It comes in flashes. Two children, screaming, pounding on the door of a locked bedroom. A veiled woman drops a baby boy into a pool of refuse, surrounded by chanting figures. A man hangs himself above his bed, in a room with earthen walls. A house burns, collapsing in on itself. Mists settle around its ruin. And then, piece by piece, the house begins to re-form, and stands tall once again.
In his sleep, Jarmo saw a sacrificed baby, a suicide, and a burning house that re-assembled itself. After resting at the gated portico, the party entered the creepy mansion. They found that the house belonged to the Durst family, and was cleaned and well-cared for. The song of a harpsichord playing upstairs, but no-one was in the music room. Ghalwin sat to play the tune, and was temporarily possessed by some unknown entity. Jarmo knocked him over, causing a howl of cold and an ejection of whatever spirit was in his body.
They made their way to an impressive home library where Jarmo found a book titled "Alchemical Secrets Best Left Unknown". Full of unintelligible scribbles and formulas, he pocketed the book, believing that it could prove useful in developing mutagens. Shakti noticed an unlabeled red book and pulled it, revealing a secret room. Inside were dusty shelves lined with occult items and the skeleton of an adventurer, killed by a trapped chest. The chest contained three black leather books and three spell scrolls, as well as the deed to the windmill and mansion, bequeathed in a will to Rosavalda. In the skeleton's hand was a Letter to Gustav Durst, indicating Strahd's callous pity for Gustav and his family.
Before heading to the the third floor, the group decided to clear the first, finding crossbows and cards in a den of stuffed wolves. In the dining room, they nearly found the real thing, as a snarling but hungry beast awaited them. The Dog's collar indicated that his name was Lancelot, and Ghalwin was able to calm the poor pooch with a bit of food. Shakti spoke to him in beast-speech, and found that he had been following the scent of his owner Gertruda only to be trapped in the house for days.
After convincing Lancelot to stay in the foyer, the party headed up the spiral staircase to the top floor, where a baby's cries were incessant. This area was covered in dust, and they were ambushed by a set of Animated Armor. After everyone got smacked around a bit, Shakti managed to knock it's helmet off with her scimitar. They followed the wailing into a room, which contained the specter of the house nursemaid Zondra Zalenski, in care of the baby Walter. After a chilling conversation, Zondra intimated Walter was her child.
The group put together that Gustav was likely the father, and that Elizabeth Durst killed her some months after Walter was born. Ghalwin went to his crib, but his shroud was empty; touching it angered Zondra's specter and she attacked! The party quickly dispatched her, and she disappeared from the room. They found a hidden door behind a mirror, and cobwebbed secret stairs lead up to the attic. In an eerie storage room, they found a trunk with Zondra's body wrapped in a bloodstained bedsheet. The specter reappeared and apologized, and confirmed that only the children knew where Elizabeth took the villagers.
The laughter of Rose and Thorn was loud from their bedroom, but was contained behind a padlocked door. The party scoured the house to find the key, and in the master bedroom, Shakti found it in the mouth of a Tiger rug. Ghalwin, meanwhile, found a valuable jewelry box containing gold rings, a topaz-platinum necklace, and a hidden compartment. Inside was Elizabeth Durst's Letter to a "Mrs. Petrovna", all but confirming her murderous plan.
They unlocked the children's room and found the clutched skeletons of Rose and Thorn. The children had starved to death, but their ghosts remained. Ghalwin noticed a perfect replica dollhouse of the Durst manor and asked Rose to point to the spot where her mommy took the villagers to fight the monster. Rose pointed to the storage room, and the party went to leave, but Thorn threw a fit, demanding them to stay. He tried to possess Ghalwin, but the paladin rebuffed the young boy, and intimated him into staying in his room.
The clue lead the party down four spiraled flights to the basement, where an elaborate tunnel network had been carved through the earth. There was evidence of crypts, but also living quarters for the cultists, their bodies transformed into Ghouls. Following the sound of creepy cultist chanting, the party dispatched the shambling ghouls with swiftness and forethought. Shakti turned into a powerful panther as Ghalwin set a hunting trap, attracting them with his ocarina, and Jarmo upper-hammered the trapped ghouls in the low caverns. This methodic undertaking prevented too much damage from the ghoul's paralyzing claws.
They continued, narrowly avoiding a hidden spiked pit, and found the bedchambers of the head Dursts. As predicted in Jarmo's dream, Gustav's body was hanging over his bed, having killed himself long ago. As they went to cut him down, the wall behind them crumbled; Elizabeth Durst was standing watchful over her unfaithful husband, warped into a Ghast by some dark force. The party did not have much appetite to chat with the evil ghast and struck her down, though Ghalwin received a terrible slash across his face for their efforts.
In addition to some helpful mundane items, the chest contained a Cloak of Protection, a bottle of Alchemist's Fire, four Potions of Healing, and a yellow Spellbook. Everyone decided to take a rest upstairs to recover, and the hour passed uneventfully, save for the occasional ghostly wail and sounds of shuffling in the walls. The team went back into the tunnels and followed the chanting down another set of stairs, which lead to an antiquary full of strange, occultist items. The mantra's intonation was audible now: "He Is The Ancient. He Is The Land."
Past the antiquary was a jail cell, where single skeleton was chained to the wall. It wore a tattered robe bearing the Mark of Strahd, which Ghalwin pocketed along with it's gold ring, and the party went to the other side of the antiquary, where brackish waters lead to a chamber blocked by a portcullis. The basin was centered around a bloodstained dais, and spilled into a pool of refuse at the south wall. Rusted chains dangled from the roof. Shakti wild-shaped into a Snake to slip through the bars and turned the portcullis's wheel on the other side, allowing the party to enter. As they did so, the mysterious chanting ceased; they were alone in the chamber.