5/25/21 Session 17 - One Heart and Three Women

Our heroes continue to explore to secret corridor, eventually finding a red glow emanating from the top of a set of stairs. Being the curious bunch they are, the party ascends the stairs and finds what appears to be a giant magical glowing heart hanging in the middle of the spire. Along with the heart, the party also finds the names of unknown people etched into hundreds of bricks leading up to the heart. Grinfiddeus Nobbles points out that the names of the party are here on the wall as well.
A little unsettled, the party decides to retreat from this area and continue to explore elsewhere. Suddenly, camouflaged halberds embedded in the wall spring from their hiding spots and attack the party. While defending themselves Adrid and Fredriech Carlston are nearly knocked down the spire shaft to certain doom. Adrid manages to grab hold of a ledge while Fredriech Carlston deftly uses his rope trick to swing across the stairwell to safety. The tide of the battle begins to turn as the party dispatches several of the sentient weapons, however, a cloud swoops in from the open doorway and Strahd von Zarovich appears. He commands the Halberds to stop and the battle ends.
The party questions him about what this place is and why names are on the wall. Strahd von Zarovich seems surprised the party is here but not specifically upset. He explains that the heart of Castle Ravenloft controls a number of the castles inanimate objects and processes about the castle, almost as if it is itself a living entity. The names are those of all the adventurers which have set foot in Barovia attempting what appears to be the impossible task of helping the dread lord.
Our heroes depart the spire and head back to their quarters to sleep off the battle and contemplate what they had found. Each of our adventurers dreams of shrieking bats, ghosts and a precession of dead making their way into Castle Ravenloft. This sounds a lot like the Parade of Dead they heard about when first arriving in Barovia from Father Donavich. The party slept well enough to have had a good night’s rest and are determined to continue their exploration of the castle. They had back into the secret passage and arrive this time at a well-kept living room where Ludmila reads by the fire.
The party enters with her permission and asks a few questions. They find that she is reading about her husband, which seems odd, she's been with him for hundreds of years and should know plenty. Our heroes also find out that she oversees both Strahd's wolves and his Consorts. She procures his brides and keeps everyone in line. When asked about the other brides, Ludmilla points to the next room, a dining room of sorts, where Volenta does her brooding.
The party enters the dilapidated dining room and encounters Volenta sitting at a large table among rotting food. There appears to be a cake at the center of the table like this was the site of some kind of party. The party inquires with her about how long she's been here and where she came from. She tells the party she was born here in Castle Ravenloft but her parents were from a town between Vallaki and Kresk which no longer exists. Here in the dining room she communes with the dead.
Before departing, the party asks Volenta of the where abouts of the last bride, Anastrasya. She points them through a door leading off from the dining room and informs them that she's inside bathing. The party asks Volenta to act as a buffer to go in and see if Anastrasya will meet with them to answer a few questions. She agrees and after stepping into the room, steps out and tells us to go in.
Anastrasya is still bathing but begins speaking to the party which seems weird. she speaks about being the faovite and the youngest wife. She epaks lound enough to try to seem like she's getting the attention of the other wives. She begins speaking about Volenta's friends in the castle, the witches and Cyrus Belview.