Iron & Gold Curse of Strahd
Let us try and get back on the horse. Being The Curse of Strahd, played through with Mythic as the GM, using Iron & Gold
Previous chapter: Leaving Barovia — Next Chapter: Vallaki and the Blue Water Inn
11 - The Reading[1]
The road gave way to a muddy path among the trees; deep ruts betrayed the passage of wagons. Soon the trees opened up to reveal a small lake, maybe a hundred paces across, under a dark sky. Five colourful tents, each about six paces across, were in a ring of four wagons. There was a big bonfire with about a dozen people sitting there. One of them was playing an accordion.
The young Vistani who had caught the rabbit ran forward and there was general rejoicing; an older woman took the rabbit from him and he sat down, talking rapidly. Radu brought them to the bonfire and spoke a few rapid-fire phrases to the group. He handed a wineskin to Ireena, saying, “Katrina, you’re first,” (she had told him her name was Katrina) and then another woman spoke to him.
The two of them had a heated exchange. Radu looked back at them. “She’s upset because I want to use her wagon.”
“We can walk,” said Felewi.
Radu grinned. “She’s my eldest sister. She’ll give in eventually.”
The woman retorted, “I will not!”
“If Madame Eva says…”
“No!” Then the woman stopped short. “If Eva says. Only then.”
“Let’s ask her.” The two of them stepped out of the circle of wagons and headed for the big tent by the water.
One man said to Felewin, “Are you the ones who really caught the rabbit? Marit here couldn’t hit a—”
Marit shouted and threw a stick at the man, who grinned and caught the stick.
Felewin said, “He really caught it himself.”
“Oooo, so impressive. Almost a grown-up.” The man grabbed Marit and gave him a hug. The interplay gave Felewin a pang of homesickness: it reminded Felewin of his people.
The man said to Felewin, “You have been to the village there?” Felewin nodded. The man said, “I was there when the mad wizard came by.”
“A year ago?”
The man nodded. “He was charismatic, that one. He thought he could rally the people of Barovia against the devil Strahd. He stirred in them thoughts of revolt, and he bore them to the castle.
“But when the vampire appeared, the peasant army fled in terror.” The man grinned.
Ireena said, “I was told that some stood their ground.”
“The ones who were never seen again. The wizard and the vampire cast spells at each other, flying from the courtyards of Ravenloft to a precipice overlooking those falls.” He pointed beyond the lake, where there were falls visible above the trees. “I saw that battle, with my own eyes. Thunder shook the land, and great rocks tumbled down upon the wizard…yet by his magic, he survived. Lighting struck him…but he survived. Yet when the devil Strahd fell upon him, the wizard’s magic was not enough. I saw him thrown a thousand feet to his death.”
“Some say he survived,” Ireena told him.
“Some people always say something.” The man shrugged. “I climbed down to the river to search for the wizard’s body, to see if he had something of value, because those of us who survive must go on…but the river Ivlis had carried it away.”
Hrelgi said, “What was the wizard’s name?”
“I don’t know of wizards, and I don’t remember his name. It had more syllables than made sense, I think. For information like that, talk to Madam Eva.”
Radu came halfway from the big tent and called, “Katrina! Bring your friends. Madam Eva would talk to you!”
The others around the fire urged them to go, so they entered the big gaudy tent. The space inside was decorated with tapestries and hanging beads, and in the middle was a covered table with a crystal ball glinting on it; behind it sat an old woman. Surely, thought Felewin, if anyone ever embodied the word ‘crone,’ she is it.
“Come in, come in. Radu, wait outside.”
“Yes, Madam Eva.” He bowed his head and left.
“I am glad to see you. I have waited a long time. Katrina, you call yourself right now? I do not see your history; we must be intertwined. Vistani can never see foretell their own futures, you see. But the rest of you…. Felewin, you slew the medusa; Ninefingers, you rescued Felewin from possession by a ghost; Uthrilir, you carry a terrible burden that is desired by some in this land; and Hrelgi, you have power aplenty but only love in the way of restraint.” Hrelgi started to speak, but Madam Eva held up her hand. “I know that none of these are people in the way of your tribe, but you love them anyway.”
Hrelgi hung her head, obliquely ashamed.
“You have convinced us of your eldritch nature,” said Felewin. “How may we help you?”
The old woman laughed, like falling leaves. “How may I help you? Would you like a reading?”
Felewin looked at the others. Each of them nodded. “It seems prudent,” said Uthrilir. Ireena looked nervous and perhaps frightened.
“We Vistani have many ways to discern the future, but for a group of this size and a task of this importance, we shall use the tarokka cards.” She took a bundle wrapped in a silken cloth and exposed the cards within. “Are you familiar with them?”
“No,” said Felewin simply.
“Again, there are many ways to use them, but we will use this one. Please shuffle the minor arcana, each of you.” Madam Eva had to show Hrelgi and Felewin how to shuffle, but the others knew.
After they had all shuffled the cards, Madam Eva said, “First we reveal history; knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy.” Felewin’s instinct was to say that they didn’t have an enemy, but of course they did: Strahd. He was about to say so, when Madam Eva said, “Do not tell me the name of your enemy. There are people I am bound to tell, by centuries of obligation…but what I do not know, I cannot tell.”
She revealed the card. The card had stars on it and a pair of people, one beseeching the other. “The Diviner. The one who sees all; the treasure is in her camp.” She started. “I am the Diviner, so the cards think the treasure is here, in this camp! We shall return to that.”
Madam Eva placed the card on the table, then drew another. It also had stars on it, and a wizard of some kind. “This card tells of a powerful source for good and protection, a symbol of great hope.”
Uthrilir asked, “A holy symbol of some kind?”
Madam Eva nodded. “This is the Conjurer, reversed. It shows me a drowned village and ruled by one who brought great evil into the world.”
“A drowned village?” asked Ireena. “The only dead village in Barovia is Berez!”
“Perhaps,” said Madam Eva. “I see but do not interpret.” The old woman laid the card down, above and to one side of the other. She drew a third card. “This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance, a sword of sunlight.” This card held seven swords on it. “It is the master of wizards. In a wizard's tower on a lake, the wizard's name and servant will guide you to the thing which you seek.” She laid the card down across from the first, but beside both.
Ireena said, “I know of no wizard’s tower.”
“Hush. Now the major arcana. Shuffle, please.” She passed this smaller deck around. Because there were fewer cards, Felewin found it easier this time.
“You will not be alone. You will have assistance. One of these cards is your ally; the other is the place of your enemy.” She drew the first of the major arcana and placed it under the second one card she had drawn, so there was a diamond of cards. “This card speaks of one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness.” She indicated the card. “The Mists. A Vistana wanders this land alone searching for her mentor. She does not stay in one place for long. Seek her out at Saint Markovia’s abbey, near the mists.”
Madame Eva drew the last card and paused before revealing it. “This is the card that will lead you to your enemy when you are ready. If you go there and your enemy is not present, you are not yet ready.” She turned it over: there was a weeping woman. “The Broken One. Your enemy haunts the tomb of the man he envied above all.” Madam Eva slumped at the table. “The reading is done.”
Hrelgi clapped.
Felewin began,“The first treasure, the one that is in your camp…”
Madame Eva shook her head.“You must find it; I cannot give it to you, even if I knew where or what it is…but I will tell my people not to hinder your search, so long as you remember that these wagons are also our livelihoods. Do them no damage, or I cannot be responsible for the actions of my people.”
“Of course,” said Felewin.
Madame Eva called for Radu and told him that the strangers had permission to search all the wagons until they found what was hidden.[2]
“There might be…” Radu looked at the party. “Other items. From other places.” Ninefingers lifted a brow at that.
“We don’t care about those,” Felewin said.
Ninefingers looked at Felewin and shrugged. “Let’s get to it while we have her permission,” he said. “It’s not magical, so we can’t use Hrelgi’s magic-sniffing spells to find it. It tells us our enemy’s history, so it might be a book…or a painting or a brooch.”
Hrelgi asked “Will we even know it when we see it?”
“I shall pray for guidance,” said Uthrilir.
“I shall look, instead,” said Ninefingers.
Several of the Vistani were clearly angry about this, and Hrelgi apologized. “We’re looking for ancient history,” she said.
“Only because Madam Eva told us to hold our blades…” said one.
“I’ll stand between you and him,” Felewin told Ninefingers.
“Pardon me while I check each one out and choose the one to search first; we want to keep our interference to a minimum.”
“Our deal is off,” Radu said. “And I am keeping the gold.”
“You are not,” said Ireena.
“No violence,” said Uthrilir. “Ninefingers, the Lady suggests that wagon, right there.”[3]
“She didn’t say where in the wagon, did she?”
“The Lady does not work that way.”
“Felewin, in here, and rock this wagon back and forth.” Felewin put his foot on the rear step and rocked it. “I need you to lift me to the ceiling in here.”
They shut the door (“Sorry — cramped in here,” said Felewin) and five minutes later they came out empty handed. They searched each of the other three wagons and came out empty-handed each time.
Radu looked satisfied. “Marit, tell Madame Eva that they have finished searching.”
Felewin said to him, “If the transportation deal is off, can we count that gold toward a better-fitting pair of boots for Katrina here?”
Seeing they were empty handed, Radu perked up and said, “Of course.”
Felewin pulled a pair of boots from behind his back and said, “Katrina, let me see your feet.” He held them sole to sole against her feet. “Looks good. Try them on.”
“They are my boots,” said Radu’s sister.
Radu whispered, “They are worth one fifth of the gold I already have from them. We split it.”
Felewin said, “These are a little bigger than yours, Katrina, so they will have room for the bindings we’re going to put on your feet. The way you were walking, we have to be careful of blisters.”
Uthrilir looked at her feet, prayed, and laid his hands on them.[4]“We can start with this blessing.”
Felewin wrapped them, and then Ireena tried on the new boots. “These don’t hurt.”
Felewin said to Radu, “The gold you have received is more than the cost of those boots. And now we should be on our way.”
Instead of going back to the road they headed along the footpath to the Tser Falls. Ireena kept glancing back at the camp, but it left sight. The footpath lead down into a canyon and Felewin looked nervously as the walls rose up; the road was clearly at the top, because there was a bridge over the canyon. Eventually the path forked and there was a lesser-used path leading up to the bridge and the road. They took that (slowly; it was a wet, difficult path) back to the road. The canyon walls were slick with moisture from the falls but the bridge was only damp. Worn gargoyles stood at the bridge’s four corners. The sound of the falls made it difficult to speak or hear.
Felewin eyed the gargoyles but did not want to go back to the Vistani; as it was, they would not have much time in Vallaki to search for an inn.
If there is an inn, he thought. These people don’t travel much. The gargoyles were worn, though, suggesting they would not animate and attack the group.
As if to confirm, once the group was on the bridge, the raven landed on the head of one of the gargoyles and watched them. The noise of the falls made it too difficult to talk; Felewin took the lead and they marched on in the roar.
They were halfway across the bridge when a scarecrow staggered onto the bridge.
“Scarecrows are evil killers,” shouted Ireena over the sound of the falls. “Hard to hurt!”
There was only one of them. Felewin could fight it, but… “Hrelgi, I’ll keep it busy, you set it on fire!” Felewin called.
“Sure,” shouted Hrelgi and started flipping pages in her spell book.[5] “Wet, though.”
Felewin let the scarecrow attack first; he wanted to defend and protect the others, unless the fire didn’t work.
The creature looked directly at Felewin, and he felt the urge to quake in fear but he quelled it. The creature swung at him— it had long rusty knives in place of fingers — but missed, and Felewin parried. The scarecrow attacked again, badly, and Felewin stepped out of the way and then slashed it along its chest. Felewin left a long slash in the clothes; raven feathers fell out.
Hrelgi said her spell, and the scarecrow burst into flame. Felewin caught the smell of burning feathers and cloth. The scarecrow tried to keep attacking Felewin but it burned surprisingly quickly. When it stopped moving, he looked back and shouted, “Good work! Let’s go!”
Previous chapter: Leaving Barovia — Next Chapter: Vallaki and the Blue Water Inn
Game Mechanics
[1] Mythic suggested theme: Oppose A Representative (Introduce a New NPC)
[2] All of this reduces to a single roll against Ninefingers’ Investigation skill. He has 8- and rolls a 4. The module says they find it if any attempt is made at all, but a margin of 4 doesn’t hurt.
[3] Uthrilir rolls a 6 on Prophecy, which makes a complex task with margin 0.
[4] Uthrilir rolls a 5: margin 2 on a complex task.
[5] Fight. Felewin lets the scarecrow attack; he’s only buying Hrelgi time. The scarecrow attacks first, rolling a 9 for margin -2 vs Felewin’s parry, margin 2.
The scarecrow tries paralyzing gaze, but Felewin rolls 6 on Reasoning+Composure, which makes a Complex reaction. The scarecrow attacks again (margin -5) vs Felewin’s 8 (margin 2). He attacks and rolls another 8; it rolls a 9 (2>-2). The scarecrow is resistant so it takes only 2 damage.
Hrelgi casts her spell with margin 4 and makes her Composure roll by margin 2. The scarecrow is vulnerable to fire, so the 4 levels of injury becomes 8, and it goes up.
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