Chapter 42 Final Showdown (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 41 Duel! — Next Chapter Epilogue

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

• Chapter 42 - Final Showdown
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

42 - Final Showdown

They waited (Ninefingers impatiently) while Hrelgi reviewed her grimoire. Finally, she said, “I think I’ve got it now. It was teleportation, not just a rend, and I wasn’t taking that into account.”

“Of course,” said Ninefingers.

“So I have to cast two spells, one for each fabric.”

“Whatever,” said Ninefingers. “Do it.”

“Give her a chance,” said Uthrilir.

Hrelgi^[1] concentrated and then said the two spells.

“Now it should be safe,” Hrelgi said.

Ninefingers sprinted to the square, but he and the dead wight stayed in place.

Disappointed, Ninefingers said,“Come on, then. She can’t suppress it forever.”

The rest of them pushed past him into the space before the portcullis. Uthrilir turned back to the space with the dead wight, and pulled what looked like a chisel from his pouch. He hammered it into the seam between floor stones. It took him several tries (while Hrelgi sweated with concentration) but he finally levered up the floor stone.

Inscribed on the bottom was a circle.

Uthrilir defaced it and set the stone back.

“In case we need to leave quickly,” he said.

“I hope that did not take too long,” Ezmerelda said.

“I hope that Felewin is still alive,” said Ninefingers.

There was a similar lever to the one outside Sergei’s tomb. They pulled it and heard the door open; then they descended black marble steps into a domed chamber ten times as high as Ninefingers, five times as high as Hrelgi. It smelled of fresh earth with something sour, and felt of evil. A coffin of waxed black wood and shining brass fittings sat at the centre of the room, on a stone platform. Beyond the coffin, on the far side of the tomb, were three alcoves. The outer two were empty, but the middle one—

Three hell hounds bounded out.^[2] Ezmerelda managed to squeeze a shot from her crossbow^[3] and hit one of them. The hell hound^[4] bounded over the coffin and snapped at Ezmerelda^[5] but bit empty air. Other hell hounds bit at Ninefingers and Uthrilir but missed. Surprised, Ninefingers^[6] and Uthrilir missed their return attacks.

Concerned, Hrelgi cast the spell on Uthrilir^[7] that made him impervious.

Uthrilir^[8] asked the Maiden for her rebuke,^[9] and the hounds suddenly whimpered and ran for the walls of the tomb. “How long can you hold that?” Ninefingers asked.

“Just do it now!” Uthrilir groaned.

Ezmerelda grabbed the lid of the coffin and heaved to no effect.

Ninefingers said, “It’s clasped shut.” He reached forward and unlocked it.

“Hurry!” Uthrilir said. The hell hounds circled around the walls of the tomb.

Ezmerelda flipped open the coffin and there was Strahd lying there.

“Felewin must have hurt him more than we knew,” Ninefingers said, handing Ezmerelda a stake.

Ezmerelda began to drive the stake. Strahd screamed gutturally as the stake went in.

“I can’t hold it much longer—” said Uthrilir. “This is not hallowed ground.”

“Almost done,” Ezmerelda said. “Ready with your sword because the hell hounds don’t go away when he’s dead.”

Ninefingers said, “Ready.” He wished he could fire a bow.

Hrelgi had found the spell she needed.^[10] She cast^[11] her spell and one of the hell hounds folded and vanished.

Ezmerelda said, “In. Cut off his head!”

“I can’t reach!” Ninefingers said.

“Well, crap,” said Ezmerelda.

“I can’t hold it any more,” said Uthrilir. One of the remaining hell hounds bounded forward to attack^[12] Ninefingers.^[13] Its claws caught him and raked down his arms. He tried to strike back^[14] but failed. Uthrilir hit the hell hound^[15] as it went by, but the other one was on him. It wasn’t able to hurt him, because Hrelgi’s spell was still active.

The^[16] hell hounds tried again: Uthrilir^[17] and Ninefingers both dodged this time; Uthrilir asked the Maiden for help again^[18] and the again hell hounds again retreated to the walls. Hrelgi cast her spell again, on a different hell hound^[19], the one that Uthrilir had hit. That one too folded and vanished.

The loose dirt at the edge of the crypt flew off and a pale woman in a wedding dress leapt for Hrelgi.^[20] Ninefingers slashed twice^[21] and hit the woman, who turned into smoke.

Ezmerelda was busy cutting off Strahd’s head with her rapier. “She will return. And the hell hounds are usually accompanied by a master.”

“With luck, we will be gone,” said Ninefingers.

Hrelgi cast the spell once more,^[22] but in her hurry she mispronounced one syllable^[23] and it failed. Hrelgi grabbed her grimoire and looked it up. Ninefingers said, “What if we back out? Force them to go through the doorway?”

“Their master is immaterial and can go through anything,” said Uthrilir. “Yon wraith.”

“You die,” the wraith growled from its space in the middle alcove. It growled something in another language. It seemed the hell hound understood the language, for it fixed its gaze on Hrelgi.^[24] Ninefingers placed himself between the hell hound and the coffin.

Hrelgi cast the spell again,^[25] and the hell hound folded and vanished.

Uthrilir could not hold the Maiden’s rebuke any more, and lowered the arm with his holy symbol. The wraith rushed forward—and tried to attack Hrelgi, but Ninefingers was waiting^[26] and interposed himself, using his magic sword.

The wraith turned to attack Ninefingers^[27], but the goblin was the better swordsman.

While they fought, Uthrilir began the last rites for Strahd.

Ninefingers dispatched the wraith.

Uthrilir finished saying last rites over Strahd’s body^[28] and the sense of evil lifted. The crypt was still an unpleasant place, but not an evil one. Uthrilir felt the presence of the Maiden as he had not since they came to this land.

“I think we have done it,” Uthrilir said, with hope.

“Except we’re still in a castle filled with monsters,” said Ninefingers. A huge figure appeared on one of the outer alcoves. “Like that one.”

Felewin stepped out. “As I thought,” he said. “Congratulations! I could feel the evil lift.”

“You are Felewin still?” Ezmerelda asked.

“I think so.” He held out his arms, mindful to keep his hands away from weapons. “Check me…but be mindful of the wound.”

“You’re hurt!” Ninefingers said. “How did you get that?”

“Duelling with Strahd after I got out of the trap — a crypt. Got lucky duelling Strahd and hurt him enough that he retreated to his coffin.”

“But why come through the alcove?” Hrelgi asked suspiciously.

“That…that was a guess. What got me was a teleportation trap in front of the entrance to this tomb, right? I figured there were probably traps in front of the other two approaches, and I did not have you to suppress the magic. He could go through walls but others, like Cyrus, couldn’t. That meant he had some other way to get in. So I was hoping for a clue to the other entrance. On my way back here, I saw footprints leading in and out of a crypt. The crypt was empty except for two alcoves. I tossed an arrow into one and it went nowhere, so I tried the other one.” He looked around. “And lived, but aarrived too late to help.”

Felewin sighed and to Uthrilir he said, “Check me or bless me or whatever you must do. We need to get out of this castle and somewhere safe. The monsters that are left are no longer held in check by Strahd’s ego.”

---

Monsters

Hell hounds are in the rule book; wights and vampire spawn have been presented already.

Becaues I used the three brides earlier in the study, I used Sasha here, who is also a vampire spawn in the crypts. She just is only one person and not three.

---

Game Mechanics

[1] Hrelgi preps for two turns, reducing the difficulty by 2. Then she rolls 9 (4 on the R+C roll), and 3 on ge, and 8 on the R+C roll.

[2] Reactions: Felewin 10 Ninefingers 10 Uthrilir 10 Hrelgi 12 Ezmerelda 11 Hell hounds 9 Wraith 10

[3] Ez rolls a 5 and hits; the crossbow does 3 injury levels but the toughness stops 1 point.

[4] Hell hound rolls 9 (margin 1), and Ezmerelda rolls 4 (margin 4).

[5] Other hell hound attacks include one versus Ninefingers (it rolls 10, margin 0 versus his 6, margin 4), and vs Uthrilir (margin 5, vs his 3 margin 7)

[6] Ninefingers rolls 7 to hit (margin 3) but hell hound rolls 4 (margin 6). Uthrilir rolls 7 (margin 3 but hell hound rolls 5 margin 5)

[7] Hrelgi rolls 4 to cast spell (margin 6) and 7 on R+C (margin 3).

[8] Reactions: Ninefingers 12 Uthrilir 13 Hrelgi 9 Ez 12 Hellhounds 12

[9] Uthrilir rolls a 7 (margin 1) on the Gospel/Purity endowment.

[10] Reactions: Ninefingers 13 Uthrilir 10 Hrelgi 11 Ez 13 Hellhounds 9 Wraith 8 Sasha 13. Sasha does not make her Awareness+Composure, rolling a 12.

[11] Hrelgi rolls a 6 and the injured hellhound is drained of remaining unlife. She rolls 4 on the R+C (margin 5).

[12] Who does the hellhound attack? There are four, so a d4: 1 - Ez 2 - Hrelgi 3 - Ninefingers 4 - Uthrilir. Rolled a 3, so Ninefingers

[13] Hellhounds rolls 2 (triumph and margin 8); Ninefingers rolls 9 (margin 1). Armor rolls are {2,4,6} so Ninefingers takes 2.

[14] Ninefingers, now at -1, rolled 8 (margin 1) but the hellhound rolled 5 to avoid it (margin 5)

[15] Uthrilir rolls 7 (margin 3) but the hellhound doesn’t get to respond; it’s Toughness doesn’t help {3,6,3}

[16] Reactions Hellhounds 13 Uthrilir 13 Hrelgi 12 Sasha 12 Ezmerelda 8 Wraith 8 Ninefingers 8

[17] Hellhound rolls 9, margin 1, but Uthrilir rolls 6 margin 4 and dodges. Hellhound on Ninefingers rolls 8 (margin 2) but Ninefingers rolls 4 (margin 5).

[18] Uthrilir rolls a 4 margin 6, which makes difficulty 2. The hellhounds and wraith can’t make A+C rolls {11,6,9} but Sasha does (a 2).

[19] Hrelgi rolls 4, so the spell works, and 6 on the R+C (margin 2).

[20] Uh, Sasha just rolled 12 and Hrelgi rolled 5. I think that means Sasha missed.

[21] And Ninefingers rolls twice, making margin 1 each time. Sasha rolls a 10, so she doesn’t avoid the first one.

[22] Hrelgi rolls 12 (margin -2) but a 2 for R+C.

[23] Reactions: Ninefingers 12 Hrelgi 12 Uthrilir 10 Ez 11 Hellhounds 11 Wraith 13

[24] Reactions: Ninefingers 12 Hrelgi 10 Uthrilir 8 Hellhound 10 Wraith 12

[25] Hrelgi rolls a 4 on the spell (margin 6, a triumph) and a 5 on the R+C (margin 2).

[26] Ninefingers rolls a 4 (margin 6) and the wraith tries to dodge with a 7 (margin 2).

[27] Wraith rolls 7 to hit (margin 2) but Ninefingers rolls 4 (margin 5). Reactions for next turn are Ninefingers 12, Wraith 10, and Ninefingers strikes (margin 5 vs margin 2). Wraith is gone.

[28] Uthrilir is consecrating the land, actually, and makes it by margin 5, enough for the difficulty 4.

Chapter 41 Duel! (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 40 Loose Threads Cut Short — Next Chapter 42 Final Showdown

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

• Chapter 41 - Duel!
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

41 - Duel!^[1]

There was a flash of light and then darkness. Felewin found himself lying in a foul-smelling stone box with a stone lid. The smell was mostly rotten meat but with other things mixed in, and the dust was thick enough in the air to choke. Felewin coughed once and then retracted the sword blade. In the darkness, he felt the lid carefully. It was possible that when he lifted the lid, gas or water or blood would pour in; it was also possible that some beast would be waiting to kill him.

And if I do nothing, I will starve. All will kill me, so I might as well act.

He placed his palms flat against the lid and pushed^[2] up, mindful that it might be hinged. It wasn’t. It was simply a heavy lid, and Felewin pushed it to one side, but not off, so he could sit up and see what his situation was.

He was in a stone coffin. By the light of the blade, he could see that he was in a pit, in an irregularly-shaped chamber, with over a dozen other stone coffins. All coffins seemed to be oriented the same way but there was no organization to how they were placed. The floor was covered with bones and rusty swords; the walls shone with dampness. He could make out handholds, but could not see the top of the pit. Distantly, he heard water trickling.

He got out of the coffin, standing uneasily on the swords and bones and regarded the other coffins. It was possible that other members of his group were in some of the coffins. They were not supposed to have followed him, but Ninefingers might have.

He wished he had the goblin’s opinion. This did not seem like a particularly onerous trap: it cost time (Ninefingers might say that was enough) but was not particularly deadly. Presumably the deadly thing happened when you opened another coffin or tried to leave.

He walked to the wall, bones crunching underfoot, and looked at the handholds. He would have to turn off the sword’s blade to climb, and then he could not see the next handhold. He decided he would memorize the next few and alternate climbing with activating the blade and looking.

He felt a flicker of annoyance at Hrelgi, for taking his lantern. If he still had his lantern, he could loop it around his neck and carry it to see while climbing.

On the other hand, if he hadn’t had Hrelgi with him, he would be dead many times over. The annoyance passed; thinking of Hrelgi made him worry that his companions might be in the other coffins.

But opening a coffin might unleash terrible things. Something had killed people in this room, to cause all the bones. (Also, the chamber was damp. Why were the bones clean and not mouldy? Very recent? Magically preserved?)

Felewin compromised. He knocked on the lid of each of the fourteen other coffins and listened for a response.

There was none. He carefully picked his way to the wall and^[3] climbed slowly out. The walls narrowed in and at one point the trickling water soaked his gambeson, but eventually Felewin was out in the catacombs proper. From the plaque by the door, that had been the crypt of one “Stahbal Indi-Bhak: A truer friend no ruler ever had. Here lies his family in honor.”

Felewin did not know whether it had always been a trap, or it had become a trap, but he was glad to be free of it. How to find the others?

He looked around. The ceiling was still a writhing mass of nesting bats. There were crypts in each direction, and the blade did not give enough light for him to identify a wall in the distance.

If he could find a wall, he could locate the others.

He looked at the floor.^[4]

Familiar footprints showed that Kasimir had been here alone, checking the plaque by each door. By following Kasimir’s footprints, he could reach Patrina’s crypt, and from there he could find the others.

Felewin heard a chuckle to one side of him. “Where are your little friends now?” He turned and saw Strahd von Zarovitch standing there.^[5] The vampire had appeared from nowhere.

Of course.

“Looking to kill you. I am fortunate to have the chance,” said Felewin. Felewin felt fear, but this was also an opportunity. If he could hurt Strahd enough, even if it killed Felewin, Strahd would have to return to his coffin, and the others could grant him the true death there.

That would make up for his mistakes with Ireena.

“Give the portrait and I shall grant you the swift death that I deny the others.”

Felewin slipped his shield onto his arm. “It is important to you, is it? Then you can take it from me, if we fight as men fight.”

“I have slain hundreds by the sword. Do you forget that I was a conqueror?” Strahd drew a sword. “But if you prefer.”

Felewin smiled with a confidence he did not feel. “I prefer.”

Their first phrase was exploratory. Felewin immediately knew that Strahd was better than he was, and Felewin was very good.

“While you are here, you are not dealing with my party.” Felewin let Strahd’s attack slide down the blade of the sword.

“I think they will be surprised by what I have waiting by my coffin.” Strahd laughed. “How else would you have ended up in the pit of wights?” Having estimated Felewin’s mettle, he thrust once.^[6 Felewin was not fast enough, but his armour and shield stopped most of the blow.

Not all of it. He was now fighting at a disadvantage.

Felewin returned^[7] the blow, the sword happy in his grip. They exchanged more blows, and Felewin became sure he would lose this duel unless he did something different.^[8 The goal is to hurt him, not kill him, Felewin thought. Force him to his coffin.

He used the double blow he had been working on, and caught Strahd both times. The strikes would kill a normal man; once “killed,” Strahd simply turned to mist and vanished.

“At least now I know you will be in your crypt,” Felewin said, and slumped against the wall, pressing against his wound. He formed a crude bandage to staunch the bleeding, and waited.

Eventually he began to run, following Kasimir’s footprints.

Previous Chapter 40 Loose Threads Cut Short — Next Chapter 42 Final Showdown

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Monsters

The obvious one is Strahd. Because I've kept him off-stage for so much, I don’t have a complete write-up because I kept adding things as needed. So here’s what he looked like by the end.

Abilities	Fitness 7 Awareness Creativity 5 Reasoning 7 Influence 6
Skills	Leadership 5 (≤11), Stealth 4 (≤11), Materia 4 (≤9), Mentus 4 (≤9), Motus 4 (≤9), Sensus 4 (≤9), Sphaera 4 (≤9), Dueling 6 (≤13), Brawling 5 (≤12)
Gimmicks	Night Vision, Descrying Nature, Undead, Hardened, Life Drain, Immunity [lots], Regeneration, Learned, Charming, Supernatural Healing (not in sunlight or running water), and Sunlight and running water each do 1 level of inj/turn. Charm is a reskin of Paralytic Gaze, avoided with Creativity+Composure.
Magic	Prepared skills according to book: Cantrips (at will): mage hand, prestidigitation, ray of frost (motus, materia) 1st level (4 slots): comprehend languages, fog, cloud, sleep (sensus, materia) 2nd level (3 slots): detect thoughts, gust of wind, mirror image (mentus, motus, sensus) 3rd level (3 slots): animate dead, fireball, nondetection 4th level (3 slots): blight, greater invisibility, polymorph (materia & sensus) 5th level (1 slot): animate objects, scrying (motus, sphaera)

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Game Mechanics

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Malice Home (PC Positive)

[2] Felewin rolls a 6, margin 4. Easily enough for a difficulty 2 task.

[3] Felewin rolls a 3 on this Athletics roll (margin 7), much more than the margin 0 he needs.

[4] Felewin rolls a 5 on Tracking, which is Margin 2, I think.)

[5] Random encounter, actually, but I thought it fit well.

[6] Strahd rolls 8 (margin 4); Felewin rolls 12 (margin -1). Felewin’s shield stops 1 point; Felewin’s armor stops one the other two.

[7] Felewin rolls 3 (margin 7, a triumph) and Strahd rolls 8 (margin 4); Felewin’s second blow is also a 3 (margin 7). Felewin gets this one.

[8] In fact, the dice say no such thing. The dice had his next shot be successful, but I also think there needs to be some effort from a story-telling perspective for those of you who are reading.

Chapter 40 Loose Ends Cut Short (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 39 Broken Heart of Sorrow —::— Next Chapter 41 Duel!

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

• Chapter 40 - Loose Threads Cut Short
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

40 — Loose Threads Cut Short^[1]

The stairs led to a short corridor that opened into a room or wide hall with a pair of alcoves on either side. They paused before going because the ceiling was covered with yellow mould.

Felewin said, “It might be harmless, but it looks similar to the yellow mould in the caverns that Uthrilir said was dangerous. So treat it as dangerous until we know otherwise.”

“We’re under it,” said Ninefingers. “Shallow breaths.”

Felewin hoisted Uthrilir up to look at it. Uthrilir pronounced, “Yellow lichen, not mould. No idea if it’s lethal but it’s not the same thing.”

“Hold your breath anyway,” said Felewin, putting the dwarf down.

There was material jumbled in the alcoves but they went past without searching. Ninefingers grabbed the door and pulled.

The next room was large and nearly square; the ceiling was bare of mould. The room had seen a tremendous battle — tables and chairs were broken, and shields and weapons had been thrust into the wall by powerful thrusts. From rust on the weapons, it had happened long ago, but the room had been left as a battlefield.

Two doors lead out, one left and one right.

“Do we split up to check both doors?” Hrelgi asked. “It’s faster.”

“No,” said Felewin. “We stick together. Strength in numbers.” He indicated to the right. “Stairs down might be there.”

“Or that one,” said Ezmerelda, indicating right. “Or there are foes behind either.”

“I’ll open, and in case of foes, Ezmerelda shoots,” said Ninefingers.

“Shut it again and keep them inside,” suggested Uthrilir.

“We whittle them down,” said Felewin. “Vampires heal too quickly.” As Ninefingers was reaching for the door, Felewin added, “But let’s not be stupid about it.”

The goblin pulled open the door. Candles were lit, and seated at a desk was Rahadin, the elf.

Rahadin looked up, saw it was them, and stood. “Ah. Come in.” His hand went to his side.

Without further conversation, Ezmerelda^[3] shot him. The bolt sank in clearly, and Felewin pulled up his crossbow and fired as well. He also hit, and Rahadin fell, dead.

“Oh, thank goodness,” said Hrelgi. “I didn’t want to deal with the voices.”

“We are reducing Strahd’s forces,” Ninefingers said. He stuck his head in. “No obvious stairs. Think there’s maybe a secret passage?”

“Every room here has a secret passage,” said Uthrilir with disgust.

Ninefingers suddenly screamed^[4] and Uthrilir, who was closest, could see the shadowy form clinging to him and cutting at him.^[5]

Felewin brought back the blade of his sword, which made the shadowy demon visible, but Felewin was too far away to do anything. Ninefingers^[6] flailed at it but missed; Uthrilir^[7] hit it (and only it) with the mace he had blessed. The shadowy demon evaporated.

“Thanks. Gone forever?”

Uthrilir shrugged. “No way of knowing. Given the way things reincarnate here, probably not.”

Ninefingers scowled. “Of course.”

Felewin asked, “You okay?”

“Fine,” said the goblin. “Embarrassed.”

“You want to search the room?” asked Felewin.

“What, searching makes me feel better?” asked Ninefingers. “No, let’s go.”

The other door from the battlefield room led to a long macabre room decorated with bones. Piles of bones occupied the four corners, while garlands of skulls led to a chandelier of bones at the top of the room. The centre of the room held a table made of bones, with a wooden top; ten chairs of bones sat around the table. The walls were decorated with bones.

“Former adventurers, I’ll bet,” said Uthrilir.

“A hundred, based on skulls,” said Hrelgi.

They moved carefully in. Straight ahead, on the far side of the table, was a door covered in bones. Ahead, to the left, was a set of double doors with a huge skull above.

Felewin asked, “Is that…?”

“A dragon’s skull,” said Ezmerelda. “Probably Argynvost.”

“Great. Didn’t we hear something about the dragon in Argynvostholt?”

“We heard a great deal about the dragon, but none of it useful. ‘Show them the light’ is the only part I remember,” said Ninefingers. “No idea what that means.”

Hrelgi was looking down. “Something happened here,” she said. “Stains on the floor.”

“These are distractions. We’re trying to get to the catacombs,” said Felewin. “Straight ahead or under the dragon skull?”

“That door ahead is covered with bones,” said Hrelgi. “The one under the dragon skull isn’t.”

“The door we just came through is covered with bones, on this side,” pointed out Ninefingers.

“Then let’s take the different one, the skull door,” said Hrelgi.

“You just don’t want to go through a door decorated with bones,” said Ninefingers.

“Again,” said Hrelgi.

Ninefingers opened the door without standing under the dragon skull. Nothing happened, so they all moved through the doorway.

The floor of the room beyond was shrouded in mist as deep as Ninefingers was tall. The goblin couldn't really see; Uthrilir’s head was just above the mists.

Ezmerelda swore. “I was here.”

“When you were exploring?” Hrelgi asked. Ezmerelda nodded.

In the light of the sword, Felewin spotted a stairwell. “We can take stairs down.”^[8]

From the hall beyond the stairwell, they heard “Oh, no,” and the clatter of dropped and breaking dishes.

Hrelgi said, “Cyrus!”

The mongrel butler came into view, with damp fur and wearing different clothes than before.

Ninefingers muttered, “Do we kill him now?”

Felewin didn’t answer yet, but he put his hand on the goblin’s shoulder.

Uthrilir said, “Your master has sworn to kill us. How do you stand?”

“Please don’t kill me,” said Cyrus.

“That doesn’t sound like you’re with us,” said Hrelgi. “What happened to Emil?”

Cyrus’ glance flickered to behind him. “He left. Snuck out.”

Ninefingers said, “I don’t actually believe you.” He stood on tip-toe to see over the mist. “I think if we look around, we’ll find him.”

“No!” Cyrus protested.^[9] He glanced at the door behind him.

Ninefingers looked around.

The sword tingled in Felewin’s hand. “He’s here nearby,” said Felewin. “Can you get rid of the mist?”

“Maybe,” said Hrelgi. “For a bit.” She started flipping pages in her grimoire^[10] but before she got far, there was a sound like a hammer hitting beef^[11] and Hrelgi was yanked to the floor.^[12]

Ninefingers had been half-expecting something like this^[13] and he slashed out with his sword.^[14] They heard the blade strike against the stone floor^[15] and Ninefingers saw the sparks.

Ezmerelda drew her silvered sword, not her rapier^[16], and she lashed out. They heard a bestial roar.

Felewin looked and (mindful of Hrelgi) slashed^[17] once, and the roaring stopped.

“He’s dead,” said Felewin. “Is it Emil?”

“Probably. I think he’s dead,” said Ezmerelda. “Yes, he’s changing back. It’s Emil.”

Ninefingers, nearly hidden by the mist, advanced on Cyrus and^[18] killed him. “You get no more chances to betray on behalf of your master.”

Felewin looked sadly at his body. “I wish it had been otherwise.”

In the meantime, Uthrilir was examining Hrelgi’s wound. “Claws, not teeth, so you will not become a werewolf.” He said a prayer over Hrelgi,^[19] and healed her.

“I could have done that,” Hrelgi admonished him, but with affection.

“Now you do not have to,” Uthrilir replied.

“The stairs,” said Felewin. “Ninefingers, can you see how far up the stairs go?”

Ninefingers advanced up the stairs cautiously, and then started back, saying, “They are walled off. The wall is cracked, but we can’topen it quickly, even with tools.”

“Which we don’t have,” said Uthrilir.

“So only bats, rats, and vampires can get through?” Felewin asked.

“Or ghosts, or any of a dozen other things, some of which we’ve seen,” said Ninefingers as he rejoined them.

“Point taken. We want to go down, anyway.” Felewin led the way down the stairs. “You smell that? Guano.”

A floor down, the spiral stairs opened to the catacombs. It was not the place they had been before, but it was clearly the catacombs.

Felewin looked to the left and right. Left was possibly vaguely familiar; right was not. Straight ahead was unknown.

“Footprints,” said Ninefingers. He pointed at the ground. The footprints of two people, one barefoot, left the catacombs and came into the stairwell.

“Recent. Someone tall,” said Felewin. “Kasimir and his sister?”

“Probably. Not going to be a lot of barefoot people here,” said Ninefingers.

“We could use his help,” said Ezmerelda.

“He’s got his sister to worry about, not us,” said Uthrilir. “If we’re there, the

Felewin traced the bare prints to the nearest crypt and looked at the name. “He did it. This was his sister’s crypt. So they left and were upstairs where we were.”

“We didn’t see them,” said Hrelgi.

“It’s a big castle,” said Ezmerelda. “But where’s Strahd’s crypt? That’s what we’re looking for.”

“Kasimir’s footprints come from that way, so that must be the direction of Sergei’s tomb,” said Felewin. “Straight ahead would be the windows we saw from the overlook.”

“Strahd’s tomb?”

Ezmerelda shook her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think he would want to be accessible through the windows.”

“It was a thousand-foot drop; ‘accessible’ might be the wrong word,” said Ninefingers.

“No, she’s right. He’d have a nicer tomb entrance, like Sergei’s, but trapped somehow. To the right?” Ezmerelda nodded. “We don’t look in any crypts.”

“What about depleting his resources?” Ninefingers asked.

“Circumstances have changed. We have a deadline, and we’re on the move now,” Felewin said. “We don’t beg trouble until we can get somewhere defensible.”

They had to dodge around several crypts until they reached what they figured was the wall. From there, they went slowly, with Ninefingers casting a wary eye for traps. The goblin found none. Finally, they were thirty paces away from another lever like they had seen on Sergei’s tomb, with a dimly-visible set of stairs down. Hrelgi cast a spell^[20] and said, “There’s a spell ahead, but I can’t tell anything else about it except that it involves teleportation somehow.”

Uthrilir said, “Can you block it while we walk through it?”

“I don’t know. A month ago, I couldn’t teleport at all.”^[21] She set her jaw and flipped through her grimoires, and then she started a spell, stopped and looked at the grimoire again. Then she said a spell.

“Did it work?” Felewin asked.

“No idea,” Hrelgi said irritably. “I have to drop this blocking spell to cast the spell to see if this spell works. No way to check.”

Felewin said, “Then I’ll try.”

Felewin walked forward and then he and the guano underfoot were replaced by an undead monster. Ezmerelda yelled a Vistani curse and slashed at it,^[22] staying away from the clear circle on the floor. Uthrilir held back to say a prayer.^[23] Ninefingers stepped in and from the other side^[24] stabbed at the thing. (“Wight” Uthrilir said.)

The wight attacked Ezmerelda first^[25], then Ninefingers, missing both of them; Ezmerelda^[26]’s blade hit its blade — but Ninefingers^[27] cut its torso in two.

Ninefingers said to Hrelgi, “I don’t think you disabled the trap.”

Ezmerelda said, “Now that it has activated, is it disabled for the day, like the dungeons, or is it permanently disabled?”

Uthrilir added, “Or is it not disabled at all?”

Hrelgi got the words right and cast her spell of assessment again.^[28] “I didn’t manage. It’s still there.”

“I’ll go next,” Ninefingers said. “Felewin will need someone to protect him while he’s there.”

Uthrilir said, “He would want you to stay here and help with defeating Strahd.”

Ninefingers stared at the dwarf. “The stupid oaf would, wouldn’t he?”

Ezmerelda and Uthrilir both nodded.

Ezmerelda said, “Can you open the shutters on the lantern? Without Felewin’s sword, it’s dark here.”

Ninefingers handed her the glowing sword, which he had tucked as spare in his scabbard. “Here. It glows.”

It brightened when she took it, and she felt its “greeting.” “It thinks,” said Ezmerelda.

“It does,” said Ninefingers. “It disapproves of my lifestyle.”

Ezmerelda laughed. “You travel with Felewin. You are effectively a knight, a paladin of sorts.”

She felt the sword’s disagreement.

“My heart is not pure,” Ninefingers explained.

Previous Chapter 39 Broken Heart of Sorrow —::— Next Chapter 41 Duel!

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Monsters

The only new one is Rahadin, but I’m not sure I included Emil and Cyrus Belgrave. Probably not, because they weren’t combatants last time.

Rahadin

Never got to use Mindscream or F. ge. C’est la vie.

Abilities	Fitness 4 Awareness 5 Creativity 2 Reasoning 3 Influence 4
Skills	Dueling 8 (≤12), Interrogation 5 (≤9), Investigation (≤10), Stealth 8 (≤12), Subterfuge 7 (≤10), Fabrica Ge (≤9)
Gimmicks	Striking Appearance, Sure-footed, Mindscream (Fearsome Scream but on stopped successful Reasoning+Composure roll of difficulty 2 or stopped entirely by F. Mentus/Inner Wall), Descrying facet (F. Ge), Striking Appearance, Sure-Footed

Cyrus

Cyrus is an extra. We sum him up as Creativity 3 and skills as needed.

Emil

Emil is pretty standard as a werewolf, but he does have Leadership and Duelling.

Abilities	Fitness 3 Awareness 3 Creativity 1 Reasoning 2 Influence 3
Skills	Athletics 4 (≤7), Brawling 4 (≤7), Dueling 3 (≤6), Leadership 4 (≤7), Survival 5 (≤7), Tracking 4 (≤6)
Gimmicks	Most in hybrid or wolf form, though I'd probably let him have Acute Smell and Toughness as a human): Acute Smell, Musclebound, Special Weapon (teeth: 1 inj, claws: +1 inj), Toughness, Immune[non-magical or non-silvered weapons]

Wight

Former guard.

Abilities	Fitness 4 Awareness 4 Creativity 1 Reasoning 2 Influence 3
Skills	Brawling 4 (≤8), Dueling 4 (≤8), Stealth 5 (≤9), Composure 3
Gimmicks	Hardened (ignore penalties from fatigue), Life Drain (1 inj/turn touch, healing same amount), Toughness (1 inj resistance), Resistant [all attacks but magical ones and silver ones], Undead (5 grades of fatigue doesn’t cause unconsciousness)

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Game Mechanics

[1] Mythic suggested theme: Violate Leadership (NPC Action)

[2] Mythic: Left or right (odd left, even right). Roll a 6, so right to the chamberlain’s office.

[3] Ez rolls a 6 on Archery; she hits.

[4] Shadow demon only rolls 10 but it has no opposition because no one noticed the demon. However, yay for armour because it ends up stopping the 1 injury level (2).

[5] Reactions Felewin 14 Ninefingers 13 Uthrilir 10 Hrelgi 9 Ezmerelda 8 Shadow Demon 6

[6] Ninefingers rolls 11 (margin -1). Shadowy demon rolls a 4 (margin -4), so Ninefingers misses.

[7] Uthrilir rolls a 3, margin 7, and shadowy demon has margin 0, so Uthrilir hits with a triumph.

[8] Mythic: Is Cyrus back down here? (CF 8, 50/50) Rolled a 1, so extreme yes.

[9] Cyrus rolls a 10 (margin -4); Ninefingers rolls a 6 (margin 0).

[10] Hrelgi’s intent is to use F. Motus to draw all the mist to her.

[11] Emil has difficulty -2 on Stealth because of the mist and rolls a 7 (margin 2). That means that everyone can detect him but too late.

[12] Emil rolls a 7 on brawling and Hrelgi isn’t expecting it, so down she goes. Her armour activates only once, so Emil does 2 Injury levels.

[13] Ninefingers has Awareness 4, so he knows where Emil is.

[14] Ninefingers is at 2 Difficulty because he can’t see and avoiding Hrelgi makes this a called shot. He rolls a 9, which isn’t enough.

[15] Reactions: Felewin 14 Ninefingers 13 Uthrilir 12 Ezmerelda 11 Hrelgi 11 Emil 7 Cyrus 9

[16] Ez rolls a 3, margin 1 (because of the called shot and drawing).

[17] Felewin is at +2 difficulty for called shot but he rolls 8 (margin 3, net margin 1); Emil rolls 10 (margin 0). Toughness has no effect, and it’s a magical weapon. Also, killed werewolves revert to their human forms.

[18] Ninefingers rolls 3; Cyrus rolls 11, so it’s a triumph for Ninefingers and we’ll say that Cyrus is dead.

[19] Uthrilir rolls an 8, which now makes it.

[20] Hrelgi rolls a 6 (margin 4) which spots that there is magic ahead but nothing about what kind it is.

[21] Hrelgi rolls an 8 which is margin 2, and doesn’t make the difficulty of 4.

[22] Ez rolls a 7 (margin 1), wight rolls a 10 (margin -2). Her attack is 2 injury levels, its armor is {5,3} so no protection. Wight is now at -2.

[23] Uthrilir rolls a 2. The bonus is that his mace is now permanently blessed.

[24] Ninefingers rolls a 5 (margin 5) and wight rolls an 8, which would be margin 2 if it weren’t already defending. Wight’s armor is 5,3,1 so protects from one.

[25] Two opponents, -2 for each; it’s also at -3 for injury, so -5. It rolls a 12 (margin -8 vs margin 3) and a 7 (margin -4 vs margin 0), misses both of them.

[26] Ez rolls a 12 (margin -4); it rolls a 5 (margin 0).

[27] Ninefingers rolls a 3, margin 5 with the called shot, which is cutting torso in two.

[28] Hrelgi rolls 6 on the spell (margin 4) and 9 on the R+C (margin 1).

Chapter 39 Broken Heart of Sorrow (Actual Play, Curse of Strahd)

Iron & Gold, Curse of Strahd

Previous Chapter 38 Study In Strahd — Next Chapter 40 Loose Threads Cut Short

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

• Chapter 39 - Broken Heart of Sorrow
• Monsters
• Game Mechanics

The title is a reference to the Heart of Sorrow, which is the name of a giant crystal that no one ever says...so you wouldn’t know it unless you know the module. Once destroyed, it shatters and turns into blood; they destroyed it without knowing it when they faced Strahd in Sergei’s tomb.

39 - Broken Heart of Sorrow

Ninefingers thought they might be halfway to the bottom when he spotted Uthrilir below them. Uthrilir was sitting up but one foot jutted at an odd angle. The dwarf was holding his Stone of the Maiden high, which told Ninefingers that Uthrilir was asking for the Maiden’s Rebuke.^[1] The goblin checked the walls and spotted two vampires clinging to the wall of the tower below them. Strahd had always sent four at a time, so he presumed that two others were near. He muttered as much to Felewin and Hrelgi the next time he warned them about a puddle of blood.

“I don’t think any of us are safe,” added Ninefingers.

“You’re not,” came a heavily accented woman’s voice.^[2] Something or someone pushed Ezmerelda; she tumbled down the stairs but didn’t hit anyone as she fell half a dozen steps. Her rapier fell farther.

Felewin had turned off the blade of the sword because it seemed unsafe on stairs, but he willed it into existence again. Ninefingers squinted at the sudden sunlight. Hrelgi ducked, and Felewin tried to hit the human woman vampire^[3], but missed.

Hrelgi shouted, “Ninefingers! Look out!”

Ninefingers twisted in time^[4] to see the fourth vampire behind him, a dwarf in chain, jumping down from the wall. The dwarf drew and brought his short sword around to hit Ninefingers, whose weapon was already out.^[5] Ninefingers disarmed the vampire (whose sword clattered to the stairs but did not fall over the edge), and Ninefingers stabbed, managing to get just the edge of the dwarf vampire’s chain shirt.

Hrelgi picked a target — the dwarf — and flipped pages in her grimoire.^[6]

The vampires moved so quickly that the woman was already attacking Felewin again^[7], but he blocked her and slashed twice, taking off her head. She collapsed into mist and disappeared.

“She’ll be back,” muttered Felewin.

The dwarf^[8] stabbed at Ninefingers, who managed to avoid it and struck back, scoring once on the leg and once solidly on the mail. The dwarf did not seem much bothered.

Ezmerelda retrieved her sword and stood below them, slightly unsteady on her feet. Now she could attack the dwarf from behind.

Hrelgi said the spell,^[9] and the dwarf’s chain mail melted, doing tremendous damage. The dwarf fell to its knees dead and badly burned.

Ezmerelda said, “A stake or he too will return by tomorrow.”

Hrelgi said, “We haven’t time! Uthrilir is down there!” and she pushed past Ninefingers and Ezmerelda.

“We will regret this,” said Ezmerelda.

“I know,” said Felewin grimly as he started down the stairs. “But by tomorrow we might be dead.”

“There are two more vampires,” warned Ninefingers. “Down by Uthrilir.”

“Then we stick together. To Uthrilir as quickly as possible,” said Felewin.

Ninefingers and Ezmerelda followed. As they came around, Ninefingers could see Uthrilir again, and one of the vampires was standing over him.

“Shine your light,” Ninefingers said to Hrelgi, “there is a vampire on him.”

Hrelgi shone the light to illuminate them and said a spell.^[10] She broke into a run, but there was so much blood spattered here that the others could not be sure of their footing.

“Will that spell help?” Ezmerelda asked.

“Maybe,” answered Felewin for Hrelgi. He had heard the spell before, but could not know if it succeeded. “Maybe not.”^[11]

“It’s what we can do,” said Ninefingers. “Hurry, we need to catch up. We’re trying to stick together.”

Felewin paused a moment to check Ezmerelda. “You okay?”

She shook off Felewin’s attention, acutely aware that he knew about her prosthesis. “A fall, no more,” she said. “Come.” She moved past him.

Felewin moved quickly but held the sword so it shone into the centre of the tower. He spotted the one remaining vampire who had clearly been going to come up and surprise them but scuttled down the wall away from the light (she wore black leather and disappeared as she got farther away). The other vampire he could see was kneeling on Uthrilir’s arms and baring dwarf’s throat.^[12]

The vampire had once been an adventuring holy man of some kind: his robes held a symbol that Felewin knew: Lod. His childhood pastor had been a follower of Lod until the man took one of Lod’s precepts too seriously and tried to mount a coup. (Felewin assumed the pastor had been put to death, for his father was not a forgiving man.)

Felewin yelled a curse of Lod at the vampire, hoping to distract him. The vampire looked up and smiled. He spoke in the language of Lod, and said, “Strength is all; all is strength.”

They reached a landing; they still had half a circumference of the tower to traverse before they reached the bottom: more than Felewin’s height to the bottom. Felewin did not have his crossbow in his hand, and if it had been, it was not loaded. Felewin thrust the painting at Ezmerelda and said, “Keep running. I hope this will work.” Ninefingers started cursing.

Felewin screamed and leapt from the landing.^[13] He had to roll at the bottom but he managed not to hurt himself and he flicked the sword blade into being.

The vampire, formerly of Lod, looked at him and hissed. Felewin glanced and yes, in the sunlight he could see the other vampire scuttling down the wall, hoping to sneak up behind him. He would be wary.

The Lod vampire crouched over Uthrilir and looked at Felewin,^[14] yelling out words to some kind of curse. The air between the two thickened and grew dark, but the radiance of the blade overcame it.

The other vampire scrambled down the wall to the floor very quickly, and Ezmerelda fitted a bolt into her crossbow while calling out a warning to Felewin.

Felewin moved forward and slashed at the cleric of Lod.^[15] The vampire’s head came off and rolled to a corner. The body collapsed into a mist, and so did the head. Uthrilir blinked. “Felewin?”

Ezmerelda moved more slowly and carefully, aiming at the other vampire. Hrelgi and Ninefingers were plunging on, one for Uthrilir and the other for Felewin.^[16] Hrelgi spoke as she ran, and Uthrilir’s foot visibly moved back into place, becoming wholesome to look at. Ninefingers was just running. Ezmerelda noted that they were running ahead and thought, I hope there are only four vampires.^[17] The worry made her hyper-alert.

Between the distance and the movement of the vampire on the floor, she was not sure she would hit the woman.

The noise above her was subtle and small, and she whipped up, letting free of the crossbow bolt without aiming.^[18] The blessed bolt sank into the vampire’s arm, making the vampire drop the sword he was holding.

The clatter of the sword made Ninefingers look up and what he saw made hime swear and start back up the stairs toward Ezmerelda.

The vampire attacking Ezmerelda surged forward^[19] and grabbed her by the shoulders.

On the floor, Felewin said, “Uthrilir, we’re here to rescue you. Lady of the Profane, come and meet your death.”

The female vampire slid forward,^[20] and grabbed Uthrilir. “I am Cusa the Clever. A trade, fighter. Your death for his life.”

Uthrilir spoke, asking for the Maiden’s Rebuke, but the female vampire remained strong in the face of some psychic pain, still holding the dwarf and shielding herself with him. Cusa searched for Felewin’s eyes but he had learned not to look into the eyes of a vampire.^[21] Instead of speaking, Felewin aimed for what he could reach though she was shielded by the dwarf; he took off her head.^[22]

Still held, Ezmerelda found a flask of holy water and splashed it on her opponent while Ninefingers ran up the stairs to them.^[23]

The man looked into her eyes^[24] and said, “Bend to me.”

She said a Vistani obscenity and struggled. The vampire bent his mouth to her throat.

Ninefingers finally reached her and struck at the vampire.^[25] The vampire’s leather jerkin did nothing to stop the blade, and the vampire laughed as the blade slipped in.

The vampire jerked his head back and a spray of blood erupted from Ezmerelda’s neck.^[26] He tossed her aside, and she grabbed the edge of the stairwell before she fell.

Hrelgi had found the spell she wanted in her grimoire, which she had been intending to use against the vampire on Uthrilir, but worked fine against the one she could dimly see on the stairs.^[27] The vampire flew off the stairs toward her; she stepped aside as he plummeted, so he hit the ground where she had been.

Felewin^[28] beheaded the fallen vampire before he could move. His body turned into mist and vanished.

“Everyone okay?” Felewin asked. He spotted Ezmerelda trying to get back on the stairs, and Ninefingers helping her.^[29] He said to Hrelgi, who was kneeling beside Uthrilir, “Can you make a rend to help them?”

She said curtly, “Do you memorize every stairwell that you’re on?”

“I suppose not. Sorry. You’re just so good I forget there are limits.”

Hrelgi sighed. “I’ll try.” She looked into her grimoire, looked at Ninefingers helping Ezmerelda, and said a spell^[30] that opened a rend from just before them to the floor. The goblin helped Ezmerelda through the rend.

Uthrilir looked at Ezmerelda closely: he pressed his hand against her ribs (she gasped) and looked at the tear on her neck. He brought out bandages from his pouch, in case, and said a prayer over her.^[31]

Nothing happened.

Hrelgi said, “I think you are soiled in the eyes of the Maiden, but fortunately the fabrics don’t care. Let me try.^[32]”

The jagged wound on Ezmerelda’s neck healed but unlike all other uses of magic, left a scar. Uthrilir hissed.

“How do you feel?”

Ezmerelda moved experimentally, twisting her torso and her head. “Fine.”

“It did not heal correctly. You are still marked by the vampire.”

Ninefingers said, “What I don’t understand is why these vampires turned to mist, when the other vampires stayed still to be staked.”

Ezmerelda slipped another bolt in her crossbow. “It is difficult to be sure, but I think that Barovian vampires gain powers as they age. Some powers never show up unless Strahd frees them from being his thralls. The vampires in the church undercroft were quite new and were on their native soil. The other vampires were held by the power of the holy symbol, so we do not know if they had extra powers. Here, some of the vampires are quite old and have extra powers we should beware.”

“Such as?” Ninefingers asked.

Felewin looked at Ezmerelda’s loaded and cranked crossbow and readied his own.

Ezmerelda said, “They can eventually change shape — we have seen Strahd as a bat, and he can also change to mist or wolf. The ability to charm a person, which we have seen”—Uthrilir hung his head in shame; Hrelgi hugged him— “gets stronger as they grow in undeath. At some point, they must be staked in their grave-soil rather than where you encounter them. An injury sufficient to kill turns them to mist, and the mist returns to their grave-soil, to regenerate.”

“So even if we defeat Strahd, we must find his tomb and drive a stake into him there?” Felewin asked.

Ezmerelda nodded. “Yes. If the mist gathers and solidifies in the grave, usually a coffin, the vampire cannot move until sunset or sunrise the next day. The stories are unclear which — that might be related to the length of undeath, as well.”

Uthrilir said, “But if they are paralyzed with the holy symbol, they can be staked wherever they lie.”

Ezmerelda nodded. “Apparently. The holy symbol is effective that way.”

“But the vampires we just killed,” asked Ninefingers, “we didn’t really kill them at all? We just put them out of commission until sunset?”

Ezmerelda nodded. “True. And if we kill Strahd, they will no longer be thralls, and not under his control.”

“When we kill Strahd, they will come for us,” Felewin said. “Our deadline has become sunset.”

“I would not count on sunrise, no,” said Ezmerelda.

“Do you have any idea when ‘now’ actually is?” Ninefingers asked Felewin.

“None,” said Felewin. “So the quicker we do this, the better.”^[33]

“We saw daylight outside. Clouds make it hard to tell, but afternoon, I think,” said Hrelgi.

Felewin said, “Then we are best to head down to the catacombs again. He will find us. Then we will need to catch him in his grave, we need to get to his grave.”

Uthrilir said, “Had I realized that the symbol has a limited power per day, I would have been more chary in its use.”

“Enh, we were all hopeful,” said Felewin. He gestured to a more traditional set of stairs in the floor. “We have to get to the catacombs. Down those stairs?”

Previous Chapter 38 Study In Strahd — Next Chapter 40 Loose Threads Cut Short

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Monsters

Nothing new this time.

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Game Mechanics

[1] Uthrilir rolls a 7, which is enough to turn undead in this case.

[2] Vampire 1 (call her Anna) grabs Ezmerelda and pushes her down the steps. Anna rolls a 6 (margin 2, Brawling) and Ezmerelda is taken by surprise, so she’s margin -3. Ezmerelda does get an Athletics roll to see if she lands well; she rolls 9, which is a failure but not a catastrophe. She takes the damage. Mythic: Does she hit anyone else on the way down? CF 8, 50/50: needs 85% or less for a yes, rolls a 90. She hits no one else. We’ll call it 2 Fatigue damage.

[3] Felewin rolls an 8, margin 3; the vampire rolls a 7, margin 3. Felewin misses.

[4] Ninefingers rolls a 3 and spots the other vampire, Bela.

[5] Dwarf vampire Bela is drawing at the same time, so that’s -2, but he rolls a 6 (margin 2); Ninefingers rolls a 5 (margin 5). Ninefingers counterattacks, rolling 3 (margin 7, a triumph) and vampire Bela rolls 7 (margin 3). Ninefingers hits, but Bela’s chain stops 1 of the 3 Injury. From previous encounters, Ninefingers’ sword counts as magical, so all 2 go into vampire.

[6] Reactions: Vampires 15 Felewin 14 Ninefingers 12 Ezmerelda 11 Hrelgi 8

[7] Anna rolls 7 (margin 3) vs Felewin’s 6 (margin 5). Felewin rolls 5 (margin 6) vs her 8 (margin 2), so he does 4 Injury to her; then he barely makes his second shot (rolls 10, margin 0, because it’s difficulty 1). She’ll get better; Bela down there is already up by 1 because of Supernatural Healing.

[8] Supernatural healing, so he’s got 1 back: down only 1. He rolls 7 to hit (margin 3) but Ninefingers blocks with a 5 (margin 5). Ninefingers attacks with an 8 (margin 1, because he’s attacking twice) and a 6 (margin 3); dwarf rolls 11 to defend (margin -1) and fails. First blow does 2 Injury (1 absorbed by mail); second does no injury.

[9] Hrelgi rolls 7, which is margin 3. She also rolls 7 on the R+C roll, margin 3.

[10] Hrelgi uses the memorized add-defense spell, which adds 4 to Uthrilir’s defense. She rolls 6 (margin 2 because of distance) and a 4 on the R+C (margin 6).

[11] Down there, the vampire has grappled Uthrilir, who has no applicable skill, so it’s vampire (rolls 6, margin 2) vs Uthrilir (rolls 8, margin -4)

[12] Uthrilir rolls 8 to avoid being charmed, which is margin 0, but still a success. He avoids it.

[13] Felewin rolls a 6 on his Athletics task, a triumph, so against all odds he lands without hurting himself. Or, if we claim it’s a difficulty 3 task, he makes it by 3. Either way, he’s okay.

[14] Moment to think. Vampire of Lod is largely cut off from his god, but not entirely (because Uthrilir is not). However, only the Powers Below have access to things like curse. Caha might; difficult to know. To increase the D&D-ness of it, we’ll say he does. He prays for Curse/False Promise. Former adventurer, so we’ll say Influence 3, skill 7. He doesn’t have a holy symbol for the Dark Powers, but he’s in a place consecrated to them, for -2 to the difficulty, total difficulty 2. He needs 5 or less; he gets 7.

[15] Um. Felewin rolls a 2, which is a triumph (and margin 9). Even though the vampire rolls a 5 (margin 5), Felewin hits for 4, and again for 4 more.

[16] Hrelgi has the “restore health to Uthrilir” spell memorized, so she casts it and rolls 7 (margin 3), which beats the distance. She makes the R+C roll by margin 0 but she makes it.

[17] That begs a question. Mythic: Is there another vampire? CF 8, 50/50 is an 85% chance of a yes. Rolls 73, so yes, there is another vampire.

[18] Ezmerelda rolls 5, which makes her Archery roll by 2…which is the difficulty of the vampire attacking her. It does 3 damage, because it’s blessed.

[19] Vampire rolls a 5, margin 5; Ez rolls a 6, margin 2)

[20] Vampire rolls a 3 on Brawling (margin 5), grabbing Uthrilir; Felewin rolls a 9 (margin 2) vs vampire’s 8 (margin 2). Ninefingers is running. Uthrilir asks the Maiden for her Rebuke, rolls a 7 (margin 1), but the vampire easily makes A+C with a roll of 5 (margin 2).

[21] Or the vampire rolled a 10 on trying to catch his gaze and he rolled a 5 on his Creativity+Awareness, margin 3.

[22] Felewin rolls 7 and 5, two called shots.

[23] Ez doesn’t need to roll for this; she hits the and does 2 Injury, but he’s already healed 1 of the injury from the bolt.

[24] Ezmerelda rolls a 3 on her Awareness+Composure roll, making it by 3.

[25] Ninefingers does a called shot (avoiding Ezmerelda), and rolls a 5, making the difficulty 2 shot by 3. The vampire rolls a 10 (margin 0). Leather armour does not help at all, but the vampire has gotten 1 back from Supernatural Healing, so let’s say he’s now at 4 levels.

[26] Life Drain! Vampire rolls a 2, so now has only two injury levels instead of fou (giving one extra injury level from the roll of 2.)

[27] Hrelgi rolls 8 for the magic (margin 2) and 3 for the Athletics (margin 5) and succeeds.

[28] Well, Felewin rolls a 2 to hit, and beheads the vampire.

[29] Mythic: Does Ninefingers succeed in helping her? CF 8, unlikely (he’s small). Rolls a 41, yes, he succeeds.

[30] Hrelgi rolls 7, which is margin 2 because she made the rend larger (1 difficulty).

[31] Uthrilir rolls 11 and his prayer fails.

[32] Hrelgi rolls a 7 on the spell and a 7 on the Reasoning+Composure roll.

[33] At this point, I suspect everyone is saving XP to increase one ability. Hrelgi will want to increase Reasoning; Uthrilir, Ninefingers and Felewin probably Influence, though Felewin might want to up Awareness.