Chronicle · · 6 min read
Varushka's Key
Round and round the guest tower
Malron’s Account
Cold at Our Necks
We woke in the guest room at ten at night, each of us feeling two cold, sharp pressures against our necks. In the closet a woman’s corpse hung from a trap door. We climbed up through it and came out through a portrait of Strahd, outside what looked like the very room we had left, which makes no sense: it cannot be the same floor and yet be higher.
Ismark the Great
Then a man with a raven on his shoulder stepped out of the wall. He looked like Ismark the Great, the statue in the center of the village of Barovia. We think the raven may be a Martikov. He spoke of a woman he had been parted from, Ludana or some such, and he searches for a sigil shaped like the sun with a large ruby at its center. He knew the Symbol of Ravenkind when he saw it, and he let us into the room, opening the door with the golden lock. I opened the closet to see whether the dead woman was still there, and the things in the room came alive and attacked us.
A Night That Loops
Our night in the guest tower of Castle Ravenloft had become a nightmare that loops. Every time we went through the trap door or the front door, we came back to the guest room. We fought off the things in the room that came alive and attacked us, then went into the third loop.
Pidlwick Under the Bed
Zorpheus came in through the front door and heard a ticking, beating sound under the bed. Hiding there was a little man with a face painted like a jack-o’-lantern: Pidlwick. I made my eyes burn red with a small prayer and tried to frighten him. It did not work. Pidlwick tried to throw me down a hundred-foot drop, then vanished.
Aera found a hook in the clock, and with it we went through the trap door again. Out the window and across the rooftop we spotted a closet. Aera shot an arrow trailing a rope into it, and we tied ourselves to one another with a second rope to steady the crossing. Bats attacked us on the roof, sounds like Rahadin came from behind, and a black dragon burst out of the guest room. After a tense moment or two we all made it into the closet and up through its trap door.
Varushka’s Story
On the bed above lay a woman in a white dress and apron, with two crimson punctures on her neck and half of a moon-shaped necklace. She looked like the woman who had been hanging in the closet. She is Varushka, a servant of the castle.
AI-generated image of Varushka (Google Gemini, October 2026). Not official art.
Varushka told us her story. Ten days ago, the day the sky turned red and the mists rose, she saw a great darkness speaking with the king in his chambers, heard a thousand whispering voices, and glimpsed a flash of amber in the air. Since then the lord of the castle has come to her room and fed on her again and again. She was too frightened to say his name, though she confirmed it is Strahd. When she tried to flee she was caught and locked in the guest suite. The key is in the desk of Rahadin, the chamberlain, in his office far below near the kitchens and the servants’ hall, past the Hall of Bones and the Kingsmen Hall. She has given up hope of escape, but she is determined that Strahd will never make her a monster like him. Her half-locket was a gift from Katarina, someone she once hoped to share a future with and now believes she will never see again.
Down to the Servants’ Quarters
Through the trap door once more, we landed in the servants’ quarters, deeper in the castle. Down the stairs we found three more corpses, and someone called out that Valysnia is a traitor. In the Hall of Bones a dragon’s head hangs on the wall.
Stealing the Key
Aera slipped into Rahadin’s office and found Strahd in the middle of feeding on someone. Still she found the key in the desk and stole it. Back at the door, Olfin turned the key. Spikes shot out and pierced his hand, but the door unlocked.
“No One Leaves”
A spectral woman floated before us, surely Varushka as she is now. She whispered “No one leaves,” and we each felt a pain in our necks. She told us we might have found the key where she buried it, but she would never set us free. Olfin showed her the half pendant from the oak tree. Weeping, she let go of her hold on the key and departed.
We woke to see Varushka’s shadow on the wall with no one there to cast it. The shadow moved, the guest closet unlocked, and she beckoned us through the trap door. There we found a potion of fire breath, two potions of healing, a rolled-up parchment, a small satin pouch and a copy of the Seer Tarokka card. The note, in large simple letters, apologizes for never finding the courage to make real the future the card once promised. The pouch holds a diamond ring with a gold band worth 150 gold.
The Heart of Sorrow
Aera climbed higher still and saw a hovering, misshapen red thing: a crystal heart some ten feet across. She nearly fell from the stairs, and Strahd caught her. He was not pleased that a guest had left her suite before dawn, but he let her live, and she ran back to us. Strahd sent us out of the castle in his carriage, and as we left we saw his three brides watching from a window.
AI-generated image of Heart of Sorrow (Google Gemini, October 2026). Not official art.
The carriage will take us to one place of our choosing. We need only say where.
Key Locations
- Castle Ravenloft – Guest Tower: The looping nightmare, the rooftop crossing and Varushka’s room.
- Castle Ravenloft – Servants’ Quarters: Three corpses, and a shout about Valysnia.
- Castle Ravenloft – Hall of Bones: A dragon’s head on the wall.
- Rahadin’s Office: Where Aera stole the key while Strahd fed.
- The Crystal Heart: A huge red heart hovering high in the castle.
Encounters
- The guest room, its furnishings come alive against us.
- Pidlwick under the bed, who tried to throw me down a hundred-foot drop.
- Bats and a black dragon on the rooftop crossing.
- Varushka’s spirit, calmed by Olfin with the half pendant.
- Strahd, who caught Aera on the stairs.
Loot
- Potion of Fire Breath
- Two Potions of Healing
- Seer Tarokka card and Varushka’s note
- Diamond ring with a gold band (150 gp)
- Rahadin’s key to the guest suite
Notable NPCs
- Varushka: A castle servant Strahd fed on, now a lingering spirit.
- Pidlwick: The painted little man under the bed.
- Rahadin: Strahd’s chamberlain, keeper of the key.
- Strahd von Zarovich: Feeding in Rahadin’s office, then saving Aera from a fall.
- Strahd’s three brides: Watching from a window as the carriage left.
Plot Points
- The Crystal Heart: Now seen with our own eyes.
- Katarina and Varushka: The half pendant and the Seer card tie the letter at the oak to Varushka.
- Valysnia: Called a traitor by an unseen voice.
- A free ride: Strahd’s carriage will take us wherever we name.
Session Highlights
Where we were
Castle Ravenloft · The whole trail