Lessons from the Mists: Session 21 - Pages of History

Welcome back to Lessons from the Mists! This session, the heroes are transported to the past by a magical tome that tells of the devil Strahd's history... Let's get started!

The Recap

We begin this week’s session by going over all the new features and spells the heroes got when they reached level 6. In addition, I give them all the information they need on the Tome of Strahd, how it works, and what is needed to decode future chapters (We are using the Interactive Tome of Strahd).

The heroes debate their next course of action for a while, and decide that if the first part of the Tome of Strahd has already been decoded, they may as well experience the first vision. Mary Sue Ann explains how the tome works to the heroes, and she opens the book. Mist pours from the pages, and the heroes are transported into the past - to Strahd’s childhood. He sits crying in a sunlit courtyard in an unfamiliar castle. Beyond a door, Rahadin speaks to King Barov about Strahd’s progress in training to become a mighty warrior, which Kane listens to. Rahadin says that he is brash, reckless, and Barov insists on pushing him further, but he is also overjoyed at hearing he has a new child on the way. He declares it is a son, and names him Sergei.

Ylenia and Angvar speak to the boy Strahd, and learn that he wants to make his father proud, to prove to him that he is a worthy son to bestow the crown to. He is excited for a younger brother, but Angvar detects that he is excited because if he can teach Sergei all he knows about leadership, that would make his father proud. Rahadin exits the chamber beyond and raises his wooden sword, commanding Strahd that they resume training. The mists fill their visions, and they are transported back to the present.

The next morning, Elvir approaches the heroes as they prepare to leave the Wizard of Wines with a cart full of wine to bring to Krezk as well as a special bottle of Red Dragon Crush, just for them, as thanks. He and Dag will deliver wine to Vallaki and then go beyond to the Village of Barovia. Ylenia asks them to bring some special wine to her brother Ismark, which they agree to.

The heroes travel north back to the Raven River Crossroads, then take a short detour back east along the old Svalich road, back to the van Richten’s tower to check if he has left any notes. They arrive in the early evening, but no one is there. Ylenia searches his room, and the heroes acquaint themselves with van Richten’s belongings. Among them, Angvar finds van Richten’s journal, which recounts his life - an account of his wife and son’s murders at the hands of an evil Vistana and a vampire named Baron Metus. They also find a treasure trove of notes and information on monsters.

They decide to spend the night at the tower. Mary Sue Ann and Kane spend a portion of the evening decoding another chapter of the Tome of Strahd, while Angvar and Ylenia search through van Richten’s notes on monsters. They learn what they can about vampire weaknesses and strengths, as well as his research on Baba Lysaga - whom they learn is not a hag like they assumed, but a very powerful, seemingly immortal human witch. They also learn what they can about night hags and the few magic items they gathered off of the coven at the Old Bonegrinder.

The next morning, they enter the tome, and the events in the first chapter are the Battle of Argynvostholt. Strahd and Aleksandra Gwilym (the brother of Godfrey) are in the commander’s tent in a military camp, laying out the plans for attacking the Order of the Silver Dragon, and how the commanders will split the forces into three major battles. Angvar alone speaks to Alek, asking if he has qualms about going to war with his brother, but Alek is resolute in his cause, and Godfrey in his, and he wishes they did not come to blows, but this is the way things must be. The vision flashes, and the heroes find themselves in the middle of a battle between Strahd’s forces and the knights of the Order of the Silver Dragon. Strahd calls his soldiers to advance, and Rahadin and Aleksandra ride off to their positions, but he takes a javelin to his side and falls from his horse. Angvar, Mary Sue Ann, and Ylenia fend off his attackers, while Kane rushes to Strahd’s aid and heals him, protecting him from one of the knights. Angvar kills the lead knight, and the infantrymen break morale and retreat. At that moment, a group of Vistani come from a nearby street and pull Strahd away from the battle. The heroes get a look at Argynvost, the silver dragon, atop the mansion, in his full glory, before being wrenched from the vision. Angvar still holds in his hand a silver longsword that the knight wielded, while Kane holds the javelin that pierced Strahd in the past, still dripping with his blood. He rushes to collect it in a vial - a component for scrying.

And that’s where we left it!

So How Did the Session Go?

A shorter session this week! Slower, low energy, but not in a way that felt unfun. Relaxed, transitional period between major story beats. Before the session I asked my players what they were planning to do, and I prepped some (most notably, NOT the Abbey of St. Markovia) of Krezk using MandyMod’s Fleshing Out series - corrupted Ilya, missing livestock, etc. However, they pulled a 180 on me and instead went to van Richten’s tower and spent a lot of time on the Tome of Strahd.

Speaking of which, I cannot recommend that supplement highly enough. I was not prepared very much to run from it, I read a couple of the first chapters, but did not make my own notes. Props to the designers of the Tome of Strahd because even with just reading it and running it from the doc (I typically write my own notes, paraphrasing and formatting it to my standards and ease) was really easy and fun. The one pain point was that the combat encounter during the Battle of Argynvostholt was really off the cuff, theater of the mind, which I typically don’t do - the players didn’t seem to notice that, so it felt okay in the end.

I’m really excited to run Krezk, and happy that I have more time to prepare for it. Having a new time sink in the Tome of Strahd makes the pacing feel slower in a way that feels good.

Until next time!