Chapter Thirteen – The Battle Of The Two Ravenloft Towers:
The vast and dark Towers Of Ravenloft await our Heroes. Thora Gird-El is gently brought to by the Cleric, concern etched across furrowed brows. Too easily was their fearless stone maiden rendered comatose and prone by a spell? Surely Strahd has far greater magic’s at his disposal than ‘Colour Spray’!? What then?
Thora’s rash words seem to have served to gain Strahd’s ire and a rather too personal attention. Can we use this to the advantage of the party? Perhaps this personal duel will leave the Count distracted and exposed to a counter attack.
Nearly all the Adventurers have been injured in one way or another and Father Tobias sets about using his ‘Staff of Healing’ utilising its powers to heal Thora, Sir Ly and Galan.
But despite his best efforts many in the party still carry sore wounds and even the stout hearted Father Tobias wonders how much longer the heroes can survive the relentless waves of attacks, without finding a redoubt of some sort.
NORTH CHAPEL ACCESS:
This arched room opens into a vast chamber to the EAST, and a rising staircase to the WEST. Alcoves in the NORTH and SOUTH walls open into this room.
Within the dark confines of the alcoves lurk 8-foot-tall shadowy figures. Their stone forms show mighty muscled arms and legs. A black shadow falls across the features of their faces.
Deciding to head up a staircase that leads from the chapel floor to what they hope is the balcony with two thrones that sits 50’ feet above, a monarch’s lofty eyrie no doubt. At the foot of the stairs is an area with alcoves on either side taken up with the vast frames of two stone armoured stone warriors. Then further up the Towers Of Ravenloft.
Failing to find any trap that might animate these lifelike statues, Frimly, suspicious as always, decides to leap across the 10’ foot gap and directly on to the stairway, fearing that he had missed a pressure plate trap. The party follow, successfully making their way across without incident.
This staircase is made of old wood that strains underfoot, creaking and groaning.
Frimly stops and listens at the stairway landing and makes out the faint sounds of distant undead ululations….the desolate moans drawing whispered cautions.
Father Tobias follows right behind and makes a ‘Locate Object’ attempt for Mirafir – but nothing is revealed.
KING’S BALCONY:
A sculpted stone railing encloses this long balcony, which overlooks Ravenloft’s Chapel. Two ornate thrones stand side by side in the centre of the balcony, covered with dust and strung with cobwebs. The thrones face away from the double doors that give access to the balcony.
At the top of the stairs a dim lit passageway heads to the left, to the right are the 2 thrones with a large, dark alcove set behind, the passageway stretches beyond ending in a cul-de-sac
Weapons readied, the sons and daughters of St Cuthbert cross the landing to meet the advance of two long dead humans that have risen unsteadily from the resplendent thrones. Father Tobias fails his turning, but identifies them as Zombies…..but why can’t they be turned as normal? It seems that the power of St Cuthbert is much reduced in these unholy lands!
Sigune and Sir Ly attacks cause minor damage but do sever rotting limbs in the process, only to watch in shock as these in turn become animated, seeking to grasp legs with unwholesome vigour.
Father Tobias draws ‘Holy Water’ and Frimly does the same.
One Zombie hits Sir Ly with a bludgeoning ferocity. Then the arms attack and one catches hold of his ankle.
Father Tobias hits as does Frimly who halts an arms scrabbled progress.
The 2 paladins soon see of the ponderous undead. The last arm wriggles armlessly and attempts to grab onto any living thing, but Frimly hacks the last limb into submission.
Behind the thrones lie two large metal banded reinforced doors and a possible way to the Towers Of Ravenloft.
KING’S HALL OF GRACE:
This twenty-foot-high hall has a dark, vaulted ceiling draped with cobwebs. A low moan seems to travel the length of the corridor as it rises and falls, intoning sadness and despair.
Frimly cautiously steps forward and finds the doors unlocked but hears nothing of note beyond. Father Tobias spends a few minutes using his ‘Locate Object’, but again to no avail. There are no secret doors in the side passage. The two metal circlets on the crushed zombie heads are worthless.
Thora throws open the doors rather theatrically. A matching corridor to the floor below stretches on. Columns line each side and cobwebs enshroud everything. Then a woe begotten moan oozes like clammy liquid, from beyond, rising and falling in pitch, like the hideous calling of a monstrous seabird.
Thora warns against further progress here urging instead to try another route.
Thora: “Let’s try the arched doorway to the left of the doors downstairs.”
She counsels. Another anteroom with two exact same statues lies beyond.
SOUTH CHAPEL ACCESS:
This arched room connects a vast chamber to the EAST and the landing of a staircase to the WEST. To the left of the landing, the stairs curl down into darkness. To the right, the stairs climb into thick drapes of cobwebs. Alcoves in the north and south walls hold eight-foot-tall sculptures of Helmed Knights with bright blades. Black shadows obscure their faces.
Beyond is the 10’ foot wide staircase of a tower heading both up and down; the core of this tower is walled and some 20’ foot in diameter. Frimly hears rushing of air from the centre core.
Frimly: It must be One of the Towers Of Ravenloft.
HIGH TOWER STAIRCASE:
The large flagstones of this spiralling staircase lead up and down around a twenty-foot-wide stone core. Cobwebs fill the staircase, making it difficult to see even the ceiling. Heavy beams sag overhead from centuries of supporting weight.
A short way downwards is a stone wall that blocks their way down. There is a crack running through it but it is solid built and Thora knows it will take many hours to break down. There is no sound from above.
The party takes the only visible egress, the cobwebby stairway leading upwards.
Two levels up a ‘Locate Object’ is tried again, then again another 50’ feet beyond and ‘Locate Object’ again at another level above and then yet again as the Adventurers travel up the Towers Of Ravenloft.
The monolithic tower tapers upwards until narrow arrow-slits make it possible to look outwards. Galan looks out and to the West can see the procession of the dead weaving it’s way forlornly through Ravenloft from one of its Towers Of Ravenloft.
HIGH TOWER PEAK:
The spiral staircase finally ends at a five-foot-wide stone walkway that circles the shaft. In the centre of the tower’s highest floor, a 15’ foot-diameter hole drops into the cold heart of Ravenloft itself. Cold air rushes up out of the shaft, sending a chill through you. Arrow slits line the walls, and aging beams support a steep, cone-shaped roof. One beam and part of the roof have fallen away, leaving a gaping wide hole open to the stormy sky.
Finally the tower summit is gained and the centre core is now visible and from this terrible funnel the stench of evil, death, decay and bat shit shoots upwards assailing delicate nostrils.
HIGH TOWER SHAFT:
A dark stone shaft stretches out before you father than you can see. Rushing wind sways the cobwebs that fill the shaft.
Galan looks down one of the Towers Of Ravenloft, from a large hole in the pointed minaret roof and spots another tower some 30’ feet below and within reach with the aid of ropes and brave hearts. The 300’ foot death drop below that focuses minds on the task in hand.
After much ado the party construct the safest method to get across the slippery pitched roof and onto the flat roof of the lower tower. It is perilous and takes some time to complete.
As the last of the party look to make their way across Frimly hears the tell-tale scrabbling’s of Vampire Spawn moving rapidly up the side of the tower.
Despite the advance warning the rapid movement of the foul Vampire Spawn gives them an edge and three emerge over the parapets and take on Frimly, Sir Ly and Father Tobias.
Ponderous melee ensues. The rain slickened tower top and the sickening drop hamper the fighters ambitions.
Galan has climbed atop the pointed roof and fires down with great effect.
While the rest of the party are making their way down safely to join in the fray, Thora remains in the tall tower biding her time to cross.
Then Thora hears the thunderous weeping and high pitched whining of thousands of bats flying up from the core of the tallest tower.
NORTH TOWER ROOFTOP:
A cold wind greets you atop the tower roof, its rain slicked flagstones surrounded by a 20’ foot diameter ring of stone battlements. The thunderclouds above suddenly coalesce into the terrible visage of Strahd. The face utters a ghastly moan as thousands of bats fly out of its gaping maw and descend upon the tower.
The sturdy she dwarf is forced to cling in desperation as the vile cloud swarms about her
The last Vampire Spawn is finally struck down, though the brave Sir Ly has been viscously attacked by the blood sucking fiends.
Desperately Frimly attempts to open a trap door that is set atop of the flat roof tower before the bats can muster and attack the exposed Valliant’s. He manages to do so with a show of great dexterity under duress.
Meanwhile, the wholesome do-gooders stake Vampire Spawn hearts to stop their unholy regeneration.
Thora cannot move from her position still clinging to the rafters of the roof as the Bats crash into her, relentlessly.
The others follow Frimly down a ladder and into a chamber below.
The Bats quickly swarm high above and form a vile cloud of flittering inkiness. The colony coalesce and merge into the face of Strahd himself, leering down at the remaining adventurers. The bats then hurtle down as the heroes hurl themselves through the trap door. Before Thora had made her jump, she and Galan viewed the terrible gory scene of the ghostly victims of Count Strahd hurling themselves from atop the tower to the ground far below, ghostly lemmings abandoned of all hope and free will.
NORTH TOWER PEAK:
A dark and dreary room with manacles attached to the walls. In the middle of the room is a wood framed bed fitted with leather restraints. At the foot of the bed rests a closed iron chest, is lid sculpted with an emblem. A wooden ladder leads up to a trapdoor in the ceiling. Thin streams of water drip through the trapdoor’s rotting wood, forming a puddle around the base of the ladder. Dark stairs decend down this large tower.
A round room below is furnished with a single bed set with heavy leather restraining straps.
A Locked metal chest stands in the middle of the room; it has Count Strahd’s crest set upon its lid.
Despite checking for just such a trap, upon opening it a noxious gas is released. Frimly is prepared and suffers little ill effect, but Thora has gathered too close managed to breathe in at precisely the wrong moment and falls unconscious upon the hard stone floor.
Father Tobias thinks fast, and draws forth his jar of ‘Keoghtoms Ointment’, quickly administering it to the once again stricken Dwarf. This magical elixir reverses the effects and Thira is finally roused. Sheepish about her lack of caution…she should know better!
On the confusion, Frimly secretes the contents of the chest upon his person; waiting for the confusion to die down, before revealing his prowess in a moment of grand showmanship, a moment of lightness in this dark place. Frimly stands before them with a Crown sat upon his head – The Crown of Ravenloft perhaps? He values the item at approximately 1000 gps, but gains no insight from wearing it.
Buoyed by their find they make to leave. As Sir Ly takes the first step on the stairway down the very tower itself starts to violently shake to and fro as if in the midst of a terrific earthquake. The party are thrown heavily to the floor and need to be extremely agile to make any progress. The tower continues shaking and only Father Tobias with his ‘Boots of Levitation’ can make easy movement.
What new horror is this?
A metallic whirring clatter can be heard rising rapidly from below! There appears a pair of Halberds being wielded in devastating arcs of death by a seemingly invisible foe. More soon appear and continue this surreal assault, but no physical foe appears to bear them.
Yet more weapons appear and Sir Ly takes terrible damage, he stumbles and is close to death. These weapons though, can be damaged and caution and good tactics can win the day….if luck prevails!
Frimly weighs the odds and reaches for a Potion.