Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #216

 

Who will be Darkon's next Darklord?

 

 

Session 216- A Return to Barovia Part 66; Darkon 3

3/29/2026

• The 2 canoes on the Vuchar River, pursued by Clangor Asylum 

  Patrols, raft together before slipping into a formidable bank of 

  the Shroud.

• Holt prays to Ezra, empowering his Shield of Ezra protective aura 

  over the 2 canoes and crews.

• Switching to the 3 women in Nevuchar Springs, they choose to use 

  the Scrying power of Mother Luba’s Tarokka deck to get a rough idea 

  that the men are traveling by small boats down the Vuchar River that 

  passes by Nevuchar Springs before emptying into the Nocturnal Sea.  

  They decide to go down to the beach and wait to see if they arrive in 

  the next day or so.

• Down on the beach, the 3 find the Shrine of Ezra in an old lighthouse.  

  They meet Toret Lirael Moonshade and she invites them in for tea.  

  She tells them she’s waiting for her friend to arrive from upriver.

• Lirael allows Gugula, Shelby, and Ezmerelda to spend the night in the 

  shrine/tower.  Gugula stays up and sits watch.  She only observes a 

  small craft rowing from the sea into the mouth of the bay and up river.

• Tim, Fecus, and Victor take turns sitting watch on the boat ride down 

  river.  Although the Mist is thick and heavy, nothing emerges from it to 

  deter the canoes on their trip down the river.  The boats arrive at the 

  beach by the Shrine of Ezra and Team Rams are reunited.  They 

  learn a bit about the factions from Holt and Lirael.  Suspicions of 

  Patrina and Strahd are strengthened by info Lirael and Holt share.

• Toret Lirael is also aware that 1 of the party has the potential to 

  become Darkon’s next Darklord.

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #215

 

Who's child is Elyra carrying?

 

 

 

Session 215- A Return to Barovia Part 65; Darkon 2

3/22/2026

• Ezmerelda finds the letter and Tarokka deck from Mother Luba.

• The team in Clangor Asylum decide to escape via sewer tunnels.  

  As they are working through the tunnels, the Abbot speculates 

  that Patrina and Strahd had trapped him at the Asylum.  After 

  travelling in the sewer for a bit they encounter 3 Giant Frogs…

• Back to the trio of Gugula, Shelby, and Ezmerelda; the Blinsky toys 

  in Gugula’s and Shelby’s packs start gesturing to someone 

  following them towards the town center/market area of 

  Nevuchar Springs.  It’s a visibly pregnant Elf woman who followed 

  them from Cascana Sanitarium.  She said she had hoped to chat 

  with them, but she had been in treatment when they woke up.  

  She is curious and chatty and vapid.  Gugula is distrustful.  They 

  learn she is a pregnancy surrogate for a Dusk Elf woman who 

  needs help with that sort of thing.  They put a few dots together 

  and suspect that Elyra, the pregnant Elf, might be the surrogate to 

  whatever Patrina and Strahd are trying to create.  Freaky.

• Back in the sewer with the Tim and Fecus party.  Tim casts 

  Speak with Animals on the Giant Frogs, the Frogs ask for food.  

  The team unloads a bunch of dried fish, lizard steaks, old dead 

  squirrels, and rations to bribe the Frogs to allow them to pass 

  without interference.  They follow the sewer tunnel to its outlet near 

  the River Watch Tower.  The town of Maykle and Clangor Asylum 

  lie to the south.  A road leading out of town to the east parallels the 

  Vuchar River.  The team decide to search for the female team 

  members they’ve been separated from after the Transport out of 

  Bluetspur in Maykle.  Their first stop is Serenity Inn, where the only 

  customer is a female doctor that recognizes the Abbot.  Tim and 

  Fecus ask if she has seen or heard of the missing Team Rams 

  women.  She has not seen them.  She gives them her business card 

  “Dr. Selene Veyrisse, Surgeon and Anatomist”.  They leave 

  Serenity Inn and make their way towards the docks in the center 

  of town.  Their Blinsky dolls in Tim and Fecus’s backpacks point at a 

  young man following them.  Holt has also escaped Clangor Asylum 

  and followed Team Rams to tell them the asylum siren will go off 

  soon and search teams will begin looking for the escaped patients.  

  He knows boats are stored back by the River Watch Towers and 

  tells them it's the fastest way out of town.  The sirens go off, so they 

  follow Holt to the canoes and start paddling downstream in the 

  Vuchar River.

• Back to the women of Team Rams.  They finish their chat with 

  Elyra as she tires and needs to go back to her room in 

  Cascana Sanitarium.  Gugula strongly resists the impulse to defeat 

  whatever Elyra is host to as Surrogate.  They decide to investigate 

  the Market Center of Nevuchar Springs.

Letter from Mother Luba

Letter from Mother Luba

 

 The above parchment image and the following text are the contents of a letter that Ezmerelda found in her backpack as she left Cascana Sanitarium with Gugula and Shelby.  The letter was accompanied by a powerful Tarokka deck.

 

 

Ezmerelda D’Avenir and friends,

You will no longer enjoy the honor of employing my great granddaughter 

Drasha in your foolish schemes to tangle with Domain Lords, whether 

that’s an unsuccessful assassination attempt on the Lord in his own lair 

or some boondoggle marrying a marionette to a flesh golem.  Now you 

have drawn the interest of Dr. Viktra Mordenheim and her abominable 

creation, which itself might be some fractal of the God Brain of Bluetspur.  

Fools.  

Even in puppet form, Strahd will be formidable and joined with Patrina, 

who knows what schemes they will hatch?  It can be no coincidence 

they have decided to make their stand here in Darkon, Domain of 

Azalin Rex, originally an ally of Strahd’s, eventually his bitter enemy, 

now a missing in action Darklord and lich.  The pompous vampire 

Alcio Metus thinks she has assumed the role of Darkon’s Darklord, 

she mostly stays in and around Il Aluk.  Cardinna Artazas is nursing the 

supposed former Darklord, Darcalus Rex, deep in the grottoes of 

Nevuchar Springs.  And my divination says 1 of your party has the 

dormant potential to become the next Darklord here.  The way you 

all operate, it could be sooner rather than later.  Be careful who you 

ally with… you gained a lot of trust in Barovia, but little of it spreads 

past its misty borders.

A brave and well equipped fool can be useful.  I leave you my special 

Tarokka deck to assist you.  You temporarily killed Strahd once, 

maybe with a little boost you can do it for real this time.  We’ll see.

Mother Luba

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #214

 

High Security Wing Clangor Asylum

 

 

Session 214- A Return to Barovia Part 64; Darkon 1

3/15/2026

• Tim, Fecus, Victor, and Fritigern find themselves in straight jackets 

  in padded cells.  All separated and alone, except Tim realizes their 

  strange and fated ally Elise was in the corner of his cell.  She tells 

  Tim that the Abbot is being held in a high security wing of the facility 

  they are currently in and he is receiving “therapy” of the electroshock 

  sort.  Elise releases Tim from his straight jacket and they make a 

  quiet escape from Tim’s cell into a hallway.

• Elise takes Tim to release Fecus and get him up to speed.  Elise 

  says only four of the party arrived in Clangor Asylum, Maykle, 

  Darkon.  She doesn’t know what happened to Gugula, Shelby, 

  Ezmerelda, and Drasha.

• Elise leads Tim and Fecus to the cells of Victor and Fritigern.  

  She then leads everyone to a supply closet where they find their 

  equipment.  They wait in the supply closet for workers to pass 

  through the hall before they proceed to the high security wing.

• In the high security wing they are affected by a Fear Spell that is 

  triggered by walking down the hallway.

• Victor and Fritigern fail the Save Vs Paralysis and Elise, Tim, and 

  Fecus have to drag them to another supply closet.  Tim casts 

  Dispel Magic on the hallway and removes the Fear spell.

• They get to the observation window of the Abbot’s cell and dither 

  about entering or waiting.  A female patient wanders down the hall 

  and Elise does something Psionic to stun the woman.  Then Elise 

  enters the Abbot’s cell and begins freeing him from his restraints.  

  Tim and Fecus follow her and assist in freeing him.  The Abbot hasn’t 

  had any wine in awhile and Fecus busts out 2 bottles and the reunited 

  friends take a moment to celebrate before Elise gives them the 3 

  escape options: main entrance, sewer tunnel, or maintenance tunnel.

• Switching to Gugula and Shelby who awaken in luxurious hospital or 

  retreat bedrooms in caves in a cliffside near water.  They hear the far 

  off sounds of the sea and soft chimes.  Shelby says her morning 

  prayer.  Afterwards, she explores her room and finds an exit tunnel 

  that leads to Gugula’s room.  They ponder what happened in the 

  transport and where the others of the party are.

• They leave Gugula’s room and find themselves in a larger tunnel with 

  other doors off of it.  The first door they check is luckily Ezmerelda’s 

  door.  She seems woozy from fumes, so they remove her to the larger 

  tunnel.  They pop into another door and meet Tobias who explains he 

  is there for soul healing.  There being Cascana Sanitarium in 

  Nevuchar Springs.  He says they were found washed up on the beach 

  of the Nocturnal Sea.

• They wander outside to the garden and meet Garrik the caretaker, 

  who has stored their belongings.  As they are leaving, they meet 

  Nurse Virell who says they are free to leave, but they are also free to 

  stay if they would like.

Ctyri Ctvrt Chronicles Session #35

 

The Spire of Iron and Crystal's Glitter Skeletons

 

Session 35- Inside the Spire of Iron and Crystal Part 1

3/10/2026

• Pavel from the Duskward Concord finds the secret door in Room #1 

  to Room #2.

• The party enters Room #2 and encounter 6 Fossil Skeletons they 

  fight and kill.  This room includes a teleportal that they note, but 

  don’t explore, yet.

• Entering Room #6 reveals a long gallery on the exterior of the egg.  

  Several tanks with dead specimens are in this room.

• Past the tanks and into a hallway, the party enter Room #7 and find 

  a desk with papers in an archaic language.  Magda casts 

  Read Languages on the papers that reveal an apprentice’s horror at 

  their master’s slip into dangerous experimentation.

• 6 Fossil Skeletons killed = 150 XP

• 2 Potions of Lightning Resistance

• Sword w/ 500 GP Topaz in Pommel

• Scroll of Knock

• Scroll of Detect Magic

• 50 GP

• 1600 SP

• 200 CP

• Total XP = 362 XP

• Danika receives 182 XP

• Hynek and Hallabera receive 90 XP each

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #213

Brain Library

 

 

 

 

Session 213- A Return to Barovia Part 63; Bluetspur 3

3/8/2026

• Tim and Fecus choose to implement the Keepers of the Feather 

  Spirit Board to get a read on which direction in the tunnel to take.  

  They ask the Board the question “Where is the Cloak of the Bat?”  

  The response is spelled out RIGHT TUNNEL ENEMY.

• Before proceeding down the tunnel, Fecus gets on his Flying Carpet 

  and uses a Scroll of Invisibility.  Tim puts on his Ring of Invisibility.

• After walking for quite awhile they arrive in a cavern at the site of 

  where an explosion happened that revealed the scattered remains 

  of a wall of a subterranean structure.  Past where once the wall 

  stood is a room with glass containers and other high-tech equipment.  

  2 Nothics are scavenging and don’t notice Rams.  Tim and Fecus 

  hear the creatures whisper that they should leave before “it” appears 

  again.  As Tim and Fecus observe and ponder, multiple tentacles 

  burst through the floor and drag 1 of the Nothics down.  The second 

  Nothic escapes through the circular door to the Central Chamber.

• Rams follow the escaping Nothic into the Central Chamber where 

  they discover 3 Mind Flayer corpses.  Several other circular doors 

  are labeled in Mind Flayer script.  Fecus uses his Scroll of 

  Read Languages to decipher “Tadpole Chamber”, “Brain Library”, 

  “Transporter Room” and the “Cloning Chamber” where they had 

  entered the facility.

• They choose the Tadpole Chamber first and encounter an injured 

  Mind Flayer at a control panel in a room that is centered on a 

  Tadpole Pool filled with a green liquid containing thousands of 

  Mind Flayer Tadpoles.  The injured Mind Flayer throws down a 

  little square of paper near Ezmerelda’s feet and it turns out to be 

  one of Team Rams’ business cards.  Shelby casts Command: 

  Comply on the MInd Flayer and it says it will give them the Cloak 

  of the Bat if they help save the tadpoles.

• The MInd Flayer casts Mind Blast affecting Ezmerelda, Fritigern, 

  Drasha, Victor, and Tim.

• Shelby casts Heat Metal on the Tadpoles’ Pool while Gugula and 

  Fecus deal melee DMG to the creature.  Tim and everyone recover 

  when the MInd Flayer is killed and Tim takes the Cloak of the Bat.

• They go into the Brain Library and immediately trigger a fight with a 

  Grell and an Intellect Devourer.  That is a vicious fight as they are 

  also getting psionic communications from the various brains.  One 

  tank has M.L. Ruthwell’s name on the name plate along with the 

  Ludendorf University Docket Number that had been assigned to 

  Rams in Lamordia.  Ruthwell claims he and Rams had escaped 

  from the facility before its destruction 2 weeks ago.  He doesn’t 

  remember the Specimen or the letters they received from him.  

  Other brains are pleading for help or lashing out.  Notable brains 

  were the Thymrelgot (young Black Dragon) and Za’znadred the 

  Githyanki Knight fighting on behalf of the Lich Queen Vlaakith.

• Tim used Knock to gain access to the Transporter Room where 

  they confront the Unspeakable Horror that nearly kills Tim, Victor, 

  and Fritigern before they defeat it and read the instructions to 

  Transport…

• They program the console to operate the Transporter and they 

   all pile onto the Transporter pad…

• They find themselves transported to different padded cells where 

  they are imprisoned and bound by straight jackets… only Tim is 

  not alone, Elise is there…

• Cloak of the Bat

• Mind Flayer killed = 2900 XP

• Intellect Devourer killed = 450 XP

• Grell killed = 700 XP

• Unspeakable Horror killed 3900 XP

• Total XP = 7950 XP

• Tim and Fecus each receive 2650 XP

• Gugula and Shelby each receive 1325 XP