((+4 guidance to Amelia's insight roll. Oh, also +2 bardic Inspiration from Kess! The in-thread dice roll isn't showing up now, but it was a 12, so total is 18.))

Strahd is genuinely scared, though he's hiding most of it. He wants to make sure Ireena is safe.

"Thank you. Rahadin will meet you at the front gate. He'll go anywhere you tell him, whether it's a name or description." Strahd looks over at the empty bookshelf. He then grabs a book from one of the other shelves. It has a green cover with gold accents. "Whoever has the books, I'll trade you this.... herbology tome for 'The Fairytale Misadventures of Mr. Rabbit'."

“Where did Ireena get her bite marks? The hunter wouldn’t have done it. Did you bite her after the attack?”

Then thinking a moment, Garrick turns away slightly and pulls out a book (not the one he asked for) and magically tinkers with it to give the front of the book the appearance of the requested book.

A static visual effect appears on one of the object’s surfaces. This effect can be a picture, up to 25 words of text, lines and shapes, or a mixture of these elements, as you like.

He then trades the tinkered book with the Herbology book.

Strahd starts flipping through the book as he speaks. "I've bit her twice, both before she arrived at the castle. The more recent third one was from our traitor Anastrasya, who slipped away and tried to attack her."

He quickly realizes that this, in fact, isn't The Fairytale Adventures of Mr. Rabbit. "All I'm asking for is my childhood book back. Is that not a reasonable request?"

Oh, Red. That makes sense, Kessintra supposes, remembering how the consort had been so open about her jealousy.

Seeing the exchange about the book, Kess will subtly move her hands behind her back and cast message on Garrick.

Quote from CameronTheMistical >>

Strahd starts flipping through the book as he speaks. "I've bit her twice, both before she arrived at the castle. The more recent third one was from our traitor Anastrasya, who slipped away and tried to attack her."

He quickly realizes that this, in fact, isn't The Fairytale Adventures of Mr. Rabbit. "All I'm asking for is my childhood book back. Is that not a reasonable request?"

Sheepishly I end the effect and trade him back the childhood book, fearing complete retribution if I try anything else.

Kessintra breathes a sigh of relief. "What does this Van Richten look like?"

"Thank you. Van Richten's an old man, always in a disguise. His sword is hidden in a cane." Strahd walks over to Ireena, whose fear grows as he gets closer. He holds her close and kisses her on the forehead. "I'll see you again soon, my love." He turns into mist and disappears through the floor.

Kessintra visibly relaxes once Strahd has left, crossing her arms as she thinks. "Sword in a cane...I wonder if it was Van Richten I saw on the elevator last night." If so, the man got disturbingly close to finding Ireena and the castle isn't as secure as she'd assumed. "Well, where do you all think we should go? It's probably best not to head directly to the places Eva mentioned since Rahadin will be watching us like a hawk I'm sure."

She will reapply her Ireena disguise to confuse Van Richten if he shows up: 17 w advantage from Deception+2 for proficiency= 19

“Would he care if we went directly to those places? Maybe we could set up an ambush to delay or incapacitate him?”

I wouldn’t mind selling these books to get some starter gold for our journey either.

"I don't know, but I'm sure he'd report it to Strahd either way. Maybe we can go back to Vallaki? Their prices aren't as bad as Barovia. There's the lake to the north of it and the dusk elves live near there too."

“Seems as good a plan as any. Should we sell here and buy there? Or do you think selling there would be better too?”

((Can we buy and sell stuff to someone at the castle?))

Only if you could find someone willing to buy. Most people in the castle don't have the funds.

"I think selling there would be best. I doubt we can convince Strahd to pay for his own books. They had a toy store so maybe there is a book shop too...Oh, he picked out that herb book specifically. Anything interesting in it?"

She will help anyone's investigation check on the book. She's particularly interested in any poisonous herbs that are common in Barovia.

[[ Van Richten? As in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft? Cool! ]]

Chipper takes a look at the book. "Matters of nature aren't usually my expertise, though I did have a leaf collection as a child, but I'll take a look." Chipper takes the book in his foot and leans against the wall to peruse.

Nature: max(6,3) + 5 = 11
//additional +2 if Arcana/Investigation

"Villaki is certainly an option, though with Strahd's agents having taken it over there is that concern they might not be keen on purchasing his items back. But I'd like to take a look for that wizard's tower, so it is on the way to the lakes regardless."

Most of the entries are of mundane plants, but it mentions that a flower named "snake bread" can be grinded into a poisonous powder. It has a stem that curves like a snake's body and a yellow flower.

"'Snake Bread'? Huh. I'll have to pick some if we see any." She hands the book back. Unless anyone has anything else to do here she will head out of the castle to meet Rahadin.

(Sorry, I rolled investigation on the book yesterday but forgot to post, roll is in game log) 

Scanning the book, Garrick tries to find useful plants for Kess. (Investigation 25)

You find that Snake Bread can be found in forests. It seems to be fairly common, but its poison isn't very potent.