The Burgomaster’s Mansion
After having dealt with the druids at the Wizards of Wine in the last session, the party woke up at the Blue Water Inn. They had received some guidance from the Martikovs that Madam Eva’s fortune reading may be pointing them to the Burgomaster’s Mansion, so the party planned to investigate there. As they asked the tavern patrons where they could find the mansion, they learned that there was a festival going on tomorrow, the Festival of the Blazing Sun. The players decided to visit under the premise of helping the Burgomaster with festival preparations.
When the party arrived at the mansion, they were let in by the maid, and are told that the Burgomaster is dealing with some urgent business at the town church. Knowing that the Burgomaster could be gone for some time, the players take this opportunity to sneak through the mansion unsupervised. The party rogue had no issues sneaking upstairs on their own, and left an eerie token with the players to communicate.
Looking in the rooms upstairs, the party rogue encountered a few locked doors that they easily overcame. Behind the first locked door, they discovered an eerie bedroom, filled with dolls that resembled Ireena. After pocketing a doll, the rogue discovered a bruised and bloodied man handcuffed behind the second locked door. The man explained he had been arrested for speaking out against the Burgomaster during the last festival. Freed from his shackles, the man escaped the mansion by leaping from one of the windows.
Searching through the rest of the mansion, the rouge came across a vanity mirror with some faint runes inscribed around the frame. In the attic upstairs, they discover a similar mirror with slightly different runes. At this point, they decided to communicate with the party and have them meet upstairs.
Still Ghosts
With the maid still distracted by their chores, and the Burgomaster nowhere to be found, the remaining party members sneak upstairs to meet with the rogue. In the attic, one of my players use the identify spell on the mirror to learn the command words. As they prepared the ritual, the rogue continued to investigate the final room in the attic. Unfortunately, they were unable to notice the faint runes on the door, and were nearly knocked unconscious by the lightning trap that was placed on the door.
Behind the trapped door, the party finds a strange room filled with skeletal cats and child sized dolls. On the table was a scattered collection of papers that seemed to depict an unfinished teleportation circle. Storing the papers for later, the party all reconvene at the enchanted mirror, where they notice the faint figure of a woman standing in the corner.
Speaking the command words for the mirror, the figure began to materialize while rapidly aging, and the party discover it was the spirit of a banshee. Thankfully, none of the players are incapacitated by the banshee’s wail, but their weapons were less than effective against the spectral figure. During the battle, several of the players were frightened by the banshee’s horrifying figure, as a result their attacks were much more difficult to land. However, the banshee was greatly outnumbered, and eventually fell.
Remembering Madam Eva’s fortune of a dark room with still ghosts, the party decided to fully investigate the cluttered attic, looking for a powerful item to use against Strahd. After an hour of searching, one of the players uncovered a large leather tome, with the familiar crest of Strahd on its cover. The party was satisfied with this discovery, and made their way downstairs.
On their way out of the mansion, the party got curious about the other enchanted mirror that the rogue had found, and decided to investigate. This mirror seemed to contain the spirit of an assassin, speaking the command word prompted the spirit to ask for the name of the target. With little hesitation, one of my players gave the name Strahd, and the spectral assassin disappeared. Suddenly, Strahd himself appeared in the mirror, offering a deal if the party was willing to hear him out. Sadly, the party ran from the room immediately, and resisted Strahd’s attempts to charm them into staying.
Keepers of the Feather
With the Tome of Strahd in hand, the players made their way back to the Blue Water Inn, but discovered a crowd of uneasy commoners on the way. Asking around, they were told that a poorly dressed and badly beaten man had been caught fleeing the Burgomaster’s Mansion. Knowing this was the man they had recently set free, the party hightail it to the Blue Water Inn to lie low for a while.
Arriving at the tavern, one of the players approached the innkeeper and laid out a few gold coins as a bribe, hoping they would lie about the party’s whereabouts for the morning. This perked Urwin Martikov’s interest, as his wereraven agents had been trailing the party for quite some time now. With the players having proven themselves through their actions at the Wizards of Wine and now at the Burgomaster’s Mansion, he decides to trust them with his secrets.
Taking the party and Ireena to hide in the tavern’s barn, he explains that he is part of an order of wereraven that have opposed Strahd for generations. It is at this point that the raven with blue tipped wings reveals their human form, and introduces herself as Muriel Vinshaw. She thanks the party for all they had done so far in Barovia, as she had been tracking them as early as the Death House.
The group share information with each other, and spent some time searching through the newly acquired tome. With the party no longer safe in Vallaki, they planned to rest in the barn for the night, and visit the toy maker in the morning before potentially leaving forever. Having found one of the campaign’s artifacts, the party gains a level and are now fifth level adventurers. If you found this write-up interesting and want to read more, feel free to check out my other resources for Curse of Strahd!