Hags Will Kill You

The day started early at the Vistani encampment near Tser Pools. Marillion and Xuza woke from their respective dreams in the middle of the night to discover that Xuza had changed gender. After a brief conversation, Marillion went back to sleep, and Xuza joined the camp’s night watch. She also helped the camp cook prepare breakfast, demonstrating her newfound cooking skills.

When (actual) morning came, the lost travelers bid farewell to the Vistani. They continued toward Vallaki, the biggest town in Barovia. The route took them over the Tser Falls, past the road leading to Castle Ravenloft, and finally through the western gate of Barovia. Arriving at the gate, Bart told the rest of the group about a Barovian folk tale claiming Strahd himself controls these gates, and only people deemed worthy enough (or nonimportant enough to be noticeable) were allowed to pass.

Continuing along, the party comes across the old windmill. Despite warnings from Bart and other Barovians, they decide to investigate. Nearing the windmill, the lost travelers observe an abnormal number of ravens circling both the windmill and the nearby megaliths. There is also a noticeable drop in plant and animal life when nearing the windmill; the dogs and horses seem especially spooked and require constant calming by Cinna.

When entering the windmill, the party is greeted by Bella and Ofallia, daughters of Morgantha, the old woman from whom the party bought pies just a few days ago. The women asked if the group would be interested in purchasing pies. Xuza, who had taken a particular liking to the pies, happily accepts. The party is offered tea since the pies are still in the oven. Going into the windmill noticeably increased the unrest of the party. After some subtle investigation, Cinna discovered a barrel of human bones near the stove. The (very natural) questions about these soon lead to aggressions. During the combat Morgantha also arrived back at the windmill. The fight ended with Bella and Ofelia dead and a furious Morgantha disappearing to the realm of the dead after swearing revenge and vowing to take Geoff away from Darren.

In the investigation that followed, the party recovered 3 potions and found a kidnapped boy. The boy introduced himself as Freek. Freek had been taken with his sister from the town of Barovia in exchange for pies. Seeing as Freek was not interested in returning to his parents, the party decided to help him get to the Orphanage in Vallaki. Finally, the group also found the recipe for the pies that were sold by Morgantha and learned that fresh human bone dust was a central ingredient in them.

To make sure Morgantha would not be able to restart her sinister business, the lost travelers spent the rest of the day burning down the interior of the windmill. Since burning a windmill takes time, the night was soon approaching, so the party decided to camp out in the windmill. During the night–thanks to some clever “Barting”–the party captured one of the ravens circling the area and learned it was a were raven working for a secret organization. The captured raven urged the party to ask more questions from Urvin Martikov in Vallaki.