Post by gavmeister on Mar 16, 2019 17:48:42 GMT
They decide to check out the floor above, where Escher heard the mysterious ‘guests’ talking about Theo.
They enter a store room with furniture scratched and slashed by three green-eyed black cats. Theo hears three voices in succession:
“Hail to thee, Theo, Warlock of Tenebrous
“Hail to thee, Theodorus, master of Castle Ravenloft
“Hail to thee, Theodorus Draugr, arch-lich of Barovia!”
He decides not to mention anything to the others.
They follow the black cats into a tidy store-room with locked windows, containing stacks of glass jars and bottles containing occult ingredients. There is a trapdoor down to Escher’s apartment below. Instead, they go through to the final room on this floor.
Inside they find a magic cauldron giving off wisps of steam with a sickening greenish glow. Theo examines the cauldron, speculating it is magically heated.
From the shadows three Warlocks of the Vampyr emerge and attack. One inflicts the Contagion of Slimy Doom on Giselle, and a second Blights her, leaving the rogue fighting for her life. Bran charges in to strike a warlock but is frozen by the Armour of Agathys. The warlock grasps him with Vampiric Touch, draining the paladin’s vitality. Pankas, too, charges another warlock and is frozen likewise by the Armour of Agathys. Ricken moves to the centre of the room and summons his skeletal Spirit Guardians before healing everyone with a Mass Cure Wounds. Giselle recovers, and shoots the warlock draining Bran straight through the heart.
Not to be outdone, Theo sends his mummy’s hand to inflict the Contagion of Blindness on another warlock, who flees to the corner of the room to Dispel Magic. This buys vital time for Bran and Pankas to break through the other warlocks’ spells. Soon the warlocks are reduced to Eldritch Blasts. Eventually they are brought down, muttering curses against the party - and Theo’s patron - right to the end.
The adventurers search the room. Theo finds healing potions and a potion of poison. Ricken naively picks up a warlock’s Book of Shadows and pays a necrotic price. Instinctively he flings the book into the bubbling cauldron.
They head down to the Rooms of Weeping, and are assailed by swarms of rats before entering the Dining Hall of the Count. They find a centuries-old wedding cake with a sad figure of Tatyana on the top layer. Theo Eldritch Blasts the cake in the general direction of Bran and a food fight erupts.
Giselle finds a magnificent harp, and hammers out some metal anthems. The ghost of a long-dead jester, Pidlwick, appears and compliments her on her playing. He tells her to find his crypt below where she will be rewarded with a treasure worthy of one so talented. Before disappearing, Pidlwick relates his story. Staying at the Castle with his employer, a Duchess, he was kept on to provide entertainment for Sergei and Tatyana after she died of an illness during a harsh winter. Eventually Pidlwick fell down some tower steps in a mysterious accident and broke his neck.
As they leave the hall Pankas treads on the groom figure from the cake. It looks just like the Strahd portrait.
They enter a Bath Chamber. The bath is brim-full with blood. Pankas’ spear can’t help itself and drags him over for a quick dip. Instantly the blood-drenched figure of Varushka, a long-dead maid, erupts from the bath, covering everyone in blood. She climbs across the ceiling and into a closet at the rear of the room. Bran follows her but instead finds racks of formal wear and twenty-eight identical black capes.
They move on to the King’s Bedchamber where they find the long-lost Gertruda, maid of Barovia Village. The silly girl idolises Strahd, unaware that her days are numbered. She tells them that Helga cleans the room every day. Delicious food is brought to her and left at the door while she sleeps. Gertruda assures them the bathroom next door is perfectly normal; they check - she’s right. Theo and Ricken try to persuade her to leave the Castle, but Theo’s talk of vampires and undead is counter-productive, an effect enhanced as he waves around his Strahd dummy. Ricken is unused to dealing with teenage girls and they get nowhere. As they leave, Gertruda dances around the chamber listening to a musical box playing an inane popular melody.
Ricken has the bright idea of smashing the musical box with his mace, believing it to be the cause of Gertruda’s foolishness. Instead the girl is terrified by the attack and cowers in the corner of the room, praying that Strahd will arrive to save her. The disapproval of the Morninglord is almost palpable; even Theo is shocked.
They find themselves in the Castle Study surrounded by more than a thousand books. Van Richten’s ten volume collection about monsters is almost intact, except for the book about vampires. A tome of Mother Night’s scriptures seems to call to Ricken but he fights off the temptation.
The room is dominated by a life size portrait of the lost Tatyana; she looks just like Irena Kolyana. A model of a coffin lies on the reading table; when Giselle touches it a Strahd jack-in-the box-springs out. Bran catches sight of himself in a mirror; the reflection looks 40 years older.
Bran and Pankas are certain there is a secret exit behind the roaring fire. Theo picks up a shining poker to investigate. The fire goes out and a door opens.
They crawl though into a cobweb-draped room with a large chest. Giselle flings open the lid, releasing a sleeping gas which overcomes Ricken and Pankas. Apart from a handful of gold coins, the chest contains a jester marionette looking remarkably like Pidlwick.
Leaving Bran and Theo behind, Giselle plunges on through a room almost filled with spiders’ webs of a giant size. In a far chamber she finds a rope. The urge to pull it is impossible to resist. The Castle bell rings and five giant spiders drop down from the ceiling. The rogue’s alertness and grace save her. Giselle is on her way out of the room before the spiders’ legs hit the ground, and she slams the doors behind her.
They wait for Pankas and Ricken to come round and then make their way down to the Court of the Count level. They enter the King’s Hall where they are ‘attacked’ by a flying Strahd dummy which Theo Eldritch Blasts to smithereens. They emerge onto a balcony overlooking the Chapel, where two mummified Strahd Zombies occupy the king and queen’s thrones. They make their way down a creaking staircase.
The entrance to the Chapel is lit by a lantern with a black candle, giving off a green flame. Beyond a jumble of overturned benches and debris stands an altar where a ray of light illuminates a silver statuette. A cloaked figure is draped over the altar. This turns out to be the corpse of Gustav Herrenghast, a cleric of dubious reputation. His mace of terror lies on the floor, exuding evil vibes.
Theo picks up the statuette and hands it to Ricken, who identifies it as a kneeling saint. It doesn’t give him much love so he passes it to Bran, who instinctively identifies it as the Icon of Ravenloft, a legendary artefact.
Giselle is drawn to a dark staircase leading up from the Chapel. This spirals up hundreds of feet towards the High Tower Peak. The cobwebs are thick, and the staircase steep and inclined towards its hollow centre through which blows an icy wind. At one point they are forced to break out their climbing kit to make progress safely. Eventually they reach a narrow walkway at the top of the tower.
Pankas glances up at the rafters and sees a small figure lurking, a little man not much larger than a child. A flash of lightning illuminates his face, which is painted like a grinning jack-o’-lantern.
They enter a store room with furniture scratched and slashed by three green-eyed black cats. Theo hears three voices in succession:
“Hail to thee, Theo, Warlock of Tenebrous
“Hail to thee, Theodorus, master of Castle Ravenloft
“Hail to thee, Theodorus Draugr, arch-lich of Barovia!”
He decides not to mention anything to the others.
They follow the black cats into a tidy store-room with locked windows, containing stacks of glass jars and bottles containing occult ingredients. There is a trapdoor down to Escher’s apartment below. Instead, they go through to the final room on this floor.
Inside they find a magic cauldron giving off wisps of steam with a sickening greenish glow. Theo examines the cauldron, speculating it is magically heated.
From the shadows three Warlocks of the Vampyr emerge and attack. One inflicts the Contagion of Slimy Doom on Giselle, and a second Blights her, leaving the rogue fighting for her life. Bran charges in to strike a warlock but is frozen by the Armour of Agathys. The warlock grasps him with Vampiric Touch, draining the paladin’s vitality. Pankas, too, charges another warlock and is frozen likewise by the Armour of Agathys. Ricken moves to the centre of the room and summons his skeletal Spirit Guardians before healing everyone with a Mass Cure Wounds. Giselle recovers, and shoots the warlock draining Bran straight through the heart.
Not to be outdone, Theo sends his mummy’s hand to inflict the Contagion of Blindness on another warlock, who flees to the corner of the room to Dispel Magic. This buys vital time for Bran and Pankas to break through the other warlocks’ spells. Soon the warlocks are reduced to Eldritch Blasts. Eventually they are brought down, muttering curses against the party - and Theo’s patron - right to the end.
The adventurers search the room. Theo finds healing potions and a potion of poison. Ricken naively picks up a warlock’s Book of Shadows and pays a necrotic price. Instinctively he flings the book into the bubbling cauldron.
They head down to the Rooms of Weeping, and are assailed by swarms of rats before entering the Dining Hall of the Count. They find a centuries-old wedding cake with a sad figure of Tatyana on the top layer. Theo Eldritch Blasts the cake in the general direction of Bran and a food fight erupts.
Giselle finds a magnificent harp, and hammers out some metal anthems. The ghost of a long-dead jester, Pidlwick, appears and compliments her on her playing. He tells her to find his crypt below where she will be rewarded with a treasure worthy of one so talented. Before disappearing, Pidlwick relates his story. Staying at the Castle with his employer, a Duchess, he was kept on to provide entertainment for Sergei and Tatyana after she died of an illness during a harsh winter. Eventually Pidlwick fell down some tower steps in a mysterious accident and broke his neck.
As they leave the hall Pankas treads on the groom figure from the cake. It looks just like the Strahd portrait.
They enter a Bath Chamber. The bath is brim-full with blood. Pankas’ spear can’t help itself and drags him over for a quick dip. Instantly the blood-drenched figure of Varushka, a long-dead maid, erupts from the bath, covering everyone in blood. She climbs across the ceiling and into a closet at the rear of the room. Bran follows her but instead finds racks of formal wear and twenty-eight identical black capes.
They move on to the King’s Bedchamber where they find the long-lost Gertruda, maid of Barovia Village. The silly girl idolises Strahd, unaware that her days are numbered. She tells them that Helga cleans the room every day. Delicious food is brought to her and left at the door while she sleeps. Gertruda assures them the bathroom next door is perfectly normal; they check - she’s right. Theo and Ricken try to persuade her to leave the Castle, but Theo’s talk of vampires and undead is counter-productive, an effect enhanced as he waves around his Strahd dummy. Ricken is unused to dealing with teenage girls and they get nowhere. As they leave, Gertruda dances around the chamber listening to a musical box playing an inane popular melody.
Ricken has the bright idea of smashing the musical box with his mace, believing it to be the cause of Gertruda’s foolishness. Instead the girl is terrified by the attack and cowers in the corner of the room, praying that Strahd will arrive to save her. The disapproval of the Morninglord is almost palpable; even Theo is shocked.
They find themselves in the Castle Study surrounded by more than a thousand books. Van Richten’s ten volume collection about monsters is almost intact, except for the book about vampires. A tome of Mother Night’s scriptures seems to call to Ricken but he fights off the temptation.
The room is dominated by a life size portrait of the lost Tatyana; she looks just like Irena Kolyana. A model of a coffin lies on the reading table; when Giselle touches it a Strahd jack-in-the box-springs out. Bran catches sight of himself in a mirror; the reflection looks 40 years older.
Bran and Pankas are certain there is a secret exit behind the roaring fire. Theo picks up a shining poker to investigate. The fire goes out and a door opens.
They crawl though into a cobweb-draped room with a large chest. Giselle flings open the lid, releasing a sleeping gas which overcomes Ricken and Pankas. Apart from a handful of gold coins, the chest contains a jester marionette looking remarkably like Pidlwick.
Leaving Bran and Theo behind, Giselle plunges on through a room almost filled with spiders’ webs of a giant size. In a far chamber she finds a rope. The urge to pull it is impossible to resist. The Castle bell rings and five giant spiders drop down from the ceiling. The rogue’s alertness and grace save her. Giselle is on her way out of the room before the spiders’ legs hit the ground, and she slams the doors behind her.
They wait for Pankas and Ricken to come round and then make their way down to the Court of the Count level. They enter the King’s Hall where they are ‘attacked’ by a flying Strahd dummy which Theo Eldritch Blasts to smithereens. They emerge onto a balcony overlooking the Chapel, where two mummified Strahd Zombies occupy the king and queen’s thrones. They make their way down a creaking staircase.
The entrance to the Chapel is lit by a lantern with a black candle, giving off a green flame. Beyond a jumble of overturned benches and debris stands an altar where a ray of light illuminates a silver statuette. A cloaked figure is draped over the altar. This turns out to be the corpse of Gustav Herrenghast, a cleric of dubious reputation. His mace of terror lies on the floor, exuding evil vibes.
Theo picks up the statuette and hands it to Ricken, who identifies it as a kneeling saint. It doesn’t give him much love so he passes it to Bran, who instinctively identifies it as the Icon of Ravenloft, a legendary artefact.
Giselle is drawn to a dark staircase leading up from the Chapel. This spirals up hundreds of feet towards the High Tower Peak. The cobwebs are thick, and the staircase steep and inclined towards its hollow centre through which blows an icy wind. At one point they are forced to break out their climbing kit to make progress safely. Eventually they reach a narrow walkway at the top of the tower.
Pankas glances up at the rafters and sees a small figure lurking, a little man not much larger than a child. A flash of lightning illuminates his face, which is painted like a grinning jack-o’-lantern.