Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Who Dis?

 

 

 

Pisces Lunar Eclipse, Who Dis?

The imagery that came to mind for this lunation is a seashell or clamshell phone in the 

hands of a mermaid.  It’s a new phone and she’s wondering who could possibly have the 

number and be calling her.  She doesn’t normally answer and her voicemail box is always 

full so you can’t leave a message.

Messages written in sand below the line of surf might be washed away before the thought 

is completed.

This must be a slippery one for me due to my South Node in Pisces.  I have Aries Rising, 

making Pisces my 12th house in the whole sign house system.  I can’t remember where 

exactly the 12th house begins in my chart in the Placidus house system, but that 

South Node is a late degree, so I think it’s in there, the 12th house.  

A misty light rain falls outside, and I’ve been melancholy since yesterday (Friday).  

At some point today, we transition from Leo season to Virgo season.  The Lion passes 

his baton to the Virgin Accountant.  She’s ready to see the harvest’s yield, all counted, 

labeled, and stored properly.

Meanwhile, on Thursday the 27th of August, the Siren will answer her new seashell phone, 

“Who Dis?”  And the caller will have forgotten.  They don’t know why they’re calling, 

they don’t know who they are, maybe it’s because their pet hermit crab isn’t doing well?

Yeah.  This one feels weird already folks.

 

Here is the link to my Substack. 

70 Days until Halloween 2026!

 

 

 

Haunted Houses of Ravenloft

This is a little exploration into some of the Ravenloft adventure sites that you might adapt 

to a Halloween One Shot or Short Campaign.  It isn’t comprehensive; across all of the 

editions there are probably a number of great locations for a Halloween One Shot or 

Short Campaign.  I myself have run Castle Ravenloft, House of Lament, and Old 

Bonegrinder.  I will refer you to a couple of other articles for Castle Ravenloft, but I think I 

have enough to say about House of Lament and Old Bonegrinder to give them their own 

write-ups later.  Lord Donskoy’s Keep is from one of the Ravenloft novels and I’m thinking 

of adapting that location into an adventuring location.

1. Castle Ravenloft.  The obvious because it was the first.  Pick your version/edition.  

   I6 Ravenloft, the 5e version in Curse of Strahd, or one of the versions from the 

   2e-4e editions.  Two veteran DMs, Mike Shea and James Introcaso, each have a 

   blog article giving advice on how to make this work as a “Halloween One-Shot”.  

   Here are links to their articles:  

https://worldbuilderblog.me/tag/ravenloft/

https://slyflourish.com/running_ravenloft.html

2. House of Lament.  The version I have is in the 5e Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft, 

   but a quick google search told me this existed in a supplement in 2e.  I have recently 

   folded this adventure into my wider Domains of Dread arc and my players said they 

   really liked it.  I didn’t change much about the House and its ghostly inhabitants, but 

   I did re-frame the beginning to insert it into my campaign.  Part of the re-frame was 

   swapping out the friendly NPCs from the suggested assortment to some I had 

   already chosen and tying their motivations to the House of Lament situation.

3. Death House.  WoTC 5e might have sold this to you twice if you have both 

   Curse of Strahd and Vecna Eve of Ruin.  It’s intended as an entry level adventure in 

   Curse of Strahd; as a chapter in Vecna Eve of Ruin, the character level suggested is 

   14.  I haven’t run this at either tier of play, but I’m curious to try it.

4. Old Bonegrinder.  Technically not a house, but does anyone else think this is a 

   great adventure site?  I’ve run this in my Curse of Strahd arc and this was another hit 

   with my players.  The PCs saved the children, but the Hags escaped and popped up 

   later in the campaign.

5. Lord Donskoy’s Keep.  This is the setting of the Ravenloft novel, To Sleep with Evil.  

   I’m in the middle of reading the novel and I think this location would be fun to adapt 

   to an adventuring site.  Toad familiars for the win!

So dear readers, what are your favorite candidates for a Halloween One-Shot or Short 

Campaign?

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #233

 

Guests arrive during breakfast at the Ritter Estate.

Session 233- A Return to Barovia Part 83; Borca 10

8/16/2026

• Team Rams’ tour of Ritter Estate by the stable boy Mickey 

  ends in the afternoon.

• They have a quick dinner with Mimsy and Franco who both 

  have more sewing to do; Mimsy has found her fabric for her 

  own dress and is eager to complete it.  Franco has taken on 

  another project that needs to be completed before the garden 

  party tomorrow.

• Mimsy and Team Rams learn Dmitri has returned to 

  Nuikin Estate, presumably for family reasons.  Mimsy is 

  visibly disappointed.

• Franco tells Team Rams they may entertain themselves this 

  evening while he and Mimsy continue to finish their sewing 

  projects.

• Franco’s suggestion for entertainment is for Team Rams to 

  visit his library/music room where a string quartet is practicing 

  for tomorrow’s party.  Otherwise, they are free to explore the 

  property, now that they have had a tour from Mickey.

• Team Rams have a few music lovers who decide to visit the 

  library and watch the string quartet.  Tim, Victor, The Abbot, 

  and Elise arrive just as the string quartet are tuning up.  The 

  musicians introduce themselves and one happens to be a 

  cousin of Dmitri; she’s wondering where he went because she 

  thought he was traveling with Team Rams.  She jokes about 

  his avoidance of Summer Garden Party Series in general and 

  Vana Boritsi specifically.

• The other 3 members of Team Rams (Gugula, Shelby, and Fecus) 

  poke around outside in the groundkeeper’s sheds.  Pavilion tents 

  have been erected since their garden tour earlier in the day.  

  Their explorations move inside.  They find a “secret” staircase 

  that leads from the portrait gallery to the second floor.  They 

  then visit the kitchen, where cook is finishing up her evening 

  chores.  She feeds them leftover chicken pot pies and 

  strawberry turnovers.  She hints that Franco is working on a 

  gown for Vana Boritsi, who is rumored to be attending the 

  Ritter Garden Party tomorrow night.  They visit the wine cellar, 

  but find nothing of interest.  When they come back up to the 

  kitchen, Mimsy is stuffing her face with strawberry turnovers in 

  her half-finished dress.  She finishes and returns to her room to 

  finish her dress.

• The members of Team Rams watching the string quartet learn 

  some bits of gossip about Mimsy and her cohort of other 

  debutantes and cavaliers (young unmarried men and women).  

  They hear some of the names of other guests who are arriving 

  tomorrow.

• The sneaky 3 explore more of the mansion, finding Charlie 

  Ritter’s old bedroom and workshop.

• Team Rams reunite after the string quartet finishes their 

  practice session.  Watches are set.  Gugula tries her clothes 

  on again during her watch, otherwise no night time encounters 

  happen.

• In the morning, Team Rams find a more crowded dining room 

  for breakfast, as the musicians are at the table.  In the middle 

  of breakfast several guests arrive.  Some are already known to 

  Team Rams: Barb and Bryce Ivliskova along with Oscar and 

  Roxanne Pretorius were “assisted” by Team Rams in defeating 

  a group of thugs on the road the other day.  The Ivliskova’s also 

  include Brittany, another of the season’s debutantes and a dear 

  friend of Mimsy.  We end the session with the friendly faces of 

  Aurek and Natalia Nuikin arriving during breakfast.

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #232

More drama in the Ritter hunting cabin.

 

 

 

 Session 232- A Return to Barovia Part 82; Borca 9

8/9/2026

• Team Rams, Dmitri Nuikin, and Mimsy Ritter are greeted by 

  Franco Ritter as they arrive at Vetistiqua after travelling from 

  Ocrotire Estate.

• Franco Ritter thanks the adventurers warmly and profusely for 

  bringing Mimsy back in one piece.  He hints at a rivalry with 

  Lord Amthor Ocrotire when both were young men, but he’s 

  also very sympathetic to Lord Amthor’s tragic loss of his young 

  family long ago.

• All of Team Rams are given beautifully tailored fancy dress 

  outfits for the Summer Garden Party Series crafted by 

  Franco Ritter himself.

• Team Rams and Dmitri are invited to spend the night at the 

  Ritter Estate and they agree to stay the night.

• The watches are set and the night passes uneventfully.  Fecus 

  and Gugula use their watch time to try on their new outfits.

• Dmitri, who had taken the last watch, went down to the kitchen 

  early for a cup of coffee.  When he returned to the wing of the 

  house that Team Rams’ rooms are, he overhears Mimsy crying 

  and screaming at her maid regarding the missing bolt of fabric 

  for the dress MImsy will sew for herself.

• Everyone, but Tim and Fecus go down to breakfast right away.  

  Tim casts Locate Object and realizes the fabric is up in a maid’s 

  room in the servants’ quarters in the attic.  

• Tim and Fecus use the various items they own 

  (Rings of Invisibility, etc.) to sneak up to the servants’ quarters 

  and find the fabric.  They quietly return it to Mimsy’s bedroom, 

  then they go down to breakfast.

• At breakfast, Franco tells Team Rams that he and Mimsy will be 

  busy with their last sewing projects today.  He has arranged to 

  have one of the servants give them a tour of the estate.  He pulls 

  Tim and Fecus aside to talk to them about his erstwhile secretary, 

  Mario, who they had “met” a few days ago in the estate’s hunting 

  cabin.  Mario has been in a deep depression since Charlie’s death, 

  and Franco worries he will be a problem during the upcoming 

  Summer Garden Party.

• At the end of breakfast, Franco and MImsy have left to go work.  

  The cook and a stable boy named Mickey come into the dining room.  

  The cook asks Team Rams what they like to eat and they are a bit 

  shy about making requests.  Dmitri says Ritter’s cook is a 

  phenomenal baker, and Tim says it’s been awhile since he has had 

  a good pot pie.  They follow Mickey around that morning, getting a 

  tour of the estate’s gardens, orchard, stables, and kennel.

• Around mid-morning, they ask to be led over to the hunting cabin 

  to check on Mario.  Mickey shows them the shortcut through the 

  orchard, but refuses to go into the hunting cabin with them.  He 

  waits outside.

• At the front door of the cabin, a wave of self-loathing washes over 

  Tim, Gugula, and Shelby.  Fecus is unaffected.  The Abbot tells 

  Team Rams that this cabin is affected by its inhabitant’s spiritual 

  decay.

• Mario allows Team Rams to enter.  They notice he has another 

  slime creature in the corner.

• Things become tense with Mario and conflict breaks out.

• The Memory Slime targets Gugula with its Memory Siphon power, 

  and steals her memory of trying on her new outfit the night before.

• Mario casts Web on Gugula, the Abbot, Fecus, and Time.  They are 

  immobilized and the rest of the Team have to carry on fighting without 

  them.

• They kill the Memory Slime and subdue Mario.  The webbed 

  characters break free.

• Team Rams interrogate Mario and learn that he was using the 

  Memory Slimes to blunt his crushing memories of his involvement 

  in Charlie Ritter’s death.  He was tricked into doing something for 

  an unnamed woman of high status (they assume he means 

  Vana Boritsi).  It resulted in Charlie’s death, and Mario has been 

  haunted by the guilt and shame ever since.

• Dmitri tells Team Rams he must act on this knowledge.  Charlie 

  had been his brother-in-law.  Dmitri says he needs to execute Mario 

  to satisfy his family’s honor, especially his heart-broken sister, Katya.

• Dmitri unties Mario and asks if Mario wants a weapon to defend 

  himself in a duel.  Mario refuses, he seems like he just wants to be 

  put out of his misery.  Dmitri stabs Mario with his short sword, killing 

  him.

• He tells Team Rams that he takes full responsibility for the killing and 

  will inform Franco Ritter himself.

• Team Rams, Dmitri, and Mickey head back to the main house and 

  Dmitri goes straight to Franco’s workshop to inform him of Mario’s 

  demise, he leaves the estate afterwards.  Team Rams have a lunch 

  of foldover chicken pot pies and strawberry foldover pastries with 

  coffee and lemonade.

• After lunch, Mickey takes them to the portrait gallery.  Team Rams 

  get to see the Ritter family portraits, including a picture of Charlie 

  and Katya in their wedding outfits.

• Memory Slime killed = 700 XP

• Mario the Memory Farmer killed = 450 XP

• Mario’s Spellbook