Ravenloft game thread

"This card is good for you. It is a card of power and strength, the victor’s card. It tells of a weapon of light, a weapon with a vengeance."



"This is in the very heart of darkness: his home, his source. The wand is a dark shadow of evil cast over that place. You fight under its influence here."

In the center of the four pairs of cards, she places a final one.



"And here is the root card. Out of darkness and chaos, this card find the reason and foundation for darkness and chaos. This card shows the purpose of all things. It is the key to life and death and else beyond."



"The darkness loves a light and desires it. Great subtle plans are in motion about you; plans that the dead may find warmth from the living."

"This means nothing to me. But you will find a meaning for my words, I assure you. I cannot discuss these things with you any further, but the stars have lit your path, and the fates you shall make your own."

She pauses quietly, before collecting the cards in and closing her eyes, as if to send you away. You feel her calm presence compelling you to leave the tent.

As you leave, Madame calls out for Katerina under her breath, so that she will pause. The rest she speaks in Patterna, as if talking to herself:

"Your father searches for you, Katerina, but not all is as you would expect. You ought to return here in some time, for the fates will reveal a path to you once you haven proven yourself to them. Now leave."

In Patterna, "Your words may be worth our decryption after all. Fare thee well that I may return to ask about my father."

Eva grins as you exit the tent.

Ireena speaks up to the group:
"She is a strange lady. The villagers think she is crazy, but she has an uncanny knack for saying the right thing. I would caution you to respect her words.

I fear you will decide to visit Castle Ravenloft in your time here. Now would be a good time to see it, as it is but a mile up the road. Most who set off there never come back, however, so I would suggest we do not approach it unless absolutely necessary..."

"That's exactly where I'm going. T'day, t'morrow..." Grizel trails off. She replies to Ireena but she is speaking to everyone, or to no one in particular. Her eyes are trained far away, on the castle in the distance. "Before we even came here I'd decided to destroy this monster. Alone, if need be, I told ye in the tavern. Last night, for the first time in a very long time, I got scared. I'm not scared anymore. I'm not stupid either though. I know we need to make preparations. But what?"

I give a respectful bow to Madame Eva before leaving her tent. Her words about chaos and order remind me of my brother, Malthaniel.

As Victor is leaving the tent Nightshade turns and caws loudly a word it heard during the ceremony. "Victor! Victor!"

Victor turns to Madame Eva, "He seems to like you. Many pleasant and plentiful days to you Madame."

He then turns and walks out with his new friends and turns to them all after they have emerged from the tent. "So...did anyone catch what she was saying? I sort of was thinking about something else.", he says as he idly munches on a bit of bread from his ration and takes puffs from the pipe.

I step backwards out of the tent as Ireena and Grizel speak. When they are finished I smile, "Castle Ravenloft it is. Sounds like we already had a substantial lead, and didn't need this... information."

"It seems that your mind is set, and I cannot stop you. One of these paths leads directly to the castle. It's a thousand feet to climb over a mile's walk. I'm not exactly sure which way - we could follow this path to see where it goes.

If you want to try the other path, we would have to head back to the fork in the road. Certain death lies in the woods, so it would be better to avoid taking shortcuts.

I will warn you once more. Many who ascend to the castle never return. Evil monsters spawn from the graves, and there are many unintended grave sites in the woods"

The fog lies thick on the road, and you can barely make out the other tents and carriages 50ft away. The day is still bright, as far as you can tell, for the sun is difficult to track.

"She spoke of Strahd, Victor." I look at no one in particular, lost in thought. "She was telling us of him. Though when it's in riddle form it's a strain to call that helpful." I look to Grizel and Zinnarath, serious and somber. "That monster played with us. It doesn't matter how deep our conviction or how prepared we think we are. We are not ready." I take a deep breath as I shake my head, knowing my words to be in vain. "Not yet, I suppose."

I check my rapiers, and verify that my crossbows are loaded and holstered properly, "Do we have any indication of what it will take to be prepared, or has the madame's riddles only provided a torch and no flint with which to light it?"

"Must you always have everything handed to you in order to survive?", Victor questions Zinnarath.

He has been idly tinkering with something in his hands during the ritual. He finally snaps something into place and produces a familiar object and one he has learned to craft blindfolded after years of practice. It is another small copper cube. A fire starter.

"She has already given us the torch, surly among all of us we can provide at least one spark", he clicks the side of the fire starter and a small flame is produced on the top.

"Spark!", Nightshade echoes, still perched on Victor's shoulder.

[ I have crafted another fire starter with my Tinker racial trait. As of now it is the only tinker creation I have. I gave away the two others I had before. I think I can have a max of three crafted at a time. ]

"Survival is a mixture of luck and preparation. One of those things you control." I reply curtly and frankly.

"Then control it. You have the torch, this world is full of flint.", he replies just as curtly. Then he turns and sets off towards the castle.

I speaks up, cutting off the conversation with Victor, "Let's go ahead then, follow this path here." I say loud enough for Irena to hear.

After a moment, realizing he is heading directly into the misty path, Victor continues forward so as to keep up the dramatic appearance of his conversation ender, though he certainly hopes some other larger and stronger travelers move ahead of him. He sets off in the direction of the misty path.

Justice smiles solemnly as the two begins down the road. She follows behind perplexed at her predicament. Her parents would know... no, they would just kill them all, every last one of them. For the first time in her life, Justice shivered...

Victor, a little upset by the revelation sits down near the waters edge for a moment. He scans the water here looking for an alternative way across.

[ OOC: How far across does this water look? I will also percept for alternative paths. ]