Session 22

— 8th of Octyavr, 735

Entry 22. After arriving at the West Gates, Ismark decided to head back to his hometown and visit his sister in hopes that she'll follow him to a safer location. The rest of the group headed for Castle Ravenloft. After crossing the chasm between the gates and the courtyard of the castle they entered the already open doors to the main hallway, where red carpet and warm torchlight welcomed them in. From a spiraling staircase, an elven man descended to greet them and lead them to the dining hall where grand organ music was emanating from. The figure that played music dramatically stopped to greet them and make their acquaintence as Strahd Von Zarovich. He entertained the guests for a short time before vanishing from the their sight after which a howling wind stormed the castle, shutting every door and blowing off all the candle. The group could hear the audible straining of the chains pulling up the drawbridge, sealing the players in this castle. The group immediately went on to investigate the place and explore the castle trying to find a way out or Strahd himself.

The group instead met with Escher, a very attractive young man proclaiming he's Strahd's companion yet he has not seen the lord in a while, fearing that he might have gotten bored of him. He agreed to lead the group to the lord's bed chambers in hopes that he would be there. Instead they found Gertruda, a young female in a nightgown, lying in the king's bed. Escher immediately attacked her and Valyra turned him into a rat to stop him and later threw him out the window. Gertruda was thankful but she felt safer in that chamber and the party went on to explore more. Entering a study they met with an old man chained to a heavy desk, scribbling on what seemed like an endless scroll. He was unwilling to leave the room and asked the group to leave so he could resume his accounting work. In a kitchen they met a maid who begged to be freed from this place, revealing that she was another one of Strahd's vampire minions. Valyra promised to come back for her when she finds a way to open the castle doors. After activating an elevator trap the group found themselves speeding up towards the sealing of this castle and put to sleep by some sort of gas that filled the cabin. Valyra dreamed again of the strange entity now offering her more books. She woke up to her friend desperately trying to find something to do to help. He got up on top of the elevator car but couldn't disable the trap on time, resulting in him being squashed between the car and the sealing and his friends being launched to the sealing of the elevator. After which the car began to slowly descend. Stopping at the lowest floor they were met with a mongrel-folk man inquiring of their frolicking in the middle of the night. He guided them to the guest room and told them to rest there for the night. The group tried to formulate a plan although paranoid that Strahd might be listening to their talks and that each one of them could be Strahd himself. They rested although not yet at ease.

In the morning they went to find the mongrel-folk and ask him to guide them to the lord's tomb. He guided them through a chamber made of bones where Emeric found a spiked gear-like artifact, then through what looked like a torture room, where Emeric suddenly disappeared and zombies rose out of the water that covered the floor. A wall of fire turned them into ashes before they could harm anyone. The continued into a series of hallways until they reached a room with a stranger device in the middle surrounded by statues of armed knights. The hourglass above the white fire revealed glowing text possibly referring to the crystal spheres set in a circle around the fire. Valyra threw one of the spheres into the fire and was transported to a room in the center of which lied a black coffin. She was attacked by one of the devil's brides but through her charm Valyra managed to calm her down and interrogate her. Returning magically to the room with the teleportation device she took another sphere and this time she was transported together with Brando in a study room where they had found a secret room containing a chest and gold coins scattered across the floor. Brando took as much as he could before Valyra opened a trapped chest releasing some kind of gas in the room and they ran before it could harm them. Returning to the teleportation device and picking another stone to throw she found herself and her friend locked in some sort of guard tower which she managed to escape through the use of magic and thieve's tools.

Emeric had found himself in a strange temple where the walls were made of pure amber and a crack on one wall allowed him to take some amber pieces that lied scattered around. Trying to leave he found himself in a long hallway filled with corpses and a strange flying skull, enveloped in green flame that attacked him on sight. Emeric managed to magically transport himself out of the temple before the skull could cast another fireball on him, possibly ending him. Now the group found themselves in unfamiliar places, between snow peaked mountains, unsure of where to head next.

On the other side, a new adventurer had entered Barovia and was exploring the village. He promised to a woman to save her daughter before meeting with Ismark at the local tavern and getting a job and a place to stay at the Blood of the Vine tavern. He spoke to the priest at the church near the gates of Barovia and found out a bit more about the devil Strahd that has been terrorizing the valley and also about a group of adventurers that were heading to confront this creature. With that, he decided to find this group and possibly join them in their adventure against Strahd.

What is the bait when the devil is not hungry?

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