"The Abbey of Doctor Moreau"

> *"I am the Ancient. I am the Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past. I was the warrior, I was good and just. I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god, but the war years and the killing years wore down my soul as the wind wears stone into sand." - The Beginning of the Tome of Strahd.*
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## "The Abbey of Doctor Moreau"

### Campaign

The Band of Fortune and the Curse of Strahd

### Players

Deirdre
Levi
Lily
Willow

"The Abbey of Doctor Moreau" was the tenth session of The Band of Fortune and the Curse of Strahd, and the first appearance of Ezmeralda D'Avenir.

## Synopsis

The Band of Fortune, after their days of rest, decide to travel to the Abbey in Krezk. Reevis, however, has a terrifying experience with Ebondeath, who scolds him for following Cordi's orders. Reevis promises to never listen to her again, and Ebondeath relents, but tells Reevis to perform a ritual with food every night, as well as turning his left eye into a cloudy purple orb. After recovering from the shock mentally, the group gets together, and Lucy scouts the Abbey with her owl, Patti. She sees animal-people that appear to be sewn together, and the group steel themselves for whatever horrors may exist there. As they travel there, they encounter a baby being born, and learn that it is soulless, which is a common occurrence with babies born in Barovia.

As the group ascends up to the Abbey, they are met by Otto and Zygfrek Belview, who let them in to talk to the Abbot. They eventually find the Abbot teaching a stitched-together woman with red hair how to dance, and the Abbot introduces himself and her; her name is Vasilka, and he created her for Strahd based off of the image of his lost love. He also explains that he made the Belviews what they are because they asked him to, as well as being Strahd von Zarovich's sole confidant. He claims that Strahd hates being trapped in Barovia, so he is making Strahd a bride to attempt to end his curse, saying that everything he does is in the Morning Lord's name. He even has the Tome of Strahd, hidden behind a bronze sun, which contains Strahd's background. He gives the group the tome, and tells them about one of his other visitors, Ezmeralda D'Avenir. The group reads the tome, and learns of Strahd's past; he was madly in love with his brother Sergei's fiancé Tatyana, and made a deal with Death to have her. He killed Sergei and drank his blood, becoming a Vampire. Tatyana, when she learned, threw herself off of the castle's rafters in her wedding dress. Strahd continues to search for her, claiming she is reborn every few dozen years. After reading the tome, Lucy and Ireena realize that Ireena is Tatyana's latest incarnation, and Lucy attempts to calm an utterly shocked and terrified Ireena.

Mistil decides to search for Ezmeralda, who is his half-sister, and the two eventually have a tearful reunion. He brings Ezmeralda to the rest of the group, and she asks to accompany them, which they accept. The group decides to leave the Abbey and head to Argynvostholt, and area which Nallia saw in her dreams, and supposedly contains her fated ally. The session ends with the group, now including Ezmeralda, traveling to the manor.

## Important Characters

* Cordyceps of the Green
* Lucy Gremory
* Mistil D'Avenir
* Reevis Silverfang
* Ebondeath
* Ireena Kolyanna
* Ezmeralda D'Avenir (introduced)
* The Abbot (introduced)
* Otto Belview (introduced)
* Zygfrek Belview (introduced)
* Vasilka (introduced)