Session 10 - Pies, a Stolen Diary & the Vistani of Vallaki

Players: Reyna, Lyasra, Cassandra, Theren, Gaille (Cassandra’s player joining from abroad; Ireena present as NPC)

Recap established at the table (events between Sessions 9 and 10, not otherwise logged):

The party sent Ludmilla’s lumber stockpile to the village of Barovia so it could build barricades.
Eliza slipped away around noon and couldn’t be tracked. The party suspects she was a spy. (GM-confirmed, unknown to the party: she is Strahd’s spy and went to Castle Ravenloft.)
Michelle noted Reyna distinctly knows Ludmilla is not dead.
Theren’s coin purse is empty. All his gold went missing around the time he left his bag behind and stormed off after being told his sister could be trapped forever. He’d been told earlier that nothing was missing. He suspects Reyna. (GM-confirmed: the rest of the party stole it while he was sleeping with Eliza after storming off. Theren doesn’t know who took it.)

Summary:

Afternoon, after a short rest past the crossroads, the party headed north toward Vallaki on the main road. Ireena explained that the old Durst mill was sold after the Dursts died and is now a bakery famous for “fluffy, dreamy pastries.”
On the road they met Morgantha and her granddaughter Elaine, pushing a cart. Elaine was theatrically reading a diary aloud, mocking its final entry (the mirror, sallow skin, worms in her eyes, “I must claw them out!”), then shook the book until pages fell out. Gaille gathered the loose pages with Mage Hand.
Reyna’s stare frightened Elaine (her background feature). Morgantha sold the party all seven of her remaining pies; Reyna paid 7 gp. Lycius ate a cheese pie, became blissfully sedated and fell asleep. Reyna pointedly did not eat one; the party now suspects the pies are drugs.
Morgantha’s information:
- Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich distrusts travelers, especially Barovians, believing them vampire spawn.
- Barovian refugees camp outside the gates, and Vallakian “profiteering vultures” are robbing them.
- The gates have been closed for several moons, but may open for a festival of happiness in a few days, where she’ll vend.
- Vargas is a coward who talks big.
- His “attack dog” Izek has a mangled arm, casts spells, and has set Barovians who opposed the Burgomaster on fire.
She sells outside the gates every other day and can enter as a vendor. Her mill is southwest, hidden in the trees. She left quickly after the sale.
Reyna traded Elaine four pieces of candy for the diary (in Common). Read in play: a young noblewoman married Victor Volokovich after meeting him twice. He proved cold and rude, and the manor is lonely, with screaming and “a weird big dog.” Her mother stopped answering her letters, she can’t leave, and she began seeing shadows and feeling worms under her skin. Ireena identified the writer as Stella Watcher, married to Victor several months ago and not seen since. Reyna wants to go in and rescue her.
The party saw Lake Zarovich up close for the first time: huge, perfectly still and dark, mirroring the black clouds, no birdsong. Cassandra drew the Executioner (upright).
At dusk they skirted Vallaki’s gates through the forest, past the refugee camp’s fires, and walked about an hour southwest to the Vistani camp Madam Eva had marked: low houses built into a hill, a ring of wagons, and a large central tent smelling of wine and horses.
They remembered Madam Eva’s request: deliver a birthday letter and money to her granddaughter Arabelle, and buy her a doll in town. Theren carries the letter. The party refused to give the child Belinda.
Inside the tent, Luvash was whipping Alexei, tied to the tent post, for losing Luvash’s seven-year-old daughter Arabelle in Vallaki. Theren rushed in and talked him down (inspiration awarded for the roleplay).
Arrigal, Luvash’s companion, liked Theren’s quip that you find the child first, then burn the village for what it did to her.
Luvash apologized and welcomed them as “the Vistani of Vallaki,” inviting them to break bread.
Kasimir was at the meal. He was instantly drawn to Gaille, and they bonded over the Amber Temple. When he touched her amber charm, it flickered and turned more yellow for the first time. He asked to speak with her privately later.
Cassandra, delighted, drew the Ten of Stars (Wizard) about the pair. Her d100 accuracy roll (65) told her the reading felt appropriate.
Reyna went separately to the refugee camp. She learned that vampires are harrying the refugees, the Vallakians also fear vampires, and people are still being burned, kidnapped and robbed. She returned and broke up the “dating show.”
Luvash’s account: today is Arabelle’s 7th birthday. Alexei took her to the Vallaki marketplace to buy a doll at Blinsky’s toy shop, looked away around 9 a.m., and she was gone. He searched until 3 p.m. without finding her. Lyasra noted it was the same day Eliza vanished, though Eliza disappeared around noon.
Getting in: the Vistani have an arrangement with Vargas. They don’t meddle with him, and they may enter if they keep safe and do the proper rites. In practice it depends which guards are on duty. Curfew had passed, so entry would have to wait until morning. The Vistani offered contacts for a night excursion.
Session ended at night, without a long rest. The party was weighing a small-group night excursion into Vallaki against resting until morning.

Key revelations & consequences:

Stella Watcher’s diary is now in the party’s hands, giving them a concrete lead into the Volokovich manor and Victor.
Arabelle is canonically missing in Vallaki, taken from the marketplace on her birthday. This partly resolves Arabelle (undecided) (where she is) but not who took her or why.
Izek’s fire magic and the burning of Barovians are now known to the party, through Morgantha and the refugees.
The Vistani of Vallaki have a working (bribable) entry arrangement with Vargas.
Gaille’s amber charm reacted to Kasimir: the first sign it responds to anyone.
Cassandra’s Tarokka readings now carry a d100 “does this feel true” check.

Key NPCs established/developed:

Morgantha and Elaine (see NPCs)
Luvash, Arrigal, Alexei and Arabelle (new; see NPCs)
Kasimir Velikov (first met)
Ireena: confirmed Stella’s identity; stayed at Gaille’s side through Kasimir’s attention. “She’s a girl’s girl.”

Open threads:

Where is Arabelle, and who took her? Is her disappearance connected to Eliza’s the same day? (Eliza went to Castle Ravenloft; whether she had anything to do with Arabelle is open.)
Rescue Stella from the Volokovich manor? Reyna’s plan: bribe the guards, rescue Stella, take back what was stolen from the Barovians.
Night excursion into Vallaki or long rest first?
Kasimir’s private conversation with Gaille, and why the amber reacted to him.
Theren’s missing gold: the party stole it (GM-confirmed). Will he find out?
What do the Executioner and Ten of Stars readings mean?
The birthday letter and money for Arabelle (Theren), and the doll from Blinsky’s.
The pies: what’s in them, and what happens to those who eat them? Lycius is still asleep.

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