The Squishies begin the fight with the undead knights. Esmeralda attacks the monsters, and tries to tell everyone else to get out. Xylil quickly summons their spirit guardians to try and lock down the undead. Azalea launches her Magic Missiles, and Qwib Qwib summons her wolf pack to defend her crush. Shortly, Rasper and Altheon quickly return after ensuring that Savid is good on their own.
Rasper uses Nail to attack up close, while shooting the creatures from afar. Altheon keeps Iroh back to avoid too much happening in the small room, but initially fires a shortbow at the enemies. Things change when Azalea summons a shadow creature which helps lock down the bad guys. After this, Altheon uses Holy Water to create Holy Water Rain, in a decision that the DM is quickly regretting. (Honestly, we probably need to re-work this.)
After the enemies go down, the team heals up and continues exploring the manor. They head upstairs and find a bust that shows many of them different things. Qwib Qwib sees the mutilated head of Ripper. Azalea sees her old body’s decapitated head. Rasper sees his own head, reanimated and twitching while declaring Strahd his master. As he approaches to inspect the thing, he drops it and it shatters into the porcelain bust that Altheon saw. Xylil did not look at the statue. No magic was detected, and they all have no clue what the hell was going on with it.
From here, the party separates with Rasper, Qwib Qwib, and Esmeralda looking at the south, destroyed rooms, while the rest of the group heads north. As Xylil inspects one of the rooms, a strange trap activates, a phantom stone wall blocking the southern group from rejoining as Xylil, Altheon and Azalea fight off some phantom warriors.
As Rasper tries to blow a hole in the wall, the other group whittles down the phantoms, eventually ending their assault.
Regrouped, the party heads upstairs, wary of what may come.
They cautiously look around a corner, and see another undead knight sitting on a throne. Qwib Qwib gets a little closer, and this one speaks to her.
“If you have come to free this land from the creature that feasts on the blood of the innocent, know this: There is no monster I hate more than Strahd von Zarovich. He slew Argynvost, broke the life of the knight I loved, and destroyed the valiant order to which I devoted my life, but Strahd has already died once. He can’t be allowed to die again. Instead, he must suffer eternally in a hell of his own creation, from which he can never escape. Whatever can be done to bring him misery and unrest, I will do, but I will destroy anyone who tries to end his torment.”
Though Qwib Qwib tries to talk him down, and Rasper (I think) says they can bring Strahd here for him to torture, the creature warns the party to leave. Not listening to the undead knight, he draws his sword and says they have forfeit their lives. Several more phantom warriors appear around the knight as they all prepare for a final fight in this manor.
