Session Analysis
Lick First, Ask Later
The Party
Julius
Human Monk
Ja'ms
Half Orc Bard
Elora Meridian
Half Elf Ranger
Drisella Red Dawn
Half Elf Druid
Azareal Dawnsinger
elf Cleric
Namta
Tiefling Bard
Session Recap
After charming their way into Krezk with J'aams's persuasive flattery of the burgomaster Dimitri Krezkov, the party split priorities. While Julius obsessed over building a forge to smelt silver for the werewolf hunt, Elora went rogue toward the corrupted Abbey, dragging J'aams, Azareal, and eventually the rest along. Near a pond they met Cameo, a mongrelfolk and survivor of a former party that fell to Strahd, who reluctantly agreed to guide them. At the Abbey they encountered mongrelfolk caretakers Otto and Siegfried, learning the place is no haunted ruin but a refuge for the cursed Bellevue family. Drisella and Azareal, waiting at the door, were ambushed by Vasili von Holtz — who revealed himself as a vampire before fleeing as a bat. Meanwhile the others survived a brutal trapped tunnel that impaled and poisoned Cameo. Reunited inside, they met the eerily youthful Abbot, who claims to cure the mongrelfolk's affliction. The session ended with Cameo agreeing to the Abbot's painful 'cure' procedure while Julius and J'aams departed to find the forge.
Notable Quotes
"Licking leads to science. We need to write a song."
— Namta Beht, after Julius tastes cyanide off a mongrelfolk's impaled foot
"I've no business talking to or being with anyone. Until today, I had no reason to come here."
— Cameo, the mongrelfolk survivor reckoning with a past he can barely remember
"Vasili wouldn't hurt a fly. I don't even think he can."
— The Abbot, vouching for the vampire who just tried to stab Drisella
Developing Situations
- Determine whether Cameo survives the Abbot's painful 'cure' procedure and whether the Abbot can be trusted
- Get the old forge on the Abbey's east side operational to smelt silver weapons for the werewolf threat
- Investigate the true nature of the Abbot, who claims to be human yet has run the Abbey for decades looking unchanged
- Track down Vasili von Holtz, the vampire who attacked Drisella and fled as a bat to the east
- Find Lukan, named as Vasili's protégé and confirmed connection between the Abbey, Vasilka, and Strahd
- Uncover the meaning of the freshly dug graves containing Cameo's former party members, two of whom were dug up and removed
- Locate the actual werewolves still terrorizing Krezk, who may be drawn to the Abbey or laying siege from another side
- Investigate Vasilka, the strangely scented woman the Abbot keeps and treats upstairs
Major Events
The Road to the Abbey and Meeting Cameo
After Dimitri Krezkov granted the party shelter, the group fractured. Julius fixated on building a forge to smelt silver, while Elora — fixated on finding Lukan — set off solo toward the Abbey atop the hill with Spike. Near a pond she met Cameo, a hooded mongrelfolk who revealed his disfigured visage and his history: he was once part of an adventuring party that challenged Strahd, was defeated, and emerged cursed. Cameo agreed to lead them to the Abbey, warning that other mongrelfolk congregate there drawn by a siren's wail. He named Lukan — the only person unafraid to speak with him — as a possible figure within. The reunion was punctuated by Namta's booming-voiced introduction of 'Siren's Wail,' which echoed across the valley and stirred a chorus of distant howls from the Abbey.
The Vampire at the Door
While the others infiltrated via a hidden tunnel, Drisella and Azareal waited at the Abbey's front door and were greeted by Vasili von Holtz, an elegantly dressed man claiming to be the Abbot's benefactor. When Azareal conjured 45 pounds of meat and water using a spell — accompanied by a glimmer of sunlight — a hiss sounded from within. Vasili produced a poison-coated dagger and lunged at Drisella. Azareal's Warding Flare imposed disadvantage, and Vasili rolled a natural 1. He then attacked Azareal and missed again. Drisella's sunlight-blinded counter forced him to transform into mist and a bat, fleeing east. The mongrelfolk devoured all the conjured food in seconds, leaving only the water. Azareal and Drisella, having never actually entered, had been kept perpetually on the threshold like reverse vampires.
The Trapped Tunnel of the Bellevues
Cameo discovered an open grave with an illusory floor hiding a hatch leading to an underground tunnel toward the Abbey. The party descended, but the 40-foot passage was rigged with deadly traps. Cameo took a single step and was impaled through the foot by a spike, the wound coated in a viscous poison that Julius identified — by licking it — as tasting of almonds, likely cyanide, giving Cameo mere hours to live. The party navigated arrows, closing walls, and pressure plates using Crush rolled as a ball, Namta's Magic Mark to flag traps, and finally Elora's teleporting dagger to leap everyone to safety. J'aams healed Cameo's foot with a gem charge, though the poison lingered until later cured by the Abbot.
Audience with the Abbot
Reunited in the Abbey's dining hall — which transformed from a dusty ruin into a candlelit space as ethereal music played — the party met the Abbot, a young-looking monk bearing a sun symbol matching Lythander's. He claimed to have run the Abbey for decades despite his youthful appearance, insisting his benefactor Vasili 'wouldn't hurt a fly' and naming Lukan as Vasili's protégé. He denied any werewolves existed, attributing the illusions and frightening appearances to deterrents. Demonstrating his power, he drew the poison from Cameo's pores. The party gave false names and learned of his proprietary 'cure' for the mongrelfolk affliction — a painful procedure with only a 70% success rate. As the session closed, Cameo agreed to undergo the procedure while the Abbot cracked his chest open, and Julius and J'aams left to find the forge.
DM Archetype
Achievements Unlocked
Ja'ms
He Said He'd Cut Me Up And I Said Great
Otto promised — multiple times, with increasing enthusiasm — to cut you into pieces and dig you back up, and you responded by putting your hand on his shoulder and cheerfully explaining this sounded like a great time. A deception roll of 20 later, he was leading you inside by the hand like an honored guest, because apparently in Barovia 'I can't wait to cut you up' is just how you say hello.
Namta
Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Shovel-Holder
Faced with a mongrelfolk who cheerfully promised to 'cut you up and dig you out,' you didn't fight, flee, or negotiate — you Prestidigitated his shovel until it gleamed like a mirror and watched him completely forget about murder in favor of staring at his own reflection. Otto, you absolute menace, is beautiful.
Julius
The Scientific Method Requires A Sample
A colleague was impaled and poisoned by a cyanide-laced trap spike, and your diagnostic solution — peer-reviewed by no one — was to lick the wound. You correctly identified the poison, spit it out before ingesting a lethal dose, and Namta immediately commissioned a song about it. Medicine has never been more heroic or more inadvisable.
Azareal Dawnsinger
45 Pounds Of Good Faith
You conjured an obscene quantity of meat and water as a gesture of hospitality, watched it get devoured in seconds by a swarm of mongrelfolk who vanished just as fast, and received in exchange zero ale, one vampire attack, and a hiss from somewhere in the building. The transaction could not have gone worse. You were almost impressed.
Elora Meridian
Lukan Is In There And Nothing Will Stop Me, Including Holes
You heard one name — Lukan — and immediately tried to climb a wall, descend a trapped tunnel, and teleport across an abbey courtyard, in that order. The dagger got everyone there eventually, but the real achievement is that literally every person present had to physically intervene at least once to keep you from running headfirst into something worse.
Drisella Red Dawn
Almost Stabbed For Science
You stood at the Abbey threshold making entirely reasonable requests — 'please tell us about your patients, please do the procedure in front of us' — while a charming man in a tailored coat slowly produced a poison dagger and lunged at your face. Your reward for asking perfectly sensible questions was a natural 1 on his attack roll and a vial of poison to keep as a gift.
DM
The Dining Room Has Nothing In It, I'm Sorry
You shepherded your players through a vampire ambush, a poisoned trapped tunnel with closing walls, a mongrelfolk who fell in love with his own reflection, and a centuries-old mystery involving graves, cures, and a suspiciously youthful monk — only for the party to finally reach the dramatic dining hall and find, as the book so helpfully provided, absolutely nothing. Not your fault. Probably.