Chapter 03: August the 5th

General Summary

Greetings yet again, mummers and mums! Our GOTHic tale yet continues...

The Guardians of the Horizon found themselves now in deep, dark dungeon beneath the haunted Durst House. Venturing bravely down a secret spiral staircase, the Guardians discovered the body of a Harper, picked clean to the bones but for a magic cloak, Harper.

Exploring the demented depths, the Guardians found the cots of dozens of cultists, as well as the deed to the house and a nearby windmill.

Warren Peace and Vorthos D'Artangan were also able to rid themselves of the spirits of Rose Durst and Thorn Durst, laying the spirits to rest by placing their bones justfully in their crypts.

The Guardians batted away swarms of bugs and rats and found the remnants of a terrible banquet hall where the cultists themselves carved and consumed their prisoners in a perverse ritual feast. Ocarin Stonehollow tried to place the bones of these prisoners to rest, but found that their spirits' anguish was untempered when placed in the cots of the cultists.

Perhaps in a characteristic fit of hubris, the Guardians ventured around the dungeon with little regard for traps, and met with a trapdoor and group of ghouls. Certainly having learned their lessons, the Guardians continued to explore the dungeon with reckless abandon, until Warren Peace happened upon a statue of the cult's chosen Lord, presumably the Lord Strahd that displayed such contempt in a letter that the Guardians found earlier. It was there that Warren Peace took it upon himself to take an orb from the statue, triggering the shadows of the very cultists that worshiped at the statue. These shadows consumed Warren Peace's strength, almost to the point of killing him, but the quick actions of Ocarin Stonehollow as well as a little help from the very demon Warren Peace fights to suppress, gave Warren Peace respite by destroying the shadows. As Warren Peace rested, Ocarin Stonehollow and Vorthos D'Artangan swept the remainder of the dungeon, discovering a master bedroom hosting the bodies of both Gustav Durst and Elisabeth Durst, as well as an assortment of magical items presumably taken from previous bands of adventurers that had met far more unfortunate fates in the Death House.

Now rested and prepared for the rest of the dungeon, the Guardians traversed more deeply into the dungeon, finding a room of relics, a housing for prisoners, and an altar! Around the altar the forms of several cultists began to chant, "one must die." The Guardians refused to offer a sacrifice to the cult and triggered their monster, a shambling mound to attack. The Guardians fought valiantly, though the twisting vines and decaying matter of the mound did almost consumed Warren Peace and Vorthos D'Artangan. The Guardians did not flee, and Ocarin Stonehollow called to the spirits of the sacrificed to help them in their fight, and in a harrowing battle, the Guardians did defeat the mound, only for the house itself to begin to reject them. As the water around the altar turned to acid and the walls began to crumble, the Guardians were forced to leave, though the house did not let it be easy, doors became scythes, the walls fell to pieces, but the Guardians used a secret trapdoor to escape to the exit.

Almost free, Charlemagne found the traps too much to take and was beaten to unconsciousness. While Ocarin Stonehollow was able to revive her once the group escaped, Charlemagne did have a vision, a gift from her patron, the Raven Queen. Charlemagne saw the memories of Shar and Selûne, the Two-Faced-Goddess, and their separation, she saw creation of the Shadowfell and the annexation of the Domains of Dread by the Dark Powers away from it, she saw that she was not the first Shadar-Kai to have been trapped in Ravenloft, but that all souls that pass in the Domain are trapped there forever, even against the resurrective powers of the Raven Queen, and she saw that people of Barovia were trapped just after a royal wedding.

Now safe, the Guardians sought refuge, discovering the a tavern and staying for the night.

Campaign

A Tale of Blood & Shadow Campaign

Protagonists

Warren Peace

None Swiftstride (Acolyte)
Monk 7

52 / 52 HP

STR
9

DEX
18

CON
15

INT
14

WIS
18

CHA
14

Charlemagne

None Shadar-kai (Hermit)
Druid 7

66 / 66 HP

STR
13

DEX
15

CON
18

INT
17

WIS
20

CHA
12

Vorthos D'Artagnan

None Changeling (Pirate)
Rogue 7

45 / 45 HP

STR
9

DEX
19

CON
13

INT
12

WIS
12

CHA
16

Ocarin Stonehollow

None Reborn (Haunted One)
Bard 7

52 / 52 HP

STR
12

DEX
13

CON
15

INT
18

WIS
16

CHA
20

Report Date

05 Aug 2023

Primary Location

Village of Barovia

Secondary Location

Death House

Related Plots

• |C| A House of Death