012_20260814 Session 12

# [[013_20260821 Session 13|Session 12]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[013_20260821 Session 13|Session 12]] > After surviving the nightmare in the Marshes, the Gang completed Vito's job, while Erno discovered that the strange pendant from Durst Manor came with a new patron. Heading west toward Madam Eva, they found signs that Barovia was preparing to resist Strahd and reached the Vistani encampment at Tser Pool.^summary ## Log ## Scene 1: The Job That Didn't Pay Enough Session 12 picked up in the middle of the Gang's fight through the [[Marshes]]. [[Vito]] and Maria continued their painfully slow progress toward the corpse flowers while the Gang tried to keep the undead and hostile plants occupied. The battle was ugly. [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]] came frighteningly close to death, the corpse flowers began releasing partially digested bodies as zombies, and Vito remained disturbingly enthusiastic about extracting the organs he had come to collect. When he finally cut open one of the plants, he was delighted to discover that the lungs inside were **"only half digested."** Eventually, the Gang was overwhelmed by undead spreading through the swamp. Then [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] heard a voice. It told him to step into the water. When he did, he suddenly became aware of the rusted metal buried among the countless bodies beneath the swamp: swords, daggers, spears, armor, and scraps of iron. Erno's eyes rolled upward, and the metal began rising around him. Then it flew. ![[012_20260814 Session 12 1-1787586304196.webp|right|300]]Weapons and armor tore across the battlefield, striking the undead throughout the swamp and destroying them almost at once. Whatever power Erno had called upon exacted a price: he took **13 necrotic damage** and collapsed unconscious as the last of the undead fell. When Erno woke, he felt weak and disoriented. The devil-faced pendant he had taken from [[Durst Manor]] was smiling at him, its eyes glowing red. Somehow, Erno understood that what had just happened had been a **blood sacrifice**. The others had seen only Erno fall into a trance and the iron suddenly rise around him. Asked "what the hell he had just done," Erno played it off as _"a little something"_ he'd learned before. A lie, of course. With the battlefield finally quiet, [[Vito and Reston|Vito]] and [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]] finished harvesting the ingredients. Vito paid the Gang **2,000 gp**, including a **300 gp** bonus for helping with the harvest, and offered to provide giant snail mounts if they ever needed them in the future. The Gang suggested that he invest in better transportation. ### Scene 2: A Faithful Envoy With [[Vito and Reston|Vito]]'s job complete, he helped the Gang navigate safely back around the [[Marshes]] to their wagon. They stopped for the night, took a long rest, and reached **level 4**. ![[012_20260814 Session 12-1787086423332.webp|right|300]][[Erno Van Iche|Erno]]'s sleep was less restful. He dreamed of an enormous industrial furnace, glowing red-hot in a landscape completely unfamiliar to him. He was once again dressed in the cultist robes from [[Durst Manor]], and around his neck hung the devil-faced pendant he had taken from the reliquary. The pendant was smiling. A dark figure stood before him. Its mouth moved, but the voice seemed to come through the pendant itself. Erno demanded to know who he was speaking to, but the figure refused to identify himself. Instead, he asked Erno what he truly wanted. Erno's answer was simple: **Revenge.** As they spoke, Erno became aware of iron and steel around him in an entirely new way. He could sense nearby metal almost as naturally as sight or hearing: where it was, how dense it was, even how corroded it had become. The stranger told him that this was **power**, and that it was what Erno had been lacking. The offer came with a price. The stranger promised Erno greater control over metal and other powers in exchange for **blood**. The more blood—and ultimately the more of himself—Erno surrendered, the greater the power he could receive. He advised Erno to experiment cautiously and, importantly, to **keep their arrangement secret from his friends**. He also gave Erno a task: - Find those in [[Barovia (the Land of)|Barovia]] who still remember the **Iron Faith**. - Tell them that their old patron has a **new envoy**. - Keep the arrangement from the rest of the Gang. Before the dream ended, the figure told him: > _"Be a faithful envoy, and I will be a faithful patron."_ Erno woke around midday, sweating. The strange awareness of metal was gone, and its absence felt less like losing a spell than suddenly losing one of his senses. ### Scene 3: Westward By midday, the Gang was ready to decide where to go next. [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]], still shaken by the fight in the [[Marshes]], had spent some time talking with [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] before sleeping. When the question of their next destination came up, Irina argued that they should continue looking for [[Doryan (Doru) Donavich|Doru]], who had fled west from [[Barovia (Village)|the village of Barovia]]. The Gang also had another destination in that direction: [[Madam Eva]]. Her [[Vistani]] encampment lay near [[Tser Pool]], several hours away along the [[River Ivlis]], and [[Father Dargos Donavich|Father Donavich]] had already suggested seeking her advice about what to do next. After reviewing the surrounding geography, they set out toward the encampment. The route would take roughly four or five hours and required crossing the river. The journey gave [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] plenty of time to think about what had happened. His life had become a succession of increasingly dangerous compromises: running from the law, making deals with hags, and now accepting power from something that might be a devil simply to keep himself and the people around him alive. He found himself wondering how much farther that could go before there was finally a line he could not cross. Several hours into the journey, the Gang spotted **four armed men** on the opposite bank of the river. They were spread out like hunters or skirmishers, apparently scouting the area rather than simply traveling through it. The Gang kept their distance and watched. The men seemed to be establishing a perimeter along the river before eventually turning back toward the northeast. More importantly, they wore an unfamiliar symbol. After studying it, the Gang recognized them as scouts from [[Barovia (Village)|the village of Barovia]], sent by [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|the Burgomaester]] and wearing the **old symbol of King Barov**, from before [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]] took power. From what the Gang overheard: - [[Barovia (Village)|Barovia]] had **not yet been attacked** since the Gang left. - The village was fortifying itself and scouting possible approaches for Strahd's forces. - The scouts were also apparently clearing hostile creatures from the surrounding woods. - Barovia expected an attack within the next few days (which was just a sign of the town's newfound readiness). - The [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|Burgomaester]] was considering whether to ask the **werewolves** for help. The Gang let the scouts continue on their way. Not long afterward, they reached [[Tser Pool]], where the [[River Ivlis]] widened into a calm, shallow lake. [[Vistani]] were fishing, bathing, and washing clothes along the water, and by roughly two in the afternoon the Gang could see [[Madam Eva]]'s encampment ahead. Madam Eva and her family of *skurra* were not staying with the rest of the Vistani. Instead, their camp sat along the periphery, because Eva's family were considered outcasts and were not permitted to stay among the others. The Gang arrived, but their conversation with [[Madam Eva]] would have to wait. ## New Quests   - [[Find Followers of the Iron Faith]]  ## Quests With Deadlines   | Quest | Deadline | Days Left | Hours Left | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | --------- | ---------- | | [[Retrieve a stolen gem for Stafania Martikova]] | 0713-12-13 | 4.33 | 104 |  ## Time-Sensitive Quests   - [[Find Arabelle]] - [[Find Gertruda]] - [[Save Doru]] - [[Look for missing children in Stoya]] - [[Create a base of operations in Barovia]]  ## Social Calendar   | Event | Description | Date | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | | [[Wolf's Head Jamboree]] | \- | 0714-01-14 | | [[Ceremony at Yester Hill]] | \- | 0714-02-12 |