Grave Robbing and the trouble with Undead.

So, we ended up taking that longer rest, as I expected. Marushka and I shared a crypt with Oswald and Kasimir, still barely able to be protected by Leomund's Tiny Hut that Elaine had become so fond of. Elaine, Bryndon, Eerika and our new friend Oren took a crypt adjacent but still within the 'hut' so that we wouldn't all be cramped together in a single one. At some point, someone woke me up to inform me that there was a black cat sitting outside the dome of the 'hut', looking at us. I really thought nothing of it, at first, but I woke Marushka once the cat dispelled the Tiny Hut and approached us.
 
Surprisingly, the cat was not hostile. Instead, it was almost helpful, offering to sell us potions and some other wares. We bought.. I think all of the healing potions, it had? Oswald, in his naivety, thought it was a good idea to buy a bag of holding off the cat for a paltry sum of 50 gold. I never had an interest or eye for the market on magical items, but even I know that was way too cheap a price for an item of such notoriety. Once free of its wares, the cat went about its way, just as quickly as it had appeared. We all went back to our places to finish our rest.
 
Once we were up and resumed our exploration of these catacombs, we investigated a crypt that was inscribed "Beloved Wife", in a crypt besides a man someone recalled as being the architect of castle Ravenloft itself. Inside, we found the wife was pristinely preserved, with a stake planted deep into her chest and leaving her in a state of unending torpor. It raised a lot of questions, and before doing anything further in here, we decided to go check upon the architect himself. Marushka cast a spell so we could ask the corpse a few questions, and we learned that his wife was not a vampire. I don't remember the other questions, as I went back to the prior crypt and beheaded the hapless vampire as she slept. One less to possibly bother us later.
 
With some sort of agreement that everyone should be allowed to pick a crypt for opening (honestly just so Bryndon would shut the hell up), he picked and found one with a failed demilich; a skeleton that had gems for its eyes and amber teeth. Wanting to keep the body, or at least not sit here and desecrate it further, he stuffed it within Oswald's new bag of holding. Like something out of a nightmare, the skeleton climbed out of the bag of holding and offered up Bryndon a staff, which we soon identified as a Staff of Power. Of course Bryndon wanted to keep it right away, so I told him to give the Staff of Frost I offered him prior and give it to Marushka, so that she may have some utility and not feel like her abilities were being underutilized. The skeleton faded to dust and gems, which we kept of course.
 
Exploring further, we searched another crypt and found a skeleton dipped in gold which we also decided to keep. This, too, was stuffed in the bag.
 
The next crypt had a far more ominous inscription, one that put my wife firmly on caution. "Here lies Marushka Belmont", it read. She adamantly did not want to look inside, but to be completely fair I can't blame her. Bryndon decided to open the room, just to see what kind of trick Strahd may be playing with us regarding this. In precaution, I cast Protection from Evil and Good on her, as well as put her in a Magic Cirle. I know I have little in the way of magic, but to protect her, I'd use it all. When Bryndon steps inside, kicking open the door, they found a decayed corpse on a marbled slab, looking exactly like Marushka in her current clothes.
 
It occured to me then, that we had encountered such a thing not long after we arrived in these lands. As I was leading us through the forests of this place towards the town of Barovia, Bryndon had a glimpse of himself as a corpse; impaled upon a stake and looking just as dead as "Marushka" did now. When I told the others of this, Kasimir suggested that perhaps it was another curse of the land. That one who looks upon their own corpse is marked for death. Who knows if it it true, but I know Marushka did not at all turn to look inside, for her superstition about such things far outweighed any curiosity she may have had on the subject.
 
We passed a few others, and Elaine entered a crypt with a skeleton that had a polished skull. Only knowing that there was some sort of necromancy magic in the room, they decided to take just the polished skull and leave it. They found the magic faded as they left the room, so they brought it back in and decided to ask it a few questions. It was an onery bitch, and was completely unhelpful in answering any of our questions. The next crypt was just completely filled with mold, and we decided not to enter. The one after that contained the body of a Dusk Elf High Priest, beloved by Strahd's parents. Extravagant the crypt was, but we took nothing from it.
 
"We knew him only by his wealth" the next crypt read. Eerika opened the door and stepped in. The door slammed closed behind her and she fell into a pit of spikes. Thankfully her armor protected her from being skewered on the spot, and she managed to climb her way to safety, having pulled a scroll off a corpse she found down there as well. We passed another crypt, something about a gate, but went past it as well. Another crypt named Sir Klutz we investigated, but Oswald did not want to fight the skeleton in single combat, so we moved on.
 
The next crypt was labeled "The Hellborne". We opened the crypt and found a large sarcophagus over 7' long and made of lead and beaten gold. As well, "protecting" the sarcophagus was a little imp. He was rather unhelpful, all in all, but the mouthy little shit was getting on our nerves. Bryndon ended up killing the creature, returning it to its native plane and we continued onward. A few more crypts were bypassed as well.
 
Then there was another one.. Stoyana-something or other. Unimportant really. Temporary lycanthropy, those loved most = most succulent flesh, yadda yadda. Not too important. Carrying on...
 
We ended up at a portcullis that barred our way from proceeding forward, and came up with a plan to quietly get it opened. Kasimir ended up being teleported outside the front gate of Ravenloft when he opened the portcullis for us, and the rest of us made our way in. We found a plain wooden coffin, surrounded by buried vampire spawn. We plan out our actions, trying to determine whether or not Strahd is actually here, and end up sending in Oren by himself to check the coffin, and he silently sneaks around the walls of the room. Opening it, he finds the body of Strahd and attempted to stake him with the silver stake I had picked up earlier.
 
The stake shatters against a barrier of force, unknown to us protecting the vampire, and Oren deftly moved aside just barely avoiding the black estoc that appeared behind him, trying to impale him. With Strahd awakening as well as the group of spawn, Elaine finished casting Dawn as well, lighting up the very dark crypt with pure sunlight, even underground.
 
The fight began in earnest and we quickly found our newest ally Oren turned against us, likely due to Strahd's magic. I immediately stepped in to strike at Strahd with his own whip, in my mind wanting to give him a scar much like he gave to me. The battle turned into a shit show almost immediately. Oren became charmed at some point and attacked Elaine. A lightning bolt destroyed some spawn and exploded Strahd's coffin, which was a great set back against Strahd. Disarming Bryndon of the Staff of Power, Marushka attempted to retrieve it so as to keep it from Strahd, and in retalliation he dropped her with a Finger of Death spells. Before I could do anything to help, the vampire spawn swarmed me. At some point Bryndon decided to make a deal with Strahd for his phylactery. Instead, Strahd tells him to leave the staff and choose 1 person to die and he will allow the rest to leave.
 
So of course Bryndon says my name. In turn, Strahd unleashed a series of four attacks with his black estoc at me, and everything went black as I fell to the ground.
 
I awoke some time later, recovered by a healing spell from Marushka. I'm not sure how long I was out for, but when I awoke Strahd was gone, and so was Bryndon. I'm told Bryndon actually broke the Staff of Power and attempted to destroy Strahd with it, but it was unsuccessful. I'm not sure if he is dead, but his phylactery disappeared from my person, and he was no where to be found. We made our way to a room off to the side from a white staircase, and we decided to take a rest here. I finish this entry here, very tiredly resting with my beloved and looking forward to a good long rest.
 
I will be better prepared next time. I will not suffer this defeat again. Next time we finish this.