M2S21

## The Blade of Light

The party uncovers the majestic Sun Sword, the blade of legend!

“
*-WHO's NOT the warrior NOW!!!*
”
— The Gromash smash, near one-shots Kiril.
**The Blade of Light** was the 21st session of the Strahdborne campaign. In this session, the party utterly defeated the werewolf den, freed their prisoners, became filthy rich, and retrieved the majestic Sun Sword.

## Summary

### Kiril's Return

Even though they had left but a scant few hours ago, Kiril and party returned with a substantial feast in hand, their hunt a resounding success. They arrived to find their entire pack slaughtered by the party, and frenziedly charged into the fray.

Though at first it seemed the werewolves would overpower the party through brute force, it quickly became obvious that they had overextended in this gambit: Gromash held his ground, and Kiril and his men were pinned down and cut down by the party.

Their leader dead, the remaining werewolves' morale dropped, and they tried to flee. Two ran deeper into the cave, but were surrounded and killed, while two ran back to the cave entrance, where the surprising appearance of Strahd puts an end to their lives.

### A Vampire's Errands

Lo, it is Strahd himself at the entrance to the den! He does not seem to be at all aware that the Sun Sword might be here, as he does not even mention the blade or attempt to stop the party.

Strahd describes that, although he is otherwise preoccupied with his upcoming wedding, he wished to briefly visit the party to see how they were doing. He complains about their easy victory over the werewolves, describing it as "amusing" though not "entertaining." He indicates that the people abducted by Vallaki will make for fine "dining" at the wedding, and suggests that he has found and captured Esmeralda, who attempted to infiltrate the castle.

### The Shadow of Mother Night

The party delves deeper into the caverns, finding scattered groups of werewolf civilians. These include Zuleika, and a large number of captive children. It seems that the werewolves kidnapped them to transform them into more of their own. Thankfully, the party dispels the curse protecting the werewolf horde (thanks to Aellun and sunlight) and thus the party does not only become monstrously rich, but they also acquire the Sun Sword.

As Aellun lifts the blade, a peal of sunlight explodes in the room and it quickly becomes clear that this is an artifact of great power. As he wields it, the blade communicates to the old elf via emotions, as he feels a deep and burning desire to kill Strahd.

## Quests

### New

* **The Survivors (Everyone):** Escort Zuleika and the werewolf children prisoners to safety in Krezk.

### 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.

### Completed

* **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. The blade has been acquired!

## Quotes

Kirril: "Men, leave the hunt on the ground. Tonight, we feast on manflesh!"

(Wolf pokes nose into sickening radiance, proceeds to smoke green and crumble where he stands)

Kiril will now cough, cough cough and hack.

Aellun: "Is this how your leader treats you, as chew toys? A leader is meant to look out for his own!" Werewolf: "I will die for my leader, with joy!" Aellun: "That can be arranged, and I assure you the joy will be mine!"

(After Arbrek hits a werewolf so hard the one next to it goes down in sympathy) Arbrek: "Who knew they were such an empathetic people?"

Lo-Thak: "Wait, you're alive? Razortooth, sic'em!"

(About to cast Remove Curse on the werewolf children) Arbrek: "Alright kids, who wants some skooma?" Thalia: "I DIDN'T TELL YOU ABOUT THE SKOOMA!" (She did now)

Aellun: "I'm not a dwarf but I'm digging a hole!"

## Reflections

* **Character name:** Reflection.
* Thalia: "Well, that's this mangy lot dealt with. Considering our usual luck, number of werewolves, and the general tactlessness of our approach I'm surprised things turned out as well as they did. Strahd nearly gave me a heart attack when he arrived and vanished a second time - I was certain he was there to sweep up the Sun Blade, but it was still there under the watch of Mother Night. Did Strahd not know of it, or much more worryingly, does he not consider the blade a threat? I suppose we'll find out soon if we take up his invitation to the wedding. How fitting that will be when Aellun, the soldier Strahd abandoned, brings out the sword that will kill him? On a much more pressing note, I have never dabbled much in the curative arts, but I must speak with Arbrek more about some of those spells. If he can cure werewolves of their lycanthropy - a feat I'd believed impossible - could the same work with vampires? I doubt it would work on Strahd, but if we could restore Lautrec..."

## 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 ·