Pizazz's Ravenloft and Beyond

"A sacrifice?" Of course it had to be a sacrifice! "To whom?" (Divine Sense - just in case)

"...and of whom?"

Athletics, 17+2

Olin dives into the dark waters. The shock of the cold as it envelopes him momentarily takes his breath away. Blessedly he was close and the swim was short so the body didn't have too much time to sink. Powerful kicks and pulls with his arms get him close enough to the sinking package. Grabbing the sack, he pulled it to the surface with him.  Lionel helps as they drag the sack over the edge into Lionels boat, what was clearly a person within was squirming and coughing.  

The man shrugs, as if none of the questions really matter, and looks....a bit sad...that you've fished out his sacrifice. He doesn't make any move to stop you though. He does look down at his fishing rod though, as if he'd rather be fishing than dealing with you.

You pull open the sac and inside see a young girl, she's bound by feet and hands, and a gag in her mouth.  Lionel quickly unbinds the bedraggled girl, who coughs up a bit of water amidst her stringy hair.  "Thank you...."  The girl has white skin, and raven black hair.  "My...my name is Arabelle...thank you." After the panic of drowning is passed, a surprisingly calm look arrives on her face as she regards her captor from the other boat. After a moment she looks away, almost as if he's been forgotten.  "My name is Arabelle. I thank you for saving me. This man kidnapped me this morning. I would appreciate if you could return me to my family. They are Vistani, and camp just south of Vallaki. I am sure they will be appreciative of my return." 

Olin has pulled himself over the edge into the boat, water sloshing about the boats floor as it pours from his body.  The water was frigid cold and his muscles shake from the icy bath, the clothes about him clinging to him most unpleasantly.  

"Of course we will, child. Here, take this," he took of his cloak and put it around girl's shoulders.

Lionel narrowed his eyes. "Murderer must be punished!" firmly declared paladin. "Even if his brain is not there, he is quite capable to harm innocent. I say we give him to Vistany." He turned to the man: "You are coming with us." The boats were bound together and Lionel with Ismark were ready to bring everyone ashore.

The man looked wistfully at his fishing rod, and then sits down, seemingly realizing he's not going to get any more fishing in today.  He doesn't resist at all as Lionel binds the boats and begins to row them both back to the shore. Ismark shrugs and follows.  

The girl takes the Paladin's cloak and pulls it about herself, pleased for the warmth.  She smiles a rather adult smile at Lionel and nods her thanks. She is definitely a bit of an odd child. 

A few minutes later you're dragging the boats onto the muddy shore, and tying their ropes onto large wooden stakes planted in the ground.  The man steps out of the boat, leaving his fishing rod behind and seems pliable enough to just follow directions. Even so, Ismark grabs his arm and pushes him down the path ahead of the group.  

The group, escorting the girl, walk down the well worn path towards the walls of Vallaki.  The girl points to a small foot path that seems to circle outside the town, and the group heads that way.  You round the outside of the walls through the sparse forest, passing the eastern gate and circling around down to the south side of Vallaki.  The woods part to reveal an expansive clearing: a small, grass-covered hill with low houses built into its sides in a ring about the hill. Fog obscures the details, but you can see that these buildings feature elegantly carved woodwork and have decorative lanterns hanging from their sculpted eaves. Atop the hill, above the fog, is a ring of barrel-topped wagons that surround a large tent with a column of smoke pouring out through a hole in the top. The tent is brightly lit from within. Even at this distance, you can smell the odors of wine and horses that emanate from this central area. 

As you near the hill you spot a grim, gray-cloaked figure standing in front of the door to the nearest house. As you get closer, the figure moves forward and you see a strange elf. He's got dark skin, and dark hair, but is otherwise elven. One of the first non-human's you've met in Barovia. He has a longsword on his side and light looking finely made chain shirt. He spots Arabelle and turns to the hill, shouting, "Luvash!  Lavush, your daughter returns!"  He strides forward eyeing the group with suspicion, "Who are you? Why is Arabelle with you?"  

Arabelle speaks up, "They saved me Radu. Take us to my father."  

The strange dark elf nods, while still holding suspicion on his face, and leads you up the grassy hill. A man has emerged at the edge between two of the wagons and looks down. "Alexei will be giving thanks about now..." he rubs his right fist which is red and bloody with his right hand. Despite his harsh manner, he is clearly relieved. But, he holds back showing it as much as he can clearly. He glances about the group, "Bring me my daughter Radu, and these folk to my tent..."

As you reach the top of the hill, a teenager with a bloody bruised face, still dripping blood from his nose emerges. His shirt has been pulled loosely on, but blood seems to soak his back. He looks a bit glassy eyed, but otherwise holds a hard look on his face. The man and the teenager walk away with the girl, the teenager is rubbing his wrists that look worn raw. The turns to you before walking away, "Thank you again." 

You're led by the elf towards the central tent at the top of the hill.  Piled outside the wagon are several empty casks of wine. Three sputtering campfires fill the tent with smoke, and through the haze you see six Vistani passed out in various places on the dead grass. Standing there is another, smaller man, clad in studded leather.  A bloodied whip lays on the grass near the central pole, amidst some cut ropes.  "We will wait for my brother to return, please sit." He motions to a variety of chair and stumps.

A few minutes later the larger man in studded leather walks back into the tent and sits on a stump to face you.  "So...you've brought me back my daughter! Please...tell me how you came to become her rescuers."  He glances at the man that Ismark keeps a hold of, "Is this...man...the one who stole her away?"  He cracks the knuckles on his left hand.  The smaller man behind him watches you with careful, judging eyes, a shrewd look about him.

So that was the "evil Vistani that had to be exterminated for the greater good". They sure did not look like a merry band and hospitality was not one of their tradition, but evil or not, a child is a child.

Lionel met the man's eyes and honestly answered: "By an accident. We were at the lake, noticed the man in the boat, that moved strangely. Checked it out and found a child who that man was about to sacrifice. Do not know how he managed to apprehend even a child in his state of mind, but sacrifice was willing. We brought him along for you judge by your law".  

Meepo keeps an eye on the man, wondering if the fisherman is the mad wizard they were suppose to be finding.  he seemed mad enough from what Meepo could tell about such bigs.  He stands back though as he wants to see what happens here and now.

The large man in studded leather stands up, walking over to a Vistani laying on the ground snoring, and kicks him in the ribs.  He kicks another in his leg. The two, groggily, stand up. Their red shot eyes and squinting faces show an internal pain worse than the kick they just received.  One dry heaves a bit.  "Fools, bind this man to the pole. He abducted my daughter and tried to sacrifice her to the damned lake. He's a special sort of crazy that this world doesn't need more of." 

As his men bind the man to the center pole, unresisting, the Vistani walks over, putting his arms roughly around Mordekai and Lionel, walking with them on each side of him.  "So...you're the newcomers I'd heard whispers about. Look, I don't get involved in the Devil's business."  He leads the two of you, still in his rough half-embrace out of the tent.  "And he tends to lay claim to you type, so it's bad news for me to get involved, but you saved my daughter. Right place right time, for sure, but you gave a damn enough to do something. I don't let that sort of thing go without your due reward."  Despite his familiar tone and comfortable behavior, those words don't feel trustworthy coming out of his mouth. 

He leads you to a wagon, where another of the dark haired dark skinned elves stand guard.  Pulling a large key out of his shirt he carefully unlocks a large complex looking padlock and removes it, then swings open the wagons back doors. "We don't have much, but what we have, I will allow you to choose a reward from."  

Inside you see a wooden chest, it's top open showing a pile of electrum pieces, each stamped with the visage of Strahd's face. An iron chest sits open, hundreds of gold coins sitting in a pile, also stamped. There's an onyx jewelry box with gold filigree, it is open and contains several pieces of fine looking jewelry and an unlabeled crystal vial containing a red sparkling liquid. There is a large wooden throne with gold inlay, and decorative stones across it. A rolled up rug that looks very beautiful. A small wooden box is open containing twelve stoppered gourds.  The potion in the crystal vial is magical, nothing else is.  "Choose, your reward for saving my daughter.  Oh, and...ha..don't bother with those gourds.....I sell those to foolish morons who come around, but they are fake. Oh, and that potion there is some sort of poison, careful with that. You may take one thing. One of the chests, the box, the stupid chair, the rug, pick the one you like."  (a single treasure for the whole party) 

Olin follows close behind. "You are right that we are new. Tell me, if you will," Olin indicates the electrum stamped with Strahd's face. "Do these spend in the towns as well as gold, or are the people fearful of such coin?"

"Impressive to say the least," coolly commented Lionel the treasure display. "The potion looks quite interesting." It was still a comment, not the request. Money come and go, but he personally felt uneasy leaving a poison in hands of these upstanding citizens.

Despite Mordekai's skin crawling as the man puts his arm around his shoulders, he allows it without a fuss. Mordekai casts Guidance on himself, then uses his Fey Presence ability (a 10ft cube from Mordekai, everyone within it must make a DC16 WIS save our be charmed by Mordekai - aiming to just get the Vistani leader, but don't think it really matters if others (including party members) are caught in it.)

"We just saved your daughter's life. You could be a little more forthcoming. How about you tell us properly what all of these things are, that we might choose a reward worthy of your daughter's life?"

Persuasion: 25 plus 1 Guidance. (If he fails his wisdom save, Mordekai has advantage in the persuasion roll, so the second roll: 14) 

Charm save: 13.

He smiles a wicked smile at Mordekai, rubbing his shoulder with his hand that still holds him tight, then looks back at Olin, "For sure for sure my friend.  Yeah, the people around here will take any coin they have. The economy is....shall we say....stagnant? What people have, they hold on to tight round here. So, they'll take a coin, don't matter what it's stamped with. As for the rest? Sure, this throne here we acquired a time back......" 

He begins a verbal spewing of the source of each item. He thinks there's about 1200 EP in the wooden chest, figures around 650 gold in the iron chest. The onyx box is probably worth 250, and the six pieces of jewellery are only show pieces worth 50 each, so ya. The throne he values at 750gp, the carpet, a beautiful rug with a unicorn motif worth the same.  

"....ya so, doesn't really matter which you choose I suppose. Unless you like a nice place to place your rump around the camp fire...and don't mind luggin around a big chair, am I right?"  He lets out a raucous laugh, again rubbing Mordekai's shoulder almost painfully with his big heavy hands. He then looks around conspiratorially, and in a hushed tone whispering a stale wine filled breath into Mordekai's face, "Look friend, the devil, he asks me to do things to folk like you. I'm just going to forget about meeting you all. But...if you lot really are going to face the Devil....the dusk elves round here...they lived in this land since the start. These ones work for us, but...their master lives in that house down the hill over there. If you want the skinny on something, best ask him, he's lived through it all."  He winks and then lets out a big laugh, "Pick your treasure, hero's of my daughter!"

Meepo has stayed back near where the fisherman is being tied up.  He is still half-sure the fisherman might be the mad wizard they are seeking, so he keeps an eye on him.

"I appreciate the advise," Lionel stepped closer to the chests, freeing himself from man's grab, and took the potion, ignoring the gold. "If you do not mind my, keep an eye of your daughter, there can be more dangers around than a halfwit, even for your people."

He looked at others: "Shell we go? There are still things to be done."

Meepo stands just inside the tent. The smaller man in leather armor, the brother of the one who left with your friends stands there staring at you from across the tent, a vicious grin on his face. The one who is surely the mad wizard stands, tied against the center pole of the tent, unresisting. The man speaks up, "If you're waiting for the show little dragon man, it won't start until my brother comes back. Then it's likely to get pretty bloody." 

Meepo shrugs and cocks his head at the fisherman.  "Are you mad wizard?" He finally asks straight out. 

The fisherman doesn't even turn to face Meepo, let alone respond to the question. The other man laughs uproariously.  "THE MAD WIZARD?!?  HA!  You are a funny one. This is a soulless shell of a creature born in Strahd domain!  You can see just from the look in his eyes."  He walks up to the man, "Nothin INSIDE!"  He taps the mans forehead several times. The man's head bobs back with each strike but he otherwise doesn't react.  "Haha....Oh...Mad Wizard....you a creative one little dragon man...."  He returns to his spot behind his brothers chair and folds his arms to wait. 

Meepo decides that, if this is the mad wizard, he is of no use to them anyway.  He shrugs and heads out to find the others.

(OOC: The poison is in the onyx box, right?  So we'd take the whole box with the poison, not just the poison?)