Argynvosts secrets#

As the voice of Captain Vladimir Horngard echoes away, the party decides to retreat. They follow the same large creature shadow back into the hallway and into another room. This room too is in disarray; Ilizeiros finds a painting showing a silver beacon atop the intact Argynvostholt, but it is slashed - until Thaddeus mends it back together. As soon as the last piece of the painting is glued back to its intended place, a spectral dragon appears: It requests that Argynvost's skull is returned to his crypt beneath Argynvostholt. Unfortunately, the head of Argynvost was taken by his enemies after the defeat at Argynvostholt and is now in a place of ill omen. The spectre promises that restoring the crypt will also restore the power of the silver beacon atop the castle, bringing back a place of peace and respite in Barovia.

Before leaving, the party decides to thoroughly investigate the rest of the decrepit mansion. They soon find the animated body of one Sir Godfrey Gwilym, sitting peacefully in a dining room. He explains that he kept his sanity through love - love for Captain Horngard, who has become so maddened by rage and vengeance, that he does not even remember Godfrey. His deep hatred of Strahd came when, after the fall of Argynvost, the Order of the Silver Dragon retaliated against Strahd, only to find him already killed in Ravenloft. Sir Godfrey does not know what keeps the knights of the order on this plane, only that their spirits always return and inhabit the bodies of the recently deceased, starting when their Order was destroyed.

The invitation#

Finally, when exiting the castle, the party finds Rahadin, Strahd's courier, awaiting them in front of the entry. He extends an invitation to Castle Ravenloft and promises safe passage to Ravenloft from a crossroads between Vallaki and Ravenloft. The party, while at first unwilling to talk to him, tries to press information from Rahadin, but does not produce any new, valuable information from the very courteous elf.

Upon returning to Vallaki the party makes contact with Baron Vallakovic by sneaking into his mansion under lock down. Together, they form the plan to wrestle control of the town from Lady Wachter by getting a festival together and letting the Baron have a speech and explaining the coup to the populace. Would there still be festivals allowed in Vallaki, the next one would be in three days. Finally, when asked about avenues to find more information about Lady Wachter, the Baron mentions her two sons: both Nikolai and Karl Wachter are said to be dimwitted drunkards, often found in the Blue Water Inn.