Our
Heroes waited with baited breath as the flock of bats flew from the roof of the
Castle Ravenloft Greenhouse to the open window of the
Castle Ravenloft Observatory.
Übel Bachmann identified the flock as being unnatural, surmising that it
must be a
Vampire in their bat form, much like she saw
Strahd von Zarovich take on the
Castle Ravenloft Walls the night prior.
Mina Barovonna was able to lipread the bats, and discovered that many were chanting in unison, speaking a
Chorric spell.
The Heroes readied themselves, and when the bats flew through the window they materialised into
Ludmilla Vilisevic, who encased herself in magical armour that covered her breast and heart with adamantine. She grabbed Mina by the throat and lifted her into the air, instilling primal fear in the gathered Heroes. She proceeded to question and threaten them for snooping through her works, but Mina was able to convince her to ease up. Relaxing
somewhat, and curious at the motivations of the Heroes, Ludmilla reverted to her usual dress and was willing to talk.
The Heroes proceeded to ask her a few questions, beginning with
Valentina Dilisnya asking about the
Abbey of St. Markovia. Ludmilla, almost as if giving an encyclopedia lecture on the matter, talked about its history, its importance to the
Dawnic Church, and even the
Abbot who inhabits it, calling them a "Symphonic Cyst." With some prying, Valentina and Mina together were able to get Ludmilla to express her view of metaphysics and the planes of existence. She is of the belief that the Gods are
not divine beings, but merely thought-forms created by mortals — who are ultimately expressions of the
Song of Creation — through their own psychic coallescence. She was offered the metaphor that the Song was less controlled by the Gods, and more that it was merely many voices singing together to create reality. She rebutted that it is instead "one universe, singing through many voices."
Ludmilla went on to explain the movements of her fellow
Consorts — saying that
Volenta Popofsky lairs within the
Castle Ravenloft Boudoirs and Cabinets, but spends much of her time in the old
Castle Ravenloft Servants' Quarters, whilst
Anastrasya d'Karelova lairs in the
Castle Ravenloft Chapel, but likely spends her time in the
Castle Ravenloft Ballroom or
Castle Ravenloft Kitchens. She is unsure where
Escher von Preshlow spends his time, though she has intercepted letters he has attempted to send to
Ezmerelda d'Avenir — the
Firebrand — which she has since burned.
Ludmilla also explained some of her backstory, stating that she gave a lecture at
Strahd von Zarovich University in 464 ME fighting back against Strahd's ban on magic. She was then kidnapped by Strahd's Consorts at the time — "Marishka, Verona, and Aleera" — and dragged before Strahd. She expected to be killed for her defiance, but instead Strahd turned her into a Vampire. She went on to say that Strahd only ever keeps three Consorts at a time — with her turning replacing Marishka — and that it is only a matter of time before he "locks away one of us in his
Crypt," implying that all of his Consorts are still "alive" but bricked up and trapped forever. Mina managed to coax out Ludmilla's theory on who the spy is by playing into this cycle of three, to which Ludmilla gave three answers:
- The "smart choice" (at least, on the surface) would be to choose Ludmilla, for she is the oldest of the Consorts by far, and therefore the most deadly; but she is evidently willing to talk to them and even work with them, as it is clear she hates Strahd, and wishes for nothing else but to be free of his cage.
- The "wise choice" would be to choose Anastrasya, for she is rabid and hates the Heroes — especially Ireena Kolyanovich, whom Ludmilla called "evidence of her failure."
- The "obvious choice" would be to choose Escher, given the letters he was trying to send to Ezmerelda.
Übel also asked Ludmilla how the Firebrand and her troops managed to make it into
Castle Ravenloft, to which Lumilla replied that Strahd has "three weaknesses: his propriety, his arrogance, and his love of the
Vistani." Apparently Strahd
invited Ezmerelda and her companions into Castle Ravenloft, much as he did with the Heroes, and once inside she was able to bring her mob in and slew Strahd. Ludmilla indicated that she
let Ezmerelda strike the killing blow, though Strahd may not be aware of this treachery, and that afterwards Ezmerelda merely walked out using her strange abilities. The rest of her companions were captured, with only Escher being favoured by Strahd (and presumably
Doru Donavich as well, as he has been turned into a Vampire Spawn).
Lastly, Ludmilla indicated that she needs as the lynchpin for her work, the ability that Ezmerelda has learned: the ability to sever herself from her name, and the memetics thereof. Something about this ability is vital to her research, and would allow her to fulfill her plans. Mina hinted that she had leads on how to find Ezmerelda, and Ludmilla instructed her to bring such information to her laboratory in
Proske (though she did not give specific instructions on where it is).
After talking with Ludmilla, our Heroes cross from the Observatory tower to the
Castle Ravenloft Spires, where they began experiencing strange "pranks" being played on them, such as Übel shoelaces being tied together, or Mina's bow hair being untethered. The group attempted to find the source of these pranks, with Valentina and Ireena taking shelter on top of some ruined tables, and Übel hiding in a wooden box filled with strange long rushes that smelled like a swamp. Mina began to play a song like carival music, and sang an old jaunty tune known to be sung by the original
Peter "Pidlwick" Dilisnya, and shortly she was joined by another voice, though stilted and jarring. A small little doll then tumbled out from the darkness, finishing the song, but it was blinded by Valentina's magic, and began stabbing around violently with a knife. Übel sprang from her hiding place, and tried to grapple the doll, but as they rolled around, it managed to look a garrote around her throat. Just before it could strangle her, Mina tricked it into thinking the tumble was part of a game, declaring "but they were best friends!"
The doll — revealing itself to be
Pidlwick II — was eventually reasoned with, and befriended by the Heroes, who learned that he still believed he belonged to Strahd, and that he couldn't leave his owner's home. He also mentioned that Volenta was known to come into the Spires often, and would talk to a wolf's skull named
Lup which was kept in the bog-smelling box. The box apparently arrived in Castle Ravenloft whilst Strahd was udnergoing his deathrest, and had remained there since, until Volenta came and took it the previous evening after the dance. Pidlwick mentioned that she would talk to the skull, and a voice coming from it claimed to be "Strahd's mother." The Heroes became suspicious, and believe that Lup may be a Witch's familiar, and might be something similar to
Gabhar.
With Pidlwick in toe, the Heroes explored down the
Castle Ravenloft Great Stairs where they discovered a massive construction hanging in the middle of the tower drum: a latticework of lead and red-stained glass resembling a gigantic anatomically correct heart (the
Heart of Glass). On investigation, Valentina believes it contains many shards of stained glass from the defiled churches around
Barovia, but that they have been restained in blood. Additionally, she believed the spellwork on it made it into some form of vessel for Divine magic or faith, much like the newer and controversial
Dawnic reliquaries used beyond the
Mists. Given the doubt set into her by her conversation with Ludmilla, and previous musings on the nature of the planes and the missing presence of the
Morninglord, Valentina came to the conclusion that perhaps whilst within Barovia her prayers — and those of the other faithful — have been going to the Abbot instead, as a locus of Divine power. With the profanement of the churches, and the Bones of
Saint Andral, more of this psychic energy would be going to fewer and fewer places. Were one to remove
all of those sinks, then perhaps this Heart is intended to be a vessel — a battery of sorts — to collect all of that faith... Valentina did not know
to what end this Heart was built, but knew it couldn't be good. Pidlwick was also able to identify that this was the project Strahd has been working on for the last week, and he only finished it the previous morning.
Once the Heroes returned to the 2nd landing, they headed to the
Castle Ravenloft West Wing Hallways, and then into the
Castle Ravenloft Boudoirs and Cabinets, where they found a room set aside for "stage magic," including a sawing table and other such petty tricks. They smelled the scent of incense being burned somewhere, and Ireena appeared to become entranced, walking towards the sawing table which opened of its own accord.
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