Session 28

The carriage made its way through Barovia, eventually arriving at Castle Ravenloft. The carriage stopped at the edge of a drawbridge that spanned an enormous chasm.

On the ride, Anakir transformed back into himself from a baby. However, he no longer had any clothes.

The doors swung open, and the group was greeted by Cyrus Belview who's hair was slicked back and was dressed for the occasion.

Cyrus introduced himself and asked the group to follow him inside where they met Rahadin. Rahadin scolded them for showing up to the event in such inappropriate clothing and commanded Cyrus to escort them upstairs to change.

In the guest quarters, the party meets Escher and Gertruda, who they remember is the daughter that Mad Mary was looking for.

Escher eyes the still-naked Anakir, and later gives off some strong flirting vibes. Gertruda tells the party they each have clothes laid out for them in the guest room. The group enters to find the perfectly-tailored and perfectly-designed outfit for each of them:

• Elora: dress pants with little cargo-ish pockets for her psychic blades on either leg, a suit jacket with tails (wink) and a more feminine dress top with a flowy neck link.
• Anakir: cropped suit jacket and a cropped top with dress shorts/panatloons
• Pelanil: A vest with a cape. He kept his weapons on his back. Piccolo had a matching outfit
• Shalooti: Dripping with jewels, a slinky dress with a deep V and an open back with a butt flap for access for the flute and storage
• Bardolf: Riding boots, pirate flowy top, accessorized with stone in the same design as Shalooti and an eyepatch

Anakir goes to the bathroom and returns to flirt with Escher.

Finally cleaned up and appropriately-dressed for dinner, Cyrus escorts the party back downstairs to Rahadin, and Cyrus says he needs to leave to go finish making dinner. Rahadin leads the party into the dining hall where Strahd is playing organ. Pelanil refuses to join out of fear for what he might do, but instead makes his way to the bronze doors in the welcome hall.

Strahd welcomes the party, each by name, notably looking at, but skipping over Anakir. He then asks where the others are. To which Bardolf explains Pelanil would not be coming. Strahd sends Rahadin after the non-illusion Anakir. Anakir switches places with his illusory double.

Dinner is incredibly fancy. Cyrus serves lobster bisque, sliced beef/salmon on a cedar plank, and fresh fruit for dessert.

Strahd introduces his wives, Ludmilla Villisevic, Anastrasya Karelova, Volenta Popofsky, and Escher. He then makes a formal introduction shares a lot of information and answers a lot of questions over the course of the dinner. He also inquires about the party's backstories and goals. Some of the things you learn: Strahd's Dinner Conversation. To summarize:

• Strahd pursued Ireena because he wanted to fix what was broken in his past
  • He took her to The Abbot in Krezk to be revived, but he was unable
  • They buried her there in Krezk
• Strahd regretted killing Pelanil out of a burst of emotion (that was no way for a ruler to act)
  • Strahd asked a powerful being to bring back Pelanil
• Strahd wants the party to hunt down Rudolph van Richten
  • van Richten has been ruthlessly hunting down and killing the Vistani
  • After Elora asked, Strahd promised their freedom from Barovia if they brought van Richten back to him alive

After dinner, Strahd invited the party to stay the night and assured their safety if they did so. He also invited them to explore the castle as they wished, but to not stray into the lower floors.