16 - 8/16 : Delusions of Salvation

The fearsome undead shadows continued their strength-draining attacks, but struggled to hit the heavily armored party. Slowly one-by-one they fell under the parties magical attacks, and the group stood victorious. With the shadows vanquished, the group began exploring the Abbey.
The undead seemed to be haunting a hospital of sorts, with many rotting beds scattered about the dust-laden room. Connected were three other rooms, an operating room, a nursery and a morgue. As the operating room was entered, a scream filled the room - a scream that echoed through time followed by other, fainter screams of those who died under the knife. The screams faded until they are nothing more than haunting memories.
The Nursery contained a few broken cribs, but nothing else of value. When Judge entered, he saw a figure of a nun in white robes in the windows reflection, but on turning around she was not there. Lastly the group investigated the morgue, which appeared to be mostly empty save for a raven perched on the windowsill.
The party continued on along the upper balcony and into the main cathedral. Inside the group could hear the faint sound of music emanating from the floor below. Above appeared to be a large bell with a rope extending to the lower level. The group noticed that the bells clapper appeared to be out of the ordinary, some sort of Jade colored shard tied on a rope. Wixley used her flight and magic to untie it and lower it to the ground.
Judge looked at it with fear, and explained to the group the immense power of the artifact they now possessed. It was a shard of the Ioun Orb, an artifact that possessed the very power of creation itself, and that was shattered long ago by no other than Judge himself. When this happened, it destroyed the Capital of Newmont, and unleashed devastation on the nearby lands. Judge refused to touch it, and after it was carefully wrapped in cloth Qiao took it encase the ruined artifact could prove some use later.
Finally the group descended to the lower level to see what the source of the music was. The group first spotted a girl, as if stitched together from many different bodies, she seemed to be practicing her dance. A man also stood in the room, with delicate features and a perfect appearance, something seemed off so Judge used his divine senses on him. Though unsure if he was a fiend, undead or some other outsider, Judge noted he was not of this world.
He was a hospitable host, though requested the party not interfere with his duties. After pressing him for information, he shared that he believed that the one route to salvation for Morrigan was to find love! He had failed in his previous creation, male flesh golem seen wandering the Mongrelfolks quarters, but determined that Morrigan surely would love this bride!
These delusions would not stand, and the group decided to put an end to the demented creature. He became furious, and unleashed his power on the party, revealing he was none-other than a Deva Angel!
He fought relentlessly and his creation rushed to defend him, but the groups combined strength and stunning attacks kept them locked down to prove victorious! With the Deva defeated, the group decided to take a short rest, but were interrupted by Mongrelfolk who seemed intent on getting fed. They attacked, but the group pitied the weird little creatures and chose to only knock them out.
Finally with the Abbey thoroughly explored, the party gathered up all of the various documents and history books scattered throughout the halls and returned to Krezk. Back in the village, the group met with Doctor Rudolph Van Richten and Burgomaster Dmitri Krezkov to discuss the way forward. Van Richten decided he and Ezmerelda would pour through the books to see if anything could help in the fight against Morrigan. Meanwhile, the party decided they would head to the Ruins of Berez to see what could be found at the ruined village.

Portraits

Wixley - The small halfling fights with bow and is an expert in dealing with undeath. She has abhors cities and civilization and is much more comfortable in the wilds. Her signature ability is to use spirit bats to knock back her enemies.

Fabian - A powerful sorcerer overflowing with magic, the aasimar sorcerer brings a potent suite of spells to the table to take down all foes.

Judge - The stoic worshipper of Muir, his combat expertise and righteousness leads the group to glory against all evil assailants who would dare challenge the group. During the trip to Argynvostholt, Judge revealed that he was none-other than Hanfred Vel, a famous Paladin of Muir. He had a great burden on his soul, and had returned to put a stop to the the tragedy that he believes set in motion.

Qiao Tai - An astral monk from the distant realms of the Xha'en Hegemony, she has traveled far and found herself in the lands of Barovia. After resting at the Church of Solanus, she heard the commotion in the graveyard and quickly rushed to the groups defense to fight off Morrigan's undead. She now joins their group in the crusade against the vampire. In a recent fight against Morrigan, her right arm was obliterated by Morrigans necrotic magic!

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Ireena Kolyana - The adopted sister of Ismark, she has been bitten twice by Morrigan and fears for her life. Morrigan has offered Ireena join her numerous times, but she continues to refuse. She has discovered an affinity for fire and learned to control it, gaining fire spells. Later in her desperation to help her friends, she discovered she now had the ability to heal.

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The Abbot - The deranged fallen Deva appeared to be in a state of mental distress when encountered at the Abbey. He believed that Morrigan would find salvation if only she could find love. He then constructed a flesh golem, but when Morrigan rejected the disgusting abomination, he believed that he had simply made one that didn't interest her, and set about making a new one.

Morrigan's Bride - A fleshgolem constructed by the deranged Abbot. She was to be Morrigan's Bride as part of the Abbots deranged plan.

Ezmerelda d'Avenir - The apprentice of the infamous monster hunter Doctor Rudolph Van Richten, who had met the party under the disguise of Rictavio. She was annoyed to find her wagon destroyed, but claimed to have other supply caches hidden and agreed to help the party. She continues to aid the party in research and

Dmitri Krezkov - The Burgomaster of Krezk, he had just lost his daughter and was still in a state of mourning. After offering their support, he was willing to return the favor should the abbey be investigated. He was concerned for the Bishop, and had heard screaming coming from the hill for many nights.

Doctor Rudolph Van Richten - The famous monster hunter had come to Barovia to destroy Morrigan, but realized quickly how terrible his foe was. He has gathered as much information as he can, and has been biding his time until an opportunity arrived to strike.