Curse of Strahd Session 12: Cleaning Up the Neighborhood

The session began with the party infiltrating the Wizard of Wines winery. Gretch and Horvor looted the master bedroom, discovering a hidden compartment in a heavy chest containing gold and gemstones, as well as a shipping ledger detailing trade with the Vistani. Meanwhile, Riordan descended into the cellar, engaging a druid and several blights. The confrontation resulted in the destruction of most of the winery's stock due to a Thunderwave spell, but Riordan successfully executed the druid, entering a 'fed' state after consuming the enemy's blood. In the main distillery, Stoick, Chaya, and Lucian confronted a female druid who was poisoning a wine vat with a mysterious green syrup. Surrounded by dozens of twig blights, the party engaged in a multi-floor battle. Stoick delivered a devastating critical hit, beheading the lead druid, while Gretch used a Cloud of Daggers to hold the stairs. The party soon realized the sheer number of blights outside was overwhelming, resembling a 'World War Z' style swarm crawling up the windows. Desperate to end the siege, the party identified a gnarled staff held by Gretch as a Gulthias Staff. Gretch spent ten minutes attuning to the artifact mid-combat while the party defended the perimeter. Upon successful attunement, Gretch gained control over the remaining sixty blights, commanding them to stand down and assist the Martikov family with repairs. The party then located a missing magic seed—a glowing green gemstone—hidden in a secret compartment under a wine barrel and returned it to Davian Martikov. As the party settled in for a long rest at the winery, a terrifying discovery was made. During the night, a twig blight witnessed a multi-elbowed, pale creature with yellow eyes—the Bagman—crawling out of Gretch's Bag of Holding. The creature retreated into the extradimensional space just as Horvor entered the room, leaving the party unknowingly traveling with a lethal monstrosity in their inventory.