Curse of Strahd

Session 003 - Durst Manor

18 min read

Details

Summary

The adventurers explored the attic of Durst Manor, discovering a children’s bedroom containing two small skeletons and a dollhouse that was a perfect replica of the manor, complete with every secret passage. When Lucien touched the dollhouse, the ghosts of the two children appeared and urged the party to find the monster in the basement, with the boy crying out the name “Walter.” Leoberos solemnly collected the children’s bones, as well as the skeletal remains of a young woman found stabbed to death in a storage trunk, intending to lay them all to rest properly. Using the hidden spiral staircase revealed by the dollhouse, the party descended to the basement crypts, where Leoberos interred the children’s remains in their marked coffins, bringing a quiet sense of peace to the chamber.

Pressing deeper into the cellar, the party battled a trio of ghouls — former cultists — whose bite left Mortimer paralyzed and vulnerable, forcing Leoberos to drag him to safety before the group rallied to destroy the creatures. Further in, they encountered a summoning chamber dominated by a statue of Strahd von Zarovich, and when Kaelis used a spectral hand to lift a smoky crystal orb from the statue, the magic manifested as a twisted black skeletal limb and unleashed a wave of dangerous shadows that drained the party’s strength. After defeating the shadows, the adventurers also destroyed the ghastly spirit of the manor’s matron, who ambushed Leoberos in a private dining lounge. Their efforts were rewarded with a cache of useful supplies, including healing potions, thieves’ tools, a bullseye lantern, alchemical fire, a cultist spellbook, and a magical protective cloak claimed by Kaelis. With the basement still holding unexplored passages, Gustav Durst’s remains yet to be interred, and the mysterious Walter lurking somewhere in the dark, the party knew their ordeal in Durst Manor was far from over.

Recap

The adventurers ascended a hidden staircase from the third floor of Durst Manor into the dusty, cobweb-choked attic above. The air was thick with the smell of age and neglect, and every surface was draped in grey webs and grime. Leoberos led the way into the attic lobby, where a padlocked door immediately caught the party’s attention. Kaelis made short work of the lock, and the door swung open to reveal what lay beyond.

Inside the children’s bedroom, two small beds flanked a toy chest painted with windmills, and in the corner stood a dollhouse that was a perfect architectural replica of Durst Manor in every detail. More chilling still were the two small skeletons lying in the middle of the floor, still dressed in tattered clothing the party recognized from the ghost children they had encountered outside the manor. When Lucien reached out and touched the dollhouse, two ghostly figures of children shimmered into existence. The spirits wasted no time, asking the adventurers with haunting urgency whether they had yet found the monster in the basement. When pressed for details, the girl described the creature as hideous and terrifying, while the boy dissolved into tears and cried out a single name: Walter.

Examining the dollhouse more closely, Lucien discovered that every secret door in the actual manor was faithfully reproduced in the model, including a hidden spiral staircase in the attic that descended all the way to the basement. Leoberos, ever practical in his own unsettling way, gathered the children’s small bones and placed them carefully in his pack, declaring that the dead deserved to be laid to rest properly. The rest of the party exchanged uneasy glances, unsure whether to be moved or disturbed by the sight of a paladin solemnly collecting the remains of two children in front of their own ghosts.

The party pressed on through the remaining attic rooms. In one spare bedroom, a smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress sat in a window box, draped in cobwebs like a macabre bride, and the adventurers gave it a wide berth. In a storage room packed with furniture hidden beneath dusty white sheets, Kaelis pried open a wooden trunk near an iron stove and found the skeletal remains of a young woman. Mortimer examined the bones with a practiced eye and determined she had been approximately twenty-two years old and had been stabbed to death by multiple knife wounds, with dried blood still staining the wood around the trunk. Leoberos added her remains to the growing collection in his pack, and the party noted the secret door nearby that opened onto the spiral staircase leading down.

The descent through the hidden staircase carried the adventurers down four floors into the cold, lightless depths beneath the manor. There they found a series of stone crypts, each bearing a placard with a family name. Leoberos moved solemnly to the coffins marked for Rose and Thorn, laying the children’s bones to rest within them. A palpable sense of peace settled over the chamber as he did so, as though some small wrong had finally been righted. The party also noted crypts bearing the names of Gustav and Elizabeth Durst, making a mental note to return with the father’s remains still waiting upstairs.

Moving deeper into the cellar, the adventurers entered a grim preparation chamber where moldy humanoid bones lay strewn across the dirt floor around a plain wooden table. Mortimer studied the remains and grew increasingly certain that dark rituals had been performed in this place. Before the party could investigate further, three figures in tattered black robes lurched around a corner from the shadows — ghouls, the animated remains of what had once been the manor’s cultist inhabitants. The creatures moved with terrible speed, and one sank its teeth into Mortimer before he could react, leaving the cleric frozen and helpless in the middle of the hallway.

With their healer paralyzed and vulnerable, the rest of the party scrambled to respond. Kaelis fired from behind the cover of a table while Ysarissa moved into position and loosed arrows at the advancing undead. Leoberos waded into the thick of the fight, pulling the stricken Mortimer to safety before planting himself between the ghouls and his companions, calling upon divine power to surround himself with a biting, protective frost. Lucien hurled magical insults at the creatures to throw off their aim, and together the party ground the ghouls down until the last one crumbled into stillness. Mortimer eventually shook off the paralysis and used his divine gifts to mend his wounds.

Pressing further into the basement, the adventurers entered a summoning chamber hung with moldy skeletons in rusty shackles. At the far end stood a carved wooden statue of a gaunt, pale-faced man in a voluminous black cloak, his left hand resting on the head of a wolf, his right hand cradling a smoky gray crystal orb. Chrystandar and Kaelis studied the likeness and concluded it was almost certainly a statue of Strahd von Zarovich, the mysterious ruler of Barovia. Kaelis reached out with a conjured spectral hand to lift the orb free — and recoiled when the hand manifested not in its usual translucent form, but as a black skeletal limb, as though Barovia itself had twisted the magic. The moment the orb left the statue’s grasp, shadows tore themselves free from the walls and surged toward the party.

The shadows proved far more dangerous than the ghouls, their touch draining the very strength from those they struck. Ysarissa felt her muscles weaken as necrotic cold radiated from a shadow’s claws. The party quickly discovered that ordinary force and radiant light were their best weapons, and Leoberos channeled holy power into a devastating strike that caused one shadow to explode in a brilliant burst of light. Mortimer called down radiant brilliance that obliterated another, and Lucien’s psychic whispers drove the remaining shadows into a terrified retreat. Chrystandar and Kaelis picked off the fleeing creatures with bolts of force and well-placed arrows until the last shadow faded into nothing. Leoberos used his divine touch to restore Ysarissa’s strength before the party moved on.

Ysarissa discovered a secret door that opened onto a narrow stone staircase leading upward, suggesting a hidden passage connecting the basement to the manor’s first floor. Beyond a nearby door, the party found a private dining lounge with a chandelier, high-backed chairs, and a table set with empty clay flagons — a room that felt as though it had once hosted intimate and perhaps sinister gatherings. The moment Leoberos stepped across the threshold, the ghast of the manor’s matron burst from the walls to attack. She exhaled a foul, poisonous stench that left Leoberos sickened and struggling, but the party responded with a coordinated barrage of arrows, psychic torment, and magical fire. Chrystandar delivered the killing blow with a bolt of flame, and the creature erupted in a gout of fire before dissolving into nothing.

With the matron finally destroyed, the adventurers searched the chamber thoroughly. An open crate yielded torches and candles, while a wooden footlocker contained a chain shirt, a bullseye lantern, a set of thieves’ tools, a sealed flask of volatile alchemical fire, and a spellbook that almost certainly held the dark rituals of the manor’s former cultists. A small wooden coffer inside the footlocker held four vials that the party recognized as healing potions — a welcome find after the brutal series of encounters. Mortimer performed a careful ritual to sense the magical auras of the recovered items, identifying the potions, the spellbook, and a folded cloak as enchanted. The cloak radiated protective magic, and Kaelis claimed it, slipping it over his shoulders and finding it sat easily and without any sinister resistance.

As the adventurers caught their breath and took stock of their haul, they were acutely aware that the basement still held unexplored passages stretching off in directions they had not yet dared to follow. The bones of Gustav Durst still waited upstairs to be interred in the family crypt below. And somewhere deeper in the dark, the thing the ghost children had called Walter was still waiting.

Scenes

1. Ascending to the Attic

The party moves from the third floor of Durst Manor into the dusty, cobweb-filled attic.

  • The party ascends a hidden staircase to the attic, feeling a shift in their skills and instincts as though the trials of the manor had forged them into something stronger.
  • Leoberos leads the way into the attic lobby, which is covered in dust and cobwebs, noting a padlocked door immediately to the north.
  • Kaelis inspects the padlocked door for traps and successfully picks the lock.

2. The Children’s Room

The adventurers discover a children’s bedroom containing grim remains and a detailed model of the house.

  • Leoberos opens the door to a room containing two small beds, a toy chest painted with windmills, and a dollhouse that is a perfect replica of Durst Manor.
  • The party finds two small skeletons on the floor wearing clothing identical to the ghost children they met outside the manor.
  • Lucien examines the dollhouse and discovers a secret door on the attic floor that mirrors a hidden passage in the actual house.
  • Two ghostly children appear when the dollhouse is disturbed, asking the party if they have found the monster in the basement.
  • The ghosts identify the monster as ‘Walter’ and begin to cry when describing him as hideous and scary.
  • Leoberos gathers the children’s bones, intending to lay them to rest properly.
  • The party searches the toy chest, finding assorted stuffed animals and toys preserved by the sealed chest.

3. Discovery in the Attic Storage

The party explores the remaining attic rooms, including a spare bedroom with a creepy doll and a storage room hiding grim remains.

  • The party searches a spare bedroom containing a smiling doll in a lacy yellow dress sitting in a window box, draped in cobwebs like a wedding veil.
  • The party searches a storage room filled with old furniture draped in dusty white sheets.
  • Kaelis inspects a wooden trunk near an iron stove and finds the skeletal remains of a young woman.
  • Mortimer examines the bones and determines the woman was approximately twenty-two years old and had been stabbed to death by multiple knife wounds.
  • Leoberos collects the remains with the intent to provide them a proper burial.
  • The party discovers a secret door near Lucien that leads to a spiral staircase descending all the way to the basement.

4. The Crypts of Durst Manor

The adventurers descend into the basement level, finding the family crypts and laying the children’s spirits to rest.

  • The party follows the secret staircase down four floors into a cold, dark cellar filled with crypts.
  • They find several stone alcoves with placards for family members, including empty coffins for Rose and Thorn.
  • Leoberos places the children’s bones into their respective coffins, bringing a sense of peace to the area.
  • The party identifies other crypts belonging to Gustav and Elizabeth Durst and notes they should return with the father’s remains found upstairs.
  • The group enters a preparation chamber filled with moldy humanoid bones strewn across the dirt floor and a plain wooden table, with Mortimer suspecting evidence of past sacrificial rituals.
  • As the party moves deeper into the chamber, three ghouls wearing the remnants of dark cultist robes emerge from around a corner to attack.

5. Ambush in the Basement

A sudden confrontation erupts in the cellar as ghouls ambush the party in the cramped, bone-filled hallways.

  • Three ghouls in tattered black robes ambush the party in the dark basement hallway.
  • A ghoul bites Mortimer, paralyzing him and leaving him helpless.
  • Kaelis fires his shortbow from behind a table and uses the cover to hide.
  • Ysarissa moves into position and strikes a ghoul with a well-placed arrow.
  • Leoberos pulls the paralyzed Mortimer out of immediate danger and steps into the front line to face the ghouls.
  • Leoberos calls upon divine power to surround himself with a protective, frigid magical frost that punishes attackers with cold damage.
  • Chrystandar attempts to blast the ghouls with magical fire and frost.
  • Lucien uses magical insults to mock and distract the ghouls, attempting to hinder their accuracy.
  • The party successfully destroys all three ghouls, and Mortimer eventually recovers from his paralysis.
  • Mortimer uses his divine magic to heal his wounds after the battle.

6. The Statue of Strahd and the Shadow Ambush

The party discovers a disturbing shrine to Strahd and accidentally triggers a new supernatural threat by disturbing a crystal orb.

  • The party enters a summoning chamber festooned with moldy skeletons hanging from rusty shackles, featuring a wooden statue of a gaunt, pale-faced man with a wolf at his side holding a smoky gray crystal orb.
  • Chrystandar and Kaelis identify the statue as a likely likeness of Strahd von Zarovich, the ruler of Barovia.
  • Kaelis uses a magical spectral hand to snatch the crystal orb from the statue’s hand; the hand appears as a black skeletal limb rather than its usual form.
  • The removal of the orb causes shadows to emerge from the walls to attack the intruders.
  • Lucien attempts to outline the shadows in magical light to make them easier to target.
  • Ysarissa strikes a shadow with her blades, causing it to fade away, but a shadow’s necrotic touch drains her physical strength.
  • Leoberos delivers a devastating blow infused with radiant divine energy, causing a shadow to explode in a burst of light.
  • Mortimer calls down radiant brilliance that causes another shadow to explode.
  • Mortimer turns the remaining shadows, forcing several to flee in terror.
  • Chrystandar launches glowing darts of force energy to strike a fleeing shadow.
  • Kaelis fires a well-placed arrow, finishing off the final shadow.
  • Leoberos uses his divine touch to heal Ysarissa’s wounds after the battle.

7. The Matron’s Lounge and the Ghast

The party discovers a hidden passage and encounters the ghastly remains of the manor’s matron in a private dining lounge.

  • Ysarissa discovers a secret door that reveals a narrow stone staircase leading upward, suggesting an entrance from the first floor.
  • The party enters a private dining lounge with a chandelier, high-backed chairs, and a table with empty clay flagons.
  • As Leoberos steps into the room, the ghast of the house’s matron bursts from the walls to attack.
  • The ghast emits a foul stench that poisons Leoberos, hindering his ability to fight.
  • The party coordinates their attacks, striking the creature with arrows, psychic insults, and magical fire.
  • Lucien uses discordant magical whispers to psychically wound the ghast and impose disadvantage on its attacks.
  • Chrystandar delivers the final blow with a bolt of fire, causing the creature to burst into flames and perish.

8. Spoils of the Cult

After defeating the ghast, the party loots the chamber and identifies a cache of equipment and magical items.

  • The party searches the room, finding an open crate with thirty torches and a leather sack of candles.
  • Kaelis checks a wooden footlocker for traps and opens it, revealing a folded cloak, a small wooden coffer, a chain shirt, a mess kit, a sealed flask of alchemical fire, a bullseye lantern, a set of thieves’ tools, and a spellbook.
  • Mortimer performs a ten-minute ritual to detect magic, identifying the cloak, the four potions in the coffer, and the spellbook as enchanted.
  • The party identifies the four potions as healing potions and the cloak as radiating abjuration magic.
  • Kaelis tries on the magical cloak, finding it is not cursed and can be removed easily.
  • The party notes there are still unexplored areas in the basement as the session ends.

Memorable Moments

  • [intriguing] Lucien pokes a finger into the dollhouse and triggers the appearance of the ghost children, who reveal the only path to the basement monster runs from the very top of the manor all the way down. (The party realizes the secret staircase in the attic is the sole route to the basement, making the manor’s layout feel deliberately sinister.)
  • [funny] “Have you found the monster in the basement yet?” (Rose; The ghost children materialize the moment Lucien pokes the dollhouse, immediately cutting to the chase about the horror lurking below.)
  • [dramatic] Leoberos scoops up the skeletal remains of the Durst children and places them in his pack, declaring the party must honor the dead and lay them to rest properly. (Done matter-of-factly in front of the children’s own ghosts, prompting the rest of the party to question whether they are the bad guys.)
  • [dramatic] Mortimer is bitten and paralyzed by a ghoul, leaving him helpless in the middle of the dark basement hallway as more undead close in. (Mortimer rolled a natural one on his saving throw against paralysis, leaving the party’s healer completely vulnerable.)
  • [intriguing] When Kaelis uses Mage Hand to grab the crystal orb from the statue, the spectral hand manifests as a black skeletal limb instead of its usual form, hinting at Barovia’s dark influence on magic. (The unsettling change in the spell’s appearance foreshadows the dangers of the realm before shadows erupt from the walls.)
  • [epic] Leoberos delivers a divine smite against a shadow, causing it to explode in a dramatic burst of radiant light that illuminates the dark summoning chamber. (The paladin laughs maniacally and turns to Lucien, gesturing as if to say ‘see that?‘)
  • [dramatic] Chrystandar fires a fire bolt that incinerates the ghast of Elisabeth Durst, causing the gas creature to burst into flames and finally end her haunting of the manor’s private lounge. (The party had coordinated a barrage of arrows, psychic insults, and magic to weaken her before Chrystandar landed the killing blow.)

Session log

From the GM Assistant session lists. GMA doesn’t distinguish visited/met/found from mentioned, so these lists can include things only talked about.

Present in this session

Quests & Threads touched

Also noted (no wiki page)

  • Spells & abilities used: Armor of Agathys, Cure Wounds, Detect Magic, Dissonant Whispers, Divine Smite, Faerie Fire, Fire Bolt, Mage Hand, Magic Missile, Sacred Flame, Vicious Mockery

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