RECAP: Curse of Strahd Session 2, 10-12-25

Last time, Madame Eva performed Tarokka reading, which provided cryptic messages and guidance for the players, including:

The Tome of Strahd:
“This card tells of history. Knowledge of the ancient will help you better understand your enemy.”

“Look for a den of wolves in the hills overlooking a mountain lake. The treasure belongs to Mother Night.”

The Holy Symbol of Ravenkind
“This card tells of a powerful force for good and protection, a holy symbol of great hope.”

“I see a fallen house guarded by a great stone dragon. Look to the highest peak.”

The Sunsword
“This is a card of power and strength. It tells of a weapon of vengeance: a sword of sunlight.”

“Look for a wizard’s tower on a lake. Let the wizard’s name and servant guide you to that which you seek.”

Strahd’s Enemy
“This card sheds light on one who will help you greatly in the battle against darkness.”

“Evil’s bride is the one you seek!”

Strahd
“Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!”

“Your enemy is a creature of darkness, whose powers are beyond mortality. This card will lead you to him!”

Interpreting Madame Eva’s messages and deciding their next course of action, however, may be a more difficult prospect.

In the meantime, two new players needed to have their tarot cards drawn:

For Akutagawa the Goblin: The High Priestess

For Iggy the Qadiran, The Moon

After leaving Madame Eva’s house, the players notice a mysterious man spying on them; they began to approach, but the man immediately skedaddled into the narrow alleyways of southern Vallaki. But just moments afterward, the group was approached by a man in a dark, hooded cloak.

Best you don’t follow that guy. [pause, then louder] You guys: don’t follow that man.
Why not? | Yeah. Why not? | He looks sneaky.
Well, he *was* spying on you.
But, that’s all the more reason to follow him! | I want to know why he’s so interested in us.
Oh, I know why he’s interested in you. I can tell you.
Why? What’s going on?
He knows how you got here.

Amine Ibn Ignis Ibn Draconis, or “Iggy,” is a somewhat socially awkward male witch with a unusual glass-winged familiar named Faline, who joins the party to help them navigate this strange place. The group decides to head back to the Blue Water Inn with Iggy, who informs them along the way that he’s from Qadira, who tells them that he knows about their arrival in Barovia and the silver they possess, and that his patron sent him to Moussif and, then, on to here. Upon arrival (and the arched eyebrows of Urwin the proprietor) Iggy shares that he was brought to the Blue Water Inn, and that he has been tasked by his patron to help the group, who are trying to find a way to return to their own world. Iggy goes on to expain that he was searching for a lost library and was killed by a monk, but was brought back to life and has since been learning from his patron, who wants him to stop reading books and start practicing the hex arts.

The group does some preliminary investigation the town of Vallakia, its social dynamics, and the looming threat of the Count’s agents, a group of secret police identifiable by their raven medallions.

The group discusses the possibility of creating a fake amulet to impersonate the Count’s men, with Iggy offering to make a glass amulet, since he is skilled in glasswork. Someone else suggests that they might be able to acquire a real one, although they aver that this course of action might incur the notice and potential wrath of the Count.

They go on to learn from various sources about the Durst family tragedy – an entire family vanished under mysterious circumstances, their house now dubbed the “haunted house” or “death house.” Iggy tells them that his patron has told him is important to visit, and Iggy shares that he has heard it may contain someone or something that can help them decipher Madam Eva’s pronouncements. The group asks Urwin about it, who tells them that the house used to be the Durst family’s home, but they disappeared about 15 years ago, and it’s believed that they ran afoul of the Count.

Not wanting to seem too keen, the party tells Urwin they plan to visit one of his competitors, the Blackwater Tavern, and head out into the streets of Vallakia. The sky is even darker now, despite it being early afternoon, and there is a chill in the air. The party, as they travel, occasionally get a rudimentary greeting – a nod, a brief meeting of eyes – but no one speaks to them despite their outlandish appearance. Whatever the foibles of the citizens of Vallaki, prejudice against those with green skin do not number amongst them.

But the charms of the Blackwater would have to wait. The group decides to explore a bit of the town, looking for interesting nooks and artisans of unusual wares, while Akutagawa scouted ahead to gather information. The group discusses their plan, deciding to walk north and avoid making a beeline for the death house, with Iggy watching behind them for anyone tailing them

On approach the death house, noticing it’s old, dilapidated, and seemingly abandoned, but with a ghostly light flickering in the top floor.

Faline approaches the attic window and sees a flickering light that dims as she gets closer, eventually revealing a dark room with small beds, a toy chest, and a dollhouse, as well as two child-sized skeletons.

Akutagawa decides to scout around the perimeter of the house, but the only notable features are the shuttered windows on the back wall of the mansion. When he returns, the group discovers a single, partially obscured footprint near the entrance, likely from a man’s boot, size 10 or 11, which is not enormous but reasonably big for a human. Akuta then approached the front door, finding a wrought iron gate that filled the stone portico but no lock in evidence. When pulled open, it made a loud screeching noise, but the absence of people on the streets gave them confidence no one had heard.

The front door proves to be similarly open, but the group can’t see much inside without light, despite their dark vision. As they step inside, they see a foyer with a door at the end, and they notice a coat of arms on a shield and a painting on the wall, which appears to be a family portrait of Mr. Gustav and Elizabeth Durst with their two children:

The group examines the painting and the shield, and they notice that one of the children in the painting is not listed on the plate, and the shield is decorative, not meant for combat. A portrait on the wall is investigated, and behind it, a hole is found about four feet off the ground, which could be a peephole, approximately three-quarters of an inch in diameter.

Grughilda checks for any sounds from the next room and thinks she may have heard a faint scritching sound, then kicks the door open to find a den with a fireplace and a large stag’s head mounted above it, resembling a hunter’s den. The room also contains taxidermied wolves on wooden pedestals, a desk with animal skin rugs, and cabinets, one of which has a very obvious padlock on it. Zandarius finds rat droppings behind one of the wolves and decides to cast a spell called Mystic Armor, giving himself a ward of magical energy.

The group opens a cabinet, finding three crossbows, each with 20 bolts, and a hand crossbow that Iggy decides to take, despite not being proficient with it. The group discusses taking the crossbows and the sword they found earlier, considering selling them later, and also finds a bar cabinet with wine glasses, decks of playing cards, and wine bottles.

Tenzin decides to lift up a bearskin and discover the sources of the scritching nose, and manages to scare up a swarm of rats underneath, which then attack them. The group begins to fight the rats, with Tenzin using a flurry of blows to attack them, and Grughilda moving to flank and taking a whack at the rats with her sword. Akutagawa is still up and decides to attack the rats with his Dog Slicer, rolling an 18 and hitting the rats, but they are immune to precision damage, But the rats disperse and run away after Akutagawa’s second hit, with some of them scattering into the other room.

The group searches the room, finds the little nest where the rats were hiding, along with a deer skin that is in good condition, as well as a bear skin that has been damaged by the rats. The group decides to search the desk, which is actually a little table with a game of backgammon on it, and finds that the window is locked from the inside, but can be opened to reveal the front yard. The group discovers a hole in the wall that is covered by an armoire, and when they move the armoire, they find that the hole is about four feet off the ground, potentially allowing a small kid or a goblin to look into the room. Faline searches for the other side of the hole and finds it, noticing that it has a hand-carved quality and is not obvious to someone using the armoire.

The group enters a dining room with a large, carved mahogany table, dinnerware, crystal goblets, and a painting of a mountain valley, and they notice that the tableware is polished and not dusty, despite the rest of the room being covered in dust.

The group uses detect magic and finds that the tableware radiates minor magic, which seems to be designed to keep it clean – a set of self-cleaning dishes and glassware, albeit with no coats of arms or identifiable markings.

Back in the main hall, Akutagawa picks a lock on a door, which leads to a cloakroom with several black cloaks and a black hat, and the group discusses the possibility of using the cloaks to blend in, with some considering modifying the hat to fit Akuta, Finally, the group searches the kitchen and finds it tidy with fresh food, including cuts of meat and vegetables, but no signs of recent cooking or eating, and Faline discovers a dumb waiter that leads to the upper floors of the house, but decides not to use it.

Grughilda leads the group up the stairs and finds herself in a room at the top of the stairs, with an enclosed center and a hallway with unlit oil lamps, a fireplace, and another portrait of the Durst family. The group examines suits of armor with wolf-faced helmets and spears, which appear to be serviceable but not masterwork, and are posed on wooden structures.