The party hangs out at the Arasek stockyards until evening. They then search the wagon. Vannan communicates with the beast within to learn it was trained to kill and eat Vistani. They feed it some boar meat as Rictavio has not been around for a few days now. Gilly searches the wagon seat as Piccolo mentioned and finds nothing. Lideydri assists and they find a hidden compartment. They see a lot of werewolf and vampire hunting gear along with the Sun Sword. They leave most of the contents beside the Sun Sword and a prayer book. The party also includes a note for Rictavio with various comments made in a haphazard way.
They head back to the Inn and have an uneventful night other than learning there is another crossroads just outside of town they might want to check out.
In the morning they head toward the Luna River and find a crossroads with a broken sign. They mended the sign. Lideydri found a slab stone mysteriously by itself in an otherwise grassy area. It bares the name "Elisabeta" upon it. Lideydri learns that she can now active the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind which now creates sunlight. After much debate the party allows Victor to dig up the site and they found a coffin inside. Gilly opened the box up and found a book with a thick leather cover. The pages are very brittle and the writing is mostly illegible. Victor noticed a passage and reads it aloud as best he could.
Victor said the book is the Tome if Strahd. Written by the vampire himself it chronicles how he killed his brother Sergei so he wouldn't marry Tatyana. Strahd wanted Tatyana for himself. Tatyana flung herself off a cliff and was never seen again. That is when Strahd became undead.
"I am ancient. I am the land... I was the warrior, I was good and just...
I still lust for life and youth, and I curse the living that took them from me. Even the sun is against me. It is the sun and it's light I fear the most, but little else can harm me now. Even a stake through my heart does not kill me, though it holds me from movement. But the sword, that cursed sword that Sergei brought! I must dispose of that awful tool! I fear and hate it as much as the sun.
I now reside far below Ravenloft. I live among the dead and sleep beneath the very stones of this hollow castle of despair. I shall seal shut the walls of the stairs that none may disturb me."
The party stopped by the Vistani camp on their way back to Vallaki. They found a hill with buildings around the base and wagons and a tent at the top. They heard a whip and a scream from the top of the hill. They found gray elves (dusk elves) living in the buildings and are told to speak with Kasimir, the chief dusk elf. He is an emotionless old elf who speaks about how Strahd came to Barovia and trapped the dusk elves along with the Barovians. Strahd took his sister, Patrina, as a bride. Kasimir killed her to spare her from Strahd. In return Strahd had all the female dusk elves killed. Now the dusk elves are a broken people that keep a low profile and have no desire to incur Strahd's wrath again. He says that he had heard of Elisabeta, the only bride of Strahd to have escaped Ravenloft many years ago.
The party told Kasimir that they are also no friend of Strahd. Kasimir invited the party to accompany him to the Amber Temple. The secret to breaking Strahd's pact and freeing Barovia from the curse might be hidden there. Also, a way to bring his sister back to life may be possible. The party asked for a rain check and learn that Arrigal is in the tent above.
They go by the passed out drunken Vistani around the wagon and go into the tent. They found a huge man whipping a teenage boy tied to the center pike of the tent. "Easy brother," a smaller Vistani said to the brute. "I think Alexi has learned his lesson." This turns out to be Arrigal and the larger man is Luvash. Luvash is upset at Alexi for allowing his daughter, Arabelle, to be taken while they were away. Many Vistani and dusk elves were out searching for her. Arrigal also mentions that their shipments of wine had stopped from The Wizard of Wines. He would pay handsomely if the adventurers could bring them wine. That is what keeps him in power at the camp and without wine the Vistani could become hostile. Luvash also says he will reward the party if they find Arabelle.
The party headed back to Vallaki and stop at the church. They talk to Father Lucian who takes them aside and tells them that bone relics had been stolen from the church a few days earlier. No one besides himself knew the bones were even in the church. He may have mentioned them to the alter boy, Yeska. Yeska admits that he told someone of the bones existence but wouldn't divulge a name. The party convinces the boy to share who he told as recovering the bones was good for the parish. Yeska said it was Graves Keeper Willie that he had told. The party confronts Willie in the graveyard. After some defiance, Willie admits that Henrik the coffin maker had paid him to take the bones. Willie only did it to feed with sister and brothers. He took the party to the coffin maker's shop and was sent home.
Bjorn immediately slams his warhammer upon the door and bashes his way in. Henrik cowers in fear. He says that Strahd tricked him into allowing his shop to be used as a lair for dark creatures. When Willie told Henrik about the church relics, the creatures commanded Henrik to retrieve them.
The bones were up in his wardrobe and the lair was also on the second floor. The party sent Henrik to go to the church. Henrik then disappears, maybe following their orders.
Bjorn leads the way through the house until Lideydri rushes past them once they find the source of evil. She opens a crate which was filled with dirt. Vampire spawn burst out from the crates creating plumes of dust. Bjorn takes the brunt of the damage in the fight. Lideydri can now also activate the SunSword, "Lords of light!" Many vampires spawn fall prone in the fight and are quickly dispatched. Gilly and Bjorn get some critical hits and the spawn are quickly dispatched. The relic bones are returned to the church.
After recovering the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, the Sun Sword and the Tome of Strahd, along with recovering the bones of St. Andral, the party member each advance two levels. Everyone may update their characters to Level 5.
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