The group and Lancelot returned to the basement beneath the Durst House to find out what was going on there and to find a way out. They entered a room they’d neglected earlier finding a large, wooden bed with a feather mattress, a wardrobe, a crate of supplies, a footlocker trunk, and a body hanging from the ceiling. The body was the long-dead corpse of a man dressed in black robes covered in arcane symbols. He hung from a noose attached to the ceiling and had a suicide note in his pocket. The note expressed Gustav’s regrets to his children over the actions he had taken and the evil which had corrupting him and his wife Elisabeth. He took his own life, abandoning his family, seeing that as the only solution to his predicament.
The group was disdainful of his actions and his reasoning as they discussed the contents of the letter. As they searched through the room, Lancelot scratched and whined at one of the walls. A portrait of Elisabeth Durst hung on the earthen wall, and Riley could see that the earth here was thin and loose. She dug through the wall uncovering a small cavity beyond which contained Elisabeth Durst!
Now twisted into some inhuman creature with an impossibly long tongue and dressed in the same black, arcane robes, Elisabeth greeted the party and welcomed them to her home. Since they had all donned the black cloaks from the cloakroom above, she mistook them for initiates into whatever cult she was a part of. Bramo questioned her about the Mists surrounding the house and whether they were normal or not. Elisabeth explained that the Mists would ebb and flow and locals would take shelter during times when they filled the streets lest they choke and gag on them. She mentioned taking in travelers off the streets during such times and bringing them down into her lair. She praised the location of her home outside of town away from the common people and along a road with a steady stream of passersby. She also mentioned a master controlling the mists.
Before Bramo could ask her about this master, Johan was overcome with disgust for the abomination before him and struck down with greatsword with furious vengeance! This prompted Lancelot to attack, and he gave a string of vicious barks which frightened Elisabeth and kept her at bay. The rest of the group quickly joined the attack and Riley finished her off with her silver shortsword.
Bramo was disappointed that he didn’t get to finish questioning Elisabeth, but Johan told him she was an evil monster, and he had sworn an oath of vengeance against her for the evil she had done to the Durst children. Bronwyn warned him that this might not be the last evil creature they come across, and he couldn’t deal with them all so hastily.
Searching Elisabeth’s body yielded no new information, but the footlocker contained several useful items: a magical cloak, several healing potions, thieves’ tools, a lantern, alchemist’s fire, which Riley nearly drank, and a yellow, leather spellbook which Elora eagerly claimed. The crate in the room also held some torches and candles which the group divided among them. The group reluctantly decided to bring the bodies of Gustav and Elisabeth to their tombs and lay them to rest, if only to spare any future travelers from their evil. Johan gave spirited prayer over their bodies denouncing their evil ways and Bramo wished for them to find justice in the afterlife.
The only unexplored portion of the basement led down a dark tunnel to a set of stairs descending deeper into the earth. The sound of chanting became louder now as the group entered a macabre reliquary with shelves lined with the cults “treasures.” These treasures included a severed finger, mummified hand, and the shrunken head of a halfling. Disgusted by these objects, no one in the group to look closely at them or even go near them. Finally, the chanting grew clear enough for the group to make out the words, “He is the Land. He is Ancient. He is the Land. He is Ancient.”
The group moved on from that room discovering a large prison lined with shackles. Johan questioned how many victims this place must have once held and how many people had been killed here. Catching a glint of gold, the group investigated a skeleton held towards the back of the room. It was human in appearance and dressed in the black, arcane robes they had seen on Gustav and Elisabeth. It was held in chains and also wore a plain gold ring on its finger like the ones they’d found in the jewelry box upstairs. The group wondered if the rings held some significance to the cult, but took the ring for its value in gold.
While exploring the prison, Bronwyn and McCoy discovered a secret door leading out of it. The door led into a massive, domed room. A ledge ran around the room and beneath it a 2 foot deep pool of dark water with dais rising out of the center of it. A lowered portcullis controlled by a large crank led out of the room and the opposite wall was collapsed into a small alcove filled with bones and detritus. Atop the dais in the center of the room was a bloody altar carved with arcane symbols. Elora immediately headed over to investigate it with Johan struggling to keep up with and protect her. The rest of the group reluctantly joined them there.
The chanting, which had fallen silent upon their entrance, resumed. Thirteen shadowy figures in black robes with voids for faces appeared on the ledge surrounding them. Now the chant was loud and clear, “One must die! One must die! ONE MUST DIE!”
The implication was clear that these spirits expected a sacrifice on their altar. The group briefly looked towards Lancelot, but Riley and Bronwyn would not allow them to consider it. Instead, the group attacked with McCoy launching a javelin at the nearest figure. The figures seemed to be made of shadows, only partially corporeal, but were not especially hardy. As the group engaged them in combat, something rose up out of the alcove. A shambling mass constructed of discarded bone, flesh, and ligaments assembled itself and lumbered across the water towards the dais. The faint cries of an infant could be heard somewhere within it.
The shadowy cultists closed in around the exits of the room seeking to trap the group within. Riley and Lancelot fought their way forward trying to reach the controls for the portcullis while Bramo, Bronwyn, and Elora used their magic to attack the spirits near the secret door. McCoy face off against the fleshy mound which engulfed him! From within the mass of writhing flesh, he saw at the heart of the creature the body of a wailing infant fused to the flesh around it. As the flesh all around him tried to crush him, McCoy struggled to get his hands around the infant Walter and tear it from the mass.
Riley was being overwhelmed on all sides by the shadowy cultists who pressed in to kill her with their withering grasps. Before they could strike the death blow, Lancelot leapt in front of her, protecting her from harm. The reprieve allowed Riley to rally and Johan joined her to repel the shadows. Elora used her mastery of magical research to twist her ice spell into a spell of force which obliterated the shadows near the secret door. Then the spellcasters focused their magical attacks on the flesh mound which contained McCoy. Johan, having helped Riley overcome the shadows, rushed to McCoy’s aid. He hesitated, unsure if his strikes would damage the mechanical man within, but seeing no other option to aid him, pressed on with his attack.
The group rained blows and magic on the powerful creature, but it showed no signs of weakening. Within the mound, McCoy’s hands found purchase around the infant Walter, and he mercifully silenced it. With the infant’s death, the entire mound fell apart in a puddle of bone of flesh around McCoy, and the remaining cultist vanished. Their victory was short-lived as the very house itself revolted in anger, shaking all around them. Before the collapsing ceiling could bury them, the group rushed out back to the ladder and up to the first floor.
They found the house above transformed into a nightmare. All of the windows were bricked over, all of the doors replaced by deadly, scything blades, and stoves and fireplaces all belched out noxious fumes! Elora gagged and choked on the fumes while McCoy tried to break through the bricked over window. He managed to make a small hole in it, but knew he wouldn’t have enough time before his companions succumbed to the fumes. Johan studied the timing of the scything blades, thinking he had mastered it, and leapt through to the other side. His timing was off, and he was cut badly by them. The others, seeing no other choice, followed suit with Bramo and McCoy also being injured by the blades.
The room ahead of them was also filled with noxious fumes and scything blades covered all exits. Knowing they could not survive the blades again, they made a desperate plan to head to the upper floors! Reaching the second floor, they found the situation the same; choking gas and deadly blades. They head up further. Again, the third floor held the same, but they noticed the secret doors leading to the attic stairs were not covered in blades. They quickly followed them up to the attic!
There McCoy was able to take his time and break through one of the bricked up windows. The attic landing held no poisonous gas, and the group was able to take a brief respite. After breaking through the bricks, they secured a rope to the window frame using and iron spike and lowered themselves to the third floor balcony. Checking the mists surrounding the house, they noticed it was thinning and decided to risk an escape. Wrapping the rope around the balcony to secure it, they lowered themselves down to the ground below escaping the Durst House.
The group took a few moments to heal and bandage their wounds before heading back on the road to find somewhere they could finally rest. After 30 minutes of walking, they reached a village, with the looming shapes of buildings emerging from the fog all around them. The town was eerily quiet with no sign of life around them. Searching through the fog, Riley spotted some figures moving around through the fog…moving unnaturally; shambling like the walking dead.
Preparing to flee the scene, they spotted an old woman who cried out for help. The woman was pushing a small cart and slowly being surrounded by zombies. The group rushed in to help her. They fought their way through a small group of zombies with McCoy severing the head of one of them. To his surprise, the zombie’s body and head continued to attack them! Lancelot chewed on the head on the ground while the body engaged McCoy and Riley in combat.
While the group fought through the zombies, the old woman was surrounded by them. She struggled in their grasp to hold them off as they clawed and tore at her clothes. She cried out for help over and over, but the group could not reach her! Finally, making an opening, they closed in to attack the zombies surrounding her. Limbs flew off of the zombies and continued to attack the group, but eventually they killed them.
Coming over to check on the woman who identified herself as Granny, she told them she was all right and hadn’t been hurt badly. She went over to her cart and ate a pie there, starting to feel better instantly. She waved the group over telling them she had something for them. She offered the group pies of various kinds, meat, fruit, and vegetable. Lancelot was especially interested in the pies, but Riley requested it not contain anything toxic to the dog. Granny assured her that the meat pie would be fine. Bramo asked what kind of meat was in the pies, and Granny explained it was likely a mix of different kinds of animal meat, but that most of the meat she used came from wolves which are abundant in the area.
The group all came over and ate various pies which healed their wounds and restored their vitality in addition to being delicious. Granny explained that the pies had another property as well, they were Dream Pastries which would give the group delightful dreams of their fondest wishes. She told them that she was a baker by trade, selling the pies to people of Barovia to help ease their suffering and to make a profit for herself. She gave them all additional pies to take with them, but advised them to wait until the next day to eat them lest the pies put them to sleep.
The group asked Granny some questions about Barovia learning they were in Village of Barovia in the valley of Barovia. They learned that the land was ruled by the handsome, young lord, Strahd von Zarovich, and that he was a fair, if sometimes strict ruler. He was known to treat well those who served his interests and deal harshly with those who opposed him. They also learned the current year was 735 by the Barovian calendar and that the Zarovich family had ruled the valley for the past 735 years since conquering it from the original inhabitants.
Granny mentioned that they Barovia occasionally received visitors from other worlds brought through the Mists, and that when this happened it always in the Mists rising around Barovia and causing the dead to rise from their graves. The group realized that their coming to Barovia had cause the zombie outbreak, but Granny assured them they should not feel guilty about it as they didn’t know any better.
Granny told the group that if they enjoyed the Dream Pastries that she hoped they would come and buy more of them from her. She was selling them for the very reasonable price of 1 gp each, which the party agreed was a very reasonable price. She told them she could be found around town of they could visit her and her daughters at a windmill about a day’s walk west along the road near a town called Vallaki. The mention of the windmill caught the group’s interest and Bramo inquired about her family owning the property. This line of questioning upset Granny and she became angry with them insisting that she and her family owned the windmill and any information to contrary was nonsense. The group backed off of this line of questioning and asked about the town instead.
Granny told them they could find any supplies they might need at a local shop called Bildrath’s Mercantile, but warned them that his prices were very high. Their only other option was a shop in Vallaki called Arasek’s Stockyard, but that was some distance away. She also told them they could find food, drinks, and lodging across the street from Bildrath’s at the tavern.
Asking a little bit about Granny herself, they learned that her real name was Morgantha, but that she preferred to go by Granny. They also learned that her mother had been killed by a witch and that they should be careful around here because there were evil witches here in Barovia. Granny had no family name to give them, being of low birth, and having never known her father.
Granny thanked them again for saving her life and bid her goodbyes, hoping to see them all again soon to do business with them. Then she resumed roaming the fog and zombie filled streets loudly hawking her pies. The group tried to warn her against doing this, but she was out of earshot.
The group decided to head to Bildrath’s Mercantile. They found him to be shrewd man who charged an enormous markup on his goods, but who fairly appraised the jewelry they presented him as trade. They learned that he had sources for outside goods, and that this was a rare thing. Bildrath talked to them a little about the town and how there were no magic shops or wizards around. He mentioned a wizard who had led a revolt against the lord a year ago and come to a bad end. He also mentioned that the group would soon see what became of those that had followed the wizard as well.
After placing a custom order with him, the group inquired if they could work off some of the price and possibly do some chores or deliveries for him in return. Bildrath declined explaining that he had his nephew Parriwimple to help with all of that. He brought the boy out to introduce to them revealing him as a hulk of man who was friendly but simple. They invited Parriwimple to drink with them, but Bildrath would not allow it. When they offered to include Bildrath in the free drinks, he said he would stop by the tavern with the boy sometime if they were in town for a while.
Heading over to the tavern, they found it was ominously called Blood on the Vine. The entered to find it somewhat rundown inside an empty, but with a warm, inviting fire. The only people inside were 3 colorfully dressed, young women, an older bartender with a vacant stare, and a handsome, young man drinking by himself. Johan went over to introduce himself to the man who told them he was Ismark Kolyanovich, son of the late magistrate. He asked them to come and join him for wine which he would happily buy for them.
The bartender delivered the wine without a word, moving as if in a trance the entire time. The group introduced themselves to Ismark, but he could not stop staring at Elora. He seemed to recognize her and rubbed his eyes several times looking her over. He concluded that he must be drunker than he thought and apologized for staring at her. He started telling the group about his troubles, how he didn’t know what he was going to do with the town, how he was going to help his sister in their besieged home, and how he would bury his father who had died 3 days earlier. He loudly complained so that the locals could here him, that no one had lifted a finger to help him bury his father despite all the good work the man had done for the village.
The group immediately volunteered to help Ismark bury his father, having just that morning buried several people at the Durst House. Ismark was overjoyed and invited them all back to his home with him. He quickly poured more wine for everyone to drink quickly so they could be on their way. The group assured him he could bring the wine with him in the bottle, but he insisted on finishing it.
Ismark led them back to his home, the magistrate’s manor, heedless of any dangers lurking in the fog-covered streets. When they arrived, the group saw signs all around the manor that it had been attacked by men and beasts, particularly wolves. Johan found the mixed human and wolf tracks to be very telling. As they tried to enter the house, they heard a woman shouting threats at them from inside thinking monsters of some kind. Ismark called inside and identified himself, telling the person inside that he had brought friends to help them. After some loud shuffling and dragging from inside, the door was opened, and a woman ushered them all in quickly.
Ismark and the woman barricaded the door, and then he introduced the woman as his sister Ireen Kolyana. The group was shocked to discover that other than her vibrant, red hair, Ireena looked almost identical to Elora! Ireena and Elora spoke over each other in shock and bewilderment as they examined each other. Neither could explain what was going or the mystery of the relationship between them.
Curse of Ravenloft 