Belmont's Curse
Dramatis Personae:
Tilea Aervavil'A'Sum, the Wild Elf Circle of the Moon Druid Barbarian
Scritch, the Weremonkey Squirrel Thief and Tilea's Animal Companion
Sachi Kno, the Vistani Weremonkey Thief
Tabitha Marie Lennox, the Human White Witch of Mystra, youngest of the Lennox triplets
Spot, Tabitha's Homunculus
Nikko, Tabitha's Flying Monkey familiar and Warlock of the White Witch
Azure, Nikko's Witch Light Familiar
Dot, the Tabaxi Cheetah TherinthropeHomunculus and White Witch
Pip, Dot's Flying Monkey Familiar
Speck, Dot's Homunculus
Isabella Catalina Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Scritch's Knight
Isabeth Katherine Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Catalina's sister and Knight
Sypha Alohrea Lennox, the Human Sorceress, eldest of the Lennox triplets
Agatha Leah Lennox, the Human Black Witch, middle of the Lennox triplets
Syndal Al'Vherin, theFour-year-old Human girl who Tilea released from an amulet,- kidnapped by Strahd, now working with Talmot Now cleansed of the soul brand clouding her mind
Comrades we have lost:
Pineck, Anvil's Horse- turned into soup by a cursed crate
Kithri "Quickshadow" Tealeaf, the Lightfoot Halfling Werebat Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter and Ruin Raider- left to become Archivist
Forgrotken Anvilrocker, the Blugrim Forge Cleric of Moradin- killed by the Talmot Wives
Lythana, the Human Werewolf Order of the Ghost Slayer Blood Hunter-captured by the Talmot Wives, then turned evil mauled to death by Tilea
Bruenar Shieldwall, the Shield Dwarf Shield Fighter the party hired- became the Harbinger of Apsu
Tilea Aervavil'A'Sum, the Wild Elf Circle of the Moon Druid Barbarian
Scritch, the Weremonkey Squirrel Thief and Tilea's Animal Companion
Sachi Kno, the Vistani Weremonkey Thief
Tabitha Marie Lennox, the Human White Witch of Mystra, youngest of the Lennox triplets
Spot, Tabitha's Homunculus
Nikko, Tabitha's Flying Monkey familiar and Warlock of the White Witch
Azure, Nikko's Witch Light Familiar
Dot, the Tabaxi Cheetah Therinthrope
Pip, Dot's Flying Monkey Familiar
Speck, Dot's Homunculus
Isabella Catalina Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Scritch's Knight
Isabeth Katherine Hazelgrove, the Human Assassin and Catalina's sister and Knight
Sypha Alohrea Lennox, the Human Sorceress, eldest of the Lennox triplets
Agatha Leah Lennox, the Human Black Witch, middle of the Lennox triplets
Syndal Al'Vherin, the
Comrades we have lost:
Pineck, Anvil's Horse- turned into soup by a cursed crate
Kithri "Quickshadow" Tealeaf, the Lightfoot Halfling Werebat Order of the Lycan Blood Hunter and Ruin Raider- left to become Archivist
Forgrotken Anvilrocker, the Blugrim Forge Cleric of Moradin- killed by the Talmot Wives
Lythana, the Human Werewolf Order of the Ghost Slayer Blood Hunter-
Bruenar Shieldwall, the Shield Dwarf Shield Fighter the party hired- became the Harbinger of Apsu
NOTE: Things will be mostly from Tabitha's perspective, anything in italics is from a third party view since the Witch can't be everywhere at once.
***** Nyolcadik Honap 7, CY 745, Castle Ravenloft, the Gardens
Tilea told Belmont to stop, "you can't do it like this." We needed to solve the time loop, not break it like this. He insisted that he could do it without turning into Strahd, which none of us believed. She pointed out that the magic will force it, and said his time had passed. Belmont squared his shoulders and glared at Tilea, telling her that as long as he lives he has a chance to succeed and if we wanted to stop him we'd have to kill him, which he didn't think we could do.
Tilea responded by trying to reverse gravity on him, but it didn't work; he said he was bound to all of nature and life, then cracked his whip at her, sending her flying. Sachi called her back and she attempted to slash the bonds that tied him to nature, but it didn't work. Belmont chucked an axe at Tilea, and thankfully missed. My crew set up some protection magics for the others, which Belmont apparently didn't appreciate; he threw a vial at me and silver fire coated my bubble then popped it.
Grant grabbed Syn and drug her into a nearby building, desperate to keep her out of Belmont's sight. I hoped it would be enough. Belmont threw another axe at Tilea, hitting her hard, then he threw another at Scritch which bounced off the wall and hit the squirrel a second time. It was impressive, to say the least. He tossed a vial at Sachi, but he managed to evade it. Scritch, Kittie, and Cat went for him, a flurry of slashes and parries.
Blue energy wrapped around Belmont and he leapt to Tilea, missing her with his whip, and then he jumped over the wall. Tilea called forth a vengeful, angry storm and sent it at Belmont, which ended up only hurting Pip, Spot, and Azure. She sent a swarm of monkeys at him next and he destroyed them instantly. I got my group out of Tilea's storm, and we all launched attack magic at Belmont, missing; I set up a healing candle, we'd need it soon enough.
Sachi launched himself at Belmont and was met by his whip wrapping around his tiny monkey body, slamming him into the wall. He began beating the shit out of Sachi while I did everything I could to keep him alive. Tilea and Scritch both went for Belmont, but didn't do much- Scritch even ended up hitting poor Sachi, who Belmont kept beating on. Scritch called Sachi to get him out of the whip and Belmont grabbed him with the whip instead. Dot managed to score a nasty hit with a witch bolt while I prepared to try to take away some of his magic.
Sachi finally managed to get away from Belmont. Grant emerged without Syn, asked what the fuck was going on, and rushed into Tilea's storm to get Belmont. Belmont hit hit with seven nasty-looking weapons, and I hurried to heal him. Tilea began chucking lightning bolts at Belmont, then began slashing her sword at him. Sachi dive-bombed Belmont with his poisoned kataras, hurting him enough to make him crumble, screaming in pain.
Grant jumped up and yelled "no, you fool" at Sachi, while Tilea cried out "no Sachi, the orb, the orb!" We had no fucking idea what she was talking about though. Grant snapped a rod and a burst of light came out of it, Tilea told him it wasn't gone though. Grant yelled at Sachi to run before backing off himself.
Five orbs rolled out of Belmont, the size of marbles, and began orbiting him. They suddenly became the size of cantaloupes, and in a flash of light, Belmont rose, fully healed, and stomped, sending out a massive shockwave. Belmont was pulsing and glowing in silvery light. This wasn't good. His whip lashed out, glowing with the brightest flame I'd ever seen- I had to look away. Tilea's storm no longer seemed to affect him at all.
Things were looking bad, I needed my sestras. I sent Sypha a message for help, and she replied that we needed to be targeting the curse, not Belmont. My sestras were on the way, but they may not make it to us in time. I used the spell that lets me see curses and saw what she was talking about. I lit a telepathy candle to show everyone else what we needed to be targeting.
Tilea suggested we try healing magic on the curse... which healed him... I couldn't get close enough to try to remove the curse completely, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to on my own anyway. Maybe with the Power of Three, but not on my own. Now that the others could see the curse they began focusing on hitting it instead of Belmont himself.
After a few seconds, Belmont began to glow differently. The others continued exchanging blows with him, and Tilea gave up on her fucking storm. Dot opened a dimensional door and sent a cone of cold at Belmont. I opened one with a mage hand that held a gem with remove curse, but it missed. Somewhere in this chaos, Syn came out to join the fray, even though she'd been instructed not to.
Grant ran toward her, snapped a rod, and went blank before reaching Syn; she turned on hit and killed him. I sent Azure to ressurect Grant, and Belmont killed the light instead. Belmont's whip wrapped around Syn's neck, yanked her to him, and he took her whip, he was about to do something horrible, when Dot wished Syn hadn't come out. Syn was back inside and Grant was alive again. So was Azure.
Grant was running toward Belmont with the rod again, and Tilea stopped him from snapping it. Instead, he kicked Belmont in the nuts three times- that man would never had babies now... Belmont collapsed, unconscious from the pain Grant had just inflicted on him. Grant said now was the time and snapped the rod. A flash of light came from the rod and the orb over Belmont flickered for a moment before vanishing completely.
Grant explained that the orb wasn't a true curse, the Dark Priest was using it to control Belmont. The Priest wants to get Belmont on Strahd's throne, and the orb Grant banished was what he'd been controlling Belmont with. I hoped that meant my old friend hadn't turned into the douche he'd been acting like, that it was just part of the control; I doubted that was the case, but it doesn't hurt to wish.
I sent Sypha a message to meet us at the Temple, then I brought all of us, including the unconscious Belmont, there. A few minutes later, we learned that somehow- I'm really not sure how he did this- Sachi had informed Strahd that we had Belmont's unconscious body, which Strahd demanded. I created a new section in my heavily warded vault and put Speck in there to watch him. Then Tilea convinced Sachi she hid Belmont's body. That damned monkey spent the next four hours searching for it.
Later in the day Tilea asked me to shift us to her Lythari village in the Feywild. The first time we ended up in a new growth forest instead, with figures in ruins nearby. My second attempt got us there. Leaving Barovia was more difficult now for some fucking reason. Whatever Tilea was looking for, they didn't have it.
I took us to Sigil next, and there was a spiky headed thing coming our way. Tilea panicked so I shifted us to Waterdeep.
Something went wrong... again. We ended up in Skullport, in Xanathar's Vault. This was fucking bad. I adjusted my appearance and tried to shift us out, which set off fucking alarms. The others were frantically shoving loot into their bags while I began offering Mystra magical items. It took some powerful items, but it worked, a portal appeared in front of us that took us straight back to the Temple.
I decided to give Tilea my Broom of the Beastlands, and she instantly burned off the broom part, leaving just the staff. Then Sachi and Tilea began jousting brooms. Two of the Shieldwalls went for a broom, and somehow they knocked each other out. I revived them and retired to our personal common room. A bit later, I learned one guard accidentally killed another with a piece of a broom, then two more killed themselves with brooms. Sachi revived all of them, and I bitched both him and Tilea out.
The shopaholic monkey wanted to head back to Sigil again, so off we went. Grant and Aggie even came with us. This was the most time I'd spent with my sestra in far too long. I went to get more tattoos while the others went shopping. Aggie bought me a super creepy trinket just to bug me, along with a bright orange tabby cat... It was nice to resume the casual teasing with my sestra, as if we hadn't gone so long as kind of enemies.
Sachi beseeched Apsu for aid, forgetting about Clarah being imprisoned in his soul. Once he told Apsu he loved Clarah, the God demanded the monkey prove it. Apsu killed him several times before he ran out of ideas, then sent him to Tiamat to finish out the 17 deaths. Being willing to die 17 more times for Clarah would prove his love to Apsu.
He became engaged to Clarah and was told that they would marry on the next full moon.
***** Nyolcadik Honap 8, Sigil
In the morning Sypha contacted me to let me know that we had to perform the ritual to find this Dark Priest. We needed the full moon, and we needed the time to make everything perfect for it.
Sachi asked us where the best silversmith was, so Aggie sent him to some hags in Barovia. He came back seething, and after bitching Aggie out, she banished him. This time when he returned he just grumbled at Aggie and went looking for a silversmith in Sigil.
Tilea had me take her to Mount Ghakis, as close to Bruenar's vault as I could. I didn't ask, she didn't offer any info. I checked on Belmont before heading back to Sigil, he was still out cold.
The full moon began rising in Barovia, Sachi and Clarah would be wed tonight. Apsu was not giving him the opportunity to weasel out of this betrothal. He rushed back to Sigil to see if he could get the statue he wanted for the wedding done tonight; he couldn't. The full moon followed him to Sigil and left when he went back to Barovia.
Even though there was a full moon tonight, my sestras and I couldn't perform our ritual. There were things we needed to gather and it would take us the full month to prepare. I set up an area in the Temple for the ritual that only my sestras and I could access.
Tilea told Belmont to stop, "you can't do it like this." We needed to solve the time loop, not break it like this. He insisted that he could do it without turning into Strahd, which none of us believed. She pointed out that the magic will force it, and said his time had passed. Belmont squared his shoulders and glared at Tilea, telling her that as long as he lives he has a chance to succeed and if we wanted to stop him we'd have to kill him, which he didn't think we could do.
Tilea responded by trying to reverse gravity on him, but it didn't work; he said he was bound to all of nature and life, then cracked his whip at her, sending her flying. Sachi called her back and she attempted to slash the bonds that tied him to nature, but it didn't work. Belmont chucked an axe at Tilea, and thankfully missed. My crew set up some protection magics for the others, which Belmont apparently didn't appreciate; he threw a vial at me and silver fire coated my bubble then popped it.
Grant grabbed Syn and drug her into a nearby building, desperate to keep her out of Belmont's sight. I hoped it would be enough. Belmont threw another axe at Tilea, hitting her hard, then he threw another at Scritch which bounced off the wall and hit the squirrel a second time. It was impressive, to say the least. He tossed a vial at Sachi, but he managed to evade it. Scritch, Kittie, and Cat went for him, a flurry of slashes and parries.
Blue energy wrapped around Belmont and he leapt to Tilea, missing her with his whip, and then he jumped over the wall. Tilea called forth a vengeful, angry storm and sent it at Belmont, which ended up only hurting Pip, Spot, and Azure. She sent a swarm of monkeys at him next and he destroyed them instantly. I got my group out of Tilea's storm, and we all launched attack magic at Belmont, missing; I set up a healing candle, we'd need it soon enough.
Sachi launched himself at Belmont and was met by his whip wrapping around his tiny monkey body, slamming him into the wall. He began beating the shit out of Sachi while I did everything I could to keep him alive. Tilea and Scritch both went for Belmont, but didn't do much- Scritch even ended up hitting poor Sachi, who Belmont kept beating on. Scritch called Sachi to get him out of the whip and Belmont grabbed him with the whip instead. Dot managed to score a nasty hit with a witch bolt while I prepared to try to take away some of his magic.
Sachi finally managed to get away from Belmont. Grant emerged without Syn, asked what the fuck was going on, and rushed into Tilea's storm to get Belmont. Belmont hit hit with seven nasty-looking weapons, and I hurried to heal him. Tilea began chucking lightning bolts at Belmont, then began slashing her sword at him. Sachi dive-bombed Belmont with his poisoned kataras, hurting him enough to make him crumble, screaming in pain.
Grant jumped up and yelled "no, you fool" at Sachi, while Tilea cried out "no Sachi, the orb, the orb!" We had no fucking idea what she was talking about though. Grant snapped a rod and a burst of light came out of it, Tilea told him it wasn't gone though. Grant yelled at Sachi to run before backing off himself.
Five orbs rolled out of Belmont, the size of marbles, and began orbiting him. They suddenly became the size of cantaloupes, and in a flash of light, Belmont rose, fully healed, and stomped, sending out a massive shockwave. Belmont was pulsing and glowing in silvery light. This wasn't good. His whip lashed out, glowing with the brightest flame I'd ever seen- I had to look away. Tilea's storm no longer seemed to affect him at all.
Things were looking bad, I needed my sestras. I sent Sypha a message for help, and she replied that we needed to be targeting the curse, not Belmont. My sestras were on the way, but they may not make it to us in time. I used the spell that lets me see curses and saw what she was talking about. I lit a telepathy candle to show everyone else what we needed to be targeting.
Tilea suggested we try healing magic on the curse... which healed him... I couldn't get close enough to try to remove the curse completely, and I had a feeling I wouldn't be able to on my own anyway. Maybe with the Power of Three, but not on my own. Now that the others could see the curse they began focusing on hitting it instead of Belmont himself.
After a few seconds, Belmont began to glow differently. The others continued exchanging blows with him, and Tilea gave up on her fucking storm. Dot opened a dimensional door and sent a cone of cold at Belmont. I opened one with a mage hand that held a gem with remove curse, but it missed. Somewhere in this chaos, Syn came out to join the fray, even though she'd been instructed not to.
Grant ran toward her, snapped a rod, and went blank before reaching Syn; she turned on hit and killed him. I sent Azure to ressurect Grant, and Belmont killed the light instead. Belmont's whip wrapped around Syn's neck, yanked her to him, and he took her whip, he was about to do something horrible, when Dot wished Syn hadn't come out. Syn was back inside and Grant was alive again. So was Azure.
Grant was running toward Belmont with the rod again, and Tilea stopped him from snapping it. Instead, he kicked Belmont in the nuts three times- that man would never had babies now... Belmont collapsed, unconscious from the pain Grant had just inflicted on him. Grant said now was the time and snapped the rod. A flash of light came from the rod and the orb over Belmont flickered for a moment before vanishing completely.
Grant explained that the orb wasn't a true curse, the Dark Priest was using it to control Belmont. The Priest wants to get Belmont on Strahd's throne, and the orb Grant banished was what he'd been controlling Belmont with. I hoped that meant my old friend hadn't turned into the douche he'd been acting like, that it was just part of the control; I doubted that was the case, but it doesn't hurt to wish.
I sent Sypha a message to meet us at the Temple, then I brought all of us, including the unconscious Belmont, there. A few minutes later, we learned that somehow- I'm really not sure how he did this- Sachi had informed Strahd that we had Belmont's unconscious body, which Strahd demanded. I created a new section in my heavily warded vault and put Speck in there to watch him. Then Tilea convinced Sachi she hid Belmont's body. That damned monkey spent the next four hours searching for it.
Later in the day Tilea asked me to shift us to her Lythari village in the Feywild. The first time we ended up in a new growth forest instead, with figures in ruins nearby. My second attempt got us there. Leaving Barovia was more difficult now for some fucking reason. Whatever Tilea was looking for, they didn't have it.
I took us to Sigil next, and there was a spiky headed thing coming our way. Tilea panicked so I shifted us to Waterdeep.
Something went wrong... again. We ended up in Skullport, in Xanathar's Vault. This was fucking bad. I adjusted my appearance and tried to shift us out, which set off fucking alarms. The others were frantically shoving loot into their bags while I began offering Mystra magical items. It took some powerful items, but it worked, a portal appeared in front of us that took us straight back to the Temple.
I decided to give Tilea my Broom of the Beastlands, and she instantly burned off the broom part, leaving just the staff. Then Sachi and Tilea began jousting brooms. Two of the Shieldwalls went for a broom, and somehow they knocked each other out. I revived them and retired to our personal common room. A bit later, I learned one guard accidentally killed another with a piece of a broom, then two more killed themselves with brooms. Sachi revived all of them, and I bitched both him and Tilea out.
The shopaholic monkey wanted to head back to Sigil again, so off we went. Grant and Aggie even came with us. This was the most time I'd spent with my sestra in far too long. I went to get more tattoos while the others went shopping. Aggie bought me a super creepy trinket just to bug me, along with a bright orange tabby cat... It was nice to resume the casual teasing with my sestra, as if we hadn't gone so long as kind of enemies.
Sachi beseeched Apsu for aid, forgetting about Clarah being imprisoned in his soul. Once he told Apsu he loved Clarah, the God demanded the monkey prove it. Apsu killed him several times before he ran out of ideas, then sent him to Tiamat to finish out the 17 deaths. Being willing to die 17 more times for Clarah would prove his love to Apsu.
He became engaged to Clarah and was told that they would marry on the next full moon.
***** Nyolcadik Honap 8, Sigil
In the morning Sypha contacted me to let me know that we had to perform the ritual to find this Dark Priest. We needed the full moon, and we needed the time to make everything perfect for it.
Sachi asked us where the best silversmith was, so Aggie sent him to some hags in Barovia. He came back seething, and after bitching Aggie out, she banished him. This time when he returned he just grumbled at Aggie and went looking for a silversmith in Sigil.
Tilea had me take her to Mount Ghakis, as close to Bruenar's vault as I could. I didn't ask, she didn't offer any info. I checked on Belmont before heading back to Sigil, he was still out cold.
The full moon began rising in Barovia, Sachi and Clarah would be wed tonight. Apsu was not giving him the opportunity to weasel out of this betrothal. He rushed back to Sigil to see if he could get the statue he wanted for the wedding done tonight; he couldn't. The full moon followed him to Sigil and left when he went back to Barovia.
Even though there was a full moon tonight, my sestras and I couldn't perform our ritual. There were things we needed to gather and it would take us the full month to prepare. I set up an area in the Temple for the ritual that only my sestras and I could access.
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