Bored, Shifty opens the north door from the Great Hall, revealing a ruined office, its dark wood panels warped and scarred by age and abuse. As he crosses the threshold of the ruined room, a massive flame ignites in the fireplace. The blaze, dragon shaped, extends broad wings to fill the vast hearth, and a low and sonorous voice commands, “Assemble your companions!” Shifty flees to find the others.
The group gather in the orange glow of the fiery dragon shape. Its eyes flicker briefly on to each of the heroes, before again spreading its flaming wings. “I am the spirit of Argynvost, leader of the Order of the Silver Dragon!” The friends shift uneasily, unsure what the ghostly dragon spirit wishes of them. “I am a sworn enemy of the Vampire Lord who captured this land and enslaved its populace! He who butchered my dragon body and enslaved my faithful knights! What do you seek in the ruins of my stronghold?”
Zilk is quick about summarizing their current mission to find a sizable diamond to use in resurrecting the one who has been foretold as their helper in defeating Strahd, hopefully in time to free their friend Ireena. “You have knights…would they have worn a silver dragon on a blue field? A knight with that device attacked us on the road to this place. I have his head.”
Zilk plucks the head of the dead revenant from his pack.
The spirit flickers in silence, as if considering carefully before speaking. “That is Morterax, guardian of our road. He cannot be at rest until you bury his head with his body and bless the ground he is laid to rest in.”
”We will do this,” declares Zilk.
”Free my other knights and you shall have the contents of my treasury. The Order nor I have no use for gold, gems or magic. Strahd could not touch the treasure, blessed by some of the magic that lies within. But you must also defeat the guards Strahd set to prevent others from taking the contents of the treasury.”
”We might free your knights,” Crystal says in a quavering voice, “but we’d need to know how.”
“I thank you, Little Sister, and you, Sir Bugbear. My knights have been possessed by demons summoned by Count Strahd. Destroy the demon that possesses each knight, bury their bodies in sanctified ground, and they will be able to rest.”
”And you,” continues Crystal, with a bit more confidence, “how do we free you?”
“Reunite my skull and my bones and I will be freed from the walls of Argynvostholt, once my pride and now my prison.”
Novaril squints hard at the flaming figure, “Where are your skull and bones?”
The fire spirit twists a lithe neck to face the ranger, who detects what may be profound sadness in the pits that indicate where deepest eyes might be.
”Strahd butchered my body after defeating me in single combat. My human form,” a fiery finger indicates the largest portrait in the room. It shows a kind-eyed man with a chiseled face clad in plate. A silver dragon on a blue field shines from the breastplate. “My human form was defeated by powerful magics that I very much underestimated. And my knights have paid for my mistake.” The dragon pauses for several beats.
“ My bones lie beneath Ravenloft. My skull was given to the witch Baba Lysaga before her banishment to Berez. Unite them and I will be free from the stones of Argynvostholdt.”
The group assure they will try to free the dragon’s spirit, but they will free the Order’s knights so they can retrieve the treasure.
“This room is a safe place to rest. No evil thing can reach you within these four walls, but step out of this room and I cannot protect you. But for tonight, sleep peacefully.”
⚔
In the morning, the group decide to divide. Zilk and Ratrick bring Biblo, Nike and Ilya to search for the treasury. Entering the ruined dining room, lit by a brass chandelier. Its enchanted candles flickering, lighting much of the room, but Zilk easily spots two shadow demons cowering in the dim corners of the vast room. The group move quickly away, not to be distracted from their mission.
Biblo strides to the double doors on the east wall. Fingers of mist seep from beneath the door, spilling onto the toes of his boots. He peers inside, then enters, becoming engulfed by thick, evil smelling mists. He feels his comrades enter beside himself, but he can barely see them. Suddenly, he becomes terribly alert.
”There are four, maybe five, creatures ahead of us. They are trying to be quiet, but I can hear them!”
⚔
Novaril, Crystal and Shifty step from Argyvost’s room into a parlor where knights must have met and planned. Stiff and stained velvet curtains hang limply from tall, narrow windows. Nothing of value is here in the ruin.
The trio make their way slowly to a servant’s dormitory. Decaying linens and rat-chewed bed frames are crammed into this space. A window overlooks a courtyard, showing several crooked tombstones and a well. The back wall of what is a chapel can also be seen. “We might as well head that way,” says Crystal, opening a door.
The repetitive banging from within a kettle hanging in the empty fireplace is the first thing that registers to the friends. Crystal steps into the ruin of a kitchen and blasts the pot with a Fire Bolt spell, knocking the lid from the pot.
A large bat flits out clumsily, smoking from the magical fire. The creature flies in panicked circles, desperately searching for a way to escape. The comrades, alarmed that it may not be a bat, first hold up Shifty’s cat to try to catch the bat. When that does not work, Shifty ignites a Light spell, illuminating the room, and disturbing the hundreds of bats that have been roosting from the ceiling of the dim kitchen.
The space fills with leathering wings and furry bodies, surrounding the friends in fluttering and squeaks.
