Bingdor 8/25/22

 

Bingdor plays his famous dulcimer tune for the long rest, a melancholic ode to Llira. While Bingdor plays his tune, Trieskan reviews the Tome of Strahd. In the morning, with everyone feeling reset+2, we see that it is still hazy, though the mountains are slightly more clear in the distance from our camp East of Vallaki on the south shore of Lake Zarovich

 

Brace decides that he wants to move to the Falls to find the wizard, while the intern stipulates that it is not a fact that the wizard is there, just something she read. Ireena hates the Intern. Brace pulls Ireena aside for some words of trust for the intern. Ireena leans closer and whispers something to Brace. He turns bright red and Ireena smirks at no one in particular.

 

Brace summons the intern over. Brace uses Divine Sense to gauge the intern and nothing happens. With all capable seriousness, Brace tells the intern that he senses no evil but does not trust her. Ireena uses an insight check to ask "Are you an agent of Strahd?" The intern emphasizes that her chosen field has its connotations - but she remains just an intern for now.

 

Brace, Ireena, and the intern decide to get moving to the waterfall in the south and with that, the music in Bingdor's heart changes from the jaunty morning tune to an ominous droning. For the journey, Trieskan casts Phantom Rogue with a proficiency on Survival.

 

We continue down the Solvage Road, which turns more mountainous as we venture south. There is nothing of note so far - until we come across a familiar location. Across the plain, in the distance, is a windmill, charred along its upper floors.

 

Brace and Bingdor discuss the previous misadventure here and how Bingdor was (could still be) a dreampie proponent, while Brace claims to be the savior of orphans. On that note, a sad orphan pulls on Brace's armor and asks for help. The boy claims to have been stolen by the hags from his home village in Barovia.

 

The intern unexpectedly tackles the boy to the ground and tells Brace to blast him. She has studied hags and she knows this old hag trick well. Hesitant of the dang intern, Brace performs an insight check on the orphan. Ireena leans towards Trieskan and says she kinda likes that intern now.

 

Bingdor casts Detect Good and Evil, with no immediate trigger from the orphan, intern, or elsewhere in range. Brace hatches a plan to use the orphan, whose name we now know to be Dingler, to entrap the hags in a fake young meat sale. With that, Bingdor and Brace fully recount the horrors of the first hag battle to Trieskan and Radha.

 

When put to a vote, Bingdor, Radha, and the intern say nay to this plan of Brace's, however, the rest say yay and Trieskan is chosen to be Dingler's peddler. While discussing the plan, Dingler disappears.

 

Dingler, to the surprise of all, reappears to Radha holding a healthy armful of parsnips. Brace, now somewhat hesitate of Dingler, performs Purify Food and Drink of the parsnips. For whatever reason, Dingler is now given a vote on the selling-him-to-the-hags plan and he votes yes, with a triumphantly childish "Let's kill some hags!" As a new addition to the plan, Radha shapeshifts into an orphan girl named Toni. Dingler quickly grabs Toni's hand and holds it tightly. 

 

Trieskan and Brace now backtrack and decide Dingler can't be trusted and put him into a sack. They take the Robe of Many Things and tightly tie Dingler - and Toni - tightly up inside of it. Trieskan is now ready to go to the hags door and offer the sale of Dingler to the hags.

 

Trieskan knocks on the hags' door and it creaks open. Trieskan see the ground covered in hay, a clucking chicken, and toads croaking from a box in the corner of the room. There is a noticeable smell of rancid poison, followed by the smell of some delicious cakes. "Hello? Is anyone home?" Trieskan asks to no response. A few seconds later Trieskan here's some thumping upstairs and an old woman's voice asks, "What do you want?"

 

True to plan, Trieskan says, "I'm here to sell you some ingredients."

"Didn't order any."

"I was told in town you buy them from travelers in the know from time to time."

 

A second old lady calls out, "Hold on! I'll get my purse!"

 

At the bottom of the stairs emerge the two old ladies, one holding a purse, the other clutching the handrail. "How much?" Trieskan shuffles the Robe of Many Things off of his should and gives it a little kick. The purseless hag yells, "Smoke 'im, Bella!" Smoke 'im right now!" The purseholding Bella says, "Be cool, Ophelia, be cool."

 

Trieskan, realizing this part to be unrehearsed, offers a price of 200 gold pieces per child - probably a good price? "Alright, here you go" says Bella, "Our business is done here. Ophelia, take the ingredients to storage."

 

Outside, Bingdor uses a Thaumaturgy to to boom his voice three times louder than usual and yells "Hags, get out here. It's me." Nothing happens. Inside, Trieskan counts his gold pieces illustrated with the profile of Strahd. Bigndor says again, "Hags, now!" while trembling the ground with a second Thaumaturgy. Again, nothing happens.

 

Initiation

 

Brace storms inside and yells, "We've come to kill everyone in here!" The hags immediately shapeshift. Trieskan sees this and draws his shortsword, hops on the table, takes a swing at the nearest hag. His backpack of 100 gold pieces spills at Brace's feet. 

 

Bingdor, reluctant to be a part of this again, strolls around the back of the windmill to wait for the inevitable. 

 

Inside the Robe, Dingler asks Toni "What are you most thankful for?" Toni responds, "Parsnips."

 

As Toni, Radha escapes the sack and places a hex on the hag that Trieskan is attempting to attack. Radha adds an Eldritch Blast and the hag is backed against the wall at the bottom of the stairs. Brace charges the other hag and whacks away with his warpick. He misses twice.

 

Trying to make small talk, the intern asks Ireena what she does. "I'm kinda trying to be a barbarian," Ireena tells her. They both hear the fighting inside and Ireena runs inside yelling "Let's do this!" She runs full speed at the hag, misses, and falls out of the windmill through the hall in the wall that Radha opened with her Eldritch Blast. 

 

Bella and Ophelia, without reaction, disappear. The third hag, so far unseen, walks up the road and sees Bingdor from 50 feet away at the back of the windmill. 

 

Trieskan runs upstairs to look for the rest of the living orphans. He opens a door on the 3rd floor and finds a dilapidated bedroom.

 

Outside, Bingdor uses another Thaumaturgy to emulate Strahd's voice coming from inside the windmill to the third hag up the road. Inside, Dingler begins dancing inside the sack. Radha begins investigating the ground floor and finds three vials [the same three vials Bingdor previously took from the windmill that he still has in inventory???]. Brace, having learned nothing, lights the windmill on fire from the inside. He runs out with Dingler in the sack, drops it and says, "Guys, come on out. It's fine now." Ireena, in her rage, gets mad at nothing to smash and storms outside. Trieskan hears stomping on the charred remains of the roof.

 

Outside again, the hag up the path with the pushcart returning to the windmill fires a glowing orb of magical darts at Bingdor from 50 feet away. It hits.