Lessons from the Mists: Session 18 - A Hunter of Monsters

Welcome back to Lessons from the Mists! This session, the heroes speak to Rudolph van Richten, the famed monster hunter, and make their way south to the Wizard of Wines. Let's get started!

We begin this week’s session by having Rudolph Van Richten introduce himself and invite the heroes inside the tower. They accept the invitation and ascend to the top floor. Van Richten tells them that they can speak freely inside the tower, as the suppression of magic prevents any attempts at divination.

Kane realizes that he has heard of Van Richten before: stories of the legendary monster hunter are told in Faerun and he has written several accounts of hunting creatures of darkness. In fact, all save Ylenia have heard of Rudolph van Richten, and Kane asks him about his writings. Van Richten admits to travelling for a time with an author named Volothamp Geddarm. He did not like the writings he produced and they parted ways many years ago.

The heroes have dozens of questions for van Richten about Barovia, why he is here, and what he has discovered so far. Mary Sue Ann and Ylenia lead the conversation, and he reveals parts of his story. He comes from the land of Darkon, and has been wandering the mists for decades. He tells the heroes that Barovia is but one realm, each domain like an island in a sea of darkness. The mists are like the ocean that separates all of them. Each is ruled by a Darklord, a champion of the alien forces beyond the mists. That Darklord has power over the mists and their realm.

Rudolph van Richten is seeking to kill Strahd von Zarovich, the greatest vampire of them all. However, he says Strahd is different from other Darklords he has heard of: he is stronger, more powerful, almost a demigod. This power was not afforded to him by his status as ruler of Barovia, and his research has led him to believe that Strahd had stolen this godlike power from goddesses of nature that once called the valley home.

Ylenia has many questions about what Barovia was like before Strahd came to power, but Rudolph van Richten cannot answer them. He has been in Barovia for several months, and believes there is value in gaining the history of the place, but when Ylenia informs him of Strahd’s old family, he has little interest. Only that which could offer them an advantage to kill the vampire is of note to him. Angvar off-handedly mentions their invitation to Castle Ravenloft, and van Richten tells him that they should accept the invitation. Strahd may be a conniving villain, but he is true to his word; if Strahd has promised safe passage and civilized dining, they will have it.

Mary Sue Ann tells him of the Tarokka reading that Madam Eva gave them, but he brushes off the fortune telling as something not to be trusted. He suspects it will lead them to their doom. On the topic of the Amber Temple, he has heard of it but thinks it is a fool’s errand to seek it out. In his research, many people have risked their lives to try and find the ancient mythical place, but none return. Whether that is because it is supremely dangerous or it never existed, he is unsure.

Finally, Angvar asks about Darkon, van Richten’s home. He tells them it is a dying realm. The Darklord, Azalin Rex, was a lich that ruled over it, but he has disappeared, and the mists consume it. Ylenia offers her condolences, and he brushes it off - he has left it behind long ago.

Van Richten tells them that if they oppose Strahd, he offers his alliance. He does not want traveling companions, he and Ezmerelda work better alone, but Strahd must die. If they can split up across Barovia and find new information, they may be better equipped to destroy the vampire. He urges them to connect with the Martikovs at The Wizard of Wines. He spoke with Urwin and his extended family is there, and the missing wine shipments may mean they are in trouble. Restoring wine to the valley can open many doors for the heroes, as well as gaining them friendship of well connected folks. He says they may use this tower as a safe haven to meet or leave notes on what they discover.

The heroes rest for the night, and van Richten reveals his saber tooth tiger, Ingrid, who traveled in his carnival wagon, telling them she will protect them. They take a long rest and set out in the morning, the monster hunters going their own separate ways, and the heroes deciding to travel southwest to the Wizard of Wines.

On the way, they are attacked by a mad druid and a legion of blights - malicious plant creatures animated and given humanoid forms. Angvar singlehandedly destroys several of the twig blights, but Ylenia and Mary Sue Ann are bound by a vine blight’s entangling roots. Mary Sue Ann manages to teleport out of the vines’ grasp and blast several with fire, and Kane consistently targets the druid with damaging spells granted by Kelemvor. Ylenia remains trapped in the vines, but Angvar comes to her rescue and gains the killing blow on the final vine blight and the druid. Searching the body, Angvar finds a crude representation of Strahd’s crest scarred into his chest - a sign of fanatical devotion to the vampire.

The heroes continue on their way and arrive at the Wizard of Wines early in the evening. Ylenia notices the vineyards look dry, desiccated, despite the consistent rainfall in Barovia. Ahead, the winery itself looms out of the darkness and the mist. A cloaked figure at the edge of the treeline beckons, and the heroes answer. The figure is revealed to be a young man in a leather coat, asking if they’ve come to help: they answer yes. He leads them to a grove of trees where a large family have set up tents, sheltering in the wilderness. Among them are a handful of children, one baby nursed by her mother.

An old man with a beard and walking stick, hunched over, waddles out and chastises the boy, Elvir, for bringing strangers to their camp. The old man is Davian Martikov. Ylenia tells him they were sent by Urwin, but Davian scoffs, asking if Urwin now wants to help his family? Elvir takes his father aside and whispers in his ear, and Davian tells the heroes that if they want to help and prove themselves, to take back the winery from the forest folk that displaced them. Until then, Davian has nothing to say to them or offer them.

And that’s where we left it!

A large part of this session was roleplay between the heroes and Van Richten as well as some introductions to the Martikovs, and here is where I think I ran into a problem that has been itching at me for a long time:

Presenting a believable personality (especially when they are secretive, suspicious, and/or antagonistic) as an NPC that is meant to be an ally along with providing plot information to the players.

It’s a balance that’s hard to strike for me. I want to provide enough information to my players to lead them to the next scenario, provide a fun personality to roleplay with, but maintain their severe suspicion and carefulness (in the case of both Davian and van Richten). Both characters have a lot of secrets that they want to keep because their lives and the lives of the people they are close with depend on keeping those secrets.

So, how do you hit all those notes in a roleplay encounter while not hogging the spotlight from players at the table - the actual protagonists of the story? I don’t know!

Ezmerelda and van Richten will be tough, but there is obviously a lot more room to grow in that relationship. Ezmerelda I am not as worried about, because I know that she is my party’s destined ally AND she’s a lot more personable in my interpretation than van Richten. Van Richten, however, I think I screwed up in having my party arriving at the tower with Ezmerelda and van Richten at the same time, instead of allowing them to be alone, explore on their own, and then meeting van Richten after discovering his journal.

Ezmerelda I think I want to save for later if I were to GM this again. I really like introducing her at Argynvostholt and the showdown with Arrigal went well, but its placement earlier in the campaign may not have allowed either character to really shine.

In terms of Davian’s suspicion and rereading over MandyMod’s Fleshing Out series, I entirely forgot that Adrian is much more likable and willing to talk with the PC’s, and is the new leader of the Keepers of the Feather. I hope to deploy him at the start of the next session and see how my players respond to him, and then the challenge becomes: how to make the Martikovs as a whole seem interesting and fun while not getting overwhelmed by roleplaying 9 personalities? It’s gonna be tough.

Until next time!