15th November - A Storm of Secrets
General Summary
Lady Wachter’s eyes fluttered open, her lips curling into a sinister smile as if she had been expecting this moment. Aeli and Sorrow stood before her, poised for confrontation. With a flick of her wrist and a whispered incantation, the air in the master bedroom thickened, fiendish spirits swirling into view, their forms flickering between shadow and flame.
The battle was swift and decisive. Sorrow and Aeli's blade struck true, ending Lady Wachter's dark alliance with Strahd in her own bedchamber. The silence that followed felt unnatural, heavy with the weight of something unseen.
Their search began. Aeli knelt beside the still form of Lord Wachter, whose body was unnervingly intact, the absence of decay hinting at a recent death. The mystery deepened. Aeli opened the closet door, only to trigger a trap. Poisoned needles sprang forth, striking her down in an instant. Vidar reacted without hesitation, invoking a scroll of healing to drive the poison from her veins.
Inside the closet, among the fine garments and ceremonial robes, lay a locked iron chest. Sorrow’s cautious hands dismantled its traps, revealing its grim contents: human bones, a silver pendant etched with the name Leo Dilisnya, and a necklace that seemed to pulse faintly in the dim light. The bones brought fleeting hope.
The party pressed onward, methodically exploring the Wachterhaus. In the library, Sorrow’s sharp eyes spotted something amiss: a section of the southern bookshelf revealed itself to be a hidden door. Behind it lay a secret storeroom. Using a key Lars had found earlier, they opened another iron chest, uncovering treasures of both monetary and arcane value: gold and electrum coins, scrolls, and a black leather-bound tome titled *The Grimoire of the Four Quarters*. Among these, a letter from one Lord Vasili von Holtz to Lady Wachter carried a handwriting that pricked at Sorrow’s memory, its familiarity maddeningly just out of reach.
As rain lashed against the cobblestones and thunder roared above, the adventurers left the mansion to report their findings to Father Lucian. The priest, weary from tending to frightened villagers, listened in horror as the group recounted their confrontation with Lady Wachter, her cultists, and the unsettling discovery of her husband’s corpse. Lord Wachter had been dead for years, the priest insisted, and yet the body they found told another story entirely. Disappointment darkened Father Lucian’s expression when he saw the bones they had recovered. They were not the holy relics the church so desperately needed. Instead, the name *Leo Dilisnya* carved into the pendant posed a new question. The priest suggested consulting Henrik van der Voort, the coffin maker, for clues in his meticulous official records.
The storm intensified as the party made their way to the Blue Water Inn, hoping to track down the Wachter brothers. Lightning illuminated the streets in blinding flashes, briefly revealing a shadowy figure in their path, only for it to vanish as quickly as it appeared. The tension among them grew, but no immediate threat materialized. At the inn, an intoxicated Ireena welcomed the group, her attempts at cheer clashing with the storm’s foreboding presence. Vidar slipped away to speak with Danika, the innkeeper. She agreed to deploy the Keepers of the Feather to aid in the search for Milivoj, but her news about the Wachter brothers was less helpful—they had left earlier, possibly heading for the lake or the cemetery. Determined not to waste the night, the party returned to the Wachterhaus. Upstairs, they found Stella Wachter’s room eerily empty, while the first-floor den yielded little but valuables looted by Sorrow. Vidar’s venture into the cellar revealed something far more troubling: the cultists’ bodies were gone, as if erased from existence.
Gathering in the dining room, the group devised a plan to ambush the Wachter brothers. Vidar donned Lady Wachter’s finery as he changed his appearance to initate hers, while Lars prepared a meager feast to set the scene. The facade was barely convincing, but before their trap could spring, an unexpected visitor knocked at the door. The stranger claimed to have been sent by Father Lucian to retrieve Stella Wachter, only to be met with the news of her absence. As questions piled upon questions, the group set off once more, this time to the grave digger’s house. Outside Milivoj's home, Lars noticed a splatter of blood, its freshness stark against the storm-drenched ground. The trail led north, winding toward the Vistani camp beyond the town’s borders. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the dark horizon. Somewhere ahead, the truth waited to be uncovered, shrouded in rain and shadow.
As rain lashed against the cobblestones and thunder roared above, the adventurers left the mansion to report their findings to Father Lucian. The priest, weary from tending to frightened villagers, listened in horror as the group recounted their confrontation with Lady Wachter, her cultists, and the unsettling discovery of her husband’s corpse. Lord Wachter had been dead for years, the priest insisted, and yet the body they found told another story entirely. Disappointment darkened Father Lucian’s expression when he saw the bones they had recovered. They were not the holy relics the church so desperately needed. Instead, the name *Leo Dilisnya* carved into the pendant posed a new question. The priest suggested consulting Henrik van der Voort, the coffin maker, for clues in his meticulous official records.
The storm intensified as the party made their way to the Blue Water Inn, hoping to track down the Wachter brothers. Lightning illuminated the streets in blinding flashes, briefly revealing a shadowy figure in their path, only for it to vanish as quickly as it appeared. The tension among them grew, but no immediate threat materialized. At the inn, an intoxicated Ireena welcomed the group, her attempts at cheer clashing with the storm’s foreboding presence. Vidar slipped away to speak with Danika, the innkeeper. She agreed to deploy the Keepers of the Feather to aid in the search for Milivoj, but her news about the Wachter brothers was less helpful—they had left earlier, possibly heading for the lake or the cemetery. Determined not to waste the night, the party returned to the Wachterhaus. Upstairs, they found Stella Wachter’s room eerily empty, while the first-floor den yielded little but valuables looted by Sorrow. Vidar’s venture into the cellar revealed something far more troubling: the cultists’ bodies were gone, as if erased from existence.
Gathering in the dining room, the group devised a plan to ambush the Wachter brothers. Vidar donned Lady Wachter’s finery as he changed his appearance to initate hers, while Lars prepared a meager feast to set the scene. The facade was barely convincing, but before their trap could spring, an unexpected visitor knocked at the door. The stranger claimed to have been sent by Father Lucian to retrieve Stella Wachter, only to be met with the news of her absence. As questions piled upon questions, the group set off once more, this time to the grave digger’s house. Outside Milivoj's home, Lars noticed a splatter of blood, its freshness stark against the storm-drenched ground. The trail led north, winding toward the Vistani camp beyond the town’s borders. Lightning flashed again, illuminating the dark horizon. Somewhere ahead, the truth waited to be uncovered, shrouded in rain and shadow.
Report Date
15 Nov 2024
Primary Location
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