The Abbot’s Deal

We ended the last session with the Abbot proposing a deal to one of my players. The Abbot agreed to part with a silvered weapon that the player needed to rescue their friend from the werewolf den. In exchange, the player would be magically sworn to no longer harm or undermine Strahd in any way using a high level geas spell. After some careful consideration, my player decided that the Abbot’s terms were not to their liking, and respectfully declined his deal.

Since the party had not been hostile during their time at the Abbey, the Abbot took no offense that his deal was declined. Eventually, the party requested to see the remaining wing of the Abbey, to which the Abbot happily agreed. Once there, the players heard the sound of mad cackling and a heavy pair of footsteps. The footsteps belonged to a giant flesh golem patrolling the hall, making sure that each of the doors containing the Belviews were properly sealed. With the Abbot by their side, this golem paid them no mind and continued his patrol.

In the madhouse, the Abbot explained that long ago he had agreed to help the Belviews achieve their goal of becoming “perfect creatures”. His efforts, however, had instead driven the Belviews insane, and transformed them into the monstrosities they are today. The Abbot, regretting his past decisions, now keeps the Belviews isolated in the Abbey, where he makes sure they are not seen by the townsfolk.

With their tour complete, the party had one final request for the Abbot, a safe place to rest for the night. The Abbot obliged and had some space cleared in the courtyard for the party. During the night, the players plotted to search the upper floor of the Abbey to find and steal the Abbot’s silvered weapon.

The Night Heist

With night well underway, the party rogue snuck out of the courtyard back to the main hall entrance. After easily dealing with the lock, they crept the door open, hoping that the Abbot and his creation Vasilka were elsewhere. Unfortunately, the Abbot was instead in the middle of giving Vasilka one of her many lessons. To make matters worse, the party’s actions had roused one of the sleeping Belviews, who loudly alerted their presence.

The Abbot stepped into the courtyard, and two large wings began to tear their way through his robes, as he took on his angelic form. Having betrayed his trust, the Abbot gave the party a final warning, leave the Abbey or suffer his wrath. The party prepared for a battle, not willing to leave without the silvered weapon they had come here for. The Abbot leapt into action, smiting at my players with his radiant mace and dealing heaps of damage. However, the Abbot was heavily outnumbered in this fight, but hesitated to call to Vasilka for aide.

With her master totally outmatched, Vasilka took it upon herself to defend the Abbot, and joined the fray in the courtyard. Although she helped to down one of the players, the party were able to overwhelm the Abbot, and Vasilka fell shortly after. Picking up their downed member, the party moved on to search the Abbey for the silvered weapon.

Searching the Abbey

Entering the main hall once more, the party found that it was uncomfortably quiet compared to their first visit. Creeping upstairs, they heard the soft sound of snoring, and discovered what appeared to be another member of the Belview family sleeping in the bell tower. This man had two heads, one of which looked much younger than the other, and was surrounded by empty wine bottles. After some careful consideration, the party decide to wake this man up to ask for his help.

Rousing from his drunken sleep, the man introduced himself as Clovin Belview, and explained his role of ringing the dinner bell and bringing the other Belviews their dinner. He was easily bribed by a few wine bottles to give up the location of the silvered weapons, which were stored above the madhouse. He also warned not to bother the other guest that was sleeping in the quarters nearby, and to stay clear of the hospital wing.

With this newly gathered information, the party made their way to the upstairs office, and after some searching found the silvered dagger that the Abbot had been storing there. With this item finally in their possession, the party fled the Abbey, leaving the party rogue curious as to what had been inside the hospital wing. The party found a barn in Krezk where they could sleep for the night, but my rogue’s curiosity got the best of them, and they decided to head back to the Abbey alone.

The Hospital Wing

With expertise in both stealth and acrobatics, the rogue had very little trouble sneaking their way back to the upper floor of the Abbey. Once there, they discovered that Clovin had already drank the few bottles of wine he was bribed with, and was completely passed out. Making their way to the door of the medical wing, they could not hear any noise coming from inside. Opening the door, they discovered the room was filled with bloodied hospital beds. Searching this wing and the nearby operating room, they reasoned that many people had lost their lives in this area of the Abbey. Given their background as a spirit medium, the rogue spent some time calming the lost souls in the hospital wing.

On their way out of the Abbey, the rogue was stopped by the Abbot’s mysterious guest, Ezmerelda. The two spent some time going over the events that had transpired at the Abbey, and Ezmerelda detailed her plan to ambush Strahd when he came to pick up Vasilka. With this plan now ruined by the party, Ezmerelda showed the rogue where she was camping out, in a long abandoned mage tower outside Vallaki. With their job complete, and a potential new ally found, the rogue returned to the sleeping party for some rest of their own. I hope you found this write-up interesting, if you want to read more feel free to check out my other resources for Curse of Strahd!