Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

(Pretty sure Meepo cannot do anything with already animated undead, but let me know if that is not correct.)

"Meepo no get lost things..." Meepo says with a sad look down into the pit. He looks to the others then sighs. With an act of will he summons Rat back to his side then turns away from the crypt. He looks fairly depressed as he climbs back onto one of his remaining 3 skeletons.

"To the Brazier Room?"

     "But they're not lost," Ketch says, trying to be helpful.  "You know exactly where they are and can come back and get them when everything else is settled.As for more dead... there's more than one tomb with an inhabitant.  Could you animate those?"

     "Otherwise, yes... Let's brazier on out of here."

"hrmpfh stad no attack why not too weak few minions go or stay hrmpfh" Ulthan thinks outloud.

Mordekai sets off down the corridor from the crypts, and down the stairs into the brazier room. (If I'm remembering the map correctly?)

"Green to where the coffins hide?"

"Sounds about right. Rat moved there safely." Lionel was ready to step in firs - just in case.

(I think Meepo has slots left enough to animate skeletons enough to get back to ten skeletons. He'll do that as we prepare to head out.)

     “The fiend is playing with us,” Ketch says to Ulthan. “That’s my guess, anyway.  May happen we came closer to killing his lackey there than he liked, but he never raised a hand himself...  testing us.  Playing us.  Entertaining himself.”

(Ulthan's back with deep vampire claw grooves down it says otherwise re: Strahd not raising a hand against you...)

Meepo raises more skeletons, and they pick up the equipment left behind by their fallen brethren.  More than one seems to give Meepo a suspicious look as they pull the bows and arrows from the charred broken bones.  No....that's probably just imagination.  (A skeleton empty eye sockets glance over at Meepo, then picks up a bow...)

The group heads back to the Brazier room, avoiding the pit trap in the hallway. One question, Meepo and his horde of skeletal servants is going to appear in the middle of Vallaki.  Any plan to avoid a potential panic...?

Ulthan grumbles to himself "hrmpfh if we no worse than came then we fight on to my mind no go stupid village hrmpfh"... On the way back Ulthan makes sure to grab any silver things so he can melt them down for arrow heads. That's beyond the absent minded pulling of levers as he passes by them.

"Meepo, since we've got nothing on your disc at the moment, could you conjure it and have the skeletons lie down on it, pretending to be inanimate until we can get them to the outskirts of town? Probably easier to explain a cart full of bones than animated skeletons?"

One of the skeletons looks at Mordekai.  He gets the feeling that perhaps it's judging his idea and thinking, "You really think that's going to work?"  But... it doesn't say anything.

Mordekai glares at the impetuous skeleton and mutters something about "...still have a brain in my skull..."

(If ketch didn’t see it, did it really happen?)

((I forget, did we go through one at a time or as a group?  Couldn’t some go through, make sure (or make) the coast is clear then have the skeletons go through?  ))

((Or we can leave skeletons here, only taking their equipment with us, and Meepo will raise his army in Vallaki))

((Prolly wiser if Meepo is ok with that. Not sure his spell slots available...))

(Problem with leaving skeletons and raising new is that people in that town already are watching Meepo, and he is in a bit of trouble there for raising skeletons already.)

Meepo would have the skeletons all lay down on the floating disk, then he would cast a minor illusion on the disk, making it look like a large wooden crate being hauled on the disk. He would have the others look it over to see if it would work good enough or not.

(Would the minor Illusion not basically stay in one place? I thought of that, too. Mordekai could go first and create a minor Illusion there in advance which the skeletons would 'drop into? Then see what the situation is at that point? Between two minor illusions, we could figure something out?)

The portal is one at at time......must be touched, and only teleports creatures, not magical disks.  So, the group activates it and goes through, along with a small horde of skeletons which are commanded to play dead when they reach the other side.  The group emerges.  The sun has not yet risen, though the sky is lightening in the east. The streets still do not have any one wandering about. Soon you've got a pile of skeletons on a floating disk.  The illusion can not ride the disk, but the skeletons do a pretty good job of acting like a pile of bones, despite the Mr.Doubty pants there on top. 

The sky grows....dimly light through the overcast sky. It seems like a dry but grey day in the town of Vallaki.  The group returns to the Inn, and is welcomed by the keeper and given rooms.  Soon enough everyone is alone in their rooms getting a good rest.  Meepo though first has a breakfast meal...his first in a while, which he thoroughly enjoys. 

(Long Rest achieved) 

As they wake and gather together again, Mordekai's usual inspirational speech is given with renewed zeal having visited Strahd on his own turf and returned all in one piece. Now with Meepo back to his old self. There's a passion and fervour in his voice that makes the group even listen to his words this time, and it is truly uplifting and inspiring. 

(Everyone gets their 12 temporary hp again.)