Back at
Wachter Manor with the Bones of
Saint Andral, the
Heroes awoke and found the place
relatively empty, with most of the servants and disguised soldiers already preparing for the day ahead. The group decided to investigate the secret room below the library, but on the way
Übel Bachmann noticed the broken fake key in
Vasili von Holtz's lock had been removed. Downstairs, the Heroes discovered an old root cellar which had been dug up and changed into some sort of ritual room: a dead tree grew out of a patch of earth below pried up flagstones, a great ancient root had burst through the far wall, and a table scattered with stone chips and wooden offcuts. Further, the whole small room was suffuce with a terrible smell like bad breath mixed with rotten leaves.
Our Heroes investigated the scene, and determined the following:
- Whoever was performing the magic down here had received or sent innumeral castings of Voice on the Breeze, allowing them to communicate with someone potentially anywhere in the County of Barovia. The last such casting was over a day before.
- The root appeared to have several river stones that were embedded in it pried free, and strips of bark taken from its surface. Otherwise, it was large enough, and had the resonance of having Nature's Pathway cast on it. The last casting was 4 days prior, around the time of the Festival of the Blazing Sun.
- The stones on the tabletop seemed to have been the offcuts of the river stones pried free from the root, which had revealed geodes inside. The faint traces left showed signs of several castings of Everlight. The spellwork on the bark scraps, however, could not be determined.
- The dead tree appeared to be a recent — within the last hour — casting of Tree of Seasons, with all its seed pods removed. Though these seeds are usually used as celebratory "fireworks" during rituals to the Reaper and Sower, they could also be used as powerful explosives...
All of the magical work had very powerful Primal energy thrumming through it, causing confusion among the Heroes over who could have cast it. It was determined that the caster was either:
Strahd von Zarovich,
Ludmilla Vilisevic, or
Fiona Wachter.
Afterwards, the Heroes went to the
Church of St. Andral, where
Valentina Dilisnya met
Kereza Grejenko — the woman she had previously healed on the morning before the Festival of the Blazing Sun — and discovered she had become an
Initiate of the
Dawnic Church, with hopes of joining the
Sacred Order of the Blessed Markovia.
Father Lucien Petrovich learned about the Bones, but discovered with Valentina's help that they had been completely desecrated by their ordeal. It was revealed that this desecration was
somewhat permanent, though they could be reconsecrated via divine intervention, well above Valentina's skill set. The group devised a plan, where the Bones would be taken to the
Cathedral of St. Remus — dedicated to
Saint Remus — in
Proske by Lucien, who would be publically exposed as a drunkard and apostate from the Church, so that no one would go looking for him. The public would believe the Bones had been taken to the
Abbey of St. Markovia to be protected and prayed over after the attempted theft of them was exposed.
At the
Feast of Saint Andral itself, Valentina led the reliquary with a gathering of faithful, including
Ireena Kolyanovich and
Kobal Barthos. However, as they approached the dias — where
Vargas Vallakovich was giving an address alongside
Victor Vallakovich,
Lydia Petrovna,
Fiona Wachter,
Stella Wachter,
Vasili von Holtz, and
Mina Barovonna, Valentina sensed the seeds from the Tree of Seasons had been implanted in the supports of the dias.
Whilst standing atop the dias, Mina noticed a strange tint to the
Golden Gourd hanging in the centre of the Blazing Sun, and realised it
wasn't the Gourd at all, but a fake, constructed from the stripped bark and Everlights. She messaged this information to Valentina, but at that same moment Fiona triggered the seeds to explode. The dias listed forward, narrowly avoiding killing those atop it, as Vasili whisked Stella and Fiona to safety. Vargas managed to protect his family and flee from the scene, as his remaining troops began to fight with the
House Wachter soldiers who seemed intent on keeping everyone in the square, and thus crushed under the now-rolling Blazing Sun.
Übel managed to squeeze her way inside the Blazing Sun, and attempted to roll it away like a hampster wheel, but was unable to redirect its energy. Valentina attempted to inspire people to flee, and with Mina's help and that of a phantom crowd, many of those in danger were able to get out safely. Valentina then attempted to stop the rolling Sun with the reliquary, but the faithful fled in panic, and her and Kobol were not enough to brace it properly. Seeing her friends about to be crushed to death, Mina blew out the bottom of the Sun, causing it to crash around Valentina and the reliquary, rather than roll over them.
As the dust settled, Vasili returned and congratulated everyone on surprising "him," before he removed his
Death Mask revealing
Volenta Popofsky underneath. He was joined by
Ludmilla Vilisevic who took the strips of bark off of Übel and flung them over the rooftops to the south of town, causing a large fireball to explode and light the rooftops on fire. Though this would
still cause an inferno, the blaze would be significantly more superficial than if the Blazing Sun had been left to crash into the residential areas. Thus, to Ludmilla's reasoning, this was a "compromise" between the Heroes' efforts, and whatever the
Consorts were planning on behalf of
Strahd von Zarovich.
Volenta then produced a written and magically warded
Invitation to Dinner for the Heroes, saying that Strahd wanted them to dine in
Castle Ravenloft that evening. They asked the Heroes to follow them, as their master's
Black Coach awaited outside the city walls...
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