Curse of Strahd Reloaded Update: Seance, Rahadin & New Release Date

This is the sixth in a series of regular posts providing updates on my progress in drafting and editing the new Reloaded guide. You can find all previous posts here.

Apologies for going dark for so long! The holidays caught me by surprise, and it's been a bit of struggle to get through all of the edits I needed to make to the already-published arcs. 

I do have some updates, though, including one big one: Barring a sudden crisis or surprise, I expect the new update (version 2.0.5), including Arc K: The Stolen Gem and the first half of Arc L: The Fallen Abbey to go live early next week!

In other news, since my last update, I have made a number of additions and edits:

• Designed the players' seance with Ezmerelda and the ghost of St. Markovia in Arc L: The Fallen Abbey.
• Drafted the players' first meeting with the werewolf Bianca on the shores of Lake Baratok in Arc M: The Den of Wolves.
• Revised Van Richten's history with Arturi Radanavich in preparation for Arc O: The Moonlit Murders.
• Added a new scene with Bildrath Cantemir at the Blood on the Vine tavern in Arc B: Welcome to Barovia.
• Added new background and new introductory scenes with Henrik van der Voort and Milivoj in Arc E: St. Andral's Feast.
• Added a new encounter with Rahadin at the conclusion of Arc E: St. Andral's Feast and Arc G: Lady Wachter's Wish.
• Added the Festival of the Blazing Sun as a deadline for the players to rescue Ireena in Arc H: The Strazni Siblings.
• Reworked Franz's story to make him more sympathetic in Arc I: The Lost Soul.
• Added a new scene in which the Abbot cures the players' lycanthropy in Arc J: The Walls of Krezk.

I also made a host of small edits, tweaks, and fixes, aiming to improve the coherence and mechanics of the overall guide.

Here's a sneak preview of three excerpts from the update: the seance with St. Markovia; the meeting with Bianca; and the encounter with Rahadin.

The Seance

To begin the seance, Ezmerelda retrieves a deck of Tarokka cards from her coat and lays the entire deck out flat across the center of the chalk circle. She can inform the players that, like a spirit board, the cards will allow spirits to communicate with them from across the veil.

She warns the players, however, that they may ask only thirteen questions of the spirit that answers her question—and that once the seance has concluded, she won’t be able to conduct another one for a full three days.

Once the players are ready, Ezmerelda invites the players to sit around the edges of the circle and join hands. Read:

Ezmerelda’s eyes meet each of yours in turn before closing. She bows her head, black curls cascading across her shoulders, and softly begins to chant.

The air thickens, as if charged with static, and the hairs on your arms begin to stand on end. You hear the soft scrape of chalk against stone as, one by one, the lines of the pentagram begin to glow faintly, emanating a soft, silver light.

A low, resonant hum fills the room, vibrating through the floor and into the soles of your feet, as if the very stones of the Abbey have joined in the chant. The ambient sounds beyond the walls fade away, leaving only the rhythmic cadence of Ezmerelda's whispered incantations, which rise and fall like a distant tide. The air grows colder, each breath forming wisps of mist that rise and swirl above your heads.

”Spirits,” Ezmerelda murmurs, swaying faintly. “We seek your wisdom and knowledge. The Abbot of this Abbey has fallen to darkness and corruption. Aid us, and tell us how the stains upon his soul may be cleansed.”

There is a pause — and then the temperature plunges, your skin prickling fiercely. You feel a sudden sense of being watched, as an unmistakable, yet unseeable presence settles like a shroud across the room.

Ezmerelda’s eyes snap open. “We are not alone,” she whispers.

The presence is the spirit of Saint Markovia, which can communicate with the players by flipping individual Tarokka cards face—up from the Ethereal Plane. Each time the players ask a new question, the spirit flips all face—up cards face down and chooses a new set of cards to flip face—up.

Meeting Bianca

If the players agree to accompany Ezmerelda to Lake Baratok to retrieve some supplies from her wagon, the area is as described in Arc F - The Missing Vistana.

When the players arrive, Ezmerelda enters the wagon via the hidden trapdoor in its underbelly. Shortly after doing so, she informs the players—sounding shocked—that someone has been inside the wagon and stolen several of her belongings, including the two spell scrolls, a lyre, and three vials of perfume.

Each player with a passive Wisdom (Perception) score of 12 or higher then notices the faint sound of music emanating from the far side of the tower. A player can also make a DC 14 Wisdom (Survival) check to identify a set of recent humanoid footprints leading from the wagon toward the source of the music—left no longer than an hour ago.

As the players approach the source of the music, they can hear the following three stanzas of a haunting lament.

Hear, O stars, my yearning plea,

To feel his arms upon me.

Lost beneath the starlit sea,

His light it waits, haunting me

Draw his whispers close to me,

That in his shade, I might see

Heed, heed his call.

Ooh.

Rahadin's Justice

When the players arrive in the town square, which is largely as described in N8. Town Square (p. 119), they find a small crowd of onlookers has gathered around the platform holding the empty stocks. Atop the platform stands Rahadin, flanked by two pale-faced Vallakian guards. One of the guards is bending down and arguing with Father Petrovich, who stands at the base of the platform.

On either side of Rahadin kneel Milivoj and Henrik van der Voort, their legs and feet bound with rope. Henrik is weeping with fear, while Milivoj is staring vacantly at the ground. Not far away, Milivoj's sobbing seven younger siblings, described further in E2. Milivoj’s House, struggle to ascend the platform stairs to reach him as a third guard blocks their path.

Father Petrovich and Milivoj's siblings are grateful to see the players upon their arrival. Father Petrovich asks the players to help "stop this madness," noting quietly that Milivoj may have made mistakes, but hardly ones deserving of death.

If confronted, Rahadin can coldly share that Milivoj and Henrik have been found guilty of crimes against Vallaki and its people.

If the players demand to know which crimes Milivoj and Henrik have committed, or at another suitable point during the proceedings, the crowd parts as Lady Fiona Wachter arrives, flanked by four guards and two cultists. Lady Wachter then demands Rahadin inform her of Milivoj and Henrik's crimes. "If the servants of Castle Ravenloft presume to commandeer my guards without my knowledge or permission," she fumes, "I have that right, at least."

Rahadin then reads aloud the following proclamation:

I, Strahd von Zarovich, Lord of Barovia, hereby find Henrik van der Voort of Vallaki GUILTY of the following charges: conspiracy to commit burglary; conspiracy to commit theft; accessory to theft; and receiving stolen property.

I further find Milivoj of Vallaki GUILTY of the following charges: trespassing, destruction of property, conspiracy to commit burglary, burglary, and theft.

It is therefore ordered that each receive suitable punishments as befitting the circumstances and nature of their crimes, to be determined and carried out by the Chamberlain of Castle Ravenloft with all reasonable haste.

The proclamation is signed and sealed by Strahd.

You can get full access to my in-progress drafts by joining the Patreon as a paid member. All working drafts and outlines for future arcs, as well as a changelog and Trello board of upcoming edits, can be found on the Patreon Bronze Masterpost.

Thank you for following and using this guide! If you have any questions, feel free to drop them in the comments.

I look forward to bringing you future updates.

Cheers,
Dragna