Quote from o_Merlin_o >>

Imryll is standing guard at the steps leading up and out of the catacombs. After spending one lovely afternoon inside a womb, she has no plans of spending another. Feeling she can best serve the group by keeping watch over the entrance to the catacombs, she’s hiding in the shadows with her cloak wrapped tightly around her, shivering. Not from the cold. 

Alright, so three athletic saves?

Get up there: 27

Lift!:  16

Grab. That. Sword:  27

Grishkar stands at the base of the stairs, just before the curtain of light. At Stella's glance, he meets her gaze with grim apathy, "It is good to be wary, child, especially in a place like this. Everyone believes my servants to be parlour tricks, simple puppets of a madman," the wizard strides into the room, his mute twins at heel, "I am a servant of a higher power and these are my offerings to his glory. Given time, I would raise ten score like them and usher in my Master's reign over this land, Strahd be damned." The last words hang like a stab in the air, a challenge to the master of this place to meet this contender in Undeath.

(Are the shadows' placements uniform person-to-person? For instance, is everyone's shadow direct behind them?)

(EDIT: Just realized that it's very good to have two extra sets of hands in this room >:) )

The sunsword is a longsword. Once you touch it, you are immediately filled with visions of Strahds brother, Sergei von Zarovich, weilding it. You see it in it's original form - a platinum hilt and guard, and a thin crystal blade as strong as steel. You see Strahd in vampire form, and a wizard named Khazan - destroying the sword - they remove the blade from the hilt, and a horrible scream eminates from the sword, as if it's suffering massive trauma. You see Khazan's apprentice stealing the hilt of the sword, in pity and sorrow. You see Khazan catching up with his apprentice, and brutally murdering him in the Svalich Woods - and the hilt was lost. You see Khazan lying to Strahd that the weapon was destroyed.

It's sentient. The sword is transmitting emotions to you. Right now, it's joy. You can sense the swords personality. You can feel that it wants to destroy Strahd, it yearns for it. Not so much to free Barovia from such an evil - but also for...revenge for the loss of it's crystal blade. The blade right now is like a thick tendril of the sun itself. It glows with a brightness to rival the necklace Briella has. 

Stowing her glaive, she hefts the sword, “Oh... oh ho ho. I get it buddy. You and I are gonna get along swimmingly. Little weird that you’re a living sword, but what do you say we do some dancing?”

 (How exactly does one stow a glaive? I picture it like saying, "Let me just sheath my cavalry lance really quick.")

OOC: I like to imagine she wears it on her back, maybe it’s collapsable, maybe it’s like Mangaguard staves.

As you leave the room, the shadows rotate as you move. You are safe from the tomb of Strahds parents. You have found the last and final item mentioned by Madam Eva. 

You gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this weapon, which deals radiant damage instead of slashing damage. When you hit an undead with it, that target takes an extra 1d8 radiant damage.

The sword's luminous blade emits bright light in a 15-foot radius and dim light for an additional 15 feet. The light is sunlight. While the blade persists, you can use an action to expand or reduce its radius of bright and dim light by 5 feet each, to a maximum of 30 feet each or a minimum of 10 feet each.

Proficiency with a longsword allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.

You all go back into the catacombs. You notice that the door you came from has magically sealed. Time to find an alternate route back upstairs. Onward you all go.

Martha is swinging it around like a lightsaber, spinning it, getting comfortable.

FALSE CHANTERELLE

You walk away from the catacombs into a series of dusty, ancient rooms. The further you walk deeper into the lower levels of the castle, the more and more ancient the area becomes, as if Castle Ravenloft was built on top of some millennium old structure from beyond space and time.

You walk down a hallway, you see an enormous painting. Truly enormous. Views on art change, but opinions of this particular painting never do. It is called the False Chanterelle. In every age these qualities hold: valuable, shamefully perverse, mildly significant, and not very good. It is a painting of a naked woman in chains, her back facing you. From what you can see, she is beautiful. Shockingly, she whimpers.

She claims to be a slave of Strahd. You wonder how you know this, because she did not speak.

Imryll History check: 17

Has she ever heard of the False Chanterelle?  Does she know anything about this supposed slave of Strahd?  Is it a trick/trap?

The woman in the picture is Ashen Chanterelle. Perhaps once a lover of Strahd? You have never heard of the painting before.

Stella is drawn to the painting. It's beautiful. She's beautiful. You can't help but feel sorry for Chanterelle.

ENCOUNTER: 14 - NO ENCOUNTER.

You only hear the occasional groan and growl coming from the many halls.

Imryll to the group: "This castle appears to be alive, and vibrating with evil energy.  Watch your backs!  These walls have eyes and ears."

As the group walks through the castle, Imryll will five-finger discount various expensive looking items, and toss them in her Bag of Holding. A rogue's gotta do what a rogue's gotta do!

Grishkar mumbles in frustration at leaving a hall with so many bodies lying dormant...

Bors  walks up to the painting, he pulls a dagger along the canvas trying to "cut" the chains in the painting.

Briella is going to investigate the painting, Briarfang begins sniffing it around the room looking for anything strange.

Briella Investigation:2

(Keen hearing and Smell) Briarfang Perception: 21

Kia is going to tap her foot impatiently. "Let us find Strahd and Ireena."

Bors, something strange happens as your dagger point touches the painting. You are instantly teleported to what appears to be a very tight prison "room", bound and naked by your wrists to the wall. The walls are dirty, but the room itself is in shades of orange and red. Perfectly square. No doors. Just like the picture you were just looking at. Outside of the "paintings" field of view, you can see piles of torture devices, very old weapons and armor, including your belongings - off in various corners and piles in this new "room". On the wall is an enormous painting of a familiar group of adventurers - just out of your reach, painted in twisted, horrible reflections of what you remember. There is no noise you can disceren at all.

In place of Bors is Ashen Chanterelle. She slumps to the floor, wet, naked, disheveled, and convulses - finally, after so long, freed from the prison of the painting.