Curse of Strahd: Reloaded Update - The Monster Hunter

Progress on Arc T: The Three Fanes is ongoing and proceeding well apace! The arc, which is now 17.4k words long, is approximately two-thirds complete. Since my last update, I've completed the following additions:

• designed encounters in the Berez churchyard, goat pen, and garden

• drafted the players return to the Vallaki Vistani camp and reunion with Arturi Radanavich

• drafted the three-way reunion between Arturi, Van Richten, and Ezmerelda

• designed the players' two-part challenge to lift Arturi and Van Richten's curses

• drafted Erasmus's reunion with Van Richten

You can read some excerpts of what I've written below:

Luvash's Invitation

When the players first return to P. Luna River Crossroads (p. 40) after completing Arc S - A Sword of Sunlight, read:

The southwestern bushes rustle, and a cloaked and hooded figure steps forth from the underbrush. They raise a hand, gesturing for you to approach.

The cloaked figure is the Vistani bandit Alexei, sent by Luvash to bring the players a secret message. If the players call out to him, he shakes his head urgently and gestures more frantically for them to approach. If the players ignore him, he hisses, “Please. I have a message for you” while nervously checking his surroundings for any eavesdroppers.

If the players follow him into the trees, they can discern his features: a young man with close-cropped, chestnut-brown hair and the barest beginnings of a beard growing across his cheeks. Players who previously encountered him in Arc E - The Missing Vistana recognize him as Alexei.

Alexei, who refuses to lower his hood and constantly glances at his surroundings for eavesdroppers, greets the players with a trembling voice, and asks for them by name. If they identify themselves or ask Alexei the reason for his visit, he swallows and informs them that a “guest” at the Vallakian Vistani camp wishes to speak with them about an urgent matter. “Please,” he adds, his eyes fearful. (Alexei doesn’t know the guest’s identity—only that this individual is a guest of Luvash’s.)

If the players ask Alexei the reason for his fear, he laughs nervously, then mumbles that he’s heard the “Lord of Castle Ravenloft” is hunting them, and that any who provide them shelter will suffer alongside them. (Alexei can confirm that this is why Luvash ordered him to deliver this message covertly.)

If the players express an interest in meeting Luvash’s “guest,” Alexei directs the players to speak with Luvash in N9c. Vistani Tent (p. 121).

Before departing, Alexei warns the players not to approach the Vistani camp openly, and to conceal their presence from any watchful spies. “I cannot return with you,” he says, his voice trembling. “If our people are seen with you, it could mean calamity for us—or worse.” Alexei then turns and vanishes into the Svalich Wood, making his way back to the Vistani camp by another way.

The Radanavich Caravan

Arturi and Van Richten can guide the players to the wreckage of the Radanavich caravan, which lies in a woodland clearing a mile southwest of the village of Krezk, along the banks of the Raven River. The journey from the Vistani encampment to the Radanavich caravan is seven miles long and takes two hours and twenty minutes.

When the players arrive, read:

The trees part to reveal a small, wooded hollow along the rush of the Raven River. The broken remains of an old Vistani caravan lie here: a half-dozen barrel-topped wagons listing over rotted axles, their rounded roofs fallen in long ago. Once-bright coats of red and yellow paint slough off the spongy wood below, and stained-glass windows lie in tiny shards upon the ground. Those few windows that remain cling hopelessly to weather-worn sills, their glass caked with filth. Nearby, the barest remnants of an old campfire lie sunken amidst the sandy soil, shrouded by a thick layer of mist that crawls across the earth.

Upon arriving, Arturi and Van Richten gaze silently at the encampment: Arturi’s face solemn, and Van Richten’s shadowed. (A DC 13 Wisdom (Insight) check reveals that Van Richten’s expression is one of grief and regret.)

Soon after arriving, Arturi softly shares that he “still remembers” the camp as it was on that night long ago. If the players express an interest in Arturi’s memories, read:

Arturi closes his eyes, then takes a slow, deep breath.

A wind whips through the air and, for a moment, the crawling mists seem to take forms amidst the wreckage—a merry fire flickering within the stones; a raven-haired girl gamboling to a spirited violin; a throng of Vistani clapping and singing, unmindful of their approaching doom—and then the wind blows again, and the fog recedes to crawl once more upon the ground.

Arturi’s eyes open again. “It was home,” he says, his voice ragged.

Erasmus's Return

With Van Richten’s curse lifted, Erasmus van Richten’s ghost is finally able to cross over into the Material Plane. Shortly after the undead horde retreats, read:

A pale, silvery light fills the hollow. A wisp of perlescent mist shimmers through the air—then slowly takes the form of a ghostly young man no older than fourteen years of age, his unkempt hair drifting lazily amidst the gloom. His eyes fall on Van Richten, and he swallows, his hands fidgeting with the translucent buttons on his ghostly coat.

”Father?” he says, hesitantly.

As always, 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 can be found on the Patreon Bronze Masterpost.

That's all I've got for this update! I look forward to bringing you more :)

Cheers,
Dragna