Curse of Strahd

Session 007 - Vallaki

24 min read

Details

Summary

The party broke camp after the Vistani reading and set out toward Vallaki, with Leoberos confidently leading them in the wrong direction before the group fell in behind him out of curiosity rather than trust. Their journey took them across an ancient stone bridge over a mist-filled canyon, through fog-shrouded wilderness, and past a terrifying encounter with Strahd’s black carriage — a lurching, dark vehicle driven by a monstrous chimeric figure that nearly ran them down at a crossroads before vanishing toward Castle Ravenloft. Along the way, Leoberos made a point of restoring two headless statues at the valley gates to hilariously lopsided effect, the party heeded Ireena’s firm warning to avoid a distant windmill, and Ysarissa spotted a large raven trailing them at a careful distance. They arrived in Vallaki just after dark, passing through its wolf-head-adorned palisade gates and making their way to the Blue Water Inn, where Leoberos announced their arrival with theatrical flair, backed by Lucien’s lute and Chrystandar’s conjured smoke and embers. Over wolf steak and wine, the party took stock of the inn’s patrons and shared a table with a colorful stranger named Rictavio — whom Kaelis and Chrystandar quietly agreed was no mere entertainer, despite his convincing facade. The evening wound down with Leoberos drinking himself off his chair and Chrystandar entertaining the common room with an illusion of a dancing woman before the group retired for the night.

The following morning, the party escorted Ireena to St. Andral’s Church, where the warm and weathered Father Lucian Petrovich granted her sanctuary without hesitation — before recognizing her face and revealing a stunning truth. He had spoken her name, Yasmin Strazni, over a grave twenty years prior; she had been born to parents Hans and Ruxandra and lost in a dire wolf attack at Lake Zarovich as a child. Shaken but willing to accept her heritage, Ireena asked about her brother, and Father Lucian’s composure cracked under Kaelis’s pressure: her brother was Izek, a dangerous man in Vallaki, and the priest begged the party to keep her presence — and her connection to him — a secret. The revelation was immediately overshadowed by a graver problem: the sacred bones of Saint Andral had been stolen, stripping the church of its hallowed protection and leaving Ireena just as vulnerable there as anywhere else in Barovia. The party now faced three urgent threads — recovering the stolen bones to restore the church’s sanctuary, retrieving wine for Urwin Martikov at the Blue Water Inn, and keeping Ireena hidden from a brother who did not yet know she was alive.

Recap

The morning after the Vistani reading, the party broke camp and set out toward Vallaki, their bellies full of a warm breakfast offered by their hosts. Leoberos, ever eager and ever loud, marched out of camp with his chest puffed and his stride purposeful — unfortunately in entirely the wrong direction. Nobody corrected him for a long, silent moment, and when the group finally fell in behind him, it was less out of confidence in his navigation and more out of morbid curiosity about where he might end up. The trail wound northwest along the river, and the party followed it into the misty wilderness of Barovia.

The path eventually led them to the base of a deep canyon, where a great waterfall thundered into a pool far below, sending billowing clouds of cold mist into the air. Spanning the gorge nearly a thousand feet overhead was a massive stone bridge, ancient and imposing. Leoberos inspected it carefully, declared it solid, and then marched across with the confidence of a man who had never once considered the possibility of falling. The rest of the party followed, and the bridge held, and the journey continued north.

As the group neared a crossroads, the fog thickened and the sound of thundering hooves against cobblestones shattered the quiet. Dread washed over the party like a cold tide, and Ireena grabbed the nearest arm and hissed at them to hide — now, before they met the devil’s gaze. The party dove into the brush just as a black carriage exploded out of the mist, pulled by stallions as dark as death, moving so fast the entire vehicle tilted onto its rightmost wheels as it turned. Perched atop the driver’s seat was a misshapen creature with lizard scales on half his face, panther-like ears, a furred jawline, and one monstrous webbed foot. A graven voice barked an apology through the fog — “Apologies, master, apologies!” — and then the carriage was gone, swallowed by the mist as it raced toward Castle Ravenloft. Ireena, pale and shaking, confirmed what they had all feared: that was Strahd’s black carriage.

The party pressed on and eventually reached the high stone buttresses and rusted iron gates that marked the boundary of the Barovian valley. Two headless statues of armed guardians flanked the road, their stone heads lying forgotten among the weeds at their feet. Leoberos, unable to leave well enough alone, retrieved both heads and spent a considerable amount of time attempting to restore them to their rightful places. He initially placed two heads on one statue before reconsidering, and ultimately managed to prop both heads up at goofy, lopsided angles. Satisfied with his work, he posed majestically between the two statues and led the group through the gates.

The road west was long and oppressive, the fog never lifting, the forest pressing in on all sides. At one intersection, a road sloped upward toward a windmill visible in the distance, its silhouette dark against the grey sky. Ireena’s voice dropped when she saw it, and she urged the group firmly away, saying only that bad things happened there. The party heeded her warning and continued north, though not before Ysarissa noticed a large raven trailing them from roughly a hundred yards back, watching with an unsettling stillness. The group debated its nature — spy, familiar, or something else entirely — and kept a wary eye on it as they walked. They also passed a vast, dark lake nestled at the foot of a mountain, its surface perfectly still and black, reflecting the storm clouds above like a monstrous mirror. Pushing their pace, the party managed to reach Vallaki just as the last light faded from the sky.

Vallaki was larger than the village of Barovia, surrounded by a fifteen-foot-high wooden palisade of sharpened logs bound with thick rope and mortar. Outside the iron gates, a half-dozen pikes had been planted in the earth, each one topped with the severed head of a wolf. Two guards urged the party inside quickly, warning that the gates were shut at night to keep out the wolves. As Leoberos passed through, he casually informed the guards that the raven trailing them was their pet and asked them to let it in when it arrived. One of the guards replied with an unsettling calm that they knew the Master’s Raven well. The party exchanged glances and moved on.

Making their way down the main road, the group passed the Arasek Stockyard, where a colorful but peeling carnival wagon sat padlocked and silent. Faded lettering on its sides read “Rictavio’s Carnival of Wonders.” Lucien studied it and concluded it belonged to a traveling entertainer of some kind, not a Vistani. The party filed it away and continued toward the Blue Water Inn, a two-story wooden building with ravens perched along its sagging tile roof and a painted sign depicting a blue waterfall swinging above the door.

Leoberos, naturally, could not simply walk through a door. He closed it behind him, then swung it back open dramatically, planted both feet, and announced to the entire common room that he was there to vanquish all of their evil. Lucien played a triumphant tune on his lute, and Chrystandar conjured a swirling cloud of harmless embers and colored, scented smoke to frame the entrance in theatrical glory. The innkeeper, Urwin Martikov, laughed and welcomed them warmly, declaring the inn a sanctuary from the evils of the land. He offered them rooms, hot beet soup, fresh bread, wolf steak, and a choice of wines ranging from the barely-drinkable purple grape mash to the considerably finer Red Dragon Crush.

As the party settled in, they took stock of the other patrons. A quiet woman named Muriel sat in the corner, watching everything and saying nothing. Two boisterous brothers — sons of a local noblewoman named Lady Fiona Wachter — were deep in their cups and thoroughly enjoying themselves. Two grim wolf hunters named Yevgeni and Szoldar sat nearby, their weathered faces telling stories their mouths hadn’t gotten around to yet. And then there was the man in the bright, colorful clothing — an elf or half-elf — who had been watching the party with a quiet, calculating interest since they walked in.

Kaelis greeted the colorful stranger in Elvish, and the man introduced himself as Rictavio. He joined their table and, over wine, shared a dark and winding story about a father forced to stake his own undead son — a tale of impossible choices in a land that offered nothing but. He asked the party what they would have done, and they answered honestly, recounting their own encounter with the priest’s son in the village of Barovia. Rictavio seemed satisfied by their answer, though Kaelis and Chrystandar, speaking quietly in Elvish, agreed that whatever Rictavio truly was, he was no entertainer. His facade was convincing, but the cracks were there for those who knew how to look. He hinted that there were ways out of Barovia, but that evil could not go unchallenged, and then he ordered another round of the good wine.

Meanwhile, Leoberos had been steadily working his way through every glass placed in front of him. When the wolf hunters mentioned lycanthropes, he shot to his feet and declared it was time to go vanquish them immediately. His companions talked him back into his chair and handed him more wine, which in retrospect may not have been the wisest strategy. Chrystandar, keeping his skills sharp, quietly lifted a small jar of holy water from his pocket while he was distracted, then returned it to him with a gentle suggestion that he be more careful. Later in the evening, Leoberos fell clean over backwards and hit the floor, waking only when his companion Meanhild began enthusiastically licking his face. He got back up, sat back down, and accepted another glass without missing a beat. Chrystandar conjured an illusion of a dancing woman to entertain the room while Lucien played a slow, swaying tune, and the common room watched with genuine delight. Rictavio offered a final toast, bid the party good night, and retired. The rest of the group followed not long after.

The next morning, the party escorted Ireena to St. Andral’s Church, a place of quiet warmth and tended grounds where a plum tree overlooked the cemetery and stained glass saints watched over the nave. Father Lucian Petrovich, an elderly priest whose face had been carved by decades of laughter rather than sorrow, welcomed them with open arms and offered everything he had. Ireena stepped forward and asked for sanctuary, explaining that a creature of the night had hunted her across the land and taken her father from her. Father Lucian took her hands with a paternal smile and granted her refuge without hesitation — and then he looked more closely at her face and went very still.

He recognized her. He called her Yasmin Strazni, a name he had spoken over a grave twenty years ago. He told her she had been born to two loving parents, Hans and Ruxandra, and that a dire wolf attack at Lake Zarovich had torn the family apart — her brother injured, her uncle killed, and Yasmin herself never found. Ireena was shaken, admitting she had few memories of her childhood and a deep, inexplicable fear of wolves. She accepted the truth of her heritage but asked about her brother. Father Lucian hesitated, then said his name was Boris. Kaelis caught the hesitation and pressed him, and the priest’s composure cracked. He admitted the lie. Her brother’s true name was Izek, and he was not a good man. He asked the party to keep Ireena’s presence in town a secret and say nothing of her connection to Izek.

Then Father Lucian delivered the blow that undid everything. The bones of Saint Andral, the sacred relics that kept the church hallowed and its walls a true sanctuary, had been stolen. The church was no longer protected ground. The very refuge they had just secured for Ireena was already compromised, and the creature hunting her could reach her here just as easily as anywhere else in Barovia. The party now had three threads pulling at them at once: retrieve the wine for Urwin at the Blue Water Inn, recover the stolen bones of Saint Andral to restore the church’s protection, and keep Ireena hidden from a dangerous man who did not yet know his long-lost sister had come to town.

Scenes

1. Morning at the Vistani Camp

The party wakes up at the Vistani camp after a long rest and prepares to continue their journey toward Vallaki.

  • The party completes a long rest at the Vistani camp following the reading of the prophecy the night before.
  • Chrystandar is teased about having fallen into a deep sleep after eating a pie, waking up with a magical mustache drawn on his face that only others can see.
  • The group partakes in breakfast offered by the Vistani before setting out.
  • Leoberos leads the march out of camp, initially heading in the wrong direction before the party follows him northwest along the river trail.

2. The Great Stone Bridge

The party follows a river trail to the base of a canyon and crosses a massive bridge spanning nearly 1,000 feet above a misty waterfall pool.

  • The party follows a rough trail along the river to the base of a canyon featuring a great waterfall spilling into a misty pool.
  • A great stone bridge spans the canyon nearly 1,000 feet overhead.
  • Leoberos inspects the bridge for stability and potential threats before declaring it solid.
  • Leoberos puffs up his chest and marches across, with the rest of the party following.
  • The party continues north along the trail after crossing.

3. The Black Carriage at the Crossroads

While traveling toward Vallaki, the party encounters a terrifying black carriage driven by a misshapen creature at a crossroads.

  • As the party nears a crossroads, the sound of thundering hooves against cobblestones approaches through the thick fog.
  • Dread washes over the party, and Ireena warns them to hide quickly before meeting the devil’s gaze.
  • The party hides in the brush as a black carriage pulled by stallions as black as night gallops past at high speed, nearly tilting over as it turns.
  • The driver is revealed to be a misshapen man with lizard scales on half his face, panther-like ears, a furred jawline, and a webbed duck foot.
  • A graven voice from the driver shouts an apology through the fog as the carriage rights itself.
  • Ireena identifies the vehicle as Strahd’s black carriage, heading toward Castle Ravenloft.

4. The Gates of Barovia

The party reaches the high stone buttresses and iron gates that mark the boundary of the Barovian valley.

  • The party approaches a set of huge iron gates flanked by two headless statues of armed guardians, their heads lying among the weeds.
  • The rusted gates swing open automatically as the party nears them.
  • Leoberos attempts to repair the statues by propping their stone heads back onto their shoulders, initially placing two heads on one statue before correcting himself.
  • After some effort, Leoberos manages to balance both heads on their respective statues, though at goofy angles.
  • Leoberos poses majestically between the repaired statues before leading the group through the gates.

5. The Road to Vallaki — The Windmill and the Raven

The party continues their journey west, passing a mysterious windmill and noticing a raven following them.

  • The party travels approximately eight miles through oppressive fog and impenetrable forest.
  • They reach an intersection where a road slopes up toward a windmill visible in the distance.
  • Ireena warns the group away from the windmill, stating that ‘bad things’ happen there.
  • The party decides to continue north toward Vallaki rather than investigating the windmill.
  • Ysarissa notices a large raven following the party from about 100 yards away, leading to a discussion about whether it is a spy for Strahd.
  • The party passes a large, dark lake nestled at the foot of a mountain, its surface perfectly still like a monstrous mirror.
  • The group pushes their pace to reach Vallaki before nightfall.

6. Arrival at Vallaki

The party arrives at the gates of Vallaki just after nightfall and navigates the streets toward the Blue Water Inn.

  • The party arrives at the East Gate of Vallaki, a town surrounded by a 15-foot-high wooden palisade topped with sharpened posts.
  • Outside the iron gates, the party sees several pikes with severed wolf heads impaled upon them.
  • Two shadowy guards meet the party at the gate, urging them to enter quickly before the light fades and the wolves attack.
  • Leoberos informs the guards about the raven that had been following them, and the guards cryptically refer to it as ‘the Master’s Raven.’
  • The party passes the Arasek Stockyard and notices a colorful, peeling carnival wagon belonging to ‘Rictavio’s Carnival of Wonders,’ secured with a large padlock.
  • Lucien identifies the wagon as likely belonging to a bard or entertainer rather than a Vistani.
  • The group reaches the Blue Water Inn, a two-story wooden building with ravens perched on its sagging tile roof.

7. The Grand Entrance and Evening at the Blue Water Inn

The party makes a theatrical entrance into the Blue Water Inn, meets the innkeeper, and settles in for the evening.

  • Ysarissa enters the inn first, then Leoberos swings the doors open dramatically, planting his feet and announcing his intent to vanquish all evil.
  • Lucien plays a triumphant song on his lute while Leoberos attempts to play the spoons.
  • Chrystandar uses magic to create a thin cloud of harmless embers and colored, scented smoke to enhance the theatrical moment.
  • The innkeeper, Urwin Martikov, laughs and welcomes the party, offering them a table.
  • Urwin describes the inn as a sanctuary from the evils of the land and offers rooms, beet soup, fresh bread, wolf steak, and wine.
  • The party observes the other patrons: a quiet woman named Muriel, two jovial brothers, two grim wolf hunters, and a man in colorful clothing watching them.
  • Lucien plays background music on his lute while the party eats and drinks.
  • Urwin requests the party’s help in retrieving a delayed wine shipment from a vineyard to the west.
  • Leoberos attempts to volunteer as a bouncer but is rebuffed by Urwin.

8. A Somber Tale from Rictavio

A mysterious entertainer named Rictavio joins the party’s table and shares a tragic story about impossible choices in Barovia.

  • Kaelis greets the colorful man in Elvish, inviting him to join the table.
  • The man introduces himself as Rictavio and shares a wistful, dark story about a father forced to stake his own undead son.
  • Rictavio asks the party what they would have done in such a situation.
  • The party recounts their encounter with the priest’s son in the village of Barovia and how they helped put the undead youth to rest.
  • Rictavio continues his tale, describing the father’s subsequent quest for vengeance against those who sold his family to the creatures of the night.
  • Urwin provides the party with a complimentary bottle of the better wine in appreciation of their entertainment.
  • Kaelis, Chrystandar, and Ysarissa converse with Rictavio in Elvish, suspecting his entertainer persona is a facade.
  • Leoberos, in a drunken state, loudly accuses Rictavio of being Strahd, causing a brief moment of tension before Rictavio laughs it off.
  • Rictavio reveals he is not from Barovia and hints that there are ways out, but that evil cannot go unchallenged.

9. Tales, Hunters, and a Drunken Paladin

The party mingles with the local wolf hunters and Leoberos overindulges in wine, leading to a chaotic but entertaining evening.

  • The party invites Yevgeni and Szoldar, the local wolf hunters, to join their table.
  • Szoldar shows off his bow, which is notched for every wolf he has killed.
  • The hunters explain that wolves, dire wolves, undead, blights, and bats are common threats in the Barovian woods.
  • The party asks about lycanthropes, causing the other patrons to shudder.
  • Leoberos, emboldened by wine, attempts to charge out and hunt lycanthropes at night but is restrained by his companions.
  • Chrystandar successfully picks Leoberos’s pocket as a training exercise, lifting a small jar of holy water before returning it to him.
  • Leoberos overindulges in wine and falls flat on his back, waking up to his companion Meanhild licking his face.
  • Chrystandar conjures a silent image of a dancing woman to entertain the common room while Lucien plays slow music on his lute.
  • Rictavio offers a final toast to the party before heading to his room for the night.
  • The party pays for their lodging and food before retiring.

10. Leveling Up

The party takes time to reflect on their experiences and hone their skills, reaching a new level of proficiency.

  • The party members advance to level four.
  • Ysarissa hones her survival instincts and combat mobility, becoming more difficult to pin down in a skirmish with her new Scout rogue abilities.
  • Chrystandar and Mortimer both become Fey Touched, gaining the ability to step through the mists with Misty Step and access new spells.
  • Mortimer gains Dissonant Whispers as part of his new abilities.
  • The group discusses the utility of their new abilities, including Steady Aim for more precise strikes.

11. Morning Preparations and the Church of St. Andral

The next morning, the party escorts Ireena to St. Andral’s Church for sanctuary, where shocking revelations and a new crisis await.

  • The party discusses the high cost of equipment in Vallaki, noting that a great sword costs five times the standard price.
  • Leoberos practices his combat techniques on Mortimer, leading to a brief reprimand about treating ‘differently alive’ friends as target practice.
  • The party escorts Ireena to St. Andral’s Church, which is suffused with a quiet confidence and warmth despite the surrounding fog.
  • They meet Father Lucian Petrovich, a warm and welcoming elderly priest who offers them food, warmth, and prayer.
  • Ireena requests sanctuary on hallowed ground, explaining she is being hunted by a terrifying creature of the night.
  • Father Lucian grants her sanctuary, welcoming her into the house of the Morning Lord.
  • Father Lucian recognizes Ireena, identifying her as Yasmin Strazni — a girl he believed had died twenty years ago after a dire wolf attack at Lake Zarovich.
  • Ireena is shocked by the revelation, admitting she has few memories of her childhood and a deep phobia of wolves.
  • Father Lucian initially claims Ireena’s biological brother was named Boris, but Kaelis senses a deception.
  • Under questioning, the priest admits he lied to protect Ireena, revealing her brother’s true name is Izek and warning that he is a dangerous man.
  • Father Lucian asks the party to keep Ireena’s presence a secret.
  • Father Lucian reveals a dire problem: the bones of Saint Andral have been stolen, meaning the church is no longer truly hallowed ground and cannot protect Ireena.
  • The party accepts a new quest to recover the stolen bones.

Memorable Moments

  • [funny] Leoberos marches confidently out of the Vistani camp in the wrong direction, and nobody corrects him for a full thirty seconds. (The party watches in silence as their paladin strides off toward the lake, waiting to see if he notices before anyone bothers to redirect him.)
  • [funny] Leoberos attempts to restore the headless guardian statues at the Gates of Barovia, first placing two heads on one statue before correcting himself and propping both up at goofy angles, then posing majestically between them. (A moment of earnest but bumbling heroism as Leoberos tries to restore dignity to the crumbling gate statues before leading the party through.)
  • [dramatic] “Apologies, master, apologies.” (Strahd’s Carriage Driver; Shouted through the fog as the black carriage nearly toppled at the crossroads, the misshapen driver’s words sent a chill through the hiding party.)
  • [funny] “Greetings, all. I am here to vanquish all of your evil.” (Leoberos Ulesith; Leoberos swings the inn doors open dramatically, plants both feet, and announces himself to the entire common room before demanding musical accompaniment.)
  • [funny] Leoberos, deep in his cups, loudly accuses Rictavio of being Strahd in the middle of the inn — in front of everyone — before slumping back down in disappointment when Rictavio laughs it off. (The party had been speaking in Elvish to keep secrets, but three-drink Leoberos had his own theory and no filter to stop him from sharing it.)
  • [funny] Leoberos overindulges in wine and falls flat on his back. His companion Meanhild promptly begins licking his face until he wakes up, bleary and regretting everything. (The party had been feeding Leoberos wine all evening to keep him from charging out to hunt lycanthropes at night. It worked, perhaps too well.)
  • [dramatic] Father Lucian recognizes Ireena as Yasmin Strazni — a girl he read last rites for twenty years ago — and reveals she was adopted after a dire wolf attack tore her biological family apart. (Ireena came seeking sanctuary and instead discovered her entire identity was built on a tragedy she cannot remember.)
  • [intriguing] Father Lucian initially lies about the name of Ireena’s biological brother, calling him Boris, before Kaelis catches the hesitation and presses him into revealing the truth: his name is Izek, and he is a dangerous man. (The priest’s attempt to protect Ireena from a dark truth unravels under Kaelis’s sharp insight, adding a new and ominous thread to the party’s situation in Vallaki.)
  • [dramatic] Father Lucian reveals that the bones of Saint Andral have been stolen, meaning the church is no longer hallowed ground and cannot protect Ireena from the evil hunting her. (The party had just secured what they believed was a safe haven for Ireena, only to learn the sanctuary is already compromised.)

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: Dissonant Whispers, Elementalism, Guidance, Misty Step, Silent Image

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