Ravenloft: Curse of Strahd

Chapter One — Into the Mists

Five adventurers met on the road to Daggerford, where a mysterious Vistani named Arrigal offered them a modest payment to assist a troubled nobleman in the distant land of Barovia. Carrying a letter pleading for help, they departed into the forest, only to find themselves swallowed by an unnatural mist. Beyond the fog lay a gloomy valley surrounded by towering gates and ancient forests. A second letter warned them away, suggesting that the invitation had been a deception, but their opportunity to turn back had already passed.

Their first significant encounter came at a lonely manor house, where two frightened children pleaded for help rescuing their baby brother. Inside, the adventurers discovered a haunted mansion concealing a history of madness, murder, and forbidden rituals. Exploring its hidden passages and subterranean crypts, they uncovered the remains of the Durst family and confronted the monstrous entity worshipped beneath the house. Rather than provide the sacrifice demanded by the spirits haunting the place, the party destroyed the creature and escaped as the manor collapsed around them.

Chapter Two — The Devil’s Domain

Arriving in the village of Barovia, the adventurers found a community living in fear beneath the shadow of Castle Ravenloft. They met Ismark Kolyanovich and his sister Ireena, learning that the young woman had attracted the unwanted attention of Strahd von Zarovich. After helping bury the village’s burgomaster, the party agreed to escort Ireena to the relative safety of Vallaki. Their departure was hastened by a violent attack that left Ismark dead and the family mansion burning.

On the road, the adventurers encountered Ludmilla, one of Strahd’s vampire brides, who revealed that Ireena bore a remarkable resemblance to Tatyana, a woman from Strahd’s past. Seeking answers, the party visited Madam Eva at the Vistani camp near Tser Pool. Through a reading of the Tarokka cards, Madam Eva revealed the existence of several powerful artifacts and a mysterious ally who might help them defeat Strahd. She also confirmed the terrible truth: Barovia was a prison, and the adventurers could not leave unless its master permitted it.

Continuing toward Vallaki, the party stopped at an isolated windmill and discovered that its inhabitants were hags using kidnapped children to make enchanted pastries. A disastrous battle followed, ending when Hoa undermined the building and brought the entire windmill crashing down. The group escaped with Ireena, having once again survived an encounter they were almost certainly unprepared to face.

Chapter Three — Trouble in Vallaki

Vallaki initially appeared to offer refuge from the horrors of Barovia. Behind its walls, however, the adventurers discovered a town governed by paranoia, compulsory festivals, and an increasingly oppressive burgomaster. The party arranged sanctuary for Ireena at the Church of St. Andral, only to discover that the saint’s sacred bones had been stolen. Recovering them led to a deadly confrontation with vampire spawn concealed inside a coffin maker’s shop, followed by a tense effort to protect the priest while the church was reconsecrated.

Meanwhile, an encounter with a traveling entertainer named Rictavio created a different sort of trouble. After accidentally releasing his saber-toothed tiger into the streets, the adventurers found themselves at odds with the town guard and eventually became wanted fugitives. Their investigation revealed Rictavio to be the legendary vampire hunter Rudolph van Richten, whose knowledge of Strahd promised to help unravel Madam Eva’s prophecy.

The party also discovered that Hoa remained haunted by the hags from the windmill. With Rictavio’s assistance, they devised a magical trap that drew his tormentor into the physical world, where they finally destroyed her and freed Hoa from the nightmare. With Ireena temporarily protected and new clues pointing toward the Abbey of Saint Markovia, the adventurers departed Vallaki to continue their search.

Chapter Four — The Abbey and the Sun Sword

Traveling west, the party reached Krezk, a secluded village beneath the imposing Abbey of Saint Markovia. Though outwardly peaceful, the settlement concealed disturbing signs of corruption, including freshly disturbed graves and strange creatures roaming the abbey grounds. Investigating the monastery, the adventurers confronted its master, the Abbot, a celestial being whose attempts to cure suffering had descended into grotesque experiments. A theological argument with Martin rapidly escalated into violence, and the party defeated the corrupted angel after a brutal battle.

Within the abbey they encountered Ezmerelda, an associate of Rictavio, who possessed the Tome of Strahd. Reading the vampire’s own account of his history, the adventurers learned of his jealousy toward his brother Sergei, his obsession with Tatyana, and the terrible bargain that had transformed him into an undead lord. The party’s departure left the abbey in flames.

Their next destination was Yester Hill, where the Tarokka reading had suggested they might find a weapon capable of destroying Strahd. There they fought druids and their monstrous tree creation, eventually uncovering the legendary Sun Sword within the remains of the corrupted growth. The sentient weapon questioned each adventurer in turn before the company entrusted it to Dante.

Armed with the sword Strahd feared, the party had taken an important step toward ending his reign.

Chapter Five — The Road to Ravenloft

With Strahd’s latest dinner invitation looming, the adventurers continued their search for allies and the remaining artifacts described in Madam Eva’s prophecy. At the Wizard of Wines vineyard, they helped the Martikov family reclaim their property from hostile scarecrows and a mysterious metal witch. Their victory restored the vineyard and strengthened their connection to the Keepers of the Feather.

Their next journey led to Rictavio’s tower, where they discovered the vampire hunter murdered and crucified upon the entrance. Worse still, Ezmerelda had apparently betrayed him and become an agent of Strahd. After defeating her, the party discovered that Rictavio’s soul had survived within a magical ring.

Following the vampire hunter’s remaining clues, they traveled to the ruins of Berez to consult a mysterious oracle. The woman demanded an extraordinary price for her information, accepting deeply personal sacrifices rather than ordinary valuables. The bargain eventually revealed the location of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, hidden within the Hall of Bones beneath Castle Ravenloft. Their meeting with the oracle ended badly when the party attempted to interfere with her belongings and discovered that their host was Baba Lysaga, a fearsome witch whose animated hut nearly killed several of them.

Having survived another disastrous encounter, the adventurers finally turned toward Castle Ravenloft and their long-delayed appointment with its master.

Chapter Six — Dinner with the Devil

The adventurers arrived at Castle Ravenloft as invited guests, where Strahd’s chamberlain, Rahadin, welcomed them with elaborate hospitality. They met the vampire’s brides and consorts, explored portions of the castle, and found unexpected opportunities to investigate its secrets. Before dinner, the party ventured into the castle’s lower levels and discovered the Hall of Bones. There they fought animated skeletal guardians and recovered the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, another of the relics foretold by Madam Eva.

At last they sat down to dinner with Strahd himself. Rather than immediately attack his guests, the vampire questioned them about their experiences in Barovia before presenting an astonishing proposal: he and his consorts would enter a century-long slumber, leaving the adventurers to govern the land in his absence. The party debated the offer and, deciding that a hundred years of peace might be preferable to an uncertain battle, accepted.

For a brief time, the adventurers entertained the possibility that they had negotiated an end to Barovia’s suffering. They began making arrangements at the castle, recruited members of its staff, and attended to unfinished business elsewhere in the valley. But the arrangement was not to last.

After resurrecting Rictavio, the party learned that their agreement with Strahd was far less promising than they had hoped. Their journey back to Ravenloft ended in an ambush by Volenta, one of the vampire’s brides. The adventurers defeated her, but the betrayal made their situation unmistakable. The bargain was broken. The struggle against Strahd would be settled by force.

Chapter Seven — The Fall of Strahd

Returning to Castle Ravenloft, the adventurers found its halls strangely deserted. They cautiously explored the chapel, crypts, and subterranean chambers, confronting undead guardians and uncovering the forgotten remains of the castle’s long history. Their search eventually brought them into the heart of Strahd’s domain, where the vampire began using his intimate knowledge of the fortress to harass and evade them. In the crypts they discovered false tombs, magical wards, and hidden passages before finally confronting Strahd himself. The battle was far from straightforward. Strahd repeatedly withdrew through the castle walls, forcing the party to pursue him through corridors and chambers while fighting his remaining servants.

Among their enemies were Rahadin, the vampire’s loyal chamberlain, and several of Strahd’s surviving consorts. The fighting was brutal, and the adventurers suffered repeated defeats and near-deaths as they pressed farther into Ravenloft. Yet they had come too far to retreat. Armed with the Sun Sword, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, and the knowledge they had gathered throughout Barovia, the companions continued their pursuit of the vampire lord.

The final confrontation carried them deeper into the heart of Castle Ravenloft. There, after a long and desperate struggle, the adventurers finally destroyed Strahd von Zarovich. The Devil of Barovia was no more. The journey that had begun with a mysterious letter and a modest promise of gold had ended with the destruction of one of Ravenloft’s most feared rulers. And for the first time since entering the mists, the adventurers had reason to believe that the road home might finally be open.