#16: Walls That Whisper
General Summary
Our Heroes awoke within Castle Ravenloft, in the Apartments that had been set aside for them on the south-western facing of the castle. Ireena Kolyanovich appeared to have a difficult sleep, and was extremely tired still, but there was no evidence that any harm had come to her, or intrusion into their rooms over night. The party ate breakfast, and then heard the loud booming of a grandfather clock downstairs, marking 8am. Remembering they had until "evening" to follow through with Strahd von Zarovich's task, the Heroes set out to explore the castle.
Taking an immediate left from their apartments, the Heroes moved through the Castle Ravenloft Baths, though did not linger to explore. They moved north, through to the Castle Ravenloft Grooms' Quarters, where they met Lief Lipsiege — the Vistier — who was immediately befriended by Mina Barovonna. Whilst Mina talked with Lief, Soryn d'Nemishcata investigated the magical chains which bound him, and discovered that he was bound to the castle itself, and couldn't leave its walls. Übel Bachmann managed to look over his accounts, and learned that all the silver that had come into the County of Barovia — perhaps for hundreds of years — was stored in the Honourable Bank of Barovia in Vallaki.
Mina managed to work around Lief's bindings — which both prevented him from writing anything other than his "duties," as well as his impressed-upon madness from being forced to be a semi-corporeal Ghost for so long — and the Vistier was able to write out much useful information for the Heroes. They discovered from him that Rahadin Temnoye split his time in the castle between meditating in the Castle Ravenloft Solars, or torturing Barovian citizens — most recently a Werewolf — in the Castle Ravenloft Dungeons. He also spends time in the Castle Ravenloft Catacombs, but Lief is unable to go into that region of the castle, presumably because it is not built with the stones that make up its walls.
Though Lief gave the Heroes much information on Rahadin, he actually holds most of his suspicions for Ludmilla Vilisevic, saying she deals with the Fetchers very often, and "conveniently forgets" to record the amount of money she pays, and yet never seems to get things brought back to the castle, thus he believes they are serving as her spies, and she is paying for information... though he admittedly could not be certain, as he is unable to leave the walls of Ravenloft, and therefore has never overheard their meetings (and assumes she could be having her smuggled goods delivered elsewhere).
After bidding farewell to Lief — though securing his goodwill — the Heroes continued on north through the castle, and came to the Castle Ravenloft Nursery. They explored this area as well, and found it had apparently not been used for a very long time, perhaps not since before the coming of the Mists. Despite this, there was a pristine bassinet — unmarred by dust or rot — with a small toy grizzly bear tucked into it. Valentina Dilisnya attempted to read the tag around the bear's neck, but it appeared to animate magically when she drew close, attempting to snap at her. She was able to read that the tag said "Is no fun? Is no Blinsky!" which shouldn't be possible, if the room hadn't been accessed in such a long time. Soryn investigated the bassinet, and found it was created from one single stump of a tree, with some of its roots still visible underneath. It was woven through with strange protection, or perhaps purifying Nature magic. Soryn also identified that the stump was from the same kind of tree as the roots which grew in the Wachter Manor basement. Lastly, Mina and Übel could tell that something was watching the room through a hole in the ceiling which revealed a crawlspace before they entered, but the figure fled at their approach. When Übel inspected the crawlspace, she found hand and footprints which indicated a very small humanoid, like a tiny child wearing mittens, perhaps.
The Heroes moved east through to the Castle Ravenloft East Wing Hallways, and then into the Castle Ravenloft Library where Mina, Valentina, and Soryn pawed through the stacks. Mina found a tome named On the Binding of Angels, and took it for Valentina to decipher the meaning of, once Mina read the Old Yazyk to her. Soryn found Tree Worship and Other Heresies of Rassveta and Beyond, a tome detailing some of the ancient practices of the Zori and Archfey, and learned from it that the roots in the basement, the stump of the bassinet, and tree upon Yester Hill are all almost certainly from a Linden Tree, a fey-touched species which is believed to act as a bridge between Refrain and Harmony. These trees are said to resonate with very strong Nature magic, and acted as focal points for the worship and practice of many pre-modern societies. When such trees are profaned, they become what is known as a Gulthias Tree.
Whilst the Heroes were reading in the Library, the clock struck 9am, and Übel noticed some form of malevolent spirit tinkering around in the stacks of books. She was able to shout a warning down to her companions, who attempted to get out of the way as the bookshelves came tumbling down upon them. Only Soryn was hurt badly, but she recovered quickly with magical attention. However, the assualt from the spirits urged the Heroes to move on, and they climbed up the iron staircase into the Castle Ravenloft Observatory. At the top, they discovered a converted belltower with a window taken out so that a telescope could be used at that height. There was a workstation, clearly used by Ludmilla Vilisevic, and countless journals written by hand. Übel used the telescope at its current facing and saw, in the norht-west of the County, a large wolf-shaped cave mouth which was clearly inhabited. Übel also identified that there should have been more to Ludmilla's laboratory, and deduced that there must be other hidden lairs of hers out there somewhere. Soryn's reading of the journals identified that Ludmilla was attempting to discover where — metaphysically — the County of Barovia was by studying the stars. She found numerous mentions of the "Skein of Night," the name "Night-Haunter," and a reference to Rahadin's current prisoner, a Werewolf named Emil Toranescu.
Mina also took the time to read through the tome she took for Valentina, and together they learned that — at least in its author's belief — an Angel is a "fragmented, shattered 'mote' of a God, a divine being." They believed there may be parallels with what Gabhar is. They also read the entry a specific Angel, one identified as the Abbot. At this point the bell in the tower — though taken down and inoperable — began to hauntingly ring extremely loudly. Clutching at their ears, the Heroes heard a loud screech of bats down in the courtyard, and felt as if something dark was headed their way...
Report Date
05 May 2025
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