Thoughts about the end of Curse of Strahd

That is, the end of the mass of text I have produced, not about the various endings of the campaign, which I might talk about after I have posted the ending.

So I finished the Curse of Strahd with Iron & Gold, and in the end, I wrote over 100,000 words, which is more than I’ve ever written for a novel. (My novel attempts end in the 20K-30K mark.) Part of the reason is that this had a structure, even if it was largely a peripatetic one. At that, I skipped chunks of the campaign I didn't care about: I never ended up getting involved with the hags, and never saw the werewolf den, never dealt with Izek or the mad mage.

Is it great fiction? No, of course not. It’s a journal of a role-playing campaign. Different forms.

So partly I was thinking, Could I turn it into a novel, even if I never intended to publish it? (If I wanted to publish it, I’d have to change a lot of D&D-isms to avoid Hasbro’s wrath.) Could it be a kind of practice in that way?

Maybe. I mean, I have been going back and fixing what my friend Jim has called infelicitous phrases, and adding character reactions before I post. (When playing, I gloss over them, but before I post it, I go, oh, hey, shouldn’t you see how they respond to that? I mean, I know how they respond, but I should indicate it in the text.)

And there are things I like about it — I like the Tsolenka Pass, especially the sequence on the roof; I like the fact that Ireena has been around the land a bit, even if she hasn't been to Krezk yet (necessary because of the trap that is the pool). I like giving Ninefingers the agency of being the guy who knows about trapped structures.

But structurally, it would need changes. Here’s what I think I’d have to do, at first blush and in no particular order.

• Largest, what’s the point? Yes, it’s an adventure but about what? There are a couple of hints as to things that might be important to the characters, but they either don’t get followed up or show up full-bore without foreshadowing. I’d want to play up the possible Felewin-Ireena romance. That would probably add an extra layer for Strahd to come in, jealous. Uthrilir’s cursed relic is spoken of, even in the very beginning, but it doesn’t have much of an effect. Adding a scene where someone other than the snow maidens tries to take it, and Uthrilir becomes a dervish of madness. There are also hints of a deeper feeling between Hrelgi and Uthrilir, and I’d want to create scenes that would reflect that.
• Heck, the big four need arcs of some kind. Ezmerelda, who exists largely to be fill-in for skills the PCs don't have, would need to be a realer character.
• It’s kind of peripatetic, a series of adventures and not until the second half does it seem to have a single focus (looking back on it).
• If I decided on a point, I’d probably have to change how they get to Barovia (or whatever I’d call it). Walking through the mists is the easiest way but it also has the least effect on the rest of the story. (Of the hooks, faking an invitation from Kolyan is probably the most directly connected to the characters, but that didn’t fit with where I had left the characters in a previous adventure.)
• “Death House” is a fine adventure, but how does it reflect whatever I decide the point is? I was groping toward a change in the Felewin-Ninefingers relationship, and I could emphasize that (and Ninefingers’ comments during Death House get brought back during the Amber Temple and in Ravenloft. Also, there are some monsters that show up in Death House and nowhere else — I’d want to think whether some of those should be eliminated or brought back later on. It’s also a sixth of the adventure; is that the right amount? I feel like it’s too much if it’s not connected to everything else. If the story were about, say, overcoming Strahd, then it should be connected to Strahd, rather than being an example of evil acts uncondoned by the main baddie. (Such things can exist, of course, but do we want them to be the first sixth of the book?)
• The section with Doru and Father Donavitch seems a little free-floating, but it does introduce us to Strahd, so I think that’s okay. Maybe play up the business of “Do we kill Doru or don’t we?” a bit more. In fact, I skim over an awful lot of stuff in the first part for all that it feels slow in retrospect. I ended up using some of it with the returns to Vallaki and Barovia, but not everything. There are things hinted at that make no sense if you don’t know the campaign. What happened to the maidservant in Viktor’s household? What is going on with this cult? And we just skipped the business of Izek because it wasn’t interesting to me, but it might be a way of bringing out feelings about Ireena, and giving her a bit more action.
• If the loss of Ireena is to mean something more, it should be played up a bit more. There should be reactions, is what I’m saying.
• The winery and Berez seem tacked on. I mean, they follow logically from the events, but they don’t seem integral to any story we’re picking.
• Since I’ve only posted to the Tsolenka Pass, I shan’t comment on anything after that, but the narrative does gather speed. I would need to examine that and see if it’s the kind of speed I need.

Anyway: those are a few thoughts.

(And I couldn't publish because I've wasted the first rights on the Internet. Oh, well.) 

Chapter 32 — To The Amber Temple (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 31 On The Roof — Next Chapter 33 The Search For Dark Gifts

Being an actual play of Curse of Strahd, using Precis Intermedia Games’ Iron & Gold, with Mythic as the GM.

• Chapter 32 — To The Amber Temple
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

32 — To The Amber Temple^[1]

Uthrilir was still sitting there when dawn came. Hrelgi touched him on the shoulder before going down to check on the horses. Felewin was already down there.“Watch the floor,” he told Hrelgi. “Horses relieved themselves in the night and it froze.” He called up the stairs, “Going to open the door!” Felewin checked the outside for predators that might spook the horses, and then let them out.^[2] He had just gotten the last horse out when the green flames sputtered, followed by a bad smell.

“There!” Hrelgi said from inside. “Got rid of all of that stuff.”

“You teleported it into the green fire.” Hrelgi nodded. “It smells terrible,” replied Felewin.

“Breakfast anyway?” Hrelgi asked.

Felewin agreed, and they went into the tower.

Breakfast was quick because Kasimir was in a hurry to continue.

“If we leave now, we should get to the Amber Temple before noon. Inside there will be dangers.” He handed out the fur-lined cloaks and for everyone but Felewin, gloves. “Your hands are too big; I could not find any that would probably fit.”

“It is an old problem,” said Felewin. “And you?”

“I do not need them,” Kasimir said.

Felewin nodded, and said, “Ezmerelda, you did not promise to come along, nor is Strahd actively seeking you. You can wait here in the tower.”

Ezmerelda shook her head and ticked reasons on her fingers. “You need the horse I am riding, for Hrelgi cannot ride, and three on a horse would be impossible, even if one is Ninefingers. Strahd is after me for other reasons so I am not much safer. There is no food or heat here. Perhaps I could impose on Hrelgi to get me past the flames, but from there it is a day and a half by foot to my wagon. In the short term, I am safer with you.”

Felewin nodded. “The goatskin is not properly tanned or softened yet but fur side in, it will help some.”

She took it from him, and wrinkled her nose. “I am sure it will smell better after being properly treated.”

“The heat of the horse helps keep us warm,” said Hrelgi. She checked out her fur-lined cloak. Uthrilir said, “You look good,” but he looked tired.

“I wish I had slept with this. That tower got cold,” said Ninefingers.

“It will be colder in the temple,” said Kasimir. “From the tales, the temperature in the Temple is cold enough for ice.”

Felewin said, “If we see firewood and we can safely grab it, we do. Hrelgi is most helpful but she might not always be around. Also, the smoke is useful for softening the pelt.”

“We will,” said Kasimir. “The spare horse, Maria, is best for lading.”

“She’s got the temperament for it,” Felewin agreed.

They saddled the horses and continued west. In a very short time, they came upon a bridge over a deep gorge; the river was only occasionally visible through the fog. At each end of the bridge was a tall stone arch. On each arch were statues: a pair of armored knights on horseback with lances, charging toward one another.

The bridge had low walls that enclosed it, but it was less than a dozen paces wide. Felewin looked at it for a moment, judging, and then called to Kasimir, “Should we walk the horses?” The horses seemed to be taking the bridge fine but he could see a spot where the wall had broken. The wind howled so loudly that he had to repeat the question.

“They are Vistani horses; they have seen worse.” Kasimir urged his horse on.

“I’ll bring up the rear, after Maria,” called Felewin.

Kasimir just shrugged.

Felewin waved the others along.

The horses were fine, but the wind was terrible. It bit and clutched at them; he could see Ezmerelda ahead, hunched over the neck of her horse (Ludmilla was her name) and Hrelgi bent to get close to her. Felewin let Maria go and then followed with his horse, Oxblood.

“I don’t like bridges,” said Ninefingers. “Especially old bridges in unmaintained mountain passes.”

“Hush,” said Felewin. “This takes some care.”

Oxblood had just stepped on the bridge proper when a black-cloaked figure appeared in the middle of the bridge. The figure’s horse was a black bay with a white blaze on the forehead; the blaze could be a raven.

Kasimir kept riding; perhaps he was going to talk to the figure, but when he reached the figure, it vanished.

I hate magic, thought Felewin.

When he was halfway across the bridge, it became obvious to Felewin that one of the two statues on the eastern arch had broken, leaving one knight charging a horse’s hindquarters. Once they were past the broken arch, the horses seemed fine; the wind was pushing them away from it, anyway.

The ruins of the half-statue were scattered across the road; the group picked their way through the stones. Beyond the arch, the road became more a gravel path that hugged the side of the mountain. They rode single-file because they had no choice. In a few places, sheltered from the wind, snow had accumulated, as deep as the horses’ knees. The snow was dry and powdery, though, so it was relatively easy to walk through albeit slowly.

Kasimir did call back, “We might not get to the temple before mid-day.”

“You think?” muttered Ninefingers so that only Felewin could hear.

They rode for a bit more, and then Ninefingers said, “Kasimir, you’ve said it will be dangerous. Tell us about the temple.”

Kasimir said, “It was built by monks or wizards who worshiped a god who kept secrets. Its name is forgotten, but they imprisoned a number of evil entities, maybe gods. Those entities are still imprisoned there, vastly reduced by time and lack of worshipers…but still evil. Eventually their mere presence overcame the monks, who killed each other.^[3]”

“Oh, this is the monks of Gubleshon-Tamar,” said Ninefingers.

“You’ve heard of them?”

“They were a footnote in a history I once learned, but my teacher seized on them as an emblem of fallibility. I’m not sure one in a hundred sages would know of them.”

“There are other automated traps and immortal beings who are charged with defending the temple,” said Kasimir. “Strahd can avoid them, of course. In the depths of the temple are the sarcophagi where the entities are trapped. They cannot be freed nor can they really be questioned. I am told that each one offers a gift.”

“The cost is your soul,” said Uthrilir.

“There is a cost, certainly. And you become by some measure more evil, but if it is to right a wrong…” Kasimir let his voice trail off. “One offers the gift of the Vampyr—that is the gift that Strahd took. I am told that one of the entities offers the power to raise the long dead.”

“But at a cost,” repeated Uthrilir.

“I am willing to pay,” said Kasimir, and he would speak no more.

Eventually they traveled down and came to a branch in the road. Here there was a small stand of cedar trees, stunted and twisted by the wind. Maybe sixty paces from them, an arrow shot from the copse^[4]. A second arrow flew out; it also missed.

Felewin looked for the archers^[5] but could not see them. Ninefingers said, “Can’t see them either.”

“We’re going closer; get ready to dismount and fight.” He kneed his horse into a gallop and headed for the trees.

Ezmerelda got her own grimoire out and looked up a spell; Hrelgi did the same.

Uthrilir prayed. “Maiden, please hear the words of your most unworthy servant that Felewin and Ninefingers might not be hurt as they deal with the bandits.”^[6]

Once they were closed, Felewin^[7] spotted one of the bandits, and rode directly for him.

As they got closer Felewin could see that there were four of them, and two were cranking the crossbows so they could be fired again. From close up, Felewin could see a way to ride the horse right to them, so he did.^[8]

Instead of fighting, he trampled: he ran the horse over the two on the ground;^[9] Ninefingers jumped off the horse^[10] and onto one of the standing ones. His sword sank deeply into the man.

The fourth man held a crossbow and fired at Felewin; it looked like a good shot, but it curved in mid-air and missed the big man.^[11]

Ninefingers slashed at the man beneath him, hoping to cut an artery or something vital;^[12] he thought he had killed the man but didn’t know it for sure. Felewin drew his sword and hit the one who had just fired.^[13]

Uthrilir continued to pray.

Hrelgi and Ezmerelda came up closer and Ezmerelda spoke a spell^[14] that made all the trees transparent. From this distance, Hrelgi spoke one spell that turned a bandit’s clothes to air. He was naked and his sword fell to the ground from its scabbard.

The man screamed and tried to hide himself.

Kasimir saw one man trying to run away and also spoke a spell.^[15] The man froze in place.

Felewin noticed that the trees had gone transparent and knew it as magic. “Thank you,” he called, and hit the one he had been fighting^[16] and then one near him. The first died; the second nearly.

Ninefingers dispatched that one, and Felewin guided his horse to the paralyzed man and quickly killed him.^[17]

The trees resumed their normal appearance.

“I liked that,” said Hrelgi. “How did you do that?”

“Do you not know any of Fabrica sensus?” Ezmerelda asked.

“No,” said Hrelgi. “I’m self-taught,” she explained.

“Ah,” said Ezmerelda.

“Look,” called Felewin. “They have firewood! And food!”

Ninefingers pointed at the angle the lookout had. “They were camping here,” said Ninefingers. “Waiting.”

“For us?”

“Maybe. Strahd did say he’d kill us.”

Kasimir said, “Or he was protecting the temple; Strahd did deal with the entities inside.”

“No signs that this has been going on for a long time,” said Ninefingers. “If it was existing protection, they’d have something semipermanent. The latrines over there are new.”

“Point taken,” said Felewin. “Let’s be cautious.”

Ninefingers laughed, a short yip. “Like we weren’t before.”

They followed the fork in the road north. The gravel got sparser and covered under snow again and again, and eventually it was invisible under snow. By that time, they had curved up to the mountainside again, and they could the facade of a temple carved into the rock ahead.

The front of the structure was many times Felewin’s height, maybe ten times as tall. There were six alcoves cut into that facade, and each alcove held a statue carved from amber. The statues were all identical: a hooded figure so you couldn’t see the face, with hands pressed together in a gesture of prayer.

In the middle, between two alcoves, was an archway as tall as the statues. A stairway led down.

“I guess that’s where we go,” said Uthrilir. “Anybody else get uneasy looking at those statues for a long time?”

“Look somewhere else,” Hrelgi advised.

“Like that cave,” said Ezmerelda.

“Where?”

“To the west of the last alcove.”

They rode slowly, their horses and the ones they had taken from the bandits, testing the snow surface for solidity. The snow seemed to be no deeper than the horse’s knees, but Felewin insisted they go slowly. He was in the lead, and then he held up his hand for people to stop^[18] and be silent. He seemed to be looking at something on the snowy ground in front of the cave. Then he turned back and met the others.

“People went in that cave but haven’t come out yet. Seven of them. An animal, probably a dire wolf, also went in but probably at the same time.”

“If they went in that way, it’s probably safer than the front door,” said Ninefingers.

“One of us stays here with the horses, the rest go in. There are five of us, but we might win if we ambush them.”

“At the very least, we’ll be blocking the exit,” said Ninefingers.

“Who watches the horses?” asked Hrelgi.

Felewin thought. Not Ninefingers or Uthrilir; their ability to see in the dark could be useful. Ezmerelda could fight as well, and that would be useful. He trusted Hrelgi while he didn’t know about Kasimir, but Kasimir had a reason not to leave: this was his quest. “Kasimir,” he said.

The elf said simply, “If you insist.”

“We’ll be out soon to call you in.” To the others, he said, “We’ll have to be quiet.”

“So you need to be last,” Ninefingers said.

“And you need to be first.” Felewin grinned. “You’re sneaky and you can see in the dark.” Ninefingers quickly established silent signals for movement, and they dismounted. It was a slog getting to the cavern, and Ezmerelda struggled.^[19]

“You okay?” Felewin murmured.

“Yes,” she said. “Old injury. Shows up in deep snow or walking in rivers.”

He offered her his arm to grab, if she needed it. She did not take advantage of his offer.

The cave itself was spacious enough, for all it was open to the outside. The horses would fit here, if they survived.

Ninefingers signaled for everyone to stay.^[20] He disappeared into the crack in the wall, and they all waited. Ninefingers came back and held up six fingers, then made a pawing motion. Hrelgi started flipping pages in her grimoire. They gave her a moment to find the pages and then moved single file through the fissure.

Everyone but Hrelgi and Felewin moved into the cavern at once. Hrelgi didn’t move, to be safer, but Felewin was stuck behind her.

The room was a room, not a cave, lit by torches in sconces. Six bedrolls of stitched animal furs covered the floor; the wildmen sat taking care of their weapons,, and a dire wolf was curled in a space in the middle of the room.

Big opaque amber doors were in the wall opposite, and another pair in the wall to their right. The crack they had come through was at a sort of corner: the wall next to them held a frieze of some kind.

The dire wolf was the first to notice them, and the six of them stood and faced the group. Ezmerelda shrugged off the pelt to allow herself more freedom of movement, and that’s when the leader yelled, “Stay!” The leader grabbed the ruff of the dire wolf and forcibly held it back.

“That pelt,” the leader said. “Where did it come from?”

“The pass,” said Ezmerelda. “A giant goat attacked us; we slew it.”

“Who killed Sangzor, blood of the mountain?” The leader might have been a woman or maybe a man; he or she was so encrusted with dirt and furs that it was not possible to tell. By the voice, maybe a woman.

Felewin readied himself to push past Hrelgi.

Ezmerelda looked at them all and said coolly, “I dealt the killing blow.”

“Hah!” The leader of the wildmen laughed. “Someone finally dealt with Sangzor!” The other humans laughed, too—

—and the dire wolf jerked free of the leader and leapt at Ninefingers.^[21] Ninefingers stepped aside and slashed, and then^[22] Ninefingers slashed again — the dire wolf wasn’t quite dead. Hrelgi was about to finish it off, but Felewin put his hand on her shoulder. “They’ll respect him more,” he told her.

Ninefingers delivered the killing blow^[23] and then looked around at the others.

The wildmen hooted in appreciation.

“You are all great fighters,” the leader of the wildmen said. “We will not fight you.”

“Excellent,” said Ezmerelda.

“I’ll get Kasimir and the horses,” whispered Felewin. “Let them know we’re also here.”

Previous Chapter 30 To Tsolenka Pass — Next Chapter 32 The Search For Dark Gifts

Monsters

Vistani (bandit)

Abilities	Fitness 3 Awareness 3 Creativity 2 Reasoning 2 Influence 2
Skill	Archery 4 (≤7), Dueling 4 (≤7), Riding 4 (≤6)
Weapons	Scimitar (2 inj)	Armor	Leather armor (1)

Igga (gladiator)

Abilities	Fitness 4 Awareness 3 Creativity 2 Reasoning 2 Influence 3	Gimmicks	Fearless, Toughness
Skills	Brawling 5 (≤9), Melee 5 (≤9), Athletics 6 (≤10), Performance (intimidation) 4 (≤6)
Weapons	Javelin (2 inj, Fit added in), Shield (2 inj, Fit added in)	Armour	2 for high Fitness and Toughness

Dire Wolf

Abilities	Fitness 4 Awareness 2 Creativity 0 Reasoning 0 Influence 0
Skills	Athletics 3 (≤7), Brawling 6 (≤10), Survival 4 (≤4), Tracking 2 (≤2)
Gimmicks	Hardened, Musclebound, Oversized, Natural Armor (2), Special Weapon (Claws: +2 inj, Teeth: 2 inj), Pack Hunter

---

Game Mechanics

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Negligence Elements (PC Negative)

[2] Hrelgi rolls 5 (Materia), 6 (R+C), 8 (Ge), 9 (R+C) so she teleports waste.

[3] Legends roll, difficulty 4. Everybody rolls; no one gets their Reasoning or less except Ninefingers, who rolls a 2 which is a triumph anyway..

[4] Bandit has an archery of 7 and rolls 6; at this distance, it’s difficulty 2 to hit someone, so he fails. The other bandit rolls 7 and also fails.

[5] Felewin rolls a 5 but they are hidden: difficulty 4 to see, and he only managed margin 3.

[6] Uthrilir rolls a 3, which certainly works. The horse, Ninefingers, and Felewin all have 4 added to their armor, which puts Felewin at 7, Ninefingers at 6,and the horse at 4.

[7] Felewin rolls a 3 which spots the bandits.

[8] I’ve been eyeballing it, but now it’s time for reactions. Felewin 14 Ninefingers 12 Uthrilir 12 Hrelgi 10 Ezmerelda 9 Kasimir 10 Bandits 9 Bandit Captain 11

[9] Felewin rolls 8, which is margin of 1 for riding. The target rolls a 12, so he is trampled, and the second rolls 8, which is -1 for fighting. Because the one rolled a tragedy they both got trapped. They each take 2 Fatigue damage. Their armor does not help.

[10] Ninefingers rolls 7 for Athletics (margin -1); bandit rolls 7 on dueling (margin 0) so Ninefingers hits. Of 3 Inj, leather stops one of it so bandit takes 2 Injury.

[11] Reactions: Felewin 13 Ninefingers 14 Hrelgi 10 Uthrilir 11 Ez 13 Kas 9 Unhurt Bandit 12 Bandits 11
Ninefingers margin 4 bandit margin -2; Felewin margin 1 bandit margin -2 Unhurt bandit vs Ninefingers Margin 0; Bandit margin 3 vs Felewin

[12] Armor is no good against an attack that does Injury, so 3 levels of damage.

[13] Felewin rolls a 3 which is margin 6 (because he’s using the lower of riding or dueling); the bandit rolls 6 which is margin 1. Again, no armor against injury, so that’s 4 levels of injury.

[14] Ezmerelda rolls a 7, which is enough now that she’s close enough.

[15] Hrelgi rolled a 4,, which worked; Kasimir rolled a 7 which just worked.

[16] Felewin rolls a 5 which is margin 4. He rolls a second 5 for an attack against one of the tramped bandits.

[17] Felewin rolls 4 and 7, margins 5 and 2, and kills the man.

[18] Felewin rolls 7, which is margin of 1 on his Tracking roll.

[19] Colour because canonically, Ezmerelda has a wooden leg.

[20] Ninefingers rolls 8 on his Stealth, for margin 1.

[21] The Dire wolf rolls a 9 margin of 1 on brawling; Ninefingers rolls a 7, margin of 3 on dueling. Then Ninefingers attacks, rolling a 4 (margin of 6) and the dire wolf rolls a 7 (margin of 3). Oops for the dire wolf. It has natural armor of 2 but Ninefingers rolls 6, 3, 4 for damage so all 3 get through.

[22] Ninefingers rolls 7 (margin of 3) while dire wolf rolls 11 (margin of -3 because of injury). Damage is not as good this time (2,1,3) but one gets through. The damage means the dire wolf misses (rolls 7 for margin 0 while Ninefingers rolls 9 for margin 1 to defend).

[23] Ninefingers rolls 7 for margin 3 versus a 7 for margin 0, and does 2 damage (3,1,3). Dire wolf is dead.

Chapter 31 — On The Roof (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 30 To The Tsolenka Pass — Next Chapter 32 To The Amber Temple

Being an actual play of Curse of Strahd, using Precis Intermedia Games’ Iron & Gold, with Mythic as the GM.

• Chapter 31 — On The Roof
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

31 - On The Roof^[1]

A squeal woke Uthrilir, followed by a loud noise of wind and a blast of cold air.

“Dwarven Uthrilir, awake!” It was a woman speaking but not Hrelgi or Ezmerelda. Uthrilir reached over to wake Hrelgi but she did not respond to his touch. He checked: she was just sleeping, but he could not rouse her.

“Come to us, come to us!” It was another female voice. The voices were coming from the roof.

He had an inkling that it was not good — perhaps knowledge from the Maiden — and so he took time to put on his armor and boots. He checked his other companions.

All were asleep. None of them would wake.

“Hurry, dwarf,” came a third voice. “For your friends. You do not want us to make it cold enough for us to come to you.”

The trapdoor at the top of the ladder was open.^[2] There was no rope to pull it closed, so Uthrilir was forced to go up the ladder to reach it.

“Come out, dwarf,” said a third voice.

Uthrilir looked out the open trapdoor. There were two forms there, white and indistinct in the gusts of snow, but both women. He had heard three voices, however.

“Do no harm to my friends and I will come out and talk to you.”

“Yes, yes,” said one of the forms, the one with the midnight hair. “We will not harm you while we talk.”

“You promise for all of you?” Uthrilir said. Ninefingers’ agreement with Strahd was in his mind.

“All of us. While we talk.”

Uthrilir looked down at the others, and then climbed out. He could feel the weight of the cursed ring on the chain around his neck; in his pouch were both his symbol of the Maiden and the holy symbol they had retrieved from Baba Lysaga’s hut. It worked against vampires but would it work against these things, whatever they were?

He checked the back of the trapdoor: a handle was riveted there. So he let it slowly and loudly down, and then he spotted the third maiden, as far from him as possible on the roof. Uthrilir moved so that he could see all three of them.

“What do you want?” Uthrilir asked.

“The gift you bear. The ring.”

“I cannot give that to you.”

“You cannot tap its powers.”

Uthrilir said, “That is why I carry it. If that is all, I will return to my friends.”

“Give us the ring!”

“I cannot.”

“Cannot or will not?”

“The ring is mine until it is destroyed.”

“Or you. To get the ring we must destroy you.”

“Better things than you have tried.”

“You are defenseless against us, and a hundred paces in the air.”

“You cannot even approach me; the power of the Maiden protects me. Good night.”^[3] He reached for the handle on the trapdoor, and the one who had been speaking surged toward him.^[4] He stepped out of the way and hit it with his mace.^[5]

Hitting the thing had no discernible effect. Uthrilir prayed that the Maiden would make his mace more effective.^[6]

He spun and hit the maiden again^[7]; the woman splashed apart, as if made of snow.

Uthrilir grinned. One down, and he felt the blood lust of the ring coming on him. A second maiden rushed him^[8] and hit him, with a touch so cold it froze his skin where it touched.^[9] It touched him on his defensive arm; Uthrilir managed to swing with his other arm, and smashed apart this one.

The other could not move, and Uthrilir recklessly said, “I beseech the Maiden to let you approach.”^[10]

A look of relief came over the woman’s face, and that was quickly replaced by hunger. She glided forward, eagerly grabbing for Uthrilir.^[11] He sidestepped and swung his mace,^[12] hitting her. She flew apart.

Exultant, Uthrilir hooted in victory, and as he stood there, the cold beginning to seep into his bones, he suddenly realized how close he had come to being killed, up here and alone.

He fell to his knees on the trapdoor and prayed for the forgiveness of the Maiden.

Some time later, he could ignore the cold no longer, and he pulled the trapdoor up. It squealed again and this time it woke Ninefingers, who jerked awake, on his bedroll.

“What is it?” Ninefingers asked.

“Minions of Strahd,” Uthrilir assured him. “All handled.”

“You sure?” The goblin watched him as he descended the ladder.

“Yes.”

“Let me look at you, make sure you’re not charmed.”

“Of course. In the meantime, I am hurt and must rest.”

“Can the Maiden not help you?” Ninefingers asked while looking into Uthrilir’s eyes for signs of mental control.

“I have not asked her. I am ashamed to do so.” In a lower voice, he said, “I lost control.”

“The relic?” Uthrilir nodded. “Show me your neck.”

“They didn’t bite me.”

“Which is what a charmed person would say. Come on.” Uthrilir took off his byrnie and showed Ninefingers his neck. Ninefingers said, “Hard to see with the beard but this side seems fine. Now let me see your hurt.” Uthrilir pulled up his sleeve and showed the patch of frostbite on his arm. He showed Ninefingers how he could not move his hand properly.

“I don’t know that kind of wound but maybe Hrelgi can help.” The goblin shivered. “Opening that trapdoor made it cold. She could heat up the hearth again.”

“Cold is not our friend,” agreed Uthrilir. “I will not ask her; I deserve the wound for lacking the self-control and dishonouring the Maiden by rejecting the gift of her protection.”

The goblin looked at him, and then said, “If we were in a town, a tavern or an inn, I’d agree with you and let you suffer until you felt like it was enough. But it will take a week or more for you to heal from that, if you ever do without magic, and you’re not alone. We depend on you. We’re not resting; we’re going into a dangerous place. Strahd is trying to kill us. Why give him a head start? Do penance afterward.”

“Then it won’t be penance. If we accept punishment only when it is convenient…”

“Sure, but we depend on you, too.”

“I will think about it.”

“Do that.” The goblin moved his bedroll so it was right next to Felewin, and laid against the big man, and then heaped his fur over himself. He stopped talking, whether he went to sleep or not, and left Uthrilir with his thoughts.

Previous Chapter 30 To The Tsolenka Pass — Next Chapter 32 To The Amber Temple

Monsters

Snow Maiden

Abilities	Fitness 2 Awareness 3 Creativity 0 Reasoning 1 Influence 0
Skills	Brawling 7 (≤9), Composure 2
Gimmicks	Create cold, Life Drain, Night Vision, Shadowy Form, Undead, Vulnerability [Heat, Divine magic], Resistance[non-magic attacks], Supernatural Healing, Tranquilizing[magic, complex], Vulnerability [Divine magic and weapons] That is, if Uthrilir casts a blessing on his mace, it will do double damage.

---

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Struggle Misfortune (Move Toward A Thread)

[2] I give Uthrilir a couple of free uses of clerical powers every “session.” This is one of them: he gets a free use of Purity so monsters like the Snow Maidens cannot come close to him without making an Awareness+Composure roll of 4. Snow Maidens have an Awareness of 3 and a Composure of 2. There are 3 (1d6) of them); none of them roll 5 or less (7, 8, 12).

[3] The two who didn’t roll a calamity try again, rolling a 4 and a 7 to approach him. The 4 succeeds, so one rushes him.

[4] It rolls a 10 to hit him, margin -1, and he defends, rolling a 4, margin 5.

[5] Uthrilir rolls a 5 to hit, margin 4, and the snow maiden rolls a 5 also, margin 4. Uthrilir hits. It has no armor, so he does (3 inj)/2, or one level of damage. Iron & Gold has nothing for good divine entities causing damage, so I’m going to use Blessing/Intervention.

[6] Uthrilir rolls 7, margin 2, which meets difficulty 2. The 1d6 roll is 4, so his mace is a magic mace for the next 4 hits.

[7] Uthrilir rolls 5, margin 5; the maiden rolls 5, margin 4. Now it’s a divine mace, so the thing takes 6 levels of damage, and is immediately dispatched.

[8] The snow maiden rolls a 4, margin 5; Uthrilir rolls a 6, margin 4. He is hit, and the life drain takes one level of health.

[9] Reactions: Uthrilir has 11, snow maiden has 7. Uthrilir rolls a 6 to hit (margin 4), and the snow maiden rolls a 9 (margin 0). Uthrilir hits, and again, 6 is more than enough.

[10] Oh, this is probably a bad idea.

[11] Snow maiden rolls a 5 to hit, which is a margin of 4; Uthrilir rolls a 5 to block,which is a margin of 5.

[12] Uthrilir rolls a 5, margin of 5; snow maiden rolls a 7, margin of 2…and blah.

Chapter 30 — To The Tsolenka Pass (Curse of Strahd, Actual Play)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 29 The Undercroft — Next Chapter 31 On The Roof

Being an actual play of Curse of Strahd, using Precis Intermedia Games’ Iron & Gold, with Mythic as the GM.

• Chapter 30 — To The Tsolenka Pass
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

30 - To The Tsolenka Pass^[1]

Kasimir had only three mugs and not enough seating, so backpacks were opened for mugs, and Felewin, Ninefingers, and Uthrilir sat on the floor.

“You have created quite a stir,” said Kasimir. “The cards foretold there would be a conflict today for Luvash, and I see now that he must choose between obeying Strahd and protecting the woman who saved his daughter.” He shook his head. “Hrelgi, you will lose that choice.”

“Aww,” said Hrelgi.

Kasimir shrugged. “Arabelle is already saved, and Strahd is a future threat.” Hrelgi nodded.

“We must be on our way,”said Felewin. “To be truthful, I hoped that you would not be in and we could just rend to somewhere near the tower that Ezmerelda knows of, to get the final weapon.”

“You once promised me you would help me on my quest,” said Kasimir.

“And I still intend to keep that promise,” said Felewin.

“I am calling it due, now,” said Kasimir.

“But…” started Felewin.

“I do not think you will be alive in a week’s time. If I am to have your help, it must be now.”

“What if we split up?” Ezmerelda asked. “I get the thing, and we meet up?”

“No,” said Uthrilir. “You haven’t found it yet, and we will need everyone to look.”

“We can’t get to the place quickly,” Felewin said. “This trick of hers, it only works in returning to places she has been.”

Kasimir nodded. “I know. It is not my magic but I know of it. No, I have procured horses and warm clothes for us. We will go to the place I know of, I will complete my task, and you will learn more of Strahd’s power. Then you can have the horses to get to the tower.”

“We could use horses,” Felewin said.

“I hate horses,” said Uthrilir. “You got me on those foul-tempered monstrosities once, and never again! Why can’t we take a wagon?”

Kasimir shook his head. “Wagons are too slow, and we need to cross a mountain pass and its untended road. It might not be possible for a wagon to travel it.”

“Mountain pass?” Uthrilir said. Kasimir nodded. “Mountains are good. I like mountains. Still hate horses, though.”

Kasimir asked, “How many of you can ride?” Felewin and Ezmerelda admitted that they could. “We’ll have to double up, one non-rider for each rider. That will slow us some, and it will take longer.”

“Can we take six horses, and swap tired for fresh?” Felewin asked.

“No,” Kasimir said. “I am part of this tribe, but there are limits to what I can request.”

Felewin accepted that with a shrug. “When do we go?”

“Now,” said Kasimir. “We must be gone before Rahadin arrives with new orders for Luvash.”

“How long will it take to get ready?”

“Minutes. The horses are loaded and out back.” Kasimir smiled. “You are not the only ones who can have your cards read.”

“Horses?” Uthrilir said. He shook his head.

“You’re getting better at riding,” Felewin assured him.

“I don’t want to get better,” the dwarf said. “I want never to ride a horse again.”

Felewin clapped him on the shoulder. “I am sure that horses do not want you riding them. Let us be off.”

Hrelgi rode with Ezmerelda; Ninefingers rode with Felewin; and Uthrilir rode with Kasimir. They left quickly and took a roundabout route to the road; then they pushed the horses to a gallop for a small bit of time. To keep the horses from exhaustion, they alternated walking with running.

Despite the risk, Felewin had his crossbow loaded and winched.

At one point, just after slowing the horses to a walk but still on the Old Svalich Road, there was a howl, and they spotted a huge bear— no, it was a wolf. A wolf the size of a bear.

The wolf stepped onto the road. Kasimir pulled his horse to a stop. “We must kill it; otherwise it will let Strahd know.”

An answering howl came from the forest on the side of the road.

“Kill them,” Felewin said.

“If there are more than two, we run,” said Ninefingers.

“We can’t outrun them, two to a horse like this. I don’t even know if Oxblood here could outrun them without you; I’m kind of heavy, and Oxblood isn’t a Jaegrash mare.” Felewin fired the crossbow.^[2] The dire wolf roared in pain.

Hrelgi said, “Let me find the page!”

The dire wolf charged, and Felewin’s mount^[3] bolted. Kasimir cursed while holding his horse and said, “Uthrilir! What can you do?”

The dwarf began to pray.^[4] Kasimir used a spell he had prepared, and stopped the dire wolf’s heart.

The beast stumbled as it ran and skidded on the gravel road, finally coming to a stop a dozen paces from Kasimir’s horse.

Felewin rode back, having regained control of his panicky mount, and said, “Very good work. The other one?”

“Still out there.”

Ezmerelda managed to bring her horse around, too. “We can’t kill it if we can’t find it. Let’s keep going.”

“It will follow us,” Felewin said. “It will follow us and report on our whereabouts.” He dismounted and retrieved his bolt from the dead wolf, then looked at it critically. He cleaned it on the wolf’s fur and reloaded the crossbow.

“Pity we have to abandon it. There’s food for five on that beast,” said Kasimir.

“Let scavengers have it,” Ninefingers said. “If they’re busy here, they’re not following us. Felewin, get back on the horse.”

“Just a moment.” Felewin looked for the other dire wolf, a difficult task with the mist.^[5] He pointed the crossbow into the woods.

“If I can’t see it, a human can’t see—” said Kasimir when Felewin fired^[6], followed by a roar of pain from the woods.

Hrelgi said, “I have the spell to kill the beast.^[7]” There was a sound of cracking branches as this dire wolf lunged out of the trees and Hrelgi made her incantation.

The second one fell dead at the side of the road, falling on the crossbow bolt.

“Well, not going to use that bolt again,” said Felewin. He calmed his horse and then swung up. “Now we can go.”

They didn’t see anything else for hours, except for a raven that Ninefingers occasionally spotted.

Before getting as far as Krezk, they turned left down a road the group had ignored on their earlier trip. Ezmerelda pulled up beside Felewin to say, “The tower is up a trail in the opposite direction. The trail was once a road, but is now overgrown.”

Felewin nodded and stored the information away.

The road climbed steadily: not incessantly, but they were headed up, and it got colder. The woods gave way to mountainside. Snow started to fall. They stopped once to put an extra layer of clothes under their cloaks: even at noon, the wind cut them cruelly. Kasimir seemed unbothered, but the five others clutched their cloaks tighter.

Snow and mist swirled about them as they headed up the road. There were potholes and washed out sections large enough that a cart or wagon would have had serious trouble, and the horses took more encouragement to resume after each break. There was very little dried grass by the one side of the road for them, and by this point the other side was a steep drop.

Kasimir said, “There, in the distance! The Tsolenka pass!”

Their present spot was slightly higher, dipped down below, and then rose to a gate, across the road. Behind the gate were two towers, clinging to the cliff side, and then another gate, and then a bridge over a deep chasm. The towers were old and stone, with weather-beaten white knights carved in huge statues, and clad in golden metal.

“We will shelter in the bottom floors of the tower; do not go to the top, for there are monsters there. They will not come down to the bottom, though, unless you do something foolish.”

“You know, like spending the night,” muttered Ninefingers so that only Felewin could hear him.

“We’ll post a watch,” Felewin told him. “You and Uthrilir can see in the dark.”

“Great,” said Ninefingers, and huddled closer to the big man.^[8]

By the bottom of the dip in the road, Felewin spotted something in the mist and snow. A giant goat was charging down the hillside. Felewin stopped his horse and went, “Huh,” and Ezmerelda cried, “A giant goat!” as she pulled her horse to a stop.^[9] The ram hit Kasimir’s horse, and the dwarf and the elf fell off; Kasimir managed to catch himself, but Uthrilir rolled right off the edge of the road.

Hrelgi shrieked.

Kasimir’s horse scrambled to the mountainside and got a few steps up; the ram circled around to charge Kasimir again.

Felewin loosed a bolt at the beast, more to scare it away than to kill it.^[10]

Felewin’s bolt sank into the beast’s eye, into its brain. It stood still, not dead but not sure if it were alive. Ninefingers bounced off Oxblood and ran to look over the edge of the road. “I see him!” the goblin yelled.

“I’m busy!” Felewin shouted. He was reloading the crossbow.

Ezmerelda cursed in the Vistani tongue and threw her axe at the goat.^[11] The axe caught it in the mouth and sank deep.

The goat made up its mind: It was dead. It crumpled slowly to the ground.

Kasimir got up. “That is the monster of the mountains! They call it Bloodhorn.”

“Uthrilir! Hold on!” Hrelgi shouted.

From below them on the mountainside, they distantly heard, “Have to!”

Felewin abandoned recranking the crossbow and guided Oxblood to closer to the edge. Ezmerelda retrieved her axe and the bolt.

“Hrelgi, can you see him?” Ninefingers asked.

“Yes!”

“Can you get him magically?”

“I think he’s too far away,” she said. “Let me think.”

Felewin dismounted and looked down over the edge. Uthrilir had found handholds a hundred paces down the side of the mountain.

“We haven’t got enough rope,” Ninefingers said. “The rope I have is half that length.”

A gust of wind and snow swirled around them. “He’ll never last the night,” Felewin said. “We could send the rope to him but there’s not enough of it. Hrelgi could teleport him if he were closer, but he’s not.”

Hrelgi made a disgusted sound. Kasimir said, “Can you not teleport him up?”

Hrelgi shook her head. “Only between places I’ve been. And even if I had been down there, I’m not good enough at that magic. I mean, if I’m lucky I can do it but this is Uthrilir we’re talking about. I can’t take the chance.”

“If only the rope were longer,” Ninefingers said.

Hrelgi brightened. “Say, twice as long?”

“While we’re wishing, three times.”

“Right, we don’t want it too short. Ezmerelda, do you know fabrica motus?”

Ezmerelda shook her head. “Sensus and materia.”

“Gah. I might be able to, but I already have to cast twice and I can’t hold it… Kasimir?”

The other elf slowly nodded. “I am more used to the latency effect, but yes. I can use motus.”

“Hold on, Uthie,” Hrelgi called. “Felewin, here, tie this rock to the end of this rope. We need it secure so that Uthie can hold on.”

“Sure, but the rope isn’t long enough.”

“Now, sure. Ideally he can put his feet on it and hold on to the rope.”

Felewin took the rock and the rope, and tied the rock.

“Kasimir and I are going to work together on this,” said Hrelgi. “First, I make the rope three times as large. Then, Kasimir propels the rock to Uthrilir. Uthie will have a few seconds to grab the rope and get on. At that point, I stop enlarging the rope, because that’s going to happen anyway, and Uthrilir gets pulled up as the rope shrinks. Then Felewin pulls him the rest of the way.”

Kasimir shook his head. “It will require successful magic and planning.”

“I can’t think of anything else,” Hrelgi said. “And we have to get him off that mountainside. Unless you have enough rope.”

“I do not. Let me prepare my spell.”

“My hands are giving out. Now would be good,” came from down the mountainside.

“Ready?” asked Hrelgi.

Kasimir positioned himself so that “away” from him was “toward Uthrilir” and nodded.^[12]

Hrelgi cast the spell and suddenly the rope was three times the original length; Kasimir said a second spell and the rock flew away from him, trailing rope behind it.

The stone shot past Uthrilir and it fell so that the rope was within reach. The dwarf reached out and grabbed it, then held on tightly, wrapping his legs around it too.

Felewin started to move, to haul him up, but Hrelgi said, “Not yet. Hold on very very tightly, Uthie! I’m letting it shrink again!”

The rope got thinner and shorter; the stone rose and hit Uthrilir on the backs of his thighs, and Felewin grunted at the sudden weight of the dwarf.

A moment later, Uthrilir had been pulled fifty paces up the side of the mountain, bouncing against rock and brush as the rope returned to its original size.

Hrelgi looked down at him, waited one more heartbeat, and then said, “Now you can pull him up.^[13]”

“Why didn’t you just, what did you call it, motus him up?” Ninefingers asked.

“Don’t know if I can get him at this range and, you remember when I used motus in the Ironwood canyon? I don’t want to get hit by a flying dwarf again, and I don’t want to him to hit me and then fall back down; his arms are already tired.”

Ninefingers nodded.

It was not easy, but Felewin was big and strong. When Uthrilir reached the top, Kasimir and Hrelgi helped the dwarf onto the side of the road.

Uthrilir just lay there for a minute. “You know,” he said, “you swing a mace all day, you fight, you think your arms are in pretty good shape. And then you have to cling for your life to the side of a mountain, and you realize you are not as strong as you thought.”

“You’re here, you’re safe,” said Hrelgi. She helped Uthrilir get up and get on Kasimir’s horse.

Kasimir looked at the sky, which was a darker grey than it had been. “We must hurry. A storm is coming.”

Felewin hadn’t got back on his horse yet; he was tying the dead goat so his horse could drag it close behind. “Waste of good meat if we don’t take it,” he explained. “Goat for dinner.”

Ninefingers said, “Great. Kasimir, I couldn’t help but notice that the gate has a portcullis and a wall of green flame. Got a plan?”

“No, but she does,” Kasimir said. Ninefingers couldn’t tell whether the elf was indicating Ezmerelda or Hrelgi.

Ezmerelda turned to get Hrelgi in the corner of her vision. “Must be you. It’s all new to me.”

Hrelgi said, “Give me a minute.” She started looking through her grimoire, and then said a spell. She examined the results, which were only visible to her. “Okay. The flames are magical, and I think I can stop them for a moment. However I can’t stop the flames and raise the portcullis.”

“That should be easy,” said Kasimir. “I am told that if we approach the portcullis, it will rise. The flame is the difficult thing.”

“How long does the portcullis stay up?” Felewin asked.

“Not long.”

“And how long can you suppress the fire, Hrelgi?”

Hrelgi studied the portcullis. “Less than not long.”

Felewin said, “Then I guess Hrelgi should be ready before we approach the portcullis, and all of us should be ready to gallop once Hrelgi tells us to.”

“I need to be close to make it easier.” Hrelgi found the right parts of the spell in her grimoire and read them over. “Okay. I’m ready.”

Felewin urged his horse closer to the gate. The others followed. He could hear the crackle of the flames behind the portcullis. Nothing happened.

“Your information might have been incorrect,” Felewin said.

Annoyed, Kasimir rode right to the portcullis. With a terrible screech, the portcullis rose up, revealing the wall of flames.

“Okay,” said Hrelgi over the fire, and she pronounced the spell.^[14]

The flames vanished. Everyone dashed through; in a moment, the portcullis shut and the flames reappeared.

“I don’t feel much heat off those flames,” said Ninefingers. “Is it maybe an illusion?”

“Put your arm in and check,” suggested Kasimir.

Ninefingers retorted, “Doesn’t need to be hot to kill you. A giant boulder isn’t hot, but it’s still lethal.”

Kasimir laughed. “I agree.”

Felewin took a moment to set the giant goat draining, over the edge off the mountain.

The next obstacle was the tower door. It was made of wood, bound with iron, and barred from the inside. Ninefingers said, “No keyhole.”

Felewin joined them. He said, “Might be occupied,” and knocked.

Nothing happened.

Felewin said, “Well, that’s the design of a watchtower. Always occupied.”

“Why is it barred from the inside? Did they die inside?” asked Ninefingers. “We get in, we need to be on guard.”

“Think there’s a route down, through the roof?” Uthrilir asked.

“Maybe,” said Ninefingers.

Felewin asked Kasimir, “Sure this tower isn’t used?”

“Not since Strahd conquered this land,” the elf replied. Unlike everyone else, he did not seem bothered by the cold or the wind.

“Centuries old wood, then, and untended,” said Felewin. “Let’s give this a try.”^[15]

From the hinges, Felewin knew it opened out. He looked for places to grab. The handle was iron and solidly riveted; he found purchase in the iron banding. He pulled carefully, because the intent was to break the bar and not the door itself.

Felewin heaved, hard, groaning with the effort and feeling like something would burst…but eventually the wooden bar inside splintered. The door gave way enough that Ninefingers could reach in and push the bar out of the way.

Kasimir said, “I hope you are never mad at me.”

Ninefingers said, “You wouldn’t like it.”

“Shall we?” Felewin said. “The storm is about to hit.”

The room inside was bare; there was a cold hearth opposite the door, with wind howling down the chimney, like voices. To the right was a stone staircase, leading up. The walls had three windows looking out on the dark mist.

“Do we have wood for that fireplace?” Ninefingers asked.

“Only if Kasimir packed some,” said Felewin.

“I did not,” said Kasimir. “Barley for the horses, but not firewood.”

“Will the horses be okay?” Hrelgi asked.

“Maybe,” said Felewin. “Not enough room here for four horses and six people. Ninefingers, look upstairs and see what’s there.”

Ninefingers was already on the stairs.

Uthrilir said, “Hrelgi, can you heat the hearthstones?”

She replied, “Easily. Can we bring the horses in?”

“If Ninefingers says the upstairs is safe, they can stay down here and we can sleep up there,” said Felewin. “Downstairs will be smelly, anyway.”

“Horses?” Kasimir asked.

“And I’m going to scrape and cure that goat hide. It’s furry and it’s better than nothing.”

“I packed cold weather gear for everyone but Ezmerelda,” said Kasimir. “I did not expect her.”

“She deserves to be warm, too.”

Ninefingers came down. “Frigid but safe. Has its own fireplace. There’s a trapdoor to the roof.”

“Does the door open?”

“Can’t tell; ladder rungs are too far apart for me to climb.”

Felewin nodded. “Hrelgi, if you’ll please heat the two hearthstones, things might get more bearable here. I’ll bring in the horses and unload them.^[16]”

Kasimir and Uthrilir both volunteered to help; they hauled the unloaded bags upstairs. Felewin got the horses free of tack and saddles and bags, and then rubbed them down and checked their hooves. Kasimir came down with barley for them; the two put the bar back in place — there was enough still to keep the door from opening, but you had to place it very carefully — and then went upstairs.

Felewin skinned the goat and cut meat for everyone, including strips he hoped he could dry, even with the meager resources for a drying rack and no smoke. After they ate,^[17] he sat downstairs, scraped the hide, cured it, which took him until late. He figured out a way to hang the hide for the night, which wasn’t as good as stretching it, but it was all he had.

He went outside, kicked the carcass over the mountain edge, and washed his hands with snow, then went back inside and up to the second floor.

Hrelgi had heated up the fireplace rocks so much that no one wanted to cover up. They lay there on their bedrolls. Hrelgi shuttered the lantern and they listened to the wind.

Ninefingers said, “I don’t mean to get your hopes up, Felewin, but Ireena might not be dead.”

Felewin stopped adjusting his bedroll. “Go on.”

“The Abbot was there, and he has some kind of powers.”

“He is a fallen angel,” said Uthrilir. The others turned to look at him. “The look is unmistakable once you know the signs. He disguises himself well.”

“So he has magic abilities?”

“Oh, yes,” said Uthrilir. “Much greater than any we have seen.”

Hrelgi said, “I beg your pardon.”

“You are powerful, my dear, but he is on a different plane of power. He reanimates corpses easily. He wears his illusion of humanity all day every day.”

“Could he create a rend?” Ninefingers asked.

“I do not know, but I suspect he could.”

“We have only the word of eyewitnesses who were there at the same time as the Abbot that Ireena was taken to heaven,” said Ninefingers. “It is possible that the entire taken-to-heaven story is just a story, an illusion the Abbot created. Ireena stepped into the pool—or rather, into a rend—and was sent…somewhere.”

Felewin asked, “Where?”

“I cannot say,” said Ninefingers. “I do not even know if that happened, but it’s possible.” He yipped a small laugh. “As you say, I see tricks everywhere, and this could be a trick.”

“I doubt it,” said Uthrilir. “That is not something done by an angel, even a fallen one.”

“As do I,” said Felewin, “but thank you for the thought, Ninefingers.”

There was silence, and finally Ezmerelda said, “Kasimir, what are you looking for?”

There was a long pause, and finally Kasimir said, “The Amber Temple is where Strahd made his deal with dark powers. I believe there is something there that will restore my sister to life.”

“Your sister, who has been dead for centuries?” Ezmerelda asked.

“Yes.” Before she could speak again, Kasimir said, “I have lived for centuries^[18] with the knowledge that I am the cause of my sister’s death, and that I am the reason that there are no female dusk elves. I cannot atone for the latter, but perhaps I can bring my sister back to life.”

“And the other elves are okay with this?” asked Uthrilir. “They lost daughters, mothers, and wives.”

“My sister is the only one I can bring back without Strahd slaughtering her again.” They heard a sigh in the darkness. “It is all I can do.”

Felewin thought, If the cause of my suffering were resurrected and the loved ones I had lost were not, I might be resentful. Good that the elves are not humans, I suppose.

Felewin made a note to ask Hrelgi when Kasimir was not around, and went to sleep.

Previous Chapter 29 29 The Undercroft — Next Chapter 31 On The Roof

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Monsters

Dire Wolf

Abilities	Fitness 4 Awareness 4 Creativity 0 Reasoning 0 Influence 0
Skills	Athletics 4 (≤8), Brawling 4 (≤8), Survival ≤5, Tracking 5 (≤9)
Gimmicks

Sangzor, the Giant Goat

Abilities	Fitness 3 Awareness 3 Creativity 0 Reasoning 0 Influence 0
Skills	Brawling 5 (≤8), Survival 6 (≤6)
Gimmicks	Musclebound, Natural Weapons (Ramming +1 fat, total damage 3 fat), Sure Footed

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Game Mechanics

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Increase News (close a thread)

[2] Felewin has 10 riding and 11 archery, so she rolls against riding. Felewin rolls a 6, margin of 4, difficulty -2 (short range but it’s oversized). Its armor does not help it, so it takes 3 levels of damage.

[3] Horse has no composure, so let’s try just Fitness, a Difficulty 4 task. Nope, that’s an 8; fails. The other horses roll a 3 (so Kasimir’s horse stays) and a 7. Felewin makes his Animal Handling roll by a margin of 2, so he’ll be back in a turn.

[4] We use one of Uthrilir’s freebie endowments: he rolls intervention, so four (I rolled) tasks will each get 1d6 added to the skill level. Kasimir uses one of his memorized spells, F. Materia: he rolls 6, but his skill level is now 3 higher, so he makes it and removes 3 health levels: the first dire wolf is dead.

[5] Second intervention is on Tracking: Felewin’s skill is now 5 higher, which is good because the mist makes it difficulty 2. Felewin rolls a 6, margin of 6, so he knows where the second dire wolf is.

[6] Felewin rolls a 5, for a margin of 5, easily enough for a partly-hidden beast. The last two interference additions go to avoiding the armored bits. The second dire wolf now has 3 injury levels.

[7] Hrelgi rolls a 2, triumph, so that dire wolf is dead.

[8] Do any of them see Sangzor? He’s got Stealth but only gets margin -1 on his Stealth roll. I’m going to say that makes him Difficulty 2 to see. Everyone’s Awareness is high enough to see him if we did this as an automatic thing, but we’re not going to. Instead, we’ll use Survival for the three riders: Felewin, Ezmerelda, and Kasimir. Felewin rolls a 5, Ezmerelda rolls a 5, Kasimir rolls a 10. That’s margin of 3 for Felewin, margin of 3 for Ezmerelda, and margin of -4 for Kasimir, which tells you who he’s going to attack.

[9] Sangzor rolls a 6, making his regular Brawling by 1 and his “two people on a slow horse who didn’t see me” by 3. He hits the horse and knocks it sideways. The horse rolls a 3, so it does not fall down or over the edge, but Uthrilir has no Riding skill and rolls an 11 (margin -7, not a calamity, but bad). Kasimir rolls a 10 (margin -3). He is knocked off the horse; Uthrillir is knocked off the ledge.

[10] And what does Felewin roll? A 2. Triumph. So we’ll double the damage and check the armor. Two stopped by the armor and four let through. The ram is badly, badly hurt…and it rolls 11 on its composure, so it fails that by a margin of -2 (musclebound helps here because it’s a toughness thing).

[11] Ezmerelda rolls a 6, giving her a margin of 3 (it’s oversized), and none of the armor activates, so the beast takes another 2 health levels, and is dead.

[12] Hrelgi rolls an 8 on ge, a 4 on R+C, and then a 6 on materia, and another 6 on R+c. Kasimir rolls a 7 (margin 0) on motus, but he doesn’t have composure, so he fails the R+C roll by 4, rolling a 7. So he collects 1 Fatigue.

[13] Felewin rolls a 6 on his Athletics+Fitness roll, margin 4. Let’s say that Uthrilir collects 2 Fat damage from the trip; armor protects him from 1 of those.

[14] Even close up, it’s going to be difficulty 4. Hrelgi will do it as a prostrated task to reduce it to difficulty 2, but that still requires her to roll a 7 or less. Hrelgi rolls a 7, and makes a margin of 2, which meets the difficulty of 2. She (and I) always forgets about F. Ge and magical range, but she doesn’t want to roll twice.

[15] Difficulty 5. Felewin will make a prostrated task to make it Difficulty 3; his Fit+Athletics is 10, and he rolls a 7, margin of 3 just matching the difficulty.

[16] No point in rolling; Hrelgi can just re-try until she gets them.

[17] Felewin rolled a 4 on Survival, which we’re using for the hide first; it will be acceptable (though not tanned or softened). He rolls 6 (margin 2) dinner, so everything is cooked even though it’s a difficulty 2 meal.

[18] My elves live longer than standard Iron & Gold elves.

Chapter 29 —The Undercroft (Curse of Strahd, Actual Play)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 28 - Hunted! — Next Chapter 30 - To The Tsolenka Pass

• 29 - The Undercroft
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

29 - The Undercroft^[1]

Hrelgi’s rend opened in the church, just inside the front doors. The church was damp and dark and silent. They could not hear Donavich weeping or Doru yelling.

“Asleep?” whispered Ninefingers.

“I hope,” replied Uthrilir quietly.^[2]

“In we go,” said Felewin.

Ninefingers stealthily opened the door on the left and peered around. He shook his head. Ezmerelda, who had been second-last to come through (before Hrelgi) slowly opened the door to the right. She looked back at the others and shrugged.

Ninefingers silently pushed past her.

The room was a moldy mess. The ceiling had holes; the shingles from around the holes sat in puddles of water. Unlike the other room, there was no bed and no holy sunburst on the wall. Amid the detritus, in one corner of the floor was a heavy wooden trapdoor secured by a chain and padlock.

“There,” he breathed.

“We don’t have a key,” whispered Hrelgi.

“Give me a moment,” Ninefingers said.

Uthrilir said, “Plan. Ninefingers first because he can see in the dark. Hrelgi shines the light down, Felewin next, then me. Ezmerelda and Hrelgi stay up here, ready to shut the door if all goes wrong.”

Ezmerelda nodded; Hrelgi said, “No.”

“We don’t have a choice, Hrelgi,” Uthrilir said. “You are our protection, our insurance.”

“Nothing will go wrong,” she said. “I insist.”

Uthrilir managed to smile.^[3] “I will tell the vampire that you insist.”

“Got it,” murmured Ninefingers. He quietly^[4] lifted the chain through the hasp. Ezmerelda closed the door to the hallway, and Felewin^[5] raised the trapdoor so that Ninefingers could go down. There was a wooden staircase under the trapdoor, and Ninefingers^[6] quietly descended the stairs, his sword drawn and a flask of holy water in the other hand.

The basement was roughly a T shape, about forty Ninefingers’ paces across the narrow part, more at the other end — maybe twice as big. The walls were wood and stone, a foundation set into the clay-like earth, and the various posts that held up the wooden floor were bowed and rotting. In one corner, the farthest from the staircase that could be, was a gaunt figure, hunched in the corner. Ninefingers could just make out its sibilant “I can smell your blood.”

Light splashed behind him as he stepped off the staircase, and Felewin started down. Felewin was not silent at all, though he was trying to be quiet.^[7]

“That’s tastier,” came the second comment from the corner.

Felewin stayed near the staircase and the light.

Uthrilir came down the stairs, his body casting huge shadows at the top of the stairs that got smaller as he got down the stairs.

They heard “What are you doing here?” from the room above.

“Father,” cried Doru as he scuttled along the ceiling.

The trapdoor fell shut, cutting off the light from upstairs.

#

Upstairs, the hallway door was forced open, despite Ezmerelda trying to hold it shut. Donavich said, “What are you doing here?”

Hrelgi said, “We’re—” but Donavich attacked^[8], shoving the door aside as he leapt for Hrelgi. Hrelgi dodged but dropped the door.^[9] The glow from her lantern revealed that Donavich was not a distraught father, but a vampire.

Hrelgi looked for the spell she wanted; Ezmerelda^[10] smashed a flash of holy water against his chest, and Donavich started smoking. “I share my son’s hunger!” Donavich turned to attack Ezmerelda instead^[11] and clawed Ezmerelda.^[12]

Hrelgi cast a spell^[13] and Donavich collapsed.

#

Grabbing the undersides of the floorboards, Doru said to Felewin, “They can see what I’m doing but you can’t.” He swung at Felewin to knock him down, but Felewin managed to evade him through luck.^[14] Ninefingers kept forward but he was too small to hit Doru, even with his sword.

Uthrilir said, “By the power of the Maiden, hold still!”

The holy symbol of Ravenkind flared with radiance, and a shaft of light unerringly found Doru on the ceiling.^[15] The vampire froze in place.

“Stake him before he moves!” Ninefingers said.

“I can’t do it with him on the ceiling,” Felewin said. “Plus I can’t see him without light. I hope Hrelgi and Ezmerelda are safe.”

“We have a vampire right here,” said Ninefingers. “I hope we’re safe.”

“You’ll have to pull him down,” said Uthrilir.^[16]

Felewin steeled himself for this and grabbed Doru by the hips (he had intended the chest, but it was dark) and pulled. He could feel Doru trembling, resisting the command of the symbol^[17].

He held Doru’s arms and said, “Ninefingers, I’ll hold him and you do it. The stake and mallet are in my pouch.”

“We don’t know how long he’ll be paralyzed,” said Ninefingers.

“Right, so hurry!” Uthrilir said.^[18]

Upstairs they could hear rhythmic hammering.^[19]

The sound heartened Ninefingers and in five strokes, it was done.

Uthrilir said, “That’s good; now cut off its head.”

Ninefingers took care to aim and not hit Felewin, and in three strokes, severed its head.

The head rolled to one side; Felewin picked it up by the greasy hair and went up the stairs, using his back to raise the trapdoor. His sword was in his hand.^[20]

The door was stuck: old wood, swollen with water. It had been difficult to open before, but it was well jammed now. Felewin pushed again, and the trapdoor broke in two; both pieces lolled to one side on their hinges.

A silvered blade stopped just short of Felewin’s neck.

“Oh. It’s you,” said Ezmerelda.

Hrelgi reached down to help him up. “Are you guys okay? How’s Uthie?”

“We’re fine. That holy symbol works a treat. Paralyzed him.” Felewin got out of the way, sheathed his sword, and helped Ninefingers up.

“It affects more than one,” said Ezmerelda. “I think it paralyzed the priest too.”

“He was a vampire?”

Ezmerelda nodded. “At some point, Strahd must have decided to turn him.”

Uthrilir came up and accepted Hrelgi’s hug. “Strahd might have started it long ago; Donavich’s robe hid his neck.”

“If so, do you think his suggestion of the Abbey was influenced by Strahd?”

Uthrilir shrugged. “Who knows? News does not travel quickly in this land. I would not be surprised if the wine deliveries are the principal way for information to get around.”

“Or raven.”

“Secretly, yes.” Uthrilir looked at the body of Donavich. “Let us take them downstairs and bury them under the church. Then no one will accidentally remove the stakes.”

“You do not need to worry about that,” said Ezmerelda. “Once the stake has destroyed them, they are no longer vampires and cannot be brought back.”

“Except by Dark Powers,” said Uthrilir.

Ezmerelda conceded this was true.

“You are hurt,” said Uthrilir to Ezmerelda. “I shall ask the Maiden.”^[21]

“Say a prayer for their bodies, too, but then we must be off,” said Felewin. “Someone might have heard that fight.”

Hrelgi nodded and spent a moment searching the places she had been. “These are long distances,” she said. “I can do maybe two in a row, but it’s safer if I have a moment to rest between them.”

“Of course,” said Felewin.^[22]

“Okay.” The next rend took them to the gates of Barovia, on the way to Vallaki. They heard the howling of wolves; Hrelgi created the next rend, and they stepped through, Felewin first.

They were in Kasimir’s study, outside Vallaki.

Kasimir was looking at them. He said, “Tea?”

---

Monsters

Fitness	Awareness	Creativity	Reasoning	Influence
5	4	2	2	2
Skills	Brawling 3 (≤8), Dueling 5 (≤10), Stealth 4 (≤9)
Gimmicks	Undead, Night Vision, Life Drain, Natural Weapons (Bite: 1 inj), Resistant[Non-magical weapons], Supernatural Healing (does not work in sunlight or running water) If the spawn are called out as former adventurers, they also have Composure 3, which makes it much more likely that they can resist things.

---

Game Mechancs

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Deceive Exravagance (PC Negative)

[2] Obviously they’re going to check the two rooms, but which do they check first? Odd is left, even is right. Rolled a 1, so they check Doru’s bedroom first.

[3] Ninefingers rolls a 3 for Finesse, which is a margin of 6, and easily makes the 2 Difficulty. (All locks in Barovia are Difficulty 2 unless otherwise stated.)

[4] Ninefingers rolls a 5, which makes his stealth by margin 3

[5] Felewin rolls a 9, which is a margin of 1 on the Athletics roll, which is Difficulty 1.

[6] Ninefingers rolled a 9, which is his Finesse roll: margin 0.

[7] Felewin rolls 8 for a margin of -3, and Uthrilir rolls 5, for a margin of -1…neither of them actually has stealth, so not bad for trying.

[8] Donavich goes upstairs; others get no action. Reactions for downstairs: Felewin 13, Ninefingers 13, Uthrilir 9, Doru 11
Donavich does 2 Fatigue to Ezmerelda; her armor does not help, he rolls margin -1 to attack, she rolls margin 2 to not be attacked.

[9] Rather than cutting back and forth for every round, we’ll handle one (for at least a bit) and then the other.
Reactions: Donavich 9 Ezmerelda 11 Hrelgi 12

[10] Ez rolls an 8 on her athletics roll, and has a margin of 0. The holy water does 1 Inj to the vampire.

[11] Donavich rolls 4 for margin 2; Ezmerelda rolls a 7 for margin 1 so he hits her and does 2 inj

[12] Ezmerelda makes her Fit+Composure roll: she rolls 4 and needs 6.
Reactions upstairs: Donavich 11 Ezmerelda 11 Hrelgi 10
Hrelgi rolls a 9, which is margin 0 for her but it works. She does 4 levels of Injury. Toughness does not help.
Donavich might be dead, but vampires are hard to kill. The new Gimmick Undying lets him regenerate this turn anyway.

[13] Hrelgi makes the R+C roll with a 10, but only because the difficulty is -2.

[14] Reactions: Doru 10 Felewin 12 Ninefingers 10 Uthrilir 12
Doru: Attack Felewin Ninefingers: attack Doru Felewin: avoid attacks Uthrilir: use the holy symbol
Doru rolls an 8, which makes his Brawling roll by margin -1, but Felewin rolls a 2, a triumph, so through sheer luck Felewin is not hit.

[15] Doru has to make an Reasoning+Composure test with difficulty 2. He rolls a 4, which makes his I+C roll with a margin of -1 (he doesn’t have Composure), which does not make difficulty 2. He’s frozen for a minute. Donavich (who’s also in range) rolls a 7, which is margin of-4, and does not help.

[16] Felewin has to steel himself for this (Difficulty 2), but rolls 4 on his Reasoning+Composure test, for a margin of 4. Now he has to roll Awareness: it’s not completely dark down there. He rolls a 5, and I’ll let his Survival stand in on this so he makes it by margin 2. (Alternatively, it’s difficulty 2 and he has awareness 3, so he manages automatically).

[17] Doru gets another chance to roll, but does worse this time: he rolls a 7, which fails by -4.

[18] The paralysis lasts a minute; a minute is about 12 turns. Felewin gets him down: 1 turn; Ninefingers finds the mallet and stake: 1 turn;

[19] D&D makes specific that vampires are destroyed only if the wooden thing pierces the chest while incapacitated in resting place. I’m going to say that’s not true for vampire spawn; a stake through the heart or beheading will destroy them. (Though the church is the resting place for both of them.) Anyway, I had a whole reveal where they were back fast, but the dice didn’t fall that way. We’ll go on with a false sense of confidence.

[20] Felewin rolls a 12 on his Athletics roll to open the door, which is margin -2. He breaks the old trapdoor: he succeeds but the door isn’t any good any more.

[21] Uthrilir prays and rolls a 7, which succeeds on this 9- difficulty 2 check; he heals her for a whole 1.

[22] General process from a gaming standpoint: Hrelgi makes the rend, they step through. She can hold it open for 5 turns, that being her skill. dShe makes the R+C roll; if she fails, she takes a point of fatigue, which she needs to recover for herself (a memorized spell) wait a turn; make the second rend, pass through. Again, if there’s a problem, try the healing spell. Generally, a rend is four turns to pass through, dismiss, and check self.

Chapter 28 — Hunted! (Curse of Strahd, Actual Play)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 27 27 Dinner With Strahd — Next Chapter 29 The Undercroft

Being an actual play of Curse of Strahd, using Precis Intermedia Games’ Iron & Gold, with Mythic as the GM.

• Chapter 28 — Hunted!
• Game Mechanics

Chapter 28 — Hunted!^[1]

The five of them were wet, standing in Ismark’s mansion, in the same room where Felewin had tested Ireena days ago. The furniture had been pushed back into place, and there were signs that Ismark had had people in, in the meantime.

“You can come out now,” said Ninefingers, his hand on the hilt of his sword.^[2]

Ezmerelda d’Avenir appeared, in a dark grey cloak. Ninefingers sighed and took his hand off his sword; he had known that someone or something came with them, but wasn’t sure it was Ezmerelda.

“I thought it better to come with you than have to escape the castle myself,” she said. “It is good to see you all. Where are we?”

“Barovia, the village,” said Uthrilir. He took Ezmerelda’s hand and checked: she was as warm-bodied as any of them. “You are not a vampire.”

Ezmerelda smiled, curling her upper lip back from her teeth. “I am not.”

Hrelgi looked at her, checked her grimoire, and cast a spell.^[3] “One magic spell active and a buttload of magic stuff, so I can’t get a clear view.”

“Dark vision,” said Ezmerelda. “So I can see in the dark. It helps in an unlit castle.” She waved her hand. “Gone now. Try again.”

Hrelgi cast the spell again.^[4] “Magic armour, magic weapons, potions, nothing else except that she can also do magic.”

“Thank you,” said Ezmerelda.

Felewin said, “You appreciate why we had to check.”

Ezmerelda unwrapped her cloak. “Of course.”

Felewin looked around. “This is where the burgomaster Ismark lives and where his sister Ireena…lived.”

There was a small front hall; each of them hung up their cloaks and Uthrilir set up a fire; Hrelgi^[5] lit it, and soon there was some heat.

Ezmerelda looked around. “I have never been here. Can we be heard from outside?”

“Not easily,” said Ninefingers. “This room is set inside the other rooms, so only the fireplace connects to the outside.”

“We’ll speak quietly,” said Felewin.

“I haven’t checked,” said Ninefingers, “but I suspect there’s a grating above the fire, in the chimney flue, below the chimney cap. I think Ismark once said that Strahd also controlled bats,” (Ezmerelda nodded) “so they’d want to keep them out, or at least unable to listen.”

“What’s on the other side of the fireplace?”

“Kitchen. This fireplace is also the oven,” said Ninefingers.

“Don’t use their food,” said Felewin. “His food.”

“It’s for guests,” said Hrelgi. “And we’re guests.”

“He might not want us. We failed him. We couldn’t protect Ireena,” said Felewin. “I don’t feel right about taking his food.”

“Do you want to go elsewhere?” Hrelgi asked

“No. I need to apologize to him.”

“We couldn’t help it,” said Ninefingers. “All of that happened while we were away from her. No one could have known!”

“We shouldn’t have left her alone,” said Felewin.

"We should sleep. By tomorrow’s light, Strahd’s agents will be looking for us,” said Ezmerelda.

“I don’t think I can sleep,” said Hrelgi.

“Tell us what you know about this tower,” said Ninefingers.

“Tell us about the mentor you’re hunting,” said Hrelgi.

“The tower is easy. I believe it belonged to the wizard Khazan, who was in the employ of Strahd.” She looked at Hrelgi. “Magic does not work inside the tower — be wary of that.”

“But you can get in?” asked Hrelgi.

“Yes. There are two ways. First is a puzzle on the door; if you perform certain actions, the door opens. Second is a rickety scaffold out back that leads to an upper window. Felewin is too heavy for it, maybe Uthrilir too. There are golems inside but they seem to be only to raise and lower a cage that traverses the levels.”

“An elevator,” said Ninefingers. “If magic doesn’t work inside the elevator, how do the golems work?”

“I believe it is ensorcelled so that only Khazan’s magic will work. But Khazan is long gone.” She shrugged, and pulled out her spell book. She took some blank pages from the rear and sketched quick maps. “Four levels. I know that my mentor has slept in this fourth level — I recognized some of what he left behind — but he is not there.”

“He’s not a half-elf, is he?” Felewin asked. “Your mentor is from elsewhere, like we are, and the half-elf is the only living outsider we’ve met.”

“No, my mentor is human,” said Ezmerelda.

“Not him, then,” said Felewin. Hrelgi caught Ninefingers’ eye. The goblin looked back at her and gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

Ezmerelda said, “He has been cursed, he says, so that those near him will die, but this is not a land in which to be alone.”

“What’s his name?” Ninefingers asked.

“It is not safe to tell you,” said Ezmerelda. “If he is hiding, his name should remain hidden.”

“Of course.”

There was silence. They listened to each other breathe, and they did eventually fall asleep in that room, taking comfort in each other’s presence. The rooster woke them at dawn.

“We’ll wait until Ismark returns,” said Felewin. “But we should plan how we will get to the tower that Ezmerelda knows.”

“I’ve never been there, have I?” Hrelgi asked.

Ezmerelda shook her head. “But it is near Krezk.”

“Have we got a map of Barovia?” asked Hrelgi.

“There I can help you,” said Ezmerelda. She reached into her bag and pulled up a folded map. “I found this in the tower. It was created by my mentor.” She held up her hand to forestall comments. “At least annotated by him.”

“If we are here…then we’ve been there, and there, and there….” Felewin pointed to places on the map. “This is much better than the maps my brother the priest draws; his are very preachy.”

“His maps are probably moral arguments,” said Uthrilir.

Ezmerelda said, “My mentor is not one for arguments like that.”

“My father does not use my brother’s maps,” agreed Felewin.

“I have no idea,” said Hrelgi. “There’s places I know I can get to and places I know I can’t. I suppose there’s a fuzzy region at the edge but I don’t know what it is. From here, I can’t get all the way to Vallaki, for instance.” She closed her eyes. “That road leading to the old mill, I can get to that intersection. I know I can. Maybe farther along the road.”

“I don’t know how safe it is along the road,” Ezmerelda said. “The mill is here and”—she almost said his name—“my mentor has a squiggle here that means maybe it is occupied.”

“Not a place to hide, then,” said Ninefingers. Felewin was looking at him. “Ireena didn’t know why the mill was abandoned. If it were friendlies living there, they would have told the nearest villages, ‘Hey, we can’t run the mill because the main shaft is broken,’ or something. Ergo, if occupied, it is occupied by nasties.”

“I suppose,” said Felewin. “We could look, maybe clear out whatever is there. Then it becomes a hiding spot for us.”

“Or we die trying to fight whatever lives there. We have to keep our eyes on the purpose.”

Felewin sighed. “Yes. I just…if it would help Ismark. We’ve already failed him…”

“If we can deal with Strahd, we will be helping him,” said Uthrilir.

“Then we need to deal with Doru,” said Hrelgi.

“No,” said Ninefingers.

Ezmerelda said, “Who is Doru?”

“Vampire, kept under the church,” said Ninefingers. “Why do we need to deal with Doru?”

“First, helping Ismark. Second, practice against vampires and the fancy holy symbol. We’re not going to find a lone trapped vampire anywhere else. Third, while Doru exists, he’s a weapon that Strahd can free and use against us.”

“But if we kill him, Strahd will know,” said Uthrilir. “And the holy symbol might be one use only.^[6]”

“No, I have found stories of the holy symbol in the records at the Abbey,” said Ezmerelda. “The symbol was used repeatedly, even after the original owner died. It can be exhausted, yes, but it always regains its abilities.”

“What do the stories say the symbol can do?” Uthrilir asked.

“I only know that it can create sunlight. The stories say that no vampires approach a holy person who is carrying the amulet, and that it can create sunlight, but that is…taxing for it.”

“You’ll need holy water,” said Ezmerelda. She reached into her bag and pulled out two flasks. Uthrilir nodded grimly and pulled out another one.

Felewin said, “Strahd has spies everywhere. Our only hope is appearing somewhere, striking while he’s trying to find us, then disappearing. If we kill Doru, he knows we’re here.”

“I expect he’s got a rough idea of Hrelgi’s range,” said Ninefingers. “He knows we didn’t go out the front gate. From his viewpoint, we either traveled by rend or got into that room we saw from the overlook.” The goblin shrugged. “He can check the castle, and if we traveled by rend, he knows we’re in this village. If we’re in the village, we’re here, we’re in the Durst House (assuming it has rebuilt itself), we’re in the church, or we’re in the tavern.”

“Assuming he knows that Hrelgi can only go where she’s been,” pointed out Felewin.

“It’s part of the magic,” said Hrelgi. “You have to have been there to go back.”

“He knows magic,” said Ezmerelda. “I do not know if he knows this kind — I do not — but he knows magic.”

“All right,” said Felewin. “You’ve convinced me. We have to deal with Doru.”

“Now, if possible,” said Ninefingers. “It is just past dawn; we finish Doru and leave. I do not think we’ll have time to wait for Ismark.”

Felewin sighed. “I suppose you’re right.” He asked Hrelgi, “Can you get us into the church?”

Hrelgi nodded. “But I don’t know the way to the undercroft.”

Uthrilir said, “We were in the hall and the sanctuary proper, not the other rooms. The passage to the undercroft is either in the sanctuary, as with Saint Andral’s bones, or one of the other rooms.”

“That’s helpful,” said Ninefingers.^[7] Uthrilir bristled.

Felewin put in, “I trust Ninefingers didn’t mean it that way.”

Ninefingers apologized. “Tired and on edge. Sorry.”

Felewin went on, “We’re all tired. Let’s check the other rooms instead of the sanctuary. Donavich is probably in the sanctuary; we don’t want to face him right away.” The others looked at him. “In his mind, we’re killing his son,” explained Felewin. “Just so I’m clear: there’s no way of curing the lad?”

Uthrilir said, “None. The Maiden might be able to intervene if Strahd is dead, but while Strahd exists, there is none.”

“And magic to bring people back to life works on very short time frames. Someone who has been a vampire for a whole year can’t be brought back by anything I know of,” said Hrelgi.

“There is no way,” added Ezmerelda flatly.

Felewin nodded. “All right. Do we walk?”

Hrelgi said, “I can do better than that.”^[8]

Previous Chapter 27 27 Dinner With Strahd — Next Chapter 29 The Undercroft

---

Game Mechanics

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Failure Energy (PC Positive)

[2] Ninefingers’ Awareness is 4 and he has night vision. He knows that there was an invisible figure in the rain with them, even though the difficulty was Complex.

[3] Hrelgi rolls a 9 on F. Sphaera, so margn 0. She rolls a 7 on R+C, so margin 3.

[4] This time Hrelgi rolls a 3 (margin 6) on Fabrica Sphaera, and a triumph on R+C. Pity it wasn’t the other way around.

[5] Hrelgi rolls a 6 on the spell; and 6 on the R+C.

[6] Ezmerelda rolls a 6, making her Legends roll by margin 1.

[7] Ninefingers rolled a 10 on his Influence+Composure roll (4-) for a margin of -6. Ooops.

[8] Hrelgi rolls a 4 for a margin of 6, which is enough for a rend.