Session 16: The Weight of Stolen Things
Area U: Ruins of Berez → Old Svalich Road
The Morning
Corvin wakes and drains his armor. Several small fish come out with the water — they had been inside his boots.
Myra wakes inside the vault entrance. She hears voices outside and stays where she is.
Logi wakes at the wood's edge, uninjured. He walks back to the group and asks what happened. No one can tell him. He goes around asking everyone.
Vess does not want him close.
Corvin gets his hand back from Vess.
Waiting
Myra cannot be in the moonlight. The party waits out the night and moves by day.
They decide to leave the swamp. The first plan is to go to the village — there are parents to inform about the children. Then they revise: the castle first, but via the village.
The Road
They walk the Old Svalich Road toward the castle, keeping watch in pairs. Logi walks with Khione and Myra.
At some point on the road, Logi notices two spots of dried blood on his neck — a bite. He checks Cinder. Cinder is fine.
The House
The road brings them to a residence. Wooden door, quiet, no birds nearby. Inside the ceiling is low and the space feels smaller than it should, but nothing is obviously wrong. The party looks around and decides to leave.
They turn and find a figure standing behind them.
It has a face that does not hold in memory. A crooked posture. An old uniform.
Travelers… have entered. Travelers… must declare. State purpose.
It addresses each of them in turn. When the answer is unclear, it says: Purpose… unclear.
Then:
Do you have authority. Do you hold authority. Who holds authority.
The party tries to answer. Some say they hold authority over Corvin. The figure repeats. With each repetition another creature enters the room, the same posture, the same indeterminate face.
Slowly it becomes clear that the question is not about their authority. It is asking who owns them.
The Accounting
Three are allowed in: Corvin, whose soul anchor — the Pendant of Nyss — is now in Strahd's possession. Vess, whose soul is partly bound to the same pendant. Myra, a werewolf under the moon's curse, and through it, Strahd's reach.
Taara lies, but she is carrying the vampire butterfly. The creatures recognize what is on her shoulder and wave her through.
Two are turned away: Logi, whose vampire tooth was extracted — Strahd holds no claim over him. Khione, who has never been owned, tries to lie her way past anyway.
The creatures turn hostile toward Khione. Initiative is rolled. The session ends there.