An ancient book with Strahd's sigil on the cover

The Tome of Strahd.
Read the Tome here

Finally, you have recovered an Artefact!

The book is bound in a thick leather cover with steel hinges and fastenings. The pages are of parchment and very brittle. Stains and age have taken their toll, but several paragraphs at the beginning are plainly readable. It quickly becomes clear that The Tome is an ancient work penned by Strahd himself.

The rest of the book is filled with a mixture of ciphers, diagrams, fictional stories, and notes written in a curious shorthand that it seems only Strahd employs. With careful study, you think that more of its secrets may be revealed…

The legible portions of the book can be read in the document linked above.

Once per week (simulating approximately a day of in-game time), whoever is trying to understand the Tome may attempt to find meaning in the illegible portions of the book through scholarly research. You can make an Investigation (or other appropriate skill) check to reveal a new secret.

Let me know the result of your roll, and I’ll reveal what you have discovered — results below.

Secret one, discovered by Zandeyr:

Lightfingered Bannor studied his stolen Tome for some hours, before throwing it down in frustration. “Unintelligible gibberish” was the best he could offer.

Zandeyr reverently picked up the ancient book, and took a more studious approach, searching for familiar glyphs from the legible text. He was rewarded as he started to find the name ‘Tatyana’ appear in many of the obscured passages, one alongside the name Markovia . And slowly a new entry revealed itself:

This foolish Angel believes me the fool. This holy man seeks to free me of my sins through lust of the flesh. I will allow him to continue as long as I can hold his attention. If only ‘Saint’ Markovia could see her Abbey now, how she would despair. The Deva is no threat to me while he continues in his perverted folly, toying with his mongrelfolk and his bridal creations. I have no interest in his depraved gift; it is wholly unnatural to desire such an abomination. Tatyana will free me. When she returns, she will have me.

Secret two, discovered by Zandeyr:

As you planned your approach to Berez, Zandeyr studied the Tome carefully for any references — and was rewarded when he deciphered this passage:

I was so close. She craved me. Pleaded for me to stay. Yet I returned to see Tatyana’s blood had stained the earth before I could have it all for myself. I will spare the people of Berez, but the leadership responsible will have my undivided attention. I am the land, and I will curse the river valley they so treacherously stewarded.

Secret three, discovered by Viktor:

As the rest of you retired for a fitful sleep, Viktor, with the burning Angel seared in his mind, stayed up late poring over the Tome searching for more information about Berez. And he found this sliver:

Baba Lysaga now dwells in the marsh-ruins of Berez. She is powerful, and dangerous. She too has communed with the Dark. There is something aloof about her; I must keep her at a distance.

Secret four, discovered by Xarann:

That night in the winery, Xarann found it difficult to rest — replaying the slaughter of the mongrelfolk in his mind and reflecting on the parallels to his own dark past. He paged through the Tome, and a passage suddenly leapt out at him:

The crime of the elves is beyond all measure of forgiveness and justice. I should have eliminated them when I first conquered this valley centuries ago. I have ordered the death of every female elf in the valley for what they have done to Patrina. Despite their comeliness, the elves will never know womanly comfort among their own kind. Despite their longevity, they will fade from existence as I outlive them.

Secret five, discovered by Zandeyr:

The night before travelling to the Temple, Zandeyr couldn’t sleep, and he spent the night in the Vistani tent seeking any hints as to what awaited you. And just before dawn, he discovered a single entry:

His mind is eroding. On my most recent visit to the Amber Temple I found him delirious and distracted. He seems unable to remember much, not even his magic. I do not envy him, nor do I pity him. It would seem that I chose more wisely the means of immortality.

Scrawled in the margins of this note were several words that made no sense, but seemed to be names of some kind:

Thangob
Shalx
Harkotha
Maverus

Secret six, discovered by Garn:

Recovering from the Amber Temple with the Vistani, Garn turned his attention to the Tome. His link with the Dark Powers helped him reveal a new fragment talking about Baba Lysaga:

As I have watched Baba Lysaga I have come to realise her powers are not granted by those with whom Exethanter and I spoke. She has outlived all of her counterparts and unlocked a different secret to immortality. She bathes in the blood of beasts, and I suspect the influence of Mother Night. And once again I feel there is something familiar about her, something I should know; but she keeps to her solitude and I shall not interrupt it.

Secret seven, discovered by Xarann:

Xarann awoke with a start, the memory of his too recent deaths fresh in his mind. He was surprised to find his wounds all healed - in fact he felt healthier than he had for some time. His skin still raced with traces of lightning, but there was something else, almost as if the land itself was giving him sustenance.

Unable to return to sleep, he turned to the Tome, hoping for one last insight before confronting Strahd. And he was rewarded - it seemed almost like the book spoke to him, revealing several passages that seemed directly related to Ravenloft and the land in which it stood.

The Heart glows with purpose. It has become living. The circles of masonry its ribs, the great bastion its chest. It will use itself against those that would dare challenge my dominion over this Land.

I have learned to bend the very Land itself to my will. I have hardened my Heart of Sorrow and thus the Morninglord’s light extinguished. For I am the Ancient. I am the Land. And now none shall defeat me.