Session 12 — The Bite

The party escapes the Old Bone Grinder and journeys toward Vallaki, pursued by mystical ravens. Aleric contracts lycanthropy from a werewolf bite, and the party arrives at a town teeming with refugees turned away by callous guards. Vallaki offers the illusion of safety, but darkness lurks beneath its prosperous facade.

Pre-Session Recap

The party spent the night at the Old Bone Grinder, forced to witness the hags' cannibalistic operations and unable to save the captive children. This morning, they convinced the hags they needed to depart to maximize daylight for travel, and successfully escaped with Irina.

Session Summary

Opening

The party woke at Old Bone Grinder to discover the young captive girl had lost her right arm, further highlighting the horrific reality of the hags' operation. After a brief, tense breakfast exchange with Morgantha, they convinced her they needed to depart early to make maximum use of daylight. The party successfully escaped with Irina, immediately beginning to plot the windmill's destruction—though they recognized their current lack of resources and anti-magic capabilities made direct action impossible.

During the overland journey northward, the party witnessed a progressively unsettling phenomenon: a massive flock of ravens, eventually numbering in the hundreds across two distinct swarms, began tracking them. When the party split to determine which members the ravens were following, the swarms split as well—one following Aleric and Irina, the other following Ria and Daisy. When they swapped positions, the swarms did not change their assignments, confirming they were tracking specific individuals. Notably, Muriel, the blue-tipped raven companion, examined the larger swarms with apparent recognition, then took flight to join them, disappearing into the multitude.

When Aleric quickened his pace to test the swarms, they responded by releasing coordinated droppings in what the party described as "the most comedic dance anyone has ever seen," with ravens cawing and cackling as if laughing. The ravens' intelligence and dark humor left no doubt that Strahd's eyes were watching them.

Middle

The road eventually opened into a grassy field overlooking a large, perfectly still dark lake—its surface reflecting clouds like a "monstrous mirror." Irina froze upon seeing the lake, revealing that it matched a lake from her recurring dreams, though she had never visited it physically before. While observing the lake, Aleric's superior senses allowed him to perceive a dramatic moment: an enormous white and gray elk standing on a rocky spur across the water suddenly transformed into a humanoid figure—a man with long black hair streaked with gray, tattered robes, and eyes that flickered with eldritch power. The figure stared across the mile-distant lake at them, then walked into the misty forest up the mountain slope.

As the party continued through increasingly thick forest near a stream crossing, they encountered a wooden bridge spanning a shallow but fast-moving watercourse. The combat proved significantly more challenging than previous encounters, with multiple werewolves attacking simultaneously from both sides of the crossing.

Aleric contracted lycanthropy after being bitten by one werewolf, failing a Constitution saving throw. The party learned that lycanthropy is both a curse and disease—importantly, it cannot be cured by spells that remove disease, though clerics have other means of addressing curses.

Irina established a Wall of Fire spell that proved crucial, requiring the werewolves to make saving throws and damaging them significantly. She succeeded on multiple concentration checks despite taking damage. Daisy's Warding Bond spell connected her to Aleric, creating a powerful defensive partnership that redistributed damage and boosted his resilience. The bond gave Aleric a "blood rush of energy" and made him "feel great," though it created an unsettling sense of connection.

The raven swarms proved surprisingly effective, with Muriel and hundreds of others actively pecking at werewolves and providing assist actions. Ria used her silvered axe and action surge to deliver high-damage attacks, with smites adding significant burst damage. One werewolf was knocked prone into the water and swept downstream. By the end, all werewolves were either killed or swept away in the current. The party recovered from the encounter, soaked and battered, but victorious. However, Aleric's lycanthropy now hangs over the party as an unresolved threat requiring immediate attention.

Closing

The party's final journey took them to the outskirts of Vallaki, a town nestled on the shores of Lake Zarevich. Rather than entering immediately, they encountered a sprawling refugee camp outside the eastern Morning Gate—more than a dozen ramshackle tents housing dozens of emaciated, hollow-eyed people from the destroyed village of Barovia.

The refugees had arrived "a few weeks ago" but were barred from entering without explanation. When they attempted to breach the gates by force, guards summoned a man named Isaac (bearing a "twisted devil's arm") who conjured fire to drive them back. Every night, swarms of bats and packs of wolves attack the camp, though miraculously no deaths have occurred. Morgantha visits every couple of days and trades her dream pastries; many refugees have become addicted.

Daisy approached an elderly melancholy man by a campfire, who explained the situation and the Baron's refusal to meet with them. A young grieving woman was less sympathetic. When she noticed Irina, she became hostile, blaming Ireena's "cursed red-tinted hair" for the village's suffering and arguing she should have accepted Strahd's proposal. She spat at Ireena's feet and walked away.

Ireena's response was furious and resolute. She vowed publicly: "I vow to everyone here and now that I will make my best efforts to secure entry for the refugees into Vallaki. He may be able to ignore you, but he cannot ignore me."

When the party approached the Morning Gate (also called the Zarevich Gate), the guards demanded entry fees and an inspection. Ireena paid five gold coins as a bribe. The guards then demanded to inspect everyone's coin purses, explaining they were checking for silver coins, as people were "making weapons tips out of the silver." Aleric, recognizing the tactical sense in a land of werewolves, acknowledged the point and earned the guard's respect. The guards confiscated all silver coins from each party member and exchanged them for equivalent amounts of copper.

As the party moved through Vallaki, they observed well-kept houses with smoke pouring from chimneys, faded banners hung from eaves, flickering candlelight behind shuttered windows, and long shadows lurking in alleyways. A scarred man in an alleyway wore fine clothes and stared at the party contemplatively. When Aleric gave him a nod as they passed, "one side of his mouth quirked up in a smile" and his eyes crinkled—though the smile "didn't reach" his eyes.

The party noted the Arasek Stockyard along their route. Ireena, looking at the prosperity of Vallaki compared to her people's suffering, expressed disgust: "To think that my people live the way they do when this town exists as it does. I will have to look into this injustice."

The Blue Water Inn was identified by its distinctive sign depicting a blue waterfall and located toward the center of town. As they approached, Muriel—who had been riding on Ria's shoulder throughout the journey—gave "a sentimental trill," then fluttered away to the roof to rejoin the other ravens. Warm air, food, and good ale poured from the slightly ajar door.

Key Events

• The Raven Phenomenon — Hundreds of ravens track the party in two coordinated swarms, with Muriel joining them and abandoning the party
• The Mysterious Elk-Man — A figure transforms from an enormous elk into a humanoid with eldritch power and disappears into the misty forest
• The Werewolf Bridge Combat — A fierce tactical encounter briefly infects Aleric with lycanthropy
• Lycanthropy Cured — Ria administers the Wolfsbane Retreat Potion from Daggerford, permanently curing Aleric's lycanthropy before his first transformation
• The Refugee Camp Crisis — The party discovers the Baron of Vallaki has turned away refugees from Barovia, leaving them camped outside the gates
• Ireena's Public Vow — Irina swears to secure entry for the refugees despite the Baron's callousness
• Arrival at Vallaki — The party enters the apparent safety of Vallaki, though silver confiscation and mysterious figures hint at deeper dangers

Decisions Made

NPCs Encountered

Locations Visited

Combat & Encounters

Combat Breakdown — Werewolf Bridge Combat

Phase 1: Encounter Setup and Environmental Awareness

• The party approaches a wooden bridge spanning a shallow but fast-moving watercourse during a rainy evening
• The bridge becomes a tactical chokepoint: multiple werewolves are positioned on both sides of the crossing
• The water moves with enough speed and force to pose a genuine threat—any creature swept into the current risks being carried downstream
• A stone platform exists between ground level and the bridge structure, creating multiple elevation zones
• The party immediately recognizes werewolves require magical or silvered weapons to harm effectively, forcing strategic resource management and tactical adaptation

Phase 2: Opening Assault and Spell Establishment

• Werewolves attack from both sides of the bridge simultaneously, attempting to exploit the party's confined positioning on and around the crossing
• Irina immediately establishes a Wall of Fire spell, creating a barrier that forces the werewolves into a choice: attempt to pass through flames, take damage, or use alternative approaches
• The werewolves must make saving throws to resist or move through the Wall of Fire; multiple creatures suffer damage from the flames and are forced into tactical repositioning
• Irina succeeds on multiple concentration checks despite taking damage from the werewolves' coordinated attacks, maintaining the Wall of Fire throughout the encounter—demonstrating impressive focus and willpower under pressure

Phase 3: Defensive Partnership and Damage Redistribution

• Daisy casts Warding Bond on Aleric, creating a mystical connection between the two characters
• The bond redistributes damage taken by Aleric: when he takes damage, Daisy experiences half that damage, and vice versa
• Aleric experiences a "blood rush of energy" from the bond, making him "feel great" and greatly enhancing his resilience and combat effectiveness
• The bond creates an unsettling sense of shared connection and awareness between the two, described as different from other applications of the spell—almost primal in nature
• Daisy uses her healing touch on Aleric repeatedly, leveraging the Warding Bond's damage-sharing mechanic to keep him alive despite the werewolves' relentless attacks
• The healing combined with the shared damage system allows Aleric to weather hits that would otherwise have incapacitated him

Phase 4: The Werewolf Bite and Lycanthropy Contraction

• During a coordinated werewolf assault, Aleric is bitten by one of the creatures
• Aleric is forced to make a Constitution saving throw to resist infection and curse
• He fails the saving throw, contracting lycanthropy—a hybrid curse and disease that cannot be removed by standard disease-curing magic
• The party learns through this encounter that lycanthropy is a dual infection: both a curse (requiring clerical curse-removal) and a disease (but not one that standard disease-removal spells can address)
• Aleric now carries the burden of this infection, with the knowledge that transformation cycles may begin, creating a ticking time bomb of unknown severity

Phase 5: Raven Swarm Assistance

• The raven swarms that had been tracking the party throughout their journey prove surprisingly effective in combat
• Muriel (Ria's blue-tipped raven companion) and hundreds of other ravens actively peck at the werewolves, providing assist actions (mechanically the "help action")
• Individual raven attacks deal minimal damage (1-3 points each), but collectively the swarms apply psychological pressure, morale effects, and cumulative damage
• The ravens' coordinated attacks provide tactical support that makes the difference in what would otherwise be an overwhelmingly challenging encounter
• The raven swarms demonstrate intelligence and coordination that further confirms Strahd's pervasive control and oversight

Phase 6: High-Damage Output and Tactical Positioning

• Ria uses her silvered axe to deliver high-damage attacks against the werewolves, one of the few party members with effective weapons
• Ria uses action surge to deliver devastating burst damage attacks
• Ria lands smites with precision, adding significant additional damage to her heaviest attacks
• One werewolf is knocked prone into the fast-moving water by one of Ria's powerful smite attacks and is immediately swept downstream by the current, removing it from the combat
• The party's tactical positioning on and around the bridge proves effective: the narrow crossing limits the werewolves' ability to flank the party and use pack tactics effectively
• The bridge's confined nature prevents the werewolves from surrounding the party, forcing them into linear engagement where the party's positioning and resource management provide advantages

Phase 7: Final Elimination

• By combat's end, the party systematically eliminates the werewolf threat through coordinated action
• The remaining werewolves are either killed outright by the party's attacks (particularly Ria's silvered weapon and Daisy's support)
• One werewolf that attempts to escape by climbing out of the water is pecked to death by the raven swarms, which attack with coordinated precision as the creature struggles against the current
• The final werewolf is either killed or swept away in the current
• All werewolves are eliminated or removed from combat through the water's force

Phase 8: Recovery and Resolution

• The party recovers from the encounter, soaked, battered, and victorious
• The cost of victory is immediately apparent: Aleric has contracted lycanthropy from the werewolf bite
• However, Ria acts swiftly: she retrieves the Wolfsbane Retreat Potion, obtained from Winston the alchemist in Daggerford during Session 01
• Aleric drinks the potion immediately after the combat, before his first transformation can occur
• The potion cures the lycanthropy curse completely and permanently—the crisis is resolved before it can escalate
• The party does not determine why these werewolves were present at the bridge or if they served any master
• The encounter leaves open questions: Were they random encounters or deliberately placed? Do they serve Strahd, another master, or operate independently?

Outcome: Party victorious with no lasting consequences; all werewolves killed or swept downstream; Aleric briefly contracted lycanthropy but was immediately cured by the Wolfsbane Retreat potion; Irina's Wall of Fire proved crucial; Daisy's Warding Bond and healing kept Aleric functional; raven swarms provided unexpected tactical support; the bridge's confined nature limited werewolf tactical options despite their numerical advantage.

Loot & Rewards

Memorable Moments

"I vow to everyone here and now that I will make my best efforts to secure entry for the refugees into Vallaki. He may be able to ignore you, but he cannot ignore me."

— Irina, making a public vow to the refugee camp

• The Coordinated Raven Droppings — Hundreds of ravens executing a perfectly timed comedic attack, cackling as if laughing
• The Elk Transformation — Aleric's perception of the dramatic metamorphosis of an enormous elk into a humanoid figure with eldritch eyes
• Irina's Fury — The contrast between Ireena's composure and her immediate, genuine outrage at the refugee camp's treatment
• Muriel's Departure — The sentimental trill of the blue-tipped raven as she abandons the party to rejoin the swarms
• The Scarred Nobleman's Smile — A mysterious figure watches the party with knowing intensity and an empty smile

Plot Threads

Threads Opened

• The Mysterious Elk-Man — A figure of unknown identity and eldritch power; his transformation and observation suggest deep magical involvement
• Vallaki's Closed Gates — The Baron inexplicably bars refugees for weeks; Isaac enforces this policy with fire magic
• Isaac's True Nature — A mysterious figure with a "twisted devil's arm" and fire conjuration; allegiance and purpose unknown

Threads Resolved

• Aleric's Lycanthropy — Contracted from werewolf bite but cured immediately by Wolfsbane Retreat potion before transformation could occur

Threads Advanced

• The Refugee Crisis — Irina's public vow creates a pressing objective that will drive future actions
• The Raven Swarms — Muriel's departure suggests Strahd's surveillance has become total or Muriel serves other interests
• Party Resources — Silver coins (strategic resource in werewolf-infested lands) have been confiscated and converted to copper

Threads Unresolved

• What is the connection between the mysterious elk-man and the other threats?
• Who is the scarred nobleman, and why did he watch the party with such intensity?
• What is Isaac's true nature and allegiance?
• Can Aleric's lycanthropy be cured or managed?

PC Highlights

GM Notes