Through the Mists

Session 23: Barovia’s Restored Memories

At a glance

Summary

Hyskosa warned Carver that he could sense dead things moving in the swamp ahead. At the helm, the party found Snowmane preparing an unspecified ritual while the danger closed in. Carver descended to the engine room with Hyskosa, whose sight helped guide the ship through the undead; Rage and Ignatius patrolled the lower outer deck. Carver forced the boiler to greater speed, and the River Dancer escaped back into the full Mists.

A raven soon came cawing out of the fog, landed on the ship, and became Vidic. He renewed contact with the party and spoke of Two Hundred Summers, the leader of the Keepers in Barovia. Vidic directed them toward the Keepers’ Barovian contacts: an inn in Vallaki used by their sect and the Wizard of Wines vineyard and winery. He also gave them a practical lay of the land before taking his leave.

Days later, the Mists opened onto a warm, shallow sea surrounded by desert. Ooru recognized Har’Akir, his home domain, from the circling hawks and sandy shores. He chose to leave the company and return home with what they had learned, entrusting the party with his lapis-lazuli scarab talisman. He said they could find him in Muhar should they ever return.

Ooru leaves the River Dancer by dinghy as the party gathers at the rail, with Har'Akir's sunlit desert shore beyond.

Ooru returned to Har’Akir, leaving the party a route to find him again. View image record.

The voyage continued until the River Dancer finally reached Barovia. Snowmane put the company ashore by dinghy on a broad forest lake, then carried on into the Mists with her ship. The party’s farewells left their former traveling companions behind as the vessel vanished from sight.

On the lakeshore, the party found itself in the Svalich Woods—and Darkon’s stolen memories came rushing back. Rage remembered being a creation that had been discarded. Ignatius recalled his monastery. Thinking of the amnesiac Voss, Ignatius turned to him. Voss’s memories returned as well: he named himself Mordenkainen, an archmage of the Circle of Eight from Oerth, who had come to Barovia to oppose Strahd von Zarovich before being cast out into Darkon.

Voss is caught in blue-white fragments of returning memory as Rage, Ignatius, and Carver watch on Barovia's misty lakeshore.

Voss remembered his true name: Mordenkainen. View image record.

Mordenkainen led the party north through the woods toward a mansion he had once maintained there. Twig blights attacked along the way. Ignatius’s acid breath destroyed many of them, Carver sent Chip after and killed a fleeing squirrel messenger, and Rage’s thunderwave shattered the survivors. Ignatius then spotted a druid at work in the woods. Rage compelled the druid to approach; Carver manacled him, and Rage maimed him to prevent escape.

Ignatius sprays acid over a mass of twig blights while Rage's thunderwave tears through the Svalich Woods and Chip pursues the squirrel messenger.

The party’s swift counterattack broke the twig-blight ambush before the squirrel messenger could escape. View image record.

Under interrogation, the druid said that an order based at Yester Hill—described as Strahd’s ancestral home—had sent him to patrol for reports of a mad mage in the woods. After learning that those reports were recent, Rage killed the captive. The party claimed the druid’s vine staff, whose attacks carried an added sting of magic.

At the Mists’ edge, Mordenkainen turned a rock wall into a portal and led the party into his hidden mansion, a sanctuary beyond Strahd’s sight. He explained that most Barovians were spiritually empty, “dead inside” and without souls. He had recovered his true staff and spellbook, restoring powers that had been limited during his amnesia. Before the party rested, he gave Ignatius, Rage, and Carver each a Charm of Heroism. He also warned them that Vallaki is a walled town ruled by Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich, whose continual festivals dominate its life, and cautioned them away from the Village of Krezk.

Mordenkainen opens a glowing portal in a Svalich Woods rock wall as Rage, Ignatius, and Carver wait before the warm sanctuary beyond.

Mordenkainen opened the way into a sanctuary beyond Strahd’s eyes. View image record.

Key events

  1. Carver overdriven the River Dancer’s boiler, allowing the ship to escape an undead threat in an unidentified swamp.
  2. Vidic met the party in the Mists and gave them Barovian leads through Two Hundred Summers, Vallaki, and the Wizard of Wines.
  3. Ooru returned to Har’Akir, leaving his scarab Mist talisman with the party.
  4. Snowmane put the company ashore in Barovia before the River Dancer disappeared into the Mists.
  5. The party’s pre-Darkon memories returned; Voss recovered his identity as Mordenkainen.
  6. The party defeated twig blights, captured and interrogated a Yester Hill druid, then killed him and took his vine staff.
  7. Mordenkainen brought the party to his hidden mansion and granted each adventurer a Charm of Heroism.

Decisions and consequences

  • The party accepted Barovia as its new ground. The River Dancer and its crew have departed, leaving the group in the Svalich Woods.
  • Ooru returned home. The party now holds a route back to Har’Akir, but Ooru is no longer traveling with them.
  • The party killed the Yester Hill druid. His order now has reason to regard the party as a threat, while the squirrel messenger’s intended report was stopped.

People

  • Mordenkainen: Formerly known to the party as Voss; he recovered his identity, staff, spellbook, and part of his power.
  • Vidic: Reached the party in raven form and provided new Keepers contacts in Barovia.
  • Ooru: Departed for Har’Akir after giving the party his talisman.
  • Captain Snowmane: Delivered the company to Barovia, then continued her voyage into the Mists.

Places

  • Svalich Woods: The Barovian forest where the party arrived and encountered the druids’ patrol.
  • Mordenkainen’s Mansion: A hidden refuge near the Mists, shielded from Strahd’s notice.
  • Yester Hill: The ancestral home of Strahd, according to the captured druid, and the base of his order.

Clues, lore, and notable items

  • Vidic said the Keepers have contacts at a Vallaki inn and the Wizard of Wines.
  • Mordenkainen claimed that Barovia’s people are often born without souls.
  • The party received Ooru’s lapis-lazuli scarab, a Mist talisman leading to Har’Akir.
  • Each adventurer received a Charm of Heroism, functioning as a potion of heroism.
  • The party took a vine staff from the slain druid; it adds an extra d4 damage, though its fuller properties are unknown.

Story threads

Rewards, losses, and character changes

  • Rage remembered that he was a discarded creation; Ignatius remembered his monastery.
  • The party lost Ooru as an active traveling companion but gained his scarab talisman.
  • Ignatius, Rage, and Carver each received a Charm of Heroism.
  • The party acquired a vine staff with an extra d4 of damage.

Memorable moments

  • Chip caught the fleeing squirrel messenger before it could carry warning from the battle.
  • Voss’s bewildering amnesia ended when he introduced himself as Mordenkainen.
  • Rage’s thunderwave obliterated the last twig blights.

Open questions

  • What swamp did the River Dancer escape, and what ritual was Snowmane preparing?
  • What does the Yester Hill order want with Mordenkainen, and did anyone learn of the fallen patrol?
  • What will Two Hundred Summers and the Keepers’ Barovian contacts ask of their new Talons?
  • Can Mordenkainen’s knowledge help the party confront Strahd?

Next session

  • Immediate situation: The party is safely resting in Mordenkainen’s hidden mansion near the Mists in the Svalich Woods.
  • Likely goals: Travel toward Vallaki, seek the Keepers’ contacts, and decide how to approach Strahd’s domain.

Backlinks