Session 16: Ivlish Marsh

May 9th, 758cy

Daemus leans over, arms spread and palms out, “Look I know it’s been a while, Shikamaru, but things have changed. I no longer need the sword and nor do you.” Shikamaru takes a cautious step back still gripping his bastard sword at the ready. “Sheath your weapon Shikamaru’, Daemus’ arms slide to his slender hips at rest. “I’m not here to harm you, but to offer a truce from our Lord of the Castle.” Shikamaru scans the Blood on the Vine Tavern, in hopes to find one of his companions, but only is welcomed by the dying hearth, still barely casting shadowy light upon Daemus and himself. “Look, I have a letter from the Lord himself,” he hands over a gilded ebony scroll case. Shikamaru examines the case, then looks up and realizes Daemus is gone.

♀

May 12th, 758cy

“Damnable swamp,” Hennan extorts his voice a bit horse from the acrid swamp air. “This stinks, yet I don’t want to leave yet, not without Kivari”, he further complains. The three companions, Hennan the Watchman, Lox the Quick and Cyrus the Virus continues on through the forsaken Ivlis Marsh, treading where they believe is the way out.
“Yeah this is ridiculous”, Lox replies while hacking at the swamp fox tails as he marches on.
“Look, I don’t give a rat’s ass, what you both think. It’s been three nights, since Kivari surrendered to that Bitch, and I say lets get our asses out of here and fast. Then we regroup find Kivari later.” Cyrus interrupts, grazing his bald head with his razor sharp axe, shaving what stubble that has grown in the last few days.

♀

“Hmm what’s that?” Shiv stops suddenly the murky swamp water rippling around her red robes, “I wonder who is that person,” her green eyes narrow, closing in on a darkly clad, heavy armored warrior near a distant bog, “perhaps he’s lost in this decrepit place too?”
A wave of acrid bloodied air washes over both the dark warrior and Shiv, they both waver slightly with the oncoming stench, followed by a loud buzzing sound, droning out all the rest of the swamp clatter. Flying toward them is two large clouds of buzzing insects, which hovers above the swamp water, droning ominously in a strangely deep pitch. “I don’t thinks so, Shiv declares, then with a soft whispered decipher, she begins to float, then jet up through the air avoiding the swarm all together. Broadsword in hand, the plated warrior, ducts back behind an old rotten tree, but that doesn’t stop the swarm. Instead the two swarms maneuvers to the warrior, hungrily draining away his blood.
“Damn, I can’t do anything. I’m done for,” the warrior bellows has he slashes the swarm with his fine broadsword all in vane.
“Don’t worry,” Shiv flies down and whispers another incantation, this time grasping a pendant around her neck. A blast of light forces through the air toward the two swarms, the rippling swamp water splashes to the left and right of the light, and the swarms are no more. Only dust, in the wind. “Now that will take care of that, and what’s your name? She looks down to the warrior from above.
“Name’s Shikamaru, I’m on important business in search of some companions, and thank you for that, by the way,” he sheaths his sword and jesters to the sauntering dust of the swarm that floats away.

Lox whispers, “Hey, guys…The droning sound stopped, and suddenly. I’ll take a look.” Lox, crouches down, and peeks over some rocks and sees a woman, dressed in red and white robes and long straight red hair, hovering right towards Lox and his two comrades.

♀

“Ok now that we are acquainted, we... well. We where going to Barovia, but now that you’re here, I say we look for Kivari,” Lox asks, looking to the others. “Definitely”, Hennan replies quickly. The new formed party, Shikamaru, Lox, Shiv, Cyrus, and Hennan venture back through the swamp, this time instead of leaving the swamp they search for Kivari there cleric of renown.

As the Darkness rise, the party clamors up a rocky outcropping in the swamp to make camp. “Ok, this is as good as any,” Lox smiles and ushers the rest of the party up as if his well condition home. “Let’s figure watch,” Hennan proclaims.

♀

The dark green, scaly creature wades in its warm bog water, peering into the night sky, “Oh, can’t these stupid humans wake up already! I can’t stand another minute of this,” it’s voice squeaks and clicks as he complains to no one. “How can they manage not to be up and running around here, it’s so much better at night,” this time his fatty scaly head turns to look at his bother, which stands proudly behind some twenty passes or so.
“Shut up or you’ll wake them! I’m showing how to transform them, don’t you want to know how or what?” The brother shakes his head, his orange almond eyes narrow a bit.
“Lodi, I do, but you push me too much and I hate that stupid rule we have about the riddle. Can’t we just “sink’m” now and get it over with?” The creature wades back a few yards towards it brother. “They can’t see us, there as blind as a Basilisk out here, they won’t even know what sank’m?” It laughs, but suddenly puts its clawed hand to it toothy mouth, in a vain attempt to silence himself.
“Lets go, they are waking up, we’ll follow from a distance”, Lodi orders. The two creatures’ dunks under the murky swamp water as the party awakens from there unfruitful sleep in the swamp.

♀

May 13th, 758cy

The next morning the troupe arose and planned to continue on, “Ok, Kivari’s probably at the Fane and the Fane wasn’t that far. Where in the in the ass are we?” Cyrus expresses, his left fist balled and his right swings his axe at some harmless fox tail plant.
“I think were lost, so which way?” Hennan replies. Shiv leans down to examine the sickly gray grass that grows on the short outcropping, “Mmmm, I think this is Abyssal Black Weed,” she states aloud. “No wonder why I felt drained in this area”. She looks back toward Shikamaru, “Look if you want healing, come over, we need to be away from this stuff,” she tosses the grass to the ground and stands.
“This should be far enough,” she starts a soft whisper, followed by a cool glowing light originating from her palm. Gently she touches Shikamaru’s right shoulder, Shikamaru looks back to Shiv, her green eyes focused, “thank you, again” he says sincerely.
“What the… hey guys... I’m caught here!” Lox bellows. Cyrus looks up, grabs his twin axes and takes to his feet, “yeah that won’t be the first either”.
“No really, I’m stuck,” Locks tries to lift he leg as if trying to prove that he really can’t move to a jury. Shikamaru’s hears perk, “Hmm… we have company”
A small humanoid creature rises from the stagnant waters of the swamp. Naked save for the moss and leaves that cling to its splotchy green skin, it has spindly, pointed ears. Its eyes gleam, and its grin displays broken teeth as swamp water trickles from its mouth. This miniature creature brandishes its teeth and screeches out, “I have rivers without water, forests without trees, mountains without rocks, and towns without houses. What am I? Answer correctly and you may pass.” The creature jumps up and down, “Hurry, hurry or he’ll be drowned by the swamp!”
A moment later, Lox now waist deep, bellows out, “Map, it’ map! That’s the answer to your stupid riddle, now let me outa here!”
The creature looks to his side and hisses, “Lodi, that riddles too easy, I hate that clan rule.” Suddenly, Lox slowly rises back up from the murky swamp, “thanks guys, I was almost swamp mud”, he looks to his companions, and draws his sword.
The creature backs away a bit, “Hey, fine you made it, I figured so”, as it backs off deeper into the swamp, Shikamaru, Cyrus follow.
“Wait”, Hennan calls out, “which way is the way out of this swamp?”
The creature pauses for a moment, “sure, but it’ll cost you, give me a token, that I can show my clan that I defeated you and I’ll tell you where to go.”
Cyrus, steps over to a moss covered rock that jets out of the dark swamp water like a minuscule island, “here, a few gold, now where do we go?!”
The creature wades quickly through the water and grabs the coin, “hmm, ok it’s that way!” His long sharp claws point behind the party, backing up as doing so.
“I don’t thick so, it’s not the way.” Shiv states quietly to her companions.
“For get it, let the creature go, we’ll find our own way out after we find Kivari”, Hennan replies as the creature swims off.

♀

The black swamp water stands like dark mirrors about the protruding willow trees that reflect the thick blanket of clouds overhead. A dull solid, cold mist spreads over the waters as Shikamaru, Lox, Shiv, Cyrus, and Hennan venture on well into the evening.
“Wait here, I’m going to check our barring,” Shiv declares, followed by a short incantation, and then suddenly levitating up and out of the bog. Her swamp stained robes drip, while rising up above the trees, and clouds. “Nothing but clouds!” she says to herself. “Where does it end?”
“Well, if we don’t find Kivari soon, I say we comeback later”, Cyrus says to the others, removing some jerked meat from his satchel. Hennan looks to Cyrus, “I will not give up, we maybe lost, but my loyalty is not! I will find Kivari if it’s the last thing I do… What’s that? Hennan, eyes narrow upon a small shiny object lying harmlessly on a bed of weeds, near a copse of small trees and stiff vines. Cyrus draws his axe more out of habit then of caution.
“It looks like Kivari’s holy symbol”, he states as he walks closer for a better inspection.
Shiv slowly descends from the clouds above, landing quietly behind Shikamaru, “be careful, something’s not right about that plant.”
Rising above Shikamaru the vines spout out from its docile arrangement among the small trees and bushes, and wheels about then slamming and binding Shikamaru waist, arms and leg. “Oh, crap it has me pinned”, Shikamaru yells out.
Cyrus charges, “I gotcha,” and swings his axes high in the air and coming down hard on a few of its razor sharp tendrils! Lox rushes to the side some thirty paces away, hoping for a clear shot with his crossbow, “this might be hard with Shikamaru wailing away like that”.
Hennan roars forward sword held up high above his head and coming down hard right on top a thick nest of vines, white cream spewing out from his deadly blow.
The two large plants writhe tighter around Shikamaru’s body, his blood rolling down its sharp tendrils. Shikamaru’s eyes fill with red, “I don’t think I can take any more, it’s too strong”, he gurgle and coughs up blood.
Unexpectedly a blast of heating energy waves past between Hennan and Cyrus and the creature reels back in pain, loosing up its grip on Shikamaru. The energy, a pulsing yellow, forms in a vague shape of a glaive, and is held by Shiv. Taking advantage of its loose grip, Shikamaru tries break free, the vain his forehead pulses, but gasps in defeat. “I can’t get out!”
Hennan and Cyrus slash at one of the plant beast, the leafy vines plunge into the swamp with all their blows, finally losing it’s grip on Shikamaru. The remaining creature, shakes from its roots, and pulls itself from the swampy ground, and shifts back, into the bog water all the while clutching Shikamaru within its vines. Hennan and Cyrus both see it drop its guard momentarily and swing again, causing telling blows to its tendrils and more of its milky blood sprays into the air.
“This is a waste, I can’t get a clear shot”, Lox swears, and moves again hoping for a better view.
Shiv takes another wide arcing swing and connecting right on top of the plant beast’s epicenter, almost completely chopping it in half. Shikamaru falls to the ground, clutching his stomach, “I can’t breathe.” He reaches back over this shoulder and unlatches his chest plate in hopes that he can breathe easer. “Oh, man that was close”, he spits the last of the blood from his mouth.
Cyrus’ boot stomps on the cultivated ground where Kivari’s symbol was, “it was an illusion”, finally swallowing the last of his rations.
“If we don’t find this Kivari fellow by tomorrow, lets leave this swamp and try again later”, Shiv announces to the others.

♀

May 14th, 758cy

“My chest! It hurts, I can’t bre…” The militiaman falls to the flagstone ground, clutching his chest and eyes rolled up into the back of his head. “What in the hells”, the young boy shrieks, and scampers back, tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground, head hitting hard on the stone floor, then blackness.
“Free me now, free me now, I must be present upon my lords arrival. I DEMAND IT!” Amad roars from behind his cell walls. “John you have an obligation to me, you need me!” his voice echoes in the dungeon levels of the guard tower.

♀

Lox gently caresses a Fox tail plant, quietly in deep thought, as if reliving a moment in his past. Thoughts of his elven home swells in his eyes, then shakes his head and wipes his face with his sleeved arm after seeing Shikamaru arise from his slumber. “There’s some sun today”, Lox says to Shikamaru with a slight hint of sorrow. “I should be happy, but I’m not sure why I’m not”. Shikamaru stands to his feet, and digs through his bag and pulls out some rations. Hennan, Shiv and Cyrus awake to a clear morning, few clouds roll overhead, yet the sun has not crested the mountain valley, “the days seems short in this land” Shiv says, thinking aloud. “When the sun rises up over those mountains to the east and then falls to the other side of those mountains in the west we seem to maybe have five hours of true light, the rest are shadows and then the darkness of night”, she further explains. “No wonder why we have so much over cast, the clouds get trapped between the mountains in this valley, and with no wind the clouds stay overhead.”
Hennan replies, “It’s always been like that in Barovia, nothing will change that”, he starts to don his grimy plate armor. “Well today is an omen. We find Kivari today”.

♀

The party gathers up their gear and trek further south, through the Ivlis Marsh during most of the morning. In the distance arise the willow trees and shrubs are an old leaning stone wall protruding out of the bog. Slime, vines and fringed water lilies grow up and around the fallen building parapet. The roof had long been ruined and same with the doors and windows, only what remains is three walls. “This looks like an old guard shack of some kind”, Shiv whispers to the others. Hennan and Cyrus spread out to the south and Shiv, Lox and Shikamaru head to the north side of the small building. From behind the short wall is a motionless figure donned in banded mail armor, too rusted to be any real use. The purple bud of the water mint grows around the fallen warrior and a vine covered long spear still protrudes through its chest. Gold inlayed yet rusted open face helmet still raps the warrior skull face, “hmm… the helmet is magical”, Shiv announces, then pulling the helmet loose from the warrior.
“I don’t recognize his armor style. Maybe he from the village further south”, Hennan says, poking at the banded mail with his sword.

♀

Tired, exhausted, the party continues to trek through the Ivlis marsh. The smell of decaying trees and molding stagnant bog water fills the air. Harassing, insect buzz about, Cyrus, in vain swings his hand to slay the annoying creature, but it flies off only to land on Lox’s shoulder. Suddenly, Hennan stops in his tracks, glancing around realizing that he is surrounded by quicksand.
“Don’t worry, I have a rope here in my bag, just give me a second”, Shikamaru says calmly. Hennan now waist deep, Shikamaru tosses the rope, “this is not good. I’m sinking like a rock!” Cyrus and Shikamaru take a strong grip and pull Hennan out of the sickly quicksand mud. “Thanks, well I suppose creatures aren’t the only problem in these lands.” Hennan states while moping off the mud from his face and chest.
“Well lets continue on and watch our step around here”, Cyrus proclaims.

♀

The sun plunges beneath the western mountain range and shadows slither up upon the land, and as if on cue, mist steadily rolls in atop the Ivlis Marsh. For the good portion of the day, the band had been wading through knee high bog water, with no hard land around. Burning through the mist, in the distance is a low smoldering camp fire. A large silhouette figure, the size of a stout tree, sits relaxed atop a stony outcropping. Another figure, mostly nude save for a tattered loin cloth lays a bloodied heap a sword reach away from the awesome beast.
This beast, which stands roughly 9 feet in height, seems to be either a more evolved troll or a bestial giant. Its arms hang low, and end in vicious talons; its jaw, although not as distended as a troll’s, is long and filled with jagged teeth. Its flesh is the dull tan of a weather-beaten human’s, however, and its eyes gleam with a malicious intelligence. It growls lowly, “Come closer and let me take a look at you”, it bellows to the party that approaches. The beast leans down and picks up the body by the bounded arms and places it around his neck like a enormous medallion, revealing a glimpse of Kivari’s bruised face.
“Kivari”, Hennan yells. “Kivari, where here, we found you”, he pulls his sword and charges forward. Cyrus and Shikamaru follow shortly behind.
His swollen eye slightly opens as he hears his name called, followed by a crack of a smile, “Hennan”, Kivari manages to say, then passes out.
“Here, I think belongs to you”, the beast shouts, then unhinges Kivari and tosses him towards the party. Like a ragged doll, he flies threw the air and lands at the crest of Cyrus’ feat, swamp water splashes in all directions. “The Lord of the Castle, give him to you”.
“We can take him”, Shikamaru proclaims, brandishing his sword and closing in on the beast.
“No, let’s get out of here, maybe some other time”, Lox replies. Shiv takes a step back, “Yeah, I agree”.
Shikamaru, Lox, Hennan, Cyrus, Shiv and Kivari, leave and head north and traveling for the most part of the night.

♀

May 15th, 758cy

“Your going to help me Ireena or your brother will die”, the cloaked figure grasps Ireena’s wrist firmly. “You will help me release Amad from the Guard Tower”.
Ireena winces in pain, “wait a minute, I know that voice… Sir John!? What is this place? Where are we?”
Sir John throws back his cowl from his head, “yes, It does not matter. The fact is Amad it to be hanged tonight and you will help me free him as he is escorted to the gallows”.
“I have no authority to do that”, she pulls in vain on her arm, but only is welcomed by a stronger hold.
“Look here wench, all I have to do is say the word and my assassin will end his life”.
“Fine, I’ll help you”, she lies.
Sir John releases her arm, and turns away to walk to the cell door. “You will take these papers to Sir Rommel the new Captain of Arms, and demand to release Amad under your protection while you escort him to the gallows. Of course he will have his own militia with you while you take him there, I’ll deal with that. What I want you to do is take the east route out of Barovia. Just before you leave, I will have my men intercept. All you have to do is flee. If everything goes well, your brother will not be harmed.” He looks back at Ireena, “I promise”, then smiles and walks out of the chamber door. A guardsman slams the door behind him with a loud clang.

♀
May 16th, 758cy

“Finally, no more sloshing, foul smelling, bug infested, tainted, hellish swamp”, Lox whips his forehead in a sigh of relief. “Hills, oh I love hard ground”, he continues.
“Yeah, lets get to Barovia and recover”, Kivari adds. “We are all completely exhausted”.
“Before we go on, I need to talk to you Kivari”, Shikamaru exclaims, pulling out a gilded ebony scroll case. “Here read this”.
Kivari opens the case and reads the letter from Count Strahd Von Zarovich:

Barovian Light Bearers,

Heroes of Barovia, I bid your party good tidings and a resolution. For we now have a common enemy. Although you may not be familiar with him, he does of you. Chernavog a demon prince from the Abyss has a sturdy following here in my beloved land and threatens all that we know and love. I identify you have threatened my existence as of late, that can be put to the side, for we must cooperate to stop the Witches of Lysaga Hills in summoning this demon to my domain. He will lay waist to my land, causing chaos that I will not be able to control. I cannot stop them alone, but together we will be able to.
Investigate the Witches conclave and stop the summoning when the full moon is at its highest. The witches’ conclave is difficult to find, but my spies revealed to me that Sir John works with the witches and knows where they gather. He will need to be coerced in reveling to you their location.
You have until the night of the 23rd of May. If you are not successful in stopping the witches before there summoning, see me at my castle to discus the plans on destroying this Aspect of Chernavog.

Count Strahd Von Zarovich
May 8th, 758 CY