Argynvostholt, Part 1
11th Moon, 735
"Not sure if I'm safer in here with you four or outside with those three." -- Ezmerelda d’AvenirAs the Barovian sky opened pouring rain across the misty lands, the adventurers stood before the tall dragon statue. Behind the statue loomed the sepulchral mansion. Perched atop a ten-foot-wide, ten-foot-high cube of granite was a moss-covered statue of a dragon, its wings tucked close to its body. The statue looked east, toward the mansion. Skylar, the dragonborn cleric of Bahamut, recognized the dragon as a silver dragon. Skylar informed the others that silver dragons enjoyed the company of humans and elves so much that they would often take the form of a human or elf and live among them for the majority of its life. However, silvers, like all dragons, believed themselves the most superior creatures in the world. Apart from the ability to fly, which they enjoyed greatly, silver dragons tended to prefer the physical forms of humanoids for everyday life. The group made their way to the mansion. Flagstone steps flanked by stone railings climbed to a landing in front of a pair of tall, wooden doors with rusted iron bands and knockers shaped like small dragons. Carved into the lintel above the entrance was the word ARGYNVOSTHOLT. Before reaching the mansion's entrance, Edmont and Ahroheim heard the sound of stone grinding. Looking back, they both noticed the dragon statue's mouth had opened. They both investigated but didn't see anything inside the statue's mouth. Still wary of the statue, the group decided to go inside the mansion. Luca cast firebolt at the door hoping the force of the spell would open it. It only made a small crater on the wooden door, the rain quickly dousing the small fire that threatened to burn the entire door down. Ahroheim, thinking less destructive means, cast mage hand. A skeletal hand wreathed in a purple glow appeared. The arcane hand then pushed the door open. The group produced a torch, lit it and had Skylar hold it as each one entered the mansion. The room inside felt like a king's tomb. A grand staircase led up to stone balconies held aloft by stone pillars and arches. A tall, faded tapestry depicting a well-groomed nobleman in silver armor hung from an iron rod above the staircase landing. Six sets of double doors led from the foyer. Along the walls, displayed on marble pedestals, were three alabaster busts of handsome men. A fourth bust and its pedestal had been knocked over, their shattered remains lie strewn across the mosaic floor. Two chandeliers of wrought iron hung from the ceiling like monstrous black spiders. Edmont examined the floor to see if anyone had recently entered the mansion. He spotted sets of bootprints, possibly four, leading into the foyer. Not certain, Edmont thought the prints may have been at least a week old at most. The prints indicated the group had walked around the foyer then made their way towards a set of open double doors at the foyer's far end. Suddenly a great shadow with wings moved across the walls. The group heard a soft bestial hiss in the darkness. The shadow moved to the stairs leading upstairs and disappeared. Unsure of what the shadow may have been, Luca cast origami and created a tiny dog from paper. As she folded and shaped the piece of paper, it slowly faded into a darker shade of color. Once shaped, the tiny paper dog resembled a half-starved skeletal dog. Just as Ahroheim's spells were somehow being warped into dark manifestations of their formal forms, so were Luca's spells. Undeterred, Luca placed the paper dog in front of the doors they entered from. The paper dog would alert the group should anyone come near it by emitting a loud bark. After, the group followed Edmont who was following the set of prints he found. But just as the group was about to move on, the front door suddenly opened behind them, just as the paper dog began to bark loudly as well. The paper dog then unfolded into a tiny piece of torn paper that a gust of wind blew away. A human woman quickly entered the room from outside. She was dressed in a reddish leather coat and held a rapier and handaxe in her hands. She was breathing hard as she shoved the door closed and leaned back against it. She looked to be in her forties. The group noticed that the woman's lower right leg and foot was a prosthetic, made of copper and brass. The woman turned and stared at the four adventurers who were just as surprised to see her barge into the mansion. The woman slowly raised her weapons. "Not sure if I'm safer in here with you four or outside with those three." Three loud thuds echoed from the wooden door the woman was leaning against. Ahroheim moved to a nearby window. Through the leaded glass, he spotted a male vistana atop a dire wolf. The man held a light crossbow in both hands. "Friends of yours?" Ahroheim asked the woman. She shrugged her shoulders. "I didn't realize they'd miss the horse that much." Skylar turned to the woman. "You stole a horse?" The woman smiled. "Borrowed would be a more fitting word. Besides, I already sent it back. It'll return to the vistani camp soon enough." Edmont took out his bow and moved to the door shoving the woman away. "Where is this camp?" The woman pointed her hand axe at Edmont. "Just outside Vallaki. And don't ever touch me again." "Maybe there's a reward for a horse thief," Edmont said ignoring the axe and the woman's remark. "Maybe I can help you four explore this mansion. I happen to know some things about it." "What makes you think we need help or that we can even trust you?" Luca asked. "Maybe you don't need me," the woman said. "But from what I know about this place, you'll need all the help you can get." The group heard someone outside yell. "Ezmerelda! Come on out. We can't just let a horse thief go without being punished." All four glared at Ezmerelda. "What? I told you the horse is on its way back to the camp. I wasn't going to keep it. I just needed a fast way to get here." "So you did steal a horse," Skylar said. The woman ignored the cleric. She yelled loud enough to be heard from outside. "Arrigal, I'm not alone in here. There are six well-equipped murder hobos in here. You're outnumbered!" Luca planted a palm to her face. Edmont opened a door. Outside in the rain were three riders. The closest one rode upon a black horse. Two others rode upon dire wolves. All three had light crossbows pointed at the front doors. Edmont quickly took aim and fired his crossbow. The bolt lodged itself deeply into the man's upper arm. The man let out a yell of pain. Seeing Edmont at the door seemed to convince the man Ezmerelda wasn't lying. He turned his horse and ordered the two to leave immediately. "You haven't seen the last of us, Ezmerelda!" Seeing the riders disappear down the dirt road, Edmont closed the door. Ahroheim walked up to Ezmerelda who pointed her rapier at him. Ahroeheim disregarded the sword. "So now, tell us who you are and why are you here." "My name is Ezmerelda d’Avenir. Like you, I'm an adventurer. I've traveled many lands and ended up here, like you a prisoner of the mist. I know this is the mansion that once belonged to Lord Argynvost who led the Order of the Silver Dragon. Knowing the Order's power and strength, I suspect there may be a vast treasure here and perhaps something, a weapon or a magical item, that can destroy Strahd." Edmont smiled at the mention of treasure. Perhaps this place might even have wine or better yet, rum! Edmont thought. Hearing Strahd's name mentioned Ahroheim looked to his other companions. "You can join us, for now." With Ezmerelda joining the four adventurers, they followed Edmont who led the way to a set of double doors the prints went to. "The prints lead this way but they don't lead back out." "Maybe they took a different path after," Ezmerelda said. The prints led them to a grand dining hall. A twenty-foot-long table with sculpted dragons for legs stood in the center of the hall. The chairs that surrounded the table had backs carved to resemble folded dragon wings. Several of the chairs had been overturned or smashed to pieces. Suspended above the table was a crystal chandelier that glowed with a soft white light without the need for candles. Standing in windowed alcoves were two life-sized statues depicting knights with dragon-winged helms and shields. Rainwater trickled through cracks in the ceiling, flowing down a wall and adding to a large puddle on the floor. Five sets of wooden doors led to the hall. The doors in the northwest corner where the group entered, one to the north, and two at the south end of the hall. A pair of leaded glass doors, their panes cracked and broken, stood open between panels of stained glass set into the east wall. These panels depict silver dragons in flight. Beyond the glass doors lay a dark, misty room. The stench of decomposion was overwhelming inside the dining hall. Four decomposing bodies lay in pools of thick nearly dried blood and gore. Everyone spotted a male dwarf in chainmail and clerical vestments, a decapitated female tiefling with its head resting at the end of the long table, a male dragonborn in chainmail with a greataxe still clutched in his left hand, and a male human in chainmail with his longsword under his body while a large shield lay next to him. All four's backpacks were visible and still strapped on their dead bodies. The group carefully made their way into the room. Skylar examined the dwarf's body but couldn't determine what may have killed him. He figured the dwarf was a cleric but didn't recognize the holy symbol on the dead dwarf's vestment. Ezmerelda examined the dwarf too. "There are deep cuts to his body. Easily cut through this chain shirt down to the bone. Sharp blades may have cut all of these adventurers down. Or something with a lot of strength behind the attacks." Ahroheim looked at the nearby statue, suspecting a possible cause for the death of the adventurers on the floor. He couldn't find traces of blood on it. "Maybe the statues attacked them?" Edmont also suspected the statues, remembering the suit of armor that animated and attacked them as they explored the strange house in the village of Barovia. Ezmerelda shook her head. "These cuts were made by sharp blades, longswords at least, maybe even a bigger sword. The statue's sword is blunt. If the statue did kill this dwarf, the wounds would look like they came from a bludgeoning weapon." Ezmerelda noted where three of the four adventurers lay dead. The decapitated tieflling was farther away from the other three who lay near the eastern doors that led into the dark, misty room. "What are you thinking?" Skylar asked following her gaze. Ezmerelda gave the dragonborn cleric a concerned look. "Looks like the dwarf, human, and dragonborn fought for their lives in front of the eastern door while the tiefling, a spellcaster is my guess, fought at a distant. When her companions fell in battle, she ultimately met her fate. Everyone looked to the eastern doors. Edmont said, "Then that means--" "--whatever killed them came from in there." Ezmerelda finished for the pirate.
Session played on March 27, 2020
Plot type
Chapter
Parent Plot
NPCs: Ezmerelda d’Avenir (Female Human Vistana)
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