It's the morning after a night of horror, when our brave heroes destroyed three vampires and before that multiple Strigoi and the flock of stirges attending them. A time to pause and understand the consequences of actions taken by themselves and others...
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.
5th December, early morning
Ser Alys, Ireena and Alexei spent most of the night trying to ensure that Vallaki was safe and stable once more, despite the terrible losses that the town had suffered. A quarter of the guards were dead, along with fifteen of the town's Burghers, slain by feral vampire spawn or lifted to their doom to have their very marrow sucked out by the Strigoi. Others were missing, including at least two children. At this point, their fate was unknown.
The town square was cold and empty of everyone except the party and one of the guards when they found the sign posted on the town noticeboard. A message from Count Strahd, or at least his agent, lecturing the Ring of Five in its duties, reminding them of their duties, and that a tithe was due at the Winter Solstice. This sent Ser Adon into a rage; he denounced the notice, saying that the town of Vallaki would no longer be servant to the ruler of Castle Ravenloft. No tithe would be paid, despite the risk that this created. Graenseskov's Boyar had tried this kind of defiance in the plot, only to face a choice of losing his son or face the wrath of the darklord on the village itself.
When asked, Richter the guard explained that he wasn't certain what the tithe was, but several time a year, around the solstices, Baron Vargas used to send new servants to Castle Ravenloft. A black, ornate but unmanned coach would arrive, drawn by horses. The new maids or pages would be put in the carriage and then be drawn off into the night, never to be seen again.
Musing, Adon started to frame his reply, drawing on his rhetoric lessons as a young man. His argument was thus:
- Strahd had failed in his duties as a feudal overlord, as evidenced by the bloodbath here.
- These attacks were carried out by those of his blood.
- Even the nobility of the town were affected - Lady Wachter's son Kurt had been taken.
- By rights, Strahd owed proper compensation to the town.
- The town rejected his overlordship as he failed in his duties.
A discussion ensued on how to get the letter to Strahd; Richter was quite vocal that people rarely came back if they visited Castle Ravenloft. He swayed the party, who didn't want the death of another innocent. They settled on another plan, approaching Lady Wachter's house guest to see if she could get the message to the Castle as they knew she had free passage through Barovia and had been seen in the company of the Count when they met him at Yesterhill. Ser Adon wasn't certain what her nature was, as she did not have the taint of undeath, but something was not right about Lady Anastrasya. She definitely showed the charm that was associated with blood drinkers.
Thinking about Lady Wachter, Ser Adon had a brainwave; if they wanted to send the letter, it would probably put the town on a collision course with Strahd. This really meant that the Ring would have to vote to send it. At the moment, there were only four of the five council members standing as Danika Martikov had declined to represent the traders of the town. Votes were certain from Ser Adon and Ser Alys, but Lady Wachter and Father Lucian were less certain. Lucian may well waver if Lady Wachter pressurised him, especially having come so close to death the night before. Lady Wachter was the key; could they leverage the death of her son, Kurt, to bring her onside? Adon turned to Gaddock, Alys, and Kelwarin and proposed that they call in the debt that the Deva (the Abbot at Krezk) owed them, getting him to resurrect Kurt. They had the potential to bring someone back.
They set off to the Wachterhaus. The maid who had fainted the night before at the news of her fellow servant's death opened the door, and invited them in when she heard they had news for Lady Wachter. They entered to find Lady Wachter and Lady Anastrasya taking breakfast. Ser Adon took a deep breath, then broke the news to Lady Wachter about Kurt's death. She looked shocked, went as white as a sheet and tears welled up. In a weak voice, she asked how it had happened, and when. And was Nikolai okay? Nikolai wasn't numbered in the dead or missing, but none of the party knew where he was. She stood, and rushed into her study, and they could hear the sounds of sobbing behind the closed door. Her agent, Ernst came out of the room, gestured to the maid to go in, then watched the party coldly and intently.
Ser Adon decided to press on, he turned and looked full on at Anastrasya and asked her if she could arrange for a message to get the Castle's master. She indicated that she most likely could, and asked why. Adon reached over and passed her Strahd's notice which he'd taken off the board. As he handed it to her, her hand caught his, and it felt almost electric. The brave knight started to lose himself in her eyes, sinking into the deep pools that seemed to know so much, to understand his soul. He struggled to pull his eyes away, and only managed to come back to himself properly as he saw his wedding ring on the hand she'd touched. This brought back smiles and warmth as he reminded himself of how Alys had kicked him under the table last time this happened.
A discussion ensued about the wisdom of a response; Anastrasya reminded them to be respectful, lest they anger the Count. There was a discussion on whose fault the Strigoi and feral vampires being released was ('surely they were secured before they were released') but it wasn't one that was likely to go anywhere. Lady Anastrasya agreed to arrange for their reply to be sent, and also to pass on the message to Lady Wachter that there was a way to bring her son back. They then made their excuses and left.
As they left, they discussed the two problems that now existed. They need to reconsecrate the Fanes and also avoid Strahd causing carnage in Vallaki if they didn't pay the tithe. Both difficult challenges. They set off to the Church, meeting Father Lucian. Between Kelwarin and Ser Adon, they convinced him to show some backbone and to agree the letter being sent. Father Lucian, his views bolstered by his brush with dead the night before and the powerful arguments presented, agreed that Strahd was clearly Evil and needed to be opposed. He would support the letter being sent at the Ring meeting. The party then asked the good Father to send Kurt's body back to the Wachterhaus so he could rest appropriately.
The next visit was to the shopping district, where Kel took them to meet Jeny again. She seemed to be enthusiastic to see them, although disappointed that Kelwarin was clearly interested in someone else. She flirted outrageously with Gaddock, and then shared what she knew about the Fanes and the Ladies Three. This aligned with some information that the party had already found out. As the conversation proceeded, Ser Adon came to the conclusion that Jeny was much more than an eccentric human. She looked and sounded like she could be an embodiment of the Seeker herself, one of the Ladies Three. He didn't say anything until after they left, as he wasn't sure what to do about this. The others were genuinely surprised by this news, but they could understand his conclusions.
Armed with more lore, they understood that the witch Baba Lysaga had worked with Strahd to desecrate the Fanes and obtain the powers of the three Ladies. They'd need to find out what she knew or had done; Jeny also suggested that whatever had changed and brought about Strahd's ascension to undeath involved the Amber Temple that Roscoe Tosscobble had been seeking, located to the south of Old Berez. They took their leave, and plenty of cake (including a tea loaf and a bottle of raspberry fizz) and Gaddock felt that he'd now been marked by Jeny's attentions instead of Kel. Perhaps it was the magic trick that he'd done?
Catching up with Alys, they explained what they planned to do. Ser Alys would, once again, ensure that Vallaki was in a good place and then set out to join the rest of them at the ruined mansion to the south-west that they wanted to investigate. A rider was sent to Krezk to see about the favour, and they prepared to leave.
By ten o'clock in the morning they were on the road east, eventually turning south down the old abandoned road by the River Luna. Just after lunch, they saw the mansion on their right, jutting solemnly from the ridgeline to the west of the river. They followed an old, long abandoned road upwards. In the distance, sheep bleated. As they drew close they realised that the mansion was like a fairytale castle turned to ruin. Towers with conical tiled roofs were set at the corners of the three story building, and the entire southern face was collapsed, leaving three stories open to the elements. A tall tower rose above the building. Despite its elevated position, mists swirled around. Near the mansion, some of the road's gravel remained and they crunched across it. Ahead, looming out of the mist was a huge statue of a dragon, at least ten feet tall and set that height again on a plinth, facing to the east and the main entrance of the mansion.
The entrance was a double wooden door bound with rusted iron bands located at the top of some impressive stone stairs with handrails at the edge. The word "ARGYNVOSTHOLT" was carved into the lintel above the door. Was this the name of the building or was it the name of the family that owned this before?
Deciding to be careful, the party started to walk around Argynvostholt Mansion to try and see if there were any nasty surprises. Once over the rubble, the collapsed section opened into some kind of heavily cobwebbed and abandoned ballroom which clearly hadn't been disturbed for some time. A potential place of entry beyond the front door. The eastern facing of the building had some stained glass windows; boosting Gaddock up, he could see three figures in what appeared to be a chapel, kneeling before an altar. They weren't moving and he really couldn't tell if they were corpses or statues. The chapel appeared to be dedicated to the Morning Lord. The north-east part of the building was surrounded by a 7-foot tall wrought iron fence, with a cemetery inside and a mausoleum of some sort in the north-east corner. The mist was swirling high enough to make it hard for Gaddock to see, but the party had the sense that the ere were some open graves in the building.
A movement caught their attention; three stories up, in the north-eastern tower, a curtain was drawn over and a light snuffed out. They were almost certain they saw a tousle-haired figure. Perhaps this place was inhabited after all?
The northern wall had a wrought iron gate secured with a sturdy but rusted padlock; looking through, they could see steps going up an either side. This completed their circumnavigation.
They decided that the best way to enter was over the rubble to the south into the old ball-room. Heading in, Adon, Ireena and Kel entered, pushing the cobwebs away, finding them clogging their movement as there were just so many. All of a sudden, the webs were fully of inhuman movement as giant spiders nearly as large as a small horse started to move around them. Quickly, party members were enmeshed in webs and the spiders started to close and bite. A desperate fight developed with all the party except Ser Adon suffering badly as they were bitten and the toxins entered their blood stream. The situation seemed to cause some kind of blood-lust in Ser Adon, as he was almost gleeful as he announced that it was time for a game of 'spider-splat'. Wielding the blood spear he set about slaying the creatures in the nest they'd blundered into. Ireena and Kel were down and covered in webbing. Alexei was badly injured and had to run, scrambling outside. Gaddock sent wave after wave of his shrieking magic missiles at the spiders, while Kel struggled to hit the spiders with fire bolts.
For a moment, it seemed like they were doomed, but somehow the tide turned. Ser Adon proved indomitable, battle-crazed, spitting black ichor out of his mouth as the blood spear enhanced him with the dark life force energies stolen from its victims as it drank their life. Gaddock cast a haste spell on the knight and he became like a force of nature, slaying the spider that threatened them all. Suddenly, all was quiet. Using a torch, they cleared the ballroom of webs and set a small fire, where they rested and healed their wounds...
GM Note: Yesterday evening was a session of two halves; lots of politics, planning and exposition in the first half and then a brutal fight that put every character except Ser Adon one attack from death. I genuinely expected to see characters in death save territory (although the reality was that it would have been paralysis from toxin and then being hung in the larder).
They'd had exactly the right idea checking the building out first, but missed the environmental cues (the heavy webbing) and they mostly failed the perception vs stealth challenge against the spiders. Because they'd blundered in and had several party members enmeshed, using fireballs wasn't an option which made it really hard tactically.
I'll share an update on the exposition from Jeny separately, but that has given pointers at both the hag Baby Lysaga at Old Berez and the Amber Temple. Assuming the party survive Argynvostholt.
24 March 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment