Session Eleven

***Beyond the safety of your blankets and clothes, the burgomaster's manor is cold. It is still dark outside, and the wind whistling oddly over the boarded up windows greets you as Ireena comes to wake you all so that everyone can be at the church on time, as Father Donavich had promised to begin at dawn, and many had promised to help him.***

***None of you have had a good night, though it was worse for some than others, and more comfortable for some than others. Father Donavich has arisen before dawn, looking to be in a better state than you found him yesterday, but still far from the human ideal of 'healthy.' The noises from the basement had trailed off eventually; presumably Doru had eventually succumbed to sleep at some point. As Donavich begins getting ready for the funeral service to come, you find yourselves waking up, and find that the holes in the roof have let in more of a chill than you would like.***

## The Party

* Alyssandra, the Human Paladin/Warlock.
* Dakria, the Dragonborn Bard.
* Kalil, the Half-Elf Sea Sorcerer.
* Mirarook, the Half-Orc Monk.
* Tansy, the Tiefling Light Cleric.

## In the Morning

The party, split though it was, awoke before dawn.

At the church, Dakira asked Tansy how Father Donavich was doing as they gathered together in the chapel. Tansy said he was better than last night, but was still far from recovery and she wished she could make him rest for longer, but the funeral for the former burgomaster needed to be done sooner rather than later. She also told Dakira that she had spoken to Doru during the night, and clarified that it had been through the floor when Dakira expressed concern about talking to "it." Tansy said she had asked him - with an emphasis on "him" - about the painting he had been talking about, and that it sounded less like it had been Ismark and more that it had been someone who bore a strong resemblance to Ismark. Dakira agreed that that made sense, and that perhaps they could question Doru further, but she gently reminded Tansy that the vampire spawn couldn't be allowed to live, it was too dangerous. Tansy didn't respond to that, but brought up that if Ismark didn't look like anyone in his family's portraits, perhaps he wasn't a blood relation. Dakira allowed her to change the topic, agreeing that that might be so, and she hoped she could get more answers out of the creature after the funeral. Tansy remarked that she wasn't sure Alyssandra would be willing to wait that long.

Meanwhile, the group at the manor had already been awake when Ireena went to wake them. While they waited for Ismark to finish in the kitchen, Ireena said they didn't have much left at the manor, but if they were hungry she would take them to the tavern after the service. Alyssandra said she was not hungry and merely wanted to get to the task at hand, namely disposing of the vampire spawn Father Donavich had been harboring. Kalil said that this must be just another job for her, to which Alyssandra agreed, and after a few more comments from Kalil she announced that she would be waiting outside. It was not long after she left that Ismark arrived, apologizing for keeping them waiting and explaining he had needed some coffee. He added that he didn't know where the Vistani got it, but it had been a blessing for the last month. As the three made their way to the door to join Alyssandra and begin the trek back to the church, Kalil asked Ismark if he were adopted or a bastard, as during his snooping during the night he had noticed that Ismark's comment the evening before of not looking anything like the portraits of his family was true. Though Ireena glared at him for the question, Ismark did not seem troubled, simply saying that he didn't know.

As Ireena and Ismark led the way back to the church, those who had spent the night at the church took to their rations for breakfast, with Tansy going to share her rations with Father Donavich. When she left, Mirarook approached Dakira to say that she had found the key that Donavich had mentioned, but that she wasn't sure if giving it back to him was the right thing to do, worried that in his state he might do something like let Doru out of the basement. Dakira agreed that the priest seemed very unstable, and that he might at the very least try to keep them from going down to see his son. Dakira offered to hold onto the key, and Mirarook gave her the key ring she had found.

### Plans in Motion

Father Donavich finished eating just as the rest of the party arrived at the church, and he left his room to begin the process of lighting the many, many candles around the chapel, wordlessly mouthing prayers as he edged around the room. As they entered, Ireena pointed the door that led to the entry to the basement out to Alyssandra, and then moved forward into the chapel to talk to Dakira and Mirarook. She brought up the plan she had discussed with Alyssandra the night before, of waiting until Father Donavich was busy with the funeral service to deal with the vampire in the basement so that he couldn't stop them nor have to see the act carried out, that some would stay with him while others dealt with the monster Doru had become. With some reluctance from the deception needed, they agreed that it was for the best, though Dakira insisted that she had questions to ask first.

Tansy emerged from the room not long after the priest did, greeting the rest of the party. She approached Ismark to discuss what she had learned from talking to Doru the night before, specifically about the portrait in the study and why Strahd might be so obsessed with him, and that the two were connected. Kalil spoke up to ask if he was just bored and horny, and Ismark grew flustered, shifting uncomfortably and checking to make sure Ireena was not listening before he said that while he could not remember much of Strahd's visits, he had gotten that impression. Tansy said that since the painting looked like him, but Doru had said things like his hair and clothes had been wrong, so Ismark likely bears a very strong resemblance to someone Strahd was attracted to, probably, since most people didn't keep paintings of people they want dead hanging in their homes.

Ismark said that it was as likely as anything else, though for as unromantic a place Barovia was, most people also didn't begin by besieging a home for weeks on end. Tansy agreed, bringing up her theory on Strahd just being an asshole, and adding that it was possibly he somehow thought it was romantic. Alyssandra spoke up, saying that the undead are often eccentric, so that was possible, if his mind was addled enough.

Finishing with the candles, the Father Donavich turned back to face the party, his expression vacant for a moment before he shook himself and announced that it was time. He repeated his request for help in carrying the coffin and digging the grave for the former burgomaster, and all but Alyssandra and Kalil agreed and went to help lift the coffin. Alyssandra stayed behind, while Kalil followed them out, but refused to step in to help. When no one was looking, Mirarook tapped Dakira on the shoulder and wordlessly reminded her of the key she had taken and gesturing at Alyssandra, and Dakira nodded to her. As they crossed the threshold, the procession faltered for a brief few seconds as Doru announced his return to the waking world with a loud groan from beneath the wooden floor.

### Enacting

Father Donavich led the party out of the church, carrying a lit lantern aloft to ward off the darkness, and towards the gate to the graveyard, which he held open to let them through. Once they arrived at a chosen spot, he gave them the shovels he had brought with them, and they began to dig as Father Donavich raised his arms out over the grave, tilting his head up to the sky and closing his eyes as he began to recite prayers to the Morninglord. In the distance, to the east, the clouds were just barely tinged with light.

As the others began to dig, Ireena and Dakira slipped away and made their way back to the church, where Alyssandra was impatiently waiting for them, who was surprised to see Dakira there. Dakira told her that Mirarook had given her the key, and that while she wanted to make this quick for everyone's sakes, she wanted to question the creature before they destroyed it, and that while putting it down would be a kindness, but putting it down before learning at least some of what it knew would be foolish. Ireena asked if they could be sure the vampire would not escape, to which Alyssandra assured them both that she could keep it from escaping if they were set on questioning it.

Dakira handed Ireena the key. She stared at it for a moment before going to the door, opening it, and then walking to the trap door in the floor. Kneeling beside it, she took a deep breath before unlocking the padlock, pulling the chain free, and heaving the door up out of it's frame. Doru called out to Ireena, asking what she was doing, and then cried out "no, no, no, no" once the door had been fully opened. Ireena and Dakira attempted to calm him, saying they just wanted to talk. Warily, Doru said that he had spoken to "the other one" through the door last night, but that he couldn't stop them.

   The trio walked down into the basement, though while Ireena and Dakira stowed their weapons and cautiously went further into the undercroft, Alyssandra kept hers out and stayed at the base of the stairs. In the far corner, visible in the light streaming down from between the floorboards of the church, was the emaciated figure of Doru, curled in on himself in the fetal position and pressed tightly into the corner, who watched the three of them warily.

And so they began to question him. Dakira began, asking why he had returned to the village and the church, to which Doru miserably replied that he had wanted to go home. Ireena asked about the painting, and Dakira asked how he had escaped. Doru said that he and the others had been locked in the crypts until Strahd was sure he had broken at least their wills if not their minds, and that while he had succeeded with many, some were able to resist, such as one woman who had thrown herself onto a fire to free herself. He said that he, himself, had waited for a better time to escape, and had waited up until he had found the portrait in Strahd's study.

He admitted that it was impossible for it to be Ismark; the painting and the frame were old, and the clothes, the hair, the sunlit garden, the completely untroubled expression, it was all wrong. But he also said that he would know Ismark's face even if he were blind, and there was no denying that the person in the painting was the exact likeness of his childhood friend. The painting and the implications disturbed him so much that he decided he must leave as soon as possible, wanting to at least warn Ismark, even if he did not know what, exactly, he was warning him against.

Unable to think of any more questions, Ireena thanked him. Doru looked at the party urgently, pleading with them that they must get Ismark somewhere safe, away from the castle. He told Ireena that he was not sure that Strahd would not stop, now that he knew how close Ismark was.

Doru paused as he noticed their weapons, and quietly asked them if his father was alright and if he would be alright. Dakira promised that they hadn't done anything to his father, and that she would make sure his father and Ismark were safe, and that she was sorry. Doru nodded and ducked his head as Alyssandra stepped forward, and he did not try to move or fight back as she brought her scythe down on his neck. As his body went limp and his head rolled away, Ireena asked Alyssandra what they should do now. Alyssandra replied that she wanted to burn the body, as beheadings were enough to kill a vampire but she could not be sure if this land worked the same way. Trying not to look at the body, Ireena told her that she didn't know, as she had never seen or heard of anyone fighting and defeating a vampire. As Alyssandra drove a stake into the body, Dakira advised them to hurry, as their absence would eventually be noticed, and neither Tansy nor Father Donavich would be pleased. Ireena agreed, adding that neither would Ismark.

### Discovered

As the three of them worked together to carry Doru's remains out of the church, the funeral service had finished and despite the clouds constantly obscuring the sun, the dawn had brightened the sky. Ireena and Ismark's father now given his last rights, the priest had looked out over the graveyard and admitted that he had been neglecting his duties here, as he was meant to pray over the graves each dawn, but that he could not simply leave Doru. Tansy tried to comfort him by saying that there was nothing wrong with worrying about your family, and that if he told her the prayers that she would be glad to help him. Ismark began to suggest that he and Ireena could help as well, then stopped, alarmed to notice that Ireena was no longer with them. Neither, Tansy noticed, was Dakira.

Mirarook's suggestion that they had probably just gone inside did nothing to ease their worries, and Ismark and Tansy insisted they get indoors where it would be somwhat safer, just in case. Father Donavich did not seem to notice any of this as Tansy took his elbow to lead him along. As they left the graveyard and came around the corner, they found their missing party members as they exited the church, holding something between them. Dakira angled the body so Donavich would not be able to see, however Alyssandra had no such qualms and announced that they had taken care of Doru. Tansy sent Dakira a miserable and betrayed look, saying that she thought something had happened to them. Dakira apologized, saying that he didn't suffer, and asked her to take Ismark and Father Donavich back inside as they didn't need to see this.

Alyssandra asked if they would rather he be left to suffer and call out for blood day and night, as at least this granted Doru some measure of peace, but Tansy only responded by saying she was going inside, taking Father Donavich's arm again to lead him away. As Ismark went to help her, Kalil commented that even he isn't this much of an asshole. While the two guided him into the church and into his room, Ismark kicking the door to the basement shut as they passed it, the priest regained some measure of lucidity and asked if he had heard someone mention Doru.

Outside, Dakira grimly told Alyssandra to hurry up and give Doru whatever last rites humans had so they could be done with this, they could talk about it later. Alyssandra found a spot away from the church or anything particularly flamable to set the remains down and began to unpack the necessary materials, pausing just long enough to tell the others that they could leave, she didn't need them for this. They refused, with Kalil saying he had no problems with death, Dakira saying that she was going to see this through to the end, and Ireena saying that she felt she owed it to Doru. Alyssandra shrugged and did not ask again as she prepared the components and set the body ablaze.

## Things Gained

* A lot of sadness
* A lot of hurt feelings
* New information on Strahd's motives
* New information about what happened when the wizard led the mob of peasants to storm the castle

## Developments

The party has successfully laid Ireena and Ismark's father to rest.

The party has killed Doru.

The party has made Tansy and Ismark sad.

Most of the party feels bad now.