M2S12

## A Shallow Festival

The party attends the dour Blazing Sun Festival and meets a new ally.

“
*tbd*
”

**A Shallow Festival** was the 12th session of the Strahdborne campaign. In this session, the party participated in the Blazing Sun Festival and met Dr. Rudolph van Richten.

## Summary

The party attends the Blazing Sun Festival. As expected, the event is dour and dull, despite the great efforts of Baron Vargas Vallakovich to lift everybody's spirits. However, those that fail to follow the "ALL WILL BE WELL!" directive are viciously and publicly punished.

The festival ends abruptly, as an armored saber tooth tiger begins prowling the streets, hot on the hunt. The identity of his master, Rictavio, is betrayed by his striped friend, leading the party to identify the man as none other than legendary vampire hunter Rudolph van Richten, Ph.D.

Van Richten is a hard and stern man. Both he and his pet are deeply racist, with a strong aversion to the Vistani. Van Richten, though old, employs a number of magitech devices that become visible when he drops his disguise as Rictavio. Van Richten is intent on defeating Strahd and cleansing the land of his evil.

To this end, he proposes an alliance with the party. His identity compromised, he will leave town and set up camp towards the lakes in the north, while continuing his search for rumors of his student, Esmeralda D'Avenir, along with the whereabouts of the Mad Mage, Augustus von Mordenkainen. Meanwhile, the party will continue to muster strength, and locating the artifacts that will be key to their victory over the Devil, Strahd.

As the party returns to Blue Water Inn, you are surprised to receive an invitation from Lady Fiona Wachter for tea and biscuits at the Wachterhaus. An influential noblewoman in these parts, she could prove a decisive ally in the near future.

## Quests

### Ongoing

* **Treasures of Yore (Everyone):** Recover the other two gems of the Wizard of Wines.
* **The Devil is in the Details (Everyone):** Investigate the strange Toy-Maker.
* **With a Little Luck (Everyone):** Find Arabelle.
* **A Throw for the Ages (Everyone):** Suplex Strahd.
* **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.
* **The Blade of Light (Everyone):** Wield the sunlight blade in the den of wolves near the moonlit lake.
* **The Shadow of Barovia (Everyone):** Defeat 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 that which you seek.

### Completed

* **Pyromaniacal (Everyone):** Attend the Blazing Sun Festival.
* **The Ally of Righteousness (Everyone):** Identify your pivotal ally, the man in disguise.

## 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 ·