Pulling his teammates aside from Davian and his family, Slate gives his thoughts on the situation. The magic items that have been taken from the Vineyard seem extremely powerful, there must be a reason for the Druids to want them.
Turning back to Davian, Abe asks for more information about the items. Like what they look like, so the party know what to look for. Davian doesn’t want to give too much away, but when Summer draws his attention to her milky white eyes, he suddenly feels at ease in her presence and begins to talk once he’s under the kobolds charm.
The items were blessed by a wanderer centuries ago, before even Strahds reign, There were three pinecones blessed by the Morninglord that were planted in the soil of the valley, allowing the grape vines to grow. He wasn’t around when the pinecones were gifted to his family, but he knows where they are.
Summer asks about why Davian and his family can turn into ravens, the old man being most willing to answer her questions: his family are known as the Clan of the Feather, a family of Wereravens that oppose Strahds rule. He admits that his family have been keeping an eye on the party since they entered Barovia, curious to see if they can help stop Strahd. At this point, he is uncertain…
Vanros asks about the druids, does Davian know where their grove is. Apparently there are a few small groves used by the druids in the area, but the main one is on Yester Hill to the north of the vineyard. He also mentions that one of the Druids that attacked the vineyard wielded a staff that seemed to command the Blights that Torbin and Summer had seen earlier. Maybe taking the staff away from him would make things alot easier to deal with.
The druid grove usually has 6 or so druids staying at it at a time, but Davian recalls there being at least 4 druids that attacked. Including the one wielding the staff!
Torbin finally relents to Abe and Summer talking about going after the druids while Slate and Vanros get the layout of the vineyard from Davian.
– The main floor of the building houses where the wine production takes place, alongside their kitchen.
– The basement is the cellar.
– Top floor is the families living quarters.
With some coaxing from Summer, Davian convinces his family to help the party by providing a distraction so they can get close to the building.
With a flock of ravens heading over the house, the party make a run for the house. They can see the blights ahead of them moving to the far side of the house, following the ravens.
Torbin and Summer see Dros, the druid that spoke with Torbin, run out of the building after the blights. Looks like the plan is working!
Running onto the balcony, the party sneak up to the sliding doors and quietly slip inside.
Looking around the vat room, they can hear someone walking on the walkway above them. Abe and Vanros sneak to the kitchen and start locking doors, hopefully to force the druids to walk all away around the house to get inside. Abe hears a noise coming from the cellar door, someone must be down there…
Summer slips under the stairs leading to the walkway and sees a woman in druidic robe pouring a liquid from a drinking horn into one of the vats.
As Summer starts to move, a small blight runs past her under a vat.
Thinking there isn’t much time left before they’re caught, Summer vaults up the stairs and kicks the druid over the railing. The druid cracks her head on the edge of the vat before falling in. If the head injury didn’t kill her, drowning in the wine probably will. With her quick reflexes, Summer managed to catch the drinking horn before it got lost in the drink too!
Coming out of the kitchen, Vanros spots the small blight making its way for the door. His longsword split the twig in two, killing it with ease.
While all this was going on, Slate and Torbin had snuck down to the far end of the production room to check for unlocked doors and windows. Torbin manages to duck his head out of sight as he sees a Druid walking past the window. And he was carrying a staff.
Is that the guy controlling the blights?! The blights following him seem to be a good indicator.
From their space in the office, Slate and Torbin think he’s heading around to the main sliding doors the party entered through.
Slipping back out to the others, Slate warns them just in time as the door rattles. The druid found the door locked and is trying to call for someone to let him in!
With good timing, Torbin opens the door as the druid attempts to pull on the door, making the man fall into the room. The party immediately swarm him: Summer attempting to hit him but tripping over the staff and rolling outside while Slate and Abe drive their blades into the mans back to hold him down so Vanros can snatch away the staff and knock out the druid with it!
While Torbin examines the staff and Slate and Abe tie up the druid, Summer stands in the doorway with a blank expression as she watches the blood pool in the druids mouth. It looks good…
Vanros grabs Summer and pulls her inside, snapping her out of her state as the door slides shut behind her.
Looks like they have someone to interrogate!