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.
Jarmo dreamed of a sacrificed baby, a suicide, and a burning house that re-assembled itself as the party rested at the Death House's gated portico. They steeled themselves and entered the creepy mansion, finding that it belonged to the Durst family, and was cleaned and well-cared for. They followed 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 Spirit until Jarmo knocked him over, which ejected the entity in a cold howl.
They made their way to an impressive home library where Jarmo found "Alchemical Secrets Best Left Untold", full of unintelligible scribbles and formulas. He pocketed the tome, prompting Shakti to pull an unlabeled red book which triggered a secret mechanism. Behind the bookshelf was a dusty occult alcove and the body of an adventurer, long since killed by a chest trap. The chest contained three black leather books and Spell Scrolls, as well as the deed to the Durst Windmill and mansion, bequeathed to Rose in a will. The skeleton held a Letter to Gustav Durst, indicating Strahd's callous pity for Gustav Durst barked at 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. Using beast-speech, Shakti learned that he had been trailing the scent of his owner Gertruda, only to be trapped in the house for days.
Incessant baby cries came from the top floor, which the trio went to investigate after convincing Lancelot to stay in the foyer. This area was covered in dust, and they were ambushed by a set of Animated Armor; after everyone got smacked around a bit, Shakti knocked off its helmet with her scimitar. They followed the cries to the house nursemaid's suite, where the Specter of Zondra Zalenski intimated that the cries came from her child. From the chilling conversation, the group put together that Elizabeth Durst had been gathering villagers for secret rituals in the house. She likely killed the nursemaid after an affair with Gustav, some months after baby Walter was born.
Ghalwin went to check Walter's crib, but the shroud was empty, and touching it angered Zondra. The specter attacked, but the trio quickly dispatched her; Shakti then found a hidden door behind a mirror in her suite, where cobwebbed stairs lead to the attic. Beyond, in an eerie storage room, they found a trunk with Zondra's body wrapped in a bloodstained bedsheet. The specter reappeared and apologized, confirming 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 Ghalwin found a valuable jewelry box containing gold rings, a topaz-platinum necklace, and a hidden compartment containing Elizabeth Durst's Letter to a "Mrs. Petrovna"; this all but confirmed her murderous plan. In the master bedroom, Shakti found the key in the mouth of a Tiger rug, using it to unlock the children's room.
She found the clutched skeletons of Rose and Thorn. The children had starved to death, but their Ghosts remained. Noticing a perfect replica dollhouse of the Durst Manor, Ghalwin asked Rose to point to the spot where her Elizabeth had taken the villagers to "fight the monster". Rose pointed to the storage room, but Thorn threw a fit when they went to leave, demanding that they stay and play. He tried to possess Ghalwin, but the paladin rebuffed the young boy, and intimidated him into staying in his room.
The party descended four spiraled flights to the basement, where an elaborate tunnel network had been carved through the earth. The shafts contained both crypts and living quarters for the cultists, whose bodies had been transformed into Ghouls wandering the tunnels. Following the sound of creepy chanting, the party dispatched the shambling undead with swiftness and forethought. They systematically eliminated their opponents; Ghalwin would attract them into a hunting trap with his ocarina, Shakti would knock them over as a wildshaped Panther, then Jarmo splattered the prone ghoul with his maul. The trio mostly avoided the ghoul's paralyzing claws with this method, and they continued, narrowly avoiding a hidden spiked pit before finding the Durst bedchambers.
As Jarmo's had dreamt, Gustav had killed himself long ago, his body hanging over his bed. Ghalwin moved to cut him down, but the wall behind them crumbled; Elizabeth Durst was standing watchful over her unfaithful husband, warped into a Ghast by her dark dealings. The party at this point did not have much appetite to chat and smote her down, though Ghalwin received a terrible slash across his face for their efforts. At the foot of the bed was a chest containing a Cloak of Protection, a bottle of Alchemist's Fire, four Potion of Healing.
Both injured and unnerved, they retreated back upstairs to recover for an hour; the time passed uneventfully, save for the sounds of shuffling in the walls and the occasional ghostly wail. Once steeled, they followed the chanting down another set of tunnel stairs, which lead to an antiquary full of strange occult items. The mantra's intonation was audible now: "He Is The Ancient. He Is The Land."
Past the antiquary was a jail cell, where a single chained skeleton wore a tattered robe bearing the Mark of Strahd. Ghalwin pocketed the robe and a gold ring, and the party went to the other side of the antiquary, where brackish waters lead to a chamber where rusted chains dangled from the roof. Blocked by a portcullis, the basin was centered around a bloodstained dais, and spilled into a pool of refuse on the other side. As a Snake, Shakti slipped through the portcullis and turned its wheel on the other side, allowing the party to enter.
As they crossed the threshold, the mysterious chanting ceased.
