Tiny Curse of Strahd, Session 22
Ireena's Reckoning
Main Quests
Preserve Ireena's sanity
You have The Tome of Strahd. It's mysteries will likely reveal much about the lord of the land.
You’ve acquired all the treasures foretold by Madame Eva? There was somethin about an ally mentioned lastly. Wasn’t there?
Escape the Domain of Dread.
Side Quests
Mordenkainen was a wizard of legend. Could he really be dead?
You've found Van Ricthen, the famed monster hunter and legendary nemesis to all undead and Stahd himself. Can you convince him to join your party?
Ireena deciphered another chapter from the Tome of Strahd which revealed much about a long forgotten campaign Strahd waged against "The Order of the Silver Dragon" near Argynvostholt. The site of the battle is en route to Vallaki. Sounds worth a look.
Report
The Hunter's Gaze
Picking up from the dramatic reveal at Van Richten's Tower, the group stood face-to-face with the legendary monster hunter himself. A tense silence hung in the air, a silent contest of wills. Van Richten broke it, his words demonstrating a startling awareness of their journey: "I presume you're Ireena Kolyana and you must be the new rebel of the decade, Finn." He commended Finn for making it this far and for preserving Ireena, musing on whether it was sheer fortitude or insanity that led Finn to answer Strahd's fateful dinner invitation. He specifically noted Finn's quick thinking in securing Ireena's safety during the ambush by Strahd's vampire spawn.
Finn, sensing Van Richten's power play and perhaps a hint of judgment, retorted with an observation that might sting: Van Richten knew so much for someone who seemed to have done so little to reverse Barovia's fortunes. He questioned the hunter's absence from meaningful action against Strahd's schemes, particularly in trying to abduct Ireena.
Van Richten conceded that he might have underestimated the significance of recent events. He revealed that he’d been observing Strahd's recurring fascinations with certain women over decades, concluding that these were not novel threats until now. He spoke of rumors of Strahd having periods of malaise and inactivity every few decades. Some say the last such period occurred shortly after a failed courtship. He emphasized that resistance against such an entrenched evil required a careful, strategic approach, waiting for Strahd to be at his most vulnerable.
However, Finn's successful evasion of Strahd's attention and his protection of Ireena indicated a new kind of weakness in Strahd—an overreaction, a growing desperation. Finn had successfully helped Ireena elude Strahd's attention, making him a significant disruptor. Van Richten, admitting his previous inaction and misjudgment of the situation's gravity, then offered his apologies and an openness to help, though not yet fully committing to joining their party.
The Tome's True Secrets
It was Ireena who truly shifted the conversation. She inquired if Van Richten's studies of Strahd had declined since he lost access to his journals. This immediately piqued Van Richten's interest; he hadn't had that journal in ages. Finn, though initially nervous about revealing the Tome of Strahd, yielded to Ireena's wisdom and retrieved it. Van Richten joyously reclaimed his long-lost "treasure," explaining that his investigations had stalled without it.
The group then recounted their own discoveries from the Tome, building upon Van Richten's initial notes and cryptography. He was thrilled to know that his foundational work had been continued. With their combined efforts and the original notes, deciphering the rest of the Tome became the session's central activity. What might have taken weeks of solo study was accomplished in just two days and nights of intense collaboration.
The revelations from the Tome were profound:
Chapter 6: The Wedding Day: Details Strahd's partial transformation after merging with a ceremony with a vampiric entity from a sarcophagus in the Amber Temple, leading to a feeding frenzy at his wedding when his brother Sergei was wounded. Tatyana, horrified by his monstrous transformation, fled into the mists, disappearing. This marked Strahd's full descent into corruption.
Chapter 7: The Corruption of Yester Hill: Strahd solidified his dominion over the land by sacrificing undead hordes at the once-sacred Gulthias Tree, perverting its sacred essence. He battled the original faith leaders, including Gabriel Andral and Sorina Markovia.
Chapter 8: The Heart of the Old Gods: Explains Strahd's further desecration of sacred sites and his dealings with the hags of Old Bonegrinder. Most significantly, it revealed the origin of the Heart of Sorrow, an enormous pulsing human heart, originally a giant holy ruby, that Strahd corrupted through dark alchemy to become his center of power within Castle Ravenloft.
Chapter 9: The March of the Dawn: Chronicles Sorina Markovia's major rebellion against Strahd decades after his transformation. While ultimately unsuccessful, it was the closest Strahd came to true death in years, forcing him to flee in mist form due to his weakened state.
Chapter 10: The Legacy of Vasili von Holtz: Strahd hunts down and exacts slow, painful revenge on Leo dilisnya, one of the original traitors who attempted to assassinate him at his wedding.
Chapter 11: The Final Dusk: Strahd's subsequent relationships after Tatyana, specifically with Patrina Velikovna. He protected her but she was killed by others who believed her to be allied with Strahd.
Chapter 12: A Soul's Return: The most devastating chapter for Ireena. It details Strahd's discovery of Marina, a young servant girl in the village of Berez, who was a new incarnation of Tatyana. Strahd attempted to turn her into his vampire bride, but her adopted father, Lazlo Ulrich, decapitated her to prevent her permanent transformation, bringing Strahd immense despair.
The Tome further revealed that Marina, like Ireena, was found unconscious by a river with no memories, a striking parallel that solidified the cycle. It confirmed that Ireena has already been fed on twice by Strahd, leaving her vulnerable to being made into his vampire bride.
Ireena's Reckoning
As the final chapter of the Tome was revealed, the full, horrifying truth of Ireena's fate slammed into her: she was trapped in an unending cycle of death, rebirth, and torment with Strahd. Death itself offered no escape. This realization was a cognitive hazard, stripping her of all agency and free will. The weight of centuries of suffering, the memories of her previous incarnations, flooded her mind.
Mechanically, this caused Ireena to immediately drop to one sanity point. She then faced a final test to maintain that last shred of mental fortitude, and she failed. Her sanity completely broke. Unlike other systems where this might lead to suicide (which, given her new understanding, she wouldn't attempt), Ireena regressed entirely within herself, entering a state of catatonia. She is effectively out of the game, unable to function.
Van Richten, recognizing Ireena's essential role in any resistance against Strahd, immediately took on the role of her caretaker and psychiatrist. He understood she needed specialized care and could not travel with the party. The sword's hint of Sergei's memory, and the possibility of reuniting their souls to end the cycle, became a fragile beacon of hope for her recovery.
Finn, Ismark, and Van Richten now face the daunting task of finding a way to bring Ireena back, while the threat of Strahd looms larger than ever with the full knowledge of his history and motivations.
Notes and reflections
This session, while devoid of combat or traditional dungeoneering, was one of the most narratively impactful to date. It allowed for a deep dive into Strahd's backstory and motivations directly through the characters' eyes, specifically by completing the deciphering of the Tome of Strahd. Introducing Van Richten at his tower provided the perfect narrative excuse to consolidate this crucial information; as the original decrypter, it made perfect sense for him to collaborate with the party on his unfinished work.
I leaned into accelerating the Tome's revelations, given my solo play style and desire to keep the narrative moving. The "interactive Tome of Strahd" provided a fantastic framework for delivering these lore nuggets and even suggested spell rewards for completing chapters (which I've decided to simply grant the players, despite not playing out the specific unlock conditions). These new spells will give the party some powerful tools, even with the recent loss of Esmerelda and now, in a different way, Ireena's incapacitation.
Ireena's mental break was a deliberate choice. I've always felt her sanity would be a major obstacle, and this revelation felt like the perfect, poetic moment for it to shatter. It creates a new, incredibly compelling objective: finding a way to heal her and break the tragic cycle. It also means the party will need a new approach, and with Van Richten effectively joining the party (albeit as Ireena's caretaker for now), they'll have a powerful new ally.
The Amber Temple, hinted at in the Tome as the source of Strahd's vampiric power, feels like the logical next destination. It presents its own set of temptations and dark powers, which could offer Finn a new form of corruption or a path to confront Strahd on his own level, especially given his existing curse. The stakes continue to rise, and while I may be eager to explore other projects, the compelling nature of this story keeps me deeply engaged.