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| Strix |
You can watch this episode on twitch here.
This week, @moopdrea generously allowed me to use her rendering of Strix in this summary. She is extremely talented and has my eternal gratitude! Check Moop out on twitter here.
Art Stuff: If any of you are artists, I would be more than happy to post your DCA art on this blog (you can contact me here). I am very interested in seeing artistic renderings of this party, as I can't really picture them in my head. It's kind of hard to fill these summaries with Curse of Strahd art that I haven't already used a few times before.
Last time: The group met Rictavio and had a run-in with the town guards outside the Blue River Inn. We stopped last time with the villain Izek Strasni hugging his sister, Strix.
The Waffle Crew
(Anna) Evelyn - Human Paladin of Lathander
(Erika) Dee - Human Fighter
(Holly) Strix - Tiefling Sorcerer
(ProJared) Diath - Human Rogue
Nate couldn't play this week, so we are Paultin-less. Chris says that Paultin passed out in the bar. Izek wants the group to meet the "Burgermaster" (Burgomaster - ruler of Vallaki). Izek isn't happy with Diath, who killed one of the guards.
Izek wants Diath to be put under arrest. The group tries to talk their way out of it, and it doesn't go well. Strix literally just turns and runs away.
Strix is about 60 feet away from everyone. A mysterious stranger in a cloak offers to help her. She agrees and he brings her into an alley. This person, an elderly man with yellow teeth, wants to bring Strix to Lady Wachter, who hates the Burgomaster. It turns out that Lady Wachter is Strix's aunt.
Back by the inn.. Hey.. Ireena is here again. She pops out of the front door. I think the group forgot about Ireena last time. Ireena is ready to help the heroes, but doesn't.
The rest of the group is manacled. Dee and Evelyn are brought to the Burgomaster's mansion. Stuff happens and Dee and Evelyn are basically freed and allowed to return to the Inn.
Diath is taken to the stocks. This will be interesting. Is he going to wear a donkey mask? Nope. He's put in the stocks, but no plaster donkey mask. The guy next to him has one, and there's a kid next to that guy. A little kid picks up some rocks and prepares to throw them at Diath.
Back at the mansion, Lady Wachter explains that some kind of infernal deal was made to create Strix. Lady Wachter reveals that she is a devil worshiper. She says that Strix can rule this town.
Strix and Lady Wachter go into another room. While checking out Wachter's cats, Strix says, "I see you don't have a significant other." Ohh this will be good.
Lady Wachter says, "Would you like to meet my husband?" Ha! Wow.
Lady Wachter shows Strix her husband. He's dead. She sleeps next to his corpse every night in bed.
Izek brings Dee and Evelyn back to the Blue Water Inn. Evelyn asks Izek to bring Diath here as well, and Izek says he will.
Dee and Evelyn start arguing with Lady Wachter's unruly sons. There's a festival coming up where a big wicker sun will be lit on fire. Evelyn dares them to go light it now. They love this idea.
In the stocks.. Diath is subtly using his thief skills to free himself. He gets one hand free. The kid hucks some rocks at Diath. One is a critical hit! Diath almost drops his thieves' tools.
Diath offers the kid a reward. He uses his free hand to grab a dream pastry. If the kid eats it, he will be in a drug-induced euphoric haze for hours.
The kid sees that Diath's arm is free and calls the guards. Diath looks at the kid and whispers, "I'll kill you."
The guard shoos the annoying kid away and spots the dream pastry on the ground. He picks it up and starts eating it. The guard falls to the ground in a pastry-induced stupor. Izek shows up and takes Diath out of the stocks. Izek told Evelyn he'd bring Diath to them. But he's not. He's bringing him to the gallows!
Rictavio takes Dee out of the inn and uses his magic to heal her. Rictavio tells Dee they need to leave Vallaki, to go find Ezmerelda (Rictavo realized that Paultin's tarokka card is describing Ezmerelda, his old protege). Dee is torn, but leaves town with Rictavio.
In the mansion, Lady Wachter gives a pretty epic speech, urging Strix to accept Strahd as her lord.
At the gallows, Izek strings Diath up. Diath has a flashback to when he actually saw his dead body hanging from a gallows.
They pull the lever! Is Diath dead? That's where we stop.
Timestamps
(14:44) When Diath killed a guard, was that against the law?
(41:40) Strix has to drink wine
(51:03) Dee has a lot of guts
(1:26:50) Strix meets Nikolai Wachter
(1:32:40) A kid throws rocks at Diath, who is in the stocks.
Overall
Great Session: Everyone was in a really good mood this week and it was fun from beginning to the end. This might have been the best one yet.
They Split the Party: Very interesting that Chris intentionally split the party. There were characters in 3 different areas! He cut between them and it worked out pretty well. It makes me think I should try it in a session soon, as I usually avoid it like the plague.
Dee Should Come Back: I guess Erika is gone, though Chris said she might be back some day. Maybe if/when the group goes to Van Richten's Tower? I really like Dee and honestly I would like her to be part of the crew for good.
Vallaki is Complex: When reading the Vallaki section in Curse of Strahd, I thought the settlement was awesome but I also felt like I would have a hard time handling so many moving parts. Watching Chris run it helps immeasurably. Anyone planning on running this chapter really needs to watch this episode.