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Session 43 – 2021-11-27

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Session Summary

Session 43 – Into Mount Baratok

After messing with the fountain water in the Temple of the Seeker, the group decided to continue on their way, to find the source of the lightening, and possibly the Mad Mage. We made our way west following the tree lines and then north. As we reached a turn in the trees, we stood before the slopes of Mount Baratok and decided to begin our accent. We made it some distance up the mountain before the darkness rolled in. Misty went into the woods to gather some wood for a fire and returned with wet small sticks, inadequate for a cooking fire. Zanfyr and she returned, and he showed her how to find the right wood for the task. They returned and Misty used the flint that she acquired to create the Purple campfire. Meanwhile, Haldar hunted for some small game. Kyanna searched for berries and such.

Misty and Kyanna created a nice simple meal from what she and Haldar had found and the group ate. After a short time, the group turned in for the evening. Rinn took the first watch and was treated to more of the light show. Either Kyanna or Misty took the next shift. When we woke the next morning, we again ate a small breakfast and headed out. At one point in our climb, we noticed a buck standing some distance away and watching us. It didn’t seem scared of us. Haldar tried to let it know that we weren’t there to hurt it. It didn’t change anything, it just stood there and watched us. After a time, it moved on. We had decided that it may have been there to watch us. It could have been a druid or a polymorphed mage or even an animal charmed into keeping an eye on us. We decided to follow it. We couldn’t keep up with it but the trail in the snowy mountains was easy enough to see and follow.

We tracked it to a portal against the sloping hillside. We looked on the ground around the entrance to the portal and could tell the hoofed beast had travelled into it and apparently has traveled out as well as the tracks go in both directions. We decided to enter the portal and moved in quickly as a group. We appeared in a well-lit hallway with a red carpet and multiple doors leading off in every direction. Rinn carefully checked for traps and finding none, proceeded to the first door on the left. As he opened the door with his mage hand, they found a hallway leading to a door and a turn that dead ended about 40 feet away. Checking for traps as he went, Rinn made his way to the door on the right and was also able to see down the hallway opposite the door to another door. He opened the door in front of him and saw three statues on the opposite side of the room facing in his direction. Along the wall on his left was another portal.

Rinn followed by Haldar entered the room. Snoggly moved up to the door but stayed outside. The others also moved up to be close by should they be needed. As Rinn moved across the room, a transparent looking person appeared in the room and started moving across the room only to stop and throw a spell at the statues and then it disappeared. Rinn continued on slowly, checked for traps as he went. As he found himself abut even to the portal, the statues came to life. We opened up on the creatures and within a short period of time, were able to bring them down. We examined the portal and decided that we should look around the rest of this place before considering entering the portal, so that is what we did. Misty headed to the other door in this room and after checking it, opened it and saw that it was the other door in the outer entryway that we saw when we arrived.

We moved to the other door we entered into and move to the door opposite it and opened it. It was a big empty room with one door on the southwest wall and a circle in the middle of the floor. Rinn began crossing the room towards the circle. I bolt of lightning came down from the ceiling and struck the circle. A figure appeared in the middle of the circle. It appeared to be Strahd. Haldar opened up on it and it vanished with the first hit. We were careful and continued moving inward after a moment of nothing happening. We examined the circle some more. Snoggly recognized it as a circle of teleportation, though old and no longer intact or functionable.

We made our way to the door in the southwest corner and opened it. It led to a set of spiral stairs leading up. We decided to hold off traveling up them until we had finished with this floor. We backed out to the main entryway again and crossed it to the door on the opposite side. We opened that door to a hallway leading off in front of us and another leading off to our south. We entered the hallway in front of us and found a door a little way down it. We moved to and opened that door. Inside was a table set for a feast but with dust and cobwebs on the table over the food. There were two, almost transparent, people moving around the table, as if preparing and taking care of the meal. This meal was rotten thus, they have failed.

Haldar tried to talk to the man but all he got was a peculiar stare and then the man went back to work. Both Haldar and Dain sensed that they weren’t undead and Dain didn’t necessarily sense evil or good from them. Rinn decided to test it, using his rapier to see if striking it actually connected and if it had any affect. It did connect, it had an effect, and the battle began. The creature turned and struck Rinn twice, knocking him back. Rinn was quite surprised by the happenings. He fully expected not to connect with anything. A battle broke out. The party quickly dispatched the first entity and then moved to the second. They quickly dispatched it as well. There was nothing left of them when it was all over. As they died, the dispersed and vanished. Zanfyr, after thinking about it, thought they might have been some sort of naturally harnessed air elementals.

We started searching the table and found some silver on the table. The place settings in total, Misty values at, a few hundred gold pieces. Definitely worth collecting.

We stopped at this point.