Castle Ravenloft

**Castle Ravenloft** is a location in the land of Barovia, within the *Forgotten Realms Campaign* of Nat19. It was the home of Barovia's ruler, Strahd von Zarovich, as well as many of his subordinates.

## Role in Plot

Strahd von Zarovich invited the Curse of Strahd Party to dinner at Castle Ravenloft not too long after they arrived in Barovia.

This invitation was open-ended, but as the party gathered tools with which to kill Strahd, the vampire lord's patience grew thin. One night, as they were resting at the Tser Pool Encampment, Strahd sent Griff and Rahadin to kidnap Jolyne and take her to the castle. While they failed to bring Jolyne, Graiar came willingly.

Upon arriving to the castle, Griff escorted Graiar to a guest chamber where they were met with Escher, who was having an "episode" due to Strahd's neglect of him. Once left alone, Graiar snuck out of his chambers through a secret door in the closet. He eventually found his way to the basement, where he met a member of the Belview family, a talking sword he named Nightfall, and a prisoner named Emil Toranescu whom he released from the dungeons.

Graiar and Emil crept through the halls and eventually found a room with a large brazier inscribed with vague descriptions of places. It was there that Griff ambushed them, knocking Emil out and revealing he was a werewolf from the pack the Curse of Strahd Party had fought before. Graiar guessed that the brazier in the room was used to teleport around Barovia, based on a conversation he and Griff had before. After conversing with Griff about the brazier as well as Strahd, Griff tried to have Graiar collected and returned to his chambers. Graiar then used the brazier to teleport out of the castle, having learned of its teleportation capabilities from a previous run-in with Griff.

After the Curse of Strahd Party regrouped, they immediately returned to Castle Ravenloft, and with one one coming to collect them, they wandered off into the basement under the guise of losing their way. Graiar guided them to the brazier room, and they continued on past that and into the crypts. They began opening each and every crypt they found, and found many valuables in them. Eventually, after they had killed the wraith of Kroval "Mad Dog" Grislek and obtained the Tome of Strahd, Strahd found them and summoned them to dinner.

They attended Strahd's dinner party, and were joined by a brainwashed Ireena Kolyana, Escher and his three vampire wives, a young woman named Gertruda, and Griff, who was standing in the corner of the room. While there, they learned that Strahd was planning a wedding for himself and Ireena the next day, and all of the party was invited. He also offered to speak with certain members individually, such as Ashley, Hadrick, and Graiar, with the promise of information and/or positions of power.

Once the dinner had concluded, the party immediately returned to the crypts and continued opening them, finding even more treasure within, and allying themselves with an imp that Ashley named Khaz. They also found the coffins of Strahd and Sergei von Zarovich. Upon entering Strahd's crypt they were met by Escher and his three wives, and were attacked. The party dealt with them and moved on to Sergei's crypt where Hadrick obtained the dead von Zarovich's magical plate armor.

Having been magically contacted by one of the vampire wives, Rahadin entered the crypt chambers and began assaulting the party. Once killed, the party rested in Sergei's crypt. While doing so, Khaz noticed a figure lurking the halls. Ashley recognized this figure as Ireena, and approached her.

Ireena was trying to escape the castle, and the group agreed to help her. However, Strahd quickly arrived for her. The party split up, with Graiar and Devin pursuing Ireena up the stairs, Jolyne and Monty teleported to the castle entrance, and Hadrick and Ashley went to destroy Strahd's coffin.

Graiar and Devin encountered Griff, who knocked out Ireena. Devin returned to help Hadrick and Ashley against Strahd, trusting Graiar to handle Griff. Monty and Jolyne returned as well, but not before being attacked by a now-vampiric Ezmerelda d'Avenir.

The group eventually regrouped and dealt enough damage to Strahd to cause him to retreat. They also managed to kill Griff. They quickly rushed to the teleportation brazier and warped to the peak of the castle in order to fulfill Madam Eva's card reading stating that Strahd would invariably be present if they went there looking for him. As expected, Strahd was there, along with Rahadin. It is here that the party killed Strahd von Zarovich and his minion Rahadin, and brought the light of the sun back to Barovia.

## Notable People

 **Unknown Belview** | NPC | An irritable mongrelfolk who guards the staff's quarters of the castle.