Before they left for the Abbey, Ghalwin suggested that Shakti pray further. Though his experiences with the Dark Powers had been scary, he believed they may help his sister gain her prophesized power. Shakti did not respond as they exited the children's bedroom, and found Dimitri drinking wine at 8am. The Burgomaster was startled by Atlas' newly pale appearance, but the party assured him they would not cause too much of a stir at the church. They ascended the mountain switchback to the Abbey of Saint Markovia, and Lancelot growled with fright at two sleeping guard gates.
The Mongrelfolk woke up as Ghalwin approached on Verity; the outspoken but jumpy Otto Belview, and his cousin, the timid and reclusive Zygfrek. The party was initially startled by their chimera-like appearance, and quickly realized that both guards were terminally insane in very different ways. They convinced Otto that The Abbot was expecting them as visitors, and he went off into the mists to find his master. Atlas used the opportunity to magically charm Zygfrek to show them around, and she lead them to the gardens, indicating that a horde of mongrelfolk were jailed in the eastern hall. She eventually freaked out when the party took too long, and abandoned them to go back to her post.
Atlas spider-climbed and peered inside, confirming that many jailed mongrelfolk were performing all sorts of strange activities, as Shakti ate an upturned turnip that a rabbit had been nibbling on. Otto Belview reapproached, flustered that they had entered without permission, but confirmed that The Abbot had invited them. The Pack was not expecting this, andcontinued to the main hall. From a well in the middle of the courtyard, the spidery Mishka Belview jumped to ambush Ghalwin, but Lancelot alerted his master with a bark. The paladin easily rebuffed the mongrel, and Atlas put him to sleep, unsure if killing him would be in poor taste.
His sister Marzena Belview, chained to a post, tried to convince the party to kill him. Ghalwin decided to simply manacle him to the well's pulley system, which the bat-winged, spider-faced girl disapproved of. Though she had a habit of muttering to herself, Marzena was more forthcoming to the Pack, informing them that she had been chained there indefinitely as punishment for attempting to fly away. The martinet of the abbey, Clovin Belview, had shot her with a crossbow bolt, and ordered Mishka to keep an eye on her without killing her. Atlas awoke Mishka with a slap, who asked nicely if he could kill the entire party. Fed up with the crazed mongrelfolk's ranting, they decided to continue on as Mishka hurled teenage obscenities after them.
Inside the main hall, it appeared that Ireena was overlooking a fireplace; however, when she turned, it was obvious that she was a powdered fascimile designed to look like her. The golem could not speak, but was surprisingly pleasant and patient, and summoned the Abbot from the cellar. The Abbot introduced her as Vasilka, and it seemed very important to him that she be taught to dance. The Abbot was surprisingly kind and sympathetic, but a short conversation with him revealed his madness. He believed Strahd to be undefeatable, and so planned to remove him from Barovia by granting his greatest wish: marrying Tatyana Federovna. To do so, he created Vasilka to be Strahd's perfect bride, and was teaching her etiquette. The Abbot had met Strahd when coming to this land to slay him, and had visited the Amber Temple, but his memory on what exactly occurred was hazy.
The Pack learned that the abbey was named after Saint Alizandra Markovia, an Angelborn cleric who founded the church prior to Strahd's rule. Strahd's brother Sergei had also been a member of the Abbey, and was one of its most dedicated paladins; it was through the church network that Sergei had met Tatyana. He also spoke with Atlas on how he had been creating the mongrelfolk for over a hundred years, though he could not remember the details. The Abbot knew that it was a request of a noblewoman named Iaseka Belview, and that she demanded that the Belview legacy be altered physiology that went beyond humanity. He diligently had worked on creating more mongrelfolk for nearly a century, before remembering that he was supposed to do something about Strahd.
He requested that he needed a wedding gown of Barovian origin, as he did not know the style; in exchange, he offered to perform three magical miracles for them, including removing curses or raising people from the dead. The Abbot invited the party to stay in the abbey if they wished, and gave them free reign to explore. In the wine cellar, Ghalwin found a spell scroll of Heroes' Feast corked in a bottle of champagne, and upstairs, they found the operating table where The Abbot made his Flesh Golems. They also met Clovin Belview, the drunk, viol-playing right-hand man of the Abbot, who apparently lived in the same space. Clovin found it funny that they had manacled Mishka, and mentioned that he had learned to shoot mongrelfolk dissidents since his falling-out with the previous martinet, Cyrus Belview.
Past Clovin's room and the courtyard was an office to an destroyed hospital wing, long since unoccupied. Ghalwin used his true seeing to notice swirling ghostly shadows past the office; however, he also noticed the figure of a woman in an adjacent barracks. He approached with confidence, indicating to the woman that he could see her. To his surprise, she was a living being! The wizard Vistana named Ezmerelda D'Avenir had cast a spell on herself as the group wandered about, worried at their intentions, as she was only a guest herself. However, on seeing that they were traveling with Lancelot, Ezmerelda quickly afforded the group some trust.
She claimed to be a monster hunter who traveled across the planes, and Atlas recognized her name. After a short while swapping information on what they knew of Barovia, the cleric clocked some info that she was clearly trying to hide. The monster hunter had come to Barovia to find her mentor, and Atlas inferred that the man was none other than Doctor Rudolph van Richten. In turn, Ezmerelda figured out that Ghalwin had invoked a pact with a Dark Power, but was gracious enough to not press him further. She did tell them a secret that Rudolph had not revealed: van Richten had raised her, after he was betrayed by the Vistani he was working with. This betrayal was profound, resulting in the death of his son, and had changed his view of the Vistani afterwards.
Ezmerelda agreed to explore the rest of the Abbey with the group, and Ghalwin's truesight exposed The Abbot for what he really was: a Deva. The Pack did not question him much further, though were confused why an Angel such as him was in Barovia, and why he was clearly so inflicted by madness. They continued into the eastern wing and begrudgingly fought the shadows, ghosts of children who had died in the hospital wing. After slaying them and finding other vestiges of the past in the morgue, they inquired to Clovin about the lower mongrelfolk, and the drunk martinet led them on a tour.
In the madhouse below, two flesh golems guarded dozens of locked up mongrelfolk, though they were not attacked thanks to Clovin's presence. Clovin clearly abused the poor mongrelfolk, but the party remained silent; Shakti did notice that a group was playing around with a statuette of Saint Markovia that contained minor abjuration magic, but the group made no mention of it. Ghalwin inquired further about the graves, but Clovin noted that the only remarkable tombstone belonged to Tasha Petrovna; Ghalwin recalled seeing the name in Elizabeth Durst's Letter, but Clovin seemed to not care about the history of the abbey or its dead occupants at all.
They dismissed the mongrelfolk and found that Petrovna's grave could potentially contain magic, but was currently not activated; it was waiting for a magical trigger somewhere else on the plane.