Party 4

[Cravingpages]

Juniper's admiration of the engraved sign was cut short by two figures in the shop. She watches as some brute threatens the other. Her eyes narrow as he walks away leaving a terrified man behind the counter.

Juniper listens to him intently wondering what he could possibly say to her. As the words leave his mouth Juniper sighs. She let's out a humorless laugh. Anger fills her eyes and her smile becomes dangerous.
Is he serious? Screw this guy. How dare he speak to me like a child.
"I'll have you know that you are being very foolish to think I am a child. But a thought like that is what is expected to come from a simpleminded man."
Still keeping her smile, Juniper steps to the side. "Now I would love to continue my day. May your day be as pleasurable as our little chat."

 

[Cravingpages]

What an imbecile. Kiddo? He must only have half a brain.
Anger begins to swell in every inch of her small body. As fast as it appears it disappears at the sight of fire flickering from his fingertips. Juniper lets out a small gasp. Her eyes grow wide. She watches the flame dance above his fingertips begging to be released. He's threatening me. She tries to take a step back but her feet are rooted to the ground. She hates herself for being so fearful. Her eye dart to the man behind the counter and back to Izek. Finding her confidence she squares her shoulders and produces a smug look on her face. She knew her eyes would tell a different story. As Izek walks away, Juniper lets out a long breath. He is no good. I don't like bullies.

Juniper is torn from her thoughts as Blinsky begins to speak.
"How do you do? I just wanted to look around. Maybe find some interesting trinkets. But I wasn't expecting to find that." She points to Izek, as he walks away. "What's his deal? Why is he such an ass?"

 

[Ash-6116]

Waking up the next morning in the tavern, Arinthia almost did not want to get out of bed. The pillow was comfy, the mattress was soft and the wool blanket was warm. Still, Arinthia had a niggling feeling as if she should be awake. Or at the very least, trying to wake up. Collecting her things together, Arinthia headed down to the tavern to get some breakfast, her tail not wound as tightly as it had been around her leg the night before, though it was still wrapped around her leg as opposed to being left to be behind her.

"Morning Urwin," Arinthia calls, assuming in her still half asleep state that Urwin would be the one to be fixing breakfast that morning, "what's for breakfast?" Arinthia asked with a smile on her face.

 

[GoodTeletubby]

As Ari comes downstairs for her breakfast, Dess tucks the various notes and papers in and closes her spellbook, tucking it away, then unfolds herself from the seat where she's been since finishing her trance in the early morning hours, and taking a seat with the tiefling.

"Morning, Ari. Sleep well? It's been fairly quiet so far this morning. Juni snuck out somewhere earlier, while I've been going over the various notes and clues we've collected so far. Not developing any real extra insights, I'm afraid, but I can't help but come to the conclusion that we should head to Saint Markovia's after we get Urwin his wine. It made for a nice morning, at least."

A smile crosses her face as she reflects on those few hours of just her and her pages.

 

[Ash-6116]

Arinthia smiled to Dess as Dess sat down besides the pale red tiefling, "I slept perfectly thanks, you?" asked Arinthia, figuring that it was a lot safer sleeping inside a building than in a tent on the road or just a sleeping roll in the woods. At least she felt it was, though she wondered if the thing that Ismark and Ireena had said about Strahd being unable to enter a house included being unable to enter a public house such as a tavern.

On hearing that Juniper had already left, Arinthia commented, "That's odd. Hope she's alright." Arinthia didn't think it a good idea to split up, especially if VVV was as dangerous as she already felt it was. Though she did hope Juniper would be back soon and relatively safe.

After a small pause Arinthia added, "How long do you think it'll take to reach Saint Markovia?" She was anxious to perform the task they had already agreed to in exchange for their room and board, but Arinthia also wanted to make sure Ismark and Ireena got to safety.

 

[Holice]

Squinting his eyes as he walked towards the common room, Beldar remembered, as he always does the day after, why he shouldn't drink so much. Rubbing his temples, he thought he noticed Ari just ahead of him, heading to the same place. Looks like she has the same idea I do...breakfast.

As he continues his slow walk into the common room, his head snaps up as he hears that Juni snuck out somewhere. Suddenly wide eyed, he shuffles forward at a much quickened pace to where Dess was sitting. What do you mean Juni snuck out somewhere? Realizing he completely interjected while Ari was talking, I apologize Ari, bad manners are never called for, but does it not worry anyone that one of companions is out alone in a place we still don't truly understand?

 

[Ash-6116]

Arinthia smiled as she realised Beldar was with them. 'Well now that we're all here, if only Juniper is missing that changes things.' thought Arinthia.

"It's okay Beldar, it's understandable," Arinthia said as she thought for a moment, her tail twitching a little in agitation. "I'm worried about Juni too, especially after that corpse she seemed convinced was her hanging from the gallows. But unless she happened to sneak out muttering where she was planning to go..." Arinthia trailed off a little, realising it didn't really matter now that they were all awake and together. "We could go wander the streets together, try and find her now everyone's up." Arinthia suggested, "Should we ask Ismark and Ireena to come with us, or would it be safer for them to stay here do you think?" Arinthia asked, looking to both Dess and Beldar.

 

[Cravingpages]

"Thank you very much for allowing me to purchase this unique little thing Mr. Blinsky." She gives him a pat on the arm and kind smile.

She leans in close enough to whisper, her face bares a solemn expression. "If he threatens you again Mr.Blinsky, I truly would like to know. I am Juniper Redwood. Think of me as a friend."

Juniper decided to head back to the inn to satisfy the grumpy monster known as her stomach.

She walks into the inn with her Strahd puppet on her hand.

"Why are you so grumpy? You know you don't have to be evil Mr. Strahd."
Juniper clears her throat and makes her voice manly.
"Oh Juniper you are so right! You have changed me. I am now Strahd, rainbow king."
She giggles. Noticing her companions gathered together she makes her Strahd puppet wave to them.

"Oh hey! Good you guys are all here. First I need to feed the monster inside of me and seriously tell you about the events that are unfolding."

After eating Juniper looks around the inn making sure the wrong people weren't around. She tells them the events of last night and this morning in a whisper.

"So last night I met this half-elf named Rictavio who was also brought here by the mist. He told me he had a pet monkey but he really has some kind of giant monster in his circus cart that has an appetite for vistani flesh."
She darts her eyes around the room again.
"And then I met this terrible fellow at the toy shop. His name is Izek Strazni, the right arm of the burgomaster. Oh and his literal right arm is extremely creepy. He was at the toy shop because he had Mr. Blinsky make him a doll. You guys this freaking doll looks like Ireena. There's no doubt about it."

She inhales and exhales deeply.

"Oh and I bought this little guy." She shakes the puppet on her hand.

 

[Ash-6116]

Arinitha smiled as Juniper walked back in, with a small puppet in tow, "Well, I guess that solves that issue." Arinthia said to Beldar, her tail coiling and uncoiling around her left leg as she felt both relief that Juniper was unharmed and a little agitated. She could see Beldar's point, anything could have happened to Juniper and none of them would've been any the wiser.

Arinthia's agitation only grew as she heard about Juniper's discoveries, realising that Juniper might be lucky to be alive. Hearing about the Ireena doll gave Arinthia pause, 'Did someone know that Ireena and Ismark were on their way here?'

"Juni, this doll Izek is having made - did you get a good look at it?" Arinthia asked, trying to work out how long Ireena had been of interest to Izek Strazni. "We should probably let Ismark know - if someone's commissioning a puppet of his sister they might just decide to snatch Ireena while she's here."

 

[Cravingpages]

"Yeah, I definitely got a good look at it. It was like Ireena's twin. It was very uncomfortable to look at. And hey I am all for Ireena finding love but Izek is beyond terrible. If he has some obsession with her then shes in danger."
Juniper pauses. Her eyes a little glazed over in thought.
"I watched flames dance on his finger tips. He's not a good guy."
She doesn't think her friends will understand what she means but it's really the only way she can describe the encounter. Izek scares her. He is a different kind of monster.

 

[Ash-6116]

Arinthia nodded her head in agreement with Ismark, slowly wrapping her tail in a corkscrew around her left leg once more. The young tiefling was surprised that Ireena could manage a smile after being told that some creep had commissioned a doll of her. Arinthia glanced to Juniper. "Juni - am I right in thinking from what you've said that this puppet isn't finished yet and hasn't been handed over to its - intended recipient?" asked the rogue, a small plan forming in the back of her mind. "I think we should do the winery as we agreed with Urwin then head to the abbey." Arinthia said, "Just my two coppers on the topic."

'The existence of the doll is beyond creepy - who knows if this Izek will just keep the doll or if he'll eventually go after Ireena.' thought the young tiefling to herself.

"Juni, if we can't leave town today - could you show me where the toy shop is?" Arinthia asked, a plan forming in her mind to potentially give Izek the shock of his life and make sure he never thought about coming after Ireena or Ismark.

 

[Ash-6116]

Walking alongside the hunters, Arinthia kept her eyes open and her magic to herself. The walk along the roads frightened Arinthia a little because of the mist that seemed to shroud everything just feet from the roadside. Arinthia's tail wound ever tighter around her left leg and she huddled closer to Beldar, Juniper and Dess as they walked.

When the group reached the vineyard, the ghostly forms of the fog make Arinthia feel a little creeped out, though seeing someone beckoning them gave Arinthia pause. She wondered if maybe this was one of Urwin's relatives. She walked a little further forward. "Hail there," Arinthia said quietly once she was fifteen feet away from the figure, unwilling to go any nearer but close enough she didn't have to shout for the whole valley to here, "Is this your vineyard?"

 

[Cravingpages]

Juniper commits the path to the vineyard to memory making sure to notice the little things. As the journey continues Juniper holds one way conversations with Monte and her Strahd puppet.
She takes notice of the mist that drifts beneath her feet. Her body is tense. Memories of her dead corpse creeps through her mind.



"Well, you are in luck. Your son sent us here to make sure everything was okay. You speak of dark druids? Are they the reason you are out here hiding in the brush?"

She steps toward the figures trying to get a closer look at the company infront of her.

 

[Ash-6116]

As Davian introduced them to the members of his family, Arinthia gave them each a respectful smile and a nod of her head, her red hair blowing slightly. Unwinding her tail from her left leg, Arinthia realised how tense she was with how cramped her leg felt. 'I really need to stop wrapping my tail around here,' thought the young woman, 'with how eerie this place is I could break my leg if I keep doing that.'

Hearing Davian's problems, Arinthia had no hesitation in asking more about the situation. With children involved, Arinthia felt that the problem was something to be dealt with swiftly. As she thought about children, she remembered Duchess Morwen's request. 'I hope - I hope the others were able to save that young woman,' thought Arinthia sadly.

"How many plants did they have?" asked Arinthia, trying to get an idea in her mind of the numbers involved and figuring it was information Beldar, Dess and Juniper would want to know as well. "Don't worry," said Arinthia to Davian as she knelt down so she was eye level with the children, "My friends and I will keep you safe." she smiled, "I'm Arinthia Locksly," Arinthia said, figuring the others would introduce themselves in their own time.

 

[Cravingpages]

After Ari introduces herself Juniper does the same. "I am Juniper Redwood and my friend is right. We will do everything in our power to keep your family safe." She gives the children a kind smile.
"Owe! Okay okay." Monte bites Juniper's ear waiting to be introduced. "And this pain in my... this is Monte." She holds Monte up to the children. Monte does a little twirl in her hand. "Oh! I have an idea." She looks towards the children, "do you think you can look after him, so we can go beat the bad guys up? I love Monte dearly and I think you all can keep him safe."

Not having Monte by her side makes her heart race with anxiety, but the children need a distraction.

 

[Ash-6116]

As the children fawned over Monty, Arinthia looked to the group as she re-purposed the idea in her mind that she'd had for Izek. Walking a little closer to her friends, Arinthia said in a hushed voice, "So, I heard about this magic from this rogue-sih type who visited my mother's shop once. he had the ability to alter his appearance to look like anyone he'd seen. Could even do it if you gave a reasonable description too." Arinthia whispered, "I think - I might be able to pull off the same feat. A little while after our fight with the scarecrows, I felt a sudden rush, similar to how I feel after using something I was born with." Looking to her friends, Arinthia explained, "These druids work for the devil Strahd - if I knew what he looked like I could try and impersonate him."

 

[Holice]

Seeing happiness in the children, Beldar smiled to himself. A happy child always seemed to make him believe that things would be ok.

But his smile quickly faded to as Arinthia explained her idea. "Ari, while I do not doubt in your abilities, I must tell you that having spent years with druids, convincing them you are someone you are not is no easy task. On top of the their abilities with magic, these evil druids could ask you to partake in something that no good soul should ever consider. I simply do not know if the risk of your life is worth any reward we would gain by sending you in there alone."

"That does not mean I am not willing to help you Davian," Beldar continues as he shifts his gaze, "but we should ensure we take the utmost care with our planning, and if this leads to violence, that we are prepared to face the threat."

 

[Ash-6116]

Arinthia listened carefully to Beldar's advice, aware that the last time the group had fought, it had ended with Beldar unconscious. With how dangerous it seemed to be, Arinthia did not fancy seeing any of her friends unconscious during or after a battle ever again. She was curious what sort of magic the druids had, aside from being able to control plants with a staff, although it was more a curiosity than anything. Arinthia was certainly not prepared to risk her soul for such knowledge.

'Let's see,' though the red headed tiefling, rubbing her chin and tapping her left shin with her tail as she thought, 'if trying to pretend to be someone and just asking them to hand it over is out, and we don't just want to run in swords and bows...' Arinthia realised this was one of the times her mother had taught her about, during the nights after a training session of trying to creep across the shop floor without tripping over anything or making enough noise to be caught and lighting a single candle, or as her mother had termed it 'sneaking lessons'. When it was justifiable to use her skills to deprive someone of their property.

"Any ideas where these druids gather? Surely they have to sleep sometime?" suggested Arinthia, "Perhaps we could observe them from a distance and if we see an opening sneak in and snatch the staff?"

 

[Holice]

Letting out a long held breath, Beldar nodded towards Ari.

"Yes, patience and opportunity. Two things I value very much. If we can learn of the area around these druids, surely we can find a vantage point for you to measure your options if stealth is our agreed upon path."

 

[Ash-6116]

Heading further into the area, Arinthia moved carefully, trying not to stand out amongst her surroundings too much. Which, considering her hair was bright red, her tail matched and her horns and cloak were a dark burgundy was a trick in and of itself. Seeing a building surrounded by walking plants, Arinthia found somewhere to sit in the bushes where she could see and try to avoid being seen. Keeping her breathing shallow, Arinthia looked carefully for a few minutes without saying a word, trying to pick up on the subtle differences between each walking plant, studying their movements. Looking for anything she could use to identify individual plants in an effort to count them. After a while, Arinthia had picked up on enough small differences in movement or in the way the plants leaves were that she could count them off.

"Thirty walking plants outside," whispered Arinthia as she started looking at the windows, trying to relay what she could see to Beldar, Dess and Juniper as well as Ismark and Ireena. "There's a woman on the ground floor pouring seeds into a vat and a few more of those creepy plant things." Looking up, Arinthia had to stand up a little to get a good view. "A woman and a man upstairs with two more walking plants. The man's got that staff that Davian mentioned." Arinthia crouched back down, confident that she hadn't been seen. "That's - quite a number."

 

[Holice]

As the others approached and entered the building, Beldar held back charging in. Why did they go in there? What are they planning? This is not safe.....

Struggling with his thoughts, Beldar looked back towards the building to see no one there. You Dolt! he says aloud before catching himself and looking around to make sure no one else heard that. How long were you day dreaming standing here alone? What if someone is hurt....or worse?

With a stern look, he takes off towards the building and rushes inside, but oddly enough, there is no commotion or aggressors? When he finally arrives near Dess, who appeared to have just finished casting a spell, he sees that she managed to get the druid leader to drop his staff. Surmizing that the staff is an instrument of evil, he quietly whispers, We need to destroy that. Hoping Dess knew exactly what he meant by "that".

 

[Ash-6116]

Realising that with the sheer numbers coming towards them they stood no chance, Arinthia took a few slow, steadying breaths as she remembered some of her mother's stories. Of the times Sildawna and her group of friends had had no other option but to fight. Arinthia ran through her options in her mind.

'Can't run, can't hide. Can't get behind them. Only option is attacking head on or at range.' sighed the rogue as she summoned up some of her arcane energy, 'This isn't work so great against the scarecrows - maybe it'll work here instead.' thought Arinthia as she flicked her hand out towards the army of plant creatures. Coming out of the palm of her hand was a spectral yellow ball, that grew larger and larger the further it got from Arinthia, arcing into the army of plants until it hit, losing its cohesion and splattering over a large number of them. The sudden sizzling of leaves and stems was music to the rogue's ears as she realised the armies numbers were a little thinner now. Not many dead, but enough that it looked that maybe, just maybe they could turn the tide and push through this.

Seeing the Blights starting to scatter a little, Arinthia figured she could serve as a distraction while her friends pushed into the building. 'Already got their attention, now let's see if I can drive them away.' As Arinthia summoned a different sort of magical energy, her red eyes glowed, getting brighter and brighter as the ground started to shake. 'O-kay, this is terrifying me, can't do it.' thought Arinthia, her eyes quickly dimming back to normal as the ground stopped shaking. It didn't seem to have had any effect whatsoever.

'Well,' thought Arinthia as she dashed towards a tree and jumped up onto a low hanging branch, 'Might as well go with what I know works.' Summoning another ball of arcane energy, Arinthia threw it up, the ball starting the size of a tennis ball as it flew upward, getting larger and larger until Arinthia clicked her fingers, the ball bursting apart and dousing a large number of the plant creatures with another taste of acid splashing over them.

Seeing all of the remaining plant creatures tumble to the ground, Arinthia figured the danger was over. Running into the building, Arinthia sprinted up the stairs and saw one druid left with her friends. "Well, guess we talk to them?" suggested Arinthia, looking to Dess, Beldar and Juniper.

 

[Cravingpages]

Stealth was the only option in getting into the winery without complications. Arinthia said there was at least 30 of those things walking outside. Trying to be sneaky Juniper slowly creeps towards the winery. Moments later she hears the familiar voice of Dess telling her to stand down. Doing so Juniper slowly backs up and Ari follows suit.

As Ari thins the herd of plant creatures Juniper follows Dess toward the winery.
Reaching the doors to the west, Juniper watches as one of the Druids pour some kind of liquid in to the wine barrel. As Dess creeps toward the stair way, Juniper waits patiently. She concentrates on the Druid. Conjunction the voice of Morgantha in a whisper. " You must leave this place. Morgantha has claimed the winery as her own. Leave now or me and my sister shall make you into meat pies!"
Juniper watches the Druid's face twist into fear. I've got you.

Juniper makes her way up the stairs. Her companion leaming over a slumbering Druid. She throws off her pack, pulling out her rope and walks towards the Druid prociding to tie his hands together. "Hey Dess, sorry we had to break.... that. You would have looked really badass handling that thing." She points to the broken staff.

 

[GoodTeletubby]

As Ari unleashes a spray of acid over the wandering bushes' heads, Dess smiles slightly to herself in appreciation.

A distraction is just what is needed here, thanks, Ari.

She pulls the hood of her cloak up over her head, and slides into the underbrush, the mottled grey of the fabric blending in among the shadows of the branches as she steals quietly past the plants and into the side room of the winery. She positions herself out of sight of the interior of the winery, and after a moment going over what seems to be the layout in her mind, she traces a translucent rune in the air, and the muffled sound of knocking comes from near the front door of the winery. Unfortunately, her placement is off, and the knocking is obviously coming from near the front door, but inside the room, serving more to alert the druid that something is up than distract her attention away from the room where she's hiding. As she bites back a curse at her sloppiness, she sees the druid start, and takes advantage of the moment to line up her view with the location of their main target, the staff-bearing figure atop the stable. A quick chant, and her fingers trace a sky blue rune with a more ephemeral appearance than her normal runes, and then a few extra strokes enhances the magic, and just outside the upstairs door, a matching burst of energy pulses, and the figure outside collapses to sleep. As Nadir informs her of her target's collapse from his vantage point above the building, a smile crosses her face, and she heads quickly out to secure the figure.

Got him.

As Beldar and the others arrive, she studies the staff curiously, but at the others' urging, snaps it cleanly in half. While Juniper ties the sleeping druid, she runs her fingers over the pieces, inspecting them, even though their magic has now fled.

"It's okay, Juni, I suspect I would have found it unsuited for my magic, and it is clearly tied somehow to what they were up to. It's still a puzzle I can pick at, just a bit harder one now that it's broken."

She looks down at the now bound druid, who should be coming around momentarily after her magic's minute nap wears off.

"And speaking of puzzles, perhaps this gentleman can enlighten us as to what piece of the puzzle he plays."

She crouches down next to him, and raps him on the head with one half of the staff to start him awake, a slightly wicked grin crossing her lips.

 

[Cravingpages]

"Good morning sunshine. What a predicament we have here. This ritual must have been a really big deal. Gosh that sucks. You know what else just really sucks? Your friends. They just abandoned you. That's gotta hurt. You keep terrible company you know. Anywho, what was your friend pouring into the wine barrels?"