We started the game with the party resting in the maids’ chambers of Castle Ravenloft, where they slew the female vampires in the previous session. While the Company tended to weapons, prayed, and studied spells, they found a surprise under one of the rotting beds in the chamber.
On his way to Rome on a mission for the Metropolitan of Moscow , Bishop Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky had been lured into Barovia weeks ago, tempted and captured by the she-vampires. They tormented him in unspeakable ways and kept him chained to the bed. Bishop Bolkonsky expressed his gratitude to the party for slaying his captors and saving his mortal body. After making sure he wasn't a vampire himself the party accepted the Russian into their ranks glad to have another Cleric.
The Dastur made holy wafers by Blessing holy dron bread, he then removed the severed heads of the she-vampires from his bag of holding and stuffed their whispering mouths with the sacrament. The heads crumbled to dust.
The party discussed at some length if they should leave the castle or press on to the crypts, and finally decided to move on to the crypts.
At this point Mellins player predicted at least three saving throws versus death for the night.
They moved south into through the throne room and were attacked by eight giant spiders. Mellin threw a fireball, slaying two and wounding the rest, the surviving spiders attacked. The recently freed and newly joined Bishop Bolkonsky was struck by a spider in his first round of combat but succeeded in his saving throw versus death. Banu, the fearless Moor was not so lucky, and died in agony from spider poison. After the battle, the remaining Moors beseech their masters to place Banu in the bag of holding for later burial, and the Dastur consented.
The party then headed downstairs to the grand landing on the main floor of the Castle. They came to the great entry hall , spotting motionless gargoyles surrounding the room and heard dramatic organ music coming from further south. They sent Ulrich the Thief to investigate.
The thief reached the dining hall, the door was ajar and an inviting feast was spread out on a well-lit table in the center of the room. The Count sat at an organ, playing with melancholic virtuosity. With the path east shrouded in darkness, the thief returned to the party.
While they discussed what course of action to take I rolled a random encounter and the result was the Count himself.
The Vampire Lord approached the players with a veneer of sophistication and civility, his gold monocle glinting in the torchlight. We rolled initiative, they party won and chose to parley. The Count asked if they had considered his proposal to convince Ireena Kolyana to join him and the party confirmed they would do so. Glad they had accepted the proposition, he asked them to bring Ireena to the castle by sundown tomorrow. They party asked for more time, but the Count stated that if the task was going to be done at all, it would be done in the time allotted. They then asked the vampire for directions to exit the castle, and he told them to take the door to the west. He then bid them goodnight and returned to his music.
The party opened the door to the west and came to the entry of the castle, dragons statues perched around the room came to life and suddenly the party was facing four young red dragons.
Wasting no time, the Magic users fired the big guns, Bishop Andrei pointed at a wyrm and called on Jesus to strike it dead casting Finger of Death, and the creature died. The Dastur recognizing that some magic must have kept the creatures stone cast Dispel Evil and his hunch proved correct as a dragon reverted to a statue. Niccolo, the wily Venetian seeing opportunity rather than adversity cast Charm Monster and gained a powerful new ally. Ulrich the Thief donned the hood of his Cloak of Elvenkind and scaled the wall, preparing for a dramatic overhead backstab. Everyone else made a melee attack.
The remaining dragon, now alone and facing a roomful of foes, breathed fire for damage equivalent to its HP, in this case 48. The dragon fire slew a Yakub, leader of the Moors and two Hadjuks as well as Mellin, the Frenchman. While I’m sure perusing his character sheet to see what could be looted from the charred corpse, someone mentions how ironic it is that the Frenchman had a potion of fire resistance in his belt. I rolled 1-2 on a d6 to see if it was broken by the breath attack, rolled a 2, and voila the Frenchman was saved by his forgotten potion. The remaining Hadjuks then failed a morale check and ran into the adjacent room where the gargoyles came alive and devoured them, the party hearing their screams from the other room decided to let them die.
The Dastur finished the fight with another Dispel Evil the remaining dragon returning to stone form. Ulrich express his displeasure that he didn't get execute his flying backstab.
The party took a few moments to curse the Count for directing them towards the dragons, and used up the rest of their healing magic. Niccolo, examined his new thrall and discovered the dragons wings had been clipped and most of its brain crudely lobotomized.
Passing through the main entrance they arrived outside the castle in the frigid darkness. The party decided to use magics and potions to fly to the village rather than risk the hike back through the mountains at night. In route they are attacked by a group of eight wraiths.
The Frenchman’s player bemoans that he forgot his wraith whistle.
The Clerics turn three of the fearsome undead, and then a fierce midair melee ensues.
Nicolo the Warlock still has a fireball up his sleeve, and I tell him due to the chaotic nature of midair combat we will use the firing into melee rules to see if the fireball hits an ally. (Roll 1d20, if roll equals number of allies in melee or less, one of them is hit to be determined randomly.) A discussion took place about the risk of level drain versus the risk of a friendly fireball, and the players determined the fireball was the best course of action. The warlock makes his d20 roll and destroys the wraiths, but also hits an ally who makes his save and survives.
After the wraith patrol, the party descends on the village in the darkness. The town square is full of shambling zombies that are immediately destroyed by the clerics.
The party heads for the Church. I rolled the % chance that the Count knows their whereabouts and the 1d3 to determine his course of action, resulting in the vampire launching an attack. Multiple mirrored images of Strahd appeared in the deserted village street before the party.
Ulrich the thief snuck off to position for a backstab, Anthaar Zweck bravely attacked with his misericorde and destroyed one of the mirror images. The wizard made himself invisible and hid in order to command his dragon thrall , the clerics attack with their holy weapons, and Mellin after an ineffectual illusion attempted not to die.
The count then cast Suggestion and commanded everyone but Zweck to flee, Mellin and Dastur failed their saving throws and ran away, the Count made an opportunity attack as they ran and drained the Dastur of two levels.
Zweck continued valiantly hacking away while the vampire’s wounds healed before his eyes, once in position the thief frustratingly missed his backstab, the count attempted to Charm Zweck but the Dane made his save.
After failing his attempt to Charm the Dane, Strahd then became a green mist and dissipated into the night.
Alone in the cold streets of the village, the party limped off to the Sanctuary of the Church. Father Donavich was pleased to meet Bishop Andrei and gave him the Flask of the Russian Saints, a relic with healing properties.
We ended the game with a generous XP award (four red dragons plus wraiths!) and several questions:
If the count wants to deal with the party, why does he continue to assault them?
Will the party persuade Ireena to join the Count in darkness?
If they fail will they resort to less than honorable means of bringing her to Strahd?
How many more players will be level drained before they start killing themselves?
We will find the answer to all this and more on the next chilling episode of Ravenloft!
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