008_20260717 Session 8

# [[008_20260717 Session 8|Session 8]] ## Session Summary > [!tldr] [[008_20260717 Session 8|Session 8]] After sending Irina safely away from the Durst family’s upcoming ceremony, the Gang continued deeper beneath the manor. Having already uncovered the false temple dedicated to Strahd, the strange scrying orb, and the family’s disturbing activities, they followed the sound of chanting into the depths below. ^summary ## Log ### Scene 1: Durst Manor #### A Thief in the Attic Still afraid of the ghost in the attic, [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] continued exploring the attic in the opposite direction when he ran into Irina climbing out of the dumbwaiter. She explained that she was looking for [[Doryan (Doru) Donavich|Doru]], who she believed was being held hostage for interrogations in [[Durst Manor|the manor]]. [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] advised [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]] to take the dumbwaiter back to the main floor while he looked for another route. ![[The Durst Family-1784911406306.webp|right|190]] ![[008_20260717 Session 8-1784913158840.webp|right|200]]On his way, he happened upon the bedroom of the nursemaid. It was decorated with a family portrait of [[The Durst Family|the Dursts]], which had been painted during a happier time. The room appeared to have been occupied not too long ago, suggesting that the nursemaid was murdered in recent days. ^nursemaid As he snooped around, he found a bowl of fruit. Hidden amongst the fruit were two blue "eyeballs," which were following his movements around the room. [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] covered the scrying eyeballs with a pillow. He messaged [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] to alert her. #### Dinner Time! ![[008_20260717 Session 8-1784913438439.webp|right|300]]Meanwhile, [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] and [[Zar]] sat down to dinner with a colorful array of nobles--all worshippers of [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]]. As [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] looked around the table, no one appeared to be focused on scrying, even if they seemed fairly dull in that [[Barovia (the Land of)|Barovian]] way. [[The Durst Family|Mme Durst]] described her pride at having helped quell the [[Battle at the Gates|Unwise Rebellion]], and her hopes for the dark future. When it came time for [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] to introduce herself to the table, she quickly turned the conversation to [[Irina's Birthday Party|"her cousin's" birthday party]], as any teenager might. When [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]] pressed her on the fact that [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|the Burgomaester]] had traditionally been opposed to the efforts of the [[Ba'al Verzi]], [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] (by the grace of [[Kelemvor (Temple)#Kelemvor|Kelemvor]]) claimed (25 Performance) that her uncle was allowing her to choose for herself, and she feigned interest in how powerful [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]] was. A little less successfully (14 Performance), she then focused on [[Thorne]], who wanted her to play with his doll. As [[Zar]] rolled his eyes, his gaze landed upon one of the paintings of a hunt. It was a recent painting, and he could see that the painting was a depiction of [[Look for missing children in Stoya|the attack on Stoya]]. Curious, he asked about the painting and learned that - Some of were trying to impress [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]] with the help of the [[People of the Woods]]. - The [[People of the Woods]] have devised a new curse that turns men into wolves. ^mayhapsLycanthropy Despite finding the painting discomfiting, [[Zar]] was not unnerved (14 Wisdom Save) and reacted to the scene simply by stating "it was as vivid as if he had been there." The rest of dinner, the nobles ([[Diavola Romulich]] among them) ignored [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] and [[Zar]] and instead focused on business deals. They did not seem as heavily invested in the cult as [[The Durst Family|the Dursts]] and [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]]. As dinner was ending, [[The Durst Family|Gustav and Elizabeta Durst]] sent [[The Durst Family|Rose and Thorne]] to fetch the zombies, thanked Andi for the cooperation of [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|the Burgomaester]] and then excused themselves to prepare the lower rooms for a ritual. As dessert was being brought out, [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]] struck up conversation to ask [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] whether [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|the Burgomaester]] was "fine with what was about to happen to [[Irina Kolyanovich|his daughter]]." Playing along, [[Zar]] and [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] learned that [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]] was slated to become [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]]'s next bride. They left [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]] with the impression that they considered this a great honor, to which [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]] added by saying that his own mother, "aged though she was," had herself been trying for years to be noticed by [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]]. ^wedding And when [[Nikolai Wachter|Nikolai]] excused himself to go read before the ceremony, [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] muttered about her bedtime and contacted [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]], who was panicking about losing [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]] and seeing an eye. [[Zar]], meanwhile, headed to the kitchen were he ran into [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]], who was again in the dumbwaiter. #### Where is the Baby?! [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] found himself in a nursery where a baby had been cared for until recently. Much of the room had been covered in blood, with indications that the room had been used to quietly dispose of a body. [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] also found diapers, a crib, and other baby accoutrements, but no baby. Confounded but still spooked, he moved into the hall toward a spiral staircase heading down to the third floor. ![[Durst Manor-1784906837242.webp|right|323]] On the floor below, Erno saw a hall lit by oil lamps and adorned with hunting implements such as crossbows and helmets. A suit of armor at the bottom of the stairs was carrying a mundane sword. Before heading down, he snuck a quick peek into a **storage closet** when he nearly tripped on an animated broom, sweeping. Hearing no voices or indications of anyone present on the floor, he moved into [[The Durst Family|Gustav and Elizabeta Durst]]'s room. The **master suite** was decorated with symbols of [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]], similar to ones he had seen earlier that day in the [[Barovia (Village)#Vistani Camp|Vistani camp]]. Under a tiger skin rug (which they appeared to have hunted and had made themselves), [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] found envelopes with money and a jewelry box with necklaces and rings. #loot He stole everything except the jewelry box, into which he sprinkled granola crumbs. #callingcard [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] made his way down the stairs, evading the swing of the suit of armor's sword as soon as he reached the bottom. #### What's Cookin' in the Kitchen? As soon as [[Zar]] saw Irina, he wanted to know why she was at [[Durst Manor]]. When he learned she was looking for [[Doryan (Doru) Donavich|Doru]], he insisted she was in far more danger than her friend and, handing her a robe, advised her to seek out [[Father Dargos Donavich|Father Donavich]], and wait for the Gang at the [[Barovia (Village)#Church of St. Bogdan (E5)|church]], where they would be met by a carriage provided by [[Kolyan Kolyanovich|her father]]. With a major task completed, [[Zar]] had [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] message [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] to "learn how to sneak from [[Irina Kolyanovich|Irina]]" and to "get the fuck down to the basement," which she relayed verbatim. #### Reunited After narrowly escaping haircut-by-sword-swing, Erno found himself in the hall of the second floor with four more suits of animated armor, standing guard with spears. The hall contained: ![[008_20260717 Session 8-1785254484031.webp|right|450]] - portraits of [[The Durst Family#Rose and Thorne|the children]], not smiling - a portrait of the [[The Durst Family|Gustav Durst]] looking down at a baby in his arms with sadness Not liking to take his chances with the armor, he jumped down one story to the landing, just in front of [[Zar]]. And upon learning that the Gang was ready to head out, [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] excused herself (crudely) to join the others. Seeing [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] still looking frazzled after his encounter with the ghost, [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] gave him a hug to no avail. Zar took the opportunity to bludgeon [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]]'s family jewels with his gauntlet, which cleared [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] of his fright. ### Scene 2: The Paladin, the Witch, the Thief, and the Wardrobe ![[Durstbasement1.png|right|250]]With less than an hour before the ceremony was to start, the Gang made their way down the trap door in the wardrobe. From the shadows, they could sense movement. In the dim glow cast by [[Zar]]'s magically lit longsword, they realized these were literally shadows. [[Zar]] had the feeling that this ominous place should have felt familiar, but nothing came up. They could make out a dank understory which seemed more like the set of an ancient ruined temple rather than an authentic one. Its focal wall featured a huge shrine to [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]] standing with a wolf at his feet. Beneath the hand of the statue of [[Strahd von Zarovich|Strahd]] was a crystal orb. As [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] stared at the orb, he realized it was not [[Save Doru|the gem from Mordenkainen's book]]. Rather, as he neared it, he could see blurry images of several rooms in the manor, including the nursery, where he had encountered the "eyes" in the bowl of fruit. He also happed upon 25 gold pieces under a tile. Before [[Zar]] could think, [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] had already pocketed the orb, initiating [[Combat 3, Durst Basement Dwellers|combat]] (and leveling up). Once they managed to dispel all but one of the shadows (frightening the remaining one into retreating), the Gang began exploring the room adjoining the faux temple. The room had exits to the north and south. From the north, they could hear the faint sound of chanting. As the light spread through the room, they also saw fresh corpses of local villagers scattered around what appeared to be a meal hall. Though it didn't notice them, they also came across the shadow that had fled from the previous room. ![[008_20260717 Session 8-1785592963283.webp|right|200]]As Erno sneaked towards the sound of the chanting, he passed a larder, while the casters started playing with their new toys: [[Zar]] opened up his divine senses, detecting that the corpses were, in fact, dormant [[Ghoul|ghouls]] the presence of , and [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] sat in the corner casting "locate object" on the [[Retrieve a stolen gem for Stafania Martikova|gem]] and mumbling until a little [[Daddy Longlegs|spider]] crawled from her hand. Naming her "Daddy Longlegs," [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] sent [[Daddy Longlegs|Daddy]] to the hall in the south to scout the area for a way to the floor below. [[Andraste Amo|Andi]] and [[Zar]] began following [[Erno Van Iche|Erno]] north, noticing a beaked worm-like creature wrapped around some nonperishables in the larder but sneaking just poorly enough to wake a [[ghoul]] and initiating [[combat]] once again as the camera faded to black. ![[008_20260717 Session 8-1785592006235.webp]] ## New Quests    (None) ## Quests With Deadlines   | Quest | Deadline | Days Left | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------- | --------- | | [[Fight in Lazarus's cage match]] | 0713-12-08 | 0.25 | | [[Help Ismark with Irina's party]] | 0713-12-08 | 0.25 | | [[Retrieve a stolen gem for Stafania Martikova]] | 0713-12-13 | 5.25 |  ## Time-Sensitive Quests   - [[Find Arabelle]] - [[Find Gertruda]] - [[Find and keep Irina safe]] - [[Protect Vito the Alchemist as he gathers herbs]] - [[Save Doru]] - [[Look for missing children in Stoya]] - [[Find a ride via the Burgomaester]] - [[Create a base of operations in Barovia]]  ## Social Calendar   | Event | Description | Date | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ---------- | | [[Siege of St. Bogdan's]] | \- | 0713-12-07 | | [[Irina's Birthday Party]] | \- | 0713-12-08 | | [[Boy Dinner at the Castle]] | \- | 0713-12-10 | | [[Wolf's Head Jamboree]] | \- | 0714-01-14 | | [[Ceremony at Yester Hill]] | \- | 0714-02-12 |