06.5 Castle Spiders

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Session Summary: Exploration, Accounting, and Spiders in the Castle

PCs present: Broseph (Juan Maldonado), Erdan (Marcos), and Renoir (Nacho - mentioned/passively played). NPCs present: Lief, Dasha, Strahd (mentioned). Locations: Strahd’s Castle in Barovia (Rooms K-19, K-25, K-30, K-8, K-9, K-10, K-11, K-64, K-68).

Main Developments and Loose Ends

• Main Developments: The group has successfully navigated several traps on the castle stairs and discovered Strahd’s accounting room. After looting some of the vampire’s treasure, they obtained vital information about a portal room on the lower levels that could serve as their escape. Additionally, they rescued Dasha, a young woman who had been enchanted by Strahd and imprisoned by a spider.
• Loose Ends:
  • Will Broseph fulfill his promise to return to free Lief the accountant from his magical chains?
  • What terrible creature will appear if someone pulls the rope in room K-30?
  • Where exactly is the portal room with the two iron statues that Lief spoke of?
  • The group finds themselves in the middle of an ambush by a giant spider on the stairs, just as the connection was lost.

Session Joke

“My junk is like a turtle poking its head out” While deciding how to approach Lief (the chained accountant), Erdan (played by Marcos) made a very graphic joke saying he urgently needed to use the bathroom: “my junk is already like a turtle when it pokes its head out”. The Master (Nemo) did not understand this was an out-of-character comment and genuinely believed the player wanted Erdan to defecate in the middle of the room in front of the NPC. This led to a surreal and very comical discussion of several minutes trying to clarify whether the elf was actually pooping or not.

Scene 1: The Trap Stairs and the Living Ceiling

• PCs present: Broseph, Erdan.
• NPCs present: None.
• Location: Armor Landing (K-19) and Throne Room (K-25).
• Loot obtained: None.
• Summary: The group reaches a dusty landing with two alcoves containing armors and maces shaped like dragon heads. Broseph, with Erdan’s help, searches for traps and detects pressure plates connected to the armors. Walking very carefully, they manage to avoid them and ascend to a huge, dark throne room. Upon illuminating the ceiling, they discover with horror that the darkness is moving: it is infested with hundreds of thousands of spiders. They decide not to cross through the center of the room and walk along the wall to a double door.

Scene 2: Hanging Skeletons and the Accounting Room

• PCs present: Broseph, Erdan.
• NPCs present: Lief (Elderly human, hunched, yellow teeth, and mustache; chained to a desk. Archetype: The captive servant/resigned bureaucrat).
• Location: Hall of Skeletons and Accounting Room (K-30).
• Loot obtained: Iron key from K-30, Transmutation spellbook (Bodyweight training manual/Constitution), 500 platinum coins.
• Summary: After peering into a hallway where sinister skeletons hang from wires, they decide to retreat and open another smaller door. They arrive at Strahd’s accounting room, filled with ledgers and four chests. There they meet Lief, a man chained to his desk who has been doing the vampire’s accounts for decades. Broseph earns his trust by offering him a plum. Lief warns them not to pull the rope hanging from the ceiling, as it summons a punishing monster. While they talk, Broseph investigates the chests. He pretends to ignore the thousands of copper and gold coins but secretly pockets a spellbook and 500 platinum coins. Erdan tries to break Lief’s chain with a metal torch, but Broseph stops him after detecting an “Alarm” spell on the ring. Lief begs them to free him; in return, he reveals the existence of a room with magical portals and iron statues on the crypt level. Broseph promises to find a way to dispel the magic and return for him.

Scene 3: The Rescue in the Web

• PCs present: Broseph, Erdan, Renoir (mentioned/bot).
• NPCs present: Dasha (Young Romani/Vistani, confused, with bite marks on her neck. Archetype: Damsel in distress / Survivor).
• Location: Dining Hall (K-10) and Hidden Mirror Room (K-11).
• Loot obtained: None.
• Summary: On their way to the lower levels, a spectral cat gives them a fright by hissing at them from the shadows. Upon reaching the dining hall, they notice that someone or something has eaten the leftovers from the feast. They enter the mirror room (K-11) and discover a large, hidden spiderweb cocoon. After tearing it open, they free an unconscious woman who has a vampire bite on her neck. Renoir heals her, and she wakes up very scared. She introduces herself as Dasha, from the Vistani camp of Bialoqui. She explains that Strahd bewitched her, she woke up in a room, fled by activating the statues on the stairs (K-19), fell, and something dragged her away and wrapped her in spiderwebs. She also mentions that Erdan reminds her of “dusk elves.” They give her a torch and decide to take her with them towards the exit.

Scene 4: Ambush on the Spiral Stairs

• PCs present: Broseph, Erdan, Renoir.
• NPCs present: Dasha, Giant Spider.
• Location: Spiral Stairs (K-64 to K-68).
• Loot obtained: None.
• Summary: The group decides to descend the long spiral stairs to the lower levels in search of the portal room. They advance stealthily, but the Master rolls for a random encounter. Suddenly, an immense giant spider emerges from nowhere, exceeding the group’s passive perception, and lands a terrible bite on Renoir, inflicting necrotic damage. Just as they are about to roll for his Constitution save, the programs (Discord and Fantasy Grounds) suffer a general crash, leaving the battle (and Renoir) in full suspense until the next session.