Session 5: The House Remembers
At a glance
- In-game date: Morning following Session 4 through the following day
- Starting location: Laboratory within Richten House
- Ending location: Neblus, Darkon
- Characters present: Ignatius, Rage, and Carver
Summary
The party was not alone in Van Richten’s laboratory.
A transparent young man stood watching them in absolute silence. When Rage finally perceived him, the spirit studied each adventurer in turn. Then he raised his hands and painted memory into the air: himself beside a younger Dr. Rudolph van Richten. The ghost was Erasmus van Richten, the monster hunter’s son.
Erasmus could not speak, but the house had given him other ways to answer. When Carver asked about the journal, the ghost conjured Van Richten in Barovia, hunting Strahd. When Ignatius asked whether he could speak, Erasmus silently denied it and showed them a cellar entrance, followed by images of earlier adventurers descending into darkness.
The party rested in the laboratory while Ignatius studied the journal with patient, extraordinary care. Its pages held plan after plan for Strahd—some abandoned and crossed through, others directed toward crossing Barovia’s border and killing him. Erasmus’s memories supplied the rest: Van Richten haunted by the past within his own home, then departing for Barovia on the hunt from which he had never returned.
The silent son lets the house remember for him. See the image record.
Before following the ghost’s invitation below, the party continued through the upper rooms. Carver opened a door onto a chamber drowned in blue: blue furniture, blue bedding, even stools arranged as though mourners once sat beside the bed. Beneath its sheet lay a small wrapped figure.
Ignatius drew back the covering. A bandaged, skeletal old woman rose from the bed.
Rage’s greataxe struck first. Ignatius followed with one of his newly claimed silvered shortswords and a flurry of blows, but every impact drew forth blood that coughed from the corpse and lingered in the air, swelling as though alive. The horror fixed Ignatius with a dreadful glare that froze him with fear, then sprang at him. Carver answered with a radiant crossbow bolt. Rage’s next reckless swing tore the creature’s head from its shoulders—and the unnatural blood burst across the walls and coated his axe.
Rage did not wait to learn whether it would move again. He charged for the cellar, and the others followed.
Beyond a room of leaking wine barrels, they found a charcoal pentagram surrounded by five groups of unlit candles. The corpses of old adventurers littered the chamber. Erasmus appeared behind Carver and painted another memory: a séance conducted in this very place, every candle burning.
Rage lit all five.
A young figure peered from the center of the pentagram. “Thank you for summoning me,” he said, beckoning the party closer. When Rage asked whether he was a vampire, longing crossed the stranger’s face—not confirmation, but hunger for the very power Rage had named.
The creature attacked, and the cellar erupted into violence. Rage’s greataxe landed the first brutal blow, but the stranger whirled between the party with twin daggers. Ignatius drove a silvered blade into him and struck with fist and tail. Carver’s radiant bolts burned where they landed. When the creature rushed Carver, thorns erupted along Ignatius’s wraps and a conjured vine dragged it away.
Still it came for Rage. “I see it in your eyes,” it taunted. “You wish for the vampiric power.” Its bite missed, but its dagger found Rage’s stomach and dropped him unconscious. Carver rushed in with healing magic, forcing the barbarian back to his feet. Then the creature turned its blades upon Ignatius and struck him down as well.
Carver stood alone between two fallen companions and the thing they had summoned. His final radiant bolt struck true. Light consumed the young figure until nothing remained but dust.
With both companions down, Carver ends the cellar horror. See the image record.
When Ignatius recovered, he asked Erasmus whether he had known what the candles would call. The ghost nodded. Then the air filled with a score of violent memories: Van Richten destroying vampires and their spawn across the years. The cellar held nothing more.
The party withdrew to the chapel for a long rest. That night, Carver dreamed of ancestral ghosts and other spectral figures crowding the dark. In the morning he returned to his work, inscribing a fresh spellwrought tattoo upon Ignatius’s hand—another single casting of cure wounds waiting beneath the skin.
Richten House had more memories to surrender.
In the pantry, an angry cook peeled potatoes from an endless sack. In the ballroom, a young woman with bright red hair and violet eyes danced alone, two blood-wet bite marks at her throat. Carver searched Van Richten’s books and found the account of a female monster hunter who had given her life to save him. Rage stepped forward to join her dance.
The ghost answered with a wave of terror and grief. Rage collapsed beneath emotions that were not his own: Van Richten’s guilt, his pain, and the crushing knowledge of her sacrifice. When the feeling released him, the dancer was gone.
A dance becomes the memory of a sacrifice. See the image record.
In the next room Erasmus sat between two glass-fronted cases. He showed the party the red-haired hunter’s last moments in the woods, sacrificing herself so that his father might live. The cases held the tools of that life’s work: thirteen silver bullets, a sunburst holy symbol, two vials of holy water, and a wooden stake. All entered the party’s communal inventory.
Elsewhere they found a ghostly housekeeper hanging from a noose and salvaged supplies sufficient for a healer’s kit. A circular gallery displayed oil paintings of winged monstrosities and human figures twisted into deranged poses—horrific, yet painted with undeniable beauty.
At last the party climbed to the battlements. A swarm of ravens covered the heights, though two watched with unusual interest. Carver called for Vidic and scattered candied nuts. The flock settled into the ordinary communication of feeding birds, but the two watchers remained apart. Rage imitated a birdcall; one flew downstairs and vanished from Carver’s search.
Rage sprinted at the remaining raven.
The bird began to grow. By the time he reached it, it was the size of a turkey and thrashing violently. Ignatius stabbed, Rage swung, and Carver’s returning crossbow bolt killed the unidentified creature.
From the battlements they saw a tall black tree at the edge of the estate. It stood in a small orchard, a low stool placed before its trunk. When something rustled nearby, Carver drew a fuzzy object from the gray Bag of Tricks and released a giant badger. Screeches sounded near the border of the Mists. The badger returned with an ordinary raven in its jaws.
Whatever Richten House wanted of them, it offered no farewell. Ignatius announced their departure and received only silence. He took the Darkon Talisman, led the party into the Mists, and wandered until distance and time had lost their meaning.
They emerged into unfamiliar marshes beneath the encroaching Shroud. Two lampposts marked a path across an open field. Carver fashioned a lantern, and the party hurried toward whatever shelter the road might offer.
Ahead stood four armed humans. Rage saw bandits and charged without waiting for challenge or attack. His opening blow killed one. Carver’s chromatic orb killed another, and Ignatius felled the last of the lightly armed travelers. Only their leather-clad leader remained.
The man tore open his shirt and revealed a holy symbol of the Church of Ezra. He screamed “Ezra!” and fought back, but the party overwhelmed him. Rage dealt the killing blow.
Beyond the bloodied road stood an ancient town with a stone building at its heart. Its people hurried toward the center as the Mists rolled closer, much as Rivalis gathered against the night.
Around the settlement’s edge, blue gravelights flickered in the dark.
Key events
- Erasmus van Richten revealed himself and communicated through conjured memories.
- Ignatius discovered that Van Richten’s final plans concerned entering Barovia and killing Strahd.
- The party destroyed an unnamed bandaged undead horror in the blue mourning room.
- Rage completed the cellar séance and summoned a vampire-like dagger wielder.
- Rage and Ignatius both fell unconscious before Carver destroyed the summoned creature with radiant magic.
- Erasmus showed the party Van Richten’s long history of killing vampires and vampire spawn.
- Carver created a new cure wounds spellwrought tattoo for Ignatius.
- The party encountered the ghosts of a cook, a red-haired monster hunter, and a hanged housekeeper.
- The party recovered vampire-hunting equipment and a healer’s kit.
- The party killed an unidentified raven-like creature on the battlements.
- Ignatius used the Darkon Talisman to lead the party out of Richten House.
- Rage mistook four roadside travelers for bandits, and the party killed them before discovering their connection to the Church of Ezra.
- The party reached an unknown marsh town ringed by blue gravelights.
Decisions and consequences
- Rage lit all five groups of candles in the cellar.
- The séance summoned a hostile vampire-like creature that nearly killed both Rage and Ignatius.
- The party followed Erasmus’s visions through the house.
- They learned more of Van Richten’s final hunt, the people he lost, and the weapons he left behind.
- Ignatius used the Darkon Talisman to leave the mini-domain.
- The party returned to Darkon, but not to Rivalis or any place they recognized.
- Rage assumed the armed travelers were bandits and attacked immediately.
- The party killed all four without establishing their identities. Their leader’s holy symbol linked them to the Church of Ezra.
People
- Erasmus van Richten: Van Richten’s silent ghostly son, who communicated through memories and guided the party through the house.
- Dr. Rudolph van Richten: Planned to enter Barovia and kill Strahd on his final hunt.
- Strahd von Zarovich: Target of Van Richten’s plans; not encountered by the party.
- Unnamed red-haired hunter: A violet-eyed monster fighter who died saving Van Richten and whose ghost danced within the ballroom.
- Unnamed Church of Ezra traveler: Leather-armored leader of the roadside group killed after Rage mistook them for bandits.
Places
- Richten House: Further explored from cellar to battlements and orchard before the party departed.
- Barovia: Destination of Van Richten’s final hunt against Strahd.
- Neblus: Ancient Darkonian settlement where the party arrived as the Shroud approached; its name was learned in Session 6.
Clues, lore, and notable items
- Erasmus is Van Richten’s son and can communicate by conjuring memories.
- Van Richten developed numerous plans to kill Strahd and departed for Barovia.
- The blue-room horror’s blood moved and grew after leaving its body.
- The cellar ritual could summon a hostile vampire-like being.
- Van Richten’s past is marked by repeated victories over vampires and the deaths of those who aided him.
- At least two ravens at the estate behaved differently from the ordinary flock.
- The Church of Ezra uses a holy symbol associated with its name.
- Gravelights also appear around the unknown town, not only above graves in Rivalis.
Story threads
- Advanced: The Legacy of Van Richten
- Advanced: Ghosts of Richten House
- Advanced: The Silent Crows
- Opened: Blood on the Marsh Road
Rewards, losses, and character changes
- Carver created a new single-use cure wounds spellwrought tattoo for Ignatius.
- The party gained 13 silver bullets, a sunburst holy symbol, 2 vials of holy water, and a wooden stake as communal loot.
- The party assembled a healer’s kit from supplies in the house.
- Rage and Ignatius were each knocked unconscious during the cellar battle but recovered.
- Rage’s greataxe was coated in the blue-room horror’s unnatural blood; no lasting mechanical effect was established.
Memorable moments
- Erasmus answered questions by painting his father’s memories into the air.
- Rage lit every candle in an obviously ominous séance chamber.
- Carver saved both companions and reduced the summoned creature to dust with radiant fire.
- Rage attempted to dance with a ghost and was flattened by Van Richten’s grief.
- Rage’s bird impression escalated into combat with an enlarging raven.
- The session ended beneath blue lights surrounding a town no one recognized.
Open questions
- What happened to Van Richten after he entered Barovia to hunt Strahd?
- Why did Erasmus knowingly guide the party into summoning the cellar creature?
- Who was the bandaged undead woman, and what was the nature of her living blood?
- Who was the red-haired hunter who sacrificed herself for Van Richten?
- What binds Erasmus and the other ghosts to Richten House?
- What were the two unusual ravens watching, and what exactly did the party kill?
- What is the significance of the black oak and the stool before it?
- Who were the travelers killed on the road, and what consequences will follow?
- What is the name of the marsh town, and why do gravelights surround it?
Next session
- Immediate situation: The party stands at the edge of an unknown Darkonian town as the Shroud closes in and residents gather inside its central stone building.
- Likely goals: Find shelter, identify the town, learn why gravelights mark its perimeter, and discover whether the slain travelers were connected to the settlement.