarovich and purge it of its evils. Let’s get started!

Our heroes begin their day searching for Arabelle and Bluto by traveling to the northern Zarovich gate out of Vallaki and speaking to the farmers whose homesteads lie outside the walls. Ylenia and Mary Sue Ann lead the conversations and learn that Bluto indeed left Vallaki from this gate a few days ago and has not returned. Mary Sue Ann asks if there were other strange occurrences they had seen or heard about recently regarding Lake Zarovich, but they get cagey with their answers and wish them a good day.

Meanwhile, Angvar and Kane search the road for tracks and discover an adult man’s bootprints that look recent in the muddy road, as well as a long groove in the earth beside the footprints, as if the man was dragging something alongside him. They follow the footprints north and reach the shores of Lake Zarovich.

Lake Zarovich is huge, its surface glassy and still, and mists hang above it. Mount Baratok looms in the distance, and just about 100 feet from the shore is a figure slumped in a rowboat, unmoving. The heroes search the area and investigate a handful of old, dilapidated fishing huts along the shore. One of them looks like it has been inhabited recently, as if someone was squatting in the ruined structure. Leaving the huts, Kane walks to the edge of a crumbling dock out to the lake to use Eyes of the Grave to detect any undead presences nearby. The whole of Lake Zarovich gives off a faint necromantic aura - inactive, as if the presence were sleeping. Just at that moment, the rotted wooden plank he is standing on gives way, and he plunges into the waters of Lake Zarovich.

The figure in the boat hears the commotion and stirs awake, scrambling to hoist a canvas sack over his head. The heroes hear a shrill, high, terrified voice of a young girl scream for help before being cut off as the figure throws the sack into the water, and it begins to sink. It’s initiative!

Ylenia jumps into a rowboat on the shore and Angvar pushes it out into the lake to row towards the sinking sack. Kane swims to the boat and climbs aboard, while Mary Sue Ann runs onto the pier and Misty Steps onto it. Kane assists Angvar with the rowing, while Mary Sue Ann casts Dancing Lights into the water to make the sack easier to see as well as Feather Fall to slightly reduce the speed at which the sack is sinking. Once close, Ylenia grabs a grappling hook and dives into the water after the sack. Mary Sue Ann casts Sleep on Bluto, who is a drunk, inconsolable, sobbing mess when they arrive. Ylenia pierces the sack with the barbed end of the grappling hook, pulls on it twice, and begins swimming back up. Kane and Angvar pull on the rope to bring the sack to the surface and hoist Ylenia and the sack aboard. Opening it up, they find a bound little girl, her gag having fallen loose, matching the description of Arabelle.

Kane and Angvar row the boat back to shore, bringing Bluto’s boat along with them. Along the way, Ylenia and Mary Sue Ann comfort Arabelle and speak to her. Remarkably, Arabelle seems almost nonplussed about being kidnapped and nearly drowned - she is excited to meet adventurers! She gasps and points to the northern shore saying “He’s real! The Mad Mage is real!” The heroes glance over and see a massive stag staring at them from across the lake, lightning crackling in its eyes and across its antlers. It huffs and moves off into the trees.

Kane looks over Arabelle for injuries, and his Eyes of the Grave reveals no necromantic presence about her. Ylenia uses Lay on Hands on her, and she gasps, her eyes dilating suddenly and she pulls away, but the paladin’s magic works - no diseases or poisons, either.

When they arrive on shore, Mary Sue Ann and Angvar take Bluto into the shack they explored to question him, while Ylenia stays with Kane and Arabelle outside. Ylenia continues to question Arabelle, and learns that she was playing in the woods when Bluto found her and spoke to her about friends she might meet and toys he had. He got close to her and knocked her out. He had her prisoner in the fishing shack for a few days, feeding her and keeping her alive, but obviously distraught. She had all the faith in the world that she would be rescued. Ylenia asks what was wrong when she touched her, and Arabelle asks how well they know uncle Arrigal. Ylenia tells her the story of how they met, and Arabelle is satisfied - she has some degree of precognition, able to see glimpses of people’s futures when they touch her. What she sees is often the worst outcome. Ylenia asks what Arabelle saw, and the girl says it was Strahd, reaching out his hand to her inside a burning building.

Meanwhile, Mary Sue Ann and Angvar are questioning Bluto, but he is in such a drunken stupor that they are unable to get much out of him other than “She wanted it!” when asked why he kidnapped Arabelle. Mary Sue Ann and Ylenia switch, and once again Ylenia uses Lay on Hands to cure him of the alcohol. Bluto sobers up, a hollow shell of a man. They learn that the she he was talking about is the Lady of the Lake, a strange apparition that has asked him to kidnap a child and to drown in the lake. He decided to find a Vistani child, thinking no one would miss one of the “horse thieves”. He describes the experience as akin to sleepwalking, “but She was the dreamer.” He says that it needed to be a willing sacrifice, and he did not want it, and turned to the drink. The wine made it easy to do horrible things without much remorse. Bluto asks what is to happen to him, and the heroes deliberate. When Mary Sue Ann enters the shack again, Bluto looks at her, his eyes wide with fear for but a moment. They are unsure what to do with him. Angvar and Ylenia are sympathetic to him, believing his actions were not entirely his own, while Ylenia is furious. None of them believe he should go to the Vistani or back to the Wachter brothers.

They bind Bluto and begin the long walk back to Vallaki. They plan to drop Bluto off at the gates and continue south to the Vistani camp, a journey that will take most of the day. Mary Sue Ann continues to talk to Bluto, asking why he reacted with fear to her earlier. He says she looked like the Lady for a moment. She probes him further, and he tells his side of the story. The Lady looks just like his wife, Natashia, a woman who died nearly 20 years ago. She hated living outside the walls of Vallaki, and was fearful of the wilderness. The fear was passed onto his children, but he wanted to show them to not be afraid. He brought them out to the lake one night, but he was drinking and passed out. While he was unconscious, his children fell overboard, and drowned. He says his wife could not live with him or herself after that, and joined them in the lake. Mary Sue Ann is sympathetic, and apologizes to him for his loss.

She relates this information to Angvar, who speaks with Bluto next. Angvar relates to the grief of losing a loved one, but says that it is no excuse for monstrous behavior. He orders Bluto to not turn back to the drink and stay away from the Wachter brothers, who are financially abusing him for alcohol. He says to not go back to the lake, do not go after another child. Angvar struck him with the hilt of his sword before - and warns he will get the blade if he finds out he disobeys these orders. Bluto nods silently.

Bluto is dropped off at the gates, and they travel south into the woods to find the Vistani camp. Luvash is overjoyed to see Arabelle again, scooping him up in his arms, crying with happiness. Arabelle excitedly tells Luvash about their valiant rescue of her, and Luvash proclaims to all his friends and family that Arabelle has returned, and they must celebrate the heroes! Wine, music, food, entertainment - all they might desire. Ylenia pulls Luvash aside and tells him about Arabelle’s gift - and he proudly tells her she is destined to become a great Raunie. Ylenia asks if the things Arabelle sees come to pass - Luvash says often they don’t, but knowing what could lay ahead is a great gift.

The celebrations proceed into the night. One woman catches Kane’s eye and flirtatiously invites him into her wagon, but he refuses. Arrigal speaks to Mary Sue Ann, wanting to know what happened to Arabelle, pressing her on the identity of her kidnapper, and Mary Sue Ann tells him of the town drunk, Bluto. He smiles and moves off into the party. She suspects Arrigal might harm Bluto.

Later, Luvash pulls the heroes aside and brings them to their wagon of treasure. He plays a game with them - they are able to select one item (primarily containers) as their reward, but they may not inspect or open them to know what lies inside before they select their reward. An iron chest and a rolled up rug of a unicorn with a bulge in the center of it catch their eyes. Kane beseeches Kelemvor to shine a light on their situation using Augury - Weal for the iron chest, and Weal AND Woe for the unicorn rug. They select the rug and unroll it.

Out pops a small animated marionette doll - a clockwork jester. It does some cartwheels and flips. Luvash laughs uproariously, saying “He’s your problem now!” Luvash explains its name is Pidlwick II, but it cannot speak. It was causing problems in their camp until he rolled it up in the rug to trap it, and it's been in the treasure wagon ever since. Pidlwick explains (unable to talk, through a variety of gestures) that its goal is to entertain its new masters. It will follow them to the ends of the earth. All of the heroes hate this new companion.

The night of celebrations continue, and the heroes drift off to sleep. They plan on going to the lake at night to purge it of its haunting. At midnight, they set off, borrowing some horses from Luvash. When they arrive, they find the Lady walking the shore, weeping about her drowning children. It grabs Ylenia, pleading with her to save them, and it’s initiative!

Through a series of well timed Smites from Ylenia, Path of the Grave from Kane, and Angvar’s Battle Master maneuvers, they are able to make short work of the vengeful spirit. Strangely, the first time it was hurt by Ylenia’s rapier, Mary Sue Ann felt a similar piercing pain in her gut. When the spirit was vanquished, an image flashed in Mary Sue Ann’s vision - the inside of her home. She tells the others this, and is anxious about what it might mean. They begin the journey back to Vallaki.

At the gates, the heroes are stopped by the guards. One of the guards informs them that they are under arrest. Ylenia demands for what and the guard says thievery - from the toymaker Bluto. The Captain wishes them brought to the Reformation Center.

And that’s where we left off!

This session went great! Similar to how the orphanage session went, I had a great time solving the entire storyline of Bluto, Arabelle, and the lake in a single night.

I recently rewatched the video titled “Fair Warning” by Matt Colville about how he was frustrated with the response he got from one of his players whenever he tried to have a serious roleplay interaction because that player did not like the spotlight. His solution was to come to the player before an interaction without spoiling much, and tell them what would happen. He correctly figured out that the player just needed time to think about how their character might react to that situation and what they might say - they didn’t like the spotlight thrown on them without fair warning. I knew I wanted that flirtatious moment with Kane and the Vistana after their rescue of Arabelle, and went to him before the session to confirm he was comfortable with that sort of interaction, and he said he was but he probably would refuse, and he did. The Fair Warning video is great and I highly recommend using that tactic, because though some of my players are theater kids or have no problem with heavy or intense roleplay interactions without warning, those without that background will certainly appreciate knowing ahead of time.

I think my characterization and roleplay of Bluto went great, all my players eventually became sympathetic to him, but I really wish I did Arabelle more justice. I’m going to think of ways to incorporate her into the future of this campaign because she is such a great character and her relationships to other Vistani make her tragic, knowing she is basically revered because of her precognition, but she is just a child. We’ll see where I take her.

Could I have been more subtle about Arrigal acting a little villainous this session, wanting revenge on Bluto? Probably, but also, I think giving players an amount of information you as a GM with all the answers might deem too much, however for the players, it’s just the right amount to make the correct conclusion! I also should have prepared a couple more interludes about how wild and outrageous that Vistani party was, but we ended at exactly our hard cut off for the session already, so I don’t feel like I missed out on much.

For Next Session

Next session, we go to the Reformation Center and meet the captain of the guard, Izek Strazni, and discover a strange link between him and one of the heroes. 

Until next time!