Our heroes have learned much in the Amber Temple. What follows may be considered a spoiler. You have been warned.
Notes from the Library of the Amber Temple
The Devil Strahd desecrated the shrines of the Fanes, diminishing them and stealing the powers they embodied, breaking the link to the Ladies. That which has been deconsecrated can also be restored, severing the link to Vampyre's servant, leaving him diminished in turn.
The dark guardian of each Fane's shrine must be defeated or driven off so it cannot return. Once it is, the stone altar can be approached safely and sanctified.
The Huntress' altar below the hill must receive the sacrifice of a predator, its organs removed, sealed in stone jars and placed reverently at the shrine. The celebrant must paint themselves in the predator's life-blood, marking the triune sign on their forehead and hands before pouring the blood offering on the stone and chanting the incantation to the sisters.
The Weaver's altar in the river valley must have an offering of fruits and berries placed upon it in a carven wooden bowl with the three faces of the Ladies upon it. A mix of bee's honey and goat's milk must be made, and the celebrant must mark the triune sign on their forehead and hands before smearing the same healing mixture over the stone while chanting the hymn to the Ladies.
The Seeker's altar on the windy hill must have the lifeblood of a mortal, willingly given. The mortal making the sacrifice must mark the triune sign on the forehead and hands of the celebrant. The altar must be covered in blood while the celebrant loudly declaims the song to the Ladies to the winds.
Markings at the Fanes detail the incantation; they can be understood with the correct magic or by those that understand the language of the Archfey.
Should all three Fanes be reconsecrated, the Ladies will return rejuvenated; lively, wise, terrible and lovely. As each Fane is reconsecrated, the connection to the Dark One will be broken, and he will know and be swift to anger.
The Fall of Count Strahd von Zarovitch, an account by the Librarian Exethanter.
In life, Strahd von Zarovich was a count, a prince, a soldier, and a conqueror. After the death of his father, King Barov, Strahd waged long, bloody wars against his family’s enemies. He and his army cornered the last of these enemies in a remote mountain valley before slaying them all. Strahd named the valley Barovia, after his deceased father, and was so struck by its scenic beauty that he decided to settle there.
Queen Ravenovia lamented the death of Barov and was fearful of Strahd. War had made him cold and arrogant. She kept her younger son, Sergei, away from the battlefield. Strahd envied the love and attention his mother visited upon his brother, so in Barovia he remained. Peace made Strahd restless, and he began to feel like his best years were behind him. Unwilling to go the way of his father, Strahd studied magic and forged a pact with the Dark Powers of the Shadowfell in return for the promise of immortality, betraying my trust.
Strahd scoured his conquered lands for wizards and artisans, brought them to the valley of Barovia, and commanded them to raise a castle to rival the magnificent fortresses of his ancestral homeland. Strahd named the castle Ravenloft, after his mother, to demonstrate his love for her. When it was complete, Strahd commanded his mother and brother to come to Barovia and stay with him. Sergei eventually took up residence at Ravenloft, but Ravenovia passed away while travelling to her namesake. In sorrowful disappointment, Strahd sealed his mother’s body in a crypt beneath the castle.
Strahd’s attention soon turned to Tatyana, a young Barovian woman of fine lineage and remarkable beauty. Strahd believed her to be a worthy bride, and he lavished Tatyana with gifts and attention. Despite Strahd’s efforts, she instead fell in love with the younger, warmer Sergei. Strahd’s pride prevented him from standing in the way of the young couple’s love until the day of Sergei and Tatyana’s wedding, when Strahd gazed into a mirror and realized he had been a fool. Strahd murdered Sergei and drank his blood, sealing the evil pact between Strahd and the Dark Powers Vampyr. He then chased Sergei’s bride-to-be through the gardens, determined to make her accept and love him. Tatyana hurled herself off a castle balcony to escape Strahd’s pursuit, plunging to her death. Treacherous castle guards, seizing the opportunity to rid the world of Strahd forever, shot their master with arrows.
But Strahd did not die. The Vampyr honoured the pact it had made. The sky went black as Strahd turned on the guards, his eyes blazing red. He had become a vampire.
After slaughtering the guards, Strahd saw the faces of his father and mother in the thunderclouds, looking down upon him and judging him. He had destroyed the family bloodline and doomed all of Barovia. The castle and the valley were spirited away by Vampyr, surrounded on all sides by deadly fog, the essence in which the Dark Powers live. For Strahd and his people, there would be no escape. I escaped from the castle though, he never saw through my disguise.
Using knowledge stolen from this very library, Strahd along with his crone-mother, Baba Lysaga, broke the link of this land's guardians, the Ladies, to nature itself and diminished them. He took their powers as his own.
Powerful as he is, Strahd still searches for love and has taken many brides most of whom have dissatisfied him and been destroyed. Three brides remain a constant, perhaps in a dark mirror of the three Ladies; Ludmilla, Anastrasya and Volenta. Beware, because they are not ordinary spawn; they are dangerous, wily and cruel, playing with lovers the way a cat plays with food.
Strahd's most loyal servant is the Dusk Elf, Rahadin. A traitor to his own people, he served the Dark One before he fell and acts as his master's hand.
On the Summoning of Vampyr
This magical ritual will summon the dark power Vampyr from the mists to manifest in this world. It needs three participants, one of who must be capable of magic. The ritual words must be chanted for ten minutes without break [treat as concentration failure] and then the darkness will emerge, dangerous and baleful.
However, if the darkness is bonded to an agent, the ritual will summon them, unless they are already in close proximity to the location where the spell is being cast.
Beware, it is likely that the Dark Power or its Bond will not be pleased in being summoned in such a manner.
On the binding of Vampyr
A powerful mage, warlock or sorcerer can trap Vampyr into amber. Once the power is in sight, they must use this ritual to force-bind the Dark Power into the amber sarcophagus. They must succeed in three invocations of the ritual to force the creature into its prison, where it will seethe in anger and plan its revenge. Empirical experimentation has not yet established a way to destroy such a power; they appear to be woven into the fabric of reality between worlds.
26 September 2022
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