[Curse of Strahd] Session III

 As they delve down into the web-filled spiral staircase, they reach an equally cramped hall dug through the earth. With walls 4' apart & a ceiling only 7' high, larger PCs would feel claustrophobic. Distant, unintelligible chanting doesn't help one feel at home. Neither do the empty crypts they find, each carved with names of the Durst family. To call them empty is a misnomer, though. Elisabeth's coffin explodes with a swarm of biting insects that burrow painfully into Sorshaa's fur before they're sufficiently mushed. The 'queen' still in the coffin, a disgusting vermin nearly half a foot long w/parts seeming to be undead, is saved & stored in a jar by Ariadne.

There's some heavy debate on how exactly the party will handle Merlin; whether to leave him upstairs, what kind of leash to use. It's ultimately decided that they'll use some of the curtain ropes as a makeshift, adjustable leash that they'll use to lead him from behind. Echo will keep a lantern, as will Sorshaa, to allow the latter to be able to see & for Oswald's Investigation to operate without penalty.

Continuing exploration reveals a series of long-abandoned, yet clearly used, chambers of a bloody cult that lived & operated in. Some gemstones survived, as well as a set of studded leather armor from another traveling adventurer caught some time ago. They even manage to barely evade a pit trap.

This series of ominous, yet uneventful, rooms is broken up by a hallway intersection where a pair of ghouls burst out of the walls to reach for fresh flesh. This is a rough fight, where Oswald takes some solid damage, but they otherwise overcome it.

Deeper down, they find Gustav's corpse hanging from rope (which Ariadne takes for their equipment, because it's something that's not rotted through) along with a suicide note. Along this area's wall is a hidden door that reveals the ceremonial room where a dagger waits, the chanting that had gotten clear (He is Ancient. He is the Land.) instantly stopping as they enter, & a long tendril of flesh leading to a hole in the wall. They debate some while Sorshaa adds the rusty dagger of sacrifice to her collection, before they set their weapons to aim at the wall of pulsing flesh.