Our heroes have just emerged from the depths of a very strange library, potentially an inter-dimensional space. Unfortunately, they didn't find what they were looking for, so they are planning to go back in.
Our dramatis personae:
Ser Adon de Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Paladin, from a knightly background, with two human retainers and a priest), played by Paul (dr_mitch). Lawful Good. Married to Ser Alys.
Kelwarin (Kel) (a half-elf Sorceror flush with the powers of wild magic, an outlander), played by Graham (First Age). Chaotic Good.
Gaddock Teeg (a halfling wizard and former prizefighter), played by Alex (Doggetay), Neutral Good
Ser Alys de Adon-Rouge of House Starbright (a half-orc Fighter with a soldier background, currently the leader of the town militia of Daggerford), played by Tom (Guvnor). Lawful Neutral. Imagine a slightly greener take on Grace Jones... Married to Ser Adon.
also featuring:
Ireena Kolyana (a human warrior, daughter of the Burgomaster of Barovia, Twice-Bitten reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, Tatyana) - upgraded as a sidekick.
with :
Alexei the Vistana (a young human expert, sent to pay off his debt to the party by his Vistani elders after they rescued Arabelle from certain death when Alexei lost her in town. A late teenager who is so taken by Ireena and the excitement of the adventure that he's forgotten he planned to be sulky and surly for his 13 moon exile) - upgraded as a sidekick.
All characters are presently 6th level, including the sidekicks.
1st December
Having exited from the library and closed the door, the party rested, asking Clovin to take the refugees from the library to the Abbot for food and lodgings. With a cackling laugh he obliged, muttering 'more mouths to feed, it never ends!' as he walked off with them. Gaddock used his magical powers to understand what the magic was on the items they found. The large axe-like item was designed for use in bookbinding to cut pages and covers and was incredibly sharp. It also aided the person using it to see in low light (like the rooms of a library) [1]. The pen and ink set was even more fascinating; dedicated to an unknown god, Bol'shivik, the ink could only be read by people who didn't have legal authority. Ser Alys and Ser Adon were both convinced the pen did not work when Gaddock showed them some test writing.[2]
Rested, our heroes decided to re-enter. This time Ireena and Alexei stayed behind and Ser Alys joined her husband leading the way boldly into the library. Very quickly, they realised that it had changed. The gallery full of maps had gone, and instead, the first chamber had arches around the walls filled with glass display cases full of the skeletons of what looked to be like children. The roof was covered in glass tubes, running like pipes with opaque liquids and possibly water. They gave off heat. warming the cold air of the library. Entering properly, they noticed a small figure, translucent white, perhaps sobbing, hidden by one of the cases. Whispering to each other, they decided that this was nothing to do with the books that they wanted to find, so pressed on, ignoring the crying.
The next chamber had dust and cobwebs (a bit different from the rest of the library) and the walls were lined with funeral urns. Ser Adon noticed something odd about the floor and realised that a section wasn't solid and there was a hollow space below. Lifting it, he saw eight eyes glinting at him, and suddenly was enveloped in web and pulled in by some kind of spider which was hiding beneath a trapdoor. The door slammed shut, startling the rest of the party, and Ser Alys realised that something had stolen her husband. She tried to desperately open the door but it seemed pulled tight. Below there was the sound of struggle as the giant spider repeatedly bit at Ser Adon. Fortunately, his constitution was strong enough to resist the venom despite being bitten three times. Ser Alys broke through and struck the creature, then Ser Adon finished it off with his spear that seemed to suck the life and taint out of the creature.[3] He spotted a long dagger or short shortsword that glowed slightly and picked it up. Throwing it to Gaddock to identify, he was startled when the wizard didn't react and was hit hard by the blade; Gaddock had been watching the route behind with his owl's senses so wasn't aware of what was going on in the room and no one thought to tell him! Adon apologised: "It was a clever idea, I forgot".
They carried on through more bookshelves into a corridor and arrived in a large chapel, perhaps one of the biggest spaces they'd encountered, with a lamp-post at the entry. There were pews and an altar with an X-shaped cross of silver with a body inverted upon it. There were religious items and a pulpit with a large book chained to it. There were also a number of curious creatures, in yellow robes with palid faces and wide eyes who were cleaning and carrying out repairs. They soon left the way that the party had come from; Gaddock checked with his owl and watched them start to repair the damaged room, looking unimpressed. The book on the pulpit was chained to it, and a quick review established that it was 'An Atlas of Extradimensional Spaces and Other Worlds'. Many of the maps were similar to those which had been in the map gallery. Looking through, Gaddock found a slight reference to Barovia and the danger of the Mists, but no new information. The party started to head off again, leaving behind some interesting magical candles and the book as they didn't want to risk offending the library helpers.
Gaddock suddenly had an idea and went back to the Atlas. His suspicions were confirmed; the book described the Stygian Library, an inter-dimensional space like the one that they were in. It described the ritual to enter which could be used in a library large enough not to see the exits where someone had died, and something of the nature of the place. Their idea to delve deeper, keeping what they wanted to find in the front of their mind seemed to be a good one. They carried on down.
The side area of the chapel opened to a large stairwell, turning with the opposite had to the one that they had entered only an hour or so before. Heading down they found the gallery full of stuffed animals and creatures that they had avoided previously. They had a look this time and found a taxidermied vampire. There was a discussion on whether it was actually dead or not, but they decided not to check out their speculations, heading deeper.
The staircase opened onto a large landing, a mausoleum with a sarcophagus like the one that they had disturbed before when they found the axe. They confirmed it was the same so quickly headed further down.
The stairs ended in a room that had one wall full of thirty five-foot-tall tubes, many of which had glowing ghostly shapes and faces. The tubes were connected to dials, illuminated by gas lamps on the walls behind. As they watched, one of the shapes dials dropped and then it was sucked out of the tube. Soon after, another arrived. There were some manuals that were full of calculations and algorithms; a quick skim indicated that this was some kind of system for drawing energy from souls. Perhaps the library drew upon them as a power source.
Heading further down, they came to an antechamber; it had a backpack and a half-written letter from Ez D'Avenir to Rudolph Van Richten, describing how she had found a source on information about their common enemy and that she planned to obtain it and come and find him to help slay the Enemy. Looking into the chamber, it was huge, with stars showing above.
Entering, they found walls of books, seating spaces and what was in fact a planetarium with a massive clockwork orrery in the middle. They noticed that it was moving, with the stars shifting. Gaddock started to draw on his powers to check for magic. Ser Alys was walking around bored and stumbled upon a book nailed to the wall, a book which was trying - half-heartedly - to flap its wings and escape. It was a tome all about vampires, one of the things that they had been searching for. Eagerly, Ser Alys pulled the nails out and secured the book in a piece of tarpaulin tied down with her belt and stashed it in her bag. Kelwarin searched the other shelves and soon found an old, thin volume on the Three Ladies. Skimming it established that this was - in fact - about the Fanes. Again, this was what they were seeking. He secured it.
Gaddock cast his spell and realised that the orrery radiated conjuration, abjuration and divination magicks. There was also a hint of necromancy. He looked closely and saw a woman strapped into the orrery which was slowly moving. He approached and saw a table with calculations for two horoscopes; Rudolph Van Richten and Strahd von Zarovich.
Ser Alys realised that the young woman in the orrery was moaning lowly for help. He could feel the pulse of life force being drained and so went and pulled her clear; she was bleeding profusely and he fed her a healing point to restore her. As he pulled her clear, the orrery shuddered, the lights went out and the ceiling dropped plaster. The room suddenly became sinister, the only light cast by Ser Adon's javelin. He turned to the young lady and said 'Come with me if you want to live'. They quickly gathered their stuff and started out. As they exited the planetarium, they heard faint alarm bells. They also noticed a small antechamber with a book-sized parcel in it. It was addressed to the original party, including Roscoe Tosscobble. They grabbed it and ran as fast as they could.
As they reached the mausoleum they encountered the first sign of resistance; the large blob of ink-like material they encountered there was menacing on the steps. Gaddock tried to drive it off with the illusion of fire but it ignored it as if it was being compelled. Kel cast light on it, but it did nothing except to make it look pretty. They tried to get past it by jumping, but Ser Adon didn't make it across. Gaddock cast a levitation spell and somehow they tipped it over the edge of the stairwell.
They were unmolested until they reached the chapel, where the two librarians awaited them with a large origami construct that menaced towards them. Kel blasted it with a fireball (accidentally on purpose vapourising the librarians), and Ser Adon finished off the origami golem. Ser Alys broke the Atlas free and they head up, and out.
The door slammed shut as they exited, and the portal glowed white-blue, then faded, leaving a black nothingness where the entry to the library had been. They sat down and recovered. The woman introduced herself as Ezmeralda D'Avenir (or 'Ex') and apologised for dragging the party to this godforsaken place. Ser Adon quickly assured her that the party was already in Ravenloft and they agreed to work together against Strahd.
Unwrapping the parcel, they discovered it was a handwritten journal, the diary of the Dark Lord of Barovia himself. In it, it was revealed the dark deeds that he had done as he slipped towards becoming a vampire; slaying his brother and losing the woman he loved, his brother's wife, Tatyana as she jumped to her death. Reading it, Kel stated 'He's an utter bastard, we need to destroy him'; all plans of saving the vampire abandoned. Upset and distraught, Ireena speculated that she'd be better off dead and perhaps she should throw herself off the monastery walls. Kel looked into her eyes and talked out of it, reminding her that people cared for her[4], and that although she may be the reincarnation of Strahd's unrequited love, she was cared for. Ser Alys pointed out that there was a weapon, a Sword of the Sun, owned by Sergei which would be a nemesis for Strahd.
A discussion was held about what to do next; Gaddock proposed they left, but Ser Adon said that they needed to understand whether the Abbot was some kind of fallen celestial and deal with that issue.
GM Notes: Thus ends the journey into the Stygian Library, which was a fun side trek. The party have secured one of the Treasures of Ravenloft and important books which have background on Barovia and their enemy. They just need to read them. We have a break next week, but we'll be back.
[1] serves as +2 magical axe with power to see in darkness
[2] enchanted ink that cannot be read by those in authority
[3] Another failed Wisdom save, another point of corruption
[4] Kel succeeds at his third check to come closer to Ireena. This is an extended skill challenge that we're running low key in the background. With this win, he has overtaken the darkness that her being bitten by the vampire had imposed.
17 November 2021
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