Post by gavmeister on Sept 3, 2018 16:12:15 GMT
Before leaving Krezk, Theo frees the tormented Marzena Belview. She flies off into the mountains without a backward glance.
Road to Argynvostholt
Virtue has little reward. When the mysterious Vistani assassin strikes again on the road to Argynvostholt, Theo is laid low by a poisoned crossbow bolt.
Examining a mysterious cairn they are surrounded and attacked by a wraith and three attendant spectres. A furious fight ensues before the party prevails. Searching the cairn they find a scroll of sacred flame and a scroll of protection from evil.
The Order of the Silver Dragon
Eventually they make their way to the ruined mansion of Argynvostholt. They find a broken statue of the silver dragon, Argynvost, which breathes cold air on the back of their necks as they enter the mansion.
A shadow of a dragon sweeps over the foyer as they enter.
They blunder into a ruined ballroom infested by giant spiders. They are restrained by sticky webs, while other spiders attempt to bite and poison them. Pankas pokes his spear out of the webs and Giselle manages to loose some arrows. Ricken casts Fireball to more effect and channels Radiance of the Dawn. Theo catches four spiders with a powerful Shatter, then he and Pankas bring down the last creature. Ricken chants a Prayer of Healing.
Throughout the mansion they find paintings, busts and murals of Argynvost in the form of a handsome man in silver armour.
A dragon shaped fire image appears in a hearth urging the adventurers to show the knights “the light they have lost”.
They find a dusk elf, Savid, hiding in a store. Ricken casts Cure Wounds. Savid tells them he was one of the search party looking for Arabelle, the lost Vistani girl. Savid is centuries old and remembers the Order of the silver Dragon well. He confirms that Argynvost took human form until the bitter end. The Order gave shelter to refugees and fought Strahd. Defeated at last, Strahd’s soldiers killed all the knights and finally Argynvost himself, then looted and sacked the mansion. He warns them that Argynvost’s ghost roams the mansion. They let him go.
Ricken and Pankas hear sounds of a cart pulling up outside the mansion. They dash outside to find a mad Vistani has unloaded a coffin bearing Ricken’s name. Theo appears and after checking that Ricken wants to catch the Vistani, Dimension Doors him to the front seat of the departing cart. The Vistani has little of sense to offer, however, apart from the fact that the coffin was made by Vallaki’s Henrik van der Voort. Ricken opens the coffin lid. A swarm of bats burst out, bite him, and fly off into the mist.
They return to the mansion and head to the Chapel of Morning. Three un-cooperative revenants kneel before an altar to the Morninglord. They view the adventurers with suspicion, and appear to be on the point of attacking before Ricken warms the Chapel with Daylight.
Argynvost’s Mausoleum
They head outside into the cemetery. Most of the graves were burst open long ago when the revenants’ first corpses animated. Theo glances up to a high window where he sees a fleeting image of a well-dressed man with a thick mane of thistle-down hair.
They find the mausoleum has been looted of Argynvost’s skeleton and treasure.
Vladimir Horngaard
In a first floor room a small animated dragonet made of soot bursts out of a hearth. They follow it to the Audience Hall where Vladimir Horngaard, the leader of the revenants, sits glowering. He proclaims his loathing of Strahd, and the oath pledged by his Order to slay Strahd’s minions. To the adventurers’’ dismay he refuses to help them attack Strahd himself. Horngaard’s bond to Barovia is to keep Strahd here in his undeathly hell, and he does not want the vampire’s punishment prematurely ended.
In despair the adventurers search for aid elsewhere. They meet Sir Godfrey Gwilym, paladin and second in command of the Order, and four other revenants. Sir Godfrey’s memories are clearer, but he is bound by his commander’s will. He confirms that Horngaard’s hatred of Strahd brought his spirit back as a revenant, dragging other knights’ souls with him. They waged war on Strahd for months, slaying hundreds of foes. Vladimir led them to attack Castle Ravenloft but they were turned back by Madam Eva. She revealed that Strahd had become a vampire, tortured by the loss of Tatanya. From then on, Horngaard has devoted the order to killing Strahd’s allies - and anyone who might end the vampire’s torment.
Theo leads the part to the study where he saw the man with thistledown hair. A piece of parchment is blown to his feet, setting out Argynvost’s thoughts before he reverted to dragon form to fight Strahd for the last time. The dragon forecasts that his bones will be looted, but that his spirit will “…serve as a beacon of light…” and ”… bring hope to a land in darkness.”
Ricken and Pankas try to repair the painting of Argynvostholt in the room. It’s a struggle and Ricken cannot helkp but mutter an oath prayer under his breath. The apparition of a silver dragon fills the room, which then transforms into the man with thistle-down hair: Argynvost. He tells the party they can set the Order to rights by bringing back his skull from the Hall of Bones in Castle Ravenloft, and interring it in his Mausoleum. The beacon tower of the mansion will then light up in silvery flame. He disappears.
They make their way to the roof. A verse written on a silver dragon gargoyle statue, beside the beacon tower, confirms the prediction:
When the dragon dreams its dream
Within its rightful tomb
The light of Argynvost will beam
And rid this land of gloom
On their way out the party get lost the north wing. They enter a corridor which turns out to be trapped; a Wall of Stone separates Theo from the rest of the party. Seven Phantom Warriors emerge from the ethereal plane and attack Pankas, Giselle and Ricken. The phantoms possess even less charm than the revenants, and proceed to attack with no offer of quarter. The struggle is at first desperate and Ricken looks likely to fall. Theo Dimension Doors in to the correct side of the wall. He casts Protection from Evil on Ricken, giving the cleric time to swig the Potion of Healing given him by the Abbott. Ricken channels Radiance of the Dawn and then Turn Undead. Three of the phantoms are forced back to the ethereal plane and the rest are defeated.
Hidden in the knights’ room is a small cache of four Potions of Invulnerability.