The party stood outside the Death House and asked a few more questions from Rose and Thorn. The party found out that Rose and Thorne haven’t seen their parents for weeks or months and that the townsfolk helped them survive by bringing them food. Rose and Thorne also shared that their last memory was playing with toys in their room.

Finally the party decided to enter but not before Tess cast Mage Armour on herself and Dymos cast Thorn Armour on himself. Aldric also used his lantern to detect undead, but alas there were none close by.

The party entered and saw a wrought-iron gate with hinges on one side and a lock on the other filled the archway of a stone portico. The gate was unlocked, and its rusty hinges shrieked when the gate was opened. Oil lamps hung from the portico ceiling by chains, flanking a set of oaken doors that open into a grand foyer.

Hanging on the south wall of the foyer was a shield emblazoned with a coat-of-arms (a stylized golden windmill on a red field), flanked by framed portraits of stony-faced aristocrats. The party carefully continued to the main hall.

The main hall had a black marble fireplace at one end and a sweeping, red marble staircase at the other. Mounted on the wall above the fireplace was a longsword with a windmill cameo worked into the hilt. The wood-paneled walls were ornately sculpted with images of vines, flowers, nymphs, and satyrs. The party checked the fireplace and found it was dead cold. Dymos strangely sniffed every new room he entered trying to catch a scent of something.

Doc quickly removed the sword drawing a glare from Tess.

The party continued south into what appeared to be a den. This oak-paneled room looked like a hunter’s den. Mounted above the fireplace was a stag’s head, and positioned around the outskirts of the room were three stuffed wolves.

Two padded chairs draped in animal furs faced the hearth, with an oak table between them supporting a cask of wine, two carved wooden goblets, a pipe rack, and a candelabrum. A chandelier hung above a cloth-covered table surrounded by four chairs. The party inspected the wine, but did not drink it.

Two cabinets stood against the walls. The east cabinet sported a lock that Doc expertly picked. Doc found that it contained an assortment of bows along with a deck of playing cards.

Next the party explored what looked to be a kitchen and pantry. The kitchen and pantry were kept in a pristine condition and the pantry contained dried goods. The party moved on.

The next room was a dining room.The centerpiece of this wood-paneled dining room was a carved mahogany table surrounded by eight high-backed chairs with sculpted armrests and cushioned seats. A crystal chandelier hung above the table, covered with resplendent silverware and crystalware polished to a dazzling shine. Mounted above the marble fireplace was a mahogany-framed painting of an alpine vale. The wall paneling was carved with elegant images of deer among the trees.

Aldric took a couple of pieces of the silverware and the party continued on climbing the grand staircase to the second floor.

Lit oil lamps were mounted on the walls of this elegant hall. Hanging above the mantelpiece was a wood-framed family portrait of father and mother with their two smiling children. Cradled in the father’s arms is a swaddled baby, which the mother regards with a hint of scorn.

Standing suits of armor flank wooden doors in the east and west walls. Each suit of armor clutches a spear and has a visored helm shaped like a wolf’s head. The doors are carved with dancing youths.

Suddenly a suit of armour moved with supernatural force and attacked. The party was able to gather themselves and struck at the suit of armour until it fell apart into pieces at their feet.

The party cautiously carried on and found themselves in a conservatory, Gossamer drapes covered the windows of this elegantly appointed hall, which had a brass-plated chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Upholstered chairs lined the walls, and stained-glass wall hangings depict beautiful men, women, and children singing and playing instruments.

A harpsichord with a bench rested in the northwest corner. Near the fireplace was a large standing harp. Alabaster figurines of well-dressed dancers adorn the mantelpiece.

Doc grabbed the figurines and soon discovered that they are carvings of well-dressed skeletons. Doc was heard to mutter ‘Strange’ and he continued to take them with him.

Tess sat down and played a melancholy tune on the harp before the party moved on.

Doc explored the library while the Dymos, Aldric, and Tess went up the stairs to the third floor. Doc found the library to be an exciting environment for an up and coming rogue.

Aldric found that the silverware he had taken from the dining room had dissolved into dust in his pockets,

Red velvet drapes covered the windows of this room. An exquisite mahogany desk and a matching high-back chair faced the entrance and the fireplace, above which hung a framed picture of a windmill perched atop a rocky crag. Situated in corners of the room are two overstuffed chairs. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the south wall. A rolling wooden ladder allowed one to more easily reach the high shelves.

The desk had several items resting atop it: an oil lamp, a jar of ink, a quill pen, a tinderbox, and a letter kit containing a red wax candle, four blank sheets of parchment, and a wooden seal bearing the insignia of a windmill – Doc took them all. Doc opened the desk drawer and found it empty except for an iron key, which he also took.

The bookshelves held hundreds of tomes covering a range of topics including history, warfare, and alchemy. There were also several shelves containing first-edition collected works of poetry and fiction.

Doc noticed one odd Red and Black book which he grabbed. Suddenly, the bookshelf moved and a hidden room was revealed.

This secret room contained bookshelves packed with tomes describing fiend-summoning rituals and the necromantic rituals of a cult called the Priests of Osybus.

A heavy wooden chest with clawed iron feet stood against the south wall, its lid half-closed. Sticking out of the chest is a skeleton in armour. Close inspection revealed that the skeleton belonged to a human who triggered a poisoned dart trap. Three darts are stuck in the dead adventurer’s armor and ribcage.

Doc called out to his party members

“Uh guys, I think I found something!”

The party joined Doc in the secret room and helped him remove the skeleton. At the bottom of the chest was a letter bearing the seal of Strahd von Zarovich, which the adventurer had tried to remove from the chest. Written in flowing script, the letter read as follows:

My most pathetic servant,

I am not a messiah sent to you by the Dark Powers of this land. I have not come to lead you on a path to immortality. However many souls you have bled on your hidden altar, however many visitors you have tortured in your dungeon, know that you are not the ones who brought me to this beautiful land. You are but worms writhing in my earth.

You say that you are cursed, your fortunes spent. You abandoned love for madness, took solace in the bosom of another woman, and sired a stillborn son. Cursed by darkness? Of that I have no doubt. Save you from your wretchedness? I think not. I much prefer you as you are.

Your dread lord and master,

Strahd von Zarovich

Underneath the letter, the party found three spell scrolls – bless, protection from poison (ironically) and spiritual weapon, the deed to the house, the deed to a windmill, and a signed will. The will was signed by Gustav and Elisabeth Durst and bequeathes the house, the windmill, and all other family property to Rosavalda and Thornboldt Durst in the event of their parents’ deaths. Suddenly, pieces of the mystery were starting to fit together.

The party took the items and climbed upstairs.

---

Before climbing up the stairs, Tess sent a smoke bat fluttering up past Aldric. Aldric seemed unfazed and just uttered ‘Weird‘ as it flew past.

The party came to a dusty balcony. Oil lamps were mounted on the oak-paneled walls, which were carved with woodland scenes of trees, falling leaves, and tiny critters.

Aldric opened a door to the west and an animated broom swept out and attacked. The party converged on the broom and quickly broke it into pieces on the floor.

They then continued north and found what looked to be a master bedroom. The double doors to this room had dusty panes of stained glass set into them. Designs in the glass resembled windmills.

The dusty, cobweb-filled master bedroom had burgundy drapes covering the windows. Furnishings include a four-poster bed with embroidered curtains and tattered gossamer veils, a matching pair of empty wardrobes, a vanity with a wood-framed mirror and jewelry box, and a padded chair. A rotting tiger-skin rug lied on the floor in front of the fireplace, which had a dust-covered portrait of Gustav and Elisabeth Durst hanging above it. A web-filled parlor in the southwest corner contained a table and two chairs. Resting on the dusty tablecloth is an empty porcelain bowl and a matching jug.

A door in the parlor led to an outside balcony. Tess went out to the balcony and saw Castle Ravenloft looming above in the distance. It appeared that a couple of bats were flying above one of the towers.

Doc found that the jewelry box contained three gold rings and a thin platinum necklace with a topaz pendant which Doc happily pocketed.

The party continued to the south into another large appointed bedroom. Dust and cobwebs shrouded an elegantly appointed bedroom and an adjoining nursery. Double doors set with panes of stained glass pulled open to reveal a balcony overlooking the front of the house.

The bedroom contained a large bed, two end tables, and an empty wardrobe. Mounted on the wall next to the wardrobe was a full-length mirror with an ornate wooden frame carved to look like ivy and berries. On closer inspection, the ivy and berries also contained carved skulls.

Dymos appeared startled at his reflection and pushed the mirror over revealing a secret door that hid a stairway up to the attic. The party decided to explore the nursery before continuing up to the attic.

The nursery contained a crib covered with a hanging shroud. Doc parted the shroud and a Spectre immediately attacked from behind! Doc collapsed but the party was able to defeat the Spectre and heal Doc.

Tess then explored the balcony and found that it looked out upon the town of Barovia. Out from the distance, she heard a scream:

“Father, I’m starving!!”

It looked to be coming from the church and graveyard.

Tess returned inside and party made their way up to the attic. The attic was far more dusty than the rest of the house. They made their way into what looked to be a playroom.

The room contained a bricked-up window flanked by two dusty, wood-framed beds sized for children. Closer to the door was a toy chest with windmills painted on its sides and a dollhouse that was a perfect replica of the dreary edifice in which the party found themselves. The room’s furnishings were draped in cobwebs. Lying in the middle of the floor were two small skeletons wearing tattered but familiar clothing. The smaller of the two cradles a stuffed doll that you also recognize.

Tess went to examine the dollhouse and found it to be a perfect replica of the house they were in. Tess spotted a secret staircase that could take them all the way to the basement.

Suddenly, the ghosts of Rose and Thorne appeared and told their story.

The Durst children, Rose and Thorne, were neglected by their parents and locked in this room until they starved to death. Their small skeletons lie in the middle of the floor, plain as day, wearing tattered clothing that the characters recognize as belonging to the children. Thorn’s skeleton cradles the boy’s stuffed doll.

Aldric covered up the bones in an act of kindness and grace. Aldric asked Rose and Thorne if he could do anything for them and they requested that their bones be taken to the crypt below. Aldric promised that they would come back and do that.

The party asked Rose and Thorne about their brother Walter. Rose and Thorne answered that mommy and daddy didn’t like Walter. Although they didn’t know why. The party asked about the Rose and Thorne that they met outside of the house and the ghosts of Rose and Thorne didn’t know anything about that.

The party continued on and found a couple of empty bedrooms. In the last empty bedroom, Tess found a doll in a yellow dress with an eerie smile. Tess returned it to the Rose and Thorne’s playroom and placed in gently on the pile of bones.

The party found that the last unexplored room was a storage room. The storage room continued furniture, boxes, and mannequins under white drapes. Alongside these items, there was a single solitary chest.

To their horror, when the party opened the chest they found the corpse of a young woman that died a violent death by stabbing. Doc surmised that this was probably the nanny, although he did not know why she would have been murdered.

Doc quickly returned to the master bedroom and library to see if he could find any diaries that could shed light on the mystery but he returned empty handed.

The party decided to descend down to the basement. As they descended down the stairs to the basement they started to hear chanting. The chanting got louder and louder until finally when they reached the basement it suddenly stopped.