Session 27

— 15th of Octyavr, 735 BC

Entry 27. Deciding amongst them to take the children to Krezk they descended down the rickety steps, careful to stay away from all the people headed towards the Abbey. At the gates they were stopped again, a steel dagger flung at their feet and required to slash their palms to show that they bleed in order to be let in the town. Taking turns to do so, they all marched bloody under the portcullis into the town where a guard impeded their way, beseeching them to visit the Baron. Taking the children with them to the town hall, they were met inside by Dmitry and Anna Kreszkova, the baron and baroness of Kreszk. Dmitry recognized the bravery of the group and asked them to investigate the current disease plaguing most of the townspeople, thinking that it is some sort of lycanthropy incurred by the recent werewolf incursions. The party revealed to them that they had visited a den of werewolves and laid some of them to rest, managing to rescue some captives. The children they had with them indeed were kidnapped by the werewolves. Before the baron could ask about his son, the little Ilya showed himself from behind Valyra. The baroness rose from her seat and ran to hug the little boy, who kept apologizing for not listening to his mother and going away at night. Dmitry's troubled expression vanished from his face giving way to a soft smile. He thanked the adventurers for their kindness and stated he would generously oblige to any of their requests. Valyra only asked that the children were taken care of properly.

The baron immediately undertook their request and issued some guards to see that the children are reunited with their families or be fostered at the orphanage of Saint Markovia. Following that, he also requested to speak to them about a sensitive matter in his private chamber. He told them about the recent death of his daughter Alana from a strange disease, long before the current plague. He also told them about some graves being dug up from the cemetery and his family garden, among them, the grave of his daughter, who's corpse was missing. The group thought that the events were very strange and agreed to look into the matter. Investigating Alana's grave, they found clues and marks leading towards the Abbey of Saint Markovia. Before they could leave to investigate the matter in depth however, they needed a place to rest and asked the Baron if he could point them towards such a place. Instead the baron offered them a home, one belonging to a recently deceased family. The group accepted it and headed towards their new sanctuary.

Before resting they wanted to look at the treasure that they had taken from the werewolves den. Among the many shiny gems and jewelry they found a manuscript, penned by none other than Strahd himself. Valyra immediately poured over its contents detailing Strahd's past before resting. Emeric attempted to open the manuscript he took from the Amber Temple. Successfully finding how to open it, he found a necromantic spell but lacked the materials needed to learn it. He scoffed and exclaimed loudly that he wished he could learn it. As he went back to reading the contents of the book, a female voice resounded in his mind asking if he wished to know the secrets of necromancy. As Emeric said yes, this new force granted him the spell. Valyra wasn't able to rest for long however, as her friend Brando began screaming in the middle of the night. Bad dreams he thought, and went back to sleep. Valyra stayed up to keep watch, trying to make her friend feel safer. Alone in her thoughts, she suddenly heard the voice of her friend Eleonora. She warned Valyra of her friend's curse and advised her to visit a nearby shrine and let her friend drink from the blessed water.

They didn't converse for long as Brando again woke up screaming. She ushered him to come with her to a shrine and he acquiesced. The rest of the party, woken by his screams were ready to defend against an attack but as Valyra explained, they had to go to a shrine, east of the town hall. Ireena recognized this place, saying she had visions of it ever since she was granted the hilt. She lead them to the place under the grey skies of Kreszk, finding a hidden gazebo amongst the trees. A single shaft of light suddenly emerged from the clouds, lighting the face of a mournful statue of an old man, behind him a pool of clear sparkling water. As they approached, the statue began to shift, ita rust giving way to golden dim light and its features changing to that of a young man. The handsome man resembled Strahd but his blue eyes, golden hair and soft smile could not be compared to the ancient vampire. His eyes trained on Ireena, he spoke with a soft voice naming himself Sergei Von Zarovich and welcoming them to the Shrine of the White Sun. The party held a bit of conversation before he ushered Brando to drink from the blessed pool to be cured of his curse. He then instructed Ireena to submerge the hilt in the water and as she did the pool glowed with divine light which crystallized into a blade as Ireena pulled out the glowing sword from the water. The statue however solidified again into its old shape and the water didn't seem that clear anymore. The party returned to their sanctuary to rest, with a feeling of ease and accomplishment.

The next morning they resumed their investigation and headed towards they Abbey. They observed him in the process of healing townspeople and then approached to ask him a few questions about the misusing bodies. Although he seemed willing to help, Valyra sensed that he was keeping something from them. He explained that revealing them everything would potentially sidetrack them from finding the necromancer they spoke of. Unsatisfied, they left the Abbey but only to turn themselves invisible and return to sneak inside the Abbey and investigate. Exploring the upper floors of the Abbey, Emeric and Brando found themselves in a cellar of sorts, stocked with ancient barrels and bottles of wine from the Wizard of Wines and a bottle of ancient Champagne du le Stomp which Brando decided to steal. On the other hand Valyra found herself in a room full of cadavers lying on stone surfaces. Each of them long dead and missing limbs and portions of skin. Her attention was drawn to the black curtain obscuring the back side of the room. Pulling it away, she found another body of a young women lying on a stone surface. Various tools and scalpels prepared to her side. Before she could do anything else, the door to the room creaked open. One of the Bellviews walked in, a monstrous man with red fur and an arm covered in green scales, similar to the ones they found at Alana's grave. He went on to prepare the tools and dissect the corpse of what Valyra presumed to be Alana, as she had features strikingly similar to Anna Kreszkova. The mongrel took a piece of skin from the corpse, lied it on a piece of fabric and left the room with it, while Valyra invisibly tailed him. The group reconvened outside of the Abbey but not before noticing the eye of the Abbot falling upon them.

They headed back to report to the baron who asked of them to retrieve the body of his daughter to give her a proper burial and let her soul rest. The party agreed and went again at the stroke of midnight to sneak inside the Abbey, this time to take the corpse of Alana with them. Missing a few more pieces of skin and maybe a few organs, they put the lifeless body into Brando's bag of holding but not before the monstrous man coming in and noticing a bag going invisible. He attempted to slash at the air towards the bag but his claws only parted the air. The party sneaked out of the Abbey successfully, together with the body but they knew they'll soon be in trouble.

They headed to the baron of Krezk again to return the body of his daughter. Taking her out of the bag of holding and laying her mauled corpse onto a bed, they let Dmitry mourn his daughter for a second time. Advising him to bury her in a different location and tell nobody, they closed the door and left the sobbing of the baron behind them.

Returning to their new abode to rest, Valyra once again had a strange dream about this mysterious alien entity. She found herself in a strange room, a book filled with strange runes in front of her. Attempting to decipher them, the ink shifted and crawled onto her arms forming starve runes. She woke up facing her palm where a new strange symbol, similar to the eye she sees in her dreams had appeared. Looking around her, she realized was not in her bed, but she was lying on the shore of the lake where she almost drowned, soaking wet.

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