Meeting Madam Eva
Having just arrived at the Tser Pool encampment at the end of the last session, the party waited to meet with Madam Eva. As they arrived towards the end of the day, they are told it might be best to introduce themselves in the morning. Instead, the party spent the night conversing with the Vistani, and each other. Before bed, Ireena asks a few players if they could bring up her situation with Strahd to the madam.
The party are woken up by the Vistani before dawn, and are taken to Madam Eva’s tent. An old woman dressed in purple robes emerged from the tent, and began to greet the players, calling each of them by name before being introduced. Madam Eva spoke to each player one at a time, and told a bit of their pasts and gave glimpses into their potential futures. However, when asked about Ireena, the madam refused to share her knowledge, stating that it was not her place to meddle with, and that the players would be in control of Ireena’s fate.
After speaking to the players individually, Madam Eva addressed the party as a whole, and invited them into her tent to have their fortune read. She explained that by using her Tarroka deck, she could uncover information about allies and artifacts that the party can find to aid in their fight against Strahd. Curious, the party followed Madam Eva into her tent, and gathered around a small table as she started shuffling her cards.
The Fortunes of Ravenloft
Arranging her Tarroka cards in a cross formation, Madam Eva began a card reading for the party. Pointing at the first card, she explained it would lead them to uncover the history of their enemy Strahd. Flipping the card revealed the torturer, the artifact is located in a town, inside a house of corruption. Moving onto the second card, Madam Eva described it would lead them to a holy symbol of good and protection. This card was the avenger, Madam Eva saw the artifact in the broken house of a dragon. The third card would point the party to a powerful weapon, a sword with the blade of sunlight. Flipping the card over revealed the druid, Madam Eva described an evil tree on a hill, and advised that the ravens could help find the artifact.
Placing her hand on the next card, Madam Eva gasped in shock, and her face began to contort in pain. From behind her, the party notice a dark spectral figure, pulling a bloody dagger from the madam’s back. The shadowy figure addressed the party, in a voice that resembled Strahd:
“Too long have you worked against me from the shadows, witch.”
Madam Eva’s eyes darted around the party members, as she spat up blood and explained this was not how things were meant to happen. With a final cough, she collapsed to the table, lifeless, leaving the party to deal with the shadowy figure. This divergence in the adventure was inspired by Madam Eva’s Tarokka reading in High Rollers DnD, I highly recommend checking it out.
A fight broke out in Madam Eva’s tent, meanwhile the party heard more fighting coming from outside. After dispatching the shadowy figure quite quickly, the party emerged from Madam Eva’s tent and found several other shadowy figures attacking the Vistani. The shadows grievously injured a few of the Vistani, and worked to eliminate light from the campfire and any nearby torches. As the campground darkened, the shadowy figures became near impossible to see. Using their own source of light, the party were able to uncover the shadows, and eliminate them.
Continuing To Vallaki
Gathering themselves, the party made their way back to Old Svalich Road, continuing on their way to the town of Vallaki. After a bit of walking, they reached a large stone bridge, which overlooked a beautiful waterfall. Ireena stopped for a moment, and reminisced the beauty that Barovia once held, before continuing on.
Arriving at the crossroad near Castle Ravenloft, the party discovered a black carriage waiting for them on the road. After investigating for a little, they decided to leave the carriage and its horses alone. Down the road, as a random encounter, the party noticed that they were being watched by a raven perching on a branch. After spotting the raven, it flew down the road in the direction the party was headed.
Reaching yet another crossroad, the party spotted the same raven perched on a small wooden sign labeled “mill”. As they approached the sign, the raven again flew off, this time in the direction of the mill. The players decided to follow the raven towards the mill, as their Tarroka card reading had mentioned that ravens could help them find their treasure.
Old Bonegrinder
Heading down a winding path for a few minutes, the party spotted a dilapidated stone windmill atop a small hill. As they approached, they looked up to the wooden vanes which had been stripped of their cloth, and spotted the raven they had been following, perching above the door. One of my players sneaked to the front door, and pressed their ear to it, hearing the clattering of dishware, and smelling a familiar scent of herbs. Peering through the keyhole, the player saw nearly a dozen small figures which did not appear to be human.
The party decided to knock at the door, at which point the sounds coming from within the mill all stopped. Waiting for a moment, the player decided to peer through the keyhole again, and found that the small creatures they had seen were all gone. Just then, the party heard growls and snarls from above them, as nine dretches began to pour out from the second story windows and attack.
The dretches struggled to hit with their bites and claws, but their sheer volume was enough to pose a decent threat. In addition, their foul stench was able to poison some players, and slow their attacks. Sadly, the dretches were quite weak, and one by one they began to fall, each dissolving into sticky pools of black ichor. With many of the dretches slain, the party heard the familiar voice of an old woman:
“Sorry, dearies, all pie sales are final.”
Turning to face the old lady who had sold them the dream pies, her body began to contort, and her skin turned into a deep shade of purple. Morgantha assaulted the players with her magic, as they rushed to finish off her dretch minions. After a few close calls, the players got some good hits in on the night hag Morgantha, and she began to assess her options. Knowing she might be outmatched in a fight on her own, she decided to flee from the party, stepping into the ethereal plane to escape. With all their enemies defeated, the party were left in the looming shadow of Old Bonegrinder.