Chapter 10

The Tome of Strahd

"Are, uh, are you going to be ok?", Ryan asked Rebecca, noticing her unusual silence.

"I feel...really weird.", Rebecca said as what had happened began to sink in.

Ryan left it at that. He didn't know what to say. Richard filed away the nickname "killer" in case Rebecca ever called him "Ricky" again.

They walked through the cat room where the felines hid in the shadows, and descended down one flight of stairs. A small flagstone landing wobbled slightly underfoot and two stairwells sat side by side on the long wall, one leading up and leading going down. The chill draft of wind whistled mournfully through the small room, rushing down from one set of circular stairs, pausing for a moment at the landing, and then continuing down the other stair. A single doorway with a heavy wooden door, fortified with metal bands, stood opposite the ascending stairwell. Beside the door, an ancient portrait of a bearded man stood watch over the area, its still eyes staring defiantly back at all who gazed upon it.

"Aren't there usually peep-holes in the eyes of paintings?", Richard wondered out loud.

"Do we see what's behind door number three?", Anthony said. Then he walked up to the door and placed his ear against it. He couldn't hear anything on the other side.

"I can't hear anything, the troll is probably asleep.", Anthony joked.

"Troll?", Ismark replied with real concern.

Anthony grinned. "The unsteady footing made me think of childhood stories.", he explained. "I wasn't serious."

Ismark gave him a disapproving look.

"So far we seem to have been getting little bits of info from each place we go.", Anthony said, becoming more serious. "I think we should check here as well."

The others nodded and Anthony slipped his key into the lock. Once again it reshaped itself for a proper fit. The lock clicked open and Anthony pushed the door open, not particularly slowly, but not suddenly either. No one was in the room, so he stepped inside. The room had a low ceiling, supported by heavy beams. Its west wall curved with the tower and was fitted with three windows of beveled glass in steel latticework. Rain beat against the glass. Flashes of lightning revealed black clouds outside. Plush, overstuffed chairs and couches stood about the room. Their fabric was faded with age and the patterns were nearly gone. A bookcase lined the east wall between two doors.

"This location is analogous to our prior position above.", Richard said in his best Spock voice.

"Which would make this part of the 'guest room'.", Anthony concluded. "A bit better than the accountant had it."

"However, it differs markedly in its absence of felines and harridans.", Richard continued.

"Guess, we can ignore this for now, then.", Anthony said a little too quickly.

Ryan stepped in and went over to the bookcase. He took a look at the books on the shelves. "Hmm. Embalming: The Lost Art; Life Among the Undead: Rules of the Game.", he said, reading the titles aloud. "The Nature of Blood: An Apprentice's Handbook; Masonry and Woodworking."

Ryan smirked as he read the last title, seeing as how it didn't quite fit in with the others. "No Tome of Strahd.", he said disappointedly.

"Embalming, masonry, blood. Nice library.", Richard mocked.

"'Sucking your way to the Top'.", Anthony suggested. "A couple of those sound as though they might be useful if we need some background info."

Ryan flipped through the more interestingly titled books and frowned. "Pretty esoteric stuff here.", he concluded. "I don't know how much practical knowledge we could get from it."

Anthony shrugged. "Oh well, worth a look. Onwards and downwards?", he suggested.

"She said that it was two floors down, this is only one.", Ryan pointed out. "Let's go back and down."

Down they went.  One floor lower there was another landing, with the stairs continuing on down. At the landing there was another door. Anthony opened it up and looked beyond. A door of delicately engraved steel stood at the end of the dark hallway on the other side. Intricate details still stood out clearly on the door's surface. The door seemed to almost shine with a light of its own, untouched by time. Yet on each side of the door was an alcove filled with a darkness that shamed the night. A motionless figure stood like a shadow within each alcove, as still as the cliffs of the mountain.

"Heh. 'Speak friend and enter'.", Richard said, enjoying himself a little too much. "Mellon."

Ireena raised and eyebrow. "Melon?", she asked.

"Elvish for 'Friend'. At least in, wait, you read 'Lord of the Rings'. You got me into Tolkien!", Richard said incredulously. Then he corrected his tone. "Uh, oh, you can't remember."

"Remember Gandalf the cat? Orange tabby?", Richard said to Rebecca. "He was always bringing us lizards."

"Yeah.", Rebecca replied absently.

"Frodo the pony.", Richard added.

The group walked past the alcoves and arrived at the door at the end of the hall. As before the lock was easily opened with the enchanted key. The door swung open with a creak.

Anthony peered inside. Dust filled his lungs. The musty smell of death and decay swirled around him. Anthony pulled back and coughed a few times. Then he covered his mouth with his hand and walked inside. Before him, a long table of polished oak lay beneath a blanket of dust. The rotting tablecloth lay tattered beneath dusty china plates and stained silverware. In the center of the table, a large, tiered cake leaned heavily to one side. The once white frosting had turned green with age. Cobwebs draped like dusty lace down every side. A single china figure of a well-dressed woman adorned the top of the cake under thick layers of dust. The window was draped with heavy curtains, muffling the sounds of rain and thunder.

Richard caught a faceful of dust and started sneezing his ass off. He buried his mouth and nose down the front of his shirt and tried not to breathe. The smell hit Rebecca and snapped her out of her funk.

"Yuck.", Rebecca gasped. "Someone open a window."

Travis, ever loyal to Rebecca's requests, went to the heavy curtain and pulled it back. He pushed the hinged window out. The angle of the glass prevented the rain from entering the room while allowing a breeze to waft through. After a few minutes they could breathe normally, all except Richard. Richard stayed in the hall as much as possible with his nose and mouth covered up with his shirt.

Ireena approached the giant cake. "This must have been beautiful when it was made.", she said admiringly.

Rebecca walked over to the cake. "Ewww.", she said, eyeing the green icing. As she approached the cake her foot kicked something small and hard. It skittered across the floor a short distance.

"What the...?", Rebecca said. She looked down to see what it was.

In the dust on the floor Rebecca found the matching china figure to the one on the cake. It was the groom, or what was left of him. The head had been broken off.

"Hey guys, check this out.", Rebecca said, picking up the groom figure.

"Someone didn't like the groom.", Kevin pointed out, stating the obvious.

"Let me guess.", Rebecca guessed. "That's Tatyana on the cake, and this isn't Strahd."

"That'd fit.", Kevin said, nodding.

"Wasn't there something about a prince and a brother in the fortunes?", Rebecca wondered out loud.

"Go to the faCHOOOO! F-fallen prince of old.", Richard coughed out between sneezes. "The AAAAAAAAACHOOOOO!!!!! Brother of dark is light, and he rests in this pla, snifl, place."

"FUCKing allergies!", Richard shouted, much to Kevin's disapproval. Richard wondered if drinking one of the two potions that he had in his jacket would cure his allergies. He had to admit that it was a pretty crazy idea, but at the moment he was desperate for relief.

"That's it!", Rebecca said beaming. "The prince was going to get married to Tatyana. And his brother was Strahd."

All eyes turned to Rebecca as she had her revelation.

"And Strahd got jealous and killed him.", Rebecca added. "Or something. Maybe. And this was where the reception was going to be, but they never got here."

"Something really bad must have happened.", Rebecca added soberly.

"So much dust. How long ago did this happen?", Kevin wondered aloud.

Kevin's question only made the others uncomfortable. Anthony broke the stillness by crossing over to the door to right of the entry door and using his key to open it up. The others followed him and looked into the next room where a blazing hearth fire spilled forth rolling waves of red and amber light. The walls were lined with ancient books and tomes, their leather covers well oiled and preserved carefully. All was in order and it looked like a maid had recently cleaned it. The stone floor was hidden beneath a luxurious rug of a deep-patterned weave. A large, low table sat in the center of the room, waxed and polished to a mirror finish. Even the poker next to the blazing fireplace was polished.

Large, overstuffed divans and couches stood in order about the room. Two luxurious chairs faced the hearth. A huge painting hung over the mantelpiece in a gilded frame. The rolling light of the fire illuminated the carefully rendered painting. It was an exact likeness of the Burgomaster's daughter, Ireena Kolyana, or as her friends knew her, Irene. Though the painting was obviously centuries old, the likeness was unmistakable.

"It's you.", Rebecca gasped as she looked at the painting.

Ireena and Ismark were both struck mute by the likeness of the detailed painting. Richard was interrupted by a sneeze before he could remark on Rebecca's command of the obvious. Frustrated he took out the two potions and read the labels on them. One was labeled 'Velius Incendia' the other 'Robustum'.

"Incendia? Something to do with fire?", Richard wondered. "Robustum? Sounds like something a chick would rub on her chest."

Ryan went over to the bookshelves and looked over the many books, calling out some of the names. "Van Richten's Guide to the Created, Azathoth and Other Horrors, The King in Yellow, Revelations of Glaaki.", he said curiously. "Ahh, The Tome of Strahd." He pulled that book from the shelf.

Rebecca prodded one of the chairs with the butt of her rifle and then sat down in it.

"Afraid it'll bite?", Travis asked her.

"Yes.", Rebecca said, feeling a little stupid. Travis smiled a little and patted Rebecca on the shoulder.

"Anyone know what 'Robustum' does?", Richard called out.

Ryan looked up from the book. "Uhh, something to do with strength.", he answered.

Richard held up the bottle. "With my luck it'll strengthen my sneezing.", he said.

"Do you think that they're dead?", Rebecca wondered out loud.

"Who?", Travis replied.

"The two witches that I shot.", Rebecca answered.

Travis knelt down next to her. He softly said, "I don't see how they couldn't be."

"It's possible their 'sisters' can revive them.", Anthony pointed out, wondering what laws of physics applied to the world he found himself in. "They didn't seem that concerned."

"I feel guilty, but I feel excited too.", Rebecca said. "Like when I killed my first deer. Only a lot more."

Ryan thumbed through the text. It was comprised of old and brittle parchment. Much of it was written in a curious shorthand. Stains and age had made much of the work illegible. Ryan summarized what he could make out.

"The Tome of Strahd.", he began. "I am the Ancient, I am the Land. My beginnings are lost in the darkness of the past. I was the warrior, I was good and just. I thundered across the land like the wrath of a just god, but the war years and the killing years wore down my soul as the wind wears stone into sand. All goodness slipped from my life; I found my youth and strength gone and all I had left was death."

The others found places to sit down or relax as Ryan began a long reading.

"My army settled in the valley of Barovia and took power over the people in the name of a just god, but with none of a god’s grace or justice. I called for my family, long unseated from their ancient thrones, and brought them here to settle in Castle Ravenloft. They came with a younger brother of mine, Sergei. He was handsome and youthful. I hated him for both.", Ryan said, adjusting his voice to be deeper and brooding to match what he was reading.

"Sergei had plucked from the families of the valley one whose spirit shone above all others: a rare beauty, who was called 'perfection,' 'joy,' and 'treasure'. Her name was Tatyana, and I longed for her to be mine. I loved her with all my heart. I loved her for her youth. I loved her for her joy.", Ryan continued. "But she spurned me! 'Old One' was my name to her. 'Elder' and 'brother' also. Her heart went to Sergei. They were betrothed. The date was set. With words, she called me 'brother,' but when I looked into her eyes, they reflected another name: 'death.' It was the death of the aged that she saw in me. She loved her youth and enjoyed it, but I had squandered mine. The death she saw in me turned her from me, and so I came to hate death, my death. My hate is very strong; I would not be called 'death' so soon. And so I made a pact with Death itself, a pact of blood. On the day of the wedding, I killed Sergei, my brother. My pact was sealed with his blood."

Ryan paused, swallowed hard, and then continued, "I found Tatyana weeping in the garden east of the Chapel. She fled from me. She would not let me explain, and a great anger swelled within me. She had to understand the pact I made for her. I pursued her. Finally, in despair, she flung herself from the walls of Ravenloft and I watched everything I ever wanted fall from my grasp forever."

"Woah.", Rebecca gasped. "This Strahd is one messed up dude."

"The fall was a thousand feet through the mists.", Ryan read. "No trace of her was ever found. Not even I know her final fate. Arrows from the castle guards pierced me to my soul, but I did not die. Nor did I live. I became undead, forever. I have studied much since then. 'Vampyr' is my new name. I still lust for life and youth, and I curse the living that took them from me. Even the sun is against me. It is the sun and light I fear the most but little else can harm me now. Even a stake through my heart does not kill me, though it holds me from movement. But the sword, that cursed sword that Sergei brought! I must dispose of that awful tool! I fear and hate it as much as the sun."

Richard perked up. Excited by the prospect of holding such a weapon and frightened by the responsibility of what possessing it meant.

"I have often hunted for Tatyana. I have even felt her within my grasp, yet she escapes. She taunts me! She taunts me! What will it take to bend her love to me?", Ryan said dramatically. "I now reside far below Ravenloft. I live among the dead and sleep beneath the very stones of this hollow castle of despair. I shall seal shut the wall of the stairs that none may disturb me. Count Strahd Von Zarovich, Master of Barovia."

Ryan closed the book and looked around. The others were staring at him intently, as if they couldn't believe what they had just heard.

"Wow.", Rebecca said. "I was right about the cake."

Travis nodded. "If that book's true then that sword may be the key to putting an end to this.", he said, turning his head towards Richard.

"Okay.", Rebecca began. "So we have this royal pervo who sold his soul to Satan so that he could kidnap young women for all eternity. And he gets off on killing anyone who tries to stop him."

Kevin leaned back in one of the chairs, glancing at Ireena. "He just wanted one.", Kevin said sympathetically. "I wouldn't be surprised if he really believes that the women he finds really are this Tatyana."

Ireena glanced at him. Their eyes met for a moment. Ireena looked away.

"I know!", Rebecca exclaimed, looking at the portrait. "Let's dye her hair blond."

Ryan looked over the edge of his glasses at Rebecca. "Huh?", he replied.

"Okay, forget it.", Rebecca said shaking her head. "That's a stupid idea. We have to go downstairs, but like, which stairs?"

Travis shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to pick one and hope for the best.", he replied.

"Maybe there's a map of the castle in one of these books.", Rebecca said hopefully.

Ryan considered that, and returned to the shelves, looking for a map or blueprint.

Rebecca walked over to Ireena. "Are you okay?", she asked.

Ireena sat on the edge of the couches. Her hands twisted and fidgeted, resting on her lap. She looked at Rebecca and replied, "I think I'll be ok. It's just, I keep thinking, how many women have gone through this? Did any of them escape or are they all dead?"

"We're going to make it.", Rebecca reassured her. "No one else got this far. No one else got to that room with the cake."

Ryan let out a triumphant "Hah!", and pulled a thin text from the shelves. He brought it over and laid it on the floor so that everyone could see. Within it were blueprints and design specifications for the castle.

"The catacombs!", Rebecca said, pointing to a spot on the map on the lowest level. "That's where the sword is, right?"

"The fallen prince.", Kevin said.

"Sergei.", Ireena whispered.

Richard let out a harsh sounding sneeze, then an even harsher sounding curse.

"GODDAMMITIAMFUCKINGTIREDOFALLERGIES!", he bellowed. Then he looked around when he realized that he had said it out loud. "Um, sorry.", he added sheepishly.

"Are we sure we want him swinging that sword around?", Travis pointed out. "He might sneeze and lop the wrong person's head off."

Richard looked at the Robustrum bottle again. He popped the top and sniffed at it. It smelled like a locker room after gym class in the middle of summer.

"Pfagh! It smells like pits.", Richard said, quickly putting the top back on. "Probably jock sweat."

"Though I suppose it couldn't be as bad as in the seventh grade when they held me down and strapped a jockstrap over my nose.", Richard thought to himself, resolving not to mention that incident to anyone.

"We need to get to that staircase.", Rebecca said, pointing to the staircase leading down to the catacombs.

Ryan looked at the map. "It looks like the only opening is back on the first floor, from the chapel.", he said. "The one we were just on looks like it goes all the way down to the lower levels too. We could take it down all the way or get off at the ground floor and go through the chapel."

"Let's go back through the chapel.", Rebecca suggested.

Rebecca took Ireena aside and whispered, "When you see Strahd, just remember to point your arrow at his heart. Do you think that you can do that?"

Ireena nodded. "I'll do my best.", she replied.

They made their way back down the stairs, all the while feeling as though they were being watched. They caught glimpses of movement at the corner of their eyes but when they turned to look whatever it had been was gone. They walked through the main hall and back to the chapel. Soon they arrived at a large spiral stair. Rebecca looked up to see if there was a big heart at the top but the center of the stairway had a solid stone core. The large grey flagstones of the spiraling staircase led up and down and disappeared around the corners. Cobwebs filled the staircase, making it difficult to see even the ceiling. Heavy beams sagged overhead from centuries of burden. Remembering what happened the last time they descended a large staircase, Rebecca took the bullet out of the chamber of her rifle and stuck it down into the clip.

Standing at the entrance to the stairwell, Ryan hesitantly stepped inside and muttered, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends."

"You've been here before?", Rebecca gasped, kidding him.

Ryan gave her the look.

Rebecca shook it off. "Travis, you got point.", she said with a grin.

Travis smirked at her and headed down. He didn't make it very far down the winding stairs before running into a brick wall, literally. A solid masonry wall completely blocked the staircase midway between the main floor and the first basement level. The wall's construction was coarser and newer than the stonework of the tower.

"Fuck!", Rebecca cursed.

"There's no time.", Richard sneered.

Travis looked back at Rebecca. "Remind me that I owe him a swirly when we get home.", he said, wondering if any threat could make Richard act mature.

"It's okay.", Rebecca frowned. "No one would ever fuck him anyway."

Richard wanted to reply, "Quality over quantity.", but he was too scared.

"What about the wand you found, Rebecca?", Ireena suggested.

Rebecca pulled the wand out of her blouse and looked at it again.

"Which symbol do I use?", she asked Ryan.

"Earth, I would guess. That one.", Ryan answered, pointing to one of the glyphs.

"Okay.", Rebecca said with a smile. "Stand back everyone. The sorceress is at work."

Ryan rolled his eyes but moved up the stairs anyway as did the others.

"Double, double, toil and trouble.", Rebecca began. "Make this wall a pile of rubble."

She pointed the wand at the wall and pushed the earth symbol. The rod began to hum softly but gesturing at the wall didn't seem to have any effect. Rebecca frowned and then walked up to the wall and touched the wand to it.

"Open says me!", Rebecca said dramatically.

The heavy masonry rippled and warped. The stone flowed like water and a circular opening expanded from where the tip of the wand touched it.

"Woohoo!", Rebecca said happily. She did a little dance in front of the hole.

Ireena giggled at Rebecca's exuberance.

"Travis?", Rebecca said, nodding towards the hole in the wall. Then she turned to Ireena and whispered, "Thanks for reminding me about the wand."

Ireena grinned back at Rebecca. Travis grunted and moved up ahead, shield at the ready. The stairway beyond the wall wound ever downward, each step feeling like one more into the very bowels of the earth. Eventually they reached the bottom after descending what seemed like ten stories. Buried deep beneath the keep of Ravenloft, the arched ceiling of the vast hall sagged over squat tombs, forming the catacombs.

The tombs stood in several rows on either side of an aisle extending away from the stairs. Each tomb stood apart from the others arranged in an alternative fashion, with enough space to walk between them. A thick fog, about knee deep, clung to the floor and cobwebs hung limply in the musty air. Thick dust had settled over everything, filling the crypts' engravings, making it difficult to make out the names of those who were buried inside the tombs.

Kevin glanced up and noticed that the black ceiling seemed to be moving. He held his torch up towards the roof of the catacombs revealing that the movement was actually hundreds upon hundreds of bats.

"I got a bat feeling about this.", Rebecca said, giggling as she looked up at the bats.

"There's got to be an opening to the outside or they wouldn't be here.", Richard said, surprising himself by how his first reaction wasn't fear. "So maybe we can find a way out."

"Can't vampire bats like, bring down cows and stuff? You know, suck out their blood.", Rebecca whispered, getting serious.

"Only if a lot of them attack a single cow.", Richard replied, remembering what he'd seen on the Learning Channel one evening.

"Well...", Rebecca said, pointing at the ceiling.

"You should be safe.", Richard replied.

Rebecca didn't get it and ignored him. Instead she looked at her wand and wondered if it had a 'bat-be-gone' setting.

"So which one of these is the prince's crypt?", Kevin said, trying to ignore the writhing mass of bats above.

Ireena stepped out of the stairwell and warily approached the closest tomb. She squinted to read the inscription. With a gasp she stumbled back from the crypt and into Kevin's arms.

"What?", Rebecca whispered.

"This is where he means to keep me.", Ireena gasped.

Rebecca walked over to the tomb. Through the swirling mists of perpetual fog, newly engraved letters could be read on the slab. "Ireena Kolyana: Wife." Rebecca grew very angry, then calmed herself.

"Well that's not going to happen.", she whispered to Ireena, but as much as they didn't want to admit it, everyone had their doubts.