Gray smoke issues from the chimney of this large, two-story wooden building with a stone foundation and sagging tile roof, upon which several ravens have perched. A painted wooden sign hanging above the main entrance depicts a blue waterfall.

The Blue Water Inn is Vallaki's main gathering place for locals, especially at night. The innkeeper, Urwin Martikov, considers the inn a sanctuary from the evils of this land. In the event of trouble, the windows and doors can all be barred shut from within.

A bed for the night costs 1 ep. Characters looking for something to eat are fed hot beet soup and fresh bread at no additional charge. A cooked wolf steak costs 1 ep.

The inn offers a pint of Purple Grapemash No. 3 wine for 3 cp, or a pint of the superior Red Dragon Crush wine for 1 sp. Urwin is hurt if the characters complain about the wines, for his family makes them.

---

Jun Jia and Ceila (please describe yourselves) enter to see a good number of people at 3 separate tables: Over here sit two large wolf hunters with two men that you think could be wereravens, they have that piercing look in their eyes.

Toward the back sit six people who seem soulless, but are dressed in finer clothes. They keep quiet, talking amongst yourselves, avoiding eye contact.

Smack dab in the middle are two men, one a half-elf dressed as a circus ring leader (couldn't find the Hugh Jackman greatest showman for the avatar portrait), the other a full human dressed like an accountant. The women, both half-elves, can describe themselves.

There is a makeshift stage at the front of the tavern. Danika, the proprietor, gestures for you to sit where you like as she tidies up something at the bar. Then she makes her way to you and looks you over with piercing eyes and at once knows all there is to know about you.

She whispers (perception DC15 for anyone other than Jun and Ceila to hear)

"Whatever you like is on the house. Thank you so much for what you did for us. We have private rooms, very secure. Whatever you need."
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:42, Mon 28 Mar 2022.

This message was deleted by the player at 21:58, Mon 28 Mar 2022.

A road-weary Jun Jia accepted the table with a grateful nod and smile. When Danika spoke with them, Jia felt at ease with the woman. Her reply came with a smile that came naturally for their hostess. “Please, no thanks are necessary. We were glad to offer your family what aid we could. We would appreciate a meal and a room that you can reasonably spare.

Oh, and perhaps a little information.” Jun Jia recalled the posters as she and Ceila arrived. “What is the Festival that we’ve heard about?” For the moment, she let their connection with the “Guests of Honor” remain unspoken after a quick look at Ceila.

"A hot meal, yes," said Ceila.  A private room sounded good, too.

...but this festival, now.  What could that be about?  Surely it was Vyktor's work...

You can tell she's a half-elf because of the slim bone structure, the curve of her ears, and the rise of her eyebrows, but the thing that keeps her from being fully elf-like is her proportions; curves that fit a human woman rather than an elven, and she has obviously spent years learning how to make the most of both sides of her heritage. She is confident, which accentuates her physical attributes.

She wears a dress that seems a little out of place here. The corset around her is a deep blue, complimenting the color range of the gown. The dark edge along the bottom is so dark blue it is nearly black which then fades through the spectrum until the palest of powder blue at the shoulder. Just above floor length as she sits, you can see that the footwear she has is, in contrast, utterly appropriate for the weather. Being black, they do not clash color-wise, though style-wise the clunky boot is a bit jarring. She has a pack on the floor by her seat, there are many more smaller pockets than a normal pack would have and inside is a harp, though only just barely visible.

The half-elf is in the conversation, listening and contributing when appropriate. She appears totally engrossed in the people with her.

-----
Elma hears nothing!

Today: Elma Keensong rolled 9 using 1d20+3.  Perception.

Perhaps Danika was too busy to answer. Jun Jia leaned closer to Ceila and whispered in what sounded like harsh grunts…

Ceila answered her in a low voice, and then bowed her head, as if in prayer.


OOC:  What the hey, Divine Sense.

Ceila: the half-dozen give off a strong stench that only your divine sense could pick up. In the physical realm they actually smell quite nice, especially compared to your muddy and bloody selves.

Danika brings a key to a room and two bowls of beet stew, the stuff is red as blood and your stomach turns as you think of everything you've been through today. Still, once you put it in your mouth you find it palpable, you didn't realize how hungry you were.

"I have Urwin cooking you some steaks as well, you do eat meat? You should. You need the strength."

She rolls her eyes when asked about the festival, and speaks freely, not even bothering to keep it secret, "Burgomaster Baron Vargas is a bit cookoo. He throws a festival every weekend to force us all to be merry, thinking ignorance and bliss will keep Count Strahd at bay. I suppose in a way it has been working, at least during the weekends we see more patrons here."

"Danika, you should not be so loud. AHEM..." Urwin, her husband, comes up behind her, clears his throat and throws a quick glance over to the table with the ring leader, "Thank you both for helping my mother, it was unfortunate that her cat was stuck in a tree..." He makes it very obvious that we should not be mentioning anything further about wereravens or witches.

---

Rictavio curls his lip, not convinced. "Just because we are not working together does not make us rivals or enemies, Ersnt. I will continue my project and you can rest assured I have my nose out of your business." He keeps steady eyes on Urwin, trying to drop eaves.

"What of those two? They look like they've been through hell and they are getting almost more attention than your performance."

Ernst nods, "Ne'r seen 'em before. You two enjoy your stay, tomorrow is the festival, I will meet your here again in the morn' to see Lady Wachter." Then he bows and excuses himself to leave.

I will try not to ever have npcs actually leave without you being able to ask them anything further.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:58, Wed 30 Mar 2022.

Elma smiles and says farewell to Ernst. Once he leaves, she leans forward to speak quietly to Rictavio. "I don't have a full understanding of what's going on here, but what I do know is that whatever is happening is obviously not working. I'll look around tomorrow at this so-called festival and see what the current leader is forcing his people to go through." She has been looking around a little, making sure that there aren't people blatantly staring at them or obviously trying to overhear. She then turns and makes direct eye contact, "I would like to speak with you in a place more suited to private conversations, then we can talk about your experiences here and what course of action you would advise at this point."

-----
Before we leave this setting, Elma wants to talk with Dannika (who is the wife of the owner, if I understand correctly).

Although Jun Jia preferred not to eat anything involved in the suffering of a living being, she also understood that crops may have been harder to grow in that blighted land. She quietly accepted the steak as she finished her beet soup, which she quite enjoyed. When Urwin thanked them, Jia nodded. “Of course. Your mother’s…cat was harried by an aggressive bitch. Luckily, a friend put that mad dog down.”

For the moment, Jun Jia refrained from naming the friend in question. Though she trusted the Ravens, she felt apprehensive about the rest of the people in the tavern. “Danika, what do you know about the ‘Guests of Honor’ the poster described?”

Ceila's expression was remarkably readable-- whatever she'd sensed, it angered and disgusted her.

"Those six," she muttered.  "I don't know what, but something very, very bad."

Jun Jia trusted Ceila, and acknowledged her warning with a pleasant nod. Leaning closely once more, she whispered an answer for Ceila’s ears alone.

Ceila nodded.

"Agreed," she said.  That was safe enough; no need to arouse too much suspicion by only speaking a language the others didn't know.