Van Richten's Curse

Information pieced together from the Charred Journal Page (Van Richten) found in Session 14 at The Stone Tower (Lake Baratok).

What the Journal Says

A hunter of supernatural creatures — unnamed in the page — wrote that he has spent more than three decades investigating and exposing creatures of darkness. He is known as hero, sage, master, and hunter in different circles. He does not feel heroic. He feels like a man who has lived too long and cannot seem to stop.

His career began when his son Erasmus was taken by the Vistani — specifically, a Vistani tribe he failed to save from illness, who took Erasmus as compensation without his knowledge. He pursued the caravan. At nightfall, he was beset by undead; a lich intervened, warded him magically against the undead, and animated the dead Vistana to give him information. He used the zombie horde to intimidate the Vistani into returning his son — they told him Erasmus had been sold to a vampire named Baron Metus. Something snapped. He set the zombies on the tribe. The leader cursed him as she died:

"Live you always among monsters, and see everyone you love die beneath their claws."

He found Erasmus, already turned into a vampire. Erasmus begged to be freed. His father staked him.

Implications

• The curse targets those around the hunter, not the hunter himself — which may explain why his wagon was found at the tower with no horses, no companions, and a trapdoor instead of a front door
• The journal page matches the tone and circumstances of someone operating alone, by design, because he has learned that anyone who travels with him dies
• Whether this man is Rictavio is unconfirmed but strongly suggested by the wagon's location, its contents, and the general profile of a vampire hunter with multiple wagons parked around Barovia
• Baron Metus is an unknown name — not yet encountered or referenced elsewhere
• The lich who intervened is unnamed and unexplained

First Referenced

Session 14