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.
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
Monsters
Nothing new this time.
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.
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