M2S20

## Children of Mother Night

The ruined tower on Lake Baratok, the secret headquarters of the conspiracy against Strahd.

## Continuity

### Next session

Session 21

“
*-What's the point of those fangs if you don't come down and use them?!*
”
— Thalia taunts the Werewolves.
**Children of Mother Night** was the 20th session of the Strahdborne campaign. In this session, the party learned more of their fate in Barovia, circled the waters near lake Baratok, and attacked a den of werewolves believed to possess the blade of the sun.

## Summary

### The Tower at Mount Baratok

Rudolph van Richten, legendary though elderly vampire hunter, has turned a ruined tower into the covert headquarters of the conspiracy against Strahd. The party enters talks with Richten, Esmeralda, and Kasimir Vellikov to discuss their shared fate and destiny.

Richten and Esmeralda, after years of learning, are well versed in the lore of the land. As such, they help the party discern crucial information of the mysterious and cryptic card reading of Madam Eva: nearly all of the party acquires a lead or other for their own reading or the general one.

Esmeralda departs to Castle Ravenloft to identify the places of interest before the wedding, so that the party has advance knowledge of where to look. Richten and Kasimir stay at the tower, discussing "Argynvost." The party goes to the nearby wolf den to see if it does indeed contain the blade of light.

## The Shores of Lake Baratok

The party follows the road westward and northward around Lake Baratok. It seems the wolves keep to the edge of the lake rather than the woods, which is most unusual -- surely, there is something afeared in the Svalich forests.

The party soon finds the den. The battle begins in short order, with Lo-thak excelling at using powerful magic to thin out the wolven horde, and the rest of the party holding the line while the nebulous and deadly miasma took its effect.

As the party entered deeper into the caves, though, Kirill Stoyanovich, leader of the pack, and a notorious werewolf, arrived with his hunting party at the entrance to the cave system.

## Quests

### New

* **The Blade of Light (Everyone):** Wield the sunlight blade in the den of wolves near the moonlit lake. Find the blade in the wolves' den.

### Ongoing

* **Treasures of Yore (Everyone):** Recover the other two gems of the Wizard of Wines.
* **Under New Management (Everyone):** Investigate the coven of hags at Old Bonegrinder mill.

### The Deck of Fate

* **The Fount of Knowledge (Everyone):** Discover the source of knowledge below the guardian of a garden.
* **The Symbol of Hope (Everyone):** Claim the holy symbol by finding the tomb of a great wizard with a famous staff. Possibly located in Castle Ravenloft.
* **The Shadow of Barovia (Everyone):** Defeat Strahd. Optional: Suplex Strahd.
* **The Moon (Aellun):** Find the place filled with bones, for the clues you seek lie there.
* **The Headsman (Gromash):** Find the fortress within the fortress, which contains the treasure you seek.
* **The Phantom (Lo-thak):** Find the location of the one who gave birth to evil, for she is the key to your goals.
* **The Balance (Thalia):** Discover the whereabouts of Lautrec and Gascarde.

## Reflections

* **Aellun:** "Van Richten is properly cautious, and yet, maybe a bit ironically, the means of his protection has only raised a different concern to me, one I wish I could better formulate to him. If his tower cannot be seen by Strahd, would that not make it, if anything, more glaring to the dark one in its absence? We know the vampire watches us and can see us in the surrounding countryside. Wouldn't our disappearance alert him, pinpointing the location to him? Even if this protection did not allow him to enter, what prevents the vampire from waiting at its boundary to ambush us, effectively sealing us inside? For that matter, seeing how we have re-established the protections about Vallaki, what kept him from striking out at us for defying him the moment we left the town? It is a matter, truly, that concerns me going forward with any plan we'd have formulated. I can only assume that Strahd still does not take us to be a threat, and thus allows these actions because they do not yet concern him. It may even be that our measures of defiance still amuse him. However, as we continue to reach for locations he cannot, and strike out at places where lay powerful items he knows may counter him - as at this werewolf's den - we risk earning his genuine ire, and though we are far stronger than we were only weeks ago, I still do not fancy our chances were he to take us seriously. Truly, his nonchalance is so puzzling, I am starting to wonder if I have completely misinterpreted his motives, or if this indeed is his own will. Does this curse we have heard so much and yet so little of bind his hands so that he can rarely act against us, or... is he perhaps curious, even hopeful, that we can challenge or undo him?"
* Thalia: "I think I lost count of how many wolves we've fought here - a few dozen ago, maybe? Guess this explains how there are enough in Barovia to have given poor Szoldov and Yevgeni a living. No telling how deep this cave is, but I'm surprised there weren't more actual werewolves in here - perhaps most of them were out on the hunt with their leader? Fortunately we have grown powerful enough that these dogs are no threat. I certainly won't make the mistake of underestimating Lo-Thak again - so far he's been rather quiet, fighting from the sidelines despite his size, but I think he just killed more foes with that single spell than any of the rest of us have our entire time in Barovia. Hopefully he can repeat the feat, as if what Urvin said is true we will soon be plunging into a far more dangerous lair - Strahd's own. Gascarde you fool, what were you thinking? I guess I shouldn't be surprised such a corrupt man found his way to Strahd's doorstep. Did he wind up a corpse, or has he somehow survived by bending the knee to von Zarovich? I can only image how Lautrec will react in the latter case..."
* Arbrek: “The new gear is performing admirably. Just as I expected. Nothing like a well made blade to slice through a werewolf or some armor to protect against its claws. I don’t know why we didn’t go ahead with the frontal assault on this den. The advanced and tactical plan seemed to do nothing more than prolong the fight. Perhaps simple plans will do for the future. Now about this vampire killing sword. I wonder how it was made and if its properties can be replicated. Hopefully it hasn’t lost some of its potency with the shoddy maintenance these werewolves would have been performing over the years.”
* Gromash: "The tactical approach did not work so there was only one thing to do left RAGE! I had one mission hold the horde of wolfs back keeping the backline safe, but even when fighting all out with all my senses focused on not letting any foes pass trough me, the deadly poison cloud posed to much of a threat for me to ignore so i took a step back, a few seconds later the howling stopped and the horde of wolves that i once saw coming my way was decimated. Time to loot we taught little did we knew the howling was just beginning and a deadly battle is about to start. TIME TO RAGE AGAIN!!"
* **Character name:** Reflection.

## Appendix

Strahdborne Sessions
**Chapter 1: The Gates of Barovia**
 Session 1 · Session 2 · Session 3 · Session 4 · Session 5 · Session 6

 **Chapter 2: The Fall of Vallaki**
 Session 7 · Session 8 · Session 9 · Session 10 · Session 11 · Session 12 · Session 13 · Session 14 · Session 15 · Session 16 · Session 17 · Session 18 · Session 19 ·

 **Chapter 3: The Muster at Krezk**
 **Session 20** · Session 21 · Session 22 · Session 23 · Session 24 · Session 25 · Session 26 · Session 27 ·