This large stockyard has 8 locked sheds along its periphery and lies adjacent to a roomy warehouse. A wooden sign above the front gate reads "Arasek Stockyard."

Parked at the south end of the stockyard is a sturdy carnival wagon, its colorful paint peeling off. Faded lettering on its sides spells out the words "Witchlight Carnival, Rictavio's Wonders." A heavy padlock secures the back door.

The stockyard is a general store and a facility where storage sheds can be rented. It is owned by a middle-aged married couple, Gunther and Yelena Arasek.

Ricky is finishing an apple, sitting on the roof of his wagon. He gestures to his once-magnificent wagon, "This thing used to sprout butterfly wings and carry us from one plane to the next. But now look at us, paying top dollar to keep our spot in a junkyard."

The wagon suddenly lurches, as though something big has thrown itself against the inside wall. You hear the cracking of wood, the scraping of metal, and the snarl of something inhuman. Upon closer inspection, you see that the sides of the wagon are spattered with dry blood. You also see an inscription on the wagon's door frame that reads, "I bring you from Shadow into Light!"

Rictavio almost loses his balance, but hangs on and bangs his hand on the rooftop. "Pipe down in there!"

He looks up at you with a giant smile and gently drops down to the mud to speak to you directly. "You have not been here long, but you have been able to stay clean. What do you know about the Vistani???"

So far I've told you nothing. History check to know what you may have been able to put together from what you have seen..

Elma looks at Rictavio with a confused expression, "Clean? From what?"

-----

Elma Keensong rolled 21 using 1d20+5.  History.

LOL I searched google for the simplest description of them and came across a few articles about how racist and sterotyped this part of the campaign is. And while that may be true, it's good for drama, I don't see why people are complaining about it. It's not like it is encouraging that behavior in real life. In short: The Vistani are gypsies loyal to Strahd.

---

Rictavio coughs lightly, "Clean from the Vistani filth. We are not too unlike, them and me. We both live in wagons and appreciate finer things and showmanship, but they are liars, thieves and drunkards and deserve death."

He knocks on the door of the wagon and is met with a low growl of a tiger. He smiles, "Why would ol' Rictavio tell you about his plan to release a custom-fit-armored saber tooth tiger into the Vistani camp just outside of town? Because I believe you will help me when I tell you WHY I am going to release a saber-tooth tiger into the Vistani camp outside of town."

He is sincere, his words full of hatred that goes beyond racial prejudice. This is personal.

"They kidnapped my son, Erasmus, and sacrificed him to Strahd. My boy is dead because they serve a wicked and evil master. What say you?"

His knuckles turn white as he grips his cane.

Elma watches Rictavio as he speaks, listening carefully. She blinks at him when he asks his final question and looks down for a moment, thinking. The half-elf glances over at her companion, sharing a moment.

She spoke carefully. "Rictavio... we have very little knowledge of this area, and even less of any of the people here." She looks up to meet his gaze. "I have known you less than an hour, and you've both propositioned me and revealed a desire to release an agitated and wild predator onto a group of people that we've never met and you want our participation in some way." Elma looks at her hands, and takes a deep breath. "We came here tonight because I wanted to hear what you think is the right plan for making the lives of the people here better. You implied that you had a plan, and that we could talk about it away from Ernst and the other residents here that you also do not approve of, for reasons you have not explained."

Elma crosses her arms, "We do not have enough information to justify inviting death to walk these streets. I understand that you have a deep and horrific relationship with these people, but think about what you are asking of us. We do not know anyone in this situation, and it is very difficult to make any kind of commitment without knowing any of the facts. If we were to aid you in this endeavor it would be the work of a moment to have us take the blame instead of you, the guards would bring us in as strangers who went on a murder spree the first night they were in the town." She shakes her head, "That is only one of many angles that could be turned against us. I mourn the loss of your son, but we will need far more than a few sentences to entice us into this."

Minty folks her arms and nods, almost daring contradiction of her companion.

Rictavio seems defeated, "Ahh you are right. And I shouldn't have said anything. I suppose I was hoping you would give me the edge to finally go through with it. I wasn't trying to pin this on you, I take full responsibility. Please don't give me up."

After he composes himself he tries to start over, "The Vistani are in league with Strahd, they camp not too far outside of town. On festival days they bring their wagons in to town to peddle their wares, though most of the people in town are wise enough, or too poor, to buy anything. I was curious how it would affect the town if they stayed away, but I see that I was letting my reasons for genocide support my desire to improve the economy. I truly did not explain my methods well, and now I see the fault in all of it."

He scratches the back of his head. "The Burgomaster is insane, Lady Fiona Wachter would love nothing more than to replace him, but she is even worse. The leader of a cult that worships an old god called the Whisperer. She is in league with Strahd just like the Vistani, so our current Burgomaster, despite his philosophy, is much much less worse. BUT, if the people could rally behind a true leader, if the people disposed of noble rule and gave the power back to the people..." He speaks ideas that no one in our time has ever had before. Whether Barovia or Faerun, nobles have always ruled, diplomacy does not exist, except perhaps wizard colleges or druid circles or goliath tribes.

"If I had to pick a leader, heh, and I couldn't pick myself, Urwin Martikov would be that man."

Elma puts a hand on her hip, cocking her head to one side. "Tell me about Strahd, and why it is such a bad thing to be allied with him." She glances at Minty and then back to Rictavio. "I hate to ask for a lesson, but we really did just arrive here in the town, and this feels like something we need to know."

-----

Justifying Persuasion over Deception - she isn't lying. They don't know what the townsfolk think about Strahd, they don't know why it would be bad to side with him, and they really did just arrive in town. She's not volunteering information, but she's not telling falsehoods.

Today: Elma Keensong rolled 23 using 1d20+10.  Persuasion.

Minty taps her foot and prods, "Well, Rictavio, are you going to answer Lady Elma? Or is this just time wastng?"

Rictavio stares at you with his mouth half open in pure stupidity.

"I'm sorry, excuse me, are you fuckin' blind and deaf??? He MURDERED MY SON!"

Rictavio begins storming off, hobbling slightly on his cane as he trudges through the mud, wanting nothing to do with you.

"He has a deft touch in recruiting allies," says Minty. "Really, it seems to get harder to care about the people in this place the longer we're trapped here."

Elma watches the man leave, confused. She turns to Minty and whispers, "I thought the Vistani murdered his son? Why do they want to sacrifice to Strahd, what do they hope to get? When we met him he didn't seem powerful enough to warrant people sacrificing to him. He's a vampire, not a deity..." She glances back at him as he gets further away and shrugs then speaks normally. "Ah, well. Back to the inn then, dear?"
This message was last edited by the player at 19:36, Tue 03 May 2022.

"Honestly, I have no idea. There's too much, pardon me, BS, floating round here and it's not just inbreeding. Maybe the repetitive time cycles erode their reason. But if we're going to fix this and get back to our own world then we need help. Maybe the other folks that are fresh in town? Might not have had their reason eroded. Or something," says Minty with feeling, letting it out now that it's just the two of them.

Elma nods, "Well, we're supposed to go look for those adventurers, right? What about that pair of women in the inn we saw just before we stepped out? They looked like they didn't really belong in this place and they weren't terribly sociable or happy-looking." The half-elf smiles, "Those are usually pretty good signs of adventurers, unless they're drunk - then they get a little rowdy."

"Good thinking, Elma," Minty agrees, putting the abysmal behaviour of that man out of her mind. "Let's go look for them."

After they leave the stockyard, Minty says quietly, "If that man treats you like that again, I will swing for him." Apparently he wasn't so easily put out of mind.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:00, Wed 11 May 2022.

On your return to the Inn you stop at the nearest guard to explain what Rictavio just shared with you, most importantly, the tiger. He thanks you and immediately goes to the guardhouse to get some back up. As you enter the Inn you see him with two other guards heading toward the Stockyard. Time will tell what becomes of Rictavio.

TO INN