Session 027
Review Charactes
Scenes
Argynvostholt
Resume the combat with Vladimir.
If the party escapes
They find Ezmerelda arriving at the same time. See below
If the party dies...
...and the players want to keep the same PCs
They hear the sound of broken glass, birds cawing and a scuffle. They wake up one/two days later in the Bluewater Inn. Being tended by the Martikovs.
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Highest CON Save: Wakes first. The inn is dark, cold. They hear muffled crying from the taproom. They see a figure in the dim light—a half-man, half-raven—stitching their wounds. The figure (Urwin) just says, "Be still. You're lucky to be alive."
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Second Highest: Wakes next. They hear a loud, angry argument from the taproom. It's Urwin and an older man (Davian). "They failed, Urwin! The winery is gone! Wintersplinter took it!".
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Third Highest: Wakes up. They hear the real chaos: outside the barred windows of the inn, they can hear a mob shouting. "The Baron is a fool!" "The Devil is here!" "The church is gone!" A terrified Vallakian (refugee) bursts in, "They're rioting in the square! Father Lucian... they're dragging his body through the streets!"
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Lowest CON Save: Wakes last. As they open their eyes, the last to wake feels the scar set in. This is when you deliver the mechanical blow. "You all feel it. The cold from that place... it's still in you. Your wounds are closed, but they are not healed. You each take a permanent scar." 1d4 Max HP reduction
...or they want to roll up new PCs
The players pick a sin below or create their own:
| The Sin | The Memory |
|---|---|
| The Coward | You fled when you should have fought. Someone died screaming your name while you ran. |
| The Thief | You stole something vital (medicine, a relic, a fortune) that ruined a life or a community. |
| The Betrayer | You sold out a friend, a lover, or a cause for personal gain or safety. |
| The Wrathful | You killed someone in a fit of rage—someone who didn't deserve it. |
| The Fraud | You rose to power or fame on a lie, destroying the reputation of the one who actually earned it. |
| Prologue (The Castle of Silver): "The silence of Argynvostholt is heavy, broken only by the wind howling through its shattered windows. Among the dust and the dead, a woman with a prosthetic leg moves like a ghost. She kneels beside the fallen—warriors who fought and failed. She finds a heavy, leather-bound book clutched in a cold hand. She takes it. |
She draws a card from her deck. 'The Mists,' she whispers. 'The Lake.' She vanishes into the fog, leaving the dead to their restless sleep."
Scene 1 (The Lake): CON Save for order of waking up. "Cold water wakes you. The taste of mud and rot fills your mouth. You scramble onto a pebble shore, coughing up lake water. The last thing you remember is your sin... and now you are here.
A fire crackles nearby. Sitting on a log is the woman from the vision. She is drying the heavy book near the flames. She looks up, her eyes hard but hopeful.
'Good. You're breathing. The cards said you would come, though they didn't mention you'd be so... wet. My name is Ezmerelda. We have work to do.'"
Special Event
Arrigal's Hunt
- Ezmeralda d'Avenira arrives on horseback, stolen from the Vistani
- The mansion might have enemies of Strahd
- Arrigal + 2 vistani
- Wants to drag her back to camp, but won't attack the party