[[1490-12-30|<< 30 Nightal 1490]] | [[1491-01-02|2 Hammer 1491 >>]] ## 1 Hammer 1491 It was almost another hag situation – it was a witch situation. And now my muscles hurt, and I smell like death, and it’s a new year, and I didn’t even notice until I wrote down the date just now. We awoke to a letter placed carefully at the cabin door – it was from Strahd, inviting us to Ravenloft. We’re not going, obviously, but it's a little upsetting that he knows where we are. Because while I think I could take the guy on his own, I probably couldn’t – as Nia so helpfully pointed out – take on his army of vampires. The trip to Berez was uneventful. We came upon the ruins of a town half-sunk into the surrounding marsh; and soon we were speaking to the extremely helpful ghost of the old burgomaster, Ulrich. That I was speaking to a ghost did not phase me much at this point of my time in Barovia – seeing his ghostly entrails hanging out was a little gruesome, though. Ulrich informed us of the fate that befell the town. The story started, of course, with Strahd von Zarovich. Long ago, Strahd coveted a woman named Tatyana. She was stolen away from him (probably deservedly, if I had to venture a guess). Ever since, Strahd’s been trying to recapture her soul; the village of Berez had the misfortune of having someone in their company who looked like Tatyana. The girl from Berez – it should be noted – had red hair. Because of fucking course she did. Strahd was planning on turning her into a vampire, just as he was with Ireena. She and the village decided that would fucking suck, so she was put to death. Strahd flooded the entire village in retaliation. Hearing this story did not make me any less worried for Ireena. After listening the depressing, helpful ghost, we headed for the garden next to his rotted mansion, where we found four giant snakes. Long story short, I’m down four rations – but at least I didn’t have to fight any snakes, I guess. To the northwest of the village, we came across a few interesting things: a large tree stump with a doorway in it, a large floating skull, and a bunch of ravens in cages. Quietly, Skoll talked to the ravens. They were – as usual – very helpful. A particularly helpful raven informed us that the giant floating skull was a vehicle, that the tree stump was a hut, and that the hut could get up and walk. The raven also told us that a witch lives in the hut and that she makes a sport of caging and killing birds. It seemed like our kind of party, so we snuck inside the hut to check things out. There was a blood-soaked tub, for starters, which was super cool. Next to that was a crib which held a peaceful, angelic child that was definitely magic and fake. Below the crib, a glowing green light was coming from beneath the floorboards. The star of the show – one very nasty looking witch – stood at a wardrobe on the far side of the hut, her back turned to us. Once we were back outside, Nia freed the ravens after a couple unsuccessful tries. Then, a raven – the one Skoll had been chatting with – fluttered to the ground and turned into a guy. Barovia is the kind of place that will make you feel stupid for not suspecting that the ravens were actually people the whole time – but that's not to say that I had any idea of what was going on. The raven-guy – Yesper – promised explanations once we were out of immediate danger. In the meantime, Yesper told us that the ravens would fight with us if we took on the lady who's been massacring them. Skoll would've rather us talked to the evil witch with the blood-stained tub who was for sure killing the helpful ravens, but me nad Nia shut that terrible idea down. Before we did anything, Nia gave me the sunsword. It felt good to wield it again. The first thing we did was send in the ravens to get the drop on her - and we definitely succeeded. Nia and Skoll hid outside the windows and attacked without being seen. I wasn’t feeling stealth in the moment, so I busted through the window and swung the sunsword at her. After I got a couple good hits in - which she did not appreciate, let me say - I flew back out the window. And then I did get blasted by magic. I can still feel the pain; it was searing, and I could smell burning. But I bit my tongue. The hut got up and started walking. We were warned, but it didn’t exactly prepare me for the sight itself. Nia and Skoll apparently weren’t prepared, either - in trying to get away, they fell off the roots and onto the ground. From my point outside the house, I saw that green glowing under the floorboards had grown a bit brighter. I was running purely on instinct when I flew back inside, ripped up the floorboards, and snatched up the giant gemstone underneath. The hut stopped moving, and I managed to get back outside and under it before the witch could wreck my whole shit again. I heard the insects before I saw them swarm out of the house. It was difficult attacking a bunch of flies while running, but we managed well enough, and the flies eventually turned into the witch. She looked more than a little worse for wear. So we stopped running. Then, I killed her. It wasn’t very ceremonious. After it was done, we looted her hut and found some - get this - treasure. I’m stupid rich, now. The witch was keeping a pen of goats; Skoll (of course) freed them. He also (of course) asked if one of the goats wanted to accompany us. The goat (of course) agreed. Nia is not at all happy with our growing zoo. I named the goat Remi. After the goats were taken care of, Yesper regrouped with us - he had ran away when the hut got up from the ground. I do get it - not me, though. As promised, Yesper gave us some answers: he’s a wereraven, and a friend of the Martikovs. He’s apparently a member of an organization called the Keepers of the Feather, which dates back hundreds of years. There’s a whole lot of religious stuff going on with them, but the point is this: they are trying to dethrone Strahd, and are willing to help those who are trying to do the same. Nia asked to be a wereraven. I wasn’t much interested in that - I’m already a bird - but I mentioned that I wouldn’t mind being part of this organization. I doubt there are any membership fees or anything. Whatever the case, Skoll might soon be the only member of our band of three without wings. We’ll see tomorrow, when a few Keepers are supposed to meet us at the tower. I limped most of the way back from Berez. I announced that I was home to Ireena and Ezmerelda; Ezmerelda promptly told me to die, which I thought was pretty funny. And then Skoll put the gem from the hut inside Christopher and gave him free will I guess? I’m not sure where he got the idea to do that. Anyway, Ezmerelda said that she has a feeling that Rictavio may be back in Vallaki, looking for ravens - so Nia and Skoll are headed off in that direction tomorrow. I can’t go on account of the fact that my feathers and wings are pretty conspicuous. At Ezmerelda’s insistence, I washed most of my blood off in the lake, and now I’m going to pass out. Cheers to Barovia! --- ## 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]]):** 01/01/1491