After studying the ring for a few moments, Countessa announces, "This ring, as near as I can tell, strengthens holy power against the undead when used to rebuke." Casting another spell, she reads over the scrolls briefly before rolling them back up. "The scrolls are restoration, wind wall, and wall of force, all of which may be useful against Strahd."
Theodora breathes a sigh of relief as it appears the room is a safe place to rest, "I think we'll be okay here for the day while everyone rests. We should still set up watches, though. Perhaps later we can investigate this Khyristrix and continue our search for Dawnflower's Radiance? Also, once Verran feels up to it, I think one of those scrolls could help me with the weakened state I was left in after one of incorporeal undead touched me."
Starting to feel the aches of his endeavours, Petracleus nods in mute agreement with Theodora's proposal to rest up...
Ireena takes an interest to the pages seemingly torn out of a book that details the occult ritual.
"I've heard tale of such a ritual, but I've never seen it detailed! This may very well keep Strahd himself from entering this chamber!"
She then looks to the east. "Has anyone checked that door?"
Looking over Ireena's shoulder, Countessa says, "I'm game to try it, if we can find a brass bell."
Celowyn perks at Countessa's comment. "There was a lot of bric-a-brac in the other room..."
"Damion, could you check that east door?" Theodora asks with a bit of wariness.
If Damion finds no dangers on the door, Theodora will open it to see what's inside.
Daimon finds nothing particularly unusual about the door. It does not appear to even have a lock. Theodora opens it, to reveal a large but empty closet, ten feet by ten feet. Several pegs line the walls, apparently for hanging clothes.
Relieved to behold just a simple closet, Theodora nevertheless thoroughly checks it from any hidden doors or dangers.
After about ten minutes of tapping, Theodora discovers a hollow sound in the ceiling. Calling the others over, Daimon determines that it's a secret trap door. There does not seem to be a mechanism to open it from this side.
Is there a way to block it shut?
"Yes, let's secure this before we rest... I have no desire for any unwanted intrusions upon my sleep. Maybe if we could find something to wedge it closed? Or, at the very least, set it up to alarm - ring a bell or suchlike - if it were opened?"
Petracleus would never admit it but the endeavours of this longest of nights has left him exhausted...
There is no mechanism to open the trap door in the closet ceiling, and no ladder. It looks like it would probably just push up from this side, assuming that it's not barred from the other.
Petracleus looks at the trap door inquisitively... wondering how Damion might secure it...
Daimon takes some steel mending plates and wood screws from his set of theives' tools, and bolts the trap door to the ceiling.
While he's securing the trap door, the rest of you look through the adjoining lounge, where you'd fought Strahd. Sure enough, one of you does find a brass bell on one of the curio shelves. The shelves are all crammed with books, and the book that Strahd had been reading when you entered is still lying on an end table. You notice that the doors leading out of both the lounge and the bedroom have deadbolt locks that can be thrown from inside the room.
Theodora: You honestly don't know whether or not the original owner of the pages detailing the ritual was able to successfully perform it... or, if it had been performed successfully in the past, whether Strahd (or another vampire) had been subsequently invited back in.
In the original AD&D version, this room is set up under the assumption that Strahd is good to his word about not molesting the PCs as they sleep. The 3.5 and 5e versions keep that assumption. Given your previous encounter, you no longer have any semblance of Strahd's good graces, and I couldn't think of a good reason why Strahd wouldn't just attack you in the night again. Adding this ritual gives an in-game reason to let you have a place of respite within the castle.
I got the idea of this specific ritual from a Season Two episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, after the good vampire Angel turned evil. Buffy, Willow, and Giles performed a ritual to "change the locks" of Buffy's house so that the now-evil Angel couldn't enter without a new invitation...which Buffy was not about to give!
Theodora gives her limited input to assist in assessing the ritual's application in this particular situation.
"The worst that we can do is not to try it. It may provide the edge that we need, though I still suggest setting guards."
Petracleus nods at Countessa, "If you are confident that we can perform the ritual? Without it somehow having unintended consequences... I think I speak for all of us when I say how much we need an uninterrupted rest".
Verran nods as well. "Definately"
I am going to deviate slightly from the official rules both to make it a little easier, and to make the scene more in-line with how occult rutuals are shown in movies and TV.
Here's how I would like to run this...
First, the primary caster will need to learn and understand the ritual from the source. Instead of the official rules (which take days of game-time), let's do the following: To learn the ritual, the primary caster must spend at least an hour studying it, and then must make a Spellcraft, Knowledge (religion), or Knowledge (arcana) check, with a DC of 15+ritual spell level. (DC 19 in this case). A failure by 5 or more indicates that you think you understand the ritual, but the ritual will automatically fail if you attempt to perform it. Up to three additional people may Aid Another on studying the ritual; upon success, all who aided can also be considered to have learned the ritual.
After learing the ritual, you may begin. You must designate someone who has learned the ritual to be the primary caster; additional people may act as secondary casters. Mechanically, this is represented by a number of skill checks, which must be made by either the primary caster or a secondary caster who has also learned the ritual.
You may not Take 10 on the skill checks, as there are consequences of failure.
While the DCs are high, any of the rituals' casters can take the following bonuses on the checks...
+1 bonus for having a caster level, and an additional +1 bonus for every five caster levels. (e.g. a 5th level wizard would have a +2)
+1 for every secondary caster that has successfully learned the ritual.
+1 for every three secondary casters participating in the ritual, uop to the maximum number listed in the ritual.
If the casters successfully make all of the skill checks, the ritual goes off without a hitch.
If the casters make at least half of the skill checks, the ritual goes off, but the caster(s) suffer the backlash listed in the ritual description.
If the caster fail to make at least half of the skill checks, the ritual fails. The caster(s) suffer the listed backlash, and instead of the ritual's intended effect, the failure effect occurs, as listed in the ritual description.
We have four PCs with a caster level: Verran and Countessa both at CL5, Petracleus at CL3, and Theodora at CL1. All four of these characters have ranks in Knowledge (religion), so I'd recommend that you use that skill to learn the ritual. Pick someone to be the primary learner, and the other three can Aid Another; The DC to learn the ritual is 19. Assuming that you make the check, all four will be considered to have learned it.
To cast the ritual, you'll need to make four skill checks in total: Two Knowledge (arcana) and two Knowledge (religion). Countessa has the highest rank in the former (+12), and Verran and Countessa both have the highest in the latter (+8). You can't use Aid Another during the casting, but the additional casters will help.
Both Countessa and Verran will get a +2 bonus on their casting checks for having 5 caster levels.
Both would get an additional +3 for having three secondary casters who know the ritual.
And, you would get an additional +2 bonus for having six secondary casters in total.
The DCs of the checks are 27; Countessa would get a total of +19 on her Know (arcana) check, and either Countessa or Verran would get a +15 on their Know (religion) checks. You'll need to succeed on at least two of those checks (total) for the ritual to take effect.
"Very well," Countessa says. "Who's going to prepare?"
Petracleus, intrigued at the prospect of performing a ritual, nods to Countessa, "Why, I think you should surely lead us m'lady".
After taking about an hour to pore over and discuss the ritual and its hidden secrets, Verran, Theodora, Petracleus, and Countessa all agree upon the specifics, and believe they can successfully enact it.
Countessa then puts pen to paper and writes a detailed description of the two rooms being warded.
Calling upon the assistance of Daimon, Celowyn, and Ireena, you all begin the ritual. Countessa leads the chanting and rhythmic tolling of the brass bell, as you all pace in step throughout the rooms. After an hour of chanting and pacing, Countessa lights the scroll on fire with a candle flame.
[ooc]I'm going to make Countessa's checks for her. She needs to succeed on both or the ritual will fail.
The scroll burns quickly with a strange red flame that produces a lot of white smoke. The smoke billows over all of the participants in the ritual. The smoke burns your lungs as you all feel strangely lethargic, as if the smoke was drawing some of your life essence into it. Seemingly of its own volition, the smoke then wafts toward all of the windows and doors of the two rooms, framing them all with its billows. The outlines of the doors and windows then glow noticably with a blue-white shimmer, as the smoke disspiates.
The brass bell then rises from the floor by itself, and rings three times. Blue-white energy crackles between all of the participants in the ritual and the doors and windows of the room. The bell then drops to the floor with a loud clang.
As the ritual concludes, you are all reasonably certain that you have successfully warded the room from vampires... at least until someone invites one inside!
You spend the next ten hours resting, setting regular watches, so that everyone gets a good eight hours sleep. Despite resting within Strahd's castle, no one recalls any unpleasant dreams.
It is now late afternoon in the outside world. Looking out the windows, the blue sky seems to be clouding up, obscuring the afternoon sun. One of you also notices that the drawbridge is raised and the portculis is down... you might have a hard time leaving the castle if you wanted to.
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Rested, Petracleus grimaces slightly as he notices that the 'door' to this particular trap has closed behind them. Stifling a yawn, he points out the raised drawbridge, "It seems we have made quite the impression with our host... he doesn't want us to leave his party early".
Damion waves away the smoke coughing, "It'll probably get rid of the roaches too."
Theodora awakens appearing well-rested, but pensive. Once everyone else is awake and active, she addresses the group, "Our direct assault against Strahd didn't work as well as one would have hoped and it almost got some of us killed. So, for the moment we should avoid another conflict until we can find the tools we need to give us an edge such as Dawnflower's Radiance and that amulet that was mentioned to us. To that end, I suggest we first head to the top of the tower where the holy sword is supposed to reside."
Running a cloth along his blades, a good weapon must be kept to a shine after all, Petracleus nods at Theodora's suggestion, "Agreed... and let us hope that Strahd does not choose to confront us before we are prepared".
...is anyone else feeling like a mouse being toyed with by a cat I wonder?
Upon awakening, Countessa casts extended mage armor on herself.
Before resting, Verran reads the discovered scroll of restoration, restoring Theodora's vitality that had been drained by a wraith earlier in the day. She feels much better.
At one point in the night, the sentry in the bedroom hears some rattling in the closet... specifically, the sound of someone trying to open the trap door in the ceiling, but failing because you had nailed it shut. The sound stops after a few seconds, then all is quiet.
About 10 hours pass for everyone to have eight hours of rest. It is now late afternoon, and the sun begins to stream through the west-facing windows in the lounge, glinting off some gold-trimmed books on the shelves.
Running his finger along the books within the shelves and ruing the fact that there is no time to truly study the tomes, Petracleus muses aloud, "If everyone is well rested? Let us continue our explorations - but let us be ever-vigilant, there are no doubt things above us... and likely they bear us no goodwill".
"Did you want to look through the trap door?"
"Well, I think it's probably best to take the stairs all the way to the top and work our way back down to here, but if you'd prefer to see where the trap door goes first, I'll follow your lead, Damion. Depending on what's up there, we may need to secure it behind us to keep these chambers safe." Theodora replies to the suggestions of the others.
Damion will remove the bracing keeping the trap door secure then ease it open to take a peek.
(dark vision)
Daimon drags a chair into the closet to stand upon as he pulls off the barrier to the secret trap door in the ceiling. He also confirms what he'd concluded last night: the door does not appear to be trapped.
Daimon cracks the trap door open and peeks over the edge. Looking up from the foor, Daimon sees that it is a large yet oppressive room with a low ceiling made of heavy beams. The room is dimly lit by sunlight filtering through windows covered with intricate latticework. One stone wall is curved and is obviously the outer wall of the tower. Seveal tables and shelves are in the room. One shelf that Daimon can see is filled with many labeled glass jars. Three labels he can read from this angle are "Eye of Newt," "Death Cap Mushroom, Powdered" and "Brimstone."
Daimon then gasps as he notices a pair of glowing amber eyes looking right at him from underneath a cabinet. He looks back at the eyes, and they blink. Then with graceful speed, a black housecat emerges from under the cabinet and darts toward the east, out of view.
He'll duck down and whisper to the others, "It's a witches lair!"