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Session 031 - 2026-01-19

The Winery Assault - Continued

Summary

The party successfully cleared the remaining threats within the Wizard of Wines Winery. Utilizing stealth and decisive combat, Jon and the group eliminated the druid poisoning the fermentation vats on the ground floor before descending into the cellar to dispatch the final druid hiding among the wine racks.

With the winery secured, the party signaled the Martikov family to return. Davian Martikov, though distraught by the damage, revealed the family's secret: they are a clan of wereravens known as The Keepers of the Feather. He explained that the winery's vitality relies on three magic gems, all of which have been stolen. One was lost ten years ago (causing a rift between Davian and his son Urwin), one was taken to Berez by Baba Lysaga's scarecrows, and the final one was taken five days ago to Yester Hill by the druids. The party secured an alliance with the Keepers and decided to head to Yester Hill after a long rest.

Combat Continued

After defeating the druids and plant blights outside of the winery, the party proceeded to investigate inside the building, as they had two major areas still unrevealed: the center of the building and the cellar.

Jon climbed the wall and proceeded through the 1st floor, while the rest of them used a door from the docking bay. All then reached a massive room that had four fermentation vats. On top of the westernmost one was a female druid, who seemed to be pouring something into the container.

Succeeding on a stealth check, Jon managed to enter the area unnoticed, unlike Klildar who slammed the door and drew the druid's attention to the rest of the group.

A quick combat ensued, starting with the group on the ground floor, and finalizing with Jon on the 1st floor; the enemy was soon dead. Alfbern was able to notice that the liquid she was pouring into the vat was some kind of poison, given the foul smell.

They proceeded finally to the cellar. This time aided by Pass Without Trace, they were able to descend the stairs and open the door without alerting a male druid who was behind the wine racks.

Combat broke out, with the druid severely surprised. The group had a full round of attacks, and they had no problem taking out the last invader.

The Keepers of the Feather

Once all was done, they signaled to the Martikovs, who returned to the winery. Their faces were distraught with the destruction, but they were still resilient. Adrian thanked the PCs and said that they would rebuild all that was destroyed, but his father Davian thought otherwise. He said that they could rebuild, but the wine production was still not saved.

That's when the duo shared the winery's history: built by an archmage centuries ago, he created three magical gems that he buried into the soil to enable the vines to grow. Each gem produced a different type of grapes.

Ten years ago one of the gems was stolen, while Davian's middle son Urwin was supposed to be on watch. The two of them are estranged to this day, the old man still bitter about it. The other two were stolen more recently: three weeks ago a group of scarecrows stole one and took it, probably, to The Ruins of Berez, following orders of Baba Lysaga. And just five days ago the same druids that were attacking the winery came and stole the last gem, taking it to their base of operation in Yester Hill.

In addition to this history, they revealed that they are a clan of wereravens called The Keepers of the Feather and that they have been keeping an eye on the party since they arrived in Barovia. They said that the PCs have earned their trust and the keepers will have their back as much as possible.

Finally, they asked for help in retrieving the missing gems. They gave general directions to the two locations: Yester Hill being closer, just south of the winery, and Berez further away, south of Argynvostholt.

The party decided to take a long rest as the day was coming to an end, and go to Yester Hill in the morning.

That's where the session ended.

Party Members

Important Items/Events