THE HALL OF FAITH - K14

This grand hall is choked with dust and stretches into darkness ahead. Webs hang from the arched ceiling like drapes, and life-sized statues of knights line the hallway on both sides, their eyes seeming to watch you. Double doors stand at both ends of the hall.

Winter kept herself relatively close to the others while they transverse the castle with her crossbow in hand in case of any surprises. Her look hardens at the sight of the dead villagers, hoping that they wouldn’t end up in the same death bed. “Onwards,” Would be all she mutters as she keeps her eyes and ears peeled for any possible ambushes.

(using my hot Passive Perception of 18 here)

"Mn. We keep quiet. Hope the music drowns out our steps for a time." He adds, leading the way past the statues. The eeriness of which were enough for even Orilo's grip tightened on Blood Bane's hilt. But not enough to draw blood, yet. He trusts Winter the others to give a warning if they should attack, so focused his attention more on the floor panels ahead and the ceiling above going forward. And again, he opens about midway through to divine senses once more. 

Perception: 12.

CHAPEL - K15

Oreo, again, you're detecting undead signs below. Dim, colored light filters through tall, broken, and boarded-up windows of stained glass, illuminating the ancient chapel of Ravenloft. A few bats flutter about near the top of the ninety-foot-high domed ceiling. A balcony runs the length of the west wall, fifty feet above the floor. In the center of the balcony, two dark shapes are slumped in tall chairs.

Benches coated with centuries of dust lie about the floor in jumbled disarray. Beyond this debris, lit by a piercing shaft of light, an altar stands upon a stone platform. The sides of the altar are carved with bas-reliefs of angelic figures entwined with grape vines. A cloaked figure is draped over the altar, and a black mace lies on the floor near its feet.

5

The cloaked figure looks to be a human cleric. He's not in very good shape at all, much like the villagers.

From here, on the west wall, you can see K16.

NORTH CHAPEL ACCESS - K16

This arched room connects a vast chamber to the east and a staircase that rises to the west. Alcoves in the north and south walls hold eight-foot-tall sculptures of helmed knights with muscular builds. Black shadows fall across their faces.

14

Which leads to K23.

SERVANTS ENTRANCE - K23

Dim light filters in through a dust-caked window in the east wall. A door next to the window leads to the castle’s northeast courtyard.Everything in this room is coated with dust, including a large, heavy table in the center of the floor. A thick book lies open on a desk, with an inkwell and a quill next to it. There is a broken door in the north wall, and a staircase in the south wall plunges into darkness. On each side of the staircase, a skeletal figure draped in gleaming chain mail stands sagging at attention, holding a rusty halberd.

11

The ancient book is weathered and brittle, but the ink in the well is fresh. At the top of each page is scribed the message “Please register for your own convenience and that of your next of kin.” The book is more than half-filled with names, all of them illegible.

SERVANTS HALL - K62

This hall stands in deadly silence. Heavy beams support a sagging, ten-foot-high ceiling. Fog clings to the floor, obscuring everything that lies less than three feet above it.

2

Leo whispers, "We have all been very, very lucky so far. How strange. It's almost as if he's expecting us.."

"He probably is expecting us, since we've brought back one of his enemies and have been killing all of his servants. Is the sword much further from here?"

Leo points towards K67 and starts shivering in fear.

Anborn is about to ask Leo if K67 is the room where he died, but stops himself from doing so. He looks ready to piss himself. Better off not bringing up bad memories, especially since I'm in the splash zone. Instead he lets someone else deal with the quivering man and turns to Oreo. "I'm assuming that your senses pick up some evil presence in that room, since it would be way too easy for us to just stroll in there and take the sword."

Elya places a hand on Leo's shoulder, "There's no need to be afraid. We will deal with this monster."

Hefting her maul, she looks to Orilo, "Whenever you're ready."

Seeing how scared Leo is, Corrin braces himself for the worst and studiously watches the shadows as the party begins moving. “Leo is right. It’s too quiet. We’re like flies to the spider.”

Perception: 13

"Down... always down..." Orilo had muttered at first as if in a daze. If it hasn't been more than ten minutes, he confirms Leo's words then frowns and looks to the doors leading up to it. "... Easy is a word. Another would of the blight taunting prey... Those corpses could've been moved at any time by other servants. And the mace-..." Orilo shakes his head one last time, and then makes his way to and through K67. Soon as the door is opened, he opens divine senses one last time for any fiend or undead lurking beyond it. 

THE HALL OF BONES - K67

Dark stains cover the floor of this area. Large oak tables, scarred and beaten, lay scattered like toys about the room, their wood crushed and splintered. Replacing them are furnishings made entirely of human bones.

The walls and the twenty-foot-high vaulted ceiling are a sickly yellow color, not because of faded or timeworn plaster but because they are adorned with bones and skulls arranged in a morbidly decorative fashion, giving the room a cathedral-like quality. Four enormous mounds of bones occupy the corners of this ossuary, and garlands of skulls extend from these mounds to a chandelier of bones that hangs from the ceiling above a long table constructed of bones in the center of the room. Ten chairs made of bones and festooned with decorative skulls surround the table, resting atop which is an ornate, bowl-shaped vessel made of yet more bones.

The doors to the north and south are sheathed in bone, but the steel-banded double doors in the center of the east wall are not. On the north wall is mounted the skull of a dragon. Below the skull of the dragon is a massive bone cabinet made of huge rib bones.

A powerful, handsome vampire is sitting at the far end of the north table, sitting comfortably, holding the skull of a long-dead foe. Behind him are three vampire spawn, giving him counsel. They look at you all hungrily. Oreo, you are only detecting, so far, Strahd, and his three advisors.

"I have been expecting you." Strahd says, without getting up.

Leo screams in pure terror.

Anborn, with no fear, looks at Strahd paying no heed to Leo's cries. "You're a shit host, you know that? You didn't even get the house prettied up for guests."

Corrin steps away from Leo as the screams echo throughout the chamber. He nervously eyes his companions. “What was the plan again?”

"An impressive trick. But, in due time." Strahd says calmly. He slowly gestures to the chairs. "First, won't you sit down?"

Feral growling can be heard coming down the hall you just walked down.

"I must admit, you're acting friendlier than I expected. What are you trying to pull? Why aren't you trying to make brunch out of us? You must know what it is that we're searching for in here and what I plan on doing with it." Anborn says, remaining precisely where he is and not breaking eye contact with the vampire, as he tries to gauge his intent.

Insight: 24

"Killing time, Strahd? I have to say, I'm disappointed. I was really hoping that you'd wine and dine us before sending out hellbeasts to kill us. Get ready everyone, something's coming down the hall."

8 large wolves begin charging into the room. Strahd and his undead advisors remain where they are.

"Nice dogs. But I prefer cats, if I'm being honest." Anborn quipped, oblivious to the exact degree of how true that statement was. He snaps his fingers and casts Spirit Guardians and at that moment naughty celestial nuns appear and start whacking the dogs with paddles for 12 points of Radiant Damage. The wolves can attempt to make a DC14 Wisdom Save for half.

Winter kept her face stoic in the presence of Strahd, keeping her crossbow at the ready in case he tried to strike at any of them, but with the growling coming from behind them, the rogue hissed in annoyance. "Why does it always have to be ******* dogs?" She seethes, managing to keep her aim on the vampire while hoping Anborn's... Guardians... Could keep the dogs somewhat at bay.

Initiative(?): 28