Curse of Strahd

Session 001 - Welcome to Barovia

21 min read

Details

  • Confidence: sourced from GM Assistant data
  • Date: 2026-04-01
  • Next: Session 002 - Durst Manor
  • GM Assistant title: ‘S1 Welcome to Barovia’
  • Source: exports/curse-of-strahd/sessions/001_2026-04-01_s1-welcome-to-barovia.json

Date note: GM Assistant records this session as played 2026-04-01; Jon’s Obsidian note says 2026-04-06. Keeping 2026-04-01 pending Jon’s answer.

Summary

Six companions — Chrystyandar, Kaelis, Leoberos, Lucien, Mortimer, and Rissa — each carrying troubled pasts defined by exile, loss, injustice, and supernatural burdens, came together after returning a stolen signet ring to Duchess Morwen of Daggerford. Tasked with evicting a Vistani camp outside the town walls, they instead found themselves drawn in by the Vistani leader Stanimir, who conjured vivid fire illusions to tell the story of a cursed prince who had become a tyrant trapping his people in a mist-shrouded land called Barovia. Before departing, each companion gazed into the bonfire and witnessed deeply personal visions from their own pasts — visions that left them shaken and certain that Stanimir knew far more about them than he let on. Swayed by themes of injustice and destiny, the group agreed to travel with the Vistani to meet Madame Eva and help break the curse.

Setting out at dawn, the party was swallowed by an unnatural fog that dissolved the Vistani and deposited them alone at the gates of Barovia — rusted iron doors flanked by headless statues that opened silently and shut firmly behind them. They soon discovered the body of a young man bearing a desperate letter from Barovia’s Burgomaster, pleading for holy intervention against a great evil. Pressing on, they encountered two children, Rose and Thorn, standing before a blazing three-story manor and claiming a monster lurked inside with their parents. With the mist pressing in behind them, Leoberos led the group through the shrieking gate of Durst Manor, where they found opulent but deeply unsettling rooms — a feast laid for eight with no source of food, hidden carvings of suffering woven into decorative woodwork, and a collection of weapons and curiosities — before turning their attention to the dark staircase above.

Recap

Before the road to Barovia ever came into view, the six companions who would come to call themselves the Regulators each carried a world of their own. Chrystyandar, a pale-skinned human wizard with dark auburn hair and a talent for improvisation, had spent years navigating the blurry line between law and justice — mostly on the wrong side of it. His past was littered with a vengeful magistrate named Vera Styx, a wealthy ex-girlfriend named Darla whose family connections made her dangerous, and at least one dockside explosion he swore he had nothing to do with. Kaelis, an ashen-red tiefling from the desert city of Memnon, had been blessed — or so he believed — by a djinni in his youth, earning him the street name “The Djinn.” Trained by a hard-nosed swashbuckler named Enrique Montblanc, he had been exiled from his guild by a man named Samuel, smuggled out of the city by his former lover Kalifa, wrongly imprisoned in Baldur’s Gate, and was now biding his time with a halfling guild captain named Aubrin Merrysmiles, waiting for the adventure that would make his name legendary.

Leoberos was an aasimar of towering height and golden eyes who had been orphaned young, shunned for his otherworldly aura, and briefly ensnared by an abyssal cult before his celestial heritage blazed to life and he fled into the night. A humble farming family had taken him in without question, and later, a scholar at Candlekeep named Ronin had helped him understand what he was. Haunted by the corruption of the fallen angel Zariel and the cult overlord Rakugeras, Leoberos had sworn to bring justice to all dark things — and he traveled everywhere with his enormous mastiff, Meathead. Lucien Crowley, a light-skinned tiefling with swept-back horns and a silver tongue, had grown up comfortably until the day he watched his father’s restaurant quietly excluded from a city festival without so much as a protest. That quiet injustice had led him to co-found a communal refuge called the Collective with his partner, Seraphine, and his friend, Jonah Hale — until Jonah’s hardline ideology turned the dream into something violent, ruining a good farmer named Thomas Alder and forcing Lucien to walk away in guilt and disillusionment.

Mortimer Grimshaw was the son of a vampire lord named Draven Voss, who had seduced his mother and vanished, leaving Mortimer to grow up as a pale, red-eyed outcast in a small hamlet outside Daggerford. When Draven returned to claim him as part of his legacy, he slaughtered Mortimer’s mother and his best friend, Javier, before killing Mortimer himself. The god Kelemvor, who judges the dead, saw in Mortimer’s dhampir soul a useful instrument and sent him back to life with a cold charge: hunt the undead, or face oblivion. Ysarissa — Rissa to her friends — was a wood elf with black braided hair and blue eyes who had grown up in a loving elven household before falling in with street pickpockets and a charismatic human smuggler she had loved deeply. When her family arranged his convenient death and pressed her toward a political marriage, she fled and never looked back, becoming a treasure hunter who wore her lost lover’s ring on a chain around her neck and trusted almost no one.

These six had recently returned a stolen signet ring — the Amber Ring — to Duchess Morwen of Daggerford, earning her gratitude and a seat at her table. Over a dinner of hot spicy soup and roasted pheasant, the Duchess voiced her concern about a band of mysterious travelers camped outside the town walls. They had seemed harmless at first, but reports had come in of harassment, demands for money and wine, and threats of hexes — and when she had sent guards to remove them, the guards had returned charmed and sympathetic. Morwen tasked the Regulators with delivering a firm message: leave before dawn, or watch their wagons burn.

The party approached the camp to find a dozen Vistani men and women singing and dancing around a crackling bonfire, their three barrel-topped wagons parked at odd angles and their draft horses adorned with bright bangles and tassels. Their leader, a man named Stanimir, greeted Leoberos’s thunderous ultimatum with a laugh and an invitation to sit, eat, and listen to a story first. He filled his mouth with high-proof wine and spat it into the fire, turning the flames from orange to green, and within the bonfire’s core conjured vivid, dancing illusions — a wounded prince saved by the Vistani, a debt of safe passage repaid, and then the slow, terrible corruption of that same prince into a tyrant who now held his entire people captive within a mist-shrouded land called Barovia. Stanimir explained that the Vistani alone could enter and leave Barovia freely, and he asked the party to return with them to meet their leader, Madame Eva, and help break the curse that had consumed the prince. Leoberos declared it their destiny before anyone else could speak, and the rest of the party — swayed by visions of injustice, trapped people, and the lure of the unknown — agreed.

Before the wagons rolled, Stanimir invited each of the companions to gaze into the bonfire, and what they saw shook them to their cores. Chrystyandar watched his parents burn. Mortimer relived his own death and his mother’s final struggle. Leoberos saw the warmth of his adoptive farming family. Rissa saw herself drowning and her brother pulling her to safety. Lucien witnessed the early, hopeful days of the Collective. Kaelis felt the djinni’s blessing. None of them spoke of what they saw, but all of them understood that Stanimir knew — and that this journey was already more than it appeared.

They set out at dawn, walking alongside the wagons as the road stretched south. The journey seemed uneventful until a thick, unnatural fog rolled in from all sides, swallowing the road, the wagons, and the sounds around them. When the mist cleared, the Vistani were gone. The six companions stood alone on a muddy road lined with black pools of standing water and enormous trees whose branches clawed at the gray sky. Ahead of them, massive stone buttresses rose from the fog, and between them hung a pair of rusted iron gates flanked by headless guardian statues, their severed heads lying in the weeds below. The gates swung open in silence as the party approached — and shut firmly behind them the moment they passed through.

It was not long before Mortimer and Meathead caught the scent of death drifting from the underbrush. Fifteen feet off the road, they found the body of a young man — a commoner, his clothes raked with claw marks from wolves or large dogs, his flesh picked at by crows. He had been dead for days. Clutched in his stiff hand was a crumpled, wax-sealed letter from the Burgomaster of Barovia, pleading for holy men to encircle the land with sacred symbols and contain the devil within, urging any who read it to save the world from Barovia’s fate and leave the dead to their graves. Wolves howled in the distance as the mist thickened around them, and Leoberos declared once more that they had found their purpose.

The road eventually brought them to a tall, three-story brick row house blazing with light in every window. Before it stood two children — a girl named Rose and her younger brother Thorn, who clutched a stuffed doll and wept quietly while his sister tried to comfort him. Rose told them there was a monster inside, making terrible howls, and that their parents were still in there. The mist seemed to press in from the road behind the party as if herding them forward, and Leoberos, with Meathead at his heels, marched straight for the gate without waiting for a vote. Mortimer managed to cast a protective blessing over him just before he pushed through the shrieking iron gate and into the portico of Durst Manor.

Inside, the house was opulent and deeply wrong. The foyer held portraits of stony-faced aristocrats and a shield bearing a golden windmill on a red field. The main hall featured a black marble fireplace, a sweeping red marble staircase, and wood-paneled walls carved with images of vines and nymphs — but a closer look revealed hidden images of starving men, women, and children woven into the decorative patterns. Leoberos claimed a longsword mounted above the fireplace, declaring it a potential weapon of evil that needed to be commandeered. The dining room held a warm, resplendent feast laid out for eight — meats, fruits, cheeses, crystal goblets — as if guests had stepped away mid-meal, yet the kitchen oven was cold, and the pantry held nothing but empty burlap sacks. In the hunter’s den, Kaelis picked the locks on two cabinets and found a collection of crossbows and a deck of playing cards, which he quietly pocketed. The party called out into the house and heard nothing in return — only the distant, growing howl of wolves outside — and turned their eyes toward the staircase leading up into the dark.

Scenes

1. Character Introductions and Backstories

The party members share their backgrounds, motivations, and personality traits as they prepare for their journey.

  • Chrystyandar Caffrey describes his history as a human wizard with a criminal background, mentioning his past with a wealthy woman named Darla and a grudge-holding magistrate named Vera Styx.
  • Chrystyandar explains his ideals around freedom, fairness, and the difference between law and justice, as well as his fondness for alchemy shops.
  • Kaelis Astorath, a tiefling known as ‘The Djinn’, recounts his upbringing on the streets of Memnon in Calimshan, his mentorship under the swashbuckler Enrique Montblanc, and his exile from a local guild by leader Samuel.
  • Kaelis describes his escape from Memnon with the help of his former romantic partner Kalifa, his subsequent incarceration in Baldur’s Gate for a crime he didn’t commit, and his current alliance with halfling guild scout captain Aubrin Merrysmiles.
  • Leoberos Ulesith, an aasimar paladin, shares his tragic origin of being orphaned, shunned, and ensnared by an abyssal cult before his celestial heritage manifested and he fled.
  • Leoberos describes being rescued by a farming family, his studies at Candlekeep under the guidance of scholar Ronin, and his vow to seek vengeance against dark forces, inspired by the fall of the angel Zariel.
  • Lucien Crowley recounts his comfortable tiefling upbringing and the moment he witnessed his father’s restaurant quietly excluded from a city festival, shaping his worldview.
  • Lucien explains how he co-founded The Collective as a communal refuge, how his friend Jonah Hale turned it into a hardline, violent organization, and how Lucien eventually left after farmer Thomas Alder was ruined.
  • Lucien describes his subsequent work as a law clerk and a druidic ritual performed by a mystic named Eliza that gave him a vision of thick mists, prompting him to seek adventure.
  • Mortimer Grimshaw reveals his nature as a dhampir, born from a human mother and the vampire lord Draven Voss, and his childhood as an outcast who was bullied by a clique led by Chad Brightstone.
  • Mortimer describes his first succumbing to his vampiric urges against one of his bullies by a river, which drew Draven back to claim him.
  • Mortimer recounts how Draven murdered his mother and his best friend Javier before killing Mortimer himself, and how the god Kelemvor resurrected him and bound him to hunt the undead.
  • Ysarissa ‘Rissa’ Orynden shares her past as a wood elf from a bustling port city who learned archery from her father but also fell in with a band of local pickpockets.
  • Rissa explains how she fell in love with a charismatic human smuggler, whose death in a ‘convenient accident’ after her family discovered the relationship led her to flee an arranged marriage and become a treasure hunter.
  • The players discuss their characters’ traits, ideals, bonds, and flaws, establishing the group’s dynamic, and the party is named ‘The Regulators’ by Leoberos.

2. A Royal Dinner in Daggerford

The party dines with Duchess Morwen of Daggerford, who tasks them with removing a group of troublesome travelers camped outside the town walls.

  • The party enjoys a lavish meal of spicy soup and pheasant at the keep of Duchess Morwen.
  • Duchess Morwen expresses her concern regarding a band of wayward travelers who have been harassing locals and visitors, demanding money and wine and threatening to bid hexes on those who don’t pay.
  • The Duchess reveals that her guards were magically charmed when they previously attempted to remove the visitors.
  • Morwen tasks the party with delivering a stern ultimatum: the travelers must leave by dawn or she will burn their wagons.
  • The party discusses their approach to the mission, with some members suggesting poisoning wine to give to the travelers when they demand it.

3. The Vistani Campfire

The party approaches the travelers’ camp and listens to a mystical tale told by their leader, Stanimir, who recruits them for a quest into the mist-shrouded land of Barovia.

  • The party discovers a dozen Vistani travelers singing and dancing around a bonfire with three barrel-topped wagons and draft horses adorned with bangles and tassels.
  • Leoberos marches into the center of the camp and delivers the Duchess’s ultimatum to the travelers.
  • Stanimir, the leader of the group, invites the party to sit, listen to a story, and enjoy refreshments before they depart.
  • Stanimir performs a ritual, spitting high-proof alcohol into the fire to create magical illusions within the flames, turning them from orange to green.
  • The fire depicts a story of a wounded prince saved by the Vistani and a curse that has since turned him into a tyrant who controls his people.
  • Stanimir reveals that his people, the Vistani, are the only ones who can enter and leave the mist-shrouded land of Barovia freely.
  • Stanimir asks the party to return with them to Barovia to meet their leader, Madame Eva, and help break the prince’s curse.
  • Leoberos, moved by the talk of injustice and the mention of undead walking the land, convinces the party to accept the quest.
  • Chrystandar and others enjoy wine and dancing with the Vistani while Leoberos remains stoic by the fire, sharing a sip of wine with his mastiff Meathead.
  • Stanimir invites each party member to gaze into the bonfire, revealing mystical visions tied to their personal histories: Chrystyandar sees his parents dying in a fire; Mortimer sees his own death and his mother’s struggle; Leoberos sees his adoptive farmer family; Ysarissa sees her brother rescuing her from drowning; Lucien sees the founding of the Collective; Kaelis sees his encounter with the djinni.
  • After a few hours of rest, the party joins the Vistani as they break camp at dawn to begin the journey to Barovia.

4. Entering the Mists

The party travels through a thick, unnatural fog and finds themselves separated from the Vistani at the gates of Barovia.

  • As the party travels with the Vistani wagons, a thick, impenetrable fog surrounds them, obscuring their vision and muffling all sound.
  • The party finds themselves alone on a muddy road lined with giant, clawing trees, with the Vistani nowhere to be found.
  • They encounter massive stone buttresses and rusted iron gates flanked by headless statues of armed guardians.
  • The iron gates swing open silently as the party approaches, then shut firmly behind them once they pass through.
  • The party moves through a depressing landscape of towering trees lost in heavy gray mist, with the woods holding an unnatural silence and the feeling of an unvoiced scream.

5. The Dead Courier and the Burgomaster’s Letter

The party discovers a dead body in the underbrush and recovers a desperate plea for help from the Burgomaster of Barovia.

  • Mortimer and Meathead catch the scent of death, leading the party to a human corpse half-buried in the underbrush about 15 feet from the road.
  • The young man appears to be a commoner, his clothes torn and raked with claw marks consistent with dogs or wolves, and surrounded by paw prints.
  • A crumpled, wax-sealed letter is recovered from the corpse’s hand, dated approximately a week prior.
  • The letter, written by the Burgomaster of Barovia, pleads for heroes to encircle the land with holy symbols and contain the ‘devil’ within, urging outsiders to save the world from Barovia’s evil fate.
  • Leoberos declares that helping the people of Barovia is their destiny.
  • The party hears wolves howling in the distance as the mist begins to thicken around them.

6. The Children of Durst Manor

Outside a tall brick row house, the party encounters two frightened children who claim a monster is trapped inside with their parents.

  • The party spots a three-story house with lights on and suddenly notices two children standing before it: a girl named Rose and her younger brother Thorn.
  • Thorn is crying and clutching a stuffed doll while Rose explains there is a monster in their house making terrible howling noises.
  • The children claim their parents are still inside the house and they are too scared to go back in.
  • The mists thicken, physically closing off the road and seemingly herding the party toward the house.
  • Leoberos decides to investigate the house to deal with the injustice and marches toward the front door without debate.
  • Mortimer casts Protection from Good and Evil on Leoberos to shield him before they enter, causing a tingling sensation that briefly makes Leoberos pause.
  • The party approaches the wrought iron gate of Durst Manor, which shrieks on rusty hinges as it opens, and they note the sign above reading ‘Durst Manor’.

7. Exploring the Ground Floor of Durst Manor

The party enters the mysterious Durst Manor and investigates the ground floor, finding opulent but unsettling rooms with strange discrepancies.

  • The party enters the foyer, discovering a shield emblazoned with a golden windmill coat of arms on a red field and portraits of stony-faced aristocrats on the walls.
  • Leoberos moves into the main hall, which features a black marble fireplace, a sweeping red marble staircase, and wood-paneled walls ornately carved with images of vines, flowers, nymphs, and satyrs.
  • A closer look at the wall carvings reveals hidden, disturbing images of starving men, women, and children amid the decorative patterns.
  • Leoberos claims a longsword with a windmill cameo worked into the hilt, mounted above the fireplace, justifying it as commandeering a potential weapon of evil.
  • The party calls out to see if anyone is home but receives no response.
  • The group enters the dining room, finding a mahogany table set for eight with a warm, resplendent feast of meats, fruits, and cheeses that appears to have been recently abandoned mid-meal.
  • Chrystandar lights a torch to provide light as the party moves into the kitchen, which is tidy but connected to a pantry with only empty burlap sacks despite the feast in the dining room.
  • A dead rat is found behind a crate in the pantry during a search of the kitchen area.
  • The food in the dining room is tested and found to be real and warm, despite the cold oven and empty pantry.
  • The party enters a hunter’s den featuring a stag’s head mounted above a fireplace, three stuffed wolves, padded chairs, a cask of wine, and oak-paneled walls.
  • Kaelis uses his thieves’ tools to unlock two cabinets in the den, revealing a collection of crossbows with bolts and a small box containing a deck of playing cards, which he pockets.
  • The party prepares to head upstairs as the session ends.

Memorable Moments

  • [dramatic] Stanimir spits high-proof alcohol into the bonfire, turning the flames green, and conjures vivid illusions depicting the tale of a cursed prince — then gazes into each party member’s deepest personal memories through the fire. (A mystical Vistani recruitment ritual that left the party unsettled, awed, and convinced to travel to the mysterious land of Barovia.)
  • [funny] “From henceforth, we are known as the Regulators.” (Leoberos; Leoberos unilaterally declared the party’s name mid-stride, walking away from the group with no room for debate, his mastiff Meathead at his side.)
  • [intriguing] The party discovers the dining room of Durst Manor set with a warm, freshly-served feast for eight — yet the kitchen oven is cold and the pantry holds only empty sacks. (The impossible feast deepened the mystery of Durst Manor, hinting at dark magic at work within the house.)
  • [dramatic] The iron gates of Barovia swing open silently as the party approaches — then slam shut behind them, sealing them inside the mist-shrouded land with no sign of the Vistani who brought them there. (The moment the party realized they were truly trapped in Barovia, alone, with no clear way back.)

Session log

From the GM Assistant session lists. GMA doesn’t distinguish visited/met/found from mentioned, so these lists can include things only talked about.

Present in this session

Quests & Threads touched

Also noted (no wiki page)

  • Spells & abilities used: Elementalism, Firebolt, Protection from Good and Evil

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