Evil Presents - CoS

 As we started this episode in the depths of the cathedral, our adventurers are resting in a vacant room.  During the rest, we decide to plan our next move in searching the halls, but Virgil is really ready to go take on Strahd and feels that this "search" for more treasure is a waste of time.  Dante, on the other hand, feels that it would be wiser to see what we can find in our searches.  Maybe we can find something that will help us defeat our cursed host.  Their discussion becomes a heated argument in which Dante calls out Virgil’s "eagerness" for battle and basically accuses him of leading the Crimson Order to their deaths.  This does not sit well with Virgil and he decides to hang back while the rest of us go check out the room next to ours where we hear voices.  Eravan decides to try and play the "lost circus performers" scheme as he knocks on the door and see if he can avoid a fight.  As the door is thrown open, the small group sees a band of rough looking guys and a dire wolf and they don't look like they are very welcoming...especially when they draw their swords and spears.

 

Eravan reacts first and sends in a fireball...and then he dashes behind Dante and says, "you first."  Dante, Banshee, Dorol and Castiel enter the room to battle these ruffians and Eravan stays back to give cover fire.  Castiel pulls off an awesome attack and blinds 3 of them, Dorol finishes them off, one by one.  Dante rushes in and takes on 2 others and the wolf, Banshee and Castiel though take on the boss.  He is ruthless with them and it is a tough battle.  Even though they lay hit after hit on the leader of this small tribe, Banshee is knocked to the ground before Castiel is able to deliver the death blow.  We all wonder whether or not there is anything we can do to save him but Dorol decides to throw questions aside and lays a blessing of healing on him and miraculously Banshee's battery is recharged.

 

The battle really leaves us weak and tired and we decide to take a full rest here.  We invite Virgil to come be with us, but he ignores our invitations.  At the end of our rest, Eravan notices a door at the other end of the room and looks through.  He sees a hallway with amber doors and walls but what really draws his attention is a man in robes and furs lying dead on the floor.  Not knowing if there are traps, he decides to send a spirit bear to pick up the wizard and bring his body to us.  As he does this, a book and staff fall to the ground.  Eravan has the bear collect both items and Eravan casts detect magic on the items.  The staff glows and he offers it to Banshee, knowing that he hasn't received many magical weapons or armor like the rest of the group.  But Banshee is not the spell caster like Eravan is and decides to decline.  Looking back, Eravan wishes that he hadn't said no.  The staff is a staff of Frost, able to cast some cool spells that he hasn't mastered but unbeknownst to him, he has been cursed with the strong desire for power and will do anything to get it.

 

Before we move on, Eravan tries one last time to convince Virgil to come and luckily Virgil is willing to join the group but maintains his distance from Dante.  I am not sure which is frostier; Eravan's new staff or the air between these two dudes.  We decide to talk again with the Guardian and see what we could learn from him.  He won't let us down into the lower levels, but he does tell us a way to get out and that is by helping him track down 2 wizards that came in earlier and convince them to leave (Eravan is thinking the whole time that he is holding the staff of one of the mages and if the other is dead too, what powers can he scrounge off of him?)

 

As the group goes down the opposite hallway in pursuit of the other wizard, Eravan is drawn by the sense of power that is located in the lower levels (forgetting all about the other wizard).  He is able to sneak past the guardian and the others don't realize where he has gone (Dante realizes that it is a little quiet) and they decide to go in search of the stupid teenager.  Eravan gets past the guardian and is drawn to a room that has 3 sarcophagi, each pulsing with magic and whispering temptations to him.  He sees them and thinks back to the time he sees the coffin on the front doorsteps of the Dragon manor with his name and image in it and gets scared and closes the door.  Yet, the desire for power overcomes him and he returns.  At this moment, the group catches up to him and severely chastises him for his stupidity.  Yet, he tells them about the sarcophagi, and they all go into the room.  The temptations return and he is overwhelmed with the desire to touch them that he does before anyone can stop him and it speaks to him.  It offers him the great power of flight and he accepts the gift.  Gift it is not!  Painfully, skeletal wings sprout from his back and has he beholds them, he is horrified by them as well as excited by the power they give him.  Yet, he is more horrified.  He tries to get rid of them through magic, but it doesn't work.  He then freaks out and realizes that a strong urge leaves him.  He perceives that his will was not his own and he is scared by what has happened.

Banshee also hears the voices and succumbs tot he temptation to touch one of the other pulsing sarcophaguses.  It offers him the power to charm others but as he looks upon Eravan, he thinks about it and decides that whatever gift he is being offered here is not worth the consequence.  The group leaves and continues down the corridor once again towards the other wizard.  In route, they come upon an Amber golem and another battle ensues.  This is another good fight and when we defeat the creature, we all realize that we can harvest it for the precious stone that it is made of.

We move on and find a wondrous room, a library.  It is full of books of all types from floor to ceiling.  None have seen a room such as this and as they are looking at it, they notice a man in robes, enter from another door who says, "Do I know you?"  And that is the end of this chapter. Tune in on January 9th as we continue the story of our adventurers.  This sure was a night of lessons.  Yet will they learn from them?