<< March 11, 2022 | Notes | February 11, 2022 >>

--- COFFIN MAKER'S SHOP ---
Dren cuts the man's head off to ensure he doesn't become a vampire. Dren looks in the ledger. Looks like customers, no name that he recognizes. Coffin room - all coffins empty. Looks like a showroom. Percy and Gale open all the remaining boxes upstairs. Woodstain, nails, etc. No vamps. Percy checks the house for any kind of letter or notebook -- nothing. Cleans up the scene and begins to pack the man into a coffin. Bell Gentle Reposes the head in case we want to interrogate him later. Dren takes the coffin to bury the man. Gale and Bell wait for Rictavio. Percy writes a note to the Baron: "Henrik van der Voort dead. Possibly in league with Strahd. -P" and gives a passerby 1 gold to deliver it. Tells them they'll get another when he gets confirmation of the delivery.

Bell tells Gale he'd like to play the top game when they get a chance. Gale says one day, but asks Bell to help him remove some of the AT curses. Bell casts Greater Restoration to remove the Gift of Vaund the Evasive. They play with the top for a bit.

Percy accompanies Dren to the graveyard. Percy helps Dren dig the grave in silence. They return to the cart.

Bell talks to Eliath again and offers him a goodberry but he refuses. Percy writes a note for him -- "Old Bone Grinder. We'd like to meet with you. Kind regards -- PvH" Bell slides it under the door and tells Eliath that we're leaving a note for his master and that he'll come back in a few days.

--- BLUE WATER INN ---
Dren buys drinks for the Houndmasters. Yevgeni Krushkin - younger, long dark hair. Szoldar Szoldarovich - balding with a light beard. Dren tells them the town needs help. Offers to pay them a salary to take care of the town. Thinks ~15g per day would be an acceptable wage for them. Tells them Strahd will die soon and Szoldar laughs. Dren says morning will come to Barovia. Here or on the outskirts of town is the best place to find them. Dren throws 20g on the table and tells them to remember the name General Dren Tycos.

Dren watches Gale perform. 6 people in the inn other than us. They enjoy the music.

Percy pays Dannika a gold for a private room and a bottle of wine. He sits alone and stares at his book in silence while he drinks. Words appear: "you've gone soft... you can't bury all the dead." Percy says this one was his fault. "Many more will be, hopefully." "Two more at least."

Bell goes to knock on the door and hears Percy talking. He knocks and Percy doesn't answer; he continues knocking and Percy reluctantly answers. He asks Percy "two more what?" and Percy lies and says "drinks." Bell asks him for the Stone of Good Luck and Percy drunkenly gives it to him and shuts the door in his face.

Everyone has odd and unpleasant dreams, with an ominous and uncomfortable feeling, unable to remember the dreams but feeling unrested.

--- NEXT DAY ---
Percy casts Find Familiar and gets a black widow. Nellshan comes along. We take a cart with the SG, Gale's hounds, and a few sporebies.

We hear no wolf howls or see any ravens on the way. At the gates there are two large wolves sitting on either side of the road in wait. The wolves follow a distance behind. Percy casts Comprehend Languages on the way. Nellshan does a ceremony and Gale and Dren are dedicated to Kelemvor for the day.

--- RAVENLOFT ---
Twin turrets of stone, broken from years of exposure. 50 foot cavern of unknown depth. A drawbridge over it. Stone gargoyles atop the walls. Rotting wooden portculis over the entry tunnel, the doors of Ravenloft standing open with light inside. SG is left on the western side of the drawbridge.

The drawbridge creaks and groans as we cross. A board cracks underneath a sporebie and it stumbles with Nellshan but they maintain their balance. The wood falls below and Dren estimates it's a 1000 foot drop. Another board cracks under a hell hound but it stays up.

As we approach the castle, the weather worsens. A storm rolls in with lightning and thick fog. Above the entrance, a round window with shards of broken glass in its frame.

Bell casts Locate Object to see if he can find the seed. He feels its presence, generally in front of us.

Oranate doors flanked by torches in iron sconces. 20 ft inside, a second set of doors. In the grand entrance, 4 statues of dragons, eyes flickering in the torchlight. Percy Mage Hand knocks. A grand hall filled with organ music. Cobwebs between 4 columns supporting the ceiling. A great dusty hall. 8 stone gargoyles on the rim of the stone ceiling. Cracked and faded frescos. Double bronze doors to the east. A wide staircase to the north. Bronze doors to the south, through which we hear the organ.

An elf with brown skin and long black hair descends the staircase. Grey cloak, black studded leather armor, polished scimitar. says his master is expecting us. Rahadin is his name. Says his master did not invite our pets. Gale says he merely thought that Strahd may have been interested in them. They stay in the grand hall. We follow him south down the hall. Bell thinks the seed is the other direction and up.

Vaulted hall - east: arched hallway stretches for 20 ft ending in a spiral stair going up and down. a suit of armer in a shallow alcove. west: double doors hanging slightly open, organ music from behind, a melody of power and defeat.

three enormous crystal chandeliers. pillars of stone against dull white marble walls. a long heavy table covered in fine white satin cloth laden with delectable foods. fine delicate china and silver. crystal goblet filled with amber liquid with delicate tantilizng fragrance. massive organ on the west wall with mirrors on either side. seated at it, a caped figure in raptured ecstasy suddenly stops and turns towards us.

Percy apologizes for the tardiness and offers him a gift of wine. Strahd says "the van Helsing" is the one with the most potential. Dren sits down and digs in while Gale admonishes him. Percy asks where the food comes from and Strahd says "some sacrifices have to be made but he is served by many loyal subjects." Gale asks what kind of meat it is and he says pheasant.

Gale asks why we were invited. He says we could look around. Says he's being a good host and his visage disappears with a mocking, echoing laugh. A fierce, bone chilling wind rises up and puts out all the flames. screech of ancient hinges and doors slamming shut. the groan of the drawbridge pulling upwards. the doors into the hall slam shut.

Dren stuffs his bags with food. Percy begins to drink. Bell and Gale inspect the organ -- scratch marks on the floor that suggest that the organ can be moved. gale plays a bit and it moves out approx two feet. a door in the back wall. Percy's familiar crawls onto Gale's shoulder and he stealths through the door.

castle courtyard is visible through arrow slits. mirrors of various sizes lean against the wall -- some small enough to fit into a bag and some as large as a human. gale takes a small one. No torches, vision is extremely limited. Gale hears nothing and casts Dancing Lights. Opens into a larger room to the west, high domed ceiling, 30 ft wide octagonal room with faded frescos. To the east, a long narrow corridor with cobwebs obstructing the hall and sight. The spider familiar crawls through the web to a spiral staircase leading up and down.

Going through the mirror room, Percy thinks vampires have no reflection and that has something to do with why they've been collected together. In the octagonal room, frescos are unclear and not magical.

Wind through the staircase. They go up for an unknown number of feet. Approx 90 ft. We exit outdoors on the top of the wall. Bell casts Locate Object again. The seed is north and up. Bell wildshapes into a raven and Percy's spider rides him. The seed appears to be in the west tower (#3), somewhere around 200 ft high. There are stairs going down from the roof. Bell lands and tells us he's found it.

question: if strahd went into the ethereal when he disappeared, percy could see him. did he?