Consequences for insulting and extorting Strahd?
Hi Strahd hive mind,
I come to you today because I need some aid in cooking up consequences for my players.
TLDR
- I have been playing Strahd as very non antagonising, even charming, knowing the party pose no threat to him and has thanked them multiple times for "keeping Tatyana safe" (he invited them to Barovia)
- Party made friends with Vasili who recently dramatically proposed to Ireena, revealed himself to be Strahd, and whisked her away (only the monk and cleric tried to stop him, the other two fled)
- The following session party decided to rescue Ireena from Ravenloft after Escher tipped them off to her location (upset he would no longer get any attention)
- With help of Danika they've spread rumours of RvR sightings in Vallaki which drew Strahd away from the castle and the party retrieved not only Ireena but also Gertrude
- Party fled the castle via teleportation brazier and landed in Amber Temple (on purpose, however it was spur of the moment decision) - they are currently lvl 8
- They are now in the temple picking up gifts etc, Ireena and especially Gertrude are not dealing with the cold well though as they brought no cold clothes
Here's where we arrive at my issue:
- The monk is a dhampir whose internal motivation is to prove she above her more animalistic urges that come from her lineage, which Strahd picked up on and taunted her about when he took Ireena
- The monk (whose vice is pride) now wants to send a message to Strahd in which she:
- expresses she is "nothing like him"
- gloats about snatching Ireena from under his nose
- proposes a 1 on 1 meeting opportunity in 3 days time during which she will offer him information he might be interested in and making a demand that "he better bring something good" in exchange
The monk characters reasoning for being so bold is:
- Strahd might think she has info on RvR's whereabouts and be intrigued enough to come
- She wants to get some sort of upper hand and snitch on Escher with hope that his betrayal will take away some heat off the party and also that Strahd will be willing to trade something good to the party in exchange
- From players POV of Strahd he has interacted in a way thus far where he was almost curious about what party will do next and how far they'll be able to go. That’s what they're hinging on him not killing their monk on - a hope that she can use his own ego against him.
Important context:
- The party has never faced Strahd in combat proper
- Ludmilla, Rahadin, Escher and Kiril are still alive (as possible lieutenants)
- They don't have the Symbol nor the Sunsword yet (one in Berez, one near burned down Windmill)
- The party will probably spend at least another day or two if not more in the Temple (they are kinda getting their butts kicked atm) and will be joined by Kasimir at some point during that time
- Strahd knows party was going to head to Amber Temple - he hasn't succeeded at scrying to confirm it but its only a matter of time
As you can probably tell this is quite a juicy position to be in from dm's perspective. Strahd, as I would imagine, would be ENRAGED when he found out that the party managed to grab Tatyana from him, just as he was so close again. I could definitely have him play up the cool, cold, calculating monster angle still at this point - or maybe I should go full assault already? I can have him meet 1 on 1 with this player (what could that look like?) or he meets the whole party, on his terms and tries to recapture Ireena (however that might get very messy, I think he'd be very worried about her getting hurt etc.)
Thank you for your help!