[[1490-12-21|<< 21 Nightal 1490]] | [[1490-12-23|23 Nightal 1490 >>]] ## 22 Nightal 1490 I need to get the hell out of here. The day started out well enough. Skoll, Nia, and I made some jerky out of that trout that I caught yesterday, and it was damn good jerky. It was still early when we headed to the town square. There was a whole family in the stocks, including children – that soured my mood a bit. But then I got to meet Piccolo, Rictavio's pet monkey, who is currently under the care of the toymaker. And to top it all off, the toymaker was a giant man in a jester's cap named Blinsky! Phenomenal, honestly. It really seemed like things were moving in a more positive direction. But – as is often in the case in Barovia, I have found – things started to go to shit. There was a doll that looked just like Ireena. When we pressed Blinsky about it, he said that a man named Strazni – "probably" burgomaster's son – has been ordering him to make dolls like this for months with increasingly specific descriptions of how he wants them to look. In addition to being the burgomaster's probable son, Izek Strazni is a hulking man who appears to be in charge of the guard. So it seemed that just rightfully murdering the man was out of the question – I'm pretty sure Skoll was close to trying anyway, though. Naturally, we were all freaked the fuck out. Ireena was even more so when we went back to the inn to tell her. She'll be sticking to our room for the most part, from now on. I tried to boost my spirits a little by speaking to a rowdy pair of brothers at the inn – Karl and Nikolai. They looked like they were having a good time, and I wanted to have a good time too. I did not have that good of a time. I didn't mean to lie about killing a dragon – okay, well. I meant to lie to Karl and Nikolai. I didn't mean to lie to Skoll, Ireena, Nia, and Rictavio. Unfortunately, Skoll and Ireena seemed to believe me. So now I have to live with that. After I stood in the bathroom for several minutes and contemplated running away into the forest, Skoll, Nia, and I headed off to find the burgomaster. Bleeding heart that he seems to be, Skoll wanted to see about getting those children out of the stocks. He even bought toys for them. The burgomaster – Baron Vallakovich – was gaunt and unpleasant. He looked more like a corpse than a man. Apparently, he locked that family up and put plaster donkey hoods over their heads just because they weren't excited about the mandatory town festivals. "Malicious unhappiness," he called it. Given the burgomaster's permission, Skoll managed to convince the family to at least pretend that they're happy about the festivals, and they were set free. I could tell it took a lot out of Skoll to do so much talking to people. It was admirable, but it was hard to be too celebratory. The family was beaten down, and helping the Baron force them to play the part didn't feel like much of a victory at all. And then things really, really went to shit. It was my decision to go to the settlement with the windmill just outside Vallaki. Given the outcome, I can't say I regret it – only that I wish it never had to happen in the first place. The short of it is this: the woman who sold me the "dream pastries" in the village was a hag, and the pastries were made out of human children. Which means that I gave pastries made out of human children to Skoll and Nia. It's not so easy to look them in the eyes anymore. I really don't know how I'm going to make up for this one – it might just be another one of those things that I'll have to try to forget about. There were kids in windmill – alive. The hags were keeping them in crates, fattening them up. I flew the children out the windmill, boarded up the windows, and then Nia set the thing alight. I can still smell the hags' rotting flesh. Good riddance. The children – Freek and Myrtle – are well past traumatized. Their parents in the village gave them away freely, apparently. Freek did mention a couple names; people from the village that he spoke of fondly, who might be willing to care for them: Ismark and Ireena. Small world, I guess. Ireena agreed to have Rictavio take the children to Ismark, possibly tomorrow. Skoll wants them to meet Piccolo first to raise their spirits. I'm not sure what good it will do, given what they've been through, but I'm not about to argue. The end of the day had me shaky and tired. After I cleaned up, I asked Ireena to play cards – I needed a distraction, and I could tell that she did too. She tried to cheat, but I caught her. She still managed to win fair and square, though. Ireena has been realizing that she is not safe like she thought she would be. I wish I had some way to reassure her other than by way of the fact that I have no plans to stay in Barovia – and so I will figure out how to leave, one way or another. And I will figure it out. This place is bad news, and it keeps getting worse. I'm trying not dwell on just how much I've managed to fuck up while I've been here, but it's hard not to. I'm hoping I can put it all behind me soon. --- ## Page Tags/Properties **Tags:** #Journal **Category:** [[Journals and Writings.base|Journals and Writings]] **Character:** [[Krue d'Avenir|Krue]] **Campaign:** [[Curse of Strahd]] **Date ([[Calendar of Harptos|Harptos]]):** 12/22/1490