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

Eclipse in Leo-Total Eclipse of the Heart

 

 

 

Total Eclipse of the Heart

Here I am having astrological musings, again.  The upcoming solar eclipse takes place 

on August 12th, in the sign of Leo.  The areas that will be in the path of totality are 

Greenland, Iceland, the Atlantic Ocean, and northern Spain.  I live in the Pacific Northwest, 

so I don’t know if I’ll get to see a partial eclipse.  I remember the August 2017 eclipse 

because I was in the path of totality and got to experience how the birds act during the event.  

They all flew up into the cedar and doug fir trees to roost like they do at night, but in a more 

urgent and condensed time frame.

The 9 years between now and then have been strange on a personal layer; probably a bit 

strange on that layer that is called the wider world.  My interest and grasp of astrology has 

deepened in that time.  It’s a great time to be into it, so much has been popping off in the 

last six years.  Leo has its correspondences with the heart (both physical and metaphorical) 

and courage.  As I was lying in bed last night, pondering the upcoming celestial event, the 

title to the Bonnie Tyler song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” popped into my head and I thought 

it would be the perfect title for this.

My “heart” has been in several ongoing creative projects, so maybe we’ll see how that 

changes over the next 6 months or so.  This can be a marker!  Back up to the wider world 

layer, the eclipses seem to “hit hardest” in the path of totality, so another marker on those 

locations I listed above.

As per the last few months, my lunar musings also include a link to my Substack:)  I’ve 

posted a few videos of my recent solo play endeavor I call Sololoft, a Ravenloft/

Shadowdark/Solodark mashup.

 

Ox --->Tiger --->Rabbit --->Dragon --->Snake --->Horse Campaign Session #231

 

Conversations with Syra-Zhull and Lanlyn

 

 

Session 231- A Return to Barovia Part 81; Borca 8

8/2/2026

• Watches are set and Team Rams settles into their guest rooms 

  for the night at Ocrotire Manor.

• Fecus takes the first watch and it is uneventful as he sorts through 

  his inventory and reflects on the recent events.  He is required 

  to make a Save Vs. Magic and is successful.

• Gugula takes the second watch and uses the time to sharpen her 

  sword and maintain her armor.  She is required to make a 

  Save Vs. Magic and fails.  She hears a voice in her head asking 

  her to come talk face to face.  She has enough presence of mind 

  to wake Fecus up and they go downstairs to the Exhibit Gallery of 

  the Menagerie.  The Yuan-Ti woman talks to Gugula and Fecus 

  about the Ocrotire’s dark history.  She claims Lord Amthor 

  sacrificed his wife and child to the monster in Lake Balaur.  The 

  official story is that it was a boating accident on the lake, but 

  Syra-Zhull is emphatic that it was a sacrifice and the lake monster 

  controls Amthor.  She attempts to cast Suggestion on Gugula and 

  Fecus.  Gugula makes her Save Vs. Magic and Fecus fails his Save.  

  Syra-Zhull focuses on Fecus and tells him she won’t hurt him or his 

  friends if he releases her from her captivity.  Gugula watches the 

  Yuan-Ti woman suspiciously as Fecus is charmed by the intelligent 

  creature.  Syra-Zhull realizes Gugula and Fecus don’t have the 

  requisite skills to remove the magic wards on her enclosure.  She 

  suggests Fecus go gather the Magic-Users of the party to release 

  her.

• Gugula is relieved to put some distance between the affected 

  Fecus and Syra-Zhull as they return to the guest rooms upstairs.  

  They wake up Tim, Shelby, and Victor and explain the interaction 

  with the Yuan-Ti.  Gugula pulls Tim aside to tell him she suspects 

  that Fecus was affected by a spell cast by Syra-Zhull.  Tim casts 

  Dispel Magic on Fecus, and Fecus is restored to his own faculties.

• The butler comes and knocks on the guest room door and asks if 

  the party are ok or if they need anything because he has heard 

  noises.

• They group allows Dmitri to sit the third watch as they go downstairs 

  to carefully approach Syra-Zhull and try to learn more information.

• They enter the gallery with a Wall of Force cast by Tim to repel any 

  of Syra-Zhull’s mental attacks.  Syra-Zhull explains that she learned 

  of Lord Amthor’s hideous lie about his wife and child from the Triton 

  woman, Lanlyn.  Lanlyn learned the terrible truth from the lake 

  monster, who talks and sings to the Triton woman telepathically.  

  Syra-Zhull tells Team Rams that they can talk to Lanlyn themselves 

  if they repair the conch shell pendant that Amthor broke to keep her 

  from continuing to talk to Syra-Zhull.

• Tim casts Mend on Lanlyn’s conch shell pendant and it floats over to 

  Lanlyn’s grasp.  Lanlyn tells Team Rams that the song of the lake 

  monster, Vireliith, has nearly driven her insane.  The monster itself 

  might be mad.  Lanlyn relates the monster’s desire to eat the gods 

  transformed into an intense worship of Ezra after Vireliith ate 

  Lord Amthor’s wife and child.  Both wife and child had a strong belief 

  in Ezra, and the consumption of them transferred onto Vireliith into a 

  believer.

• Syra-Zhull tries to bargain with Team Rams, claiming she knows 

  where part of the Vorpal Sword is located.  If they release her, she 

  offers to assist them in recovering the piece that is in the possession 

  of Lord Tatenna.

• Dmitri comes down to the gallery to tell Team Rams that the house 

  seems to be waking up and that the butler came around to knock on 

  the guest room, again.

• The party leave the gallery and make their way into the dining room.  

  The maid greets them and serves coffee, tea, and breakfast items.  

  Mimsy bounces in, more energetic than the day before.  She’s excited 

  that Team Rams will be guests at the Summer Garden Party to be 

  held at the Ritter Estate, her home.  This is the summer of her debut, 

  and having guests that are new faces in the domain is exciting and 

  she’s hoping that it will add to her prestige as a debutante.

• Lord Amthor joins the breakfast table and opines that he is sad he 

  didn’t get a chance to take Mimsy out on the lake in his boat.  This 

  alarms Tim and Fecus, after the knowledge they gained from 

  Lord Amthor’s captives.

• Mimsy is all packed and ready to go, but Tim and Shelby sneak off to 

  talk to Syra-Zhull and Lanlyn one last time before leaving 

  Ocrotire Manor.  They each cast ESP on Syra-Zhull to gain more 

  information about Tatenna Estate and how they should go about trying 

  to recover the Vorpal Sword piece that is in Lord Tatenna’s 

  possession.  The most opportune time would be during the 

  Summer Garden Party to be held there this summer.

• Tim and Shelby remember that Dmitri’s oldest sister, Vera, is married 

  to a Tatenna and that Vera would like them to attend the party at 

  her in-laws’ estate.

• Team Rams, Dmitri, and Mimsy Ritter leave Ocrotire Manor and travel 

  back to Ritter Estate uneventfully.