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Lady Fiona Wachter welcomed you in her well appointed sitting room, while her manservant Ernst Larnak faded into a corner and observed you silently. Comfortable couches clustered around a blazing fire above which hung a family portrait — the Lady and her husband, two rough looking young boys, and a baby girl.

After complimenting you on ridding the town of the spectre of Izek, Lady Wachter came straight to the point: could she count on your support in the coming troubles — namely, the overthrow of the tyrannical rule of Baron Vargas Vallakovich?

She appealed to your powers of observation, claiming (somewhat correctly, you grudgingly acknowledged) that Vallaki was suffering under the iron rule of a leader who tolerated no disobedience and tormented the people with his constant demand that “All Will Be Well”.

Under questioning, she proudly confirmed her loyalty to the Dread Strahd, claiming that the Baron was just as beholden, but he was too foolish to realise it. At least she was honest, and more, under her rule the favouritism of Strahd would benefit the people far more than the Baron’s fruitless crusade for false happiness.

As you pondered her words, Garn confirmed that both Lady Wachter and her manservant were evilly inclined, and what’s more there was some kind of fiendish presence stalking below the floorboards. He also detected an altogether different aura in the shape of a celestial, which was confusing to say the least. Zandeyr’s attempts to detect if Lady Wachter or Larnak were undead was rather less successful.

After some to-ing and fro-ing (mainly fro-ing), you made it quite clear that you flatly rejected her words, loyalty, and proposal. She in turn flatly invited you to leave — though Viktor apologised for the somewhat heated words, which left the door open should you change your mind.

As you turned to leave, Lady Wachter’s drunken sons — Nikolai and Karl — burst into the room, and proceeded to paw all over Zane, much to his horror. You made your excuses and retreated to the Blue Water Inn.

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Many, many hours of discussion and debate followed. It seemed clear that the power vacuum created by the death of Izek was going to be filled by one side or the other, with much violence in the meantime.

Viktor appealed to the Morninglord for help, who seemed to indicate that the Baron was the slightly lesser of two evils. Desperate attempts to think of a possible third faction failed when neither Urwin, Father Lucian, or Rictavio could propose a candidate.

The closest you got was the idea that Ireena, being of noble blood and with a Burgomaster brother, would be a possible leader. She wasn’t adverse to the idea, but insisted that you would remain to ensure she was protected from the likely retribution from the Baron and Lady Wachter. In all seemed fruitless.

The following morning, Garn, Zandeyr, and Xarann were packed and ready to leave this political nightmare, determined to retrieve the foretold instruments or power that might resolve both this and all conflict in the barren lands of Barovia.

You noted that the Baron’s militia had been bolstered overnight, though it was clear the bluecoats on each corner were at best untrained — and at worst, a liability.

A visit to the Baron became rather a tense affair when Zandeyr decided drawing a bow on the ruler of Vallaki was a good idea. Once he had been ejected, Viktor and Bannor managed to reach some kind of compromise.

The Baron agreed that the stockading of citizens would stop, as would the enforced attendance at his festivals — though he expressed doubt that anyone would willingly not attend! In return, you were to protect him and his from the increasingly likely challenge from Lady Wachter. This of course conflicted with the plans of the Vallexitors, and further argument ensued.

Eventually Zane came to an inescapable conclusion: if Vallaki was to avoid innocent blood being shed, and if you were ever going to leave this place with your heads held high, Lady Wachter must die. And she must die soon. The Festival of the Sun was happening today, at midday, and that would be the ideal moment for the Lady and her likely Vistani allies to strike, and strike hard.

His argument seemed irrefutable. Even Bannor was convinced the young upstart was right. And this was doubly reinforced when Viktor pleaded again to the Morninglord for guidance, who mostly confirmed that murdering Lady Wachter was at least not definitely a mistake…

New party leader Zane had recruited a new Vallaki recruit named Danya, using a sealed order he’d somehow extracted from the Baron, and she was set to the task of monitoring the West gate for the impending arrival of the Vistani — and she was to alert you the moment they appeared.

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This time you entered the Wachterhaus via the back door. You made your way through the house cautiously, and before long found the dodgy Ernst Larnak with his feet up supping wine from a golden goblet.

His feeble efforts to resist were quickly quelled by a dagger to the kidney and rapier at his throat, and he told you that Lady Wachter was below with several cultists, and the brothers likely asleep upstairs. He also revealed that the fiendish force you detected was Majesto, Lady Wachter’s pet imp. You breathed sighs of relief at this revelation, before knocking Larnak cold.

Garn confimed the fiend was below, and also that the celestial was still here too. You moved upstairs and quickly found the dozing Karl, and locked him in his room for safety.

Opposite Karl’s room was a disturbing sight. It was The master bedroom, neatly furnished, but lying on the bad was a dead body. Zandeyr confirmed it was actually dead, and you realised this was the husband of Lady Wachter, preserved by a repose spell. Given it was actually dead it appeared best to move on.

The adjoining room appeared to contain a cat of some kind, though its scratching and meows had a strangely human quality. When you entered the room you were confronted by the site of a teen girl scrabbling away from you on all fours, hackles raised and hissing. “Kittie doesn’t know you, kittie doesn’t like your smell”. It was clearly the girl from the family portrait, sunken deep into madness. You quietly relocked the room and moved on.

The next room was a library of some kind, and it too was infested with cats — real ones this time. Zandeyr noticed one had a golden key around its neck, and had a discussion with it, using food as a conversation lubricant. Asked about the key, it led you to a bookcase where Bannor had no trouble identifying a secret panel. Opening it you found a mostly empty room, other than a small iron bound chest. The key opened it, and disarmed the needle trap within. It contained:

• A silk purse containing 180ep bearing Strahd’s visage
• A leather bag containing 110gp
• A carved wooden heirloom pipe
• Five notarized deeds for parcels of land given to the Wachter family by Count Strahd von Zarovich four centuries ago
• An unbound leather manuscript case, containing the manuscript Better the Devil We Know written by Lady Wachter, extolling the many benefits of devil worship
• A blasphemous treatise bound in black leather titled The Grimoire of the Four Quarters, written by the infamous diabolist Devostas, who was drawn and quartered yet did not die

You gathered the loot and moved on. Zandeyr’s peek into the Grimoire made him close it quickly. The final upstairs room you left unopened as Bannor guaranteed the door was trapped, in manner he was unable to neutralise.

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Back downstairs you couldn’t find the basement stairs, but you happened upon two servants in the kitchen. They didn’t take much convincing to reveal that there was a secret door in the servant’s cloakroom, making Bannor’s job easy.

The staircase led down to a dirt floored room. As you stepped down into it, 8 skeletons burst from the rough ground and attacked. They landed some blows but before long you overwhelmed them and shattered them into piles of bone.

Again Bannor had no problem finding a secret door in one wall — the clear trail of footsteps rather giving the game away. The door swung open to reveal a stone floored room with a pentagram carved into the floor. Lined up on the opposite wall were five cultists, and Lady Wachter with her imp. “I take it this isn’t a social call…”

Arrows flew, spells were flung, swords met and bodies fell. Zandeyr almost finished Lady Wachter off with his first two shots, but her imp got in the way of the killing arrow.

Zane drew his blades and approached with a flourish, only to find himself rooted stylishly to the spot. Garn stepped up and started clobbering everyone he could see, while Viktor rained down steel justice.

The imp was banished, Xarann unleashed volleys of power on the enemy combatants, and Bannors handiwork meant no-one lived long. Lady Wachter’s last desperate effort in raising a skeleton was promptly dealt with, and before long she lay dead on the floor, the years sloughing off her as she fell.

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The body of Lady Wachter at your feet, you realised you had still to deal with her sons. You moved cautiously upstairs, only to be ambushed by the boys as you entered the upstairs stairwell. A brief scuffle ensued, but you quickly subdued them.

They bristled at your intrusion, questioning why you were in their house and demanding you leave. Things go uglier when you described what you had done, and showed them the evidence of their dead father and the cult chambers below the floor. They were clearly in shock and grief, confused about how to react, and you decided to leave them be. A small mercy, perhaps?

You quickly made your way to the Baron’s mansion to bring him the news. He was overjoyed, though you tried to temper that with warning and threats about his expected behaviour now you had fulfilled your dark duty. Barely wiping the smile of his face he agreed, somewhat reluctantly, to stop the enforced fun and shut down the stockades. He did claim that they should still be used for clear cases of murder and worse, but you refused him even that.

It was decided you should stay for the Festival of the Blazing Sun, to ensure the new era of the Barons’s rule got off on the right foot. As midday approached, you gathered with the townsfolk — who all seemed to be glumly present, despite their new ‘freedom’.

Zane set about manually destroying the stocks, much to the onlookers delight (and trepidation at the Baron’s reaction). As he worked, the skies started to darken threateningly. A forlorn group of children carrying dropping bouquets heralded the arrival of the wicker ball and Baron’s party. As the ball was rolled and carried onto the wooden scaffold, the townsfolk started a dreary rendition of a folksy dirge celebrating the festival.

You suddenly heard two voices crying out from the back, declaring “our mother has been murdered! stop those men!”. The Baron drowned out the cries with his welcoming speech, and you saw a group of town guards move to intercept the Wachter brothers.

Overhead the clouds had gathered into a thick dark mass, and a cold wind howled through the square, and the first large drops of rain started to fall. The Baron called for the ceremonial oil, which he quickly splashed onto the wicker ball, and hoisted a spluttering torch into the mass of sticks.

But before it could catch, the rain started to teem down in earnest. A lone laugh erupted from the crowd. The Baron fixed his eyes on the culprit, before turning to the crowd and declaring “All will be well!” and skulking off the platform and back toward his mansion.

You saw two of his guards manhandling the culprit who had laughed, and drag him toward the Baron. Viktor was quick to intercept them, and when the Baron saw this he managed to reign in his fury and weakly suggest the man should perhaps show more respect to his fellow citizens and not to do it again. Or else.

You had dealt with one evil, hopefully the right one. Perhaps now Vallaki could settle back into a semblance of calm. And perhaps you could continue deeper into fair Barovia.

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Sessions played: 3 June & 8 July 2019