Shelby finds herself in the Chapel of Castle Ravenloft presiding
over a marriage ceremony of tiny puppet/doll Strahd and
Patrina Velikovna. Shelby is wearing her ceremonial Cleric of Tiamat
robes in the colors purple, white, red, and brown. When Shelby
pronounces “You may kiss the bride”, Strahd lifts Patrina’s veil and
kisses her. Dream shifts to a strange fertility ritual between tiny
puppet/doll Strahd and Patrina performing “consummation” while a
couple nearby do the same (Kasimir and Elyra). Then there is a
flashback to Elyra (not pregnant) speaking adoringly to a dark, sinister
dragon shape in the mist. Tiamat’s voice whispers in Shelby’s ear
“One of my dangerous daughters protects the elven girl. Tread
carefully here, my loyal servant.”
Tim has been asked to be a guest at Castle Ravenloft wedding.
When he arrives, he discovers that the ceremony is instead a double
funeral. He walks up to the coffins and opens the first one which
contains a dead Kasimir. The second coffin bursts open… it’s Elyra
and she is giving birth to a dragon scaled baby. She asks Tim to help
her deliver it, Tiamat guides his hands towards the infant….
Tiamat shows two divergent paths, “Heed or falter; some
shadows must be met in courage, others in cunning.”
Gugula also finds herself in the Chapel of Castle Ravenloft. She is
shocked to find herself not in armor, but instead wearing a wedding
dress. She feels quite naked. Then you take a deep breath to focus
and look down to realize you are wearing your armor beneath a
spectral wedding gown. When the priest presiding over the ceremony
says “You may kiss the bride”, Gugula is horrified to realize the groom
is an ancient, undead Lich King. He “winks” at her as SHE leans in to
kiss him! This isn’t even the wild part, you should see who is in the
front row of this wedding ceremony…. Strahd, Patrina, a monster in a
jar, a shadowy dragon or two, an Infinite mountain, Elise, the Abbot,
the Follower….
Fecus is a guest at tiny puppet/doll Strahd and Patrina’s wedding.
When the priest says the part of the ceremony “Speak now or
forever hold your peace” Fecus wants to speak up, but cannot.
His throat feels blocked and he feels his pants get warm. Last time
Fecus had peed his pants in the dream and outside the dream in
his bed. The dream transitions to the
fertility ritual taking place in a series of shallow, glowing pools in an
amber tinted Grotto. Participants are tiny puppet/doll Strahd and a
tiny puppet/doll Patrina, their strings being pulled by different
shadowy figures. And Elyra and Kasimir, real and in the flesh, doing
what you do to make a child. Now the dream transitions to a shrieking
and insane Elyra, grieving and birthing simultaneously….
Victor dreams of his father berating him, his mother pitying him, and
his ex-wife’s horror of him (it wasn’t really horror, just her first time, he
kinda blew that out of proportion in his mind at first). Then a kind and
powerful voice speaks to him excitedly about arcane and profound
truths….
Ezmerelda dreams of the night she lost her leg, only this time it is a
shadowy green dragon biting it off, not a werewolf…. Then she thinks
she awakens covered in scales, but it is just dream bleedover….
Right?
After describing the old recurring dream, then transitioning to the new
dream sequence for each PC, they woke up and I had the players roll
Save Vs. Magic. Failure prevented taking any action within the
dream.
Tim failed his Save.
Shelby failed her Save.
Gugula succeeded her Save. She looks to Elise, the most
sympathetic seeming guest at this horrific wedding, and says
“What should I do?” Elise smiles and says “Follow your heart!”
Gugula looks back to Lich Groom and swings hard to punch him in
the jaw. He laughs and disappears, reappearing on the balcony
above. He tells her he will see her at the honeymoon.
Fecus failed his Save.
Although not able to take action in their dreams Tim, Fecus, and
Shelby had some opinions on what the messages were in the
dreams (Tiamat speaking and the symbolism) and Fecus and Shelby
were specifically concerned the dreams were an attack or invasion of
some kind.
On to breakfast with Delimira, she complains of poor sleep, too.
Rams walk over to Cascana Sanitarium with Delimira and find her
niece, Elyra, having her own breakfast in the garden.
The reunion is brief, as Nurse Virell approaches Team Rams and tells
them that Elyra is unaware her baby’s daddy has been murdered.
She asks them to take Delimira away. Sensing something weird
about the situation, Shelby has a whole inner dialogue going with
herself wondering if she should use Command on Elyra to induce
“miscarriage”. Tim ends up coaxing Delimira away and Team Rams
leave Cascana Sanitarium.
Elise accompanies Delimira back to Riverview Rest Inn while the rest
of Team Rams make an all day visit to Library Pharmacologae, where
they purchase new spells, scrolls, and potions. Their host while
visiting is Librarian Apprentice Rennas Quillhand. Fecus is able to sell
some gems and jewelry (10,000 GP value) while the magic users
study and copy spells.
