RECAP: Curse of Strahd, Sessions 13 and 14

Les Hostetler | April 28, 2026 | Curse of Strahd | No Comments

Session 13 revolves around the party’s careful investigation into the coffin maker Hinrich’s suspicious activities, leading to uncovering dark, undead-related phenomena and escalating into combat with vampiric and undead creatures. The narrative blends stealth, reconnaissance, and tactical combat while deepening the mystery of Barovia and Count Strahd’s influence. Key moments include the party’s infiltration of the coffin maker’s workshop, the discovery of shadowy elven undead and thralls, and a climactic battle that ends with the party advancing to confront further dangers upstairs. The session closes with preparations for continuing the campaign’s unfolding dark intrigue.

Campaign Background and Current Situation

The party recently returned to the town of Vaki after a successful mission at the Bonegrinder, where they destroyed a sinister operation run by three “sweet hags” who were manufacturing dream pastries from children. One hag escaped, and her whereabouts remain unknown. The party also encountered a necromancer who summoned zombies, indicating that powerful and hostile forces are testing them.

The party has been in Barovia for nearly two weeks, gaining local attention and suspicion.

Political and Strategic Developments

Count Strahd, the campaign’s antagonist, is aware of the party’s presence and has offered them a meeting at his castle, indicating his interest or concern over their activities. Before the Bonegrinder mission, the party explored the Durst Mansion and discovered direct evidence that Strahd knows their origins, referencing their former employer Moussif in Qadira. The party is effectively stranded in Barovia, unable to return home due to stolen smuggling silver, werewolf attacks, and general isolation.

Geographical and Tactical Overview

The party is located in Vallaki. Barovia is bordered by dangerous mists to the east and west, with mountainous terrain to the north and south, effectively isolating the region. The town of Vallaki is the largest in Barovia, with an estimated population of 1,000–2,000 residents. The party has received tarot readings from Madame Eva, suggesting potential allies and the possibility of overthrowing Count Strahd to return home.

Initial Investigation at the Coffin Maker’s House

Henrik, the local coffin maker, has been acting strangely—working late, with unknown visitors, and loud arguments heard at unusual hours. The party splits to investigate: Velkro, Hexanguinate, and Tenzin approach the front door and are rebuffed; Zandarius, Iggy, Grughilda and Akutagawa explore around the back. Iggy’s familiar, Faleen, detects multiple unknown creatures on the second floor using sonic sensing.

Observations Through the Window

One party member peers through a gap in the shutters and observes:

Unfinished coffins stacked outside.
A workroom with carpentry tools, a small table with remnants of a meal, and a lantern providing dim light.
No people visible inside the window.

The coffin maker appears to be working, but the area does not seem overtly suspicious at this moment.

Back Door Lockpicking and Entry

Akutagawa successfully picks the locked back door quietly with a thievery roll of 16, aided by Guidance spells. Upon entering, the party sees. A well-lit workshop with coffin finishing tools, metal bars (likely iron), lining materials, and decorative elements. The room is stone-floored and contains various workspaces and doors leading further into the building.

The party discusses the possibility of the coffin maker being coerced or involved in illicit activities.

Movement and Activity Upstairs

The coffin maker stops his carpentry work and moves upstairs. Faleen detects multiple creatures upstairs, including the coffin maker and unknown entities. The party prepares for stealthy further exploration, oiling door hinges to muffle sounds.

Faleen peeks into the kitchen upstairs and sees Henrik handling a large wooden bowl containing an unknown liquid, possibly feeding the creatures detected earlier. The creatures move quietly and speak in low tones; one creature exhibits elvish features and shrouded in shadows. The party suspects a sinister alliance or control over Henrik.

The party feeds several aggressive rats in the workshop to distract them, allowing safer movement. They discover a showroom-like room with various coffins on display, some open to show interior construction. No bodies or funeral home elements are observed; the facility functions primarily as a coffin manufacturing site. The party considers investigating the nearby church (St. Andals) for connections or anomalies.

The party waits outside for Henrik to resume work to plan a second-floor infiltration. Discussions include boosting party members to windows or climbing to gain entry. The environment is tense with anticipation of further encounters.

Appearance of Shadowy Elf Creature and Strange Woman

A shadowy, human-sized creature with elvish features emerges from the building, making unsettling throat noises. A disheveled woman with bloodstains on her clothing approaches the creature and is led back inside in a trance-like state. The party prepares for combat, concerned by the unnatural behavior and presence of these entities.

Initiative is rolled as the party engages the shadowy elf creature and the entranced woman. The creature is identified as undead, a designation confirmed by vitality-based attacks. Party members use a combination of melee and magical attacks, including elemental magic and Velkro’s silver needle darts, which prove effective against the undead foe. The woman appears to be under some form of charm or thrall, not actively hostile.

The undead creature suffers critical damage, bleeding profusely from throat wounds inflicted by silver darts. The creature retreats, attempting to climb the building; party members pursue with ranged attacks and area spells that slow and hinder movement. The woman regains some awareness after the creature falls but remains confused.

Party Reassesses and Prepares for Upstairs Raid

With the primary threat neutralized, the party decides to raid the upper floors to investigate further. The woman companion is no longer under control and appears disoriented. Party members coordinate to split and ascend via different doors and stairways for tactical advantage.

Gruggilda and Tenzen lead the charge upstairs, breaking down a locked door with combined force. The party discovers unsettling evidence including blood-stained boards and unidentified meat cuts, heightening suspicions of dark rituals or cannibalistic practices. Sonic detection reveals more creatures in the vicinity, though no invisible entities are detected.

The party observes a spider-like creature emerging from crates, adding to the list of threats within the building. The coffin maker, Henrik, is located in an immaculately maintained bedroom holding a knife, warning the party of imminent danger and urging them to leave. He denies any alliance with the vampires but appears fearful and trapped.

The party questions Henrik about his involvement, learning he has no control over the vampires but is clearly distressed. The party acknowledges Henrik as a local craftsman caught in a dangerous situation. Henrik warns that escape routes are limited, with windows too high to climb and no safe exit.

Combat Resumes with Vampire-like Creatures

Several vampire-like entities engage the party aggressively. The party uses silver needle darts and blessings to counter the undead foes. Grughilda is grappled but the party responds with magical attacks and blessings to support her. The combatants display enhanced movement abilities, including climbing walls and opening shutters. The vampires use grappling and claw attacks to disrupt the party’s formation. The party’s blessed aura provides a +1 bonus to attack rolls within an 18-foot radius. Electric Arc and other spells are used to damage and debilitate enemies despite some misses. The party coordinates movements with some members acting as frontline attackers and others providing magical support.

Final Moments and Setup for Next Session

The party pushes forward into the upper rooms, prepared for further confrontation. Henrik remains outside the immediate conflict zone, unsure of his role but clearly concerned. The party expresses readiness to continue their investigation and combat in the next session, with a humorous nod to the potential destruction of the coffin maker’s shop by Hexanguinate.

Conclusions

Henrik the coffin maker is caught between forces, likely coerced but not an active ally of the vampires.
The presence of shadowy elven undead and thralls points to a vampiric or necromantic influence dominating the area.**
Silver and vitality-based attacks are effective against the undead enemies, consistent with classic tropes.

Session 14 begins inside the coffin maker’s house fighting vampire spawns. The party have discovered and engaged multiple vampire spawn enemies: Roublard (the only female spawn), Pietroden, Guerrier, and Marouvien (potential leader).

Grughilda began grappled but successfully escaped with an athletics check of 23 against DC 16. Escape is a single action that counts as an attack action, meaning no additional attack in the same turn. Roublard attempted to grab Tenzin but failed; she remains angry and aggressive. Marouvien, the presumed leader, uses a mental domination attempt requiring a will save; rage does not grant immunity to mental effects, but Grughilda manages to stave off the effect.

Positive energy attacks (Vitality Lash) by party members Zandarius and Hex are effective, causing large damage to vampire spawn. Roublard was knocked unconscious by a critical fail on saving throw against Vitality Lash. The spawn remain are aggressive but surprised by the resistance, indicating this is an unusual fight for them. Iggy uses Disrupt Undead (variant of Vitality Lash) against one vampire spawn but misses his Fortitude save. Players discuss the importance of fully killing vampire spawn (decapitation or similar) to prevent revival; double-tap philosophy is emphasized.

One vampire spawn, Marouvien, shifts into a mist form and begins attempting to escape by bleeding out through window shutters. But mist form is vulnerable to positive damage and can be targeted by Vitality Lash (although it is immune to physical attacks). Hex successfully inflicts enfeebled condition on the mist, reducing its strength-based abilities, while the other players coordinate to keep the mist in sight and continue attacking.

The coffin maker flees the scene carrying a large ornate box approximately 1 ft tall, 2.5 ft deep, and 3 ft wide. Akutagawa decides to give chase by jumping out the second floor window and is quickly followed by Grughilda and Tenzin. Meanwhile, the rest of the party moves down stairs to pursue or regroup.

Players successfully behead multiple vampire spawns, collecting severed heads covered in black blood. The heads remain animate briefly but the bodies stop moving after decapitation. The vampire spawn outside the building remains a threat but is targeted next. The coffin maker escapes with the ornate box, prompting a pursuit. Players begin bagging heads and cleaning the scene, using prestidigitation spells and other means to tidy up.

Pursuit and Investigation

Akuta follows the coffin maker through town, observing him enter a modest townhouse. Voices, light, and activity inside indicate someone is present; Akuda listens and notes words like “bones,” “attack,” and “destroyed.” After Akuta knocks and attempts to scare the inhabitants, he hears activity inside then silence. After breaking in, Akuta finds the townhouse is poor in appearance; the coffin maker’s box is missing, suggesting it was taken by someone. In the rear, the shutters were open to the street, the likely exit for Henrik and his friend.

Town Exploration and Social Interactions

The party canvasses the area, talking with townsfolk about Henrik’s whereabouts. But the Festival of the Blazing Sun is ending; townsfolk are tired and somewhat uncooperative but provide limited information. Townsfolk identify the house where Henrik hid; it is the residence of a man named Milivoj, a Vistani; recently the two appeared to be arguing and now with recent events are potentially involved with the vampire activities. The party learns the coffin maker has no known family and has many friends in town.

While they are walking, they spy a woman watching them from down the street – pretty, smiling, and bearing a large basket of pastries. Hex identifies her as the one hag that escaped them at the Bonegrinder, and begins to give chase, but the woman ducks down an alleyway and disappears.

Players see Constable Vasha, who is wary but cooperative, and invites them to stop by his home in an hour. Once there, Vasha explains local politics, festival history, and expresses suspicion about missing relic bones and vampire activities.

Vasha reveals that the Festival of St. Andel, a local saint, is coming in a couple weeks, and part of the festivities are the parading of the saint’s bones through the streets of Vallaki. The box the party described is reminiscent of the box containing the Saint’s bones, but Vasha is unaware that they have gone missing. he promises to speak with Father Lucien at St. Andal’s.

Vasha also talks about the return of a lost child, Luca, to his family, who gift the party with finely made leather gloves as thanks. Another child, Raia, is identified as potential Vistani and is being cared for by a matron. Vasha says that Raia named someone named Uncle Arry or Harry may have taken Rya to the windmill. Players plan to investigate the camp and the hag’s whereabouts for clues.

Armorer and Equipment Upgrades

After leaving Vasha’s the party visits the dwarven smith, who reports the armor will be ready by Tuesday, following the festival. By the time they returned to the Blue Water Inn, a liveried messenger was waiting with an invitation: It’s a formal invitation from Lady Fiona Walker, a powerful local noble, for dinner two evenings hence—an opportunity to discuss matters in a refined setting. The invitation acknowledges the party’s reputation and hints at mutual interests, reflecting the party’s growing notoriety.

After sending the messenger away, sans gratuity, a boy comes to the Blue Water Inn to tell the party that Thalric has the “thing they discussed.” After wending their way through several backstreets, they meet up with Thalric. The smith presents a new masterwork silver shortsword, which Grughilda names names Glimmer, crafted from the party’s silver.

Glimmer details:

The sword is accompanied by an ancient card depicting The Judge, symbolizing justice and strength, believed to imbue the weapon with power. The sword’s handle is wrapped in green cord, matching the symbolic card.

Meanwhile, ongoing investigations continue, including searching for the hag, tracking Henrik and Milivoj’s movements, and uncovering the mystery of the missing relic bones. The session ends with plans to regroup, rest, and prepare for upcoming diplomatic and investigative encounters.

Key Conclusions

The party’s combat with vampire spawn was successful but complex, involving strategic targeting of weaknesses such as decapitation and positive energy damage.

The coffin maker Henrik’s behavior is suspicious, likely coerced or compromised by the vampire spawn, and his fleeing with the ornate box suggests a deeper mystery involving relics or artifacts.

The party is gaining political and social traction, receiving tokens of authority from local constables and invitations from nobility, indicating their importance in town affairs.

Investigations into missing relic bones, potential vampire infiltration, and the whereabouts of key NPCs (Henrik, Milivoj, the hag) are central to the ongoing narrative.