Session 3 Report

The party made their way into the settlement of Krezk, following the Burgomaster Dmitri Krezkov. He took them to his cottage, where they met his wife Anna and son Ilya.
The party inquired about the Abbey on the hill overlooking the village. They were told it was previously an old convent used to care for the sick during Strahd’s initial conquest of Barovia. When Strahd was turned, Saint Markovia led a small army to castle Ravenloft, however they were all vanquished. The Abbey has since become home to the mysterious and reclusive Abbot. The party learned little about him, besides the fact he is very powerful, and the only thing keeping Krezk as a safe haven from Strahd and the wolves. However, he does not accept visitors for any reason. In the meantime, they were told to visit the pool blessed by Markovia and the accompanying shrine.
They made their way to the shrine for the pious to pray, led by Ilya. On their journey, they heard the ringing of bells from the Abbey, accompanied by dreadful wails. They were informed these were the sounds of the Abbot’s “patients”. Upon reaching the pool, Trinity used divine sense, finding an overwhelming amount of celestial energy from the Abbey, as well as some from the pool.
After some tense debate with Ilya on the morality of slaying werewolves, they made their way back, but were promptly interrupted. A child came running towards them, claiming their mother had gone into labour. They fetched the midwife and accompanied the child back to their residence, and helped the woman give birth. The baby emerged eerily silent, and the mother and midwife were clearly distressed.The midwife stated that the child had “no soul”: Ilya confirmed that in Barovia, some individuals are born soulless. If a creature dies in Barovia, their soul goes on to be reincarnated in the next birth, with no recollection of their past life. If more children are born than people die, the child will be born without a soul. They function like normal individuals, though they lack the ability to truly feel.
The party returned to the abandoned cottage they were told they could stay in temporarily. They discovered all the family graves outside of the house had been dug up, including the one belonging to the Burgomaster’s late daughter. Ilya explained it was a common occurrence, but they had no explanation for why or who was doing it. The party invited Ilya to stay and, while initially interested by the idea, Ilya suddenly made himself scare and returned home.
Edwyn cooked the party food, and they mulled over recent events. Fennas revealed that he awoke after being drugged with his axe and other belongings, hence his confusion at his bag’s contents. Magnus attempted to inquire about Edwyn’s earlier, unidentified magic, though Edwyn claimed it was Lathandarian in nature. They later saw him changing the bandage around his neck that he claimed was covering a rash, though they could not see any such wound.
They awoke the next day to find a hamper at their door, containing winter coats and boots suited to each individual, some dream pastries and some dried meat. Upon opening the accompanying letter, they discovered an invitation from Strahd to travel to Ravenloft for dinner.
The party overheard two villagers outside discussing the Abbot, saying he had come down from the mountain to visit the Burgomaster. They visited the Krezkov residence and found Dmitri and Anna in quite a state. They explained that the Abbot had come down from the Abbey and demanded they fetch him a wedding dress within a fortnight, or he would cease to protect the village. However, they had no such thing in Krezk, and were too fearful of the wolves to brave the road to Vallaki. After some deliberation, the party offered to take up the task and travel to Vallaki to find a suitable garment. Dmitri thanked them, and gave them fifty gold with which to purchase it.