Session 09: Dinner with the Devil

General Summary

Exploring the Castle

Secrets of the Chapel (Roan)

• The gang notices that the balcony they're on has a staircase leading down into the chapel, and decide to investigate!
• A rickety, wooden staircase leads them into the once grand chapel of Castle Ravenloft.
• Dust and ruin cover the area, and the party's attention is drawn to the altar with a cloaked corpse reaching for a silver figurine...
• Maisie grabs it and nothing seems to happen. It sure is lucky that she isn't of evil alingment; upon closer inspection the corpse belongs to an evil cleric adventurer.
• She gives the Icon of Ravenloft to Madame H since it seems to have holy properties!
• The corpse is looted, of course, and Kerberos gets a Mace of Terror! That's fun!

All Against Darkness

• While the party investigates the chapel, Skeleton Archer feels a tap on his shoulder from an unseen presence.
• The stranger is revealed to be none other than Ezmerelda d'Avenir!
• She managed to sneak inside the walls of the castle, and had made numerous attempts to kill Strahd herself.
• Ez was unable to corner him and rid Barovia of his presence.
• Ez came to Barovia in search of her former mentor, Doctor Rudolph van Richten who she hasn't seen in some years.
• She believes he is somewhere in the valley...
• Madam H also recognised the name as the author of her werewolf hunting guide!
• The party and Ez agree to work together to escape the castle and then work towards confronting Strahd.
• Ez also seems impressed by the party's knowledge on vampires!

Dinner is Served

• Rahadin comes to collect the party and Ez for proper dinner, seemingly not caring that she's here.
• You're brought into the same dining hall with the organ, except now this real Strahd is accompanied by his consorts and staff.
• Only Strahd and the party sit at the table...
• Consorts include: Anastrasya Karelova, Ludmilla Vilisevic, Volenta Popofsky and Escher Belasco.
• Staff include Rahadin, a vampire spawn maid and a strange humanoid creature seemingly made out of other animal parts Cyrus Belview.
• The meal is pleasant and multi-course, with dishes eerily catered to your wants and tastes.
• Polite small talk is had, the party does get to learn some things about Strahd...
• Madam H uses Zone of Truth, though Strahd is unaffected.

Troubling Revelations

• From Strahd the Party learns;
• He has lived in Barovia for centuries, having conquered it when he was a mortal man.
• While Strahd has some power over who is let into Barovia, the Mists have the final say and the party are just the latest unfortunate band of adventurers to be drawn in.
• There is no real reason for them to be here, in his opinion.
• He also seems to remember and recognize Skeleton Archer, so that's fun!
• Strahd also drops the bombshell that he knows Maisie is looking for her sister and has a lead for her...
• Maisie's sister is now his spawn, and is currently in The Village of Berez.
• There is a witch that resides there named Baba Lysaga , his former wet nurse/nanny from infancy.
• Baba Lysaga has been doing things in Strahd's name, but Strahd does not include her in his ranks.
• Maisie's sister is there to observe Baba and monitor the Keepers of the Feather agents that occasionally find themselves in the swamp.
• He recalls the sisters blood was so sweet, before fucking off in a cloud of mist, leaving the party and Maisie reeling.

An Unlikely Ally

• The rest of the household leaves, but Escher lingers...
• He strikes up an unlikely alliance with the party, seeing as he was once an adventurer and was a spawn when Maisie's sister entered the picture.
• Escher tells the party to meet them in Strahd's study, they can discuss things more there.
• With nothing to lose you all go...

Meeting in the Study

• Once in the study you are greeted by the sight of expensive and well taken care of books; a painted portrait of a woman who looks near identical to Ireena hangs on the mantle.
• The plaque says the subject is named Tatyana Federovna, "Light in the Darkness".
• The party learns a few things from Escher;
• Escher had tried to convince Maisie's sister that it was better to die than become an agent of Strahd, though she stubbornly refused.
• He has seen her since, but each time she looks more starved and feral.
• Escher believes Tatyana is a lost lover of Strahd or something, he isn't quite sure. Her believes Ireena is a descendant of this woman.
• His party had actually tried to help another descendant of Tatyana named Marina; she lived in Berez and Strahd sought to make her his wife and queen.
• They tried to get her to leave, but she refused and seemed enamored with Strahd.
• The party returned one day to take her by force, only to find she had been stoned to death by her village and had allegedly been pregnant with Strahd's child.
• Strahd then flooded the village and wiped Escher's party out, with him as the soul survivor, which led to him becoming a consort out of desperation.
• When asked what he wants out of all this, he reveals that his party had sought to find a cure for the spellplague and to bring magic back to Toril (this has already been done by someone else).
• Escher has a family in Waterdeep, and as elf kin they are most likely still alive. He would like to see them again, or at least be able to die back in Waterdeep.
• Maisie asks about the difference between spawns and consorts;
• Escher tells her that consorts keep more of their personality and can't be made to do anything by Strahd (though other forms of coercion still work).
• Spawns are completely under Strahd's thumb and its extremely rare any part of their mortal life is retained.
• Neither can harm Strahd outright, as an underling must kill its master to gain freedom or be granted it.
• Ez confirms what Escher said is true.
• During this a dazed teenage girl emerges from the bedchambers next door. Her name is Gertruda.
• She found her way over here from the Village of Barovia and views this experience as a fairy tale.
• Escher corroborate this, though says Strahd hasn't done anything to her.
• Everdeen was asked to find her by a woman back in the village, though the party decides to come back for her because she is so unwilling and it would be too dangerous to attempt to remove her.

Playing Stupid Games and Winning Stupid Prizes

• Maisie seemingly having a moment, starts stealing books...I'm sure nothing will come of this!
• Suddenly small fire elementals appear and begin to spread.
• Everyone starts to evacuate, but Everdeen has a different idea.
• She kills one which explodes in a painful fireball, before she can kill another the party implores her to just leave!
• With everyone out of the room, Madam H uses a duplicate of herself to make all the elementals explode at once.
• In the smoldering ruins of the study, the portrait of Tatyana is unharmed. Maisie then decides to steal the portrait of Strahd's Waifu. This won't have consequences, I'm sure.
• Maisie and Kerberos investigate a stash of treasure that is behind the fireplace, in a secret holding.
• Many coins scatter the floor, but remain untouched.
• Maisie opens a chest, fails a CON save and is paralyzed...Kerberos is fine! The treasure was a lie.

Session ended at 12am 19/9/735; 19th of Sintavr, 735