Aha, it seems my troubles have been resolved.
The party continued checking the Amber Temple and found a room with three Flaming Skulls. The little sh*ts Fireball'd the party and blew the Cleric and the young Viktor through the Death Wards they had on them.
Followed by one of the skulls using a 2nd Level Magic Missile on the Cleric:
1, 2, 3, and 4.
1 to 0 HP, fail, fail, fail.
The party then healed and unbound me in order to resurrect the Cleric- as that was the only gift I'd explained to them.
I refused- both because I didn't wish to lose power for no return and also because the Vampire's flaw insists
- and that was before they beat me senseless and bound me. I saw my hands as tied- metaphorically as well as literally. I could not trust them to keep any offer they made that wasn't immediate. The players were understandably a bit upset as I didn't tell them much about why I was refusing but I pointed out they only were remembering one of my new flaws and that each of those vestiges had the potential to inflict another on me. That actually got a number of shocked faces as they'd never considered this.
They resolved to take the dead Cleric to The Abbot in Kursk as they believed he could raise the dead (true) and they hoped the same guy could fix me (wrong AFAIK). I struggled for a while but eventually told them the fit was past and I'd behave- resulting in being unbound.
That night as we rested in a Leomund's Tiny Hut I rolled for what watch to wake up in and began what several party members described as the scariest scene the campaign had yet offered.
I described waking and sitting up in a manner similar to The Undertaker from WWE- no use of the arms- just the torso lifting up. I looked around without a word until I saw the Bard on his watch.
"Where's Viktor?" I asked in the eternal whisper I'd been condemned to and a smile I likewise couldn't shed.
"Never you mind." The Bard responded, protective of his adoptive son.
I looked around slowly, never moving my arms or torso, "Viktor?" I whispered, "Where are you?"
(A reminder that Leomund's Tiny Hut is only a 10 foot radius- it's not large enough to hide in from someone already inside it)
I got up and approached the sleeping Viktor and the Bard.
"Viktor?" I whispered, "There you are."
The Bard glared at me, "I'll drop you again."
"Viktor," I ignored the Bard as I crouched down till my (appearing undead) face was inches from the kid's own, "Wake up- I want you to see it coming."
"Everyone up!" The Bard yelled- genuine terror in the player's voice.
What followed was a one-sided beatdown and my death at the hands of a character that hated me (the Bard). Unfortunately it was with the Sunblade so I died (again) the moment I turned Vampire.
I died- but really my PC died far earlier. If not when the staff shoved a power-hungry Wizard's mind into his own- then surely when that same fragment pushed him to make deal after deal with the dark entities sealed in the amber. Arguably I went Stupid Evil but everyone ultimately enjoyed the experience by the sounds of it so I shed no tears for doing it. They definitely were horrified when I pointed out that actually our Barbarian/Paladin would've been the one afflicted if I hadn't done it my way- and none of us had the ability to stop that particular PC from doing whatever the hell he wanted. He'd have stiff-armed his way to every visage. I also suggested that the alternative to my implosion might well have included siding with Strahd- which was not at all something they'd have wanted.
The party did get the Cleric raised in Kursk. With all the items collected and the knowledge gained (at the cost of one Fiend Warlock) they were ready to face Strahd. Of course- they checked Ireena's room and it turned out she'd vanished from the abbey. Strahd's coach arrived soon after, telling them they were invited to a dinner/wedding and the date for the meeting was, "Now".
The DM agreed to let me introduce my new PC at Strahd's dinner. He ordinarily wouldn't introduce a new PC on the final battle but I pointed out this same party was going to be in Vecna so I had to be introduced sooner or later- and the dinner is pretty much the best, "I've gathered X from all over Barovia" excuse you can ask for.
A shame. I'd have really liked my dream-eater Dhampir but there's really no excuse not to run him as a vanilla discount-Vampire given he's getting introduced in Curse of Strahd. On the plus side- the DM and I decided not to reveal who the PC was at the dinner table so the other players don't inherently know which of the dinner guests will be helpful to them.
The DM is also hoping filling the dinner with myself and several innocent NPCs will persuade the PCs not to immediately attack Strahd the moment they see him at the dinner due to collateral. He's been told that's going to happen by me and several of those players so I see that as something of a long shot- one of them literally has, "For the greater good" as one of his stock phrases. Strahd showing up is going to result in Fireballs being thrown- no matter who sits next to him.
