S1: The Haunted House of Durst

General Summary

1. Campaign begins as the party sets camp after dealing with undead problems near Waterdeep.
2. There is a shared nightmare where red eyes glowing in the darkness follow the party.
3. After waking up in a panic from a horrible night sleep, they find themselves somewhere else, not where the camp was, and during twilight, with rations gone.
4. Fortunate or unfortunate enough there is a forest trail from the place they woke up to a maintained road, and that road leads to a mansion. In front of it, two children were waiting, a young girl named Rosemary and an even younger boy Thornboldt that requested help from the party, their youngest brother Walter is trapped in the house at the 3rd floor. And that is not all, in the basement a scary monster lives, so the party should make haste!
5. The adventurers find out more about the Durst Family from portraits, coats of arms and armor plates in racks; they find out about Gustav and Elisabeth the parents and owners of the mansion.
6. Running upstairs, a defense mechanism is activated in the form of a sentient plate armor, which the party easily defeats without breaking a sweat.
7. More of the mystery is unraveled as Margaret, the ghost nurse maid of the mansion is found looking to protect the children in the house. She has clearly lost her mind and is not very useful, and she has only one objective, which is protecting the children.
8. About this time an unsent letter is found, signed by Elisabeth Durst and to be sent to Mrs. Petrovna.
9. Reaching the attic, the dead bodies of Rosemary and Thornboldt are laying in what appeared to be their rooms, and their ghost selves reveal and explain that they died of starvation as they were locked in this room. They are scared of what is happening in the house and indeed they lied to get the party to help them deal with whatever evil is within the house.
10. Alistair leads the ghost of Margaret to the children, which doesn't seem to help at all, she is unable to comprehend that they are already dead and there is nothing to protect, she seems to be bound to the plane of the souls of the children.
11. Searching for clues within the house, the party finds the body of a minion of Strahd, Unknown Skeleton, which bears a letter that is destined to Gustav Durst. Gustav is then revealed to be a cultist servant of Strahd, and dealing with blood rituals and sacrificing souls on a hidden altar within the mansion and associated with an organization called Priests of Osybus.
12. One thing is left, clearing the basement of all evil and possibly finding what happened to Walter Durst and the Durst parents.

Report Date

19 Jul 2022

Primary Location

The Durst Mansion

Secondary Location

Waterdeep

Related Characters

• Elisabeth Durst
• Gustav Durst
• Margaret
• Rosemary Durst
• Thornboldt Durst
• Unknown Skeleton Minion of Strahd
• Walter Durst