A Chance to Prepare
After defeating Baba Lysaga and recovering the skull of Argynvost in the last session, the party decided they were going to relight the silver beacon of Argynvostholt. Knowing that this would draw the attention of Strahd, the players took some time beforehand to prepare. A few players spent this downtime reinforcing Argynvostholt’s defenses, and worked to repair the fort’s ballistas and walls.
A few other players took this chance to investigate the nearby wizard tower looking for spell scrolls, and to potentially recruit Ezmerelda as an ally. After struggling a bit with the tower’s defenses, the players caught up with Ezmerelda, who was currently recovering after some injuries sustained in her most recent trip to Castle Ravenloft. The players were successful in finding a few spell scrolls, and learned a bit about one of Strahd’s magical advisors, the archwizard Khazan.
Meanwhile, another of my players made a trip to Vallaki to recruit any help they could from the surviving citizens and town guards. Arriving at the burnt gates of the town, they immediately spotted a few ragged looking Vallakians hiding in a nearby ruined building. Approaching these figures, the player learned the situation in Vallaki was quite grim, as Izek has taken to blaming the citizens of the town for the death of the Burgomaster. After finding a few Vallaki town guards, the player demanded they speak to Izek directly, and eventually Izek answered the call. After a quick showdown where my player easily took Izek down, the surviving Vallakians and town guards agreed to relocate to Argynvostholt.
Skipping forward to the day the silver beacon was to be reignited, Godfrey and Vladimir gathered the party at the statue of Argynvost in the front of Argynvostholt. They preformed their rituals needed to reactivate the beacon, towards the end of their efforts the party noticed the stone statue appeared to be breathing. As the ritual ended, the statue took a large breath, and exhaled a silver pillar of light into the sky. Shortly afterwards, a silvery snow began to fall around the fort, and the players were each wrapped with a dragon scale glow that boosted their defenses. With the beacon now reignited, the party waited for whatever Strahd had planned in response.
The Battle of Argynvostholt
As the party stood guard at the statue of Argynvost, they spotted a crowd of people carrying pitchforks and torches approaching the fort. Shortly after, they caught a glimpse of Ireena in the crowd, sporting her natural red hair. Ireena approached the party with some news, as the Vallakian refugees filed into Argynvostholt. She explained that she had been spending her time in the blessed pools of Krezk, and has recovered some lost memories from when she was charmed by Strahd. Ireena recalled that she had been taken south via the Tsolenka Pass, to a temple she does not remember much of. Regardless, she is quite confident Strahd is hiding something there.
With Ireena and the Barovians armed inside Argynvostholt, dark clouds began to roll in above the statue of Argynvost, being parted by the bright silver beacon. With the party on guard, a giant swarm of bats began to circle the silver beacon, before crashing violently into the ground. Stepping out of the mass of bats, Strahd addressed the party:
“So you have chosen death? And here I thought we were still having fun.”
The party had some heated words for Strahd, and after he had heard enough, he targeted the most talkative player with the command “silence”. Strahd then turned to face the wide field in front of Argynvostholt, he raised his arms and spoke with a booming voice:
“Rise, my army of darkness, and snuff out this puny light.”
With his words echoing in the valley, Strahd began to dissolve into a mist that rolled away from the fort. When the mist passed over the ground, hundreds of arms erupted from the earth, as Strahd’s army of skeletons and ghouls began to rise. Stepping out of the mist to face the party was Strahds trusted general Rahadin, his presence was followed by a choir of unearthly screams as he drew his weapon. Accompanying Rahadin were several vampire spawn, one of which appeared to be a spellcaster.
In the light of the silver beacon, the party faced off against Strahd’s most skilled generals. Right away, the spellcaster vampire was able to neutralize a player with a casting of hold person, not a great start for the party. My barbarian player rushed at Rahadin, but struggled a bit with hitting his high AC. Rahadin then responded with a few attacks of his own, before misty stepping towards the back line of the party to harass the paralyzed player. Before the party got a chance to rush the spellcaster vampire, a few of the spawn moved in to grapple the players, digging into them with their fangs.
Meanwhile, the ballistas opened fire on Strahd’s army, and the Silver Order charged into the field to meet their enemies head on. While the Silver Order was small in number, their training far outmatched their opponents, who fell like flies. Back in Argynvostholt, the Vallakian citizens and guards stood their ground against the forces of Strahd that were able to slip past the Silver Order. For some added context, I used Matthew Colville’s Kingdoms & Warfare rules to simulate this large-scale battle, which me and my players quite enjoyed doing.
Shifting back to the players, several members of the party were quite wounded after the vampire’s initial turns, when suddenly the barbarian player fell unconscious. Rahadin himself was looking a bit worse for wear, so he misty stepped out of the party’s reach and took a more cautious approach with his poisoned darts. After missing several turns, the player under the effects of hold person was able to break free from the spell at a pivotal moment and helped to finish off the vampire spawn. With the barbarian dropping in and out of consciousness as the party fed them potions, Rahadin finally fell to the party rogue, and the battle of Argynvostholt was over.
The Aftermath
As the Silver Order finished off the last remnants of Strahd’s army, the party took a much deserved breather. During the fighting, the ballistas of Argynvostholt were destroyed, and the Silver Order suffered heavy casualties. The party was approached by Godfrey after the fighting had settled down, he regretfully informed them that Vladimir had died in battle. As a sign of his faith, he gifted the party Vladimir’s sword, and offered one of my players a high-ranking position in the Order of the Silver Dragon. Regretfully, this player turned down Godfrey’s offer for now, as they had more important matters to deal with.
With the battle of Argynvostholt over, the party is left to plan their final moves against Strahd. They are currently in possession of all the items from Madam Eva’s fortunes, but they have not yet found a way to activate the Sunsword. That’s all for now, 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!