Session 017 - Report 2025-05-26

Events

Strahd von Zarovich pulls a pristine, finely crafted, pearl handkerchief and wipes off the blood from his hands. Raises his head slowly and eyes the party. He introduced himself as the lord of all the lands, and excused his vampire servants for being "too messy".

The PCs didn't interact much, as they were stunned by fear. Jon, however, was able to notice Strahd's gaze going from the vampire he just killed, an Elf Wizard, to Linus. Then, the vampire lord had one of his vampire servants to take the bones of St. Andral from their hiding place and flee the place. Strahd left a bit later, in mist form, but not before letting them know he already knew they were in town, and that Ireenda was with them.

The party then proceeded to the Inn, where they witnessed the ringmaster Rictavio recounting one of his adventures to a very keen audience. Alfbern was able to discern the tale as a fantastic fabrication, bearing probably nothing of actual facts. As soon as the tale ended he left the place carrying a bundle of food he said he was taking to his friend, the toymaker.

Then, Jon went upstairs to check on Ireenda and the children, who were fast asleep. Downstairs Klildar approached a still visibly frightened Henrik, that had barely touched his mug of wine. He was told that the bones could not be retrieved and that all the vampires had left his shop, but wouldn't dare return there. Urwin the innkeeper offered a room for the coffin maker, who accepted it and went upstairs for the night.

The PCs decided to end their day and rest for the night in a comfortable bed for the first time in days. In the morning, while they were having breakfast they were approached by a messenger from Baron Vargas Vallakovich, that handed them an invitation to meet him at his mansion at their earliest convenience.

After breakfast they went to the church, while trying to decipher the meaning of one of the tarokka cards, which mentioned a house of corruption. When they arrived at the church, they informed Fr. Lucian that they could not retrieve the relic, which set the priest in disarray. He said that maybe he would be able to work on a ritual to try to establish a protection ward similar to the one from the relic. The PCs said they could help him with the ritual, if there was anything they could do.

The group inquired the priest about the age of the building in the town, more precisely which one was the oldest. Fr Lucian told them he didn't really know, and that maybe they could find some documents in the Burgomaster's mansion. They then left, heading for it.

When they arrived at the mansion, a couple of guards were coming out of it, carrying a man in shackles and saying that he was under arrest for "malicious unhappiness". After knocking on the door, a maid greeted them and escorted them to a study. While they were entering the house, they also saw several people coming over, bringing a bunch of bundles of twigs. The maid said they were to be used to build something for the burgomaster's next festival.

Once in the study, the Baron arrived shortly after them, and explained to them about the Festival of the Blazing Sun, set to take place soon. Another attempt to improve the town's mood, and asked for the PCs' support.

At the end of the interaction, someone entered the office, a man with a bestial right arm. to which the Baron called Izek. He apologised the intrusion, but the Baron dismissed the group, calling for the maid and asking her to give them some refreshments. While they were coming out of the room, they were able to hear Izek telling the Baron that he was still unable to find "them", to which his master said that he should keep looking.

And that's where the session ended.

Party

Setup