After learning the location of St. Andral’s Holy Bones, the group rushed over to the Coffin Maker’s Shop to confront Henrik. McCoy loudly banged on the door demanding that Henrik open up. They insisted he let them in and explain what was going on. Henrik continued to tell them to go away, saying the shop was closed, and he didn’t know what they were talking about. Bramo and Riley went around to the side door with Lancelot to make their way in surreptitiously.
The group at the front door was insistent and let Henrik know they knew what he had done and that he had the bones. They refused to leave and made plans to batter down the door. Ireena asked what their intention was because it sounded like they meant to do harm to this man and his home. The group insisted they were trying to resolve this peacefully. Elora believed the man had most likely been coerced or controlled in some way.
Changing tactics, Johan made a show of departing, telling Henrik they would be leaving him for now. Henrik saw through the lies and remained steadfast. Meanwhile, Bramo, Riley, and Lancelot made their way into the shop. Bramo picked the lock on the side door and led them inside. He moved quietly across the shop, but Lancelot’s nails scraped loudly along the wooden floor. The sound was thankfully muffled by the loud commotion at the other door. As they made their way back to the workshop, the other group changed tactics again.
Playing off of Henrik’s fears, they offered him protection, telling him of the evils they had already fought and the people they had helped. Ireena made an impassioned plea to trust them and let them help no matter what the issue was. Moved by her words, Henrik opened the door to listen to them. He told them that he had been forced into all of this against his will under threat of death. He was an old man who wanted no trouble.
A dark-skinned woman, tall, beautiful, with deep purple lips and wearing a white dress and golden headdress had approached him. She demanded he do a task on behalf of the Lord. He was to offer money to Milivoj to steal the Bones of St. Andral and keep them in his home. He had no choice but to obey her and did as she asked. He told them the bones were kept upstairs in his bedroom in a secret compartment in the armoire. He told them they could go and fetch the bones.
The group asked him to just bring down the bones to them, but he refused. He was terrified to go upstairs but would not explain why. Deducing that there was something dangerous upstairs, they allowed him to go, telling him to head to the Church of St. Andral’s where he could receive sanctuary. Henrik thought this was an excellent idea and departed immediately.
The group reunited and entered the shop making their way slowly through all of the rooms. On the second floor, they found a large storage room containing lumber and crates labeled “JUNK.” Bramo used his Wand of Secrets to search the area looking for secret doors and traps. Eventually they located the bedroom and the armoire. Johan focused his divine senses on the armoire and confirmed it contained a hallowed object. They searched the armoire for a secret compartment, but it was too well-hidden for them to locate. Finally, Bramo used his wand again to reveal it and Elora impulsively opened it.
Inside she saw a large sack and a small sack. Lifting the large sack and inspecting it, she saw it contained human bones. The other sack, containing coins, she left behind. As they took the bones, they heard a loud noise coming from the lumber room. They decided to depart quickly. Bramo lingered behind eyeing the small sack of coins. Elora and Riley noticed him and debated taking it or not. As the rest of the group departed, Arrabelle urged them to leave quickly. Bronwyn heeded her warning and quickly ushered the group out towards the front door.
Wishing to keep the group together, Elora grabbed the sack of coins to be dealt with at a later date and she, Riley, and Bramo caught up with the group. As they headed down the stairs, they heard many footsteps racing after them. Sprinting out of the house, they ran out the back door with Ireena and Johan hanging back to make sure the group got outside. They heard the upstairs door burst open right as they got outside!
Bramo quickly got to work jamming the door shut with a piton. McCoy and Johan grabbed Lancelot and Arrabelle respectively and took off running, heading for the church. As Johan struggled with Arrabelle, Riley took her from him and sprinted down the road. The door behind them splintering open from heavy blows, Bronwyn cast a spell of darkness behind her covering their escape. As they made their way through the tangle of streets, Johan called out directions navigate the fastest route he could through the streets and crowds.
They reached the church with their unknown pursuers close behind them. Rushing to locate Father Petrovich, they thrust the bones into his hands. He explained that the bones must be returned to their cradle in the crypts underneath the church. He left out the side door with Elora and Ireena to do that while the rest of the group prepared to repel their attackers. McCoy, Johan, Riley, and Bramo all rushed to the front doors of the church. McCoy secured one door and Johan and Riley secured the other. Bramo tried to work some kind of enchantment on the door to misdirect their pursuers, but suddenly a great force slammed open the door pushing back Johan and Riley.
Superhumanly strong, pale, wild-eyed people with sharp claws and fangs besieged the church. A pair them assaulted the front door while another pair circled around the right side of the building, and a third pair cut through the graveyard to ambush Father Petrovich, Ireena, and Elora as they ran for the crypts.
Johan identified them as undead creatures and brought down his greatsword on one of them blazing with a divine radiance. The creature shrieked and howled in pain from the holy blow. Bramo created a pool of grease beneath their attackers’ feet, causing them to slip and fall on the stairs of the church allowing McCoy to attack them in a frenzy of rage. As the creature got back to their feet, Riley attacked with her crossbow, unable to close into melee combat with them. Lancelot furiously barked at the creatures, frightening them with his ferocity and creating an opening for his allies to attack.
Meanwhile, Father Petrovich, Ireena, and Elora were attacked as they ran from the church to the crypts. A ravenous, wild creature leapt over the tombstones coming at them in a flurry of claws and fangs. Elora cast a spell searing the creature with multiple beams of radiant light. The creature cried out in pain becoming even more frenzied! Ireena drew her sword and stood resolute in front of the crypt entrance telling Elora to take the bones below while she held of the enemy. Elora grabbed the bones and sprinted into the crypt entrance.
Father Petrovich called after her to take two rights and head all the way to the end of the crypt where the cradle for the bones lay. Then he turned back to the unholy abominations and summoned the angelic spirits of the Morninglord. Golden angels swirled around him and Ireena bathing them in a circle of holy light. As the undead crossed into the circle, they were seared by its golden light, but the spirits could not keep them at bay.
In the heart of the church, Arrabelle and Bronwyn heard a cry of terror from a nearby room. Rushing to help, they saw an undead man, fierce and bearded entering the church. Inside, was the terrified altar boy, Yeska, scrambling for safety on his bed. With Arrabelle’s blessing, Bronwyn unleashed her dark magic against the creature, but it continued to stride forward. Its claws tore into Bronwyn and she backed away into the doorframe. Arrabelle emboldened Bronwyn allowing her to shake off the creature’s blows and remain on her feet as she fought against him.
McCoy, Johan, and Bramo fought against the undead pair at the front doors to no avail. Despite raining several blows and spells upon them, the creatures would not die! However, their claws tore into both McCoy and Johan nearly felling them. As they struggled to stay on their feet, they heard Arrabelle’s cries for help and Riley and Lancelot ran off to help them.
Outside, Father Petrovich and Ireena faced off against the monsters. Ireena turned their vicious claws away with her sword but was wounded in the process. Father Petrovich was bleeding heavily, and even the healing magic of the Morninglord could not sustain. He urged Elora to go onwards as he fell under the creature’s wicked claws. Alone, Ireena withdrew into the crypt trying to hold the doors closed against the monsters and buy Elora some time.
As Bronwyn fought against the undead man, a woman entered the room. She slid over to Yeska asking the terrified boy if he “wanted a kiss.” Bronwyn unleashed her magic against her trying to protect the boy, but the woman shrugged off the attack and seized him. She sank her fangs into the boy in rush and drained the blood from his body. He dropped limp and pale to the bed as the woman now seemed invigorated by her dark supper.
Riley and Lancelot reached the room and surrounded the man tearing into him with tooth and sword. Bronwyn sent a jolt of electricity into the man and fell back to the altar near Arrabelle. The undead woman slid behind Riley, flanking her. She and the man tore at Riley with their claws. Riley was able to turn some of the blows away with her sword, but not all. Arrabelle shouted encouragement to her and emboldened her to stay on her feet under the assault.
At the front door, Johan was faltering, blood poured from multiple wounds and soaked through his armor. He discarded his greatsword, drawing a mace and shield to protect himself. McCoy’s wild blows failed to find purchase on the creatures. Unable to hit the rapidly dodging creatures with a bolt of fire, Bramo froze one of them in a blast of cold, stiffening their body and making them unable to attack.
The creatures burst through the door of the crypt overwhelming Ireena. She tried to stop them, but one of them ran past her in pursuit of Elora while the other tried to tear her to pieces. Below the church, Elora ran through dark tunnels, lit dimly by torches. She moved uneasily through the crypt desperately searching for the cradle. Reaching the end of the tunnel, she saw a stone platform. Unsure if it was the right the place, she nevertheless emptied the bones onto the platform. As she did so, she was overwhelmed by a holy, calming presence.
Suddenly, the entire church seemed to brighten. The bell tolled once from the belfry and the undead creatures were overcome with horror, stricken by the holy presence in the church. They fled in a panic, heedless of the blows rained down on them by the group. The pair at the front doors stumbled on the slippery steps. Bramo unleashed a bolt of fire on of them, searing them with the flames and ignited their grease-soaked the clothes. The creature ran screaming on fire away from the church.
The monsters repelled, Riley moved quickly to heal the boy Yeska managing to save his life and restore him to consciousness. Outside, Ireena did the same to Father Petrovich, binding his wounds and carrying him to safety as he stubbornly refused to die.
The group gathered in the church and celebrated their victory. With the bones restored, they now had a sanctuary and safe haven against evil. Father Petrovich confirmed himself as their steadfast ally and swore as long as he lived that he would stand against whatever evil sought to harm the people of Vallaki. The group took a well-deserved rest and planned their next move, deciding they would relocate from the Blue Water Inn to the church now that they were targeted by vampires! They also mused over how powerful the creatures were and lamented the fact that they’d been unable to kill any of them.
After resting, they headed over to the Blue Water Inn to retrieve their things and say their goodbyes to Danika. They stayed for lunch before heading out and reassured her that they would still investigate the missing shipment of wine at the winery. She was happy to hear it as doing otherwise would have broken her husband’s heart. She told them they were welcome to return to the inn at any time.
After lunch, the group left Vallaki to return Arrabelle home to her people. She led them out the western gate and turned them south along a trail leading into the woods and up a large hill. She discussed her home life there a bit and lamented it in favor of the excitement of Vallaki. She also reminded Bronwyn that she should return to town as there was someone she needed to meet there. She asked if she would do her a favor and buy her a nice doll from the toy shop in town since Bluto had never gotten her one. Bronwyn agreed to do so.
Passing through the forest, the group reached a tall hill with small houses built around the base of the hill. The homes boasted expert craftsmanship and intricate designwork. Arrabelle pointed them out as “elf houses,” explaining that the elves lived here with them. On top of the hill was a circle of many barrel-topped wagons with large tents in the middle. Smoke from multiple campfires rose up from the tents an all around them were tethered horses.
As they approached the tents, they heard a whipping sound and cries of pain. A burly man was whipping a younger man he leaned against a post. A handsome man with a well-groomed beard and tattoos under his eyes asked the burly man to ease of the man he was whipping which other man did reluctantly. At the group’s approach, the handsome man drew his sword and warned them they had walked into trouble and were in no mood to brook any distractions. The group calmed the man and told him they were only there to return a child as Arrabelle rushed forward and embraced her father.
The man fell to his knees weeping and held her close. The burly man wrapped his arms around both of them in turn. Arrabelle introduced her father Luvash and her uncle Arrigal, joint chieftains of the Vistani tribe. The men thanked the group profusely for their help and lamented Arrabelle’s precocious ways. Luvash had dispatched search parties of Vistani and elves all over Barovia searching for her. He complimented Bronwyn on her beauty as she swooned and the two shared her wineskin together as his camp had run out of wine. Then he brought the group to his treasure wagon, offering them any reward they would like from it for saving his daughter.
The group studied the offerings within the wagon: a large wooden chest, a smaller iron chest, an onyx jewelry box, a wooden throne with gold and gems inlaid in it, a rolled up rug with a bulge in it, and a wooden box full of potions. The group was immediately intrigued by the rug, hoping perhaps it might a flying carpet. After a quick debate, they selected the rug and eagerly unfurled it. Arrabelle advised them to duck as they did so.
Riley and McCoy unfurled the rug and followed Arrabelle’s command to duck as a dart came hurling out at them. Inside of the beautiful carpet with an elegant unicorn motif was a small, clockwork wooden man roughly as big as Bramo. The clockwork man was carved in the shape of a jester complete with bells on his hat. Bronwyn and McCoy were immediately delight with him and Bronwyn greeted the clown asking him to perform tricks. He performed some simple balancing and tumbling for her which she applauded enthusiastically.
Arrabelle described him as a “bad doll who was prone to mischief,” but advised them that they might be able to befriend him. Riley was very uneasy around the clown but made an effort to clap for his tricks. Bronwyn explained that Riley wasn’t as big a fan of clowns as she was, so the clockwork man made her a balloon animal in the shape of a dog and presented it to her. Riley clapped politely and accepted it which seemed to please the little man.
Arrabelle asked Elora if she had noticed the houses around the hill. Elora said that she had and that they looked beautiful. Arrabelle told her their designwork had a lot of detail and that she should look at them close-up. Elora agreed and went to investigate them along with Riley, Ireena, and Johan.
Elora approached the first house and saw it was guarded by an Elven man in a gray cloak. He called out to her in Elvish to “be wary.” When she responded in Elvish to him, he was surprised and studied her closely asking if she was Elven. She explained that she was only Half-Elven, but the elf told her she should speak to their leader. He directed her to a home where there were three guards standing outside and told her to tell them she was there to speak to Kasimir. She thanked him and departed.
At the other home, the three guards barred her way with spears. In Elvish she explained she was there to speak to Kasimir, and they let her through. Inside, she met the elf Kasimir. He was tall, skinny, and beautiful with long, snow white hair and angular features. He greeted her asking who she was, where she came from, and why she had come to him. She explained who she was and that she had traveled there from another world. One of the guards had told her to speak to him. Seeing her Elven heritage, he noted she bore a resemblance to the Dusk Elves themselves.
He explained that he was one of the last surviving Dusk Elves and that they had no women or children among their number, thus the great excitement to see even a partially Elven woman. Elora explained that she had come her seeking knowledge and she didn’t think any knowledge was inherently evil or should be forbidden. Kasimir shared her passion and attitude towards knowledge explaining that he was a wizard himself and that he sought out forgotten and powerful magic. The two had many things in common and Kasimir asked her if she had spoken to the Vistani and if they had told her her fortune. She said that they had, but that it had only indirectly lead her to him.
Kasimir explained that he didn’t quite believe in everything the Vistani said about fate and destiny, but that they did possess knowledge of many things. He proposed that the two of them might work together. But wanted first to know how they felt about the Dark Lord Strahd. Elora told him that she and her group were definitely opposed to him and had some unfortunate run-ins with his servants. Kasimir revealed that he had suffered the same fate and was no friend of Strahd.
He pulled back his hair to reveal that his ears had been cut off. He explained this was done by the traitor Rahasia, the Dark Lord’s stepsister. Under Strahd’s orders, Rahasia had butchered his people killing all of the women and children of the Dusk Elves and leaving the men to suffer a slow extinction. He was pleased to hear that she too was an enemy of Strahd. She mentioned their own encounter with Rahasia and how they hated her as well.
Kasimir told her he knew of a place that held great knowledge, a library of magic and secrets, a temple built by scholars with knowledge from many worlds. Knowledge found nowhere else in the multiverse. Elora was ecstatic to hear this. Kasimir said he would be willing to bring her to this place on the condition that she bring him with her. The way was long and dangerous, and the weather alone was enough to kill them. He could not make the journey on his own, and they should not travel their lightly either. They must be prepared for the treacherous journey ahead of them.
Elora said she could not speak for her group and would have to discuss it with them, but she was interested in helping him. Johan asked how soon he wanted to depart on this journey. Kasimir explained that one thing he should know about the Elven race is that they are very patient. Johan nodded in understanding.
Kasimir thanked them for coming and gave his hand to Elora in parting. As they grasped hands he hesitated, staring at her studying her for a long time. Then he released her hand looking somewhat confused. Elora asked if anything was wrong, but he said it was nothing.
The group departed and returned to the Vistani camp. Arrabelle was anxiously awaiting them with a big grin on her face. She asked if Elora met “him.” She said that she did. Arrabelle asked if she was excited to see him again. Elora didn’t understand what she meant. Arrabelle asked if she didn’t recognize or remember him. Elora was confused. She said that she didn’t. Arrabelle was shocked and asked, “weren’t you excited to see your daddy?”
Curse of Ravenloft 