Session 16: The Creeping Hut

General Summary

Trials of the Swamp

A Bittersweet Reunion

• Shortly after the party disposes of the horde of undead villagers and acquire the Tome of Strahd, the sound of distreassed bleating fills the air.
• The party follows this sound back to the Manor, where a large pen of goats were kept nearby.
• There, Maisie and Kerberos attempt to carefully approach a shape that has a (now dead) goat in its clutches.
• The figure is revealed to be Harriet Forx, Maisie's now no longer missing half-sister!
• It seems that she has been in Barovia for much, much longer.
• After brief introductions to the rest of the party, the goat skulls lined around the pen's fence begin to scream...

The Wicked Witch of the Swamp

• Hearing the commotion, the scarecrows and Baba Lysaga haul ass over.
• New ally in tow, you all take down the witch of the swamp and her scarecrow creations with ease.
• Following her defeat, you raid her hut and Kerberos manages to rip out the Winery Gem powering the Creeping Hut.

The Dragon's House

You hear sounds of battle, but the fog has grown so thick that you can barely see more than sixty feet in any direction. Suddenly, the fog takes on the forms of soldiers on horseback charging across the field. They collide with armored pike-bearers wearing devil-horned helms. As each soldier falls in battle, it turns to fading mist. Hundreds more soldiers collide in a storm of screams and clashing metal.   You hear a thunderous roar, and seconds later a huge dragon made of silver mist glides overhead, dispersing enemy soldiers with each flap of its mighty wings. Its long, reptilian tail slices through the air above you as the dragon carves a swath through the fog, affording you a fleeting glimpse of a dark mansion overlooking the valley.

Outside and Main Floor

• After following the path carved through the fog, the party arrives at what remains of the once proud manor.
• Perched atop a ten-foot-wide, ten-foot-high cube of granite is a moss-covered statue of a dragon, its wings tucked close to its body. The statue looks east, toward the mansion. The cold air it blew towards the party was once a powerful beam of ice magic, weakened by time and neglect.
• Climbing up flagstone steps flanked by stone railings climb to a landing in front of a pair of tall, wooden doors with rusted iron bands and knockers shaped like small dragons. Carved into the lintel above the entrance is the word Argynvostholt.
• The main foyer felt like a king’s tomb. A grand staircase lead up to stone balconies held aloft by stone pillars and arches.
• A tall, faded tapestry depicting a nobleman in silver armor hung from an iron rod above the staircase landing.
• Six sets of double doors lead from this foyer.
• Along the walls, displayed on marble pedestals, were three alabaster busts of handsome men. A fourth bust and its pedestal had been knocked over, and their shattered remains lay strewn across the mosaic floor.
• Two chandeliers of wrought iron hung from the ceiling like monstrous black spiders.
• Behind door 1: Rubble was strewn throughout much of this vast chamber, caused by the partial collapse of the rooms above it.
• On the pink marble floor, fallen chandeliers lay amid broken chairs and other furnishings. Thick webs stretched from wall to wall, and moving among them were too many giant spiders to count!
• Y'all decided to leave those alone...for now.
• Behind door 2: Five barrels lay in wooden braces along the walls of this dark, moldy storage room.
• Maisie found an injured Dusk Elf scout named Savid who gratefully accepts a potion of healing.
• He had been attempting to look for Arabelle , but was set upon by blights to he took shelter here to recover.
• As thanks you learn the following from him, a 400 and something year old Dusk Elf;
• Argynvost was a silver dragon that liked to assume human forms. Argynvostholt was the dragon’s home.
• In human guise, the noble dragon led a group of knights called the Order of the Silver Dragon. They gave shelter to refugees who had come to the valley to escape Strahd’s army. Strahd’s soldiers slew the dragon, destroyed the order, and sacked the mansion.
• Vistani and dusk elves avoid the mansion, believing that the dragon’s ghost haunts it.

A Plea for Redemption

• Madam H and Garreak came accross a Den...
• This wood-paneled den had been ransacked, its furnishings tossed about. A cold, dark hearth dominates the west wall between two narrow windows. Standing upright against the north wall is a sarcophagus made of black wood with a queen’s effigy carved into its lid.
• Then, as they prepared to leave; a fire erupted in the dead hearth and assumes a draconic form. It hissed, crackled, and unfurled its smoky wings.
• The fiery dragon hissed as it addressed you. “My knights have fallen into darkness. Save them if you can. Show them the light they have lost!” With that, the fire burned out. Leaving you all unsure just what it meant, for now.

A Glimpse of Lost Hope

• Skeleton Archer find what remains of a dining hall;
• A twenty-foot-long table with sculpted dragons for legs stood in the center of this hall. The chairs that surround the table had backs carved to resemble folded dragon wings, and several of the chairs had been overturned or smashed to pieces.
• Suspended above the table was a crystal chandelier that glowed with a soft white light. Standing in windowed alcoves were two life-sized statues depicting knights with dragon-winged helms and shields.
• Rainwater trickled through cracks in the ceiling, flowing down the west wall and adding to a large puddle on the floor. Five sets of wooden doors lead to this hall.
• The doors in the northeast corner hang open. A pair of leaded glass doors, their panes cracked and broken, stand open between panels of stained glass set into the east wall. These panels depict silver dragons in flight. Beyond the glass doors lay a dark, misty room that appears to be a chapel.
• You all share what was learnt with each other, deciding the investigate more (though a current theory is purging them with holy magic or fire) and decide to investigate the chapel, as you can see some figures in the mists...
• Cracked wooden pillars supported a wooden, U-shaped balcony that overhangs this stone-walled chapel. Narrow archways lead to spiral staircases that curl up to the balcony, and a door set into the north wall has a wooden beam barring it.
• At the east end of the chapel rests a stone altar flanked by iron candelabras. The altar was carved with a rising sun bas-relief, a sign of The Morninglord.
• Tall, arching windows set with panels of stained glass decorated the walls behind the altar. One of the windows had been shattered, covering the chapel floor with shards of colored glass and allowing thick fog to enter and fill the room.
• Through the fog, you saw three armored figures kneeling before the altar. Quickly realising these are Revenants (undead that are fueled by a need for vengeance), and despite attempts to communicate with them; they are so blinded by fury and hatred they do not give you a chance.

Session ended at Session ended at 6pm 21/9/735; 21stof Sintavr, 735