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Message: <blockquote data-quote="not-so-newguy" data-source="post: 9797643" data-attributes="member: 6786140">We will be restarting in December but I'm not sure how many sessions we can play during the holidays. I just started working on A Night in Ravenloft. This should be the first of several visits to the Castle. I'm hoping that the players will learn the layout this first time around.The following is my write up of Dinner with Strahd within the Castle. I also compiled a bunch of pertinent Strahd info that I've created over the course of the campaign.Cyrus Belview is hands down my favorite NPC to play, like ever. He is a cross between Sylvester the Cat, The Nerd from Robot Chicken, and Marty Feldman's Igor.K10. Dining Hall p56 in CoSThree large crystal chandeliers illuminate this magnificent chamber. Pillars of stone stand against white marble walls, supporting the ceiling. In the center of the room, a long table is covered with a clean white satin cloth. Places are set for each of you with fine-china, silverware, and a crystal goblet filled with an amber liquid.At the center of the far west wall, between floor-to-ceiling mirrors, stands a massive organ. Its pipes blare Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Seated at the organ, facing away from you, Escher pounds the keys in raptured ecstasy. The rest of Strahd’s consorts sit at the table: Anastasia the Red, Volenta the Masked, and Ludmilla the White. Anastasia and Volenta turn towards the Gang as if your entrance has interrupted their conversation, while Ludmilla glares at the Rogue side-eyed with her sun scorched face. She has not forgotten your previous encounter at Tsolenka Pass. The final figure, Strahd, stands at the head of the table. Upon your entrance, he stretches out his arms in a welcoming gesture.Strahd claps his hands twice and Escher abruptly stops playing. A deep silence falls over the dining hall.“Welcome again to Castle Ravenloft!” Thunder is felt and heard. Without glancing back, he addresses Escher. “That’s enough of you. Go back to your room now.” Escher stands and walks past Strahd towards the bronze doors where you’re standing. The moment is awkward and stretches out. There’s a tension felt between Escher and Strahd as the former Bard walks across the dining room. “Dead vamp walking,” Anastasia quips under her breath and Volenta giggles. Escher flinches at the comment and exits past you. [Cyrus] “Watch the cart Escher! (under his breath) chump-ass bard.” The Bard goes up the stairs to the east. “Please, please sit down. You must be hungry after your journey.” Strahd claps a second time.Cyrus rolls his squeaky cart into the dining room and rolls open the cloche which reveals roasted pig surrounded by savory vegetables, sweet fruits, and baked bread.[Cyrus] “I fattened this pig up for the slaughter myself, I did.”Strahd and his consorts laugh Dr Evil style. Thunder is felt and heard.The organ appears locked in place and immovable, but a character who makes a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check notices scratch marks on the floor that suggest that the organ can be slid outward. A character who tries pushing various keys and pedals discovers that one of the pedals, when depressed, causes the organ to slide outward about 2 feet, allowing access to a secret door in the back wall that swings open into area K11. Because this secret door is hidden behind the organ, it can't be found and opened until the organ is moved out of the way.The Dinner: Tonight’s itinerary<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cyrus can taste-test dinner for poison, if necessary. PCs are invited to use spells. The food is safe.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Cyrus will provide a guided tour of the castle after dinner. The tour will be strictly limited to help ensure your safety. It should be mostly harmless.  </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Gang will then spend the night in the Guest Room. Feel free to explore the castle if you like, but it will be much more dangerous. The Pact will still stand.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">You are forbidden from taking anything from the Castle. Not a single coin. Discovery of theft will break the Pact.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The following morning, when the Gang passes the draw bridge, Strahd’s Pact will end.</li> </ul> Review: The Pact<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strahd, his consorts, and other vampire spawn will not attack you. This pact has held up with the sole exception of Ludmilla at Tsolenka Pass who quickly retreated after being damaged by the Sun Sword.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This Pact will also be extended to Strahd’s Witches who you will soon meet.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Traps and low intelligence minions will still be lethal.</li> </ul>Strahd RecapStrahd quote from their first meeting (Recap “Divinations, Strahd, Vallaki”):[Strahd monologuing] “…I have shown up now in force as a proof of concept. The concept being that I, along with my consorts, could defeat you soundly at any time and there would be nothing that you could do about it…”“Yet I choose not to do so. I wish for peace, and I wish to prove to you (The Gang) and Ireena that I am a worthy man of reason.”“Most importantly, I hope that Ireena will eventually see that the safest place is at my side.” Strahd spoke directly to Ireena, who was standing behind the Gang. “You are no mere bauble to be possessed, but the reincarnation of my lost bride Tatyana. Through the centuries I have lost you repeatedly, yet your soul always returns to Barovia. Always returns. I am now seeing the errors in my ways. I am not to take you. You are to choose to come to me without trickery on my part. I hope that I am worthy.”“Eat [expletive], [expletive].” Ireena answered.A look of pain crossed Strahd’s face, then he went on “your low opinion of me will change in time. As I was saying, my pacific appearance here is proof that I am choosing peace. In my castle, as we speak, preparations have just started. I hope everyone to spend the night there and dine with us. I will prove to you that you are safe while in my care. You can expect a written invitation when preparations are completed.“Ireena, I understand that you do not trust me. I understand that you will probably not be there… this time. Perhaps in the future? For I hope that this upcoming dinner will merely be the first of many such meetings.”How the World of Strahd functions Clockwork Strahd:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">This info found in The Tome of Strahd which is in the Amber Temple</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">About 400 years ago, He became a vampire</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tatyana is reincarnated every 25 years.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">200 years ago, Strahd began hibernating out of existential boredom between Tatyana’s iterations. Only waking on her birthday.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">He awakes with the sole purpose of possessing her.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">She’s Duncan Idaho and he’s the God Emperor.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Ireena is the 9th iteration of Tatyana.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Elves remember previous iterations of Ireena/Tatyana.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A few of the eldest human inhabitants may remember the 8th iteration of her.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Cohorts prefer him in hibernation but do everything to stay in his good graces while he’s awake.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Strahd regularly purges his cohorts. The time is drawing near when he will repeat this process.</li> </ul>Strahd’s Goals<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Get Ireena to come to him willingly.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Replace current cohorts with 4 PCs. Turn other PCs into lower status Spawn.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Stop the Dark Power from consuming all souls in Barovia. No soul means no nourishment for vampires.</li> </ul>Review: Madame Eva’s Divination<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Card: The Elementalist. The first card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy… This item is hidden in a small castle beneath a mountain, guarded by amber giants. You believe the item is in the Amber Temple but you’re not exactly sure what it is. (DMs Note: It’s the Tome of Strahd.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Card: The Torturer. There is a town where all is not well. There you will find a house of corruption, and within, a dark room full of still ghosts. You found the Symbol of Ravenkind in the Valaki Mayor’s attic.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Card: The Missionary. I see a garden dusted with snow, watched over by a scarecrow with a sackcloth grin. Look not to the garden but to the guardian. You found the Sun Sword within a scarecrow in a garden near Saint Markovia’s Abbey.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Card: The Innocent. I see a young man with a kind heart. A motherless boy! He is strong in body but weak of mind. Seek him out in the Village of Barovia. You believe that this person is Perriwimple who is the nephew and servant of a merchant in Barovia Village. You have made a deal with the merchant to replace Perriwimple with two strong people. You’ve just persuaded two werewolves to be those people.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Card: The Executioner. Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This last card will lead you to him… I see a dark figure on a balcony, looking down upon this tortured land with a twisted smile. That is all I can provide. The divination is finished. You haven’t talked about this one much.</li> </ul></blockquote>

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