OOC: Can I check and see if shes being controlled by some kind of magic. Would it be Arcana check? Arcana:12

"Leaving so soon, Strahd. Here I thought it was quite rude for the host to leave in the middle of dinner. I was hoping to ask you a few questions."

Edit: Both Martha and Briella call out Strahd on his terrible manners.

OOC: Boom

Bors  does not eat or drink anything on the table.

Imryll, as a subtle jab against Strahd, sits to Bors’ left, a place of honor, denoting that she places MUCH more honor in Bors’ rule than Strahds.

OOC: Etiquette suggests that the seating of honor starts to the hosts sides, and then radiating away from the host by level of status. Imryll is implying that the honor resides within Bors, and surely not Strahd. 

Ireena is having a crisis of identities. 

"No, it's rude to kill my werewolves, drow. Now, silence, one of your more beautiful and refined companions would like to speak." He puts Ireena's hand down, and as he walks over to Briella, she can't seem to look away. "Go ahead and ask your insignificant questions, Briella."

OOC: I didn’t actually kill any werewolves. Everyone else did, I just defended myself, but that’s aside from the point 

He speaking generally.

Kia goes quickly around the table to Ireena whichever way Strahd is not going, so as not to run into him, and slaps her across the face (no claws). “This is the creature murdered your father, Ireena, and countless others! This is a creature so vile that in your former life you killed yourself rather than live with it! This is not a man, but a thing, a gibbering vessel for some evil power, a puppet given enough string it thinks it commands itself.”

Grishkar steps forward with lackies in tow. Though his form is courtly, everything reads as terribly rigid and rehearsed, "My Lord Strahd, my Master Nerull, God of Dead and Undeath, sends his regards. I must commend you on the works you have set in place within your realm." For a moment, Grishkar considers Strahd's offer, then reconsiders the potential of entrapment.

Three things happen..

Ireena looks at you as you speak, reality slowly sinking in, barely feeling the slap. A fog lifting from her eyes. It takes her a moment, but she looks at you with a glimmer of hope, of acknowledgement, and agreement.

Strahd doesn't like you slapping his object of desire, and before you can think he is next to you, his hands around your throat - the strength of his grip startles you, and you react instinctively by trying to claw his hands off of you. You feel yourself about to pass out in moments.

"DO NOT TOUCH HER." He commands. "SHE IS MINE." He grabs Ireena by the arm, and embraces her, throwing you aside like a rag doll. She resist for a moment, but before you can react, Strahd and Ireena are gone in an explosion of shadow and blood.

"You will NOT leave this place.." His voice echoes in the castle. As they both vanish, a fierce bone-chilling wind rises up and roars through the hall, putting out all of the torches in the area. You hear ancient hinges and the solid thud of many heavy doors slamming shut. one after another, into the distance. You hear the massive outdoor portcullis slam closed, and the drawbridge noisily retracts.

STELLA burps, putting her gauntlets back on again.

OOC: I do? Curse that bubbly!

Oh for GODS sake...I thought I told someone to shoot me.

Feexed.

"Well, THAT went well!"

OOC: Are we now sitting in pure darkness, with all the torches having gone out?  Some of us non Elves can't see in the dark!

Its completely dark now. Very creepy and unsettling. Ezmerelda and Stella are especially spooked at the loss of their companion.

Martha clicks her fingers, activating the Light cantrip, and a small angel-shaped Light appears. “Well, let’s go get that sword, then we take down Strahd.”

HALL OF FAITH

You open the doors, leave the dining room, and head down the next room in the castle. The 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.

There is a double door at the end of the hall. Above the doors leading into the next room hangs a symbol of beaten bronze that looks like a rising or setting sun.

RANDOM ENCOUNTER: 18 - AN ENCOUNTER! ROLLING WHICH: 1, 1

(Lucky. This encounter, had you not met Ezmerelda, would have BEEN finding Ezmerelda. Seeing that she is with you all, the adventure continues.)

“You know. I feel like we just dodged a bullet right now... don’t know why.”

CHAPEL

As you open the doors to the Chapel, 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 90 foot high domed ceiling. A balcony runs the length of the west wall, 50 feet above the floor. In the center of the balcony, two dark shapes are slumped in tall chairs. 

Benches coated with centuries of dusty lie about the floor in jumbled disarray. Beyond the 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. The light from above falls directly on a silver statuette. A cloaked figure is draped over the altar, and a black mace lies on the floor near its feet.

RANDOM ENCOUNTER: 17 - ANOTHER ENCOUNTER! 10, 5, quantity: 3

Five vampire spawn with pale flesh scuttle across the ceiling like spiders, their red eyes glowing in the dark. As they draw near, their cracked and bloodstained lips open wide, revealing sharp fangs. You recognize three of them as the vampire spawn that got away back in the town of Vallaki. 

"Fools! This time we finish them! I don't want to be punished AGAIN!" Zaedra hisses. 

Initiative in case you wanna fight:

 Zaedra(57)21, Jhezryn(56)20, Taevia(48)16, Spawn1(25)7, Spawn2(20)22

“Oh come on! We just dealt with you guys! Ezmerelda, how close are we? I wanna have something to look forward to while we handle these things. We won’t waste our charges here.” Martha rages and fires two bolts at the two familar vampires, Attack 1: 21 Damage: 3 piercing damage + 7 radiant damage. Attack 2: 18 Damage: 6 piercing damage

OOC: Oh that was sort of a snap attack on my part, but I’ll roll Initiative in case I need to wait, 21

Just realized I cant actually fire twice in one turn, cause Loading. Only the first shot is fired.

"Finish us? When last we met it was you who fled the field! Why would this time be different?" Initiative: :8)