Curse of Stahd
"People like us don't get happy endings, Hunter." - Thyme Belleville
Under raging storm clouds, the vampire Count Strahd von Zarovich stands silhouetted against the ancient walls of Castle Ravenloft. Rumbling thunder pounds the castle spires. The wind’s howling increases as he turns his gaze down toward the village of Barovia. A lightning flash rips through the darkness, but Strahd is gone. Only the howling of the wind fills the midnight air. The master of Castle Ravenloft is having guests for dinner—and you are invited.
Summary
Status: Complete
Our run of Curse of Strahd(CoS) was heavily modified to increase difficulty about halfway through.
The campaign began with the would be party meeting in an unassuming tavern along a dark mortainian road, all here answering a call of their own. Despite the different reasoning each shared a common trait: to ride the midnight wagon into the mists of Barovia. Upon waking within Ravenloft and finding themselves the only survivors of some kind of wagon accident, Thyme Belleville, Marco Valore and Carric set off through the wilderness to find some answers. The road takes them to the storied deathhouse in which they lay some spirits to rest and destroy the ancient evil within.
Arriving in the town of Barovia the party regroups and makes a plan of attack. Thyme chats with some locals and discovers word of a powerful Vistani seer, the one that supposedly sent for her, nearby. The party decides to head to the next closest town of Vallaki while making a stop at the Tser Pool Encampment, home to this particular band of Vistani. Upon arriving and meeting with the seer, The party is informed that they were likely tricked here by the dark powers of Ravenloft, and any hopes of escape will need to be dashed until the vampire lord of Ravenloft, Count Strahd von Zarovich is defeated. The party has their fortunes told, and is given the locations of three powerful artifacts with the ability to aid them against Strahd: The Tome of Strahd, The Medallion of Ravenkind, and the Sun Sword.
The party makes quick progress, and over the course of a week travel to each corner of Barovia. Taking the town of Vallaki from a delusional madman, allying with the famous hunter Van Richten and taking the Tome of Strahd, facing their demons in a dreamworld in Berez and obtaining the Medallion, battling through the amber temple to obtain the Sun Sword and finally facing Strahd in a duel to the death at Castle Ravenloft. He is quickly defeated, and the party returns to the village of Barovia to share the news. Before they can enjoy their victory however, the evil resurfaces one final time, with the lost souls of the land, now lead by Strahds hateful presence, rising to drag the party down with them once more. After a bitter battle within a pocket dimension with Thyme leaving the being a pile of smouldering dust, the party is returned to Barovia once more. This time, the sun is shining, and the people need no longer live in fear... or do they?
Thyme and Marco ride back home, with Carric choosing to stay behind should strahd rise again. Though the two endured much hardship and faced many horrors before finally defeating Ravenloft, the experience will never leave them quite the same way again.
Player Characters Involved
Deaths
Despite the majority of forum posts obsessing over how deadly CoS is and how its a magnet for TPKs, even with ramped up challenges and a reduced party size, no casualties were suffered.
