Time for a Barovian Ball!
art by sacrednanners @ TH
So to celebrate Burgomaster Ismark and the continued triumph of the Four Heroes of Vallaki, Lord Vasili von Holtz was throwing a ball! And as the tax collector of Lord Strahd - none of us fucking trusted him. Sure, we got all dressed up and ready for the black carriages that came to collect us and dozens of other citizens of Vallaki but we were ready to B R A W L and S T E A L—
And then... the Brides arrived.
DM @the-kiburi introduced these four fucking beautiful vampires entering the ball on behalf of Ravenloft and I became weak. And so did my very bi very poly death priestess who was in the process of denying she might have a feeling for Mina. So even while we were still planning to possibly do some crimes here... certain plans, like detecting OTHER undead, went... out the window. Because I saw 4 very lovely undead and decided I was going to get any information out of them I could.
Sure other possibly relevant characters were being introduced from around Barovia
BUT I WAS FOCUSED
So the party kind of broke up in various ways for the evening. I had strongly set my eyes on the Brides, Tanner was focused on trying to find the thing we came to steal,
Arabelle was having her first ever date with +1 Rowan (look her lifes been shit, we wanted her to have a good night if she could), and Mina was torn between stress drinking and keeping an eye on everyone else
(I repeat: God bless Faraga aka old lady 2)
But as the night progressed, things really went downhill for me as a person who cares only a normal amount about 4 npc vampires
So while Tanner was figuring out about the small town artificer feud and started chatting up the councilwoman granddaughter of old lady 1 (and somehow inviting her into his fucking heist attempt??), I brought the ball aspect of the evening into play by approaching the little beskulled golden nightmare that is Volenta Popofsky
And this soon became a multi-night event...
We made some great jokes
and some fucking horrendous ones
but I rescued the most emo of vampire poets from an old woman trying to seduce him and my night got infinitely better.
Meanwhile, Tanner and Councilwoman Kalina were casually sneaking their way through von Holtz’s estate looking for somewhere a rich fuck would likely be keeping a dragon skull... and things took a turn.
(Did I forget to mention he made TWO deals in the Amber Temple? Whoopsie)
Is it really D&D if you haven’t casually done mental war crimes to your DM?
But Tanner managed to gEt RiD oF the guard and lead Kalina into a weird little magic hallway and no way anything bad happens there. Which means it’s a great time to flash back to Alkali and her vampire hunting seduction
The whiplash between the two scenes was insane. When Alkali wasn’t wining and dining she was wining with Mina and talking about their Arabelle having a good night and it was a good time. Neither of them had any idea Tanner was doing goddamn crimes. So a good time.
Alkali was on constant look out for Strahd still because, you know, Ireena was here. And apparently having a great time dancing with von Holtz while her brother danced with my 4th and final target
But we couldn’t do this all in 2 nights of gameplay and the turns kept coming
Because hear me out. The Brides were the first vampires we met outside of Strahd who were not... monsters. They were monstrous, yes, but they were people. Charming, pleasant, a little bit too in love with a toxic husband, people. And if Alkali could be a homewrecker and get them to leave the toxic husband to create a better life for themselves without him and with her — that seems like a good idea, yeah?
Food for thought at least.
Tanner and Kalina got out of the weird nightmare puzzle room after locating the skull (but unable to get it cause its HUGE) and stealing a book from the library there. He was able to rejoin Alkali and Mina in their wine corner and a realization was had:
So off to find Arabelle we went.
Unfortunately, while Alkali and Mina were having that panic again. Tanner went off to go talk with edgelord von Holtz... and just... asked... for... the skull... To which von Holtz had had a counter offer:
Tanner said no. Because if he didn’t. Alkali would be gutting some people. Though he made a wonderful point that did mostly soothe the angry fish
And I presented my own counter offer to von Holtz by offering up my unique services as a death keeper
No luck, but other successes were soon had
Anastrasya was delightful and a little be vicious in a fun way and I’m here for it and ignore the fact I couldn’t properly count to four - it was late I swear
And then some cleaning up was done when Tanner realized we were spending the night here
He sent it to our merfolk prince friend Merrick and surely no way that goes weird, right?
But as everyone was settling in for the night...
then they both stood there like “......... good talk love you bye” but that’s familial love bby and Alkali will love and support Arabelle regardless and also promise to snuff out a fire genasi if he did anything that upset her. Love.
L o v e... ?
See. Alkali has been carrying this compass on her from one of her ship wrecks for ages. She got it off the first sailor she saw drown. Oddly... he was a sea elf. But he was on an Istishian ship, one that had stolen from Umberlee. And he drowned. And while a little bit wine drunk and a little bit sad... Mina told Alkali that the only reason she’d went on the mission for her temple to steal back the stolen relic.. was because her long lost brother had last been seen on that ship. Mina Lumenvroth...
Alkali’s compass has the initials M. L. on it ... is this a guilt she feels perhaps?
But as far as spending the night went, it could of been worse.
Von Holtz wanted to chat with us come morning so all four of us + Rowan assembled in a side room off the main hall to meet with him and he, very obviously, doubled down on trying to convince Arabelle AND Rowan to spend time at the manor with him as collateral for lending us the skull.
We said no, again.
And then we REALLY said no when Alkali caught him in the act of charming Rowan and Arabelle to try and side with him. Arabelle managed to shake it off. Alkali charmed Rowan herself to break von Holtz’s charm - and then charmed von Holtz, threatening him against doing so again. It didn’t take, but he seemed greatly entertained by the attempt and allowed them to leave as the roads had been cleared.
Alkali OF COURSE had to make one last goodbye to the brides and Anastrasya may have gotten a little bold, but Alkali was into it
Fun times, fun times.
Tanner found out the book he stole was a tome that increases INT so the next days following the ball were... quiet? Tanner spent some absurd number of hours reading a book and Alkali scrounged up every bit of oil and incense she could to hallow the ground Ireena and Ismark were moving into in Vallaki. A totally normal thing to be doing and she absolutely flipped off the bats that flew overhead as she spent 24 hours straight ritually cleansing the property so Ireena could feel safe somewhere other than the church.
Strahd was not getting another bride.
And if she had her way would be getting divorced soon enough too.
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Fuck it, lemme talk about HOTD.
Okay, so I never actually watched Game of Thrones, for two main reasons. The first is that I actually really liked a Song of Ice and Fire, and between the casting and the choice to age up all the characters, (plus the ugly costuming) I was never like, super excited about it to begin with. I found the writing dull, the acting duller, and as I said, the casting baffling. I think I watched a grand total of maybe 3? episodes before I was out, and never had a desire to watch more. I'm not about watching adaptations of things that utterly change the entire meaning/point of a novel.
When the first pic of HOTD came out I was like "oof." I hadn't read Fire and Blood, but idk. It didn't have "it" for me.
And then the first trailer came out and like, fuck. This was all I wanted. Surcoats and heraldry and coats of arms and helmets with plumes and actual plate mail and jousts and spectacle and gowns and lace and satin and silk and brocade and richness and color and LIFE. This, THIS was what I had thought an adaptation of a story set in Westeros would be. THIS was the beauty I had looked for and lost in an era of grimdark sci-fiesque GOT.
So I was excited. I was thrilled. If it was stupid but pretty that would be enough. Stupid but pretty was good enough for the Witcher (at least season 1, season 2 was just a lil too stupid), and as a person who has been in love with medieval pageantry since I was a child, who grew up devouring King Arthur and tales of knights and kings and lords and tourneys, this was everything I have ever wanted and more. The attention to detail, the cut/line of the clothing, have I mentioned the surcoats???? The tunics????? The COLOR????
And then, to my utter an complete shock, it was good. Like, really actually very good. The writing was tight, consistent and the acting was SUPERB. Like, literally can't look away from the screen, utterly captivated, grinning from ear to ear happy. When that joust happened---istg my soul departed my body I swear. I mean, they had fucking SURCOATS. Like, actual on god surcoats with fucking HERALDRY. Actually heraldic symbols. What is life. And the writing was just so fucking good. Like, tight and focused and character driven and the actors are just stunning in their roles.
Now this show is not perfect. There have been a few moments I have questioned, and episode 5 in particular made several choices I disagree with (I'll prob write up a separate post later). But by and large, it's the best bit of television I've watched in like, literally years. And though the time jump makes me a wee bit nervous, I can say that I can't wait for all that is too come. This show is amazing, come scream about it with me pls.
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