<< March 26, 2021 | Notes | March 12, 2021 >>

---- LIBRARY STUFF ----

holy empire of valentia
lost outside of the mists - those who came to join Argynvost were never able to return
this means the mists pre-date that war

ancestral throne of strahd
barov was king of lands strahd's family ruled - strahd came to conquer a valley to prove his worth to his father. valley is now barovia

found a map of barovia with a little bit more detail than ours
berez is the ruins of an old village

abbey in the mountains
in krezk
the Abbott - no name - century old info - no info on lineage

hanging grounds
no info about grounds themselves
no info about gravestones or what lack of marking might mean
grounds don't seem to have tie to any particular city, most likely are very, very old from before villages

sergei's tomb, along with barov and ravenovia
within the walls of ravenloft but no one has been in and returned in generations

random local history book
portrait of ireena but it says tatyana (I FUCKIN KNEW IT)
book is about her
family lived in valley for generations - don't recognize any of the names - no children of hers or any siblings
year 762 is next to portrait, we are somewhere in 1500s

tatyana
no official grave

mother night
not a worshipped deity but rather a source of dark powers and myths of unnatural life
young woman named lysaga
i now recognize some windmill iconography - hags probably followed some type of mother night sect

lysaga
found in another lineage book
lysaga and dotted line to X (unknown if it's unknown or intentionally left out), then the child's name is eva - found in other books but there have been
myth book - baba lysaga, very powerful magical being. interchangeable with mother night. last known location is the amber temple

hearthstones
used to shift from material plane to ethereal plane - not sure what it's like but it lies directly on top of the material plane - there is a way to affect things in material plane while in ethereal plane
doesn't seem like they would be dangerous to use but you must have the stone on you to come back - would shift into same location in ethereal plane as material
attuned to hearthstone - figured out trigger word/spell
everything loses its hard outlines - can pass through or limitedly interact as I wish - can't cast into material plane - colors are muted, it's blurry, can't see more than approx 60 ft - can hear sound, can understand words but it takes focus to make it clear - no one in material place seems to notice me
ethereal plane - some creatures, such as ghosts, can pass into it but the number is limited

ireena
lineage - father: kolyan indirovich, mother: natasha nimirova, brother: ismark
no info on birth parents or her back story
people in the woods? - all tales of vistani

seeds
nothing

"he is the land" phrase
all connected to strahd and barovia, all mentions of the curse of the land, the curse of strahd, the lands of strahd
nothing directly explains the connection

dragon lore
within the OotSD, the greatest Dragon Knight aside from A was vladimir horngaard
vlad and his knights fought with strahd's soldiers directly - marched to ravenloft and found that strahd could not die
the beacon at argynvostholt, the light of the beacon, the light of AvH - something tied to their beliefs, something important to their order
excerpt from vlad's diary: details AV's bones have been brought within the walls of ravenloft, vlad wants to get them himself, he's bitter about their holy leader's bones being within the enemy's walls

amber temple
to the south, along the trail up to mt ghakis
was originally constructed 2000+ years ago by wizards, built into balinok mountains. meant to contain evil vestiges - no info on what exactly

pre-strahd barovia
one very old book: only mention
map of valley - no details of place names
idyllic valley, fairly secluded, known only by people from valley
poems about its beauty, serenity, heavenliness
no name

path into woods
nothing marked on maps

image in the fog - white fortress on a hill above a city
found two places that might match - one in valentia, one in strahd's OG lands - can't find any particular significance

demon statue
lots of info on demons taking advantage of humans' love of gold
religious texts against love of money
texts about dragons liking gold
general info on risk of gold

martikovs
in tatyana picture book, found deed list
deed to winery land given to member of the krezkov family - later marriage between martikov and krezkov, land passed to martikovs

krezkovs
noble line for krezk
nothing connecting them to strahd

gale's magic orb
no specific info - orbs can be used for scrying, teleportation, light projecting, spell holding, magical foci, etc

kavan the ruthless/king of the mountain
no info

---- OTHER STUFF ----
fed the demon 9g
still carryable size

---- BURGO STUFF ----
soft cries every so often

dogs follow burgo everywhere - wears plate everywhere
gave mayor dagger
burgo is nervous - izek is on a secret fact-finding mission - household staff is vanishing - three so far - no info on where or why
butler, baronness' lady in waiting, original chef - doesn't know names
burgo knows of no similarities in disappearances, doesn't know anything about families
only izek knows; no one else is trusted all lived in servants' quarters
first disappearance two weeks ago, most recent within 1-2 days

talking to izek
knocked on his door - room is full of dolls with powder white skin and auburn hair - some neatly dressed, some plainly - all look the same
got angry at me for mentioning it in the house - "they have disappeared, and so could you" - looming over me
has been trying to organize search parties but he sucks at it
"they all seem to disappear from here," "no one looks for them," "no one seems to know about them"
butler: mikail, chef: oleg, lady in waiting: marisha - no family that izek has found
could be barovian transplants - has not been to barovia to check (but has been there)
snaps his fingers and produces flames - says "the fear of the devil does seem to help" along with his muscle
i ask if he is 'connoiseur of the arcane' and he says nothing at all
suggestion - 'tell me' - "it was a gift, idk why, idk how, i lost my arm, and i woke up and this was in its place. i do not know where it came from, but it is my favorite gift" it is his only magical gift
detect magic in the room - nothing
dolls - 'i do believe that i have seen this face before' suggestion: 'tell me where you have seen it'
"in my dreams, i have dreamt of this face many times"
i told him it was a young woman in callindeen - "you will take me there" - 'but fog, bro' - "we will arrange something. i understand that there are ways to leave, some have left" - talking of vistani - the burgomaster does not wish him to be entangled with them but he'll force them to guide us out if needed
"i will kill anyone who stops me from having her, she is mine by right"
he is sad-looking when he accidentally harms a doll
he makes me a deal - if i take over the search, he will find a way out of barovia
keeps key to his room on ring of keys in pocket
ethereal plane-snatched a prettily-dressed doll from his room
followed izek to blinsky - he wanted the dress fixed immediately
"there was a delay with the last one but here is the new one" - identical to the one we stole

walked through the wall and there is a badly-beaten man with iron shackles cutting into his wrists
man from the wolfs' head festival that had a "feed the baron to the wolves" sign
has a son, victor
attic room - skull carved into the door - "ALL IS NOT WELL"
skeletal cats everywhere, three young children facing the corner, young teen? boy with premature streak of grey
boy mutters at children and cats, children are painted wooden dolls
"it's going to work" - making an attempt at a teleportation circle but it's not quite right - appears to be trying to teach himself magic
boy looks like he's maybe related
skeletons are probably animated dead
'where r they?' - face falls flat and says "it's not ready yet"
'u must tell' - "no"
knock bones down, he cowers - "i can't, it's my only way out, they'll stop me"
'vistani know way' - cries: "no, no, they will not take us, they don't take anyone. i'll fix it, i promise, i won't kill anyone else"
an incorrect teleport circle can be deadly
'no more dead' - "no, no, i won't kill anyone else. i'm gonna fix it"
'y go' - "would anyone stay in such a foul place? they don't even notice that i'm gone, they don't even notice that they're dead. this place is cursed"
'im watching' - "who are you? will you help me? will you teach me?
'maybe' 'no more dead' - "yes, no more dead, teach me how to fix this. i'll give you anything in return"
'no more' 'watching' - "who are you, i'll learn" etc
left - nothing in room is magic except failed circle (transmutation, should be conjuration)
best guess is he accidentally made a weak circle of disintegrate

---- IREENA STUFF ----
wine and books would be nice
has watched from the windows - has seen izek harassing people in square
i show her the picture, tell her the year, say she's probably related
rolled eyes at beautiful comment
wants to go to krezk - 1 week before she goes there herself
loaned her the hearthstone
loaned her the oath celestial
bought her a bottle of wine and told the innkeeper gale would pay for it
she is 2 points nicer to me than when i met her

d10s
11111 - 5
11111 - 5
111