[Ravenloft Campaign] and so it begins! NEW: Chap 11 03/03/21

[Starscream]

Yes, I loved reading that adventure and I wanted to run it, with some little adjustments.
The plant will be taken from Pathfinder bestiary, the Body Thief.
I am not sure if I can kidnap a player, but for sure I will try it

[Gonzoron of the FoS]

finally had a chance to catch up on this. Fun stuff! Lots of seeds planted for future adventures, and some of my favorite NPCs. Good to see your players having fun. Enthusiastic players who get the mood are the key to a good RL campaign.

[Starscream]

finally had a chance to catch up on this. Fun stuff! Lots of seeds planted for future adventures, and some of my favorite NPCs. Good to see your players having fun. Enthusiastic players who get the mood are the key to a good RL campaign.

Thank you for compliments Gonzoron!
My players are all horror fan, D&D fan but never played RL, so I am enjoying introducing name and places that have a meaning for me but for them are just "names", so I can see their reactions.

I am planning to use the Gentleman Caller (in my campaign the name is shortened because in Italian a literla traduction was too weird) as a mini boss who they will start to find involved in too many evil deeds, like the Tarascon adventure in Souragne.
I am planning to use him in Evil Eye, like the canon source, but then He will involved in the Nikolai Melentia adventure from CotN: Ghosts (as the person who gives instruments and lore to the mill's necromancer) and in the Francois de Penible adventure from CotN: Demons (as the person who gives the Kyton machine).
I want him to be a real evil genius the player want to track down and stop, aside from the main quests of the artifacts (in which i would like to involve him as well)

[DustBunny]

I am planning to use the Gentleman Caller (in my campaign the name is shortened because in Italian a literla traduction was too weird)

Out of curiosity, what do you call him in Italian?
Using a dictionary I got "il gentiluomo che chiama" (the gentleman who calls) or 'gentiluomo chiamante' (calling gentleman), both of which don't really seem to work as a title - even considering how badly I probably mangled translating.

The plant will be taken from Pathfinder bestiary, the Body Thief.

I finally got a change to look it up and it seems a lot more nasty than the Doppelganger plant. It physically eats the person it copies, so the 'podlings' are actually plant monsters and not 'possessed humans who could be saved'. I don't think a PC would be happy having character perma-dead.

[Starscream]

I am planning to use the Gentleman Caller (in my campaign the name is shortened because in Italian a literla traduction was too weird)

Out of curiosity, what do you call him in Italian?
Using a dictionary I got "il gentiluomo che chiama" (the gentleman who calls) or 'gentiluomo chiamante' (calling gentleman), both of which don't really seem to work as a title - even considering how badly I probably mangled translating.

Yes, all these transalation are correct, but they are seldom use in common talks because they sounds wierd.
I have chosen the simple "Il Gentiluomo" -> The Gentleman, cutting Caller

The plant will be taken from Pathfinder bestiary, the Body Thief.

I finally got a change to look it up and it seems a lot more nasty than the Doppelganger plant. It physically eats the person it copies, so the 'podlings' are actually plant monsters and not 'possessed humans who could be saved'. I don't think a PC would be happy having character perma-dead.

well, I have chosen it for the easy 3.x stats, but I have reduced its power, since its CR was over that of the party, so no perma death for the abducted people. the body thief is a young one, so I think it is fair depowering him

[Joël of the FoS]

Fun read. I’m curious to see how they destroyed that dreadful plant from outer space

Good idea to add Davyyd now. Do you plan to go Bleak House?

[Starscream]

Fun read. I’m curious to see how they destroyed that dreadful plant from outer space

I am curious too. After how they manage to fight Marcel in Souragne, I am not sure I can foresee their decisions. I have to counter their moves

Good idea to add Davyyd now. Do you plan to go Bleak House?

In the future, yes I plan to run Bleak House. But it won't be too strict to the source. I want to build some bonds between the players and the Van Richten "squad", so running Bleak House would be more "emotional" for the players.
Soon they will also meet Ottelie, which I plan to make one of their closest friends

[Joël of the FoS]

Soon they will also meet Ottelie, which I plan to make one of their closest friends

Great idea, I wish I had thought of this before!

[Starscream]

Soon they will also meet Ottelie, which I plan to make one of their closest friends

Great idea, I wish I had thought of this before!

Thank you!
But It is me that have to thank you in the first place
The idea of presenting davyyd and ottelie it came to my mind while I was reading your run of bleak house in your journal

Your campaign and gonzoron one are the best sources from which I have taken inspiration

[Starscream]

Hi all, it has been a long time, but things have happened. Wife's sister has left the group, so Cordelia would be managed alternatively by Nix's player, Agatha's player or by myself as last resource. We decided to still continue, since my wife and Nix's player wanted to play.
As a master, I would be the last to leave a sinking boat, so as long as the players want to play, I will master them.
But now, let's return to the story...


Chapter 6 - Horror at Dulcaster

We have left the group starting to battle Kjell and Stella, with Cordelia and Nix already suffering from surprise attacks.
The group have resisted the surprise shock and fight back. Nix and Ruben started to attack Kjell, while Cordelia and Agatha took care of Stella. (DM Notes: if you would ask what Laure have done, well...nothing, since I have forgotten she was there in that confrontation...uops).
Kjell fight with punch and hitted a second time Nix (DM Notes: 6 damage; an old man taking so many punches, Kjell is not resprectful of old men, doesn't he? ), while Stella casted a second Magic Missile, this time towards Agatha, but the female inquisitor seems barely noticing that (DM Notes: spell caused only 2 damage).
The party figthted back well, with Agatha's sword and Cordelia's light mace easily dispatching Stella. Ruben and Nix less well, but they were able to dispose of the punching Kjell.
The last blows the group launched, showed that both Kjell and Stella were two vegetal creatures. Nix took a sample of "blood" and "brain" to further research them, while the others started to search the house. Nothing wrong, but they understood the "living" zone of the house (kitchen or bedroom) have dust everywhere, like nobody have used of cleaned them for some days.
The party started to think that the real Kjell had a good reason to be worried. They decided to return to Franz, even if it is night. After they have explained what has happened in Kjell's house, Franz and Otis followed the group to see the corpses, but in the house there weren't anymore, only some green blood where the two have fallen (DM Notes: obiouvlsy some other podlings have removed the corpses. The player moaned about their stupidity, they should have suspected such a thing).
Franz believed the party, trusting their experience, so he asked them to go to the church and try to convince the two priests to open and help the little village.
Franz and Otis returned to the barrack, while the group splitted: Agatha, Laurie (DM Notes: still forgotten by me, but present) and Cordelia went to the inn, looking for suspicious people, while Nix and Ruben went to the church.
In the inn, the girls found that there were still some villagers inside, drinking and chatting. Searching for odd behaviors, they were approached by Ludwing, who told thatt Lotta, the youngest daughter of Gretel Wychenstein, wife of one of the woodcutters, has gotten ill and maybe she needed their help (DM Notes: podeling tried to slow the party progresses). The girls nodded, but Agatha commented, when Ludwig was returned to sing, that she was not a nurse for little ill-childs (DM Notes: LE inquisitor and her priorities ).
Nix and Ruben tried to knock, but a aged voice shouted to leave them alone. With some subterfuges, like altering himself as a monster to frighten the priests and intimidite them, the two boys were able to convince the younger priest to open the door.
The two priests, Father Ethen and novice Jorgi, told them the story of one week ago, a great storm in the night and a big noise, like something as fallen from the sky. And the night after the undertaker, Umbarrow, had tried to kill them with his shovel. Jorgi hitted him with a chandelier and kill him. They were afraid and Father Ethen, thinking the gods had cursed Dulcaster, sealed the door and started to pray for help from her goddess Ezra.
Jorgi brought Ruben and Nix to the undertaker's corpse and Nix could state it was another vegetal being. They asked to Jorgi where they heard the noise and he said towards or beyond the manor of the mayor. They told them the mayor is a sort of a hermit and it is Franz the real mayor of Dulcaster.
Ruben and Nix returned at the inn and sumarized the meetings with the priests. The group, except for Laurie, who remained at the inn to further investigate, moved towards Rook Hill Manor, starting to climb the high road that, from the village, brought to the manor.

A little short session, but we could play only for two hours. Next time: the players could arrive to the manor, or would they be distracted from somewhat else?

[Starscream]

Hi All,
here we are with the next session. Together, we have decided to find a way to remove Corderlia from the party, and insert a new character, always a cleric, who would be played by Nix's player.
We are gathering ideas for him/her.

but now, back to the story...

Chapter 7 - The Rook Hill Manor


We have left the party ready to go to the mayor's mansion, Rook Hill Manor. They wanted to look for the origin of the loud noise the clerics have listened quite a week ago.
On the way to the manor, the group suddenly stopped, since a dying scream was heard, coming from behind a old and abandoned house on the town's border.
Agatha sent her henchman Aigor to look and the man returned after some minutes with only one word: murder.
They foolowed him and found the corpse of a man, with large wounds on the back and the face deep in the soft earth. Ruben turned the dead face up and they discovered that Rupert was the murdered.
They looke suspiciously around themselves, but they saw nothing. They then started to look at the corpse and the surroundign of the crime scene.
Something was out of place. Very deep wounds, done with something like wolf's claws, but very few blood on the earth around the body. And only a few trails, near the body. The party started to think someone has murdered Rupert elsewhere, and then moved the body there. But if so, who had screamed? (DM NOTE: yes, I created a bad crime scene for purpose. I wanted to see if the players would fall in a trap or they would do the right choice. They almost fell, but they realized about the scarsity of blood just in time. Lucky them )
After some talks, they decided to split: Laurie would go to Franz, to inform him about the murder, while Cordelia and Aigor would protect the body and crime scene. Nix, Agatha and Ruben would continue to the manor.
The thrree arrived in front of the Rook Hill Manor, a three floor building, with an entrance on the first floor and stable near the building. Again, the party splitted: Nix started to search the stable, Agatha and Nix did a tour around the building.
Agatha and Nix found that alla the window on the ground floor were closed and that something could have broken the roof, because wood's fragments and roof tiles were on the ground.
Meanwhile Nix entered the stable and saw no horses and the presence of a carriage, which he ignored, pointing toward a door that should lead to the inside of the manor.
The door was open, so he quietly entered in the room, with only is torch as a source of light.
He explored the room and find a door leading on the right from where he has entered from, and a secret door on the wall opposite to the stable's entrance.
Without waiting the others, Nix opened the door, finding a little corridor, with a stairs to the first floor, and a door just in front of him, already opened and leading on a cellar.
Meanwhile also Agatha and Ruben joined him, looking in the cellar and wondering where all the house's inhabitants were.
Searching the various wine racks, Nix found four prestige bottle of red wine "Golden Label" and he took them.
They also found four wardrobe. The first three contained some blank scroll, candles, ink, three books of children's tales and a full cinerary urn (DM NOTE: at this point, the players started thinking the house patron was too eccentric even according to townsfolk people).
In the fourth wardrobe, they found a black cloak. Searching for a secrect false floor, Agatha took the cloak to move it away, but the cloak moaned and attacked her!
The cloak tried successfully to dress her and started to strangle Agatha.
With the help of Nix and Ruben, she was able to take away the cloak and throw it against the wine racks. The saw the wine spill on it and the cloak moaned louder.
Thinking alcool was damaging it, they qucikly developed a plan: Nix throwd some alcool from his alchemist's provisons, while Ruben added some gunpowder.
When the cloak was covered in this mixture, Ruben ignites the gunpowder with his torch.
The cloak catched fire and was consumed by it.
They analyzed the cloak remnants and with an alchemy check by Nix, he recolled it could be an Hangman's Cloak, an alchemichal construct to use to murder someone while torturing him at the same time.
They thought the mayor was very very eccentric. They found in the cloak's wardrobe a false floor with some coin with a big skull and more little skulss around them. They were no money, more like some fiches of some sort. They took them and though while going out the cellar that the mayor was mad, more than eccentric.
the avoid the stairs, wondering again where the inhabitants where, since the fight produced a lot of noise, but no one seemed to show up.
they returned on the first room and took the other door, ending in a large room with a table, with three places already prepared and some furnitures.
They look the table and see that all is covered with dust, like they were there from four or more days. They started thinking that something was happened a week ago, during the night, since all windows were closed and the table seemed ready for breakfast, but no one have had it.
They saw two doors, on the left and on the right of the room from the door they have entered. They chose the door on the left, but Nix was a bit suspicious. They have done so much noise, and no one have looked for them yet.
So he stayed on the side of the door, wanted to open it without being in front and let Ruben shoot to any strange things it would come from. (DM NOTE: we have an off game discussion on the fact Nix player was one of the few players I saw worrying of open a door. Usually i have alwasy seen too much confidence in opening doors. I appreciated his concern, shared by Agatha's player, and so I have decided to reward them later).
Nix opened the door and a man run outside of the room, trying to grab Ruben, who hesitated seeing a humna. with an attack of opportunity since he was flaniking it, Nix decided to do a tripping to the man. He was able to do it and the man fell on the floor.
The party hesitated again, not sure if he is a man or a man-plant, so the man stood up and try to grab Nix's neck to strangle him. Agatha tried to cut him with the blade, thinking of some mental control, but the blood spilled was green.
Now knowing the man is not human, while Nix was fighting it bare hands, Ruben and Agatha swong their blade, finishing him.
Taking a breath, the party explored the room from which the thing came from and the dead man-plant. The room was a kitchen, with nothing more then old food, in same case in very bad conditions. The thing was dressing some cook dress and the party started to guess what was happened in the manor.
They explored with the same preacautions the next room, which was empty of creatures. There were three beds, three dressers and three bedside tables, cleary it were the servants' room. They fully explored it, finding some silver coins and many dresses. They have found that other than the cook, in the manor should still roam a butler and a maid.
Deciding to have done with the ground floor, they moved to the stairs and prepared themselves to go to the first floor.

but we decided to stop and leave the next floor for next session.
I have been very satisfied with the play of my players, so I decided to let them gain a new level. I had planned to move them after all the manor, but some good decisions taken made me for a early reward

plus, after the game, we talk about Cordelia. Since the abandon of my wife's sister, we have decided that Cordelia should be removed for a pg shared by all three of us. We are discussing the character, only mandatory point is that he/she must be connected to paranormal (since I want at least one player with the Ethereal Empathy and Corderlia had it as Background Feat).
Actually we are quite ready with a dwarf cleric of the Eternal Order with a ghost hound as follower (It would be probably his backgorund feat).

[Starscream]

Hi All,
from november we have been able to play two times, but i have not found the time to publish the november's session

so, i will publish now the chapter VIII, and in a few days, the chapter IX.
Then I plan to introduce the character's sheet of the players, now at 3° level.



Chapter 8 - Inside the Manor

As soon as they have arrived on the first floor, they saw three possible doors: one on their left, one on their right and one at the end of a corridor starting near the stairs they have arrived from. At the other side of the corridor, stairs seemed to bring to the second florr.
the party decided to take the door on their right. They luckily avoided a trap (good play by Nix, who opened the door in a careful way.
It was Yuri's bedroom. They searched all the room, finding a weird painting of probably Yuri himself, a bottle of a borcan wine, "Frostbubble", a poisoned wine they have not yet found it was, and some very precious dresses.
They then moved to the door originally at their left, which had a little kithchen. since there were no fireplace, they thought the plates should be cooked on the floor below and here it was only a final stage, before serving somewhere else.
They search all the room finding only some bottles of beer, cheese and some other kind of foods. in the last wardrobe they found a Murlynd's Spoon, which pleased the party.
in this room there was also another door and they carefully opened it, revealing a dining room, totally empty.
They searched the room, finding no useful informations or loot, so they moved to the next room, the hall of the manor. nothing useful here, except for a precious chess made by ebony and ivory, and three urns on the fireplace.
Thinking how a sane person could keep an urn in the hall of his manor, the party decided to break one, using Ruben's gun. the bullet hit the urn, activating a fire trap that made the urns exploding. the party luckily were out of range, but the looked perplexed.
Agatha decided that someone had to tell the burgomaster some words about home security and she was "happy" to take the quest.
last room, another trap avoided by Nix (DM NOTE: they are too much clever to open a door normally. so i have noted to add traps more subtle next time).
the room was a study, filled by books, and a man, dressed as a butler, sitting still on a chair.
The party though without dobut he was another plant-man, so they quickly entered the room and surrounded him. the man attacked without words, being dispatched easily.
They then found it was a plant-man, as they have tought.
Thinking about the village, how many people are really human, they started searching the room, with particular attention for the books. they suspected to find some kind of book about plant, plant-monster or plant-disease. Search unuseful, except for a book, that Nix started to read. the book name is "Horror Stories, written by Sergei Daragov".
Nix seemed to be fascinated by the book, but then he closed blunty it.
He understood something was wrong with the book and suggested to not open it, taking it in custody to further study (DM NOTE: it was a cursed book, and a hook for future adventures with Sergei Daragov as a mad bard. Nix passed the first WILL save an break the compulsion to read the book, which would lead to to bad consequences).
they then finished to search the room, finding two vials (cure light wound), a scroll of Protection From Evil and a moon crescent brooch (DM NOTE: they don't know, but it is a Vistani object, if they let Laurie see it, she will explaint that to them. another hook for when they would met the Vistani (Evil Eye probably will be the occasion)).
Having searched all the floor, but found niothing useful, they moved to the stair, to go up once more.
Next floor, new combat. As soon as they have entered the room, they saw a maid with a dust cleaner doing some wotks on paintings on the wall.
As soon as she saw them, she attacked them. Thinking about another plant-man, they fought with her and dispatched her. Quick examinations confirmed she was a plant-man.
They then started to look the room, a sort of gallery with seven paintings, all made by someone who used the short signature RET.
The paintings, in order of seeing, are:
1) False Face: marriage scene, a groom was tearing away the face of the bride
2) Laughing Forest: a dark forest, with trees with faces on the bark, with a insane smile
3) Night Kiss: black painting with only two feamale lips, somewhat sensual, but with vampire fangs
4) No title: a witch, with bats in the hairs is flying in a fullmoon night
5) No title: a werewolf with a sack full of human body arts, is walikng under the moon
6) No title: a corn field with a scarecrow. the head of it was a bloody human head with a panic look
7) Puppets Dance: human puppets with a human hand which lead the strings.
They felt an uneasy sensation and avoid to look again on them (DM NOTE: the paintings are from a mad painter that could create quite real scene to plant suggestion on the viewer. luckily for them, they were only fake paintings, but some of the dark power of the original has filled also the copy. they would have a -4 malus on the first next roll they would made. RET is the acronym for Richard Eliot Thurber, my personal homage to Lovecraft. Richard, Eliot and Thurber are the name of the three characters from Lovecraft's Pickman Model ).
They proceeded to the next room, the last of the manor, except for the balcony, and found a painter study, with some unifinished paintings and a big one on a easel, and covered by a cloth.
they removed it and found a finished painting of a strange big plant, with pods near the roots and human bodies emerging from the pods.
They found what they though was the proof of an evil curse on the village made by the burgomaster, who appeared from the balcony, greeting the party and talked about the paintings. he had tried to follow his master, Richard Eliot Thurber, and made a real painting.
The party decided to pander him, to see what he could reveal to them.



And here we stopped again.
The next session probably would end Horror's Harvest, so they could return to Mordent and we can leave Cordelia and met the new companion, Karznak, a dwarf spiritualist cleric (a reskinned name for the spirit shaman from Pathfinder) of the Eternal Order.

[Starscream]

Chapter 9 - Ending the threat to Dulcaster


The party was interrogating Yuri, but he seemed more interested in asking artistic opinion regarding his great work. He wanted to know if his work could be worth of his master, Richard Eliot Thurber. The party still pandered him, hoping to build at least a little friendship and being able to ask important questions.
They were able to bring the topic regarding the subject of the painting and Yuri told the story of the seven days ago great storm that stoke the village. And about a strange seed that fell from the sky in his studio. The seed started talking in his head, giving him the idea of a wonderful painting, but the seed in exchange wanted to be buried deep in the ground, in a safer place, but near the village.
At this point Nix whispered in a sarcastic way: "you have put a SEED in the ground, did you think about what could grow from that?"
Yuti simple asnwered: "a beautyful painting", pointing to his work.
The party started to lose patience and with some diplomacy/intimidate checks (Nix with a knife menaced to cut the painting), Yuri cried and told where he have buried the seed: under a red-brownish tree, the only one of its type in the family woods behind the manor.
Yuri was still unconvinced about the risk posed by the seed, until the party showed to him the corpse of the maid. Yuri was shocked by the revelation and seemed to be freed from some sort of mind suggestion, and started believing the party (he remained still eccentric in his own way, he simply stopped to defend the seed).
Nix wanted to test his blood and he agreed: red blood. he was a real human.
The players commented: "wow, at least one."
With Yury, the party decided to return where they have left Cordelia, Aigor and the body of Rupert.
They found there Franz, Laurie, a wounded Aigor, and no sign of Cordelia.
Aigor told that he and Cordelia were ambushed by unkwnon figures and he faded out. When he regained consciousness, Cordelia was not there.
The party wanted to test blood's sample of all the present, but Franz, Laurie and Aigor proved to be human.
They regrouped at the church, where they tested also the two priest, both proved to be human.
After a brief consultation, the party decided to go house by house and test all the villagers, to find the real human and group them at the church, the last saved point of the village. Franz decided to go with them, to calm down eventually panicked villagers.
Long story short, the party proceded house by house and gathered all the real human at the church, but some villagers, sometimes entire families, were missing.
The party at this point was ready to go in the woods, but Laurie pointed out that it was 4 am, still dark. Going in the woods could be dangerous. Realizing that the girl was right, the party took 3 hours rest and, at 7am, left the church. The priest casted some helping spells and all the village gave them good luck.
Franz and Laurie would remain to the church, defending the villagers, but Aigor joined the group.
Following the little map Yury had written before leaving, the party had no trouble finding the red-brownish tree, but they were horrified by what they saw (DM NOTES: no horror save made, my mistake)
A strange plant-tree, quite tall, with a strange flower with mouth at its top, was growing near the tree. With some pods near the roots. The party was quite sure that the pods were containing something.
The plant tried to penetrate their minds, but the party resisted. Then, all the missing villagers showed up, surrounding the party. The plant started to talk using the people.
The party ignored the threat posed by the plant and the fight started
(DM NOTES: the party surprised me with a very good fight management, my wife took five minutes reading the inquisitor's spell list, to check what were the best spells she has ready for use (she used with great success Ear-Piercing Scream and with less success Sanctuary).
The party, with a wise use of frost bombs, were able to stun the plant (being partially sentient, I have allowed the possibility that it could be stunned, giving its pods a save to see if they can act even with the "father" stunned).
Agatha used Aigor to keep Ludwig the bard busy, since they think he and Katarina the sorceress the more dangerous threats. Ruben took the first round shooting the plant and then dedicating himself to help keeping at bay Katarina or Ludwig.
The Bodythief (a revised version of the Pathfinder monster, to reduce its CR to that of the party) gone down quite easily (DM NOTES: I have to improve my fight approach and CR management, since the players seems to be very good in finding a good approach to the fight, and often a not obvious one. Luckily, when they have taken down the Bodythief, they were happy like they have slayed a dragon. So, maybe, after all I have created a good fight and a good mood for the player. I have tried to build anxiety and paranoia in the players, and they were talking out of game like the characters would have finished in a fantasy version of Carpenter's The Thing. I was happy, THAT was what I would to recreate as atmosphere. The player took the idea of testing blood sample from the movie.)
When the plant died, all the people surrounding them collapsed and started to rot, while the pods begun to open, and the poor villagers exited them, except for the first people that were captured (DM NOTES: since it was a weak version of Pathfinder's Bodythief, the consumption power was slower to have effect.)
The session ended with the party who decided to bring the villagers back to the church.


Little preview: the party will discover that many of the freed people are very shaken, someone near the edge of insanity. Above all Katarina, Ludwig, Stella and even Cordelia (the Bodythief wanted the magic users more than the others, since they would be very powerful). This is also the excuse to remove Cordelia from the party to make room for the dwarf Karznak.
There would be a little sidequest offscreen of them bringed to a sanatorium to restore the mind (maybe an hook for later adventures, but the sanatorium would be none of the famous one of the setting, I will keep them for later).
Since i have been proud of my players actions, I have gifted them with a Plot Feat, with plant as theme of the effects, and since i have not done that at character's creation, I will give them a Traits, chosen from Pathfinder ones, modified where needed.

[Joël of the FoS]

At last that dreadful plant is dead

Good alternative, the Body Thief!

[Starscream]

At last that dreadful plant is dead

Good alternative, the Body Thief!

Yeah, after quite a lot of sessions, the evil has been exterminated. The Body Thief, even a very young exemplar, is a very good menace, even in a less fight-more story driven campaing.
I want good fight, but more than these, I want my players (that have no experience with Ravenloft) to feel the atmosphere. So far they are very intrigued by the setting, so I am very happy.