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You find yourself in a great dining hall. Dust assaults your lungs. A sweet yet pungent smell of decay fills this room, in the center of which stands a long oak table. A blanket of dust covers the tabletop and its fine china and silverware. In the center of the table, a large, tiered cake leans heavily to one side. The once white frosting has turned green with age. Cobwebs hang like dusty lace down every side of the cake. A single doll figure of a well-dressed woman adorns the crest of the cake. Suspended above is a web-shrouded chandelier of forged iron. An arched window in the south wall is draped with heavy curtains. Resting in a wooden stand by the window is a dusty lute, and standing quietly in the southwest corner is a tall harp shrouded in cobwebs.
Strahd ignores this room completely, and continues leading you to the door to the north.
"Hang on," you say. "This room seems significant."
"It's not," he says, dismissively.
...
You decide now is as good a time as any to ask him the final question that's been on your mind since you begun this meeting.
"When I was in Vallaki, I was not travelling alone," you say. "I had a partner with me. She was entrusted to my care by the burgomaster of Barovia. Ireena Kolyana."
"I was wondering when you were going to ask about her," Strahd says.
"So you know what is troubling me?" you ask, trying to keep your tone sounding as neutral as possible.
"I believe so. But ask anyway, top be sure."
"What interest do you have in her? Why were you appearing at night?" You genuinely do not know the answer to these questions, and this is very clear in your tone. "Why did you attack her family?"
"You want to know why I sought after her. And likewise, I want to know why you tried to keep her away from me. You were so quick to trust her wretched brother."
"All I saw was a woman who was hurt, a concerned brother, and ap potential travelling partner. I did not mean to interfere with something. I just wish to know why you saught her out in particular... it is hard to wrap my mind around, because she nor her brother seemed to believe there was anything special about her."
Strahd pushes open the north door and steps through it, motioning for you to follow.
(cont.)
