Quote from kqstark >>

"What don't you agree about?  She's the traitor and has some sort of treasure, you think killing her will make it appear?"  She sighs and starts heading for the door that Madame Watcher went behind.

When the place shakes, she looks to her friends, "What do you suppose that was??"

"Where did Burr run off to?  He's better and forcing a door open!" and Zefla pushes her small body against the door with all her might.

Athletics:  16

"I do not agree about her being any different than the dark druids, Zefla.  She allies by choice with true evil and must die.  We have a chance.  Slaying her may not make the treasure appear but taking keys from her corpse may help access the treasure in this house, which she keeps under lock and key."

Soren smiles grimly as Zefla pushes open the door while Burr materializes through a den window in a crash of glass.  Not to mention the invisible flying abomination briefly appearing, then vanishing once more, which the druid grimaces at.

He then glances disgustedly at Ernst Lenak as he grovels in surrender.  "The Lady who says she wants what is best for Vallaki not only allies herself with Strahd, but with whatever aberrant flying monstrosity that was.  And her servants either live in fear of her or betray her dark secrets with alacrity."

(Passive Insight 14 as to whether Ernst will likely follow through on his pledge to bear witness against Lady Wachter to the Baron.)

"Surrender without reservation, both of you face down, and tell us immediately what caused the shaking, or receive the graceless death you deserve."

Movement:  Soren steps SW-->SW-->W, up on a chair and then on the dining table, narrowly avoiding stepping in Giles' gravy before crouching to peer through the door.  Having seen the situation, he then straightens and steps back 5' NE out of Lady Wachter's line of sight.

Nettle flies from his shoulder in the middle of this, to through the door, flapping her wings to take the help against Lady Wachter and then back to Soren's shoulder using Flyby, granting advantage to the next attack against her.

Action:  Soren moves his Moonbeam to the point that includes Lady Wachter, but not Burr, Zefla or Ernst if possible, with Ernst being lowest priority to avoid.  11 radiant damage at start of Lady Wachter's next turn, DC 14 CON Save for half.

He looks to his allies.  "Slay either one of them who does not give themselves up fully.  Do not enter the area of the Moonbeam."

Bonus/Free Action:  Soren reflects for a moment how and when he became so bloodthirsty.  Perhaps when he learned of Father Lucien's death...

Giles sees an opening, the door has been pushed open.  He runs inside, avoiding the moonbeam.  He sees the hand crossbow and dagger that Ernst Lenak dropped on the ground and he bends down, picking them up.  “That’s fine, just have a seat, we’ll sort all of this out.  And you…” he turns to look at Lady Wachter, bringing his spectral force mage hand around to bear on her, he looks at her and says “Sit down!  Now!”  And he uses the mage hand to shove her, hopefully knocking her off balance and forcing her to sit down.  

If this is successful, Giles says “Now we want to hear everything.  And I mean… everything.  All about your little book club an all of the other nefarious meetings you may be having here.  And tell your little pet to come down, before we kill it.  But before we begin with all of this, I’d like to say that I think that the gravy could use a little more salt.  Were you planning to bring out anything for dessert?”

[CON:  10  STR:  11  Acrobatics:  18]

The beam of moonlight slides over Lady Wachter.  It looks harmless enough, just a shaft of pale white light, but her skin blisters and burns where it touches her.  

Then before she can react, Giles' spectral hand shoves her down to her knees.  [I'm not sure telekinetic allows shoving prone.  As I read it, you can shove towards or away, which makes it both more and less than a basic shove.  In this case, however, I'll say you can shove her down because reasons.]

At the questioning, Ernst stammers "I don't know!  She's been in here casting spells since you attacked us.  I have no I idea what she's done!"

Lady Wachter snarls from the ground, "I'll see all of you flayed for this!  You haven't heard the last from me!"  Then she pushes up off of ground, raises her cane high... and turns, smashing out the glass of the window behind her.  Then she tumbles out onto the lawn, landing on her feet and hobbling away toward the rear of the manor.

[Burr can take an AOO against her as she flees.  He is prone after his dramatic entrance, but has help from Nettle so it would be a straight attack roll... provided he can first pass a DC 13 WIS save to target her with an attack.]

[Anyone chasing her out the window can make a DC 13 Acrobatics or Athletics (your choice) check.  On a success, you land on your feet.  On a failure you land prone in the bushes outside the window.

Anyone targeting her with an attack, or with a targeted spell, must pass a DC 13 WIS save.  On a success, the attack or spell goes through.  On a failure, you must either choose a different target or lose the attack/spell/action/bonus action as appropriate.  In the case of a targeted leveled spell attack, you burn the spell slot whether the attack goes off or not.  She is currently under the protection of the spell sanctuary. ]

1. Zefla
2. ???
3. Burr
4. Ernst Larnak
5. Soren 
6. Giles
7. Fiona Wachter

AoO- Attack: 24 Damage: 7

Wisdom Save- 14

Lady Wachter finds no sanctuary from Burr's grim determination.  Even as she turns to leap out the window, Burr thrusts upward from the floor and the spear point erupts from the other side of the matron of the house's chest in a spray of blood.  The blood droplets seem to hang in the air as though frozen in time, sparkling in the grey light coming in from the window, and then in slow motion they retreat, drawn back into the spear.  

Burr feels a rush of vitality and adrenaline, even as Lady Wachter sputters and gurgles, pink foamy blood emerging from her mouth before she collapses on the floor of her den.  

Ernst stands slack-jawed, then drops to his knees.  "I surrender!"

[We are out of initiative unless anyone plans to attack Ernst.  And Burr can add 2d6 temp HP.]

Even as he nods in grim appreciation of Burr following through, given the servant of Strahd's utter refusal to surrender, Soren is taken aback by the unnatural... hunger with which the strange spear appears to drink the dying Lady Wachter's blood.  Otherwise, he shows no remorse.

He looks around to try to discern from sounds or air movements the location of the invisible flying monster that had attacked Zefla.  If he does find the right general spot, Soren moves his Moonbeam to that location, taking care not to affect any of his companions or Ernst.

Soren Perception to locate invisible flying monster to target with his Moonbeam:  22

"Burr.  I apologize - I underestimated your loyalty to our pack.  I am sorry to have made you do what you clearly did not wish to.  Know that I will back you fully in what you have said you plan, even though I have my concerns (which I will tell you later).  Same with you, not-Father and Zefla."

"For now, we must look through Lady Wachter's corpse for keys or any other possessions we may need to search this house fully.  I do not know the ways of undead and necromancers, but we should burn her body before departing, as we did the druids, to ensure Strahd does not reanimate her."

Soren is reluctant to directly reference Madame Eva's mysterious prophecies any further than he already has in front of Ernst Larnak.

To the cowering spy, he simply observes:  "You were spying on us through the fireplace.  Why?  I know little of city ways, but I was under the impression spies seek to garner information that their masters otherwise could not.  Yet Lady Wachter heard everything we said, so why eavesdrop?  If you truly surrender, answer us that, and tell us everything else you know of Lady Wachter, this house, and her plans and other allies beyond Strahd."

Giles eyes are wide as Burr skillfully impales Lady Wachter with his spear, blood droplets hanging in the air for a moment before her body slumps to the floor.  His jaw hangs open at the sheer unadulterated violence of the moment.  He slowly closes his mouth and then regains his senses when Soren starts to speak.  For a moment or two he merely nods, then he starts to think again.  “Ummm Soren… we are forgetting something.”  he pauses and then turns back to the dining room.  He says “Oh Vilka?  Do be a dear and come in here for a moment, please?  We have need of you darling.  Come in here just a moment.”  He turns to the others and says “Quickly, did any of you see where she went?  Agree with you Soren, we need to search the house, and fast.  And the other thing we forgot.  Dessert!  Which way is the kitchen?”  Giles seems back to himself now, the shock of the moment has passed.  He won’t stop perseverating about the grand dinner that was lost..

Soren, you search around for the invisible creature, but there is no sign of it.  [Creature was up before your initiative and after Lady Wachter's death it dashed away, invisible.]

Giles, there is no response to your calls for Vilka.  The last you saw of her she was fleeing toward the rear of the house.  

"I wasn't spying, I swear.  I was just waiting for you to finish.  She said she would have a job for me, depending on how the dinner went."  He laughs, nervously.  "I guess it didn't go so well, huh?"

"She was looking to depose the Baron.  She always had a grudge, but ever since the Baron's brat messed with her daughter, she's been plotting to take him out.  It isn't hard to find support.  The Baron is bloody mad, as you've surely seen.  This town is itching to be free of his lunacy.  She had followers among the rich and the poor.  Her book club was just a cover for secret meetings.  A full on cult is what it was... Though she seemed to think you lot were going to be the ones to take the Baron down."

He snaps his fingers.  "Oh.  And she keeps her dead husband's corpse upstairs.  Sleeps with it.  Even creepier than it sounds.  It's up there right now, if you don't believe me.  Come to think of it, the lady was a bit bonkers herself.  Maybe it was good you did what you did."  He blinks.  "I mean... of course it was good.  Right heroic of you.  Stuff of legends and all that."

Examining the body of Lady Wachter and the rest of the room, you find a number of interesting and/or valuable items.  On the late matron's person, you find her elegantly carved cane (a spellcasting focus), three gold rings, a single wedding ring with a small green emerald, and an iron ring of keys.  Five keys are of similar appearance, large and made of black iron, and there is a sixth, smaller key made of silver.  The room itself holds a golden goblet from which Ernst had been drinking wine before his party was crashed, a crystal wine decanter, four electrum candelabras, and a bronze urn with frolicking children painted on its sides.

Burr felt the rush go through him but his mind had already moved on, " Its done. Now we need to leave town."

" Wait........her daughter? What's this about?", he said as he looked through the shattered window.

[Burr can still roll 2d6 and add the temp HP.]

"Hmmn?  Oh, yeah.  Lady Wachter's daughter.  Her youngest.  She was betrothed to the Baron's kid but came back from a date with her noodles all scrambled some months back.  They keep her locked up upstairs.  She won't be a problem for you to get rid of.  She can barely walk or talk."  He thinks quietly for a moment.  "Her sons, on the other hand... Nikolai and Karl... they will have something to say about their mother's death.  You'll want to ice them right quick. Luckily, they're off drinking, per usual. It shouldn't be to hard to get the drop on them once they're good and sauced."  He smiles.  "They weren't involved in any of Lady Wachter's funny business.  But the Baron doesn't know that, and he'd probably be happy to see the Wachter line out of his hair once and for all."

11

Burr began climbing back through the window, " All I'm hearing is that the children are blameless and that I need to have a serious talk possibly involving a spearpoint with the Barons son.  You mention butchering helpless children to me again and I will see this spear drink once more this night."

He glanced through the window with a slight grimace then turned to the others, " So what now?"

" Giles, do you have skill to heal an addled mind?"

Giles looks to Burr considering.  “I can heal wounds of the flesh, cuts and injuries, I have learned those arts.  I can heal some other afflictions, if one is blinded or deafened, poisoned or paralyzed.  But wounds of the mind… are much deeper still.  I cannot affect those.  Rest, time, love, and other things can help that, things that we have little of.  And pecan pie.  Pecan pie can go a long way to healing the mind’s ills.”  He turns to Ernst and says “Which way did you say the kitchen was?”  He looks to Soren and Zefla saying “I suspect we should prepare for the Baron and his guards to arrive shortly.  Who wants to search the rest of the house?”

Ernst cowers before Burr's warning.  "Of course.  Sorry... whatever you say."  

"The kitchens?" he says to Father Giles.  "They're over on that side of the house" he answers, pointing toward the eastern side of the first floor.

Giles turns and makes a mock bow to Ernst, saying “Thank you.” curtly, then quickly to Soren and Zefla, pointing at Ernst.  “This one stays here until he can relay his story and what we have been through.  I’m headed to the kitchen.”  Giles walks out of the room and heads that way, quickly scanning each room as he goes.  

Giles, make a perception check.

Perception : 9 (passive perception : 15)

Giles crosses the house and passes again through the entry hall, finding himself in the kitchen.  The kitchen is spotlessly clean and well organized.  A washbasin stands in the northeast corner.  Giles' nose draws him to a tray on the countertop.  There is no pecan pie, but there is a deep dish of what appear to be candied sweet potatoes under a glaze of walnut sauce, hot out of the oven. 

Even as he hovers over the dish, something catches his attention... a sound or perhaps movement from a doorway?

Stepping away from the counter, he finds a slender door in the west wall leads to a small pantry.  Looking inside, it is dark and empty, but for ample stocks of flour, jams, lard and other dry foodstuffs.

Moving to the door in the north wall, he find a storage room.  This room holds crates of old clothing, as well as three barrels of drinking water, two empty wine barrels, and one full wine barrel. The wine barrels are emblazoned with the winery name, the Wizard of Wines, and the wine’s name, Red Dragon Crush.  On either side of the doorway, hide the servant Vilka and the hunch-backed cook.  Both women scream in terror as Giles steps into the room.  Vilka swings a cast iron pan at him, but it is clumsy and more defensive than offensive, and Giles is easily able to sidestep the blow.

Giles reflexively steps back, holding up his hands in a defensive manner, making it clear that he does not wish to harm them.  “Easy, easy!  We mean no harm to you!  I imagine the Lady had you do a great many things that you did not like, easy, just hold on a minute!”  He turns his head to the cook quickly and says, “That was a wonderful gravy!  Could have used a tad more salt, but nonetheless, the best I’ve had… in quite a while.”  He starts twiddling the ends of his fingers and concentrating on the two of them, he says “Now, now, let’s go back in there and have a little bit of those delightful sweet potatoes together, then perhaps you can show me what you had planned for dessert?  Then we can sit down in the dining room and just talk, why don’t you just put down that pot,  okay?  Can you do that for me Vilka?  Anything else I should know about here in the pantry on in the kitchen?  Anything else you have cooked up for us?” He says with a grin… 

Giles uses a second level spell slot to charm both the cook and Vilka, DC 14 Wisdom save needed to avoid.  If successful, he will continue to gently ply them with questions, such as “Where did the Lady’s bookclub meet, Vilka?  Anything else we should know about the house?”  Also… “You didn’t run outside and tell anyone, did you?  You just hid in here in the kitchen, right?”