COS 031 - Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall

Amidst the buzz of a happy orphanage, Ghalwin and Atlas cooked and entertained while Shakti had a disastrous conversation with the Tessa Nicoleva. The traumatized girl questioned why her mother had sold her to a hag, so Shakti told Tessa that her mother may have actually been trying to save her, before inquiring on what kind of pie she was being baked into. As Tessa burst into tears at the word "potato", Shakti tried to rescue the conversation by calling her a cutie pie before running away.

van Richten requested that Atlas summon a tiny hut; inside, he informed The Pack about his invisible Ring of Mind Shielding. If he were to die, he instructed The Pack to take his ring, as it would contain his soul and allow them to liaise telepathically. Atlas also communicated with Ezmerelda, who informed him that she saw "ghosts in armor" entering and exiting Argynvostholt. He convinced her to wait for two days so the party accompany her once they had figured out everything in Vallaki. van Richten delivered a missive to the Burgomaster's mansion requesting lunch the next day, and the party retired to the Blue Water Inn. As habit, Ghalwin flirted with Karl Wachter, booking dinner at the Wachterhaus the following evening.

The next morning, Urwin Martikov thanked the party, and Ghalwin presented him with the deed to the windmill. Worried about potential side-effects from Dream Pastry withdrawals, the paladin requested that the Keepers of the Feather monitor the town's drug addicts, and to make a list of them. They then went to the Burgomaster's Mansion with a plan: Shakti would wildshape into a Spider and enter alongside an invisible Atlas, and the two would scope out the upstairs rooms. Meanwhile, Ghalwin, Lancelot, and "Rictavio" would distract Vargas, using True Seeing as a backup so the paladin could interface with Atlas.

Nearly half the town's guards surrounded the mansion, but they were invited in as respected guests. The plan turned, however, when they were told that Vargas was running late for their meeting. Ghalwin and Rictavio were taken to the parlor, where they were entertained by Lydia Petrovna along with four posted guards. Ghalwin turned on the charm, and Lydia quickly and obviously became captivated by the paladin. He inquired about wedding dresses but she apologetically informed him that a formal Barovian gown would not be able to be assembled for many months, as no cotton had grown over the winter. Ghalwin asked to purchase her own dress from her, but was unable to persuade her without asking her husband's opinion. 

Upstairs, Shakti listened in on Baron Vargas screaming at one of his guards in the library. Atlas passed her and found Izek's door locked, so went into Viktor's near-empty room and found the baronets horrifying Journal. He stopped to read it as Shakti slipped under Izek Strazni's door, finding the giant henchman asleep alongside nearly a hundred Blinsky dolls resembling Ireena Kolyana. She then skittered along and investigated the entire rest of the upper floor, finding a trapdoor in the master bedroom's ceiling.

At this point, Atlas had read through the journal, learning of Viktors horrible misdeeds, and heard a moan from the opposite room. On the other side of the door, he had a whispered conversation with a man who identified himself as "Udo." Udo claimed to have been falsely imprisoned and tortured, and Atlas promised to come back for him. As he stepped away, the prisoner yelled after him, which caught the attention of Vargas' mastiffs in the library. Atlas beelined downstairs, knowing that the dogs could smell him, just as Ghalwin requested a tour from Lydia. The Baroness lead the group upstairs as the hounds snapped after Atlas; Ghalwin spoke with them using magic, before commanding them to heel before they attacked Lancelot. The angry Baron holding the hounds communicated his frustration before heading back to the library.

Lydia, clearly traumatized by the angry mastiffs, requested to use the privy. This gave Shakti a moment to communicate with Ghalwin on the stairs while Atlas gave invisible hand gestures; as she moved over Ghalwin's ear like a bluetooth speaker, Rictavio assuaged the guards that this magic was perfectly normal. They came up with a new plan: Ghalwin would explore the powder room of undead energy, Shakti would explore the attic, and Atlas would wait to enter the library once the Baron left for lunch.

As Shakti skittered away, an attendant almost caught that the spider communicating with Ghalwin was now skittering to the master bedroom. In a moment of panic, Shakti turned to the Dark Power who had been posing as "Mother Night," and plead to it. She had finally contacted Zhivris the Overgrowth, a monstrous figure who appeared grateful for her trust. Zhivris apologized for intercepting her messages to her goddess, and he explained that he worried his fearsome form would turn Shakti away. Shakti informed him that she understood, and a thorny briar grew from the guard's boot; the pain caused enough distraction for her to speed to the attic unnoticed.

In the powder room, Ghalwin found that the undead energy did not come from Lydia's wedding dress, but from a wall-mounted gilded mirror. His true seeing revealed a magic poem scrawled into the the mirror's face, as well as the visage of an inert woman within the mirror. He indicated this to Rictavio, who distracted the guards along with Lancelot, and Ghalwin requested that Lydia try on a variety of gowns from her room. Lydia's enthusiasm bought him time to repeat the poem while alone in the room, and the ghost animated behind the mirror. She revealed herself to be Tasha Petrovna, and she relayed her cursed life as a healer for the Morninglord and an assassin for Strahd von Zarovich.

Tasha's magic ring, given to her by Saint Markovia, was buried in her grave at the Abbey, while her holy symbol was in the catacombs of Castle Ravenloft. She requested that Ghalwin bring her symbol to her proper grave, which would release her from her immortal curse, and informed him he could keep the magic ring. She also offered a favor to Ghalwin; she would kill anyone in Barovia at his command. Ghalwin hesitated, then requested that she kill Granny Morgantha right before Lydia came back in a beautiful lilac dress.

Upstairs, Shakti passed the dusty attic storage and found a room marked with a sign "All Is Not Well!" Detecting magic, she found a Glyph of Warding on the door and dispelled it, then used her last wildshape to slip inside unnoticed. Inside, she found Viktor Vallakovich putting the finishing touches on a teleportation circle, half-covered by a circular rug. She needed to not be seen, but having used her last bit of wild magic to slip in, she now had to find a way out!