Lessons from the Mists: Session 36 - Regime Change

Welcome back to Lessons from the Mists! This week, the heroes save the Martikovs and reveal a secret they've been keeping for generations, then confront Fiona Wachter once and for all. Let's get started!

The Recap

The heroes take a long rest after clearing out the vampire nest underneath the Reformation Center. During Ylenia’s watch, she hears a distant commotion in the town square. She wakes Mary Sue Ann who sends Guinevere in the shape of a bird to investigate. Guinevere reports that the Blue Water Inn is aflame, and several armed figures surround the inferno, watching. A crowd is forming on the edges of the square, who are being told to return to their homes.

Mary Sue Ann and Ylenia shake Angvar and Kane awake and say they must go to save the Martikovs and anyone else left inside. With that, they leave St. Andral’s Church and sprint to the town square.

When they arrive, they find no evidence that anyone is trapped inside. They stick to the shadows on the edges of the square and find that all the figures outside look to be town guards, several of them holding torches aloft. One pair of guards stumbles out of the burning inn, covered in soot, and dragging along a manacled Vallakian. They force him to his knees and begin interrogating him right in the square.

The heroes attempt to creep around the square to enter the inn from a back entrance, but they are spotted by some guards save Ylenia, who breaks off from the group and enters the stables. A guard says “yep, it’s them” and orders the heroes to come quietly. Angvar stabs one of the guards with his spear. It’s initiative!

Mary Sue Ann detonates a fireball in the middle of a huge cluster of guards, which thins their ranks significantly. Angvar wades into the fray while Ylenia continues to search for a way inside the Blue Water from the stables to no avail. Kane summons a spiritual weapon to fend off the guards, but all is silenced when Ernst Larnak emerges from around the corner of the building with more guards and the Martikov family - Danika, Urwin, Brom, and Bray - in manacles. He orders the heroes to drop their weapons and come quietly at the behest of Lady Fiona Wachter.

Ernst also asks where Ylenia is, and Angvar poorly attempts to deceive Ernst. Ernst orders the guards to find the girl, and kill the rest. Urwin nods to his family, and transforms into a raven-human hybrid and begins to attack the guards that arrested his family. The rest of his family turn into ravens and fly away!

The battle continues! Angvar, full of rage, charges through the line of guards to get to Ernst Larnak. Kane tussles with a guard in one on one combat, and the guard kicks him to the floor and forces him to stay there. Mary Sue Ann misty steps away from the guard that was attacking her and casts haste on Ylenia as she emerges from the stables. Izek Strazni enters the fray from out of nowhere and attacks the guard, allying with the heroes! Meanwhile, as Angvar continues to stab Ernst Larnak, his glamor disappears, revealing his devilish appearance - deep red skin, dark eyes, horns, fine clothing, cloven hooves, a tail and wings. He blasts the heroes with fire and brimstone and hurts Urwin significantly. At Mary Sue Ann’s urging, Urwin escapes the battle.

Angvar throws a net onto Ernst who cannot escape from it, and with most of the other guards dead, they slay Ernst Larnak. Ylenia gets the killing blow. He cackles as he dies, telling Angvar they will meet again before disappearing in a pile of ash.

Izek tells the heroes that they fought well. Angvar explains to him that Ernst will return, and then unexpectedly hugs Izek. Izek tells the heroes that they have taken irrevocable action against Fiona Wachter tonight. It may be best to finish what they started. He intended to arrest her when the time is right, but the heroes tell him they are beat up and need to rest. They find a secluded alley and take a short rest before deciding to deal with Fiona Wachter tonight.

An hour later, they arrive at the Wachterhouse. It is past midnight, and they only see one light on in the house, the upstairs northwestern room. Mary Sue Ann sends Guinevere to scout, and through gauzy curtains sees Fiona Wachter pouring over books in her library, taking notes. She flips through pages frustratingly and returns to her shelves, searching for another book. Not sure what to make of it, Angvar and Izek break down her front door and Ylenia, hasted, sprints up the stairs and holds her at swordpoint while the other heroes enter. She attempts to resist but Ylenia puts her in manacles. A servant appears who Mary Sue Ann tells to leave the house and not return. Izek suggests that they lock her up in the basement of the warehouse the resistance was using for meetings. While Izek, Angvar, and Kane take Fiona away, Mary Sue Ann and Ylenia stay behind to search her notes. They find her research has to do with Barovian history and geography. It seems that she was searching for something old and lost - and her path led her towards Mount Ghakis and through a place called Tsolenka Pass. They conclude she was searching for the Amber Temple.

With Fiona locked away, the heroes and Izek discuss what to do. Ylenia attempts to negotiate with Fiona, who spits at her. Izek looks to the heroes for guidance, and though they will not say it out loud, it seems to Izek that it is best that Fiona was dead. He shrugs and decapitates their prisoner.

Izek and his resistance will meet the heroes at the church in the morning like was originally suggested, and he will assume the role of burgomaster of Vallaki. He will issue a proclamation in the town square tomorrow. For now, the heroes rest at the church once more.

The heroes advance to level 9! When they awake, they meet the resistance forces led by Izek in the church who lays out a plan for Vallaki’s recovery in the coming weeks. Later that day, he issues a proclamation in the town square to a small crowd about his self appointment to burgomaster. He says that Vallaki has suffered poor leadership for far too long, and he intends to make a stand against Strahd along with the heroes. The crowd claps hesitantly. Izek tells the heroes afterwards that he wished that went better, but Ylenia reassures him.

In the next couple of days, the heroes prepare to leave Vallaki and travel to Berez to kill Baba Lysaga and retrieve the skull of Argynvost. Muriel Vinshaw returns to the heroes and tells them that the Keepers of the Feather’s lycanthropy is a secret that has been kept for generations. She is glad to hear that basically none who witnessed it and could be an enemy still live, and asks for the heroes’ discretion with that secret. They agree not to spread it. Urwin and his family have left Vallaki - nothing more remains here for them, and they are going back to the Wizard of Wines. Muriel comments that Urwin and Davian will have to work through their differences. Muriel will remain in Vallaki as their primary informant.

Angvar receives his new plate armor he had Piersym Rowley repair. Kane orders Fiona Wachter and her husband’s bodies to be burned along with the vampire spawn they destroyed, which he and Izek watch over.

Mary Sue Ann, Kane, and Ylenia go to the old Wachterhouse to attempt to restore Stella Wachter’s mind with a greater restoration. It works! With her mind restored, she tells the heroes about what happened between her and Victor. He was drunk with power with his newfound spellcasting ability, and used her as a lab rat to test spells on. Afterwards, he would wipe her memory away. Repeated forced amnesia eventually broke her mind.

Shuddering at this, Mary Sue Ann feels sorry for the girl. Shaelan-Thel once again whispers in her ear to preserve the innocence of a child forever, which she again says she does not understand. Shaelan-Thel tells her she will, in time, and she waits at Mount Ghakis.

The heroes make contact with the brothers Nikolai and Karl Wachter who thank them for restoring their sister to them. They are conflicted about the truth of their mother, because she never let them in on her villainy. However, restoring their beloved sister is a kindness that they will not forget, and they tell the heroes they are allies.

And that’s where we left it!

So How Did the Session Go?

Great, all things considered! I have been unhappy with previous sessions because of lots of different stuff happening in my life that limited my prep time and distracted me during the session. However, with several of those projects coming to a close, I feel like my prep here served me well and my improv skills were firing at full capacity.

The combat against Ernst Larnak (which will not be the last time we see him!) went really well, if a bit long. The human creatures I set against the heroes which all came from Flee, Mortals! All felt dangerous, especially against the spellcasters when they rolled well. I was a little disappointed in Ernst Larnak (who I used a devil jurist statblock for) but Angvar played tactically very well, while also roleplaying through the rage his character felt at facing down the creature that took his brother from him. Here’s my encounter breakdown:

• 20x Human Guards
• 1x Human Scoundrel
• 2x Human Knaves
• 1x Devil Jurist (appears at Initiative Count 20 of Second Round with Martikovs)
• 1x Izek Strazni (appears at Initiative Count 10 of Second Round)

The players were really surprised at the reveal of the Martikovs being wereravens, a very well kept secret that not even Ernst Larnak was prepared for. I was ready to play this whole campaign without letting the players ever in on this secret, but when the narrative fell in the way that it did and Fiona Wachter targeted the Martikovs because they were allies of the heroes, this felt like a perfect opportunity for them to pull that card to not get captured.

The heroes have basically solved all of the major plotlines in Vallaki.  I thought it was a good time in the narrative to level up, and will let them be a little stronger and more prepared for an epic confrontation with Baba Lysaga next session. Izek will be a good burgomaster and his heart is in the right place to oppose Strahd. We got to see a little bit more of Angvar breaking down his barriers and accepting Izek as his brother. There are some minor rough spots that the Izek and his new regime will sort out.

I plan on making Berez a point crawl scenario, and will talk more about that process next time once I have the adventure more fleshed out and prepared.

Until next time!