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Message: <blockquote data-quote="evilbob" data-source="post: 6861730" data-attributes="member: 9789">Perhaps a Strahd encounter that never even looked like a Strahd encounter?-----------(when the party has an encounter at night traveling on the road)Even by the pale half-light of the moon, your group notices a small trail of smoke ahead.  Approaching carefully, you see a peculiar campfire scene:  a woman sits near a dying fire, whittling a stake out of wood, while the gruesome remains of a horse lie nearby.  She is dirty and injured, and despite your efforts to stay quiet she calls out to you:  "You had best keep moving, as those devil spawn will likely be back before dawn."Cover blown and curious, as you approach you can see she is wearing fine adventuring clothes but also decked out in all manner of vampire-hunting gear:  wooden stakes line her belt, while bottles of what look to be holy water are tied to a bandolier across her chest.  She has a crossbow across her back, a garlic necklace with various holy symbols hanging from it, and several daggers that you can see - likely more you cannot.  Her horse was literally clawed to pieces, and she is bleeding from her leg as well.(if party offers aid)  She waves off your request to help.  "I don't like to be indebted to anyone," she says, before downing a small vial of liquid.  Her bleeding stops immediately.  (if the party doesn't offer aid, she still drink the vial to stop the bleeding before the fight)(if party asks who she is or otherwise engages)  Her style is no-nonsense and direct.  "Name's Elsa von Holtz, vampire hunter.  Unfortunately I've gotten in a bit over my head, it seems.  I was ambushed by three of them, and while I managed to drive them off, they got my horse and I suspect they'll be back before dawn, which should be any minute now.  Sorry I will likely be the last person you ever meet."(before the party can really investigate or ask how she drove them off)  Moments later, she looks up.  "They're back," she states grimly.  She pulls a wooden stake from her belt.(roll to see three approaching vampire spawn; party gets advantage thanks to the tip)(battle starts)(on Elsa's initiative)  Elsa runs with surprising speed right up to one of the vampire spawn and slams its arm with her fist.  Caught off-guard, the creature is quickly grappled as she pulls its arm around behind it and somehow restrains it with one hand.  She brandishes her stake in the other, and then drives it into the creature's heart from behind.  You see a momentary look of surprise as the creature looks down at the front of the stake poking from its chest, then relief as the vile minion turns to dust in her arms.  Without a pause she turns her glance to the next prey, blood still dripping from the stake.(after the party wins / the others are driven off)  Elsa dusts herself off and slides her stake back into her belt.  "Not bad.  You may survive here yet," she smiles.  All further inquiries and offers of help are politely refused.  "I'll make my own way," she says, then gathers her pack and heads back down the road toward Vallaki.(the encounter is over and unless investigated, nothing else come up; however, investigating the camp ground carefully shows little other than the dead horse and the tiny potion vial; if the party specifically examines the vial closely, they can find no potion residue - only blood)-----------So Strahd is:  in disguise (alter self - the disguise can't be disbelieved) and checking out the party's strengths against vampires; mentally commanding the spawn to do as he desires, including dying for him (the relief is real of course - the spawn is glad to be free of the curse); cut himself and then chooses not to regenerate until he drinks the "potion;" wearing the collected gear of probably half a dozen unfortunate vampire hunters he's killed over the centuries.  The only hint that can be found that there is even something weird going on is the discarded potion vial; he needed it to "sell" the healing (which he needed to sell the wounds) but the only thing he could even pretend to drink was blood.  Hopefully the whole encounter is just weird enough that the party will know something is odd, but still too believable to really think it was Strahd in disguise.  Still, even if they get it, it still works.  He's watching you.  He could be anyone.  Trust no one.</blockquote>

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