First Published 20 February 2022
This article is relative to The Domains Of Dread.

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World Date: 4th Moon 21th 735
Session Date: 14 May 2021

The party left the Vistani camp and made their way back up the dirt road to the main road, high above. They eventually arrived back at the crossroads with the old gallows, and started back on the long walk to Vallaki. They talked about Madame Eva as they walked, and discussed the prophecies she had given them. They had no idea what any of it meant yet. A few hours later they came to the edge of a high canyon. An old stone bridge allowed them to cross, and looking over the side they could now see The River Ivlis and the Vistani camp about a thousand feet below them. Some of the Vistani looked up, as if they knew they were there.

Around midday it began to rain, and before long they were entirely drenched. Completely unhappy now they continued on, but before too long arrived at a crossroad. The road they were on continued to the west, and another branched off to the east. The rains eased and they noticed a black carriage sat parked a few feet up the road to the east. Two black draft horses snorted in the cold. As they carefully approached the black carriage the side door swung open. There was room inside for all of them, but saying nothing they all backed away. They turned back and continued in the direction they were already heading, moving at double speed. With a neigh of one of the horses the door slammed shut and the black carriage headed off in the other direction. "Strahd is everywhere" Ireena whispered.

Late in the afternoon the path began to get very misty again, and they soon realised the mist was almost as thick as when they had arrived in these lands. Eventually they came to a set of stone gates. The massive gates stood before them, and they noted these were the same as the gates that had entered a few days prior just before they found the village of Barovia. The gates were closed and the strongest in the crew pushed against them as hard as they could. After a few minutes a trying they gave up. Ireena asked if she could try, and she walked up and pushed. The massive stone gates began to part, and they wasted no time running through. On the other side Cwn asked "How did you do that?". "I honestly do not know." Ireena responded. The massive stones closed behind them, shutting with a slam. "I have never been this far." Ireena whispered. "I think we have just left the lands of Strahd. Perhaps his darkness does not reach this far?". They all noted it did seem somewhat sunnier on this side - but not much.

They walked for a while longer, but were very tired. They had not slept the night before, but wanted to get as far as they could before making camp. They came to a spot with little forest on the sides of the road and felt this may be the safest place to set up for the night. All night long wolves howled nearby, but they made it through the night without incident.

They set out early the next morning, as the thick mist made everything damp and generally miserable. They followed the road for a couple of hours, thankful of an action-free night, until they came to a side path leading up to a plateau not far away. Maragath suggested they head up and have a look around, as it seemed like the highest point anywhere nearby. After about half hour they reached the top, and although it has been taxing walking up hill they realised it was a good idea. They could see more of the land of Barovia from here than they had seen from any vantage point previously.

Far off in the western distance they could see a mountain pass with some sort of old fort. In between it and them was many miles of lowlands, speckled with rivers, lakes, and swamps, but mostly just forests. In the opposite direction, not too far away in the east, they could see a large castle standing on a mountain. "Castle Ravenloft" Ireena whispered. Close by they could also see a reasonably sized settlement, and Ireena suggested it would Vallaki - their destination. The large body of water known as Lake Zarovich lay beyond it. "Look!" Gregor said, pointing. Only a few short miles from them was an old windmill on the edge of a cliff. It looked derelict, but was on the road to Vallaki, so they agreed they should take a look. They headed back to the main road.

After walking for a couple more hours they came to another side junction. This one had an old stone marker in the grass. Gregor could see the faded words 'Old Bonegrinder' carved into it. Assuming this was the path to the old windmill they had seen, they took the siding. Cwn asked "Isn't Old Bonegrinder the name of the windmill we saw all over the creepy house back in the village of Barovia?". The others all nodded in agreement, and they did not say other word about it. The rest of the walk was in silence. And anticipation.

Old Bonegrinder stood on the edge of a moderate ravine. Ignatius carefully looked over the edge and could see a pathway down the rock wall. Far below there was some sort of ancient stone circle at the bottom, similar to what he had heard of ancient druids using. Four large megaliths stood sentient. The old mill itself was in dreadful condition, and certainly looked like it has not been used in many years. The derelict sails slowly rocked from side to side in the wind, but with most of them torn to shreds and blowing in the breeze it's days of turning were long behind it. Gregor approached the door to knock and a large raven perched on the porch above squawked. "We should not be here." Ireena said, backing away. "A raven has spoken! We must leave now!". Molly reassured her that everything would be fine. Gregor knocked, but there was no answer. He pounded harder now, but still no one came.

Old Bonegrinder

Maragath gave the door a shouldering, and to his surprise it pushed open. They realised it was probably unlocked. He slowly stepped inside, and Gregor moved in quickly beside him, drawing his sword. The bottom floor of the old mill was in a dreadful state, but it was clear it was inhabited by someone. Or something. Rickety old shelves held small jars of various liquids and powders, and boxes and crates contained rotting vegetables, far beyond an edible state. Old pans and dishes were piled high on every benchtop, and mould and mildew grew everywhere. A chicken cage with four close-to-death chickens sat to one side of the room. Toads croaked somewhere, probably from an old trunk with holes in the lid alongside the chicken cage. The smell was putrid, and as each of them stepped in they held back the urge to vomit. Oddly, underlying it was a smell that was almost irresistible, and Cwn realised it was the numerous pies cooking in an old stone oven not far from where they stood. In the centre of the room was an large cauldron filled with a dark black liquid, and they could immediately tell that was where the majority of the smell emanated from. Ireena chose not to enter, and Molly said she would stay outside with her. "Look!" Maragath whispered, pointing at a trolley with a cage under it they all recognised. "That old woman from Barovia village must live here." Cwn then noticed the child-sized bones on one of the benches.

At that moment his thoughts were confirmed as she came hobbling down the stairs. "Who's down here?" she called. She saw the group, and (possibly recognising them) began to morph in form before their eyes. The old woman had by no means been attractive before, but now she was a twisted horrid monster that cackled as it launched itself off the stairs. "RUN! IT IS A GREEN HAG!" Ireena screamed from outside the door. The party raised their weapons to defend themselves, but she ran straight past them - stopping at the barrel of foul smelling liquid. She tapped three times then whispered something and the liquid began to bubble. Maragath and Gregor charged in to attack, with Ignatius at the rear hoping he could help. As the two battled with the surprisingly nimble old wretch Ignatius saw the barrel bubble again, but this time a small green hand reached out and grabbed the rim. A dark green creature then climbed out, and slopped itself into the floor. Noting it's size was about the same as his, Ignatius called "What is it?". "It is a demon. It's called a dretch." Ireena called back. "Beware it's bite!"

The room was cramped and untidy, so Ireena and Molly stayed outside and let the men do what they could. Molly did stay close to the door though, in case she could help out. As Gregor and Maragath met the green hag head on Ignatius kept at the old hag from behind, but the dretch dug it's teeth into his leg when he least expected it. It was small, but moved fast. Gregor took a swing at it then, but it ducked low, and squatting down it started to squeeze. Before they knew it the creature had squeezed the most pungent stench any of them had ever smelt from deep in it's bowels. They all staggered for a moment, totally disoriented by the green haze billowing around them. The old hag cackled. Maragath and Gregor focused again on the old hag, but she began turning invisible, again filling the room with her terrible cackle as she moved about unseen. Every time she reappeared she would be close enough to strike one of them. Passing the barrel she knocked on it again, and hissing the words of dark magic another of the demons was invoked and began to slide out the liquid. Once out it squeezed, and again the room was filled with the foul smelling contents of demon bowels.

My army settled in the valley of Barovia
and took power over the people in the name of a just god,
but with none of a god's grace or justice.

Strahd van Zarovich (from the 'Tome Of Strahd')

Although disoriented, Ignatius and Maragath had cornered the first dretch between some furniture, so in order to get away it bit Maragath quite badly on the leg. Seeing the crew was struggling Molly ran in, but was faced off by the nasty hag. She attacked hard, but the old wretch was faster than expected. She slashed at Molly with her long claws, and although she backed away, she was immediately bleeding quite badly. Ignatius finally ended the first dretch, as the second one conjured began to attack. With most of their spells and magic depleted the party continued to pummel the old hag, and gradually wore her down, but not before she again viciously attacked Molly. The old fey finally fell, defeated, but it was unfortunately too late for the party's wizard. The group swarmed around her, but the wounds were just too serious to heal. Cwn carried her body out to Ireena as the others chased the second dretch. With the hag out the way, catching and slaying it was easy.

They looked around the room and found an assortment of oddities and things that unsettled them. There were human bones, most of them child sized, and mostly scattered around the area where the pies were made. Cwn saw a shelf with herbs and spices. At closer look she could see flour (full of weevils) and sugar, and three other oddly labelled jars. The first had a golden liquid in it and was labelled 'Youth'. Cwn said she would take it, and identify it later. The second was labelled 'Laughter', and was a dark red colour. Maragath bagged that one. The third jar contained a whitish-green liquid and was labelled 'Mother's Milk'. They all looked at each other, and silently decided to leave that jar where it was. Ireena called to them from outside "Be careful. Hags usually travel in a coven of three. There will probably be two others.".  If there were any more of these foul creatures they knew they couldn't leave them alive, especially after what this one had done to their friend. Cwn and Maragath slowly crept up the stairs.

Peaking over the top of the stairs Cwn could see another of the old green hags. Undisguised, it was manually pushing around the large grind-stone that would have once been driven by the wind sails outside. It was immediately obvious she was grinding bones, and a small basket sat on the top of the stone. The bones poking from it were undoubtedly human, and were definitely child sized. Repulsed Cwn and Maragath leapt at her, but much like her sister she was fast and vicious. She leapt up onto the stone and cast Vicious Mockery, forcing Cwn to back away. Maragath struck her hard, and now with Gregor and Ignatius joining the old fey could see she was outnumbered. They drove her back until she was against the wall, and though she fought hard and dealt a few good slashes Maragath eventually ended her. She wailed sickeningly as she fell to the floor. She was certainly easier to kill than the first due to the extra room they had to move around in here.

Keeping in mind what Ireena had said about there often being three in a coven, they slowly crept up the next flight of stairs to the third level of the mill. Peeking in they could see a filthy room with three cots. The third (and hopefully last) hag clearly knew they were coming and screeched as ran from the side, attacking Gregor first. She got in a couple of good scratches with her talon-like claws before the party (now knowing these creatures well) co-ordinated their attack. This crone wasn't dumb, and continually disappeared then reappeared behind them, getting a couple of good strikes in each time. She eventually fell, but the party had again taken a good beating. They thanked their gods there were only three hags in a coven, as they would not have lasted if attacked by another.

Looking around they again saw the familiar sight of scattered children's bones. These creatures had clearly murdered countless children. Cwn noted the smell in here was quite rancid, and looking through some piled crates she recoiled in horror. Gregor stepped in and was also repulsed. A small boy was crammed into a timber crate, and based on his colour he had obviously expired. At that moment Ignatius, who was shorter, noticed someone was moving in the crate underneath. Gregor carefully and respectfully moved the box with the dead boy, and immediately saw another boy in the crate below - and he was indeed moving. He smashed open the timbers, and the boy climbed out - but all was not as they expected. With the sounds of cogs and gears turning the small mechanical man stood up straight (at a whole 4 feet), and took a bow. He held a flute in one hand and was dressed as a jester. Maragath said 'Awwwww! He's a little clockwork man!", but before his sentence was even finished Gregor leapt in and crushed the small machine-man with one blow. "That was abomination!" he hissed. "There is no place in nature for a mechanical demon!". Maragath looked closely at the remains and said "He is wearing a little collar. It has 'Pidlwick II at your service' written on it." The others felt Gregor may have overstepped his authority, but they did not speak of it again. There was a trapdoor in the ceiling and Maragath boosted Ignatius up to look through, but lifting the hatch all he saw was a large bird nest that looked long abandoned.

They headed back downstairs and Gregor suggested they burnt everything they could. The old mill was stone, but they still smashed up any crates and timber and set fire to everything they could. The chickens were set free and the toads leapt out the trunk, bounding outside. They moved back up the path toward Old Svalich Road, and not one of them looked back as thick black smoke began to billow from the building. Gregor carried Molly slung over his shoulders. At the junction where the path re-met the main road they buried her, and Cwn carved her name on the stone that had once said 'Old Bonegrinder'. They stayed long enough to say their farewells, then pushed on as the sun was now low in the sky.

They camped overnight in a clearing, and took some time to heal, leaving late the following morning. They were confident they could make it to Vallaki before nightfall.

They walked for most of the day, and the sun was low now. They could faintly see a wall in the distance. The closer they got the more they could see it was a high wall made of vertical timber logs. They were sharpened into spikes on the top, and towered a good 15 feet high. They went as far as the eye could see into the forest on either side of the road. At intervals along the sides of the road were ten wolves heads on spikes, five on either side. They eventually come to the wall and a large iron-barred gate filled a wagon-sized hole. Two guards on the opposite side with long pikes called through. "Halt! State your name and business here!". They could see a town beyond. Gregor began to tell a tangled tale of where they had come from, but the guards looked puzzled. Ireena pressed past and stated firmly "I am Ireena Kolyana, daughter of Kolyan Indirovich, burgomaster of the village of Barovia, and I seek entry." The two guards looked surprised, and looking at each other they nodded in agreement. "Please accept our apologies for the delay.", and with that they opened the gates.

To be continued…

Outstanding Quests -

• Take Ireena to Vallaki or The Abbey Of Saint Markovia.
• Find the "knowledge of the ancient".
• Find the "holy symbol of hope".
• Find the "sword of pure sunlight".
• Find the "wizard with a broken mind".
• Defeat the vampire Strahd.
• Find the way out of the lands of Barovia.

Completed Quests -

• Assist the two children that claim there is a monster in their house.
• Assist Ismark and Ireena to bury their father, the Burgomaster of Barovia Village.

Kill Count To Date -

• Animated Armors - 1
• Green Hags - 3
• Mimics - 1
• Walter-beasts - 1
• Wolves - 10

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