The Feast

**The Feast** was an attack on the town of Vallaki by the forces of Count Strahd von Zarovich which occurred in Y735 with the purpose of removing the hallowed nature of the Church of St Andral.

There were between 50 to 100 casualties suffered by the population and the guards of Vallaki, as a team of six vampire spawns tore through the town followed by Strahd appearing and murdering a squad of guards with a single fireball on the steps of the Church.

A single vampire spawn was killed after being taken down by the guards at the eastern gate, and executed by the party of Hallgrimm Mikkenson, Sigismund "the Bold", and Narid Ashplantt.

## Sequence of events

Months prior to the Feast takng place Strahd visited the home and workshop of Henrik, the coffin maker of Vallaki, and coerced him into taking delivery of a number of crates of dirt.

In Y735 the bones of St Andral were stolen from the Church of St Andral, removing the sanctity of the hallowed grounds. Father Lucien enlisted the help of the party of Hallgrimm Mikkenson, Sigismund "the Bold", Narid Ashplantt, and Ireena Kolyana to recover the bones. Only Father Lucien and the altar boy Yester knew the original location of the bones, although it was subsequently determined that Yester had shared this information with the gravedigger, Millivoj.

Millivoj, a young man who still lived at Miss Burlesco's Orphanage, was found unconscious and suffering from some kind of necromantic disease in his bed, having not moved for days and behaving unusually for days before that.

Within the orphanage the party also found the missing child Felix hidden in the attic. It appeared that a cursed locket with a celestial inscription had allowed a demon to posses the child, who had killed his parents in cold blood the week prior, and the demon emerged and attacked the party, ultimately to be defeated. After it was slain Millivoj awoke, however Sigismund's attempts to intimidate him into speaking lead to him leaping from the first storey window and attempting to escape in Vallaki.

In the ensuing chase Sigismund on more than one occasion struck Millivoj in front of witnesses and earned himself a night in the pillories in the aftermath. Narid managed to pursue and approach Millivoj more respectfully and managed to persuade him to talk, determining that Millivoj had been approached by Henrik the coffin-maker, who had offered him 10gp for the bones. Not understanding the bones' significance and desperate for funds for the orphanage, Millivoj obtained their location from Yester and handed them over to Henrik.

When the party arrived at Henrik's it was apparent that all was not well. When they made it inside Henrik was hidden downstairs and he confirmed that the bones were upstairs, but he was vigorously reluctant to go upstairs to retrieve them. He advised that Strahd had paid him a visit and delivered nine crates to be stored upstairs in the property, and forced him to obtain the bones.

As the party made it upstairs Hallgrimm managed to locate the bones and concealed them on his person, however Narid had located the crates and concurrently seeking to find the bones unwittingly released a vampire spawn, who awakened another five from the remaining crates. One of the spawns instructed: *"Get the bones, the feast begins."*

The party fought in vain against the vampire spawns, unable to contain them or match them in battle, and the spawns spilled out into the street of Vallaki, killing many innocent townsfolk and valiant guards alike. As Hallgrimm bore down on the Church of St Andral with the bones in his possession he was cut off by Strahd himself riding a flying black stallion of fire, who obliterated a squad of guards with a single fireball on the steps of the church. Hallgrimm fell to his knees and handed over the bones, knowing all resistance to be futile.

Narid's attempts to harm Strahd with his arrows were largely laughed off by the vampire. Narid did obtain a reaction however when he taunted Strahd using Ireena's name, with Strahd lifting him from the ground by his throat and rebuking him with a vociferous tirade, before regaining his composure and charming Narid for his own amusement.

From interrogating a captured vampire spawn after the Feast, the party were able to determine that Strahd had given them instruction to "create chaos".