Ser Alys and Ser Adon find themselves each entombed separately in what seem to be some kind of stone sarcophagus. Gaddock and Kelwarin have just trapped three wights in a sphere of force and are fleeing them, wondering what happened to their friends. Kasimir hides with his sister in the tomb she has been entrapped in for half-a-thousand years, condemned there when he incited his people to stone her to death rather than let her be taken by Strahd as his bride. He hopes the magic from the Amber Temple will restore her.
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.
and introducing:
Muriel Vinshaw (a member of the Keepers of the Feather, travelling with the party to repay them for rescuing her), a wereraven upgraded to a sidekick (yes, I know that breaks rules as she started at CR2 but frankly I don't care)!
All characters & sidekicks are level 9.
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Morning of 23rd December
It was pitch dark. Ser Adon found himself in what appeared to be a stone coffin, when only seconds before he'd been walking beside his wife, Ser Alys. There was a flash of light and the next thing that he knew was that he was entombed. He called out, but heard nothing, except maybe the drip of water. He feared he may be under the earth as well as in a coffin.
Ser Alys was in a similar situation no more than twenty feet from her husband. She didn't hear him call. She braced herself to escape.
Meanwhile, in the dark and mist-filled catacombs, Gaddock and Kel hastily conferred. Gaddock could only maintain the spell for ten minutes or so, so they decided to head north, the opposite direction that the wights had last seen them. They started to check tombs but decided that perhaps they needed to move at more pace, looking for a tomb labelled with their friend's names. They looked at the portcullis sealed black marble staircase and decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and headed north.
Ser Adon pushed hard, and managed to dislodge the lid of the coffin, carefully controlling its fall to the ground. Fortunately, it wasn't under earth. Unfortunately, it seemed to be in some kind of cave. As his eyes adjusted, he made out more than ten more similar coffins in the room. As he considered what to do next, one of the other lids flew off, crashing to the floor and smashing in two. A figure raised up, under laced shroud which was quickly pulled off to reveal Ser Alys. They hugged and then started to search the room to get out. The only viable route was a shaft, perhaps ten feet up in the air at ceiling level. The room itself was filled with bones and rusted weapons and armour. Their feet crunched over them.
Kel took a turn and suddenly realised that the wights could see him. He made a rude gesture and headed on. As he reached the northern wall, he found a tomb offset to the side. It was labelled 'Saint Markovia', like the Abbey. As he moved forward, four darts shot out. He managed to dodge them.
Gaddock led them around the corner and they came to a portcullis. Beyond it were white marble stairs, heading downwards. Gaddock went to the portcullis and gingerly tested it to see if it was solid. It seemed to be set in place. Looking through, he could see a white marble chamber, with a white marble plinth in the middle on which rested an ornately engraved coffin. Gaddock reached through the portcullis and manifested his owl, which still had cobwebs on it from wherever it had beed trapped. Circling the room, it saw that there were three statues at the back wall (an attractive young man flanked by two angels). The marble plinth was inscribed with the name 'SERGEI VON ZAROVICH".
Ser Alys was boosted up to the shaft by Ser Adon. She was by far the better climber, so started to work her way up the shaft, hammering in pitons and securing rope for Ser Adon to use to climb with. She advising him on how to use his body when climbing in a shaft like this. Unfortunately, Ser Adon slipped and started to fall, only recovering with a Misty Step above Alys, who managed to take his weight. Adon now took the lead and carried on up the shaft.
Gaddock created a mage hand, and using the owl's eyes he pulled the lever on the western side of the south wall. The portcullis moved up nearly silently, untouched by time. The crypt was 30 feet tall and beautifully set out with arches and white marble. Kel stayed near the lever once they went in; Gaddock went up to the coffin. He noticed that there was a feeling of restfulness in the room, and a lack of the dust and decay in other parts of this floor. The fog seemed to be held back near the top of the stairs. Gaddock cast a spell to dispel any magical effects on the coffin. He then got his jemmy from his backpack and started to open the coffin.
Meanwhile, Alys and Adon reached the top of the shaft. Pausing for breath, they saw a door to the south. Alys started to slowly force it, but Ser Adon was impatient and forced the door hard, with a crash as it opened, smashed to the floor. They came outside and listened for there colleagues. They heard no-one.
Kel heard some noises to the south, he started to look out of the stair well, and called to Ser Adon and Ser Alys. This was the point when the three wights which they'd trapped rushed him. He pulled the portcullis lever but only managed to keep one wight out. They seemed to have preternatural speed. As the creatures arrived, Gaddock used his jemmy to pop the lid of the coffin.
 |
| The wight stuff? |
Battle was quickly joined; Kelwarin was attacked by one of the wights which sucked at his life essence and set about him with a longsword. He set about it with a witch bolt, electrical energy blasting it. Gaddock blasted one to another plane of existence, then took cover behind the coffin. The creatures continued to attack, so Gaddock let rip with a up-powered magic missile, and the room was full of whistling and howling and the bolts of energy hit the wight that remained in the room.
Adon and Alys heard the noise and ran north. Alys yelled "We're coming". As she did, the bats on the ceiling became more agitated. They rushed down the wight that was trapped outside snd trying to lift the portcullis, rapidly destroying it. Adon misty-stepped through the portcullis and helped Kelwarin finish off the last wight.
Once they were safe, they decided to open the coffin. The body inside was the same as the middle statue, well preserved, perhaps by magic. It was wearing shiny plate armour and a blade-less sword lay beside it. Ser Adon picked this up and it flared with sun bright flame, hurting him. He felt distaste and pity and a sensation of taint. He dropped the hilt and Ser Alys took it gingerly. It didn't react to her, other it seemed to emote at her.
They decided to recover the armour from Sergei's armour. Once they'd broken into the coffin, then looted it for everything useful, Ser Adon placed the body back in the sarcophagus closed the lid and said prayers over Sergei's soul, praying for its rest and that it never rose again.
The party left, collecting Kasimir and Patrina. Patrina looked much better, but was still pale and drawn. There was a brief sharp look from her at Ser Alys, a sharpness in the way that she acted and perhaps a barely repressed anger. Quickly, they travelled east towards the tomb of Strahd's parents and their way out.
Ser Adon passed through the blue light which had reformed. No-one else could. As a result, Gaddock had to dispel it again. He was now desparately low on magic; fortunately, he could cast enough fly spells to get his share of the party down. Kasimir took the remaining four down, dropping the 1000ft down to the valley below. They had escaped. Quickly, they hustled into the woods and back to the rendezvous. They'd been in the Castle perhaps four hours. They reached the camp; the guards had hot bacon cooked and gave the party sandwiches and refreshment as they set off to get back to town.
On the way back, there was bickering over who was worthy to bear the Sunsword; Ser Alys was of the opinion that Ser Adon wasn't, not while he had the unhealthy obsession with the Bloodspear. They made a steady pace, leaving minimal footprints and passing the Old Bonegrinder Mill without incident. They made good time to the gates of Vallaki, just before nightfall. There was general shock and delight that they'd managed to enter Castle Ravenloft and survive. Kasimir committed to help the characters, and rode off to the Dusk Elf encampment with his sister,
They held a council of war, and decided that it was time to recruit allies. Davian Martikov was a given, but Kel and Adon wanted to explore what Ez and Rictavio could offer. The answer was 'a lot'; Ezmeralda D'Avenir was an apprenticed monster-slayer who had worked with the legendary Rudolph Van Richten. They asked her how good Rictavio was, and were startled that he appeared in the pub, as if out of nowhere. He joined them for a drink; Kel tried a tub thumping speech, but Rictavio wasn't that impressed. He asked Kel if he really believed what he said, or was it for show. He did agree that the threat of Strahd needed to be dealt with. They shook on working together, at which point he introduced himself as Rudolph van Richten, there in disguise to try and slay Strahd. Adon was impressed with the company they were keeping.
Gaddock and Alys went to see the Fanes. They were younger and more energetic again. A conversation was had between Alys and Laura (the aspect of the Huntress) about the Bloodspear. She agreed to take the weapon and help free Adon of his taint from it. But there was a cost; a kiss would be needed to draw it out. Would Alys allow Adon to kiss the Avatar of the Huntress, a personification of the land, full of lithe and dangerous energy and attraction. The answer was yes; however, Alys was ready to kill Laura (or die trying) if she ensorcelled her husband in any way.
Alys left Gaddock there, with Laura and Jeny and met up with Adon. She explained what was needed to happen. They agreed that the potential cost was worth taking. They headed back to the shop where Jeny and Laura lived. It was closed. Alys banged on the door and a dishevelled Jeny came out, ushering them into the shop. Gaddock walked through with a steaming mug of drink, in his socks and undergarments. Laura followed, leaving little to the imagination. She confirmed that Adon and Alys were happy to go ahead, but warned that she couldn't be to blame if Adon was in any way affected by her kiss. They agreed that was the case.
She held the Bloodspear in one hand and drew Adon in with other, kissing him deeply. He could feel his essence flowing from him; the blood beating in his head and his heart hammering. It was electric, and there was such a draw and energy from Laura that he was almost jealous of Gaddock. The kiss broke, Laura's hand lingered for a moment on his face, and then she said "You're free of it". Adon heard the spear whispering; it told him it never wanted him either. He relaxed, his bloodshot eyes gone. Ser Alys passed him the Sunsword, and it ignited without any resistance.
The two orcish lovers left the shop, heading back home to a nice game of chess, or perhaps backgammon. Laura watched with a wistful look and then turned, grabbing Jeny and Gaddocks hands and headed back into the apartment.
Later that evening, Kelwarin got back from the Blue Water Inn. Fortunately, someone had left the door unlocked for him. He staggered up to bed, wondering for moment where Ireena was, before falling to sleep.
GM Notes: Well, they escaped. They stopped opening random doors and focused, and the Ravenloft heist is done. They levelled up to Level 10 and the endgame is upon us. Bitter sweet for me as I'm a big fan of the characters and love seeing what they do.
7th December 2022
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