Paelius and Thelari proceed in and meet a priest named Donavich who is in soiled vestments and is deep in prayer. He greets them and welcomes them to the fine church. The two look around and see broken and dusty pews but the whole sanctuary is covered in candlelight. They hear a scream from below the floor, “Father, I’m hungry!” They ask if the guy is okay and Donavich replies that his son is ill and needs much prayer. Donavich then follows Thelari and Paelius outside to the cemetary where they bury Ismark and Ireena’s father.
Ismark and Ireena stand close to the grave as Donavich burys their father and says a few words. Harex, moved by this, plays a fine melody (Hot Cross Buns) on the recorder. Ireena thanks him for his moving performance and weeps over her father’s grave.
Thelari hears a voice from behind her shoulder, “So were you close to the deceased”? She turns around and sees a man with black hair and pale skin and a long black and red cloak. He speaks alluringly and Mara begins to hear him and steps over beside her. Mara asks the man his name. He says that he is referred to by many names but that his common name is Count Strahd von Zarovich the Lord of Baroiva. Everyone gets nervous and Ireena and Ismark turn and Ireena screems and falls to the ground in fear. Strahd then casts a spell and Ireena’s countinance changes and she begins to get up and go toward Strahd calling him her beloved. Harex casts Tasha’s Hideous Laughter on her and she goes prone in hysterical laughter. Paelius picks her up and begins to run with her toward the church. Mara realizes Strahd is the monster tormenting Ireena and shoots him. The damage affects him but is quickly gone. The adventurers run toward the church and Strahd proceeds to ask them why they are running as he wanted to talk. He then shapechanges into a bat and flies away.
When in the church Paelius is scratched by Ireena trying to escape his arms to get to Strahd. He tries to knock her out but only hurts her some. He ties her up with Harex’s assistance and leaves her upstairs. They then hear the voice underneath the wooden floor and proceed to go down to investigate. While walking to the door, Donavich says that his son ran off with a black wizard a little over a year ago. He said that his son returned with a sickness. He has been trying to cure this sickness with much prayer but to no avail.
The adventurers went downstairs with Donavich. They tried to convince him to let them put his son out of his misery but he wouldn’t have it. He then went upstairs to pray. Mara decided to go ahead and try to shoot the vampire spawn. They all fought but the adventures realized they were overpowered and ran away but the vampire spawn bit Paelius and struck a critical hit with his claw attack. Paelius fell dead.
Thelari was overwhelmed with grief and tried to run back but Mara kept her back and wouldn’t let her go. They stayed upstairs for a bit as Thelari prayed earnestly in grief. Eventually, they heard a banging on the trap door to the basement and hear “sister” on the other side in a horse voice. Mara tried to keep Thelari from opening the door but she failed and Thelari opened it. There was Paelius.