Helping Victor

Characters:
- Oogway
- Liren
- Gumbo
- Aera
- Shabasta
- Malron

Summary:
Rahadin sentences Milovaj and Heinrich to death. Shabasta gives an impassioned speech, convincing Rahadin to reconsider. He rolls two dice to determine their fate: Milovaj is set free with a roll of 20, while Heinrich is branded with the symbol of Castle Ravenloft with a roll of 14.

Lady Fiona has taken control of the town, but the Burgomaster mansion remains occupied by Victor and his father. Stella and Erasmus express doubts about Victor’s competence, and he introduces the party to Stella’s spirit in a mirror. Victor has been experimenting with a spell book to create a teleportation circle to escape the valley. While successful with rabbits, the attempt with Stella went wrong, trapping her in the spirit realm.

Erasmus believes a gallows speaker haunts Stella near Vellaki in the Ethereal Plane. He shares knowledge about the creature from Van Richten’s guide. Victor, distrustful of his father and Lady Fiona, needs to reach the Ethereal Plane to cast a spell to aid Fiona’s escape. He has a book from Mordakainen that can transport up to nine creatures on a full moon night with a hag’s heart stone. Stella mentions seeing a night hag near the refugee camp, possibly the same one who sold dream pies.

Sly and subversive, night hags are the epitome of wickedness. They represent all that is evil and cruel in the world and want nothing more than to see the virtuous turn to villainy: love turned into obsession, kindness turned to hate, devotion to disregard, and generosity to selfishness.
Once, night hags were creatures of the Feywild, a realm of enchantment and beauty. However, their foulness saw them exiled to the bleak realm of Hades long ago, where they degenerated into fiends. The foul taint of Hades twisted their once-fey nature, and the night hags have long since spread their malevolence across the Lower Planes.
Though night hags resemble withered crones, there is nothing mortal about them. Their withered faces are framed by long, frayed hair and curled ram’s horns; horrid moles and warts dot their blotchy pale-blue skin; and their long, skinny fingers are tipped by claws that can slice open flesh with a touch.
All hags possess magical powers, including the ability to alter their forms or curse their foes. A hag also bears some resistance to magic and mortal weapons alike, though the touch of silver wounds her like any other.
Arrogant to a fault, hags believe themselves to be the most cunning of creatures—and very often are. They are open to dealing with mortals, and will always keep their word—but a bargain with a hag is always dangerous. Hags enjoy watching mortals bring about their own downfall through these bargains, which often involve compromising their principles or giving up something dear.
A night hag’s ultimate prize, however, is the soul of a corrupted mortal. While her victim sleeps, the night hag passes into the Ethereal Plane through the aid of her twisted onyx heartstone—an artifact that allows her to become Ethereal at the speed of thought. There, she invades her victim’s very dreams, filling their head with doubts and fears in the hope of tricking it into performing evil acts in the waking world.
Night after night, she continues her visitations until the victim finally expires in its sleep—at which point she traps its corrupted soul in her soul bag as a dark trophy of her success. The blacker the stains upon the soul, the greater the night hag’s bounty.
Like all hags, night hags propagate by snatching and devouring human infants. A week later, the hag gives birth to a daughter who appears human until her thirteenth birthday—at which point the child transforms into the spitting image of her hag mother.
Some hags raise the daughters they spawn, creating covens that magnify their power. The members of a coven gain a slew of unnatural abilities, including the power to control the elements and—once each day—to dispel foreign magic in the vicinity of their lairs. As is true for all hag magic, however, such power comes at a price—for a wound suffered by a single hag in a coven is suffered by all.
To combat their inherently selfish natures, the hags in a coven must enter into a written contract with the others, signed by each hag’s true name. The hags of a coven guard their contract jealously, often sealing it within the heart of their lair, ever-careful to keep their names from falling into enemy hands.

The party ventures to the refugee camp, greeted by Emerik and Magda. They meet Franz, who is suffering from nightmares after losing his children and becoming addicted to Morgantha’s dream pastries. Franz sold his children for endless pastries and hears windmill blades during his nightmares. Morgantha hasn’t returned since taking his children.

As they leave the camp, Liren hears Victor’s voice asking her to return to him with a plan. The party heads back to the attic.

Key Locations:
- Burgomaster Mansion: Occupied by Victor and his father; Victor experiments with teleportation.
- Refugee Camp: Franz’s tragic story and the impact of Morgantha’s dream pastries.

Encounters:
- Social: Shabasta’s speech to save Milovaj and Heinrich, resulting in a lesser sentence for both.
- Social: Meeting with Victor and learning about Stella’s predicament and the gallows speaker.
- Social/Exploration: Investigating the refugee camp and learning about Franz’s plight and Morgantha’s influence.

Loot:
- Some loot was shared from the hidden winter wonder session

Notable NPCs:
- Rahadin: Sentences Milovaj and Heinrich; influenced by Shabasta’s speech.
- Lady Fiona Wachter: Now in control of the town.
- Victor: Experimenting with teleportation and trying to save Stella.
- Stella: Trapped in the spirit realm.
- Erasmus: Provides knowledge about the gallows speaker.
- Emerik and Magda: Refugees who greet the party at the camp.
- Franz: Addicted to dream pastries and suffering from nightmares.
- Bianca: Franz’s sister, caring for him.

Plot Points:
- Shabasta’s successful plea to save Milovaj and Heinrich.
- Discovery of Victor’s teleportation experiments and Stella’s entrapment.
- Erasmus’ insights into the gallows speaker.
- The party’s investigation into the refugee camp and Franz’s tragic story.

Session Highlights:
- Shabasta’s impassioned speech and Rahadin’s decision to roll dice for Milovaj and Heinrich’s fates.
- The revelation of Victor’s teleportation experiments and Stella’s plight.
- The party’s interaction with refugees and the uncovering of Franz’s nightmare.
- Three black hearts beating as one. In the millstone under the windmill. The gnarled arm holds the key.