RECAP: Curse of Strahd, 7-12-26

This session recounts a detailed role-playing game adventure centered on infiltrating the Burgomaster’s mansion to rescue a captive servant, gather intelligence, and navigate complex loyalties. The group faces both combat and stealth challenges, uncovering political intrigue and magical dangers within the estate.

1. Overview of the Mission and Setting

• The party was engaged by Lady Fiona Wachter, a local noblewoman dissatisfied with the current Burgomaster, Baron Vargas Vallakovich.
• Lady Fiona suspects the Burgomaster is in league with the evil Count Strahd, possibly torturing or experimenting on her loyal servant, Udo Ludovich, who has been captured and hidden within the mansion.
• The party’s primary objective is to rescue Udo, while the secondary and more covert goal is to destabilize the Burgomaster’s rule.
• The mansion is large with multiple floors, inhabited by servants, guards, and the Vallakovich family; the atmosphere is tense and dangerous.

Key Characters

Name	Role	Traits and Details
Lady Fiona Wachter	Local noblewoman	Wants to remove the Burgomaster and rescue her servant
Baron Vargas Vallakovich	Burgomaster of Vallaki	Powerful, feared ruler, possibly allied with Count Strahd
Victor Vallakovich	Son of Burgomaster, young wizard	Interest in magic, ostracized by father, secretly hostile
Udo Ludovich	Captured servant	Imprisoned and possibly tortured in the mansion’s dungeon
Servants and Guards	Mansion staff and defenders	Mixed loyalties; some detected as evil
The Party	Player characters	Adventurers tasked with infiltration, rescue, and investigation

The party scouts the mansion at night, noting:

• The Burgomaster’s carriage and horses are outside, but the servants’ horses are not present.
• Servants are active inside, especially in the kitchen, but no clear access to an alleged basement or undercroft is visible.
• The mansion contains multiple secured doors..
• Bundles of aromatic sticks scattered around may serve as protection against vampires or to mask other scents.

Strategic Plan Ideas:

• Spooking the horses with magical hot sand to create a distraction, clearing the guard outside to allow stealthy entry.
• Using detect evil alignment spells to identify hostile individuals inside.
• Exploiting unguarded doors or windows to infiltrate quietly.

Detected as Evil:

• Lady Vallakovich
• Her interlocutor, Oskar Montov
• A guest, Lady Lanatov (maybe a Vistani?)
• Scullery maid Hilda

Infiltration and Discovery

Hot sand magically conjured by Faelen clings to the horses’ hindquarters, causing chaos that sends the horses down the cobblestoned street pulls the guard away from the entrance. The party enters the mansion through the now unguarded front door. They navigate the hallway, observing unusual decor such as bundles of aromatic sticks and large plants, possibly for protection.

Entering the first floor, the party sees a large entry hall, lined with doors that could be servants’ quarters, the kitchen, and the rooms that they’ve peered into from outside. But the sound of dogs barking send the party scampering (loudly) up the stairs. Above, they overhear a conversation between Lady Vallakovich and (possibly?) the Burgomaster himself, trying to find out what or who is causing the noise. Lady Vallakovich believes that it’s the guard seeking assistance to recapture the horses, and they ultimately dismiss the noise and return to their previous activities.

On the second floor, the party suspects there are bedrooms, the Burgomaster’s library, and other rooms, but they spy a staircase going up and make for it right away. The attic at first seems disused… but they spot distinctive paths through the thick dust on the floor and past the stored furniture and crates. At first, the attic seems deserted, but then they come to a door that is definitely indicative of activity:

Behind, the voice of of a young man, essaying a spell and failing, interspersing magical words with curses. But worse, Akutagawa discovers that the skull is trapped with a magical glyph, one that emits lightning against those who trigger it, probably by opening the door. The party gets the door open and defangs the trap, drawing the teenage Victor Vallakovich, the Burgomaster’s son, out to investigate.

The room itself, reclaimed from the dusty attic, is dusty and lined with magical items and bones, including skeletal cats. It contains macabre decorations, including a magic circle reminiscent of teleportation glyphs.

Tenzin and Zandarius charge in and capture Victor, the put him to the question while the rest of the party searches the room. At first, they come on strong and threaten the boy, which prompts him to call his skeletal cats to come aid him – they are Animated, undead creatures in his service, and they begin to attack. Velkro blasts one with Vintaity Lash, but the battle slows as the orcs get more information from Victor…

• He is disaffected with his father, the Burgomaster.
• He desires to study magic freely and escape Vallaki.
• He has no knowledge of any prisoners but hints that his father might have hidden them somewhere in the mansion, possibly in the libraryt.
• He offers to cooperate and act as a guide, if the party in turn promises to take him from Vallaki.

The party agrees to get Victor out of Vallaki, and returns downstairs to continue seeking out Udo, Lady Wachter’s servant and the object of their mission. Following Victor’s guidance, the party locates a torture chamber or prison room in the mansion’s 2nd floor where Udo is shackled and badly beaten. He’s unconscious but alive, wearing only a loincloth, chained to the wall. The party uses healing magic to stabilize Udo and start his recovery.

But as they discuss how to get Udo and Victor out of the mansion, they nearby the voices of the Burgomaster and his associates are overheard; dogs are barking in adjacent rooms, signaling heightened danger. The party quickly barricades the prison room door and listens for movement before making their escape plans. Moving fast to a empty servants’ quarters, the party finds an untended window and lower Victor out of the second-story window on a rope, with his skeletal cats accompanying him. Victor hides in bushes nearby while the party exfiltrates with Udo.

Lady Fiona’s carriage arrives to pick up Udo and Victor; the team plans to hand Victor over to her for safekeeping. After they depart, the party returns toward the mansion, and guests are observed leaving the mansion, including the Burgomaster and his wife, signaling a temporary lull. The party contemplates returning for a direct confrontation with the Burgomaster, now relatively unguarded.

Key Insights and Conclusions

• The Burgomaster’s household is rife with dark magic and internal dissent. His son Victor rebels by secretly practicing necromancy and wishes to escape.
• Lady Fiona Wachter is leveraging outside help to challenge the Burgomaster’s corrupt control over Vallaki , highlighting local political intrigue.
• The party’s primary mission to rescue Udo was successful, providing leverage against the Burgomaster.
• Victor Vallkovich as an NPC ally presents both opportunities and complications due to his youth, magical abilities, and family ties.
• The unfolding narrative leaves the Burgomaster’s fate and the deeper conspiracies in Vallaki as open threads for further sessions.