Post by gavmeister on Jun 12, 2018 15:31:07 GMT
The Tome of Strahd
Theo spends all day and night poring over the Tome of Strahd. He falls asleep, exhausted. Theo dreams of a pale young man drinking a glass of red wine and looking at a portrait of Strahd. A look of anger darkens his features and he smashes the glass against the wall.
The Tome is centuries old, penned in Strahd’s own hand. Bound in leather with steel fastenings and hinges, stains and age have made most of it indecipherable but a few paragraphs remain legible. It tells of Strahd’s reconquest of Barovia on behalf of his family, after a long struggle to defeat ancient foes. Victorious, he summoned his family to their ancient seat of Castle Ravenloft. It also tells of Strahd’s love for Tatyana, and her tragic love for Strahd’s younger brother, Sergei. Rejected by Tatyana, Strahd made “a pact of death, a pact of blood” with the mysterious ‘Dark Powers’ of Barovia. His pact was sealed on the day of the wedding when he killed Sergei. Strahd transformed into a vampire and Tatyana fled and hurled herself from Castle Ravenloft. Her body was never found; Strahd searches for her still.
Strahd’s soldiers attacked him but he slaughtered them all and turned them into zombies at his command. He lusts for life and youth. He curses the living but fears the sun and its light.
The tome reveals that a stake through the heart will not kill Strahd, but will restrain him. Strahd fears Sergei’s sword “as much as the sun” and seeks its destruction. He lives now far below Castle Ravenloft and has “sealed shut the walls of the stairs”.
Conversation with Ezmerelda D’Avernir
Ezmerelda describes her adventures in Castle Ravenloft:
• She found a hall filled with bones – walls of bones, a chandelier of bones and a table of bones. A huge dragon’s skull was fixed above the doors in the hall
• In a dark, cold, empty tower a spiral staircase leads up to a large crystal heart, pulsing with red light. One of Strahd’s servants, a book-keeper, called this the Heart of Sorrow. The vampire is said to draw power from the Heart, helping to protect him from injury.
Ezmerelda also believes she has traced the werewolves to a lair in a cave on the northwest shore of Lake Baratok, opposite van Richten’s tower.
A Bad Penny Turns Up
The party set out for Vallaki, with Bran mounted on Binky leading the way. Unfortunately Strahd turns up with six dead berserkers from Yester Hill who he has turned into zombies. While the others fight off the zombies, Strahd slaps Theo across the head and demands the return of his Tome. Theo throws the book into a nearby patch of daisies and cast Shatter, ripping the pages apart. Strahd is disconcerted and retreats to cast Animate Objects to gather up the torn pieces of the book, before slipping it into his cloak.
By the time he returns to the battle, Pankas has sliced one zombie in half and Ricken has channelled Radiance of the Dawn and Turn Undead to discourage the rest. Bran finds an opening and Divine Smites Strahd. The Heart of Sorrow’s protection wears off and the Count decides discretion is called for. He casually lays out Pankas before departing in mist form. Theo stabilises Pankas and feels better for it.
It isn’t the fighter’s day. Just outside Vallaki, a poisoned crossbow bolt fired by a mysterious assailant knocks him over again. Ricken and Bran patch him up.
Return to Vallaki
At the Blue Water Inn they rest, and give Urwin the good news about the Wizard of Wines. There seems to be little chance of reconciliation between father and son however.
They visit Baroness Lydia Petrovna. Her son Viktor is continuing his experiments, but the servants at least are safe – they have all fled. She agrees to lend her old wedding dress to the Abbott.
Ismark seems to have got things under control. On hearing of the Abbott’s idiosyncrasies he is unenthusiastic about letting Ireena go to Krezk. However, his sister is intrigued by the story of the face in the pool by the Shrine of the White Sun. Eventually, Ireena decides to accompany the party to Krezk.
And Back
On the way back to Krezk they encounter a former member of the Order of the Silver Dragon standing over a slaughtered dire wolf. The revenant demands they declare their hatred of Strahd, then urges them to travel to Argynvostholt to speak to Vladimir Horngaard.
They reach Krezk without further incident and rest in their hovel.
Giselle takes Ireena to the Shrine of the White Sun. They peer into the pool; Giselle sees nothing but Ireena is transformed. Ireena speaks to the image of Sergei and realises that she has the soul of Tatyana. They fall in love again and Sergei reaches for her hand. Ireena walks into the pool to re-join him and disappears under the waves. Giselle sees the lovers reunited, gradually fading away.
Storm clouds gather and Strahd’s enraged voice can be heard “No! She is Mine!”
Lightning strikes the pool, electrocuting Giselle. Pankas drags her out of the water. Theo and Bran get Giselle back on her feet but she retires to the hovel to recover.
The others deliver the wedding dress to the Abbott. He is delighted and hands over the Potion of Superior Healing to Ricken. In a good mood, the Abbott declares he will cast Raise Dead three times for the party if they need it. He also feels sorry for the burgomaster and considers casting Raise Dead to bring back his son, Ilya.