[5e] Curse of Strahd - UA playtest IC

[tieren]

The rest of you miss your opportunity attacks as the beasts slip away into the fog.

You are left alone in the clearing, the hollow beneath the fallen tree about 15 feet to your north east. In the distance you hear wolf cries answering one another.

[Lord Ruby34]

"We need to hurry, those children are in danger, and every minute we wait lessens their chances of survival. As she speaks Marcia wipes the blood from her rapier and sheathes it. "Beiro, we should begin tracking the lycanthrope immediately. We're less than a minute behind it if we act now." She chambers another round in her thunder cannon and hurries toward the overturned stump, beginning to look for tracks.

[Ramsus]

Beiro looks at the haggard group somewhat warily, then looks for the tracks as requested.

Spoiler

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Survival: (1d20+5)[14]
advantage: (1d20+5)[17]

[tieren]

You easily spot the fresh tracks of the werewolf you saw carry the small children off to the east.

The night is dark and the fog is thick.

[Kwaj]

"Kelemvor spare these two," Sandu whispers as he murmurs a healing prayer over Marcia and Zap! "Their time is not yet come."

He casts an uneasy glimpse into the dark woods. "We should follow those children, before the trail grows cold."

Spoiler

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Sandu is casting cure wounds on both Marcia and Zap! with a first level slot each.

Healing Marcia: (1d8+3)[11]
Healing Zap!: (1d8+3)[4]

[Lord Ruby34]

As Sandu heals her and Zap!, Beiro begins to follow the tracks, and the rest of her companions prepare themselves Marcia takes a look at the base of the overturned tree.

Spoiler: Rolls

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Investigation: (1d20+5)[12]

[tieren]

Marcia looks into the hollow at the base of the tree and sees what is likely the wolves den.

There are two bundles of clothes, that appear to be simple peasant garb in greys and blues. One of men's clothing and one of woman's clothing.

At the back of the den she sees a wooden box with a hinged lid, not a chest though, more like a toolbox. On the ground besides the box are a couple of children's toys, broken and chewed.

[Lord Ruby34]

Marcia takes two steps forward and opens the box.

[tieren]

Inside Marcia finds a bag with 60 copper coins and 4 gold pieces, 3 gold wedding rings (worth 2 gp each), and simple steel chain necklace with an amber pendant (worth 5 gp).

Beneath the bag is a fine woolen cloak of uncommon quality.

[Lord Ruby34]

Marcia tosses the bag and cloak in her pack for later sorting and returns to helping Beiro follow the tracks, muttering about "uncommon accommodations" and "...the effect of natural lycanthropy on childhood development..."

[Kwaj]

"They were children," Sandu says as they follow the tracks further into the wood. It is too dark to properly tell, but the others think they can see a pained look on his face. "The were took a pair of children. And those rings...was this a family? Is it still? We killed one of them..."

[tieren]

A few hundred feet from the clearing the barefoot humanoid tracks resume and the bestial tracks are less pronounced. It's been a few minutes since the last time you heard any sign of the wolves.

The tracks lead off to the north and east, but the elevation is rising slightly and the ground is rockier. You do not appear to be following the game trail any longer and dead branches continually reach out of the fog to slow your progress as does underbrush and gnarled roots.

[Lord Ruby34]

"The children haven't turned tonight, and have so far been unharmed. It is likely that the parents were turned recently, and while they have been spreading death and destruction over the area they retain just enough control over their base instincts to protect their own offspring, at least for now." Marcia takes her eyes off the tracks leading deeper into the forest. "There is no data that suggests how long that state of affairs will last. It could hold forever... or only for minutes longer before their minds deteriorate completely. In either event we do not posses the resources to cur them of their affliction, and for the good of everyone nearby, those two children, and the shattered souls of their parents we have a duty to pursue them and stop them from hurting or killing anybody else." Memories of her own parents sacrifice lend a melancholy undercurrent to Marcia's words. "I have no doubt that if the parents were still of sound mind, they would agree."

Spoiler: Timing

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Pretend my post is above tieren's and a direct response to Sandu. I was typing at the same time he was.

[Ramsus]

Beiro gives a sad sounding affirmative grunt in reply.

[Kwaj]

"Damn this fog," Sandu mutters, using his spear as a walking stick on the increasingly steep
path. He scans the foggy night for any further sign of danger.

Spoiler

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Perception to check for danger (1d20+5)[13]

[Thematthew]

Andrei mostly mutters about wolves and needing a breather as he waits for the rest of the group to decide what to do.

[tieren]

The tracks lead on to the top of a flat boulder on top of a low rise. No one in the party is able to see where the tracks pick up again, it is as if they just disappearred into the fog.

The ground has been growing more steep and you believe you are near the top of a small hill, but still can't see more than 20-30 feet in any direction.

Nothing about the terrain you have been covering seems right from what you observed about the terrain from way back at the farm. It almost feels like you are climbing a low mountain pass but there shouldn't have been anything like that around for days worth of travel.

You are lost, this is particularly troubling to Marcia who was fairly certain she couldn't get lost.

From all around you, in nearly every direction you hear the cries of pirates "CCCUURRRSSSEEEED".

[Kwaj]

"Three times," Sandu says, and to the others' surprise he visibly shudders. An old, old peasant's superstition rises in his memory. "We've been warned. This place is cursed. Twice we've been warned. Third time is last."

[tieren]

You hear screams from the direction you assume is north.

It is not constant, you hear a shriek, then a pause, then shrieks for a minute, then another pause, etc...

Spoiler: An aside

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Your characters don't have anyway of knowing this without discussing it with each other, but you each hear screams that sound as if they were made by a member of your particular race.

This is especially troubling for Zap!, who doesn't hear a mimicry of a scream but a visceral guttural vocalization of pain, suffering, and lament from another kenku.

[cobaltstarfire]

Zap! repeats the CCCUURRRSSSEEEED then adds a few quizzical chirps, tilting her head from side to side looking around.

"Howcome?!" she says in the irritated voice of a small boy.

[Ramsus]

Beiro rushes off in the direction of the screams at the first one, convinced one of his people is in danger. Something he's seen enough of for this life.

[Lord Ruby34]

Marcia dashes after him, hissing "Biero, the children have to be our priority! If you would hold for a minute I can reorient myself and we will soon be on their trail once more!"

[Ramsus]

Beiro doesn't respond and just keeps running as lycanthrope children in the custody of their parents are not a priority for him over his own people currently in danger.

[tieren]

As you stumble forward the fog gets thicker and thicker until all visibility is lost. Shortly thereafter you emerge from a bank of fog into an area of relative clearness. Before you lies a muddy roadway. Giant trees loom on both sides of the road.

Behind you the fog spills out of the forest swallowing up the road.

The shrieks are coming from the darkness a little further up the road. As you get closer you see huge stone buttresses looming grey in the night. Huge iron gates hang on the stonework. Dew clings with cold tenacity to the rusted bars. Two headless statues of armed guardians flank the gate, their heads now lying among the weeds at their feet.

The gate on the right is slowly swaying on its ancient hinges, as if in a breeze you do not feel. With every sway the hinges emit another shriek, sounding unmistakable to you as a scream of a member of your race.

The road continues on past the gate into the dark forest.

[Ramsus]

Beiro stops when he sees the gate and looks at it in confusion. That is not a normal gate noise at all.

[Lord Ruby34]

"We must have stepped though a portal...transpatial or transdeminsional...How? A curse? An attribute of the fog? No. It had to be a confluence of factors that resulted in our transposition. But where are we? Could it be? Marcia stopped and wondered at the massive gate.

Spoiler: Rolls

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History to identify the gate, assuming it can be identified: (1d20+5)[10]

[tieren]

Marcia doesn't recall anything about the history of the gate.

She vaguely recalls an old folktale about gypsies stealing children in the night, but she can't seem to get the details right nor does she know why she is thinking of it now.

[Kwaj]

"This gate is ill-opened," Sandu says, making a gesture to ward off evil, "But I like this fog even less."

He very slowly pushes the gate open.

[Ramsus]

Beiro huffs a bit, having just run for quite a distance not long after a fight. "Mayhaps" *huff* "we could rest a bit before" *huff* "proceeding through to whatever lies beyond such a" *huff" "dark omened portal?"

((Taking a short rest now might be a good idea.))

[Lord Ruby34]

"Considering the oddity of the location... I believe we have already failed to rescue the children. I can no longer find the tracks, and we are isolated in a strange area. Taking a break to catch our breath before proceeding seems prudent.