It is not just Magic Items and Fame that our Heroes crave, its the drinking too.
“Spider Paladin, Spider Paladin,
Does Whatever a Spider Paladin does.
Can she swing from a web?
Yes she can, and with fanatical fervour!”
If the adventurers had not been entangled in the machinations of the malignant Count Strahd deep within the reeking bowels of Castle Ravenloft Magic Items at hand, and had instead been on the battlements or lofty spires of the precariously built Castle perched atop a sheer rock-face overlooking the ensnared valley below; then they might have seen a rarely witnessed red glow penetrate the choking veil of mist that hangs permanently over the tortured and tormented folk of the village. This brief flash of sunlight might have signalled to them that there may, against all odds and expectations, be some hope in the deadly game of chess they are playing with the cruel count after all.
For despite having played this game for centuries, despite having ensnared, tricked, tortured, betrayed and murdered hundreds, if not thousands, of similar adventurers, the twisted Count Strahd was struggling to cajole this band of challengers to take the final steps into the killing jar whilest taking their Magic Items. Thanks to his vanity, and the thrill of the chase, the Count had missed a number of opportunities to bring this game to its expected conclusion. Their stubborn resistance, built on an unassailable loyalty to each other and an unswerving determination not to leave any behind in their fight for redemption, were proving to be the factors that this abominable Count had not yet reckoned with.
Count Strahd: “Let them search for it.”
He would contemplate, enveloped in silence and shadow.
Count Strahd: “When their hopes die, and they turn on each other, then my victory shall be all the sweeter. Only one piece is missing, and soon it shall be in my hands – why, I can almost feel it in my grasp! How it amuses me to watch these fools fumble their way through my realm. Yet there is one among their number who gives me some cause for concern. I must intervene again soon, and put an end to this insignificant threat.”
For the adventurers, the merciless Count’s reverie is the very least of their concerns. The party has been weakened both Aphysically and mentally. Morale is as brittle as one of Sigune’s lentil bakes, ready to splinter and crumble at the slightest touch into thousands of deadly spikey fragments. And no NEW Magic Items to hold.
Thora: “Aye, for every step we take forward, ‘tis many leaps we must then take back,”
Growls Thora.
Thora: “That accursed Count toys with us as a pussy might prod and tease a wee mouse. Ah willnae have it!”
Mirafir and the others have been taking stock of the items recently found, and having previously cast ‘Detect Magic’, the Elven Wizard is able to ascertain that the other Magic Items. First the ‘Black Mace’ found in the chapel has other powerful properties, but cannot provide any detailed insight into what these may be.
Another of the Magic Items was the ‘Sentient Long Sword’, that selected Sigune as its bearer, is now known to have the power once per day to create a 30’ foot radius field of Holy Power to awaken boldness in friendly allies for a period of 10 minutes. Grinding her teeth menacingly, Sigune reflects and curses on the shortness of this period compared to others she experiences with inevitable regularity.
Before the Adventurers can begin their mission to rescue Frimly’s sketchily described list of equipment from the deadly catacombs of Ravenloft’s bowels, they must first gather their strength. Sir Ly lays his healing hands upon Father Tobias, the priest visibly relieved to receive this restorative touch.
Father Tobias thereupon turns his nimble healing hands to Thora’s vicious-looking weeping gash, a truly blasphemous sight to behold. Uttering profane and holy words, the priest kneels before the Dwarf, parting her beard to access and tend to the festering wound.
Galan hastily averts his eyes and gazes towards the entrance to the catacombs.
Galan: “I have seen much that baffles comprehension and reason in these dark holes beneath the Castle… Alas! That I may once again breathe the invigorating air of the Sacred Forest! How are we to stop this foul Count Strahd? What drives his madness? Is it, perhaps, that most insidious of vices? Jealousy? A jealous count? Of his brother perhaps? If that is his vice, then mayhap it is also his weakness!”
With all readily available powers of healing now mostly spent, the party resolutely heads towards the entrance to the catacombs. Something is troubling Mirafir, upon hearing Galan’s words.
Mirafir: “The brother? I found his likeness in miniature in the wedding cake chamber – let me look upon it!”
He takes out the figure and gazes upon it. Without warning, an icy chill suddenly envelops the soul of the Elven Wizard whose face contorts with disbelief and panic:
Mirafir: “Ai! Ai! A demon is come! A terror from the ancient world!”
The Demon gestures with his great arm and Mirafir is sent flying into the wall, taking damage and tossed around by an invisible force. The adventurers at the front of the party look into the inky blackness of the catacombs but cannot see the Demon of which Mirafir talk of.
Thora: “The groom figure ya wee fool, drop it.”
Again Mirafir is lifted from the ground and flung against the opposite wall, but not before he heed Thora’s words and let go of the figure.
Before anyone else can react, Thora runs to the figure, now lying on the floor, and crushes it beneath the high heel of her heavy boot. The demon vanishes instantly, though no one but Mirafir can confirm that fact.
Thora: “Another of that Count’s perfidious tricks! Aye, and let that be a lesson to ye, sonny: never mess with the wee figures, they can give ye an almighty surprise!”
Mirafir gasps for air. Luckily his physical injuries are superficial, but the damage to his pride may be permanent.
The party enters the catacombs and moves cautiously across the chamber. Sigune then enters Crypt 13 and Spider-Paladin climbs down a 30’ foot shaft, while Father Tobias uses his ‘Boots of Levitation’, to draw out the Wight that has taken Frimly’s equipment.
Sigune climbs along the ceiling and the chamber widens out, Father Tobias levitating down the back wall of the shaft, Shield with his holy Symbol in hand. The chamber below is large.
CRYTP 14:
At the bottom of the shaft is a dank vault with a 20’ foot high ceiling. The room is awkwardly shaped and smells of rotten meat. 15 stone coffins are scattered throughout the vault. The floor is covered with human bones and rusty swords.
Sigune makes her way along the ceiling to discern the size and draw out the Frimly Wight. Galan makes his way down the ladder to provide support for Father Tobias and Frimly attaches a line, using Rope Use, to the fallen Crypt door and has it coiled up by the edge of the shaft leading down into the Crypt.
Suddenly, three Wights appear and throw rocks at Sigune! She casts ‘Web’ from the cloak and covers a huge area with the sticky threads.
Sigune shouts out:
Sigune: “Two are fighting their way out of the web and one is stuck! They will be on you soon. I vill enter zee web and search for zee one viz zee stuff from Frimly!”
She enters her web and sees more of them trapped in the web towards the back of the Crypt and more Coffins.
After a few minutes of hesitation, Galan and Father Tobias charge towards the ‘Web’ and take on the two Wights clawing their way out. Galan swings his new Magic Item, ‘Short Sword’, at a Wight and misses but hits with his Longsword for a hefty blow. Father Tobias hits with his New Magic Item, ‘+1 Mace’ and does a huge blow (20!).
Meanwhile, Sigune continues into the chamber and sees the coffin Frimly must have been teleported to. The lid is heavily scratched. This is a cruel trap whereby the victim appears in a coffin, screams for help and the Wights open the lid of the coffin.
Galan is clawed by one of the Wights which seem to drain his Constitution – he strikes back and chops the entity down.
Thora, having made her way down the ladder, has finally arrived on the scene and joins the fray. A blow with the ‘Black Mace’ fells a second Wight.
Suddenly, the Wight wearing Frimly’s gear, and his Magic Items too, appears out of thin air and attacks Thora! Sigune strikes a Wight imprisoned in the web and delivers a deadly blow while Galan and Thora continue to batter the Wight in Frimly’s attire until it finally succumbs to the battering.
Sigune strikes the Wight in the web again with a crunching blow while the others quickly pick up the dead Wight, wearing Frimly’s items, and carry it to the bottom of the ladder. Frimly kicks the attached rope down and the body is lifted up into the Catacombs.
Thora: “Come on we’d best get oot o’ here!”
Once all are up, Frimly recovers his clothing, equipment and items while the other stand guard. The Paladin attempt to ‘Detect Evil’. After a few minutes Frimly is fully equipped and everyone starts moving to leave the catacombs. The bats are stirring again.
The party makes its way back across the labyrinthine Catacomb towards the door they came in through. Once out in the corridor, the party takes stock.
Tobias: “I wish to go and check the Crypt with the sun symbol.”
Sigune: “I second the wisdom of Father Tobias!”
The party agree and Father Tobias, Frimly, Sigune and Galan head to the crypt together. It is Crypt 11. There is the skeletal figure of a woman inside with a glorious mural of the sun on the ceiling.
Tobias: “This is a holy place, a Holy tomb! Come Frimly, bathe in piety.”
In the end, there is nothing to be found here, but another sanctuary has been found, a sanctuary from all creatures that cannot stand the light of the sun, for those in search of respite.
Father Tobias considers casting Augury to find the missing weapons:
Father Tobias: “Which steps will lead us to Sigune’s Long Sword?”
The divine answer indicates the stairs Strahd used and that lead up to the Secret Door.
The party go back through the Brazier room.
Behind the secret door, at the end of the stairs and via the North-West door of the Brazier room.
Frimly opens the Secret Door and looks beyond. He makes a series of suggestive but cryptic hand movements and then whispers to Galan to join him:
OFFICE OF VENGEANCE:
This shadowy room is in perfect order. A great table stands here with its chair, inkwell, and quill set carefully in place. Lances, swords, and shields that bear the Barovian crest are hung neatly on the dark, oak-panelled walls.
To the SOUTH Frimly can see a door, which is open that lead to an adjacent room which appears to be illuminated by touch light.
Frimly: “It is the weapons room beyond!”
Frimly moves up towards the doorway and Galan head to the large desk to look over the paper. Beyond the door Frimly can now see a 30’ x 30’ foot room.
KINGSMAN HALL:
This thirty-foot-square room is a shambles. Scattered furniture lies in heaps near the walls. Broken bones lie scattered amid crumpled and crushed plate armour. Shields and swords jut from the walls as if driven into them by some tremendous force.Two doors stand opposite one another in the centre of the NORTH wall and the SOUTH wall. A dark archway leads out through EAST wall.
Thora reports on what she sees until the door suddenly closes.
Meanwhile, the secret door closes and Frimly and Galan are confronted by another of the Shadow creature that do the bidding of Count Strahd, but this one is somehow different.
The Shadow creature is larger and resembles a Demon rather than a being. The Shadow Demon opens its mouth and darkness pours out, engulfing the room in stygian darkness instantly.
After re-opening the door, Mirafir is confronted by an impenetrable darkness and casts ‘Continual Light’. It reveals a terrible creature and Frimly can be heard to whisper:
Frimly: “Shadow!”
Back at the Secret Door, Thora and Mirafir rush to the opening and while Mirafir prepares to cast a Spell, Thora open the Secret Door. The Secret Door only reveals a darkened space and Mirafir cast ‘Continual Light’ into the area in front of him. Now the Shadow Demon is visible to all those that can see in the dark.
Galan tries to strike it but misses his target, Mirafir casts ‘Continual Light’ again and the Demon vanishes into the Shadows.
Suddenly back at the landing, where Ismark Sigune and Sir Ly who were covering the stairs leading down to the Brazier Room, Ismark drops; Sigune notices the sound of something metallic hitting the floor as she deftly avoids the missile aim at her. Sir Ly is protected by his ‘Cloak of Displacement’ and is completely unharmed. Three missiles throw and no one or nothing to be seen on the stairs?
Then Sir Ly falls, dropping his Shield and ‘Flametounge’ Sword! Sigune goes to drag his body back and around the corner of the stairs but is called back up the stairs. Thora and Sigune guard the door and Mirafir enters the room while Father Tobias and Galan move towards the door leading to the weapons room.
Frimly finds a chest at the foot of the bed and begins to look for traps and pick the lock.
Father Tobias and Galan look into the Kingsman Hall and can see that all of the weapons have been broken or at the very least, rendered unusable unless dire need calls.
Suddenly, Sigune sees Sir Ly’s body being dragged away around the corner and down the stairs leading to the Brazier Room. They charge down the stairs and Sigune screams:
Sigune: “Leave him, you accursed fiend!”
Four Giant Spiders lurk around the corner blocking the way of the perusing adventurers!
Mirafir casts ‘Sleep’ the 4 Giant Spiders and three slumps to the floor; Sigune and Thora take on the last of the Giant Spiders as it blocks the way to their comrade in arms, It is splattered by their combined blows!
Galan runs down to the bottom of the stairs where he can now see a Giant Spiders blocking the way into the Brazier Room, the other Giant Spider dragging Sir Ly’s body into the Brazier Room and Rahadin standing in the room itself.
Galan: “It’s not too late to join us! Join the living not the dead!”
Galan hits one of the Giant Spiders and it crumples, lifeless.
Frimly has found the stolen weapons and they are quickly retrieved. Sigune’s Personal ‘+1 Long Sword’, Sir Ly’s Personal ‘+1 Long Sword’ and Thora’s ‘+2 Battle Axe’. Father Tobias takes Thora’s ‘+2 Battle Axe’ and runs back down the stairs. Frimly checks the chest for a false bottom finds nothing and makes his way down to the landing to join Mirafir, Sigune and Ismark who is still on the ground with his Shield and Galan’s ‘+1 Mace’.
Sigune and Frimly attack one of the sleeping Giant Spiders, it wakes up, as do the others. They battle the Giant Spiders and after much effort Mirafir cast Sleep on the creatures again, all 3 fall into a light slumber.
Thora had run down to aid Galan fighting the Giant Spiders and Father Tobias ran down past Mirafir, Sigune and Frimly.
Father Tobias: “Thora! I have your Axe for you!”
Galan had managed to kill the Giant Spider blocking the door only to have the second one attack as the door to the Brazier Room closed. Galan fought the last Giant Spider, though the fight took longer than he had hope, aided by Thora who had now joined him.
Once the last Giant Spider had been killed, Galan frantically fumbled in his leather pouch for the ‘Chime of Opening’ and struck the bar against the a hollow Mithral tube; CLICK, the door to the Brazier Room opened to reveal that neither Rahadin or Sir Ly were to be seen within.
Galan checks for tracks and does in fact find the drag marks made by the Giant Spider and Rahadin’s footprints, but they lead up to the door and appear not to go anywhere else.
Father Tobias move back up to the landing and Sigune is handed her personal ‘+1 Long Sword’ back, the cross guard/pommel fly’s from Frimly’s possession and suddenly springs onto her blade – uniting to form the ‘SUNSWORD‘!
Sigune: “Strahd! Vee are coming for you!”
The blade is converted into a thin long crystalline blade – Sigune drops the other sword:
Sunsword: “Many centuries I have waited! Now I am joined with a good woman as was foretold! We will destroy Strahd together!”
The sword glows with a dim blue light.
I am a +2 sword against Evil creatures. If there are undead within 30’ feet I will detect them and we will destroy them! I am +3 against Undead and do +10 damage against Vampires!
Sigune instantly attunes with the sword and can commune with it! As green and orange goo oozes out of the lifeless cyclopean arachnids a terrible sense of reality returns to the adventurers. Sir Ly has been taken by the enemy. Will the repulsive Count Strahd be so careless to allow a second fly to escape his twisted web? There is no time to lose.
The Adventurers must act while there is still a chance to save him as the fate of the warrior of faith is dark and short in the land of Barovia.