Previously, in Barovia...
The warm fondness of Saturnalia has passed, in its place an abrupt expulsion from Kolyana Manor, a grim stop at Kalinda's Chapel, an odd reunion with Giers and mixed first impressions of Sir Konrad and the witch Mara. Matters reached an explosive conclusion when Giers, Thamior and Kaylan again touched on their volatile triangle.
Not all was in vain, as the group achieved the Lightbringer's blessings and promise of aid, got word of Portia and Selja's half-brother Efflam in the mountains, made friends with Dame Ashlyn (the only paladin who seems overly perturbed her order is aligned with a devil), secured a map to the mountain and swamp fanes, as well as a lead to the forest fane (if Oak is still alive).
Prologue
Suddenly exhausted, and looking quite pale, Selja slept at the inn while the majority of the group went about securing items, drinks or a moment's privacy. It was a cleaning woman who heard the first scream, unlocking the door to find the little boggart in the midst of violent labor. Blood and a strange, viscous slime stained the sheets. She frantically summoned aid, Portia, Diana, Giers, as well as a midwife who happened to be at the bar. Together they saw Selja through a quick and agonizing birth, six... spiders, each about the size of a boggart infant (to say not much more than handfuls), green with black eyes. The midwife and cleaning woman went screaming from the inn, while the group members killed five of them (Dibs even smashing one)! The spiders proved deadly quick, even as newborns, and had the strange ability to phase in and out. Of the sixth there was no sign.
After all the commotion, Selja was in bad straights. Portia, Diana and Giers did what they could by way of potion and healing skill, but it wasn't until Kaylan and the others returned that she was effectively mended and found sleep. In her eerily peaceful repose, she did not look well, certainly not strong enough to make the journey to the fanes. Dibs refused to leave her side and, after long, Lightbringers arrived with news of the commotion and posted guard outside her door.
Supplies
Three hours later, the inn returned to some semblance of normal, and Dame Ashlyn rode up on dog sled with Relic's requested supplies. Diana greeted the paladin warmly and earned a copy of The Golden Rule, Kalinda's Bible and Ashlyn's most precious possession. Its scriptures had helped get her through some difficult times. She hoped they'd do the same for the sorceress.
The well wishes of the Lightbringers and all Barovians at their backs, the group headed for their first fane. Kaylan drove the dogs, a real natural, while the others walked alongside, tracing the path Ashlyn had advised in order to reach the marsh safely.
Swampbound
Taking the road out of Barovia, the group returned to the village bridge, finding Ignac's camp still abandoned in the drifts. Turning south, they followed the sluggish river, choked with ice chunks. It was abominably cold and abysmally dark, and even with the group's various lights they could only see a couple dozen feet around them. The wider realm remained unseen and menacing... except, perhaps, to Diana, who could see plain as day.
Eventually they came to a place where the river widened and froze still between the various trunks and undergrowth, forming a sheet like glassy ground. The dogs whined nervously as the group took the scene in, a haunted looking place that smelled somehow of cold decay.
Navigating the Cold Marsh
Unloading the gear and sending the dogs away with a trained command, two rafts were put in the water. Relic tested the depth a little, then everyone began the arduous task of navigating the cold marsh. Picks and poles were used to break the ice sheet and shove the rafts onward, foot by hard-earned foot. Giers navigated from above in the trees, pointing everyone through the thinnest ices, while Kaylan and Portia watched for snags and avoided them with muscle and quickness. Diana keyed into a strong magical energy, the fane, and steered the group toward the drifting swamp lights, but Relic and Thamior detected an even greater power in the marsh's darkest recesses.
An hour or so into the swamp, the rafts struck ice far too thick to hack away with any efficiency. Relic tested its solidity and instructed everyone to walk. Thamior pulled the rafts ashore and off they went, lit by sunrod, headlight and ghost lantern.
Geyser
A pale, soupy mist formed over the thick ice sheet, though whenever it parted Diana and Kaylan swore they could see faces distorted in the ice, hundreds of them. The party decided to tie themselves together so as not to get lost, but quickly changed their minds when they realized how hampering it was. Relic volunteered to go first, not afraid, but perhaps he should have been, as a few paces gone he stepped right through the ice and into freezing water! Demon's blood he ingested earlier protected him from any sort of wounding, but something wasn't right. The black water beneath bubbled and frothed.
The ghost lantern was also creating a stir, casting its pale green light on the mist and ice and suddenly conjuring two great rings of green, spectral flame. It was a bad omen, though Portia was fascinated.
The party tried to ignore it as they moved in the direction Relic and Thamior sensed the fane, but when Kaylan peeked down the hole, an explosion of black water, slush and ice shards struck her full in the face, and outward to strike a few others.
The Dead Mounds
With the eruption came four great glistening heaps of frozen bodies broken and twisted in the shape of four tremendous skulls. Blazing eyes and gnashing jaws, they constantly spit and drooled slimy, necrotic marsh water.
The monsters wasted no time attacking, initiating an intense fight on the ice. The fight moved like a tide, pulling at times toward undead victory, and at other times for the group. Relic laid suppressive fire and infused those in need with healing admixtures, though paid the price with ongoing necrotic infections and vicious bite wounds. Thamior worked all his skill through Ten-Thousand Winters, protecting Kaylan and the others and even summoning Vilthanos (who wouldn't leave Giers alone), he too suffering the necrotic nightmare of fighting powerful undead. Kaylan healed and summoned as much light as Barovia would allow to scald the enemy, proving them weak against radiance. Diana, too, called starfall after starfall to hammer the monstrosities. Portia kept a heap to herself, beating it with the ghost lantern and gutting it with a meat hook.
Giers largely played the fool during the fight, unable to strike with his spear and, at one point, nearly striking Thamior. Towards the fight's end, however, he managed to impale one of the amalgam horrors. Vilthanos chided him with every failing, earning the ethrey's quick animosity. It might have come to blows had the heaps not begun to explode upon their deaths and the ice beneath everyone's feet break apart, the geyser doubling its freezing area before the end.
Deeper Still
The group made a hasty exit with the last downed heap, and seconds later the geyser shattered what was left of the immediate ice sheet. Freezing, necrotic water raining a sure death on any living thing it touched.
Heading deeper into the lightless swamp, the ice became thinner and the rafts were needed once more. With a little cooperation, the group managed to retrieve them, preparing to shove off into the black heart of Ivlis. Relic and Thamior could sense the ancient fane was close, its power almost tangible. A thick mist was developing...
Epilogue
Experience: 600 xp each (23, 015 total)
The Dead Mounds, 3000
Loot: 2 flat-bottomed rafts (10 x 10), 5 ten-foot poles, 5 pairs of snowshoes, 5 lanterns and 20 pints of oil, 3 picks, 5 torches, 4 flasks of holy water, and 3 days worth of food and wine, The Golden Rule (Diana)
New NPCs
Arik Swilovich, barrel-shaped brewer and barkeep of Blood o' the Vine
Bray Martikova, owner and innkeeper of Blood o' the Vine
Shayna Martikova, Bray's young and exuberant wife
Babushka, lead dog of the sled team which brought your supplies to Ivlis Marsh
New Monsters
Glistening Heaps
New Hazards
Freezing Geyser
New Locations
Ivlis Swamp
Current Quest
Isabella's Ashes (swamp fane)
It is a robed man holding a lantern in a bleak gray mist. "The Hermit is a lonely card, restlessly walking from dusk till dawn, dawn till dusk, searching, hoping, clinging to the light of yesteryear. Seek him in the swamp, where the dead mounds make a road to he who would be called son."
A fool in colorful motley, pack tied to a staff, and chased by a small dog, rushes down a winding path. "The Fool is full of daydreams, blind to where he goes, and won't see the end until he's likely to meet it. A small force will harry him to that end, but not before he does something drastic with long-lasting repercussions. He waits in the swamp."
Holy Water
Undead and demons suffer with the touch of this liquid.
Level 11
Price: 350 gp
Alchemical Item
Power (Consumable • Radiant): Minor Action. Make an attack: Ranged 3/6; +14 vs. Reflex; on a hit, the attack deals 2d10 radiant damage to an undead creature or a demon.
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