Session Summaries

After their harrowing battle with the Hags, the party spent the night at the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki. There they met a few locals, including the owners of the inn (The Martikovs), Rictavio (who they found out was Rudolph van Richten, well-known vampire hunter), Nikolai and Karl Wachter, and Szoldar Szoldarovich and Yevgeni Kurshkin (local wolf hunters).

The Martikovs expressed concern because their last wine shipment from the Wizards Wine Winery was overdue.

Nikolai and Karl mentioned that their mother, Lady Fiona Wachter, was very unhappy with the leadership of Vargas Vallakovich, the town’s Burgomaster. They also stated that there were some strange lights coming from the Burgomaster’s attic. Lastly, they talked about their friend, the drunk Bluto, who has been continuously trying to fish at Lake Zarovich, despite the dangers there, which not only include Strahd’s minions but a Mad Mage that is known to shoot lightning bolts at the fish in the lake.

The wolf hunters offered their services to escort the party around Barovia, but they stated their price would be extremely high if they had to go during the night.

Van Richten, having confessed that Madam Eva gave him a reading in which he would meet travelers matching their descriptions, assisted the party in interpreting their own readings. He also, though reluntantly, gave them the Tome of Strahd.

After Bubblegum’s lively performance of her new song, The Devil's Bargain, the group ate some breakfast while chatting with a rather soft spoken nobleman they hadn’t seen the night before who was also apparently staying at the Blue Water Inn. They didn’t catch his name but he said he owned the local Tailor shop, The Black Threads. After learning this Firestorm asked about potentially per-curing a specially designed hooded cloak to disguise her more “wolf like” appearance. The man told her to visit the store and they could likely accommodate her needs.

The group also asked the nobleman if he knew where they could obtain any wine as they heard the Inn was running low. He informed them that the only place in Barovia that makes wine is the Wizards Wine Winery and gave them rather vague directions to it. He also suggested to check with the Vistani that have a camp North of Vallaki as they sometimes bring in wine from other lands.

The group then left the Inn and headed off in separate directions. Mathias went to Binsky’s Toy Shop, Bubblegum and Firestorm went to The Black Threads, and Corvid headed across town to the Burgomaster’s mansion. They all agreed to meet at the general goods store in the town square after each of their errands were complete.

Bubblegum and Firestorm

After a bit of bargaining, mostly done by Bubblegum for a rather clueless Firestorm, they were able to purchase a hooded cloak that the tailor of The Black Threads said he could have finished by the end of the day.

Leaving The Black Threads, Firestorm and Bubblegum began to wander the town a bit. Eventually, they noticed a suspicious looking person wearing a dark cloak and hood who was constantly looking over their shoulder and to either side as if they did not want to be followed. The two Dragonborn kept their distance and followed the man without being seen and saw him go through a bulkhead at the base of a small townhouse.

After a short period of time, the two ladies snuck in and followed. It was very dark in the cellar, but once they shed light upon the situation they found a secret door that led into a tunnel that looked like it was dug into the earth itself. They followed the tunnel and came upon a large room illuminated with torches mounted upon the walls. In the center of the room was an 8 foot long 4 foot tall stone slab equipped with four manacles and heavy chains fashioned into the stone. Along the far wall was a tall altar decorated with three human skulls and the symbol of a purple sun. The hooded figure they had followed here was kneeling upon the floor in silent prayer.

Upon the wall behind the altar were three tapestries. One depicting Vallaki in it’s current depressed state, another depicting the town on fire with a shadowy figure wielding a sword calling the fire down upon the town, and the third showing a sun shining upon Vallaki as a rather stern looking woman raised her hands up towards the sky.

Firestorm was able to sneak in, but Bubblegum made a lot of noise as she tried to follow her friend in. The hood figure turned and said, “What are you doing here?”

Most of the man’s pale face was obscured by shadows, but they could make out a dark goatee upon his face and a rather prominent jawline. Bubblegum tried to convince him that they were newly recruited members and even referenced what they thought the tapestries referred to. The man seemed convinced for a moment but asked them who their sponsor was. When Bubblegum said “Karl Wachter” the man responded, “I think not.”

Suddenly, a creature made of shadow wielding a long shadowy sword stepped out of the altar and three zombies raised up from the dirt floor of the room. The hooded man left through a side passageway as Firestorm and Bubblegum fought them. After defeating the shadow creature and the zombies the two Dragonborns made their way back to the Town Square to get their friends help before venturing down further into the cult’s tunnels.

Mathias

Mathias visited Blinsky’s Toys and met Blinsky himself who proclaimed “Is no fun, is no Blinsky!” Mathias, however, found Blinsky’s toys a bit strange as they all had horror elements to them and Mathias wasn’t sure what kid would like them. Still, he purchased two and brought them to the children the party saved from the Hags at the Old Bonegrinder. They seemed happy with the gifts, saying they had never gotten a present before.

Afterwards Mathias headed to the general goods store in hopes of finding armor or weapons for sale. He was informed by the shop keep that they’re not really allowed to make such things, though she couldn’t remember when the law was put in place. She insisted he buy soap, which he did. Then, assuming his fellow party members would also return to the Town Square, he waited outside for them.

While waiting, a raven landed next to him and dropped a note upon the ground. Mathias read the letter, which was addressed to him and his friends from Ireena. The letter indicated she was safe in Castle Ravenloft and Lord Strahd had been nothing but kind to her. She also expressed trepidation that Strahd plans on turning her into a vampire.

Corvid

Corvid tried to remain inconspicuous as he watched the Burgomaster’s mansion, hoping to spot the “strange lights” the Wachter brothers mentioned at the Blue Water Inn the night before. He noticed a lot of people come and go at the mansion, including the town guard and people who seemed to be assisting in the preparation of the upcoming Festival of the Blazing Sun. Eventually, he saw a flash of purple light coming from the attic and at the same time a rather tall and imposing man came up to him.

This man had a large greenish-brown arm that was four times the size of his other arm and looked to be made of stone. It was the exact same shade of Corvid’s own skin and the man claimed that he was Izek and Corvid was his long lost brother and that he had dreamt about him almost every night, though he wouldn’t give Corvid any details about the dreams.

Izek insisted that Corvid meet with the Burgomaster, Vargas Vallakovich, who is the best man in all of Vallaki. According to Izek, Corvid went missing when he was only 2 years old and their aunt, Lady Fiona Wachter, was supposed to be caring for him. Vargas took Izek in as he was orphaned at a young age and refused to stay with his Aunt. The townsfolk shunned him for his strange arm, but Vargas was always kind to him!

Corvid agreed and met with the Burgomaster who was a bit stern but invited Corvid to attend the Festival of the Blazing Sun as it will be the best one yet. After Corvid did a bit of brown nosing, the Burgomaster agreed to let Izek give him a tour of his “lovely home”. Corvid then convinced his brother that he had a fondness for attics. Izek led him through the house and up into the attic, which upon first glance looked to just be a storage space. However, there was an easy to follow trail in the dust upon the floor that led to the eastern side of the attic and a door with a skull carved into it and a sign that read “All is NOT well!”

Corvid simply opened the door and a shot of lightning hit him upon the chest. Izek was visibly upset that his brother was hurt. Inside the doorway was a make shift wizard’s study - complete with a desk, bookshelf with various books upon it, a half dozen skeleton cats roaming about the room, and a rug that was half hiding some sort of arcane symbol upon the ground. After inspecting the arcane mark upon the floor and talking with Victor, Corvid discovered that he was trying to set up a teleportation portal to get out of Barovia. Corvid couldn’t make much out of the mark himself, but said he would bring his friends there to help out. Victor said that would be fine and they should stop by the next day, just have a servant get him when they arrive.

The Group Together Again

The group met up at the designated spot in the Town Square, Mathias having had to wait much longer than he had planned. After sharing their individual “adventures”, they decided to head back to the underground tunnels and see where they went to. One tunnel led to a small room with chairs positioned around a pentagram etched into the floor. There they discovered a “book club” meeting minutes which depicted writing on devil worship and an outsider coming to cleanse Vallaki. The second tunnel lead to a cellar which was stocked with various crates and barrels as well as stairs ascending. The party managed to quietly make their way out of the basement and through a mudroom and out the back door of a rather old and decrepit looking mansion. Making their way around the property, sticking to the overgrown shrubs and plants throughout, they saw a plaque on the front of the house that declared it as The Wacherhous.

Corvid, deciding to take advantage of his potential family connections knocked on the door. A rather hollow looking man servant answered and after a bit of discussion, did not exactly invite the party in, but held the door open for them until the walked in themselves. The group thought that this was perhaps a precaution against vampires.

The servant lead them to a den, in which a number of double couches surrounded an oval-shaped obsidian table. Shortly afterwards they were greeted by Lady Fiona Wachter, a rather stern looking older woman. The group did not ask her about any potential devil worshiping she may or may not partake in, but did ask about Vargas and Victor. She told them that Victor drove her daughter insane and Vargas and Izek were brutes, ruling the villagers with violence and she would be more than happy to see them kicked out of the town.

She also told Corvid that his father was devil named Mammon and his mother was her sister, Diana. She confessed that she had the Vistani take him away from Barovia when he was an infant as the people of Vallaki did not understand what he was and were likely to kill him.

The group decided to leave Lady Wachter in peace and said they may return to assist her if she needs it. They appear to be trying to play both sides at this point in time.

Mathias’s Shadow

After a long and tedious day of meeting with the various faces of Vallaki, our heroes made their trek back to the Blue Water Inn. As they approached the Inn, Firestorm took a step away from Mathias. Were her eyes playing tricks on her or did his shadow just move counter his own movements? No, his shadow was defiantly acting on its own accord and as she slowly drew her bow and strung an arrow, his shadow reached out claw like hands towards Mathias and formed as a solid thing behind him.

Before Mathias knew what was happening, the shadow reached is elongated arms through him and a cold chill crept over his body. Mathias’s companions struck swiftly as Bubblegum rushed forward, roaring a word of command and calling forth a blast of thunder towards the shadow, sending it flying backwards and away from Mathias. Corvid, extended his arm, pointing at the shadow and called upon the light of Lathander to smite those that bring darkness to the land and the shadow burst into thousands of pieces. The shadow was dealt with, but now it appeared that Mathias no longer had a shadow.

Bhuellor in Barovia

From the Inn, Bhuellor Fenris saw everything, occasionally whispering to the large raven that sat upon his shoulder. Bhueller had only been in Vallaki for a day now and things were getting strange by the minute. Though, Bhueller was used to strange events happening around him ever since he formed a pack with an unknown being that would only communicate to him on foggy days. He never saw anything, only heard a smooth voice carrying orders through the fog. The voice always sounded so far away, but Bhueller knew if he didn’t follow their instructions, his powers would begin to fade.

Although it felt like years had gone by, only three days ago Bhueller was outside going through his normal morning routine when he found himself surrounded by a thick, impenetrable fog. Thinking it was his Patron contacting him in a more dramatic way than normal, Bhueller paused and listened for any instruction. None came and as he strained his ears he realized he heard nothing. Not the sound of the wind through the trees, nor the normal life in the forest surrounding him. No birds, no soft scurrying of footprints upon the ground as a rabbit ran away from his footfalls. It was deadly silent and it unnerved him.

In a state of panic, Bhueller rushed forward, trying to find a way out of the fog, his hands reached out before him, hoping to touch something solid. Eventually, the fog cleared out before him, leaving only a thin layer just above the forest detritus. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, but the sense of ease did not last long. He had just been in an old oak forest, snow beneath his feet and now he was surrounded by tall pines and the air felt slightly warmer than it had been. Stepping forward, he looked up towards the sky, searching for that familiar constellation that would lead him home, but he recognized none of the stars in the sky.

The silence was broken by the call of a single wolf, which was soon answered by another, then another and another. Wolves, Bhueller thought to himself, of course his enemy would be here as well. He strode forward, distancing himself from the wolves cries. It sounded like there could be hundreds of them in that forest and a pack that large was not something he wanted to encounter. They left him alone though, which was surprising as a few sounded very close by when the called back to their fellows.

After an hour’s walk, Bhueller found himself on the edge of a large lake and sitting by the water’s edge was an elder dwarven lady. He tried to converse with her, but she was incoherent and had more interest in the eyestalk of a beholder she carried in a large glass jar than making any conversation with him. The only thing she said that made sense to him was there was a town nearby, so having no real alternatives, Bhueller followed the dwarves directions and found himself outside the gates of the town of Vallaki. Vallaki seemed well protected, it was surrounded by a tall wooden fence and outside were three wolf heads mounted of pikes. When he demonstrated he was no friend of wolves, the Vallaki guards let him in and told him to seek shelter at the Blue Water Inn.

Now, Bhueller watched with curiosity as the group that battled a shadow outside came inside. Besides the dwarf, Bhueller had not seen any other non-humans in Vallaki since he arrived. This group consisted of two tough looking Dragonborn ladies, a Tiefling who was wearing robes of the Morning Lord of all things, and a well-equipped human who looked a little pale after his encounter with his own shadow. They all went directly to their rooms without much word to the Innkeep. Clearly, they had had a long day.

Firestorm’s Outing

The next day, Firestorm awoke in a dark alleyway, the dull muted light of Barovia’s morning just creeping over the horizon. She sat up, looking around, her eyes widening with panic. She was completely naked and had no memory of leaving the Inn the night before, let alone how she got in the alleyway in the first place.

Using all her knowledge of moving silently through shadows she learned while roaming the wilderness of her home country, Firestorm applied those same skills to the urban terrain of Vallaki. She stuck to the edges of building, the deep shadows hiding her from the guards as they passed by. She kept her ears sharp and with skill and no small amount of luck, she found herself at the outside stairways that led to her room at the Blue Water Inn. Thankfully she had chosen a room on that side so it was much easier for her to sneak back into her room.

Inside, she found her torn up clothing upon the floor and looking in the mirror in the small washroom that accompanied her room, discovered she had copious amounts of blood upon her face and under her claws. She cleaned up her room and herself as best she could, grabbed a spare set of clothing and set downstairs to meet her friends. They were all gathered around eating breakfast and talking about what they should do.

Bubblegum mentioned that DJ left a note indicating she left in the middle of the night for the “western valley lands of Barovia”. Everyone but Bubblegum seemed to think this note was very out of character for DJ, but before they could further discuss it, a piercing scream echoed through the town.

Firestorm hesitated and watched as Mathias, Bubblegum, and Corvid rushed out of the Inn towards the scream. Most people, she noted, seemed to not even pay the scream any attention or ran away from it. Perhaps they were the smart ones. The man from last night was sitting close by and with a whisper to the raven perched upon his shoulder, she watched the large black bird fly after her friends.

Staying put, Firestorm ordered some breakfast and thought over what she would do next. When the food arrived, she was a bit distressed that she didn’t feel as hungry as she should have.

The Body

In the town square, Corvid saw the body of a younger man or at least what was left of him. His throat was tore open and as Corvid leaned over, it was clear he has suffered from multiple bite attacks. The town of Vallaki seemed like it was well-fortified against wolf attacks, with its high fence and many guards, but perhaps one got through somehow? He leaned in closer and noticed something odd, the way the blood had congealed, it was clear that the bite marks were made post-mortem. So, if the man had not died from the bite marks, what exactly had killed him? Corvid also noted a feint smell of sulfur over the body. Maybe and he knew this was a stretch, hell hounds were involved?

Unfortunately, before Corvid could take a closer look, half a dozen of the town guards approached and started clearing gawkers out of the area. Mathias asked, “Who is that?” to one of the guard and he grunted, “Udo Lukovich…the shoemaker”. But again, they shooed everyone away as quickly as possible.

Trying not to push their luck, they decided to head back to the Inn. There, the group discussed their next move and Bhueller, clearly ease dropping in their conversation, informed them he believed the person that was killed was attacked by a werewolf. It was, after all, a full moon the night before and Bhueller had previous experience with werewolves.

Firestorm excused herself for a bit, saying she wanted to pick up the cowl she had ordered the day before as Bubblegum filled in Bhueller on their adventures in Barovia so far by playing a very long ballad she decided to call “The Ballad of Bubblegum”. Firestorm took one last look at her room, cleaning up a few things she had missed and noted that there was dirt upon the floor, so someone had entered her room the night before…perhaps they had triggered her episode? She then checked DJ’s room and didn’t note anything of alarm. In fact, it looked like the druid had stolen a few things from the inn on her way out…which wasn’t too surprising given what Firestorm knew of her. She then made a very quick stop at the Black Threads and was thankful to see that her cowl was in fact ready. She pulled it on, doing her best to hide her more wolf-life features.

When Firestorm returned to the group, Bubblegum was just starting up her ballad for the second time. The group had decided to visit the church since it was the only landmark they hadn’t explored yet and was, as Corvid pointed out more than once, on the way out of town. He clearly did not want to spend more time in Vallaki than necessary.

The Church

The church was old, like all things in Barovia, but this church seemed to be centuries old. It had withstood the passage of time through its heavy stonework and the care of someone who clearly loved the old building. As the group entered, they saw a number of Vallaki villagers huddled within in silent prayer. A young thin and bespectacled priest wearing the colors of the Mourning Lord was comforting an older woman who was crying rather loudly.

The priest nodded in their direction, but turned back to the old woman, until he was able to calm her loud cries down to a quiet sob. He then approached Corvid and said, “Those of the faith are always welcome here.”

“Is that woman okay?” Mathias asked as Corvid nodded his thanks.

“Her son was found murdered this morning,” Father Lucian answered, “She will recover in time.”

After a bit more discussion with Father Lucian, he confined in them that his church was concentrated ground and protected from all the evil that haunt’s the lands of Barovia. Recently, however, someone stole the bones of St. Andral that were granting this sanctuary. Father Lucian admitted he did not tell a soul about the bones and had no idea who exactly would have done such a thing.

Bhueller sent his raven Cam to scout the graveyard surrounding the church as the group went down into the crypts under the church. Cam reported there was a young man digging a grave outside and nothing more to report. After inspecting the crypt where St. Andral’s bones once laid, it looked as if something flat and metal was used to pry open the tomb, so the group decided to question the gravedigger as a shovel would have done the job quite easily.

The gravedigger, Milivoj, was a bit surly, but after some questions and Corvid casting friends upon him, he admitted to taking the bones. He said that Henrik van der Voort, the coffin maker, paid him to steal the bones. Milivoj did not realize they had any significance and only did it because he needed the money to feed his family. Mathias was not impressed with his story and struck him in frustration, which knocked the kid unconscious. Firestorm quickly feed him a goodberry and he came too and quickly left the area.

Mathias, seeing a group of ravens hanging around the graveyard called out to Arabella, the raven that delivered him the note from Ireena the day before. He knew it was a shot in the dark, but smiled to himself in wonder as a raven landed on his shoulder. At first, the group thought they were talking to an actual raven, but even when Firestorm cast a spell that allowed her to commune with beasts, all it did was nod or shake its head in reply and tug at someone’s cloak. Mathias, took the hint and placed his cloak on the ground. The raven crawled under it and transformed into a woman before their eyes.

Arabella was a comely woman with long straight black hair and dark eyes, though her skin had that same sickly paler most Barovians possessed. Her voice was a bit dry from lack of use. She informed everyone that Ireena was alive and well for the time being and according to her, Strahd was treating her well.

“But,” Arabella pointed out, “vampires can be very charming.” She emphasized the word charming, indicating something beyond a natural charm, but did not elaborate on what she meant.

Mathias then asked, "Do you think we could get her out of there?"

"I'm not sure," Arabella responded, "Ireena does seem to think that Strahd is currently distracted by some Devil that has entered his domain and has taken up residence in the Amber Temple."

Bubblegum then asked if she could bring a letter to Ireena at Castle Ravenloft, but leave it somewhere where Strahd would find it before Ireena was even aware of it. Arabella said she could do that, so Bubblegum composed a fake love letter to Ireena from Alek Gwilym in hopes that Strahd will kill Alek upon discovering the letter. Once she was done composing the letter, Arabella flew off with it and the group headed to the coffin maker’s shop.

The Coffin Maker’s Shop

All of the windows of the coffin maker’s shop were boarded up and the only indication of what lie within was a sign over the front door depicting the outline of a coffin. Entering the building, Mathias was already angry and ready to attack. The man, Henrik was working on a new coffin, likely for Udo and looked up nervously as they entered. Mathias and Bubblegum went right into offensive mode, aggressively coming at Henrik and asking him where the bones were.

Henrik feigned ignorance at first, but quickly changed his tune when Bubblegum lifted him up from the floor by his neck, chocking him. He admitted, reluctantly that he was asked by Alek Gwilym to obtain the bones from the church. He told them the bones were upstairs and although he was clearly hiding something, Mathias charged upstairs and threw the door open at the top of the stairs. What he found was not the bones of St. Andral, but many large crates. Wasting no time, he pried the first one open, then screamed as six more crates burst open in front of him. Out of each crate spilled a mound of earth and vampires, their eyes glowing in the darkness of the space and their fangs extending with hunger.

Thankfully, Corvid joined Mathias before they attacked, but in a blink of the eye, they were both surrounded.

Corvid strode forward, holding forth the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, the bright light from the amulet pushing back the shadows in the dim, dank storage room. The vampires let out feral hisses, involuntarily stepping back from him as he spoke the blessed words to activate the amulet. Corvid eyes widened in fear as the amulet only seemed to hold one of the vampires in place, the rest blinked for a moment then rushed forward, completely unaffected by the holy relics power.

Corvid and Mathias held their ground as the vampires crawled up the walls and on the ceiling as easy as walking over a flat surface. They dropped down to surround them, their claws gleaming the in the dim light. Three of the vampires tore into Corvid's flesh with their claws. He stumbled a bit under their ferocious attacks, his eyes widening in horror as the nostrils of the female vampire in front of him flared, her fangs extending at the scent of his blood filling the room.

Frantically looking for assistance, Corvid saw none coming. Mathias was dealing with two vampires himself, Bubblegum and Bhuellor were casting spells as best they could from the hallway and Firestorm was shooting her bow from the adjacent room. With the vampires crowding the doorway, his companions had no way to get in to help. He was mostly on his own.

A bolt of dark energy hit one of the vampires as Bhuellor pointed his staff at one of the vampires, then ducked around the corner into the hallway. Bubblegum strode into the room, pushing back one of the vampires with a wave of thunderous sound and force. Corvid breathed out a sigh of relief at the sight of his friends, then let out a curse under his breath as he watch Mathais move away from the vampires, only defending himself and not attacking them, leaving Corvid alone and surrounded by the creatures.

In a panic, Corvid tried to see if there was a way for him to get away from the vampires as well, but there wasn’t, so he held forth the holy symbol once more and prayed to Lathander to bath these creatures of darkness in the light of the sun. A burst of light exploded around Corvid, filling the room with true sunlight. The vampires drew back in fear, sunlight had not touched the land of Barovia in centuries. This light burned them, but they had no choice, they had to attack, now more than ever.

Their faces half burnt and their skin boiling in pain, the vampires still attacked. Mathias quickly found himself surrounded again as one of the vampires held Corvid tight and bit into his neck, draining his blood. Corvid found himself attacked on all sides and fell upon the dusty floor, the amulet still hanging from his chest shedding bright sunlight. The vampire that held him let him drop to the floor, blood staining her swollen lips. Bubblegum stepped forward, her voice ringing through the small room as her song of healing brought Corvid back as quickly as he fell . Bhueller and Firestorm continued to aim energy and arrows into the vampires, the arrows barely penetrating their thick hides.

Corvid stood up, still weak and bleeding from his many wounds. If he remained there, he would surly die. Thankfully, Bubblegum had forged an opening for him. The amulet was still shining with true sunlight, so he dropped it in the middle of the room in hopes that it continued to hurt the vampires as he himself fled and found safety around the corner in the stairway.

One of the vampires began to flee and the sound of wood breaking as he tore through a boarded up window echoed through the room. Another vampire tore off his cloak and placed it over the amulet. He then lifted the cloak and amulet off the floor in one quick motion and headed towards the open window.

Mathias, in a state of panic, tried to flee, but Bubblegum glared at him and he realized, this was different. This was a moment where he should act and save his friends, not his own hide. He turned towards the vampire in front of him and attacked, swing his swords, using every trick he knew. The vampires moved fast, dodging his attacks. The woman that tried to bit into his neck earlier blocked his attack with a quick movement of her forearm, the blade not even drawing blood from her undead flesh. She grinned at him, but Mathias whirled backward, stepped forward, brought both blades up in an x, and cleanly sliced off her head from her shoulders. The vampire dropped into a pile of ash.

“They’re climbing out the window and have the amulet!” Bubblegum shouted as she moved closer to the vampires, her hands extended as another blast of thunder filled the room, ending the lives of two more vampires.

Firestorm rushed downstairs and out the coffin shop in hopes of blocking the vampires escape. They could see the tall walls of Vallaki close by and having already seen the vampires claw upon the side of the walls within the coffin shop, they would easily escape if they couldn’t shoot them down first.

Bhueller sent his imp, in raven form, out the window to report which way the vampires went. One was fleeing to the west towards the town wall and the one that still clutched the amulet in his cloak was crawling along the side of the building. Bhueller called out to his friends as he ran down the stairs, “The one with the holy symbol is crawling along the building. I’m going to try to cut him off.”

Mathias, his fear bringing about an act of bravery, cut down the last vampire and ran after the ones that escaped through the far window. Bubblegum beat him to it though and hearing Bhueller’s words she held out her hands, etched a symbol into the air before her and pushed it outward, a loud force of sound echoed through the room, ringing in her ears as the pure energy tore through the wall and hit the vampire on the other side. He almost fell down, but managed to hold on and righted himself up. Looking down, Bubblegum grinned and pointed at him. This one wasn’t going anywhere, she thought to herself.

Then suddenly, Mathais ran by her, raising his weapons above his head and jumped purposefully out of the window, taking a wild swing at the vampire as he did so. He managed to hit it on his way down, but landed hard on his side, letting out a gasp of pain. The vampire landed, cat-like, by his side and took off towards the town wall to the north, the holy symbol still secured in his cloak.

Firestorm, shot an arrow at the vampire, ignoring the one that escaped over the wall and into the surrounding forest and focusing on the one that could potentially get away with their most valuable item. The arrow struck the vampire in the back, but in barely paused, still moving as quickly as he could towards the town wall. If he escaped, all would be lost. Bubblegum recklessly threw out another blast of sound at the retreating vampire, hitting Bhueller's raven in the process and the familiar faded from existence.

Corvid, ran around the corner, clutching the wound upon his neck and limping slightly towards his friends. His eyes widened, regret and shame driving him forward. How could he have thrown such a valuable thing upon the floor? He should have given it to someone else to hold…he should have stayed in that room and seen those creatures of darkness turn to ash in the presence of Lanthander’s holy light. He raised is good arm towards the heavens and shouted a word of command, then pointed his finger towards the retreating vampire. Light erupted from his finger tip and stuck the vampire in the back, turning it to ash.

Corvid let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding and rushed forward to retrieve the holy symbol. He would never do something so foolish again. But his relief was only temporary as the Vallaki guards, led by the man that claimed to be his brother, rounded the corner.

“Corvid! Brother!” Izek shouted in dismay, “What have you done?”

Kicked out of Vallaki

Corvid hated Vallaki. It was the worst town they had been in since they arrived in Barovia and that said a lot. The Village of Barovia had been depressing, but Vallaki was a town that, at first glance seemed to be safe and a bit more cheerful than the rest of Barovia. They had only been there a few days, but it was enough to realize how very wrong that first impression was. Everyone, save perhaps the Martivoks, was insane. From the Burgomaster who forced the townsfolk to go to his weekly festivals and arrested people for “excessive frowning” to the woman that claimed she was his aunt that wants to overthrow the Burgomaster, but also has happens to worship devils.

Now, after they did a service to the town by destroying a nest of vampires that had been living above the coffin maker’s shop, they found themselves surrounded by the town guard. Corvid didn’t think he’d ever be happy to see Izek and he was still mostly unconvinced that this strange man was his brother, but at them moment, seeing him among the 20 or so guards that surrounded them was a small comfort. As demented and annoying as the man was, he clearly liked Corvid.

Behind the crowd of guards was Burgomaster Vargas Vallokovich accompanied by Henrick van der Voort, the coffin maker, who was holding his hand to his throat and pointing, in apparent fear at Bubblegum. She had just held him up by the throat only moments ago, but Firestorm was sure she saw a slight grin forming in the corner of his mouth.

“I’m going to have to insist you all leave,” Vargas said as the guards moved in around them.

“We just destroyed a nest of vampires that that man was harboring!” Mathias said, pointing at Henrick.

“There are no vampires in Vallaki,” Vargas responded, “The walls keep us safe from such things.”

“Well, there’s definitely a werewolf,” said Bubblegum, hoping to play on Vargas’s fear of the creatures.

“There are NO vampires or werewolves of any kind here!” Vargas yelled, his face turning red, “Now leave before I have you arrested and put into the stocks.”

Mathias tried to reason with them, but every time he began to talk, Vargas’s face kept on turning redder and it was clear he was not going to listen to anything anyone had to say. He was content to pretend that nothing was going wrong in his town. There was nothing they could do, they were outnumbered.

Izek walked by Corvid’s side and said, “You can stay, my brother!”

“Oh, uh…” Corvid stumbled on his words as he said, “Well, I’m going with my friends now, but it would be nice if we could return here someday?”

Izek slung is oversized devil arm over Corvid’s shoulder and said, “You don’t need your friends, you have me!”

“Still…” Corvid said, trying his best to seem friendly, “I’d like to leave with them now, but we’ll return, if we can?”

“Of course YOU can return, my brother!” Izek said happily, though Corvid couldn’t help but notice he only mentioned him.

“I’ll talk to the Burgomaster and make sure of it,” he continued, oblivious to Corvid’s apprehension.

They weren’t exactly kicked out of town, but escorted forcefully as Vargas put it as the gates of Vallaki shut forcefully behind the travelers. As luck would have it, they found themselves leaving by the north gate, closest to Lake Zarovich, where they were hoping to explore that day to begin with. They had heard a number of rumors regarding a mad mage shooting lightning bolts at fish and the dwarven lady Bhuellor mentioned sound suspiciously like Marin though somehow much older than she once was.

As they walked along the road that led north to Lake Zarovich, Firestorm confined her friends.

“Something happened to me last night,” she began, “I woke up in the alleyway and all my clothes were gone and I don’t know how I got there. I think someone took me from my room at night and put me there. They obviously also caked blood on my face and bits of flesh under my claws to make me think I had something to do with that dead body in the town square. Someone clearly broke in because I found dirt in my room, so it would have had to have been someone strong enough and with the ability to keep me unconscious or erase my memory as they brought me to the alleyway. Maybe it was Strahd.”

Bubblegum nodded along with this story, whereas both Corvid and Bhueller appeared to be paying attention to their surroundings more than Firestorm’s story.

“I don’t think that’s what happened,” Mathias said, “It sounds like maybe you’re a werewolf? There was a full moon last night and we’re still not sure what happened to you when you died for a moment back in the Village of Barovia.”

“No,” Firestorm said shaking her head, “I think I’m right.”

Before Mathias could reason with her, he noticed a figure approach them from further up the road and decided it best to leave the conversation for another time. It probably wasn’t wise to discuss such things in the open anyway.

A Stranger in a Strange Land

Keelos had been in Barovia for little over three months now and had only made two friends. As far as he knew, he was the only Triton to ever step through the mists and find themselves trapped in this cold, desolate place. Perhaps it was his odd appearance or the general coldness and obvious distrust of outsiders displayed by the majority of the Barovians he came across. Ismark and Ireena had been the only exceptions. They had offered him a home when everyone else was content to ignore him or turn him away with clear disdain upon their face.

He stayed with the siblings for a couple months before deciding to explore the rest of Barovia and see if he could bring some light into the land. It was a lonely journey and those he met had very little to say to him. Then, a few days ago as he was walking about the road leading back towards the Village of Barovia, he met up with Ismark again. And although the news Ismark had was dire, Keelos was thankful to have someone to talk to who trusted him. Ismark told him how his father had passed away and his sister was being targeted by the Devil Strahd, the vampire that they hadn’t seen in over a decade.

Ismark was heading back to the village as he was now the Burgomaster there and it was his job to ensure the villagers were safe. The way he kept on shaking his head and looking away from Keelos’s eyes as he spoke of his sister, it was clear Ismark would much rather have been traveling with her to Vallaki, but he had left her in the care of some capable outsiders whom he was certain would guide her to safety.

“Though, she won’t truly be safe until the Devil it dealt with,” Ismark said.

They discussed matters for a while as they walked along the muddy road and parted at the crossroads, Ismark heading back to Barovia and Keelos traveling south. Keelos wasn’t far down the road when he heard a muffled shout in the direction Ismark had just headed. Picturing his friend being attacked by one of the many horrible creatures he had encountered in Barovia, Keelos wasted no time running towards his friend. He was too late though and as he rounded the corner, he saw that Ismark was already overcome by 10 or more figures dressed in dark cowls, obscuring most of their features. Keelos was a brave Titon, but knew when he was outnumbered. The best thing he could do was step off the road, hide himself among the forest and see which way Ismark was taken and do his best to track them.

That’s how, a few days later, he found himself walking along the expansive shoreline of Lake Zarovich. He stared out over the calm water of the lake for a long moment before turning away from it and heading towards the town of Vallaki. Lake Zarovich was far from his home in the ocean, but it was the closest thing he could find in this strange land and he felt a pang deep in his heart every time he gazed upon it.

He saw a group of travelers heading towards him and thought perhaps he should step off the road until he realized exactly who he was seeing. This must be the group Ismark left Ireena with as he doubted there were many other groups consisting of two large Dragonborn ladies traveling through Barovia. He had a good idea of where those dark figures had taken Ismark, but he doubted he could take them all on his own, perhaps this group would help him?

“Hail, travelers,” Keelos called out, “I believe we have a common friend and would like your assistance if you can offer it.”

That was when he noticed that Ireena was not among them. Though he feared the worst, he hoped that they had somehow already managed to find her someplace safe to stay.

Lake Zarovich

Once they learned that Keelos was speaking of Ismark and Ismark was in trouble, the travelers readily agreed to assist him in rescuing their friend. It was the least they could do after losing Ireena to Alek after they had sworn to protect her. Though they were all nervous at what Ismark would think of their failed attempt at bringing his sister to safety.

Keelos told them the kidnappers had last been seen taking Ismark towards the Wizards Wine Winery, so they should head in the same direction. If he was at the Winery itself, the trip would take a few days on foot, but if they wanted to avoid staying outside in Barovia at night, which he highly recommended, then they may be able to purchase some horses from the nearby Vistani Camp. Everyone agreed to this plan and headed north along the path that lead to Lake Zarovich.

As they walked along the shores of the placid lake, Firestorm noticed a figure fishing from a small row boat at the center of the lake and next to him was a medium size brown sack that had something struggling within it. At least, she saw it move.

Just as she was about to point this out to her friends, the figure in the boat heaved the sack over the side, causing a loud splash and a small screech of terror. Firestorm and Bubblegum ran to the rowboats and begin frantically rowing forward. Whatever it was in that sack would drown if they didn’t help. Mathias jumped in Firestorm’s boat as Corvid joined Bubblegum. Keelos, seeing his moment to shine, dived into the lake and began swimming frantically towards the rowboat and the man that was fishing, unconcerned about whatever it was in the sack he just dumped into the lake.

The two Dragonborn ladies rowed with determination, their strong, muscular arms easily gliding the rowboats through the calm, dark waters. Bubblegum was grinning, making a contest out of it and sped past Firestorm who was more concerned about whoever was just dumped into the lake. Bubblegum arrived first, but just barely. As Firestorm pulled up next to the man’s boat, Mathias started shouting at him. He just sat there, ignoring them and continued to fish.

Keelos dove under water and was able to pull the sack to the surface. The screams from inside sounded like a young girl, but Keelos, knowing never to take things at face value in Barovia, channeled the will of his god to ensure whatever was inside this bag wasn’t an unholy terror. He didn’t feel anything wrong about whatever was in the bag, but was momentarily caught off guard when he discovered that Firestorm was one of the undead. Originally, he had been swimming the bag over to her, but quickly changed course to Bubblegum and the two of them were able to get the struggling victim into her boat.

Bubblegum and Corvid opened the sack and a young girl, probably about eight years old, came out, soaked to the bone and shivering a bit from the cold air.

“Thank you,” she said, rubbing her wet arms, “Thank you so much.”

Bubblegum quietly hummed a tune, a magical warm wind surrounded the young girl as she talked. She told them she was taken by Bluto, the man in the boat that was still staring blankly ahead and ignoring all of them. She said he just went crazy. SHe was clearly in hysterics, but trying to hold her head up high at the same time.

Not really knowing what to do about Bluto and thinking he was magically compelled in some way, Corvid hit him on the back of his head with an oar and knocked him unconscious. As they made their way back to the shoreline, Keelos saw a flash of light and turning towards it witnessed a very strange sight. A group of undead, likely vampires given their glowing red eyes and elongated fingers and claws, and wolves were facing against a large devil. The thing was very large and reminded Keelos of an insect, with its large bowed, serrated legs and fly-like eyes. Keelos decided not to mention it until they were safely upon the shore as far as he was concerned, the two could kill each other and make the world a better place by doing so.

The little girl told Bubblegum that her name was Mina and she seemed quick taken with the pink Dragonborn after she took her time to dry the girl off and style her hair with magical pink highlights. Mina calmed down a bit in her presence and as they pulled up the shore, stayed by Bubblegum’s side.

According to Mina she was playing hide and seek when Bluto captured her. She didn’t understand what happened to him. He had always been a bit slow, but now he was simply crazy and dragged her to the lake muttering something about how Vistani are lucky.

Keelos splashed some water in Blutos face, waking him up. The man did not answer any of their questions and still stared blankly ahead. He did not appear to be aware of his surroundings and after Mina begged them to bring her back to the Vistani Camp, where her father was sure to award them, they followed her and dragged Bluto with them.

The Dusk Elves

The Vistani made their camp northwest of Vallaki on a grassy hilltop beyond a small village with a number of small dwellings built into the sides of the hilltop. Mina was moving quickly past the dwellings, telling Bubblegum how she could give them card readings anytime they wanted. If they lost something or needed to find something or even if they just wanted to know their destiny. She was talking in that way kids do, excitedly and moving from one topic to the next, but she carried herself more like an adult would.

The small dwellings built into the hillsides were lit from within piercing the dull haze of the afternoon. Outside each dwelling was one or two figures dressed in long cloaks and each with a sword at their hip and a bow strung upon their back.

One of these figures ran up to the travelers and exclaimed happily, “Mina, you’ve returned! We were so worried about you.”

Mathias saw that this man was an elf, the first they had seen in Barovia. He didn’t want to ask as he thought it was rude, but he had never seen an elf with the features this one had. His skin was much darker than the elves Mathias had met in Waterdeep as was his hair, but he clearly wasn’t a Drow either.

“Kasimar,” Mina shouted in delight, giving him a hug then said, “Bubblegum saved me and I guess they all helped,” she added pointing at the travelers as she did so.

Mina told the elf her story again how Bluto had captured her while she was playing hide and seek. Mathias cut in and told the elf he thought that Bluto was charmed in some way, perhaps by a vampire.

Kasimar shook his head and said, “That is unlikely.”

He did not offer any further explanation, but summoned over a few of the elves that were nearby and asked them to ensure Bluto was safely locked away so he would harm no one else as Luvash would likely wish to deal with him later.

“Before you go,” Kasimar said, “Please know that I can guide you to the Amber Temple should you ever need to go there.”

“Why do you want to go there?” asked Bubblegum.

“There is old magic there,” Kasimar said, “that I hope to use to bring back my sister.”

“Where is your sister now?” Mathias asked.

“She is buried in the crypts of Ravenloft,” he replied, his voice growing grim.

“Right,” Bubblegum said, “We’ll uh...check in with you later then.”

The Vistani Camp

Arriving on the hilltop, the travelers were greeted by the site of a large, brute of a man with an unruly beard and messy hair was whipping the back of a younger man tied to a pole. The young man cried in anguish but did not beg for mercy.

A third man with long straight hair and a finely trimmed goatee, put a restraining hand on brute and said, “Easy brother, I think Alexei has learned his lesson.”

At the same time, Mina broke from the group and ran up to the large brute, “Father!” she cried, “It’s not Alexi’s fault, I hid from him…”

The change in the man, who must be Luvash, was dramatic. His angry, brute like features morphed into a wide smile, making him a bit less intimidating as he scooped up Mina and hugged her tightly, “Oh, Mina! I thought you lost for good!”

Shortly after their reunion, Luvash thanked the travelers profusely for rescuing his daughter and offered them one reward, of their choice, from one of their carriages. The catch being he would not let them look inside any of the boxes or containers before picking their reward, claiming it was a fun game for them. Though they didn’t really agree that it was fun, after Keelos cast Detect Magic, they decided to go for the only box that had magic contained within. IT was a small onyx jewelry box containing a gold filigree, some rather cheap looking jewelry, and a potion of poison that looked suspiciously like a potion of healing.

Luvash, feeling generous agreed to lend them four of their riding horses as long as they brought them back and the safety of their camp for the night. The travelers were still weary from their fight with the vampires only hours ago and spent the day with the Vistani resting and seeing to more basic needs. Bubblegum performed her song “The Devil’s Bargain” and taught it to a few of the Vistani. She was rather upset that most of the camp was too drunk to notice her amazing performance, but at least her song would now spread out further with fellow musicians playing it.

Bhuellor spent an hour resummoning his fallen familiar, Cam. The imp did come back to him, but his form had changed. His skin was a sickly gray and his bones were sticking out of him in some places and in others no flesh covered them. His raven form was much the same and he seemed out of sorts, willing to follow his master’s commands but not as talkative as he once had been. Bhuellor glared at Bubblegum, why had she not thought about Cam when she cast that spell of hers?

As the others were talking to the Vistani, Mathias decided to study Strahd's journal again. He kept on picking up on additional text and found it helpful to learn, not only the vampire's history, but the occasional tidbits about Barovia itself. This time he was able to piece together a very old entry written in a strange short-hand he was unfamiliar it. It discussed a mutual respect between Strahd and the Vistani where they were decidedly content with his rule and Strahd himself left them to their own devices. Reading more, he found something even odder about the main entry they had been able to read when the first obtained the journal from Van Richten. Beneath the text was another story, obscured by the passage of time and the writing that laid above it. In this version of Strahd's history, he was actually engaged to the peasant girl Tatyana and his brother Sergei murdered the poor girl the night of their wedding. Strahd, lost to grief made the same pact he described in the previous version of the story to seek revenge upon his brother and again sealed that pact in by drinking Sergei's blood. It was unclear which of the stories were true nor why, if this story was the true one, Strahd would try to hide it. He still made an evil pact with an unknown being, but the reasoning in doing so was a bit more understandable than in the other version of the story. Mathias decided to keep this information to himself for the time being until he could figure out exactly what happened.

The group set up camp in one of the Vistani’s tents and as they were settling down for the evening they heard a horse gallop by, heading towards the east and seemingly in a hurry to do so. They stayed up, hoping that whatever was going on didn’t concern them. Bhuellor finally convinced Firestorm that she was, in fact, a werewolf, so they placed her in manacles for the evening and took turns watching over her. There were a few close calls, when her already elongated jaw began to shift and became even longer, but she seemed to be able to resist whatever force inside of her that was trying to force this change.

The next morning, Corvid looked over the camp and didn’t seem to see any obvious people missing, but they were still down one horse than they had been. They decided not to linger, packed up the horses Luvash lent them and set out at a steady pace towards the Wizards Wine Winery with Keelos leading the way.

The Wizards Wine Winery

What could have been a long, two day journey was accomplished in a few hours and as it began to drizzle and the mud began to cake upon the road, they found themselves at a crossroads. One, very old sign, pointed towards the Wizards Wine Winery. There was no indication of what lay in the other direction except a broken sign post, so they took the branch in the road that lead to the Winery.

They dismounted, tying their horse up on the fence that boarded the path leading up to the winery. The winery itself was dreary and silent. A thin layer of mist hovered among the dead vines of the grapes and at the edge of the forest, to the west of the winery stood a man in a black cowl, holding up one hand in a gesture of silence and beckoning them with another. Moving as quietly as they could, the travelers approached the unknown figure.

The man greeted the travelvers in a quiet voice, “Davian Martikov. I didn’t want you to head in there without knowing, a group of foul druids took over our winery. I would deal with them myself, but” he waved his hand, indicating the group of people that emerged from out behind him, “I have to protect my family.”

The druids sounded like the same people who may have taken Ismark and after Davian told the group to be careful as the druids were accompanied by hundreds of small twig blights.

“But,” Davian said, “If you face the druid with the black, foul staff, destroy it. I think it controls the vile twig creatures.”

“We’ll help as we can,” Keelos said, then asked, “Did you happen to see a man with long blond hair being held captive by these druids?”

“No,” Davian said, “But we fled rather quickly, he could have been with them and we just did not notice.”

“Why are they here? Why did they take over your land?” Mathias asked.

“I…” Davian hesitated for a moment then said, “They took one of the gems that were magically enchanted to allow us to grow a winery here. I’m not sure why they stayed as they took off with the gem and headed south to Yester Hill. We once had three gems and now, between the druids and Baba Lysaga’s scarecrows, we have none...without them we cannot grow our grapes and make wine for the people of Barovia.”

“I guess we’ll have to ask them then,” Firestorm said and the group turned to confront the druids at the winery.

Firestorm gathered her companions and pulled the shadows from the between the dying grape vines to conceal them and silence from the earth to quiet their steps. The group moved as silent as the grave through the rows of twisted and dying vines towards the main building that made up the center of the winery. They circled the building, but found no windows on the ground floor, so they returned to the front entrance and debated on if they should just go in.

Through the quiet sounds of their hushed debate, Firestorm heard a strange sound on the wind. Much like the sound of twigs crunching underfoot or squeaking branches on a windy day. Turning, she saw dozens of small creatures with twisted, elongated limbs made of bark descending upon them. They looked like small, trees made of all the harshness of nature. They were all sharp points and had long pointed briars on each of their fingertips. They didn’t appear to have any eyes but were able to sense exactly where they were.

Firestorm pointed them out to her friends and they wasted no time in opening the winery door and barricading it behind them. They needed to find that blackened staff as quickly as possible. They found themselves in a small mudroom with a number of empty coat hooks upon the wall and large, paddle like boots upon the floor.

Beyond this room, they found themselves in a large room with four large wooden casks, the smell of fermenting grapes wafting from them. On a balcony above was a druid standing over one of the casks and dumping a vial of a foul looking green liquid into the unpressed wine. Firestorm gaped in horror as this person looked exactly like DJ, except she had changed. From out of DJ’s unkempt fiery red hair were two spiraling horns, curving backwards. They looked a bit like burnt bark. As Firestorm called out to her the elf that had been her friend, DJ cackled madly and lifted the darkened staff she held in her hands and all around them, small tree creatures emerged from the dirt floor.

The small creatures had them surrounded. Mathias and Firestorm struck them down, cleaving them in half like bits of firewood. Bubblegum, swiped her arm in a large arc as she etched a symbol into the air before her and pushed it outwards. The room erupted in sound, shattering a large group of the twig blights, but more kept on coming.

DJ held up her hands to, moving her fingers like growing roots and summoned vines beneath her former allies feet. They twisted and wrapped around them, attempting to hold them in place, but they each twisted and turned with the vines, preventing them from ensnaring them.

Mathias and Keelos ran up the ladder that led to the balcony where DJ stood, the twig creatures latching onto them as they did so, piercing into their flesh with their long, needle like claws. As their companions continued to take down the twig blights, Mathias and Keelos faced DJ. Mathias tore the staff from her hands and DJ screamed in fury.

Mathias suddenly found himself on top of a hill, a vast blackened tree at its very center and all around him were the twig blights, dancing around him. Circling the tree, he saw more druids, their forms mostly hidden behind large black cowls as they repeated the words, “Winter Splinter” in a tone that conveyed worship or a summoning of some sort.

Just as suddenly, Mathias found himself back at the winery, the staff ripped from his hand from a giant moon bear that growled at him. DJ must have shifted forms when he was caught in a waking dream. Below, his friends were still dealing with the never-ending twig blights, so together, Keelos and Mathias fought DJ, forcing her back into her human form and cutting her down. As she fell from the balcony to the vat of wine below, Mathais knocked the staff from her grip and brought his sword down upon it over and over again until it broke. A dark, foul liquid leaked from its center along with a single acorn. The twig blights fell silent as the staff was destroyed.

Keelos dived into the wine in an attempt to save DJ, but as he brought her out of the vat, she was no longer breathing. As they looked upon their dead friend, a raven landed upon the floor of the winery. This wasn't entirely unexpected as they saw a number of them flying among the rafters during their battle with DJ. This one's feathers look ruffled and it flew away as soon as it dropped five letters upon the ground. Each had a single letter upon the outside and a wax seal on the back depicting a raven in front of a castle. They each opened their letters and said nothing. Within each letter was an hand written invitation from Strahd von Zarovich to join him at Castle Ravenloft for dinner and contained within each letter was a bit of personal information about the addressee.

The Wizard’s Wine Winery

Firestorm looked down upon the DJ’s still form. Someone or something had twisted her friend into a fiend. Long,spiraled horns protruded from her forehead and her laughter had sounded sinister, not the sweet woodland elven laughter she once had, but there was still enough DJ about her for Firestorm to not mistake her for anyone else. This was her friend and she was dead and Firestorm had helped bring her to this end.

Keelos, their new companion, was muttering to himself, walking around the vat of wine that DJ had just poisoned. A bit of power rushed out of him and into the vat of wine, a purifying white light filling the basin and as beautiful as it was, Firestorm could only think of her friend and wonder at how quickly she began corrupted. She wondered how long it would take before she was nothing more than a wild, crazed wolf roaming the forests of Barovia and devouring anything that was unlucky enough to get in her way.

Before she had time to process these thoughts and properly grieve for DJ, Mathias called out, “Everyone, listen!”

She cocked her head to one side and heard the footsteps of two individuals running down the stairways at opposite sides of the winery. She followed her friends up the stairs and towards the eastern door as it was closest.

Mathias and Corvid reached the top landing and encountered someone who looked like they had been hastily thrown together by an artist trying wood carving for the first time. Her features were similar to DJ’s, but she had the same long, spiraled horns that the other DJ sported. She tried to attack Mathias and continue fleeing, but she was outnumbered and surrounded, so she surrendered.

Using a set of manacles, Mathias cuffed her hands behind her back as his companions questioned her. The way she spoke, she was clearly mad. She told them they stole the gem from the Winery so they could raise up against the awful people that would grow the grapes and destroy them by making wine. Mathias tried to tell her that the grapes that drop on the ground would regrow, but she was not convinced. After a rather painful conversation, the group discovered that the druids were responsible for kidnapping Ismark and brought him south to Yester Hill.

Keelos, obtaining assurance that they would make every attempt to save Ismark, offered to bring the druid to Vallaki to face justice. Not sure how long they had to save Ismark, the group decided to travel to Yester Hill straight away, despite their injuries. To the west of the hilltop was a thick layer of mist, perhaps marking the edge of the domain of Barovia. They could just make out what looked to be a white fortress sitting atop another hill above a great city.

Yester Hill

At the end of the road leading south from the Wizards of Wine Winery, the travelers find at the bottom of a steep hill, which must, of course, be Yester Hill. A thick forest surrounds it on either side and the hill itself is covered in dead grase and cairns of black rock. The carians form a circle around each level of elevation. A well-used walking path leads to the top of the hill, which is surrounded by a circle of large, black boulders.

As they approached, dark clouds gathered high above and a single bolt of lightning hit the very center of the hill top.

Firestorm and Mathias started to discuss the possibility of scouting ahead to determine what was going on at the top of the hill, but Bhuellor interrupted them.

“I can send Cam,” Bhuellor said, giving his now undead looking raven a sad look, “If he’s up for it.”

Despite appearances, Cam was still able to fly and since he wasn’t actually a raven, but an imp, he turned invisible and scouted out the area as the group waited, hidden among the trees, for Cam to return. It felt longer than it should have waiting in silence for Cam to return, but the ominous dark clouds overhead and the dead grass all around them made Bhuellor feel more than a little uneasy.

When he finally returned, Cam reported directly to Bhuellor. He told him that there was a blond man, matching Ismark’s description tied to a large wicker statue of what looked like some sort of hybrid of a human and snake. Also, on the other side of the hill, he saw some druids dancing around a giant, dead looking tree that had a glowing green gem wedged into it. He stayed far above and didn’t get close enough to see if there were more, but he saw at least three druids there.

Following Mathias and Firestorm’s lead, the group moved from rock cairn to rock cairn, attempting to remain undetected before they reached the top of the hill.If things went well, they may even be able to rescue Ismark and leave before anyone realized they were there. Of course, things rarely went well since they arrived in Barovia.

Corvid Bhuellor, though ducking behind the stone piles as instructed were both making far too much noise while doing so. Bubblegum on the other hand, hadn’t tried very hard to conceal herself and it was quite easy to see her large form barely obscured by the large stone formation her companions hid behind. Firestorm let out a swear under her breath as something popped out of the ground.

The group soon found themselves surrounded as four more humanoids popped out of the ground. Mathias had assumed they were undead until his sword passed through one and blood gushed from the wound. These were humans. Humans that were strangely buried beneath the ground? Or perhaps, he thought as he parried an attack from the greataxe the one before him yielded, they had been waiting for a rescue attempt and hid themselves within the hilltop.

These were any normal humans though and they did not go down easily. They were all foaming at the mouth and no matter how many times Firestorm hit them dead on with an arrow or Corvid engulfed them in holy fire, they just shrugged it off as if the pain was nothing to them. For a sickening moment, Bubblegum wondered if they could be killed and was relieved as one fell upon the edge of her longsword and did not raise again.

Working together, the group was able to take down the rest of the battle raging humans, though it was not easy. Not pausing to see to their wounds, the group ran up towards the center of the hill where Cam had said Ismark was held. Firestorm decided to take flank and come around from the other side while moving from rock cairn to rock cairn on her own.

Mathias was the first to reach the stone circle on top of Yester Hill and craned his neck around the gap in the stone circle. Within he saw Ismark tied to a wicker man that resembled Mammon too much for his liking, but he had no time to ponder the significance of the idol to his former master as one of the DJ doppelgangers was about to stab Ismark in the chest with a twisted dagger. Mathias ran into the clearing as fast as the wind and parried her the dagger just before it nicked Ismark’s chest. The wooden doppelganger snarled at Mathias and turned her attention to him, just as he hoped.

There was another wooden doppelganger in the clearing and a bunch of those damn twig creatures they had fought at the winery, which meant they knew how to deal with them quickly. As her friends fought, Firestorm made her way around the stone circle, no longer able to hide behind the stone cairns, she did her best to stay low to the ground, but still felt exposed. She was used to thick forests, not open fields and hills. A shadow passed overhead. Firestorm turned her gaze upwards and saw a man upon a black stead with a fiery mane that left a streak of fire in its wake.

It must be Alek, she thought, squinting her eyes, but the man upon the nightmare had dark hair and a very pale complexion. It was Strahd, she realized with fear. That was the last thing they needed right now. At the same time, Mathias and Bubblegum see him as well, but they recognize him right away as they had seen him weeks ago in the village of Barovia, seemingly paying respect to Ismark on the death of his father.

Firestorm, ran to a small stand of trees as her friends continued to fight the druids and twig blights within the stone circle. She could hear the class of their weapons and Corvid’s voice calling down the justice of his god. They were doing fine, so she made her way to the druid by the giant, blackened tree. She had just lowered her arms and the tree began to move as Firestorm rushed forward and grabbed the druid's arm, she twisted free at once as Firestorm said, “Tell me now, are you an enemy of Strahd’s?”

“Of course we’re his enemy,” the DJ clone snarled behind a set of sharp, wooden teeth.

Firestorm was about to offer up an allegiance when she saw what was on the tree. In the center of the tree was the true DJ. Her flesh was completely merged with the tree, her chest open and where her heart should have been was now a pulsing green gem. For a fraction of a second, Firestorm thought there could be hope for her friend, but it was not her eyes that opened when the tree began to move. It was not her gaping mouth that let out a piercing screech as the tree came to life.

Did they have to fight a giant tree and Strahd? Firestorm panicked for a moment, then attacked the Druid. They were the ones that took her friend from her, they would pay for it. To her surprise as she hacked into the Druid with her greataxe much like one does with an actual tree, Strahd threw a large ball of fire at the tree and part of it lit up.

The Druid did not stand much of a chance under her rage, but before she was able to finish her off, the giant tree picked her up and swung her to the ground and she fell into darkness. Mathias called down to Firestorm as she dropped and Bhuellor took the druid out with a wave of his hand, flinging a force of energy directly at her chest.

“The tree’s headed to the winery!” Bubblegum shouted and above she saw Strahd throw another ball of fire at the giant tree. He seemed unconcerned about them. Bubblegum, however, wasn’t convinced they should help him.

Corvid ran to Firestorm’s side and calling upon Lathander’s light, healed her wounds, allowing her to stand once more. She stood on shaky legs, nodded her thanks at Corvid, then cocked her an arrow upon the string of her bow, taking aim at the evil tree.

Mathias chased after the tree as his companions stayed back and fired at it from a distance. The tree was fast and Mathias had trouble catching up with it. A bolt of fire flung by his right side and hit the tree, slowly its progress just enough for Mathias to catch up with it.

From above Strahd called out, “I expect you all will clean up this mess.”

Without waiting for a response, he flew off on his stead. Mathias did not hesitate and jumping at the tree with his two swords drawn, he hacked into its thick bark. A sickly, black sap like substance pooled out of its wounds and the tree collapsed onto the weed strown hill. Mathias noticed an axe embedded in its side and pulled it from the tree. He pulled it free, hopping backwards as the tree erupted in magical flames. DJ’s remains would turn to ash in that blaze and part of him was saddened that they could not provide her with a proper burial.

As he stood there, watching the tree burn, Mathias heard a voice call to him. The voice told him that they had waited long for someone who was worthy. He followed the voice to one of the hollow graves that were hidden amongst the hillside and within he found a strange spear. It looked as if it was stained in blood, but as he picked it up to inspect it further, he realized it was the most beautiful weapon he had ever held. He carried it with care as he ran back up the hill to join his friends.

They went back to see to Ismark, tending to his wounds and asking him how he ended up there. Ismark shook his head and said he was jumped on the road and brought here tied, gaged, and blind folded. Besides attempting to sacrifice him to their god, he wasn’t sure what the purpose of it was. He sadly said he needed to get back to his village and asked how his sister was. Mathias, at that time, admitted that Ireena was stolen from them and is currently at Castle Ravenloft. They all promised they would try to get her back, but Ismark took the news poorly, perhaps having no hope of seeing his sister ever again.

They walked back to the winery together, Ismark said he would stay there a few days to rest his wounds, then would make his way back to Barovia. As he said this, a large black carriage pulled by two large all black horses pulled up to them. There was no one seated upon carriage’s perch, which was eerie enough, but as soon as they were within a couple feet of it, the door opened of its own accord.

“I will stay here,” Ismark said, his eyes narrowing at the site of the carriage.

The group exchanged looked, then one after the other piled into the carriage. The door shut behind them and the horses began to pull them towards Castle Ravenloft.

Carriage Ride

Nursing their wound, the travelers made their way down Yester Hill and back to the Wizard’s of Wine Winery with Ismark. Ismark was not in a talkative mood after Mathias had admitted to him that they had failed to protect his sister Ireena. To make matters worse, they were only a few miles from Vallaki when she was taken by one of Strahd’s minions. She could have been safe in Vallaki, but instead was now in Castle Ravenloft and all Mathias could tell him is that she seemed to be safe for the time being. At least, she hadn’t been changed into a vampire as far as they knew. Ismark had nothing to say to this, only cursed himself for leaving her. If he had stuck by her side, perhaps this would not have happened.

As they approached the winery they saw a large, sleek black carriage standing in front of the Martikov’s home. Ismark openly scowled at the carriage and made his hasty farewells to the travelers, then made his way to the Martikov’s front door as they inspected the carriage. It was made of fine wood painted black and varnished. The carriage was clearly well cared for. Two large all black horses stood motionlessly hitched to the carriage, their warm breath forming puffs of steam in the cool early evening air. The doors swung open of their own accord and with some trepidation, the travelers climbed inside one after the other with Firestorm and Bhuellor leading the way. The doors shut with an ominous thump as the last of their number entered.

The interior of the carriage was just as fine as the exterior with comfortable red leather seats and thick glass windows covered by luscious black velvet curtains. There was enough room for twice their number to sit comfortably within. In the middle of the front seat sat a small ornate black wooden box with a folded up piece of parchment upon it. Bhuellor snatched up the parchment and unfolded it. He read it over once himself before reading aloud to the group:

My Friends,

I look forward to civilized discussion this evening over dinner. Firestorm, please ensure you drink the contents of the tonic I have provided, it shall allow you to keep your wits about you this evening.

Your Host,

Count Strahd von Zarovich

Bhuellor then handed the letter and box over to Firestorm as he suspected the tonic that Strahd had mentioned in his letter was within. Firestorm, knowing it was a full moon that night, opened the box. Within she found a glass vial filled with a green shimmering liquid held in place by folds of black velvet fabric.

“Well,” she said as she pulled the stopper off the top of the vial, “I might as well take it.”

“Hold on,” Corvid said as he extended one hand out towards her in caution, “Let me examine it first.”

Firestorm shrugged and handed the tonic to Corvid. He swirled it around in the container and thought. In all his years of study, he had never come across something like this before. The only conclusion he could reach was it was likely only found in Barovia or something of Strahd’s own invention.

“I’m not sure what it is,” he admitted with a frown, “But before you just drink it, let me ask Lathander for guidance.”

Corvid closed his eyes and put a hand upon Firestorm’s shoulder, praying to the Lord of the Dawn to remove the taint this land had bestowed upon his friend. He felt a slight warmth pulse through his fingertips, like a warm fire bathing his hands after a long day spent out in the cold. When he opened his eyes, the wolf-like features Firestorm had developed were still prominent. He thought he may have suppressed her change, but did not permanently cure it as he prayed for.

“Did it work?” Firestorm asked. She didn’t feel any different and stared down at her still elongated legs with doubt.

“I think I may have suppressed it, but I’m not positive,” Corvid admitted. This was the first time Lathander had failed him. That spell should have worked, but he remained silent. This land was corrupt and perhaps Lanthander’s light wasn’t as strong here, Corvid thought for a fleeting moment with dismay.

Firestorm, deciding not to risk losing control while dining with a potential enemy, downed the tonic before anyone had a chance to stop her. She felt a strange warmth coarse through her body, spreading quickly from her chest down through her fingertips and toes. She reeled, clutching her stomach as the carriage began to spin and lurch under her. She felt nauseous but was able to keep the substance down. She stared at the empty vial in disgust. What was Strahd playing at? She wouldn’t make the mistake to truth him again, it seems like he had just tried to poison her!

Before Firestorm had a moment to voice this concern, Bubblegum changed the subject and said, “Now, I have to get something off my chest. I have feelings for a special someone in this group and I’ve written them a poem, which I’d like to read now.”

She turned her gaze upon Mathais as she said this. Mathais shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Surly Bubblegum didn’t have any feelings for him? She was constantly fawning over Corvid, after all or her own reflection She had never shown any interest in Mathias before. Bubblegum either not noticing or not caring about his uncomfort, pulled out a piece of parchment and began to read.

So I hear you chose Mathias

For his courage and his skills

But there is another if your looking for some thrills

Have you ever known a bard?

I laugh loud and fight hard

I'm told I am quite strong

And I would never do you wrong!

But you went and grabbed your fighter

He has a tiny blade with which he likes to play

But when he gets in trouble he tends to run away!

I'm made of the stuff of which legends are told

I'm beautiful, fierce, talented, and bold!

Have you ever known a bard?

I laugh loud and fight hard

I'm told I am quite strong

Join with me, I will never do you wrong!

The spear that Mathias held onto since it had called to him at Yester Hill vibrated in his hands. The need to hold it and keep it with him faded away with Bubblegum’s words. Even though she had insulted him, Mathias found himself gladly handing over the blood stained spear to Bubblegum’s outstretched hands without a second thought. Bubblegum cradled the spear in her hands, pleased with her cleverness in winning it’s allegiance.

“Well,” Firestorm said, “Now that that’s done...I think we need to be careful. I’m not sure what that tonic did, but it didn’t make me feel all that great.”

“That’s strange,” Mathias said, “Why would he invite us and give you that if he just wanted to hurt you?”

As they contemplated this predicament, the carriage moved through the Old Svalich Road at an alarming speed with no visible master guiding the two great steeds that pulled them along. Pulling back the black velvet curtain in the window near him, Corvid noticed that they were being followed by a large swarm of bats overhead and the occasional wolf bounding through the forest. They all could hear the wolves song echoing through the darkening night.

The carriage passed through the wrecked town of Vallaki and people pointed at them as they flew by. Corvid quickly ducked down when he noticed his supposive brother, Izek, among the gauckers. The last thing he needed was Izek to stop them now. Not for the first time, Corvid wondered if he would have been better off not discovering the knowledge of who his actual family were. Thankfully, the carriage moved through Vallaki in only a matter of minutes. They watched as the carriage passed through the Svalich Woods and wound through the craggy mountain peaks. There was some beauty in it and perhaps if the sun shined upon the land again and the stunted vegetation and sickly greenery were able to flourish once more, it would show its true beauty.

The carriage took a sudden turn towards the east and before their eyes as the awe-inspiring presence of Castle Ravenloft, towering over the small village of Barovia below. The carriage paused for a moment just before two twin turrets made of dark stone as if the horses wanted the passengers to take in the full extent of the might of Ravenloft with its high stone walls and monumental towers looming over them. Beyond the turrets, they could make out a lowered drawbridge made of old wooden beams extending over a vast chasm into depth obscured by the ever present mists of Barovia. The horses trotted forward as the rusty chains of the drawbridge creek in the wind and the wooden beams groaned beneath the weight of the carriage. Everyone collectively held their breath until they reached the other side of the chasm.

Dinner at Ravenloft

The carriage pulled directly into the castle courtyard, coming to a stop just outside the main entranceway to Ravenloft. The doors swung open of their own accord once more and the travelers stepped out, one after the other. Bhuellor was the last to exit and as he did Firestorm said, “I’m going to be honest, I’m just attacking right off the bat. He tried to hurt me.”

“I'm not sure that is the best idea,” Mathias said in an attempt to calm Firestorm down, “We’re not sure if that’s what the tonic was meant to do…”

As they were speaking, the two large wooden doors outside the front of Castle Ravenloft opened, spilling out a soft orange light onto the courtyard. They could hear the sound of beautiful yet haunting organ music coming from within. The group exchanged glances, then silently agreed to continue on. If their host meant them harm in inviting them here, they would find out soon enough. As they stepped within the small foyer they were greeted by the sight of four large stone dragons glaring down at them from the tall ceiling, the torchlight shining from their eyes onto the floor below them. It was not the most welcoming of entrances. Still, they had come this far, so they pressed on through a second set of double doors which led into a great entryway.

Four magnificent tall columns supported the vast vaulted ceiling of the entryway. Eight stone gargoyles encircled the room from above, the torchlight from the iron sconces upon the wall casting their eerie shadows upon the floor. The ceiling was domed and adorned with a cracked and faded fresco which depicted a strong figure standing atop a hill, arms out-strteched before a horde of cowering creatures. Peering at the fresco, Bubblegum thought that perhaps some recent work had been down in an attempt to restore the imagery, at least parts of it were less filthy and faded than others and she could barely make out carved letters that read “The Goblyn King flees be ore th”.

Her curiosity getting the better of her, Bubblegum etched a rune of power with a single claw and elegantly pushed it out towards the domed ceiling. It was as if tiny invisible brooms swept the ceiling, restoring some of the beauty it once held and removing the grim that obscured the rest of the carved letters, which now read “The Goblyn King flees before the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind”. The figure appeared to be a more human looking version of Strahd as they last saw him in the village of Barovia; he was wearing the armor and sword of a noble warrior and holding aloft a shining holy symbol in his extended arm. It wasn’t easy to make out, but likey this was the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind.

Before they had a moment to discuss this, Mathias noticed an elf with dark hair and skin walking down the grand stairway to the northern side of the entryway. The elf wore a grim expression on his face, giving the impression that he rarely, if ever smiled. He was wearing a studded leather armor and a scimitar at his hip, which seemed odd attire for a dinner party.

“The Master is expecting you,” he said in a neutral tone as if it was no concern of his.

“Yes,” Corvid responded and added unnecessarily, “We were invited.”

“Follow me,” the elf said, brushing past them and walking towards the hallway on the other side of the room.

“Is Alek here?” Bubblegum asked, barely disguising the venom behind her words.

“Yes,” the elf said, raising his eyebrows since Alek happened to be leaning up against the wall opposite the doorway that led into the dining hall.

“Oh, hi there Alek,” Bubblegum said with false cheer, “How are you?”

Alek nodded a greeting as Bubblegum ran up to him and swung a fist at his face. Alek laughed as he grabbed her fist with his hand and said, “I’m doing well, thank you.”

The elf shook his head and said, rather forcefully, “This way please,” indicating the closed doorway in which the organ music was coming from. He opened the door and stood back, allowing the guests to enter. Firestorm had her hand on her bow, but withdrew once she saw the number of other guests Strahd had likely invited to join them. There were three enormous crystal chandeliers on the ceiling above, which provided a brilliant illumination to the magnificent dining room. The walls were made of a dull white marble and in the center of the room was a long, heavy table covered with a fine white satin cloth, in which a feast of roasted beast basted in a savory sauce, roots and herbs of very taste, and sweet fruits and vegetables was laid out. It smelled delicious. There were places set upon the table for all of them with fine delicate china and silver as well as a crystal goblet filled with an amber liquid.

Two beautiful young women were already seated at the table. The younger of the two wore a high-necked ballgown and her hair piled messily onto her head as if she was attempting to immediate a courtly fashion, but didn’t quite get it right. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as she took in the feast laid out on the table and smiled up at the other guests as they entered. The other wore a sleeveless dark blue gown and held herself in such a way that she appeared very bored. She held a crystal goblet with a dark red liquid within and took a small sip of it as the guests arrived. Another young woman dressed in a long, torn midnight black ballgown danced as Strahd himself played the organ. The pale woman’s dance did not quite match what was being played and it was almost as if she was dancing to a sound that no one else could hear. Mathias noticed two other figures in the room, though they were standing on either side of the room with their backs against the wall and holding trays at their side. He gathered they were likely the servants, but neither were really dressed as such.

Strahd did not greet his guests right away and instead finished the haunting melody he was playing, then he stood with a bit of a flourish and bowed to his guests. Strahd had a very pale complexion and long black hair that he had pulled back from his forehead. His frame was lithe yet muscular and he wore tailored fashionable attire of black pants, black dress coat, a red vest, and a white shirt underneath. He had a crimson cravat upon his neck, which provided a luxurious background for the large ruby jewel upon his stickpin.

“Welcome to Castle Ravenloft,” he said, “please be seated.”

Alek made his way through the room, positioning himself to the right of the chair at the head of the table, which Strahd took as his own. The guests followed suit, Bubblegum ensuring that she sat next to Alek so she could keep an eye on him. Corvid found himself sitting next to the elf that escorted them there and the beautiful woman he was sure was sipping blood from her glass. Firestorm sat next to the elf as Mathias positioned himself between the young woman in the high collared dress and Bubblegum, looking down at the fine china in obvious discomfort. The dancing woman made no move to join them as Bhuellor took the only seat that remained, which happened to be the one directly to Strahd’s left.

“Thank you for having us,” Mathias said uncomfortably as he took note of who was piling food onto their plates and who seemed to only be drinking from their glasses filled with what was most likely blood.

Introductions were hastily made. The group already knew Alek, but they were introduced to Ludmilla (the bored looking noblewoman that drank from her goblet in disdain), Volenta (the dancing woman who was still dancing even though there was no more music to accompany her), Rahadin (the dusk elf who escorted them into the dining room), and Gertruda (the young rather wide-eyed woman next to Mathias). Mathias was surprised at how many of those in attendance were physically eating food. Strahd, Ludmilla, and the dancing Volenta were the only ones not partaking in the food set out on the table.

Firestorm tried to make conversation with Rahadin and asked, “Why are you here tonight?”

“My family has served the von Zarovich family for centuries,” Rahadin replied, a touch of pride in his voice.

“Oh, how do you serve them?” She asked.

“As servants,” Rahadin replied dryly, clearly not willing to say more.

“Oh,” Firestorm let out a nervous laugh, “right.”

“Strahd...do you have any children?” Corvid asked, trying to make some conversation over dinner as everyone was rather silent.

Strahd gave him an indignant look as Ludmilla said, quite harshly, “LORD Strahd.”

“Oh,” Corvid stammered a little as he tried to correct himself and said, “Forgive me, Lord Strahd, your invitation didn’t have a title..so I thought.”

“Yes,” Bubblegum chimed in, “it is a costume among our people to have our titles in our letters.”

Ludmilla scoffed and said, “Lord or Count is the proper way to address him.”

Strahd waved Corvid’s apology away with a dismissive gesture of his hand and said, “Yes, Ludmilla and Volenta are my children.”

Corvid didn’t really know how to respond to that. Clearly the two women were vampires as they didn’t share many common features with Strahd and could not be biologically related...At least now he knew there were more than one vampire in the room. Not that that fact really helped him in any way.

“So, why did you invite us here Lord Strahd?” Bhuellor asked.

“I thought my invitations were quite clear on that matter,” Strahd replied as he swirled the contents of his glass around, then turned to Mathias and asked, “Tell me, Mathias, did you follow your master here?”

“I uh…” Mathias looked down before answering and said, “Well, no...I was hoping to escape him here, but well...I mean, not that I came here on purpose.”

“So you no longer work for Mammon?” Strahd asked.

“No,” Mathias answered, then asked, “Did you bring us here? We were under the impression…”

Strahd held up a hand and said, “No,” before Mathais completed his sentence, then asked another of his own, “Tell me, what was it you did for Mammon?”

Mathias was feeling increasingly uneasy about the way this conversation was headed. He hadn’t told his traveling companions about his past yet. He had planned to do so at some point in time, but it never seemed like the right moment and now he would have to do so here in front of the ruler of Barovia.

“I was in charge of raising an undead beholder for him,” Mathias said.

“Were you successful in this endeavor?” Strahd asked, leaning back in his chair, a slight grin forming on his face.

“Yes,” Mathias said.

“And you did it yourself? I wasn’t aware you had any magical talent,” Strahd said.

Mathias noticed Gertuda looking back and forth between him and Strahd, clearly thinking this was the most fascinating conversation she had witnessed. He wondered for a moment if there was something wrong with her but said, “Well, I was in charge of ensuring it was successful, others did the actual ritual part.”

“Ah,” Strahd said, “I see. That is interesting. I have found Mammon’s presence here problematic. He is causing issues with my people and I would like to deal with him in short order.”

“Your people as in the other vampires?” Mathias asked.

“All the people of Barovia are my people,” Strahd replied, “The druids that were corrupted at Yester Hill are my people. The people of Vallaki are my people. He toys with them all.”

“We would like to help,” Mathias offered, “If possible...though I’m not sure we are strong enough to do so.”

Strahd raised an eyebrow at that as Alek let out a bark of a laugh. Bubblegum scowled in Mathias’s direction. Why would he say such a thing? If anything they should pretend to be powerful enough to take down Strahd and Mammon without any alliances with either side. Make these tyrants fear them, not the other way around.

“Yes,” Corvid agreed, “we can help...but I doubt something like the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind could assist in defeating him?”

“Where did you hear of such a relic?” Strahd asked, his face carefully blank.

“Well, it was one of the items Madam Eva told us about when we first arrived here...she said it could help us while we traveled this land,” Corvid replied,

“I see,” Strahd said, “Well, I’m not sure where that particular item is.”

Mathias tried to get a read on Strahd, but he was so difficult to read. He could likely tell him he was an owlbear and Mathias might be inclined to believe him and given that one of the vampires they fought in Vallaki escaped, Strahd likely knew they already had the Holy Symbol in their possession, but was pretending he did not. Why was that? Did he want Corvid to save face for lying to him or was there another reason behind it?

“Well,” Corvid continued, “Mammon, I think, is my father...but I have no real ties to him and if he’s causing all these issues in your realm, then I’d like to assist in defeating him. But what do we get in turn? Can you send us back home? To Waterdeep?”

“Yes, I heard as much,” Strahd replied, “The Wachter family have been faithful servants of mine for centuries. I am displeased to discover that they are responsible, in part, for Mammon’s presence in my domain. Their ambitions have gone too far. Though I do believe that because of your ties to them, Corvid, and Mathias’s past dealings with Mammon you may be well suited to infiltrate his base at the Amber Temple.”

Mathias looked down at his plate, uncomfortable with where this discussion was headed, but before he could voice his concerns, Strahd continued and said, “As for sending you back, that is not within my power.”

“But,” Bubblegum chimed in, “We heard that you allow the Vistani to come and go as they see fit.”

“There are many rumors about my person,” Strahd replied, “Not all of them are true . Though perhaps I might be able to strike a deal for you with the Vistani. It is the magic of their people that allows them to freely travel through the mists and if they were able to bring Corvid through as an infant, perhaps they could take others with them as well.”

Bubblegum frowned. She couldn’t tell if Strahd was lying or not, so she decided on a different tactic and asked, “What about Alek? First, why are we even dining with a Rug dealer?”

Alek laughed and replied, “It is not my fault you believed that.”

“Alek is my Commander,” Strahd said, narrowing his eyes at Bubblegum.

“Well, your Commander,” Bubblegum said in a tone of disgust, “pretended to help us then stole our friend away. We’d like to see some justice for that.”

Alek laughed at Bubblegum’s remarks again as Firestorm asked, “Where is Ireena?”

“Ireena is safe,” Strahd said.

“What about Alek?” Bubblegum pressed, “He pretended to help us then took off with Ireena, leaving us to deal with deadly enemies on our own.”

“The way I understand it,” Strahd replied, steepling his fingers in front of him, “Alek slew a hag singlehandedly and left to bring Ta…” he paused for a moment and Mathias was sure he was about to call Ireena Tatyana, but he continued and said, “Ireena to safety after you left her alone with a stranger you had just met. I do not disagree with his action, for she is far safer here than with a group that would lead her into a hag’s nest without proper protection.”

“And what about Ismark’s actions? Was he wrong as well?” Corvid asked.

“Ismark’s intentions were noble,” Strahd replied.

“Can we see Ireena?” Firestorm asked, “We’d like to know if she’s okay.”

“She is fine,” Strahd said, rather coolly.

“We’d still like to see her,” Firestorm said.

“Yes, maybe we could have a dance or something after dinner,” Corvid suggested.

Strahd pinched the bridge between his nose as Bubblegum continued, “I’m sure she’s fine, but we miss her and would like to see her if it's not too much trouble.”

“Fine,” Strahd replied icly, then waved a hand towards Rahadin and said, “Rahadin, please fetch Ireena.”

Rahadin bowed and swiftly exited the room as Firestorm thanked him. She was very anxious to see her friend. Strahd was right, in a way, they had failed Ireena. She was supposed to be safe in Vallaki by now, not hidden away somewhere in Castle Ravenloft and Firestorm did not trust that Strahd’s version of keeping her friend safe is what Ireena would want.

“Firestorm,” Strahd said, turning his dark eyes upon her, “it seems my tonic has had the expected effect on you. At least, you are yourself this evening.”

“About that,” she said, narrowing her eyes, “It hurt me a bit and well, it may have been Corvid’s magic that helped me more than your tonic.”

“I doubt that,” Strahd replied, “You will find that your Morning Lord’s light is greatly reduced here.”

“I don’t know,” Bubblegum chimed in, “Corvid is pretty powerful and a true cleric of Lanthader.”

“Is that so?” Strahd asked, eying Corvid over his glass of blood.

“Uh,” Corvid looked around the room uncomfortably and said, “Uh...yes.”

“Hmm,” Strahd turned his attention back to Firestorm and asked, “Can you tell me how your condition came to be?”

“Well,” Firestorm thought for a moment before answering, “I died...and I was given the option to continue to live or die...I choose life.”

“Did a dark being appear before you to offer this deal?” he asked.

“Uh...yeah, something like that,” she said. It had been a dark being of a kind, it looked more like unformed smoke than an actual person, but she decided to leave out that detail, “You said...in your letter that you might be able to shed some light on what’s happening to me?”

“I believe your miraculous recovery was the work of the Dark Powers that reside here,” Strahd said.

“What are these Dark Powers?” Mathias asked.

Strahd, however, ignored him and said, “There is a ritual, beyond the capabilities of your Corvid, that may cure you of your predicament. The only one in this realm that could likely successfully conduct it is the Abbot at Saint Markovia’s Abbey in the village of Krezk.”

“Oh,” Firestorm said, “Thanks.”

“I warn you, he is quite insane...mostly harmless though,” Strahd said.

“How...what makes him insane?” Mathias asked.

“It is a long story, but essentially in a vain attempt to assist the noble household of the Belview family in ridding them of their disfigurements, he combined them with bestial features. They are now all part man and part beast.”

Strahd said all of this in a flat, bored tone as if it really didn’t matter much to him, then quickly changing the subject again, he turned his gaze on Bhuellor and said, “You’ve been rather quiet this evening, Bhuellor. I’m surprised you haven’t asked me about your family.”

Bhuellor had been very quiet when he recognized Strahd’s voice and began to realize who he was. He had become lost in his own thoughts, trying to figure out what it all could mean. But that was a lesser concern at this point in time. If his wife and child were still alive, that mattered so much more than anything else.

“I’ve been waiting for the right moment, Count,” Bhuellor replied, then asked, “Do you know where they are?”

“My sources tell me that the werewolves brought them here. There’s a cave northwest of Lake Baratok where they make their den,” Strahd replied, “It’s hard to miss as they purposefully carved it to resemble a wolf’s gaping maw...Very subtle of them.”

“And where is Lake Baratok?” Bhuellor asked.

“It’s west of Vallaki. There’s a tower at the it’s center where I believe van Richten is currently making his home,” Strahd replied, “I will provide you with more suitable weapons to assist you in rescuing your family.”

“Thank you, Count,” Bhuellor said, surprised at how well that conversation went.

Bhuellor wanted nothing more to leave at that very moment and save his family, but before he could express this desire, Rahadin came back into the room escorting Ireena. Strahd stood as she entered, ignoring any further conversation Bhuellor attempted. Bhuellor looked to his friends, but they too seemed distracted by Ireena’s appearance. Firestorm stood and rushed over to her and gave her a big hug as Ireena exclaimed how nice it was to see her. Bubblegum also gave Ireena a hug and Corvid stood a bit awkwardly behind the two Dragonborn ladies, eying Ireena warily. She still appeared human, he thought, at least that was something. The last time they saw Ireena she was wearing armor and carried a sword at her side. Now she was dressed in an elegant dark green ballgown with long belled sleeves and a dark velvet bow that hugged the fabric against her waist. Mathias frowned as he noticed the large emerald necklace she wore tight around her throat, which would conveniently hide any marks upon her neck.

“Rahadin told me there would be dancing,” she told Firestorm.

Strahd made his way over to Ireena and with an elaborate gesture and murmured incantation, a number of instruments formed out of nothing and began to play a slow waltz. Strahd extended one hand out to Ireena and with an apologetic smile to Firestorm, she took his hand and they began to dance. Strahd, who wore a stern expression throughout the conversations over dinner, had an actual, genuine smile on his face as he danced with Ireena. It made him appear slightly more human, which was unnerving in a way.

Others began to dance shortly after Strahd and Ireena. After Bubblegum turned down Alek’s invitation to dance, he asked Firestorm who, hesitantly agreed. Mathias found himself pulled into a dance with Gertruda as Corvid danced with Ludmilla. Bhuellor positioned himself by the door, impatient to leave and see his family once more. It had been years...would they still be safe? Would they be werewolves now? If they were, what would he do? He hated werewolves more than anything...but if his wife was one? Could he end her? What about his child?

“Disappointed that Bubblegum turned you down?” Firestorm asked Alek as they danced.

“Not really,” Alek said, “You’re more my type, my dear.”

“Okay…” Firestorm said uncomfortably then asked, “So, you’re Lord Strahd’s Commander? What kind of army do you lead?”

“Oh,” Alek said offhandedly, “What you’d expect...Mostly the undead and wolves. Sometimes mortals as well, but that hasn’t happened in a long time.”

“What’s that like? I mean, you being human and all?” Firestorm asked.

“Well, the undead take orders without question,” Alek said, “they’re much easier to deal with than mortals. Also, I’m a werewolf, not really human anymore.”

"So you're a werewolf? Can you control yourself when you change?" Firestorm asked.

"Yes," Alek said, "I'm incomplete control of myself."

"Did you have a teacher then?" Firestorm asked, wondering if perhaps he could teach her.

"No, I slew the one that changed me," Alek said, "I had to learn mostly on my own. It took some time...but with a bit of help from Strahd, I managed. I'm not sure if I could teach you, if that's what you're asking. I don't think you're actual a werewolf. You're close, but not quite what I am...For one, werewolves are created when a werewolf bites someone...you just died and came back, which I've never heard of a werewolf do before, so I'm not sure if I can help you."

Bhuellor, overhearing Alek state that he was a werewolf, made his way over to where he was dancing with Firestorm. Bhuellor too impatient to wait for the dance to be over, interrupted them and asked, “What do you know about the werewolves that took my family?”

“First your family has only been here a few days if I’m not mistaken,” Alek said, “but...well, there’s a bit of in-fighting among them. Their new leader has been forcing mortal children to fight to the death and then changes the victor. Others, myself included, aren’t so keen on this particular method of increasing our numbers. And my Lord Strahd is not happy with them kidnapping the children of Barovia for this purpose.”

Bhuellor fumed with rage, but still he didn’t see anyone else willing to leave at that particular moment and he would be foolish to leave on his own, so he waited as Volenta began to dance around him. There was something clearly off about her. She had said nothing during dinner, just danced the entire time to music that only she could hear. Now she leaned into Bhuellor and said, “Do you see the darkness over Firestorm? It’s beautiful isn’t it?”

“Uh...sure,” Bhuellor replied uneasily as he tried to back away from her but found himself against a wall.

“That darkness surrounds my fathers at times,” she said, “It consumes him.”

Bhuellor looked over to Count Strahd as she said this and frowned. He had been vague about a number of things over dinner, especially when his companions started asking questions about the Dark Powers, but he didn’t really seem all that bad to Bhuellor. Though, clearly, Volenta was talking about something...maybe her strangeness was due to some sort of sight she possessed? He frowned, disengaging himself from her and slumped up against the wall waiting for everyone to leave.

As Firestorm danced with Alek, Bubblegum made her way over to one of the servers. He introduced himself as Escher and looked rather bored with the whole ordeal. Bubblegum hated Alek. He had taken their friend from them and was outright flaunting it and seemed to have no rumorous for his actions.

“So,” Bubblegum said to Escher, “That Alek guy is a bit of a jerk, huh?”

“Yes,” Escher said with a nod, “He thinks very highly of himself...Bit of a ladies man too. I’d watch out for your friend.”

“Ladies man huh?” Bubblegum said, “Well, now, if I tell you something you won’t tell anyone else would you? I mean, just between the two of us.”

“Sure,” Escher agreed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“Well, I don’t want to get Ireena in trouble or anything,” Bubblegum said, “But...there was a look between the two of them when she arrived. I think there’s something going on there.”

“Really?” Esher said, “That is interesting. And certainly, if someone were to find out about it...well, Ireena certainly wouldn’t get in trouble, but Alek would.”

“It’s between us though,” Bubblegum said as she inwardly smiled to herself. If she could just plant a bit of discord between Strahd and his Commander, perhaps Alek would face some sort of retribution for what he had done.

Ludmilla didn’t talk much with Corvid as they danced, though she was very graceful and made up for any mistakes he made. Gertruda, on the other hand, was a bit clumsy as she danced with Mathias. He asked her why she was there and Gertruda said she ran away from her mother that kept her locked up all the time. And when Mathias asked if her mother would miss her, Gertruda dismissed this thought by again pointing out that she never let her go anywhere and that she loved it in the castle. Gertrude was convinced she was in some sort of fairytale story and even referred to Strahd as a Prince on a few occasions. Mathias decided to drop the subject as she did appear alive and happy, even if she had every reason not to be.

The dance over, Corvid bowed to Ludmilla causing his robes to swoop downward. Ludmilla said nothing, but her eyes widened for a moment and Corvid realized she must have seen the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind tucked beneath them. Trying to act quickly as Firestorm asked if she could dance with Ireena, Corvid asked to dance with Strahd in an attempt to keep Ludmilla away from him. Strahd gave them both searching looks, but graciously handed Ireena off to Firestorm and took Corvid’s hand. Bubblegum, for her part, decided it was time she did something about Alek herself and told him she changed her mind about dancing with him.

Firestorm danced cheek to cheek with Ireena, steering her towards the back corner of the room. Once she felt they would not be overheard she said, “Ireena, we failed you, I am so sorry.”

“You mustn’t blame yourself, Firestorm,” she replied, “I was foolish as well and should have stuck by your side.”

“Are you okay?” Firestorm asked.

“Yes,” Ireena said, “I am. Really,” she added at the look of doubt on Firestorm’s face, “I am.”

Firestorm asked her at least three more times if she was okay while they danced and Ireena never changed her position. Firestorm was a bit confused, Ireena did seem fine and, if anything, happier than the last time she had seen her. Meanwhile, Corvid danced a bit awkwardly with Strahd. Strahd did not seem to mind dancing with another man and pushed his boundaries a bit as he led Corvid through the dance. As they danced, Corvid, not really believing that Strahd was unable to allow them to leave, asked if Strahd would allow them to leave Barovia if they were able to deal with Mammon for him. Strahd nodded his head and said that sounded like a fair enough trade to him.

Bubblegum, having enough of her friends fraternizing with the enemy, decided to make her move as she danced with Alek. Someone had to show them that these people weren’t all powerful and all it would take was one person standing up to them. All it would take is a bit of hope and Bubblegum was prepared to offer it.

“You know what I noticed over dinner?” she asked Alek.

“What?” Alek asked.

“The forks are silver,” and she pulled the fork she had tucked into her belt out and brought it forward towards Alek’s chest, he caught her hand before the fork connected and said in a harsh whisper, “Do you have a death wish?”

“Everything alright over there, Alek?” Strahd asked from across the room, no longer paying attention to Corvid.

“Yes,” Alek responded, attempting to hide the fork from view, “Just a slight misunderstanding, my lord. Nothing to be concerned about.”

Strahd, however, had stopped dancing with Corvid and eyed the fork still in Bubblegum’s hand with malice and said, “This was meant to be a civilized discussion over dinner and you dare to attack my Commander?”

“If I could hurt your Commander with a fork, then you need a better Commander,” Bubblegum scoffed.

Alek took a noticeable step back from Bubblegum as the music suddenly died and Strahd strode across the room towards them. Ireena gave Firestorm a small, hesitant smile, then rushed forward in hopes of stopping what was about to happen, but she didn’t make it in time. A crash of thunder and flash of lightning shook the castle as Strahd pulled Bubblegum up by her throat and said, “I was told you were of noble blood,” then he dropped her to the ground and glowered down at her with disdain, “Act like it.”

Bubblegum rubbed her neck and looked up at Strahd with hatred as Ireena put one hand upon his arm and said, “Please, calm down.” Mathias couldn’t help but notice that Volenta was muttering about the darkness coming as this all occurred. He decided it was best they leave as quickly as possible and said, “Thank you for dinner and for not killing Bubblegum, but I think we should leave now.”

“Yes,” Strahd said, looking at Ireena, “Take your things and leave before I change my mind.”

Escher quickly escorted them to the chest he had brought up earlier and it was an awkward moment as they hastily took the silver weapons and sets of armor from the chest as Strahd continued to glower at them. Thankfully, Ireena appeared to be talking him down and he bid Bhuellor good luck with rescuing his family as they all made a rather fast exit out of Castle Ravenloft and into the thundering storm outside. It had taken them only a couple hours to arrive by carriage, but there was no carriage waiting outside to take them back. As the group debated on the chances of Strahd allowing them to use his carriage again, Bhuellor felt a familiar presence in his mind and after conversing with him for a moment, the black carriage rounded the corner. Bhuellor said that Strahd had sent it for them and climbed in without further explanation. Seeing no alternatives, his companions piled in after him. The carriage made its way through Barovia back through the mountains and forests, then through the town of Vallaki before it reached the tower on Lake Baratok. It parked behind a wagon that was already located at the edges of the road that led to Lake Bararok. The doors swung open once more and Bhuellor could hear the distinct sound of wolves howling in the distance.

As the elegant black carriage pulled up to the left of the tower on Lake Baratok, an older man came rushing out of the tower’s entrance pointing a crossbow at the black carriage. He wore an old, long light brown leather coat, riding boots, and a pair of round spectacles perched on the end of his long, hooked nose. His eyes were wide with fear, but his arm was steady as he held the crossbow towards the carriage door as it swung open.

Corvid was the first to exit the carriage, he recognized Ruldoph van Richten right away and put his hands up gesturing for peace and said, “Hey, van Richten, it’s us. We’re friendly.”

Van Richten did not lower the crossbow and asked through clenched teeth, “What are you doing in Strahd’s carriage?”

“We were just at his castle,” Mathias responded.

“Yes,” Corvid said, “He invited us to dinner. Have you ever been invited to his castle for dinner?”

“No, nor do I think he ever would. Nor would I agree to go,” van Richten said, still eying them all wearily, “Tell me, what do you all think of Strahd?”

“Well, he’s definitely made a mess of this demiplane,” Corvid said, then jokingly added, “But is an excellent dancer.”

“I think he just charms everyone he meets and needs a stake in his heart,” Bubblegum said viciously.

Van Richten nodded at Bubblegum, then slowly lowered his crossbow as Mathias said, “I’m not sure how I feel about Strahd. He doesn’t seem that bad and there seems to be something worse out there.”

Van Ricthen eyed Mathias then tossed him a hip flask and said, “Drink that.”

Mathias did so as Bubblegum asked, “What’s that?”

“Holy water,” van Richten grunted, taking the flask back from Mathias then drinking it himself when Bubblegum suggested he do so.

“Right,” Bhuellor said, “Look I don't have any opinions on Strahd. All I know is he told me that my family was taken by werewolves and their den is near this lake. Do you know where they are?”

“Yes,” van Richten replied, “How long has it been since they were taken?”

“Almost two years,” Bhuellor responded, his eyes darting back and forth as if he expected wolves to jump out at them any moment.

“Then, forgive me son, but none of you look up for a rescue mission at this moment. It looks as if you haven’t slept in days. One night's rest cannot hurt and may increase your chance of success,” van Richten said.

“That’s a good idea,” Firestorm said, “we could all use a good night’s sleep.”

“Do you have a place we can rest?” Mathias asked.

“Yes,” van Richten nodded to the crumbling tower behind them, “This tower is safe. Follow me.”

Bhuellor raised an eyebrow and Corvid tried not to laugh as van Richten started to do a strange, elaborate dance in front of the tower’s door. Bubblegum decided to join him, copying the dance almost perfectly with very short study. The daance complete, a bright blue light outlined the door and then it swung open. Van Richten didn’t explain anything, but it was clear to the companions that his strange dance somehow unlocked the door.

They followed van Richten into the tower. The bottom floor was not well kept and at first they left uneasy, thinking they’d be staying in a decaying structure for the evening that did little to shelter them from the cold wind howling over the lake. Four clay golems stood around a small platform, in which van Richten instructed everyone to stand on as the last of their numbers stood on it, the golems pulled on the chains that surrounded the platform, raising it upwards. The ride was a bit jerky, but it did the job well enough. THey passed by two floors that were in very poor condition before reaching the top. The top floor still had a smell of mildew about it, but it had been made up for living well enough.

Van Richten had set up a desk, upon which were a pile of papers, and a small cot in one corner. It was a very utilitarian concept of home, but it would work for one evening of uninterrupted rest.

“What can you tell us about werewolves?” Bubblegum asked van Richten.

“Well, let’s see. Only silvered weapons or magic can harm them. Anything else may cut through their skin, but heals instantly,” he said.

“Strahd gave us some silvered weapons,” Mathias said, “Why do you think he’s helping us?”

“I’m not sure I can,” van Richten replied, “Likely sending you to do some dirty work for him that he has no interest in doing himself.”

“What else do you know about werewolves?” Bhuellor asked, sizing van Richten up. Bhuellor had, after all, devoted the last two years of his life to hunting the beasts.

“They do not need a full moon to change,” van Richten continued, ticking off facts as he counted them off on his fingers, “If you are bitten by one, you can be inflicted with their curse. Wolves bane is an herb that can help fight the infection, but the only true cure is the divine will to remove the curse. I will bring some wolves bane with me just in case we need it.”

Bhuellor nodded. Van Richten clearly knew what he was talking about. Bhuellor asked Cam to keep an eye on everyone as he started to roll out his bedroll, the others following suit. Van Richten, however, did not appear to be getting ready to rest.

Van Richten made his way over to Bhuellor and said quietly, “Are you prepared for the worst? And are you prepared for what you may have to do?”

“Yes,” Bhuellor said, “Though I’m hoping they’re still themselves.”

“Two years is a long time,” van Richten said, “I had a similar situation with my own son...in the end, I had to put him down myself. I will go with you tomorrow, Bhuellor, though I may have failed my son, perhaps I can assist you in saving your daughter.”

“Thank you,” Bhuellor said, “I would appreciate that.”

Van Ricthen nodded then said, “Get some rest. You’ll want a clear mind for where we’re heading.”

Not much else was discussed that evening. Everyone was exhausted and one by one they all drifted off into an uneasy sleep. Van Richten, not fully trusting them after they admitted to dining with Strahd, watched them sleep. Their sleep was an uneasy one and they each moved restlessly as whatever dreams plagued them stirred their minds bringing about visions of horror and potential future events. Dreams, as well all things, were vivid and strange in Barovia as if some power influenced them, making it so those who lived here could not even escape it’s horrors as they slept.

Bhuellor began packing his things as soon as he awoke, clearly ready to leave as soon as possible, but then he paused for a moment and asked, “Do we still have that strange acorn? From the druid’s staff?”

“Yes,” Mathias answered, “I have it here.”

“Can I see it?” Bhuellor asked as they began to descend the tower via the rickety pully system. Somehow, the golems could sense that they were all standing upon the platform once more.

“I guess,” Mathias said, handing it to Bhuellor.

“Thanks,” Bhuellor replied and eyed it thoughtfully. Mathias reached his hand out as if to take it back, but Bhuellor ignored him and once they reached the bottom floor, ran outside and buried the acorn in the earth. Seemingly out of nowhere, storm clouds gather overhead, then with a flash of lightning lights the ground exactly where Bhuellor had just planted the acorn, once, then twice. And just as quickly as the storm clouds formed, they disperse into the cold, gray morning sky. Bhuellor stepped forward, cautiously and watched with wonder as a small sprout emerged from the ground. It grew at rapid speed, dark wood twisting and forming from the ground until a tall, black staff topped with an obsidian carving, its wings outstretched.

Mathias reached out his hand for a moment, wondering if this staff had something to do with the dream he had last night, but Bhuellor grabbed the staff before he had a chance to do so and it did seem to be something that was made for Bhuellor, so Mathias held his tongue. He would have to discuss his dream another time.

Van Richten led them along the border of Lake Baratok and through the forest. Once they could make out the light from the wolf’s den spilling out into the forest floor, van Richten held up a hand and whispered, “It is good that you all have slivered weapons, but what is your plan from here?”

“I believe there’s a hidden entrance at the top of the cave,” Bhuellor said, “Let me send Cam to scout out the area, then I suggest we go that way so we have the element of surprise on our side.”

Van Richten nodded his head as Mathias asked, “Have you been here before?”

Bhuellor ignored his question and sent his invisible imp to find the entrance he could still clearly see in his mind’s eye. Cam located it fairly quickly and flew back to his master, reporting that there was a small hidden path that led up to the top of the cave and currently no one was outside. The group, with Bhuellor leading the way, began the slow process of climbing up the side of the steep hills to the top of the werewolf cave.

Coming upon a rocky ledge upon the mountainside, Bhuellor frowns at the ring of stone that dominates the area. Within that ring he can clearly make out splatters of blood and small bones that look as if they have been gnawed upon. Noting the spears that lie around the circle, Bhuellor shuddered as he realized this is where the werewolves must force the children they kidnapped to fight one another. Part of him was hoping what Alek had told him last night was nothing more than conjecture, but seeing the evidence before him all he could do was hope that his family was still alive.

As Bhuellor said, there was a small entrance that led down into the cave system below via a narrow staircase carved into the natural stone. In whispered voices, they decided it was best to enter as quietly as they could to avoid potentially alarming the entire cave system of their presence. Firestorm led the way, moving as silent as a shadow down the stairway. She grimaced as her companions followed her, they sounded about as quiet as a parade marching through the streets of Waterdeep.

Reaching the bottom of the stairway, Firestorm heard the distinct sound of wolves running through the caverns. She suppressed a sigh as the group walked up to the curtain that blocked off the entrance to the cave. Upon closer inspection, Mathias realized the curtain was made of human skin. Thinking quickly, Firestorm suggested that she go ahead as they may mistake her as a werewolf. Bubblegum agreed to this plan and as Bhuellor sent Cam to scout out the cave, Bubblegum pulled out her makeup kit and made Firestorm’s already wolf-like features more convincing. When she was done, Firestorm, in the right light, looked almost the same as a werewolf in their hybrid form.

When Cam returned, he told Bhuellor that there were a number of hellhounds in one location of the cave, two women were on look out at the cave’s entrance, and a number of children were locked in cages nearby as another woman, who Cam said was Bhuellor’s wife, was kneeling before a statue in prayer. The statue in question had a wolf’s head.

“I’ll go in there in my disguise and tackle her, then you all can storm in and Corvid can try to remove her curse,” Firestorm said.

Firestorm’s plan went smoothly at first. The descended the short stairways that led into the area where Sloane and the caged children were. Van Richten rushed forward, taking on the werewolf in wolf form that growled threateningly as they entered. Firestorm was able to sneak up on Sloane, tackle her to the ground and hold her there. Corvid rushed forward, calling on his God to bring Sloane as Corvid was able to cure her lycanthropy, but they were not able to do this quickly and as Sloane stared up at her husband in confusion and shock, the baying of hounds echoed through the cave. The wolf van Richten was fighting shifted into a monstrous half-woman half-wolf and bit down hard on his arm as the hellhounds charged through the cave, followed by two werewolves in their wolf form.

Sloane and Bhuellor only had a moment for their reunion. She told him that Jeanie, their daughter, was out with the pack, then stood to defend the children that were still locked in the make-shift cages along the cavern walls. Firestorm stood steady at the top of the stairway and shot arrow after arrow at the oncoming hellhounds. Bhuellor ran up the stairway farthest from the fighting and with a swipe of his hand as he called upon his patron’s power, he cast a large blast of force and sound at the charging hellhounds. The noise was deafening as it echoed through the cavern and tore the hellhounds to bits. The vast majority of the hounds let out yelps of pain as blood pooled out of their ears and large gashes cut through their skin. They were dead before they even realized what happened to them.

There were only two hellhounds left standing and one charged recklessly towards Bhuellor as the other charged Firestorm and Mathais as he joined her at the top of the stairs. The Bubblegum ran to van Richten’s side, spearing the werewolf in its chest. She felt a bit of pleasure course through her as the werewolf’s lifeforce flowed out of her and into Bubblegum. The spear was content for the moment.

Two more werewolves joined the remaining hellhounds, but they were no match for Bhuellor’s magic and the silvered weapons the group now owned. Though many of them suffered bit wounds from the werewolves, they were easy enough to kill, leaving them again to wonder at why Strahd would help them with this. As Mathias cut off the head of the last standing werewolf, van Richten said, “We should leave before the other’s return and get these kids to safety.”

Mathias and Sloane unlocked the cages, but the kids were hysterical with fear and shock. Some were too young to fully understand what was happening and other’s old enough to fully comprehend the horror they had been through. At Corvid’s suggestion, van Richten called upon Lanthander’s holy light to calm the children, which quieted them immediately.

The group left the same way they entered and made their way back to van Richten’s tower at Lake Baratok. Bhuellor walked with his wife and asked her what happened. After years spent apart, their conversation felt forced and unnatural. Sloane was concerned about her daughter, but had no idea when Kiril and the pack would return with her.

According to Sloane, the night almost two years ago when she and Jeanie were taken by a pack of werewolves from their home, she was turned into a werewolf. The pack leader, Emil, had changed her to increase their size, but she convinced him to wait to turn Jeanie when she came of age. She did not go into details of her time roaming through the wilds with Emil’s pack, the only hint of that story was when she told Bhuellor she wasn’t sure she deserved a second chance. When he asked her how she ended up in Barovia, she told a tale they all knew all too well. A few weeks ago a mist surrounded her pack while they were out hunting and they suddenly found themselves here. Another pack leader named Kiril was quick to challenge their pack's presence in Barovia. Kiril domniated Emil and as Emil fled, his pack had no choice but to fall under Kiril’s leadership. Kiril was not as kind as Emil had been and just last night he forced Jeanie to partake in his barbaric ritual of forcing human children to battle to the death and changing the victor. Jeanie had won and was now out learning how to hunt with her new found heightened hearing and smell.

“There is still time to save her,” van Richten told Bhuellor as they walked, “But still, you should be prepared to do what must be done if necessary. There’s a reason I hunt vampires. It was a vampire that took my son from me and turned him into a monster. I tried to save him, but the only way I could was to destroy the creature he had become. Now, I am here to destroy the vampire Strahd.”

“Was it Strahd that took your son from you?” Bhuellor asked.

“No,” van Richten said, “It was Baron Metus, a vampire from my homeland, Darkon. But that doesn’t matter, as far as I’m concerned everyone would be better off if we whipped all vampires

Bubblegum nodded in agreement then asked, “Did you come here willingly?:

“Yes,” van Richten answered, “I traveled through the mists from Darkon to Barovia. Darkon is a land similar to this one that borders the mists of Barovia.”

“Can we go to Darkon?” Corvid asked, “Leave this place?”

“I suppose you could try if you wanted,” van Richten replied, “though...as much as despise Strahd, Azalin Rex, the ruler of Darkon, is just as bad if not worse.”

Bhuellor, his mind on his concern for his daughter and not exactly paying attention to the discussion regarding vampires said, “I think we can use your tower as a defensive position, set it up so if the pack of werewolves hunt us down, we can easily take them from the tower.”

“That’s a good plan,” van Richten responded, “But, you must know that no spell work can be down within the tower, making it a bit difficult for most of us to be useful in a fight.”

“Really?” Bubblegum asked with interest, “Why is that?”

“From the information I’ve gathered, magical wards were set up around the tower a long time ago by an archwizard named Khazan. He lost himself in study and as is the way with many that study the arcane, became obsessed with gaining more power. It seems he sought out a way to become a lich from the vast libraries that reside in the Amber Temple. I believe he was successful, but there has been no evidence of him returning to this place and he likely still resides at the Amber Temple.”

“The Amber Temple,” Mathais said with a sigh, “What do you know of Mammon?”

“Mammon? Not much. I’ve heard rumors of him causing issues throughout Barovia, but my main concern will always be Strahd,” van Richten said, “Mammon is just yet another threat in this dark land.”

“Do you think he’s more of a treat than Strahd?” Covid asked.

Van Richten shrugged, “I honestly don’t know enough about him to answer that question honestly.”

The group felt uneasy about van Richten’s answer. They knew Mammon to be a personal threat to them, but was he as big of a threat to the friends they’ve made in Barovia as Strahd appeared to be? Either way, it seemed like they would have to deal with both of them in time and the idea of doing so was frightening.

The Village of Krezk

Arabella looked down at the large glowing green gem in her hand, then towards Vallaki. She could see the smoke raising over the town from here. She handed the gem back to Mathias and said, “I’m sorry, but my family is in Vallaki, I need to go there and make sure they’re safe.”

She turned back into her raven form even as Mathias was saying, “Of course, I’m so sorry, I hope they’re okay.”

Without a word or a solitary glance behind her, Arabella took to the skies and flew as fast as she could to Vallaki. As much as she hoped they took to the skies, she knew that would not be the case; her family was not the type to leave innocents to defend for themselves. The Martikovs had always believed there could be hope and peace in Barovia and brought that light with them whenever they could. It’s why they kept the prices at their inn so cheap and distributed their wine throughout Barovia for free. They helped when and where they could.

Ezmerelda watched Arabella fly towards the chaos in Vallaki and realized she was needed elsewhere as well, “I will leave you here,” she said, “My people aren’t welcome in Krezk.”

“What do you mean by your people?” Matthias asked.

“Vistani,” she replied, “They don’t trust us.”

“Can you, at least, bring the children to the gate before you leave?” Bubblegum asked.

Ezmerelda frowned, wondering if her presence, even if she left, would hurt their chances of getting into Krekz, but even if they didn’t trust her clan, they would see that the children needed their help. Hopefully that would be enough, but just to be safe, she pulled a hood over her black hair and turned her bright red jacket inside out so a dull brown was shown instead. There, she thought, she could almost pass for a drab Barovian.

“Of course,” she answered Bubblegum with a smile, “It’s the least I can do.”

“I can turn you invisible if you want to come with us,” Bhuellor offered.

Ezmerelda held back a grin. She could do that herself, but she knew van Richten, as stubborn and foolish as he was, would need her help. No, she had to leave these people to their own devices and hope that they choose wisely.

“Thank you,” she said, “But if Strahd will truly be in Vallaki, then I want to make sure van Richten is protected.”

Pulling up her wagon as close as she could to the gates of Vallaki, Ezmerelda waited until the last passenger jumped out then turned her horses around and made her way as quickly as possible to Lake Baratok. Hopefully, the old man stayed still. That letter from Strahd had already riled him up, she had no idea what he would do if he saw the fires burning in Vallaki. Likely, he’d try to help...that’s what he always did and that’s what would put him directly in Strahd’s path.

There was a sense of unease that coursed it’s way silently through the group, but they had to bring the kids to safety. And surely the others would be okay? Vallaki wasn’t the best of towns in the first place, but there were good and innocent people there. Two guards looked down upon them and the children they had saved from the werewolves. The children were quiet, staring up at the tall walls of Krezk with trepidation as one of the guards called down to them.

“Who goes there and what is your business in Krezk?” the woman called down to them.

“We’re friends of van Richten’s,” Mathias called back up to them, “And we saved these kids and were hoping to find a safe place for them to stay.”

The guard turned from him and started to converse with her fellow guard. There was a tense moment when the group wasn’t positive they’d be let in, even with the kids with them.

“I’m going to get Burgomaster Dmitri Krezkov,” the guard called down to them, “Wait here.”

It was an intense wait. The children were starting to complain of fatigue and hunger, which was something they all felt. The day was already growing late and they had very little sleep the night before and none while they spent the night fighting against the werewolves. They all needed a break, but that didn’t seem possible in this land. There were too many dangers and not enough safe havens.

When the Burgomaster arrived, he looked down at the group, took in their shambled appearances and the haggard children with them. Normally Dmitri would not let outsiders in his town, it was far too risky, but he knew van Richten to be a good man, if not a bit eccentric and these children clearly needed their help. He would have to hope that these strangers did not mean them any harm. Dmitri instructed the guards to take the children to the orphanage at the other side of town. After just losing his last living child only days ago, he could not take the sight of these children now. Alana Dargova would take good care of them until they could find proper homes. He would have to talk with them later to see if their families were still alive, if so, then his main priority would be reuniting them with their parents.

“Welcome to Krezk,” Dmitri said as he walked with the strangers into his town, then noticing their wounds asked, “How long do you plan on staying? We do not have any inns here.”

The village of Krezk was cut off from the rest of Barovia. Each household had their own livestock and vegetable gardens and they grew trees within the village’s walls to ensure no one ever had to leave. They even had small graveyards behind each of their houses. If these visitors wished to stay for the evening, then they would be put to work.

“We wish to visit the abbey and speak to The Abbot there, though it is getting late, so we were hoping to have a good nights sleep beforehand,” Corvid said.

Dmitri ran his hand over his gray-speckled beard and said, “We do not go to the abbey anymore,” as he said this an inhuman scream echoed through the town, radiating from the abbey that loomed over them. Dmitri swallowed and said, “The Abbot has been here for a little over a century and has not aged. I think he might be Strahd in disguise or an agent of his. Either way, it is not worth the risk to venture up there. He leaves us be and we leave him to his own devices.”

Another scream echoed through the village as they took this in. Mathias lamented out loud how the town appeared so quant and that the abbey and The Abbot were in such stark contrast to this seemingly pristine town. Dmitri did not reply to this. These people were clearly not from Barovia and did not understand. They lived comfortably enough in the confines of their walls; whatever horrors The Abbot partook in was no concern of his as long as the people of Krezk were safe.

“If you want a place to stay, most of the villagers will put you up for the night if you do a bit of work for them,” Dmitri continued.

“What if we talked to the Abbot and figured out things for you?” Corivd asked, “Would that work?”

“I suppose,” Dmitri said, “You can stay at my house. We have a large enough room for all of you to be comfortable in for one evening.”

“I have to be honest with you, if I am to stay at your house,’ Bhuellor said, “I was bitten by a werewolf…”

“So was I,” Firestorm said.

Before Dmitri had a chance to express his horror at this confession, Corvid stepped between them and said, “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” He then called upon the light of Lathander and laid his hands over the nasty looking bite on Firestorm’s arm. A warm light spread through his hands and pulsed into the wound, sealing it shut and erasing all traces of the werewolf bite. Though, her more wolf-like appearance that developed after she died in the village of Barovia was still prevalent.

“Oh,” Dmitri gasped with delight, “You’re a true follower of the Morning Lord?”

“Yes,” Corvid responded with a nod.

Relief washed over Dmitri’s face as he said, “If you have time, you should visit the Shrine of the White Sun at the northern end of town, it’s a shrine to the Morning Lord.”

“I would like that,” Corvid responded.

Dmitri was silent for a moment, leading the group to his home, which was modest when compared to the homes of the other Burgomasters in Barovia, which had been mansions. The Krezkovs home was larger than the other homes in the village, but not obscenely so. As they walked up the path that led to his front door, Dmitri turned to Corvid and asked, “Are you...I’ve heard that priests of the Morning Lord can bring back those that have died. Is that something you can do?”

“I can,” Corvid said, “But only if they just died.”

“Ah,” Dmitri responded, his shoulders visibly dropping.

“Is there...someone you lost?” Corvid asked.

“Yes, my last living son died four days ago,” Dmitri replied, his voice quiet and distant as if he did not want to admit it just yet.

“What...what happened?” Mathias asked nervously, expecting the worst.

“He died of a sickness...he had a very bad fever and there was nothing we could do,” Dmitri said gravely.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” Bubblegum said as the rest of the group nodded in agreement and shared their own murmured condolences.

The group shared a sober meal with Dmitri and his wife, Alana. They talked lightly, but what would could have been a pleasant conversation over dinner was shadowed by the death of their son and the uncertainty over who and what The Abbot was. Dmitri asked them, if The Abbot was indeed a healer as they thought, if they could ask him about his son. The hope in his eyes was heartbreaking as he asked and they could not refuse his request.

After dinner, Dmitri led them to the Shrine of the White Sun. He told them how the pool was blessed by Saint Marvokia herself and the waters always taste cool and refreshing. As they approached, the clear water of the pool shined even beneath the ever-gray skies of Barovia. Near the pool stood a decrepit gazebo that looked as if a light wind could knock it over. Within the gazebo was a wooden statue, worn and chipped with age, of a bare-chested man with his arms outstretched as if waiting to be embraced. Corivd recognized it to be an older depiction of Lathander.

Corvid and Bhuellor asked if they could drink from the pools water and Dmitri gave them permission, saying that was what it was there for. They found it incredibly refreshing; though water was tasteless, this water had a sweetness to it and they could feel a power wash over them as they drank. Firestorm tried it as well, but when she tried it, she grimaced. The water tasted foul and stagnant. She frowned, uncertain why her allies seemed to find it so refreshing when it tasted like ash in her mouth. She did not want to admit what that could possibly mean and kept silent.

Shortly after visiting the shrine, they retired for the evening in a spacious guest room that Dmitri offered them in his home. Although Bhuellor knew he wouldn’t fully turn into a werewolf until the next full moon, he wasn’t entirely sure if that would be the case in Barovia. Things were clearly different here, so he suggested they shackle him for the evening and take turns on watch just in case he turned.

Bhuellor slept through the night, but Bubblegum and Corvid witnessed something strange while they were on watch. They heard the sounds of someone moving around the backyard of the Krezkov’s home. Bubblegum, never one to be subtle, sang out a pure tone and summoned a ball of light in the backyard and saw two hunched over figures scurrying in the understory of the large bushes that boarded the yard. They were both wearing ragged cloaks and one was carrying a large shovel. They both jumped in fear at the sudden presence of the light and ran quickly away up towards the abbey.

The Abbey of Saint Markovia

Bubblegum told Dmitri the next morning about the figures and how they were potentially grave robbers. Dmitri did not take the news well, but seemed thankful he had not buried his son yet. After a quick breakfast, the group traveled up the switchback road that led to the abbey. The road was getting colder the higher they climbed and snow drifts formed along the road.

As they walked up the path to the Abbey of Saint Markovia, Bubblegum said, “This morning as I was going through my bag to get ready for the day, I noticed my fork was missing. Has anyone seen it?”

“What fork?” Firestorm asked, slightly amused by the question.

“The one from the castle,” Bubblegum said, “It was a trophy of sorts and I was hoping to make use of it. But well, if no one has seen it I can just cast a locate object spell to find it.”

No one replied. Bhuellor looked around nervously and silently communicated with Cam to hide the fork he had stolen from Bubblegum’s bag the night before. Bubblegum, who assumed that Bhuellor was responsible, had earlier rubbed a bit of silver powder over her eyelids and muttered a word of power, so she could see Cam. She had planned this well, assuming that if Bhuellor was guilty, he would have Cam hide the fork. She had wanted him to come clean and hoped her plan wasn’t necessary, but sadly it ended up being so. She watched as Cam flew off with the fork and remained silent. She would bring it up later. For now, they had to deal with The Abbot and hopefully find a cure for Firestorm.

At the end of the road they came upon two small, stone outbuilding to either side of a high stone wall and an iron gate between them. The gate was old and rusted and clearly not locked. They group paused in trepidation, listening for signs of life. All they could hear was the faint snoring of someone beyond the gate and the occasional inhuman screams that echoed down into the town below. Having no other clear options, Mathias opened the gate and stepped inside, his companions close on his heels.

The gate screeched loudly and the snores they heard moments ago ceased. A strange being with a wolf-life snout, one large wolf ear and one human ear, a tail like that of a donkey, and leonine legs and feet stepped towards them. The creature was carrying a shovel and Bubblegum recognized them right away as one of the creatures she and Corvid saw the night before in Dmitri’s backyard.

“Uh...hi,” Mathias said.

“Hi,” the creature grunted, their words hard to decipher through their long snout, “What’s you do here?”

“We’re here to see The Abbot,” Mathias answered.

“Yes, can you...take us to him?” Corvid asked.

“Yeh,” the creature responded, then wandered over to one of the small guard houses and shouted in what sounded more like a bark than actual words, “Hey, get up.”

Another creature stumbled out into the courtyard, holding a dark cloak against them and looking nervously at everyone. This one had reptilian scales over half her face and tufts of wolf fur over her other half. Her eyes were that of a cats and one of her hands sported long feline-like paws.

“Otto and Zygrek bring you to Abbot,” the wolf-life creature said.

“Who’s Otto?” Mathias asked.

“Otto is the most beautiful,” Otto said, gesturing to himself, then turned abruptly and said, “Come.”

The group followed Otto and Zygrek through the courtyard. As they were walking, Zygrek kept on looking back at them and whispering to them to stop staring at her. Thankfully, the walk to The Abbot was short, but not at all pleasant. Within the courtyard was a creature with large bat wings and spider mandibles in their mouth. They were chained to the ground, unable to fly and screeched in either terror or anger; it was difficult to tell which. There were a number of sheds along the walls of the courtyard in which horrible inhuman screeches emanated from and when Mathias asked who was in there, no one could understand what Otto said, but it sounded like he could have been speaking a name.

The Abbot was in a large dining room in the western side of the abbey. As they entered, they could hear the sound of a viola trickling down from somewhere above them played by an unseen master. Bubblegum closed her eyes for a moment, appreciating the mastery of the artist. The room was large with arched, leaded glass windows facing toward the east. A cauldron was placed upon an iron rack above a fire in a hearth and above the mantel Corvid noticed an older sign of Lathander’s, a golden disk engraved with the symbol of the sun. The room was dominated by a large wood table that stretched across almost the entire length of the room placed with wooden utensils and plates. Seated at the table was an incredibly handsome young man with light blond hair and a thin frame. He wore brown monk robes and a painted symbol of the sun hung about his neck. To his left sat a strikingly beautiful woman with alabaster skin and long auburn hair, bundled into a neat platte so as not to touch her soft shoulders. She wore an old, torn red gown that was likely once very beautiful, but now looked like a rose left out to dry too long. The young man, who was likely The Abbot, stood as they entered, but the young woman remained where she was, lost in her own thoughts.

“Welcome to the abbey,” The Abbot said, “I haven’t had visitors in a long while. What can I do for you all?”

“So, we hear you're over a century old, how is that possible?” Mathias asked as Bubblegum stared at him in disbelief.

The Abbot did not reply but responded, his voice growing colder, “Who exactly are you and why are you here?”

“I’m a fellow follower of Lathander,” Corvid replied, “And wanted to see this place.”

“Ah, that’s wonderful,” The Abbot proclaimed, “The Morning Lord bathes all creatures in his blessed light.”

“Can you tell me how this place...this place came to be?” Corvid asked.

The Abbot told him how the light of Lathander guided him to this place to restore the glory of the abbey after it had been brought into ruin. He told them how the Belviews came to him one day, a family diseased with leprosy and begged him to cure their ills. He did so, but they were still dissatisfied in who they were and how they looked. The Abbot says it was Lathander that guided him to find the knowledge to help the Belviews and grant them their wish, to be more than human and was able to take the features of various animals and fuse them with their own. While telling this tale, The Abbot admits that part of him regretted granting their wishes, but they were happy and if they are happy they are closer to the Morning Lord’s light and that is all he could ask for.

“We were told you might be able to help us,” Corvid said with uncertainty. The Abbot tale was wild and Corvid had never heard of Lathander providing such magics such as those that were likely used to create the half-human half-beast people that inhabited the abbey.

When the Abbot turned towards Corvid, his eyes glowed with a soft golden light and he said, “Find Ilona Darovyna and she may assist you,” his voice then changed to that of a woman’s as he continued, “There is a grave to the west, with roses that never die, in a place built by the healers. When all turns to darkness, touch the holy symbol of the sun to the grave to summon the light and find a treasure long lost.”

The Abbot then blinked and shook his head and said, “What was I saying? Oh yes, the Belviews are much happier now as they are.”

Corvid turned to his friends and saw the concern and confusion he was feeling mirrored on their faces. He studied The Abbot for a moment then said, “You were...well, uh, do you know Ilona Darovyna?”

When Corivd spoke that name Mathias suddenly realized where he had heard it before. Ilona Darovyan was mentioned in Strahd’s journal more than once. He didn’t have much to say about her, other than she was a holy woman, which Strahd had likely been allies with as a mortal man. Though, that wasn’t something he needed to bring up now, so he remained silent on the matter.

“Ilona Darvyna…” The Abbot frowned as he replied, “Well, that is a very strange question to ask. Her grave is just outside the abbey to the west. Are you relatives of hers?”

“Yes…we were hoping to visit her grave,” Corvid said.

“By all means, do so,” The Abbot responded.

“Right,” Corvid said then changed the subject, “So, you were saying that the Morning Lord’s light guided you to uh...bless the Belviews. I’ve never had any sort of guidance from Lathander quite like that..how did the means to do this come to you?”

“Well, I had been studying how to grant their desire to be more than human for a long while when Count Strahd visited me and then provided me with a means to help them from an old tome he found in the Amber Temple. That book showed me how to conduct magical surgeries to change the Belviews into what you see today,” The Abbot explained excitedly, then gestured to the silent, beautiful woman sitting at the table, her eyes still distant and vacant, “I used the same book to build him a bride. Isn’t Vasilka, lovely?”

“Uh…” Firestorm stood towards the back wall and felt disgusted. This was the man that would cure her of her condition? He was, for the lack of a better word, insane.

“So, Strahd’s been here recently?” Corvid asked.

“Oh no, he hasn’t visited in quite some time,” The Abbot responded, “but when he told me of his curse, well I wanted nothing more than to help him. Vasilka is a surprise and I’m sure he’ll be quite pleased when I present her to him. I’m not quite done teaching her the finer points of edicate and dancing, but we’re making progress,” the frowned and continued, “Though she does need a wedding dress. You don’t happen to know where I could obtain one, do you?”

“How exactly is giving Strahd this bride going to help him?” Mathias asked.

“Well, you see...the curse took away his love and if he finds love again, the light will be restored to Barovia,” The Abbot explained, “The Morning Lord has shown me it!”

“Now, what can I help you with,” The Abbot said, “I can offer my services...I can raise the dead or heal your wounds. Cure curses. Though, I would very much like a proper gown for Vasilka.”

“Can you heal our friend?” Bhuellor asked, gesturing to Firestorm.

“I don’t see anything wrong with her,” The Abbot said, then his eyes glowed with the same golden light for a moment and he said, “Oh, you’re undead. What happened, child?”

“Well, I died,” Firestorm replied, “And...a dark being made of smoke or something strange and insubstantial came to me and offered me a second chance at life. It told me I could live if I accepted its gift and I did...and well, I came back looking a bit more like a wolf and things have been strange since then.”

“Oh fascinating,” The Abbot replied as he walked over to the bookshelf that lined the back wall of the room, “I believe I have something that might help.”

As he pulled out books from the shelf, he said, “Well, there are the traditional methods of surgery and blood letting, though those work more if your goal is the removal of your condition through death. Is that what you want? Of did you want to survive it?”

“I would like to live,” Firestorm said, exchanging a look fo disbelief with Bhuellor.

He rummaged through his books for a bit then pulled one off the shelf and said, “Ah, here we go,” then flipping to a particular page continued, “Well, it’s complicated, but most things worth doing are! Let’s see, wolves bane, silver...those are easy to get. Dragon bones, not as easy but not impossible. Nectar from a midnight rose….well, those only blood at midnight, they’re not easy to find. Though, might be some at the shrine in Berez. Oh right, Berez was flooded. Hmm, well, they might still be there? Oh and a bit of amber gemstone, well I would try the Amber Temple for that. If you can bring me all of these items, I’d be happy to conduct the ritual for you.”

“Alright,” Firestorm said, feeling a bit defeated that the solution wasn’t already here, but at least there was hope in the horizon.

“Speaking of the Amber Temple,” Corvid cut in, “What do you know about Mammon?”

“The Devil?” The Abbot asked, “The Arch Duke of the nine hells? What about him?”

“Well, he’s apparently here causing some issues and has taken over the Amber Temple,” Corvid said.

“Oh,” The Abbot replied, “Well, perhaps it was The Morning Lord’s will that sent you here so I could assist you in vanquishing him! Such a fiend should not be allowed to taint this land.”

The Abbot thinking that particular conversation was over, turned back to Vasilka with a smile and said, “I think Lord Stahd will be very pleased with his bride. I spent years working on her, you know.”

As he was otherwise distracted, a book fell off his shelf and practically hit Corvid in the head. He picked it up and opening it saw that it was some sort of personal journal. Thinking that the journal may be able to tell him more about how The Abbot came to Barovia and what he was, Corvid hide the journal in his robes then asked, “Can I copy down that ritual?”

“Oh, of course,” The Abbot replied, handing Corvid the book and helpfully opening it up to the ritual he said would cure Firestorm of her ailment. Corvid began to copy it in hopes that he could perform the ritual himself, but some of the words and incantations were lost on him and it was also clearly stated that the one to perform the ritual had to be a divine being.

“Well, I guess we’ll go visit that grave now,” Corvid said.

“Alright,” The Abbot responded, “Please stop by again sometime. I get so few guests these days.”

The group left as quickly as they could and headed to the graveyard located on the western side of the abbey. As they approached the graveyard, the anger that had bubbling inside of Bubblegum spilled over. She drew her blood spear and before anyone realized what was happening, stabbed it right over Bhuellor’s should and with a cry of pain, his imp Cam faded back into his native realm.

“Where’s my fork?” Bubblegum asked as she aggressively pointed her spear at Bhuellor.

“What the hell? Why did you just kill Cam?” Bhuellor asked.

“I saw him take my fork, Bhuellor,” Bubblegum said, “I gave you a chance to come clean and you decided to have your imp hide the fork instead. You had no right to have your imp go through my belongings and take my stuff.”

“Well, now you’ll never get that fork back,” Bhuellor replied, “Cam’s gone and he’ll never come back and I told him to hide that fork and not tell me where. So you’re out of luck.”

“Why did you take my fork?” she asked, her voice pitched with anger.

“I took it because you acted like a child with that fork,” Bhuellor replied, “You attacked someone at a dinner with it and got us kicked out. We could have gotten more information from Strahd, but you had to be a stupid child. You could have gotten us killed.”

“Yeah,” Mathias agreed, “That was pretty dumb. We could have all been killed because of you.”

“You do stupid stuff ALL THE TIME,” Bubblegurm replied, “Like just now with The Abbot. Why the hell did you think it was a good idea to just ask him how he’s 100 years old without, I dunno, introducing yourself first? Or determining how much of a threat he was to us?”

“But why did you attack Alek?” Mathias asked.

“I attacked him because he stole our friend from us and I’m a hero,” Bubblegum replied.

“Look, you should apologize for putting us all in danger,” Bhuellor said, “That’s all I’m saying.”

“I will never apologize for opposing tyranny,” Bubblegum responded, “And I hope you all are listening to this. When it’s your stuff he steals and your bag he goes through, just know we could have done something about this right now.”

“Oh, shut up, Bubblegum,” Firestorm responded, clearly fed up with their argument. It was a damn fork, who cared?

“Hey, all,” Corvid called from across the graveyard, “I found Ilona’s grave.”

They all crossed the graveyard, Bhuellor and Bubblegum still throwing daggers at each other with their eyes, but the argument was done for the moment. There among the graves was a tombstone covered in white roses, the name “Ilona Darovyna” etched upon. There was an imprint upon the gravestone that would fit the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind perfectly. Corvid took off the amulet and set it in the indentation. As he did, a ray of sunlight, the first true sunlight they had witnessed in Barovia since they arrived fell upon the gravestone. A small compartment in the stone opened and a woman’s voice, the same woman’s voice that came from The Abbot only moments ago said, “Please take this.”

Inside Corvid found a silver ring with small golden etchings that resembled sunrays upon it. He put it on and as soon as he did, the nearby graves began to move and undead figures burst forth from the ground. What little remained of their flesh was taunt tightly about their faces and the long, filthy white hair fell over their eyes. These undead were clearly not there to negotiate and the heroes drew their weapons, readying for an attack.

Forgetting their argument just moments ago, the group work together to take out the undead that now surrounded them. Firestorm fired her arrows as Bhuellor called for the power of his patron, blasting them with pure force of will. Bubblegum struck at them with her spear as Mathias cut into them with his silvered blades. Corvid, taking by surprise at first, raised his holy symbol to the skies and called forth the power of the Morning Lord. The undead turned in fear of Lathander’s light and as they fled, Corvid’s group easily took them out.

The Abbot's Journal

After the fight, Corvid, in an attempt to distract Bhuellor and Bubblegum from further argument about the silver fork that was stolen, showed them the journal he found within the abbey. It read as follows:

I have found myself in a strange land outside an abbey that once housed Saint Markovia, a true follower of the light and love of the Morning Lord. My Lord speaks to me and tells me that she died at the hands of a monster and her monastery cut themselves off from the rest of the world, their greed and isolation dooming them to their fall into madness and corruptions. I was sent here to see this place brought back to its former glory, so the light of the Morning Lord may shine upon this land once more. In the dawn, beauty reigns, and the way is clearer.

I have taken on the guise of a mortal man, full of light, youth, and a pleasing appearance so I may father the people of Krezk around the church of their Lord once more. At first they insisted that the abbey was a cursed and haunted place and would not hear of my reopening it, but in time I convinced them. It is the light of the Morning Lord that would protect them from this Devil they speak of and the wolves that accompany him, not the walls of isolation they hide behind.

The Abbey is not haunted or cursed, just neglected. I have spent the last several months directing its reconstruction. The clearing out of debris and, unfortunately, a number of remains of the previous residents, with the assistance of the good people of Krezk, I have restored this place. Now I must restore their faith in the Morning Lord. There is always another morning.

They come. Those with hurt limbs and minds come to me for aid. I heal them in the name of Lanthander and they believe once more. They pray and bow before me. I tend to them as a shepherd would tend his flock. I can feel the dawn returning to this dark land, the light shining through the ever present mist is cleared every day.

The Belview family have come to me. They seek my miracles to cure them of their leprosy. I took pity on them and did all I could to cure them of this horrible disease, spending months and years tending to their wounds. I was able to cure them of their leprosy, but the natural deformities prevalent in their line, which I suspect was caused by inbreeding, cannot be cured. Still, they are so unhappy, I shall do what I can for them.

The Belviews have such a strange notion of what it means to be cured of their deformities. They believe that to be human isn’t enough, that humans are imperfect creatures in of themselves. If I am to cure them of their deformities, they wish to have eyes that see as well as a cat, wings that lift them into the skies, claws that tear into their enemies, the strength of a horse and so on. These ideas, at first, were mad to me. But, perhaps if I give them what they desire, they will follow the Morning Lord and embrace his ever present light. From Death, life!

I cannot help them. As much as I try I cannot satisfy their desires. I am lost. I pour over tombs of knowledge that I can find, try experimentation, but so far I have done nothing but fail. Will these poor miserable people ever truly be happy? If I fail them, what then? There is always another morning...

A handsome Barovian nobleman came to visit me today. He introduced himself as Vasili von Holtz and wished to know of my work at the abbey. He was very kind and offered to assist me as he could with my endeavors, though I could tell by the look of disgust on his face as I told him of the Belviews wishes, that he did not seem to understand the importance of carrying them forth. But in the dawn, beauty reigns!

Vasili has brought me some texts he obtained from the Amber Temple that he believes will assist me in my purpose. I have spent weeks or perhaps months pouring over these texts. Years? Has it been years? I know longer care. Time has little meaning. The diagrams within are fascinating and I’m beginning to understand the process needed to perform a number of surgeries that will give the Belviews exactly what they desire. From the melding of human bone and flesh with that of beasts, I will perfect the Belviews! From death, life! Glory praise the Morning Lord and his infinite light.

Oh, it has worked! My experiments were successful and I am proud as a father must be at the sight of his newborn babe. The Belviews have obtained greatness through my hand. The Morning Lord has willed it so! Blessed, Lanthander, may your light shine upon all things living.

As Vasili had led me to these revelations, I invited him to sup with me this evening. He revealed himself to be the Lord of this land, Strahd von Zarovich, the one all the villagers refer to as the devil. I was horrified at first. What had I done? Following this evil creature’s advice? Had I doomed the Belviews? Surly not, Landather willed it so, so it must be. I have been righteous in all of my intentions. But what must I do about Strahd? The curse upon this land holds him here and slaying him would accomplish nothing. Perhaps if I learn more about him, I can convert him to do good? Just as I have done for the Belviews!

Strahd has laid down his burdens before me and the curse that has trapped him and the woman he loves in Barovia for eternity. He speaks so fondly of this Tatyana. I now know what I must do to release him from this misery and bring peace to this dark land. Lanthander showed me the way many years ago when I was curing the Belviews of their deformities!

The Belviews are hard at work, searching graves for the freshest and most beautiful parts! And with these, I have built Strahd a bride. She is beautiful and reserved and shall serve as the perfect companion for him. With her he shall find love once more and the Morning Lord shall shine his light upon this land! She does...need work. I am teaching her everything I can before I present the lovely Vasilka to him. The training is slow, but she progresses every day and I can see the light of the Morning Lord reflected in her eyes. Strahd will be so pleased once he sees her.

The Abbey of Saint Markovia

After reading the Abbot’s journal, Corvid tucked it away into his bag. It was disturbing that a once divine being had become so corrupted. It seemed this place did that to people. Was he becoming corrupted as well? Were his friends? He thought back on it. They certainly weren’t the same people they had been when defending the innocent bystanders in the Yawning Portal back in Waterdeep. How long ago was that? It felt like years. There had been some evidence that time acted differently here and Corvid was sure it moved much slower.

Curious to see the rest of the abbey, Corvid led his companions back into the courtyard. The inhuman screams of misery were still echoing throughout the grounds, but those screams turned to sounds of almost joyful cries of, “Food!” as the sound of a dinner bell began to ring. Rounding the corner, they saw one of the Belviews who had an extra baby head upon their chest and a large claw of a crustacean in place of one of their arms ringing the bell and pushing a large cauldron through the courtyard. He did not even glance at them as he slopped a bit of the found upon the ground in front of the winged creature that was tied up in the courtyard, then continued towards the northern wing of the abbey where the deafening sounds of the Belviews crying excitedly for food emanate from.

The Abbot exited the southern wing, the “bride” he had made for Strahd following in his wake. He called out, “You...uh...the one with the horns. I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Corvid,” Corvid replied, not bothering to hide his irritation.

“Oh right,” The Abbot said, “I was looking through my library and I have this book I think might be useful for you.”

“Is this book from the Amber Temple?” Corvid asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Oh no, it’s from my personal collection,” The Abbot said, “It’s about Devils and there’s a whole section on Mammon and since you were asking about him...well, I thought it could be useful. Now, I’d love to help you out with fighting him but first I need to find the lovely Vasilka a proper wedding dress and train her up a bit more. That is my most important task!”

“Right,” Corvid replied and took the book from him. Flipping through it, it did appear to be what he said it was, so Corvid placed it in his bag in hopes to read later that evening.

“Can you give us a tour of the abbey? I’m interested in seeing the rest of it,” Corvid said, looking back at his companions for confirmation. Firestorm shrugged and no one else seemed to have any objections to the idea.

“Well, there’s not much to see, but sure,” The Abbot said, “We don’t need to go in the northern wing...my mongrelfolk live there and it’s...it’s quite filthy, but I can show you the rooms above the western wing. I’m afraid there’s not much to look at but I’m happy to assist.”

The Abbot wasn’t lying, there wasn’t much to look at in the rest of the abbey. There was a large bedroom as well as a large, combined sleeping area. The place was similar in appearance to the monastery Corvid had grown up in. It was a shame it had become so corrupted by this land. The only thing that was of any interest was the large slab with a humanoid figure covered under a blood stained white sheet.

“What’s...under the sheet?” Firestorm asked, eyeing the sheet with distrust.

“Oh, just one of my failed experiments,” The Abbot replied nonchalantly.

“I’ve been wondering,” Bhuellor cut in, “You..you get the parts from your experiments from town? From the graves there? Have you ever done any experiments on living things?”

“Well,” The Abbot replied, “The Belviews were living when I granted their wish to become more than human.”

“What about the townfolks?” Bhuellor asked.

“Oh, no, of course not,” The Abbot replied, “I only work with the willing or the dead...From death, life. Lathander’s light guides me in all I do and the dead a much better suited to help me save this place by making Strahd the perfect bride than to lie rotting in their coffins.”

“Well, okay,” Bhuellor replied, relieved that he wasn’t technically doing anyone any real harm. Strahd had, after all, warned them that he was “quite insane, but mostly harmless”.

“We should head back,” Bubblegum said, glaring daggers at Bhuellor. She was still very upset that he had stolen from her and no one seemed bothered by this. Well, if he took something else from someone, she wouldn’t care. She had tried to warn them.

“It is getting late,” Firestorm replied, “Maybe we can stay here again for the night?”

“Sounds like a plan,” Mathias agreed, “We can head out first thing tomorrow morning towards Argynvostholt.”

Krezk

Dmitri Krezkov gladly gave them all rooms and food for the night. Over dinner Bubblegum informed Dmitri and Alana that The Abbot said he could raise their son, if that’s what they wanted. Both Bhuellor and Corvid expressed concerns of this course of action and warned Dmitri that The Abbots idea of bringing his son back may not be what his idea of it is. The Abbot is mostly harmless, but a little off and Bhuellor made it very clear that he didn’t think it was a good idea to have him raise their son but it was, in the end, their choice.

After dinner and spent from a rather busy day, they all retired for the evening. Bhuellor asked if he could have a private room to summon his familiar and the Krezkovs provided them each with their own room for the evening. Bubblegum was very pleased with this as she did not feel like spending any more time than necessary with any of them. She went through her bags thoroughly before retiring for the evening. Nothing was missing, but now she felt like she had to do this every night.

Firestorm let out a breath of relief as she entered her own room. Her stress and tension embedding through her friends was rubbing off on her. It would be nice to have her own room for the evening, perhaps she could even relax a little. She sat down upon the hard wooden floor of the room and examined Treebane, the axe she had found embedded in the giant tree monster atop Yester Hill. Whoever had once wielded this weapon had likely died a long time ago fighting against that thing.

She took care of the weapon, cleaning and polishing it until it shone as brightly as the day it was forged. The hilt resembled a twisted vine ensnaring a tree and as she cleaned it, Firestorm saw small runes carved into it. These arcane symbols were those she knew to be associated with nature and balance, but exact meaning of which she could not say. If they ever found a library in Barovia, maybe she would take some time to look them up. The history of a weapon, after all, can be just as important as the weapon itself.

In his room, Bhuellor began to set up the ritual to summon Cam to his side once more. He drew a solid circle upon the wooden floor with a piece of charcoal, then placed a brass basin in the center of the circle. He lit a fire using a bit of dry twigs her stacked methodically within the basin. He removed a stick of incense from his bag, lit in and placed it next to the basin. Once the incense was entirely consumed, he threw a mixture of fungus and herbs into the fire and began to chant Cam’s true name over and over in a low whisper. Cam appeared in time, looking more haggard and undead than he had before. Bhuellor could make out far more bones under his decaying flesh than he had the last time he summoned him...after the first time Bubblegum had killed his familiar.

He wasn’t sure what he was more upset about, Bubblegum outright slaying his familiar again or the fact that she had discovered that he was the one to steal the silver fork out of her bag. It wasn’t hers in the first place, though, and he was afraid she was going to use it in a dumb manner again and get them all killed. No, he stood by his action. She seemed to think him trying to make something right was somehow worse than her outright killing Cam back in Vallaki and again at the abbey. Yes, Cam could come back, but that didn’t mean his death wasn’t painful or without consequence.

Corvid spent the evening reading over the section in the tome The Abbot gave him about Mammon. His father, if he believed Mammon to be his father, was horrible. He oversaw the trading of actual souls and was known best as the “miser” of the Nine Hells. The more he read, the more disgusted Corvid became with Mammon. He thought back to the dream he had a few nights ago and the meaning became more clear. Mammon wasn’t as powerful here in Barovia and if his dream was profedict, then Mammon was attempting to open a gateway from his realm to this one. That would not be good for anyone.

Mathias, as he did most evenings before turning in for the night, studied Strahd’s tome. He felt he was well versed in Strahd’s unique shorthand by now, but it still took a laborious amount of time to translate it and he still wasn’t sure what to make of it all. Was it just propaganda as van Richten had suggested or was there truth there? At times, Strahd seemed to depict himself as a hero, watching over the common folk and at other’s, he has clearly done evil deeds. He alluded to something more sinister working in the background. What were the Dark Powers?

Argynvostholt

Early the next morning, the companions left the Krezkovs home after a hearty breakfast of eggs and ham. Leaving, they saw The Abbot walking down the street and Firestorm approached him. He told her he was there to raise the Burgomaster’s son from the dead as they had asked. She explained he was still thinking about it and it was best to give him some time. The Abbot was a bit confused at first, but decided to take her advice and went back up the switchback road towards the abbey. Collectively, the group let out a sigh of relief and left Krezk, hoping to come back there another time when they needed a place to lay low for a day or so.

The old svalich road was as muddy and gloomy as ever as they traveled from Krezk to the southwest where they suspected Argynvostholt to be. Bubblegum easily led the way, some force pulling her forward as Mathias consulted the crude map he had assembled based on what they’ve seen of Barovia and van Richten’s descriptions. Traveling along the road, they arrived at what must have been the right place. An old, moss covered statue of a large dragon stood directly in front of a decrepit mansion, its turrets capped with fairytale cones and its towers lined with sculpted battlements. The southern side of the mansion had collapsed, likely a long time ago from the weatherworn appearance of the stonework upon the group.

Firestorm and Bubblegum approached the statue. Bubblegum recognized it right away as the one she had just dreamt of a few nights ago. She turned and stared at the keep. The dream showed her bringing light to this place, but she wasn’t sure what she had to do. Firestorm was able to discern that the statue was of a silver dragon, which was promising. Most silver dragons were associated with leading noble human knights in battle and although they were still known for hoarding treasure, silver dragons acted to do good in the world. Perhaps they would find something useful here for a change.

As Bhuellor, Bubblegum, and Mathias hung back to further examine the statue, Corvid and Firestorm began to ascend the stone stairway that led into the sepulchral mansion. They stepped on the first step in union and at the same time the stone dragon’s mouth opened wind, blasting them with a cone of cold air. They turned around, alarmed, but it didn’t seem to do anything to them but make it a bit more chilly than it already was. Bhuellor examined the statue again and told them it was likely a magical trap that had lost its potency after many centuries. Like many landmarks and residents in Barovia, the place they were about to enter was ancient.

The room they entered was a large entry way with a grand staircase leading to the floors above and six sets of doors leading to the adjacent rooms. As they stood in the vast, empty room, it felt like standing in some long forgotten tomb. As that dismal thought passed through their minds, a large shadow passed overhead. It was the silhouette of a large dragon, it’s wingspan larger than the room itself. The shadow disappeared as quickly as it had appeared and with a bit of trepidation, they agreed to continue on.

With a nod to one another, Corvid and Firestorm approached the two doors that led to the south and opened them together and closed them just as fast. Within was a thick wedding strone from the floor to the ceiling and clicking sound of mandibles and soft movement of far too many giant spiders for them to count. It was best to leave those spiders alone. No sense in fighting something unless they absolutely had to and no one had the desire to be a spider’s next meal.

Bubblegum decided to split up as well and opened the first door to the north. Within was a small den, which looked as though it had been ransacked, the furnishings still thrown about were all that remained of whatever battle or ambush had taken place there centuries ago. A cold, dark hearth was set into the wall to the west and what caused Bubblegum the most alarm was a black wooden sarcophagus engraved with a queen’s effigy upon it’s lid stood upright against the northern wall. As Bubblegum approached the sarcophagus, a fire erupted in the hearth. Turning to the sudden light, Bubblegum watched as the fire assumed a draconic form and hissed at her, unfolding its smoking wings.

She approached it cautiously. The small fiery dragon hissed again then said, “My knights have fallen into darkness. Save them if you can. Show them the light they have lost!” Before Bubblegum had a chance to reply, the fire disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Still not sure what light or knights the dragon was speaking of, Bubblegum inspected the sarcophagus and was surprised to find nothing within. She had expected a mummy or vampire or at least a skeleton waiting to ambush them, but apparently whoever the previous own of this mansion was, had an interesting taste in home decor.

Corvid opened the next door and shrugged as he saw a bunch of wine barrels within, but just as he was about to shut the door to move on, he thought he glimpsed a shadow moving against the far wall.

“Hello?” Corvid asked into the dark room.

A tall, thin dusk elf straightened up and emerged from behind one of the wine barrels. He looked fairly wounded.

“Oh, hello,” Corvid said, quickly relieved to see, well not exactly a friendly face, but not a cruel one either, “What are you doing here?”

“I was out hunting and some twig creatures attacked me,” the elf explained as he gestured at the many oozing wounds upon his forearms, “I took refuge here.”

“Ah, well, you should stay here. If you're still here when we leave, I can heal your wounds,” Corivd suggested.

“Can’t you heal me now?” the dusk elf asked, his eyebrows raising in concern.

Firestorm glared at Corvid and handed the elf a few Goodberries to heal his wounds as Mathias offered to stay with him until he was ready to leave. The rest of the group wandered farther into the mansion. The door to the east led into a large dining room, a wooden table with carved dragons upon its legs, taking up much of the space. Overhead was a crystal chandelier that was, surprisingly, glowing with a soft white light in stark contrast to the pool of water that leaked upon the floor. Through the pair of open doors upon the western wall of the dining room, Corvid could make out a chapel and he led the party through.

The Dusk Elves Tale

“Thank you for staying with me,” the dusk elf said to Mathias, his wounds already stitch up a bit as he ate the Goodberries Firestorm had given him, “My name is Savid. What’s yours?”

“Mathias,” Mathias answered, then asked, “Do you know anything about this place?”

“Argynvostholt is an old place,” Savid said, “I only know the stories from those passed down through my family. Elves are long-lived, but even I have not been around as long as Argynvostholt has been.”

Mathias settled himself down upon the floor of the wine storage room and asked, “Can you tell me the story?”

“Yes, first know that I only came here out of desperation,” Savid said, “We avoid this place..it is haunted by the ghost of a dragon. And that dragon is Argynvost. He was a silver dragon of noble bearing who, wearing a human disguise, led a group of knights known as the Order of the Silver Dragon. They sheltered refugees during the wars against the goblins and assisted on the battlefield whenever they could.”

“They were a small force and without Strahd’s armies leading the way, would have been destroyed by the Goblin King and his horde. Of course, that was before Strahd became what he is now. No one is sure when this exactly happened, but my family always believed it occurred shortly after Strahd became a vampire. Strahd led his armies of human allies and undead against Argynvostholt. They slaughtered, not only the dragon, but all of his knights. There were no survivors. Likely, Argynvost had not expected such an attack from his former ally.”

Mathias sat in silence, pondering this information. Was Argynvostholt truly haunted? The dragon’s shadow had passed overhead and another told them to “show his knights the light”, which pointed to the fact that it could be haunted but it didn’t appear that the dragon ghost met them any harm. He did not hear the trouble his companions faced in the chapel.

The Chapel

The chapel was just as decrepit as the rest of the mansion, with cracked wooden pillars supporting the u-shaped balcony that overhung the stone-walled chapel. At the center of the room, in front of an altar with an old symbol of the Morning Lord etched upon it. The room was thick with the mists of Barovia, but Corvid could make out three armored figures kneeling before the altar, their head bowed in prayer.

Corivd walked into the chapel, approaching the knights as he hailed them, “Followers of Lathanader, we are here to aid you.”

With the discipline of soldiers, they moved as one and turned towards Corvid. He took an unconscious step backwards; their eyes glowed with a deep, red light filled with hatred and malice. The chainmail shirts they wore were rusted with age and their skin was nothing more than stretch rotting flesh over their skeletal bodies.

“The intruders have broken into the chapel,” one cried out in a harsh, dry voice, “take them down before they defile this place!”

Bubblegum began to move forwards as soon as the knights stood up from the floor. She etched a musical rune with her claw into the air in front of her and pushed it out towards the undead knights. A loud ringing noise erupted in the chapel and the already decaying wooden pews shattered into pieces. The knights did not even blink at this force, their red eyes staring blankly ahead, seeing nothing but hate before them.

At the same time, Firestorm pulled an arrow from her quiver, spoke a word of power, then shot it at the knight in the center who was leading the battlecry. He staggered as the arrow pierced into his shoulder and exploded into a rain of thorns that tore into the flesh of his comrades.

Bhuellor stepped just behind Bubblegum and extended his fingers wide. He did not need fancy runes or notes, he had the power of his Patron behind his words and where Bubblegums magic had sounded like a harsh note form a lute in need of tuning, Bhuellors sounded like the thunderous cord of an organ played directly in one’s ear drum. The knights stumbled as the sound cut into their exposed flesh and bits of wood from the pews slammed up against their skeletal bodies.

They only had one real clue to go off of. The dragon that had appeared in the den had asked them to show the knights the light they have lost, so Corvid pulled out the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and spoke, “From darkness, light!” The holy symbol shone brightly, filling the dark, mist-filled chapel with true sunlight something the undead knights likely had never seen in Barovia, but if it moved them in any way, it did not show in their gleaming red eyes.

“Kill the heathen!” the knights cried out in union, their cold, dry voice echoing eerily in the chapel.

They descended upon Corvid. The knights were trained well to fight side by side in battle. They moved as one unit, parrying and striking down their enemies in calculated, synchronized attacks. Corvid countered what strikes he could, but he was growing weary from the onslaught. Firestorm and Bubblegum rushed up to Corvid’s side, evening the numbers. Firestorm drew Tree Bane and defended Corvid as Bubblegum attacked them viciously with her always bloodied spear. Bhuellor, knowing he was much better in a fight from a distance, blasted energy at the knights.

Corvid, empowered by his companions actions, grabbed his holy symbol and held it out before him and commanded the knights to flee before the light of the Morning Lord. As with the sunlight, the knights did not seem to see what was before their eyes. One muttered a curse for the god of the heathen and the three of them continued their onslaught against Corvid and he fell upon the ground, too beaten to do more than moan upon the floor as his companions continued to fight.

Bubblegum sang a pure note and some of Corvid’s wounds began to stitch up as Firestorm and Bhuellor continued to lay into the knights. It wasn’t promising, for every swing of Firestorm’s axe, every piercing strike from Bubblegum’s spear, and every blast of energy from Bhuellor, the knight's flesh would begin the seal as if the blows they landed were superficial. Bhuellor’s narrowed his eyes. He had spent years studying any and all lore associated with werewolves and once he came across a book that mentioned creatures very similar to what they fought now. The burning hatred in their eyes and their unyielding will as they fought against enemies they could only see in their mind combined with their natural healing abilities reminded Bhuellor of the story of the revenant. These undead creatures were killed violently and wrongly in life and came back from the grave seeking vengeance against those who wronged them. That was interesting, but not helpful, Bhuellor thought as he sent another blast of energy against them.

As the eldritch blast hit the knight in the chest, Bhuellor remembered an important passage in the text regarding revenants. Fire and radiant spells were very effective against them and stopped their healing ability. Bhuellor shouted this information out to his companions as they pressed the attack against the undead. Corvid fell once more to their attacks and both Firestorm and Bubblegum were battle worn, their strong arms dropping slightly with a fatigue the undead would never feel.

And just as everything seemed bleak, Bubblegum called out a pure note and Corvid’s wounds stitched up once more, then she thrusted her spear upward and one of the knights crumbled onto the ground, the red light of its eyes snuffed out. Emboldened by Bubblegum’s victory, Firestorm pressed her legs firmly to the ground and swung her axe as hard as she could and cut right through the undead knight’s legs and he too fell to the ground. Corvid stood wearily to his feet and calling upon Lathander’s light, hoping that something would work against these foes, threw a beam of holy light at the remaining knight. The knight shattered, the red gleam of its eyes turning to white for a moment before it faded completely and crumbled upon the ground with its fallen comrades.

Firestorm put an arm around Corvid, keeping him steady as they all lowered their weapons, their bodies shaking with a combination of the thrill and fatigue of battle. They needed to rest, if only for a moment, but as this thought passed through their minds, they heard the sound of a horse outside. Please, please, let that be an ally, Corvid thought.

Bubblegum and Firestorm exchanged a quick look and knew exactly what the other was thinking. Wordlessly, the two dragonborn women strode through the decaying mansion to the front door where the sound of horse hooves was most prominent. Corvid, Bhuellor, and Mathias had no choice but to follow them.

As they watched from one of the arrow slits that overlooked the courtyard, they saw a Vistana man driving a small cart pulled by a large draft horse. He pulled a long box out of the back of the wagon, unceremoniously dumped it in front of the dragon statue, then took off towards the north. Bubblegum ran outside, the rest of the group close behind.

The long box ended up being a coffin and clearly engraved upon the wooden lip was the words “Bubblegum Brightscale: She died doing the right thing”.

Bubblegum scoffed at this and threw off the coffin’s lid. Inside she saw herself lying dead in the coffin. Everyone gasped, but Bubblegum narrowed her eyes as the corpse burst into a cloud of bats that took to the sky. The group stood around the now empty coffin for a moment in silence.

“Who sent that and why?” Mathias asked.

“It was Strahd,” Bubblegum said with certainty, “He’s trying to spook me, but I”m not afraid,” then she shouted, “I’m not scared of you.”

“But what was the point?” Mathias asked again, “I mean...he could just kill us whenever he wanted.”

“I don’t think he can,” Bubblegum said, narrowing her eyes at Mathias, “If anything, this proves he’s scared of us. We just defeated those foes in the church, we can defeat him too.”

Matthias just shrugged, uncertain at Bubblegum’s bravado as Corvid put a hand on Bubblegum’s shoulder and said, “I have your back,” and Firestorm stood protectively in front of Bubblegum eyeing the surrounding woods for any potential threats. Bhuellor did not say anything. He silently agreed with Mathias. If Strahd had sent the coffin, what was the point? To scare Bubblegum?

“Are you sure it was Strahd though?” Mathias pressed.

“Of course it was Strahd,” Bubblegum said with a shrug, then picked up the coffin and began to drag it into the mansion as she continued, “It was my corpse in a coffin that turned into bats. That’s the most vampire thing I’ve ever seen.”

Bubblegum dragged the coffin all the way into the wine storage room they had decided to barricade themselves in for the evening so they could get a decent night’s sleep after battling the undead knights. Bubblegum decided it best to rest in her own coffin and went out of her way to say how comfortable it was as if it had been made for her.

As they prepared to rest for the evening, Savid kept mostly to himself, watching them place their bedrolls upon the ground and giving Bubblegum a wide berth. She did not seem exactly sane sitting in a coffin with her name on it and singing loudly. Savid made a mental note to leave as soon as he could when morning came.

Mathias read Strahd’s journal before turning in for the night. He was getting much better at deciphering Strahd’s strange shorthand, but he discovered something very useful for where they were. Apparently, as Savid had said, Strahd’s army had come here shortly after he had become a vampire and destroyed the Order of the SIlver Dragon for fear of them rising up against him if they discovered what he had become. Also, he apparently had planned on gifting the dragon’s head to the Baba Lysaga for some assistance she had provided him in the past. Whether that had happened or not was unclear.

They spent the night in the wine storage area, taking turns staying up for a period of time just in case something tried to sneak up on them as they slept, but the night went by peacefully. Savid left as the group went outside and explored the graveyard. There were a number of graves dug up and when Corvid looked at them closely, he came to the conclusion that whatever once laid there had dug themselves up. At the far side of the graveyard stood a mausoleum.

Bubblegum figured that if the dragon’s bones laid anywhere, it would be within the mausoleum, so the group approached it cautiously. As she walked across the graveyard, she could feel someone watching her and instinctively turned around. Far above, in the top floor of the mansion, she saw a well-dressed man with a thick mane of thistledown hair observing her and her companions from above. Her eyes locked on his for a moment and he drew the curtain, disappearing from view.

Bubblegum wasn’t the only one to experience this. It seemed that everyone of her companions had seen the same thing. They would have to travel to the top floor after they examined the mausoleum. Etched upon the white marble door that sealed the mausoleum from the cemetery was the name Argynvost. Bubblegum was able to pull the door open and within was indeed the bones of a dragon, though the skull was clearly missing. Upon the wall, written in Draconic, Firestorm read aloud:

“Here lie the bones and treasures

Of Argynvost, lord of Argynvostholt and

Founder of the Order of the Silver Dragon”

Firestorm took some of the smaller bones and stored them in her bag. One ingredient to her supposive cure was obtained and she felt a touch of relief at this revelation. She only had a few more ingredients to go and perhaps this nightmare would be behind her.

As they made their way back inside, they discussed exploring the rest of the mansion or just leaving with the bones and continuing on to Berez to collect a midnight rose for Firestorm’s cure. As his friends discussed matters, Corvid roamed the graveyard, reading the names upon the gravestones of those that had crawled out. Most were illegible, but two stood out and one in particular. One name was Vladimir Horngaard, which had no real meaning to Corvid, but the other was Sir Godfrey Gwilym. Corvid recognized the surname Gwilym right away. Perhaps this was a long dead relative of Alex’s?

As they walked towards the main staircase in the front foyer, they heard the galloping of hooves echoing in the courtyard outside. Bubblegum, assuming another “gift” from Strahd, threw her shoulders back and quickly made her way to the front entrance. Firestorm and Corvid followed close on her heels. Outside, they were pleasantly surprised to see Ezmerelda dismounting from her horse.

“Oh,” she smiled up at them, “It’s good to see you all. I hadn’t expected to encounter anyone here.”

“Why are you here?” Mathias asked.

“Van Richten was captured,” she said as she lowered her head, “He told me once that he thought this place may have some treasure that could help us.”

“Who captured him?” Bubblegum asked as Corvid and Mathias asked at the same time, “What treasure?”

Ezmerelda ignored them and turned her attention to Bubblegum as she said, “By Strahd. I’m not sure exactly what happened as I was on the outskirts of the battle, but I saw Strahd take van Richten...I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it...so I’m doing what I can now.”

“We’ll help you,” Bubblegum said as the others nodded in agreement.

Together, they explored the old mansion. There wasn’t much to see. It appeared that the place had been ransacked centuries ago and all that was left behind was broken furniture and rusty brown stains of a battle long forgotten. They pressed on, hoping to find some treasure that had been left behind, hidden in a place that soldiers would not have explored.

They opened door after door and only found the sad remains of what once was a great house, signs of the knight's old furnishings and weaponry faded and rusted with time. When they entered a bedroom on the second floor, a small dragon made of smoke appeared before them and flew quickly out of the room. They followed as fast as they could. The dragon led them upstairs, through a room where half of the room had collapsed and into an ancient audience hall.

A creature slumped upon the throne at the far end of the audience hall, a strain of cobweb stretched from where his gauntlet hand clenched the throne’s arm. He looked up as they approached, his eyes gleaming red with hatred.

“If you have come to destroy me,” he said, placing his hand upon the hilt of his greatsword, “know this: I perished defending this land from evil over nine centuries ago, and because of my failure, I am forever doomed. If you destroy this body, my spirit will find a new corpse to inhabit, and I will hunt you down. You cannot free me from my damnation, nor would I wish it.

“If you have come to free this land from the creature that feasts on the blood of the innocent, know this: There is no monster I hate more than Strahd von Zarovich. He slew Argynvost, broke the life of the knight I loved, and destroyed the valiant order to which I devoted my life, but Strahd has already died once. He can’t be allowed to die again. Instead, he must suffer eternally in a hell of his own creation, from which he can never escape. Whatever can be done to bring him misery and unrest, I will do, but I will destroy anyone who tries to end his torment.”

After a bit of discussion, they discovered that this was Vladimir Horngaard and he led the knights of the Order of the Silver dragon in death, but not as he had in life. He was filled with so much hatred for Strahd that he did not see the folly in his task, nor that he was doing very little to actually perform his task. Destroying Strahd’s enemies would only help the vampire, but try as they might, they could not convince him otherwise. Feeling the power radiating from Vladimir, the group convinced him that they did not want to destroy Strahd and would aid in his suffering. For this, Vladimir agreed to leave them be and let them roam Argynvostholt unharmed by his knights’.

Shortly after their encounter with Vladimir, Bhuellor found a small pseudodragon hiding within a pile of rubble that filled a cracked porcelain bathtub. He coaxed the small dragon out with a bit of dried meat and smiled fondly as it perched on his shoulder, though Cam did not seem very happy with this intruder in his space and openly glared at the dragon.

Bhuellor asked the dragon what it was doing there and it crawled back into the tub, revealing a small nest it had built as well as a single egg. Bhuellor felt a tug of disappointment, but knew he could not separate the mother from her egg and told the dragon to stay there as he continued to explore the mansion with his companions.

They came upon a group of undead knights sitting around a table and as they entered, one said, “Why do the living disturb the dead?”

After the party convinced them that Vladimir had told them they could explore the mansion, they did nothing to hinder them, only watched with curiosity. Once they reached the rooftop, they were attacked by ghostly soldiers. Perhaps these soldiers were no longer under Vladimir’s control? Either way, they were able to defeat them, but were injured greatly in the process. However, they were able to obtain a necklace and cloak imbued with magic that could assist them in their adventures in Barovia.

While at van Richten's tower, the group had some disturbing dreams.

Firestorm's Dream

You’re walking through a marshland, the mud making a sickening sucking noise every time you step, but you feel a sense of purpose and trudge on. You come upon an area hidden by the ever present fog of Barovia and elevated a few feet above the surrounding marshland is a raised plot of land, enclosed by a disintegrating iron fence. In the center of the plot is a life-sized stone monument carved in the likeness of a kneeling peasant girl clutching a rose. The statue is quite old and well-worn down with time, but the features are strikingly like Ireena’s.

The dream shifts and you’re stalking through the darkening streets of Vallaki, sniffing the air for the prey you hunt. You can taste its fear upon the wind and hear the thumping of its heart. You are overcome with hunger and lick your lips, anticipating the pleasure of tearing your teeth into warm flesh and the crunching of your prey’s bones. You let your senses guide you and its almost too easy. The man is slow and loud whereas you are fast and as silent as the grave. You find him cowering in an alleyway, pleading with you to spare him, but that only makes it more fun as you tear into his flesh with your elongated claws.

As you bite into his flesh, you see a being made of shadow appear before you and it says, in the same voice that offered you a second chance at life, “Do you remember what you did, Firestorm? Didn’t you enjoy it?”

You awake to the sound of its maniacal laughter filling your head.

Corvid's Dream

You’re laying upon a floor. As you try to get you find that you cannot. Your wrists and ankles are bound by cold, chained shackles, your body upon a circular stone slab. You are completely naked and your body is covered in glowering golden red runes of power. A man with twisted horns upon his head and wings like a bat stands over you, scowling.

“Corvid,” says the devil, “my only son, your sacrifice will not be in vain. For, with your blood, I shall grow even stronger and this land and all of its people shall be my slaves.”

In his hand he carries a long long spear, the same runes upon your skin glow upon the spear. He holds it over high and as you scream out in fear, the spear slams down into your chest, a rift opening above your body to a dark marshland, thousands of creatures with bat-like wings and horns screaming out in triumph.

The drift shifts and you see a landscape on fire, devils dancing among the ashes. Devils with whips are leading chains of humans through burning villages and among them you see your friends. They are dressed in rags and each sport ugly burns upon their skin. Their heads are bowed in defeat, completely without hope.

A blinding light obscures this vision from you, you feel a warmth bathe over you as an angelic voice says from within that light, “Corvid, you must stop Mammon before it is too late. Seek The Abbot at Saint Markovia’s Abbey, he may guide you.”

As you wake, a mixture of peace and dread fills you.

Bubblegum's Dream

You find yourself standing by the statue of a large dragon sitting in front of a once stately manor. You hear the roar of a dragon echoing all around you as a beam of pure, white light hits the manor. Your heart fills with hope at the sight of it, but the dreams fades and now you are running through the mountains of Barovia, the stars bright in the sky overhead. You grip the bloody spear tightly in your hands and cry out a howl of triumph, raising the spear above your head as you spot a small group of travelers making camp for the night. You rush forward, your cry drawing your tribe around you. Together, you slaughter the helpless family as their screams do nothing but edge you on. The slaughter lasts mere seconds and you smile as the blood of your victims drips down the furs you wear draped over your body. Tonight you shall feast well.

When you wake up, you look eagerly for your spear and are glad to see it near your side.

Devil's on the Run

Following the hand-drawn map Mathias had created based on their conversations with van Richten, the travelers made their way south along the road that, theoretically, would lead to where the town of Berez once laid. The climate grew a bit warmer the further south they traveled. It reminded Bubblegum of a muggy day in Waterdeep when the summer was doing her best to creep in on the cold, dry air of autumn. She found it more comfortable than the cold, harsh climate they had encountered in much of Barovia.

They discussed why they were heading to Berez, ensuring everyone had similar goals. Firestorm’s card reading from Madam Eva had indicated that she may find assistance in Berez from a “kneeling woman” that she described as “a rose of great beauty plucked too soon”. The only hint that this kneeling woman could be found in Berez was Madam Eva had also told her that the master of the marsh knows of who she spoke of. The Abbot had also mentioned that Berez may be home to the rare midnight rose, the nectar of which he needed to complete the ritual to undo Firestorm’s curse. Finally, after reading Strahd’s journal, Mathias believed that the skull of Argynvost was gifted to Baba Lysaga who, according to van Ricthen, resides in the swamp of Berez.

They began discussing who to deal with Baba Lysaga given the very limited information they had about her, but their conversation was cut short as Firestorm held up her hand to silence everyone. They all paused and heard the sounds of a company approaching them from around the bend in the road. They had very little time to react as a devil with green mottled skin and barbed spikes protruding from his back, elongated limbs, and tail leading three hellhounds and a strange giant vulture-like creature with bat wings that flew over the hellhounds.

The barbed devil, appeared momentarily surprised before commanding those with him in Infernal to “capture the tiefling”. Both Mathias and Corvid knew the language and Mathais said, “Protect Corvid, they’re after him.” Corvid’s companions rushed forward, blocking off the devil’s path to him. They would have to fight through everyone if they wanted to get to Corvid.

With a few silent gestures, the barbed devil directed his followers to attack the extras and take them down while the vulture grabbed Corvid from the skies. As they fought, Mathias and Bubblegum quickly realized that most of the devils were already injured, making what looked like an even match at first a bit more in their favor. Bolstered by this realization, they cut into their foes as Bhuellor, Firestorm, and Corvid attacked from range with arrows and holy and unholy magics alike.

The barbed devil was used to such pain and did not even flinch as an arrow thunked into his shoulder. He let out a low hiss and cut into Bubblegum as the vulture let out a piercing scream from above. The devils, perhaps used to its inhuman screech, were unaffected by it, but a fear deep and impenetrable pierced them all, making it impossible for them to move. Bubblegum, alone, broke through that fear, but she found herself surrounded by the hellhounds and barbed devil, squaring off with them alone as her allies could not move to aid her.

Two of hellhounds launched themselves at Bubblegum, their jaws dripping with saliva in anticipation of a future meal. Bubblegum raised up her spear, driving it into one’s chest, then swung it around, using the momentum of the hellhounds attack to throw it into a nearby tree. Both laid dead upon the ground, the three growled at her and opening its jaws sent a cone of fire over her, but Bubblegum had the blood of a red dragon in her and the fire did nothing more than make her feel slight more warm than she already was. She turned to face the rest of the barded devil’s forces and watched with horror as the vulture creature dove from above and grabbed Corvid from the ground and began to take off with the tiefling grasped in its talons.

Firestorm, seeing her friend in trouble, was able to break out of the paralyzing fear she had momentarily found herself in. There was no way that thing was going to take Corvid. She notched an arrow and pulled it back, hitting the vulture thing in its shoulder joint. It staggered slightly, but kept on flying, so she notched another arrow. This next shot was what mattered, she thought as she notched another arrow upon her bow string. She breathed in deeply and let it out as she aimed, then let her arrow fly. She knew she would hit and let out a cry of joy as the arrow flew right through the skin of the creature’s wing and it began to plummet to the earth. Corvid was able to jump off and roll away from the thing so it did not crush him, but he did not land gracefully.

The barbed devil narrowed its eyes, but kept on fighting. He knew he had lost this battle, but would rather die here and go back to the nine hells then face Mammon on this plane. Perhaps his wraith at their failure would be quenched by then. He didn’t even try very hard and found himself smiling as a bolt of eldritch energy from Bhuellor’s fingertips hit him in the chest, knocking him out of that realm. Mathias took care of the last hellhound with a downward slice of his sword as the barbed devil fell onto the muddy earth.

Inspecting their wounds before they disappeared back into the nine hells from which they likely came, Mathias and Corvid determined that their previous wounds appeared to be made from a sword. Whoever fought them previously could be a friend or a foe, so they decided to get away from that place and find a place to hole up for an hour or so to tend to their wounds.

A Timely Letter

With Firestorm’s skills to guide them, they found a small clearing on top of a hill encircled with stones. It seemed like a safe enough place to rest for a bit since there were signs that someone had camped there not too long ago. They spent their time bandaging wounds as Mathias said he thinks, based on Corvid’s dream he had back at van Richten’s tower and what he knows about Mammon himself, that Mammon needs Corvid to be open the path to the nine hells and that’s why those devils were trying to kidnap him.

As they were talking, a raven flew into the clearing and landed upon Ezmerelda’s shoulder, dropped a letter upon the ground and took off as quickly as they had appeared. Everyone was used to the raven’s delivering letters by now and no one batted an eye as Ezmerelda tore open the letter, then after a moment, began to pull back to the top layer of the letter to reveal a much longer letter beneath. She read it with a frown upon her face, then handed it to Mathias as she turned her face to the east, her thoughts far away from the forest hilltop.

Matthias read the first on his own, then put it down. It didn’t contain much to it, but perhaps the “remember all I have taught you” was the hint Ezmerelda needed to find the secret note beneath it.

Ezmerelda,

Know that I am well and have agreed to assist Strahd in order to clear my debt to him. He will likely read this before it gets to you, so I won’t say anymore than to remember all I have taught you and things will work out for the best.

The light shines brightest in the dark.

-Rudolph van Richten.

He then picked up the second letter and seeing it had far more content, read it aloud:

Ezmerelda,

I believe it is important for you to know what transpired in Vallaki so you may understand why I have agreed to assist Strahd in these matters. It was a strange thing, witnessing Strahd and his minions defend the people of Vallaki against an onslaught of devils. Make no mistake, he does this only because he views these people as his personal property and believes himself the only one with the right to take their lives and drain them dry. They are nothing more than livestock to him. Never forget that.

The battle lasted a couple of days, but Strahd’s forces, from what I could gather, were barely weakened. A fact I cannot help but be disappointed by. He had those responsible, Lady Fiona Wachter and Baron Vargas Vallakovich, executed on site for disturbing the peace. It is my understanding that Fiona had started a rather misguided cult in worship of various devils, which led to the horde of devils attempting to overthrow Vallaki. She had pleaded for her life, claiming her family was ever loyal to the von Zaroviches, but Strahd showed her no mercy. Vallakovich, not surprisingly given the man’s fearful nature, tried to deny the devils’ very existence which only resulted in more innocent lives lost. Strahd named Victor Vallokovich, the Burgomaster’s son, as the new Burgomaster. I’m not sure that bodes well, his son is not as delusional as his father was, but there is a darkness about him that I do not trust.

Any others associated with the cult or that fed into Vargas’s denial were imprisoned and brought to the dungeons of Castle Ravenloft. We both know that this is just a prolonged form of execution, for none survive Strahd’s dungeons for long. Though I have been provided with a few rooms, I know I am a prisoner myself until we make the Amber Temple. His Chamberlain, Rahadin, keeps an annoying close eye on me at all times, so there is not much I can gather here, but I will do what I can. One notable thing is how easily distracted Strahd is by the young Ireena. He has a clear weakness for her and that could potentially be used against him.

We’re at the planning stage of this little truce of ours against Mammon. I’m uncertain when I’ll be ready, but I will be sure to contact you again shortly before I leave. Be safe, Ezmerelda. Make yourself scarce and help those you can.

Take Care,

Rudolph van Richten

They took this in with silence. Van Richten was at Castle Ravenloft, but thankfully not in the dungeons and Strahd had stopped the fighting in Vallaki in a rather ruthless way. They discussed potentially going back to Vallaki to see if they could assist in matters, but decided it best to continue their search for the ingredients they needed for Firestorm. Ezmereleda listened in silence and when they began to pack up to continue their journey to Berez, she told them she had to see to other matters and hoped they would meet again soon.

Baba Lysaga's Moving Hut

A few more hours of trudging through the muddy road, they came to what must have once been the town of Berez; now nothing more than the ruins of old buildings and the remains of a dirt road that was above the marsh enough to provide them with a bit of dry land to travel over. The rest stood in water up to their ankles and in some places, their knees...the mud sucking at their boots and threatening to pull them off to be lost beneath the dark waters of the marsh.

They traveled along the road through what little remained of the town. Half collapsed buildings covered in black mold upon either side of the road. Most no longer had roofs or any form of structure than a bit of stone work indicating where the building’s foundation once lied. Mathias took interest in a hut positioned on a large stump in the middle of the marsh and led his companions towards it. In various positions around the hut stood eerie scarecrows, causing the group to approach quietly. Mathias pointed to the large dragon skull that was seemingly floating next to the hut.

The doorway to the hut was wide open and as they drew closer, ravens that were hanging in cages over the entrance and they squawked loudly at the site of them. At the same time a loud cackling laugh eliminated from within the hut. The group paused. Bhuellor gripped his staff as the enormous roots of the hut began to lift upward and the hut began to walk towards them. The cackling only increased as the group held their position, ready for a fight but hoping this Baba Lysaga only wanted to talk.

The Fight with Baba Lysaga

“Why do you trespass upon my land?” A raspy voice says some atop the floating dragon skull next to the now moving hut. Mathias can see the tip of a pointed, gnarled hat extending just over the rim of the upside down skull. She began laughing, a cruel, rash laugh before the companions had a chance to respond.

Bhuellor tries to grab their attention but before he has a chance to formulate a reply that would perhaps trick Baba Lysaga and get them what they came for, Bubblegum says, “We’re just here for that skull. You can hand it over and we’ll be on our way.”

“That was a gift from my lovely son, you shall not have it!” she screeches in reply, her long, hooked nose jutting out over the skull as she speaks to them.

“Well, what about a trade?” Bubblegum asked.

“What do you have?” Baba replied, a touch of curiosity in her rough voice.

“Uh, hold on a second, let me talk this over with my compatriots,” Bubblegum responded.

“So,” Bubblegum said to her friends, “What can we offer her?”

“I don’t know,” Bhuellor said with a frown, “She probably wants a kid or something…”

“A child or a baby would be a fair trade,” Baba Lysaga replied, “A baby would be preferable.”

“Well,” Bubblegum said, hiding a small cocoon behind her bag and humming a tune to herself she then shouted, “I guess we’re doing this!” And crushing the cocoon in her fist, she stared at Baba Lysaga. Baba looked back with annoyance, then her eyes widened. Baba Lysaga began to shrink, her limbs turning green as she was pulled inwards and became a toad. The dragon skull began to fall to the earth. Bubblegum and Firestorm ran forward and caught it just before it crashed. Baba, in her toad form, crashed around in the skull and suddenly she found herself sprawled in her skull with two strong dragonborn ladies holding her vessel.

Baba let out a harsh cackle as she sent the skull skyward once more, breaking free Firestorm and Bubblegum’s grasp on her skull. Baba pulled out a bit of sulfur and guano from her robes, rubbed them together and with a fiery spark, sent a large fireball down below her. No one saw it coming and the heat of the fire tore at their skin.

Corvid called upon the light of Lathander to hold the fiend in place. Baba Lysaga let out a screech of rage as Lathander’s light surrounded her and frozer her limbs so she could not move. The skull, once again, fell to the earth. Baba, unable to move in order to cushion her fall, bounced around the skull like a broken clapper in an old bell.

Firestorm, Mathias, and Bubblegum all descended upon Baba Lysaga while she could not defend herself, but the hut seemed to have a mind of its own. As they attacked Baba, the hut latched out at Corvid, knocking him unconscious as its rooted legs bashed him into the ground. With Corvid no longer holding Baba in place, she called upon her scarecrows to join the fray.

With Baba back in the fray, the tides turned quickly. They easily could have taken her and her scarecrows down, but the hut was too formidable. One by one, they fell to the crushing roots of the hut until Firestorm was the only one standing, but just barely. She struck out at Baba, but it wasn’t enough and the ancient witch shot magical glowing darts from her fingertips, sending them directly at Firestorm’s chest and she too was lost to darkness.

Coming To

Corvid and Firestorm awoke, their eyes unfocused and their heads throbbing in pain. They were laying upon the cold, metal floor of a cage suspected above Baba Lysaga’s hut where the ravens were hanging before. Neither could see the other, for they were both in separate cages. They struggled to stand and to see, but it was a failing effort. Through the haze they could just make out three figures standing outside of Baba’s hut.

“Why are you here?” the raspy voice of Baba Lysaga asked.

“Father’s eyes went pitch black when he heard how you’ve treated his guests,” a dreamy voice said. That voice sounded familiar to Corvid, but it took him a moment to realize it was Volenta speaking, one of Strahd’s “daughters” they had met at Castle Ravenloft over dinner.

“He’s not coming then?” Baba croaks sadly.

“Of course not,” Ludmilla’s rather stuck up voice replied, “He despises this place.”

“Come, ladies,” and this time Corvid did not have to wonder, for it was clearly Alek speaking, “Strahd didn’t send us here to taunt the poor woman.”

They tried to hold onto consciousness to hear the rest of the conversation and to find out what was to be done with them. Would they live? Or would they become one of Strahd’s undead minions? One of Baba’s scarecrows? But they could not stay awake and found them drifting back into the dark as Alek continued to converse with Baba.

The Wizards of Wine Winery

Bhuellor awoke in a room on a comfortable bed in a place he did not recognize. Cam was with him, but no one else was in sight.

“What happened?” he asked the imp.

“Well,” Cam said, thinking it over, “that witch lady put you all in cages...then Alek showed up and told her to let you all go cause that’s what Strahd wanted...then with the help of some wolves, he dropped you all off here.”

“Okay,” Bhuellor replied and looked around the room. It didn’t seem all that familiar to him, so he went to the door and finding it unlocked, opened it and ran out into the hallway, hoping to find his friends. He ran to the next door and was relieved to find Bubblegum answering it. She seemed fine and said none of her things were missing.

Soon, everyone was in the hallway and after a quick inventory of their items, discovered that the only things missing was Strahd’s journal and the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind. As they were discussing the implications of the loss of these items, Firestorm showed them the letter Strahd had left on her person. Mathias took it from her and read it aloud to the group:

My Friends,

It seems you have met Baba Lysaga and she did not take kindly to your trespassing in the swamps. I have convinced her not to end your collective existence for the time being. I have discussed matters with Baba and she has agreed to let you wander the swamps should you choose to go back there. Though, I must warn you, theft in my land is never warranted and she has my full permission to see justice brought to any that attempt to steal from her.

-Count Strahd von Zarovich

“I don’t understand why he would save us,” Firestorm said, “I mean...why does he seem to like us?”

“Maybe he’s bored?” Corvid offered as Firestorm scuffed at that idea, “I mean, think about it...that book of his seems to indicate that he’s at least a thousand years old and has been stuck in this place that entire time. We’re new here...so maybe we afford some sort of entertainment?”

The group collectively shrugged at that idea and Mathias thought there were likely darker implications to why he would save them, but left the thought to himself. For now they were safe and they needed to figure out what to do next.

As they were talking, Davian Martikov walked into the hallway and said he was glad they were all back among the living. According to Davian, he had heard a group of wolves outside last night and when he came to check on things, found them unconscious upon the ground. Recognizing them as the folks that helped his family clear out the druids that had taken over their winery, he brought them in and did what he could to see to their wounds while they rested.

Corvid asked if Baba’s hut was nearby and Davian said all he heard were the wolves and thankfully Baba Lysaga was nowhere near them for the time being. He did wonder about her hut, for that was something new. Perhaps she had used the gem she stole from them to give it life? Davian even suggested that if they were somehow able to remove the gem from the hut, it may return to its natural state.

Feeling discouraged, the group took to wandering the winery for a bit. Firestorm and Mathais talked with the rest of the Martikovs and gave them the gem they were able to recover from the druids on Yester Hill. As soon as the gem was placed back into the ground, the vines of the winery began to show signs of life. Hopefully, in a couple of months they’d be able to start producing wine for the people of Barovia once more.

Corvid, sought solace among the horses in the barn and closed his eyes, then tried to contact Lathander. He asked for guidance in how he would reobtain the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, for it was their most powerful tool against Strahd that they had and now it was gone. He did not get a direct answer from his deity, but instead an image of Madam Eva laying a card upon a table, then another of Ezmerelda riding towards the tower on Lake Baratok.

Corvid told the group of his vision while they were eating a home cooked meal provided by the Martikovs. They all agree that they should make their way to see Madam Eva, because she was the one who told them where they could find the items in the first place, perhaps she could guide them further. They spent the evening taking warm baths and drinking wine, allowing themselves a bit of a break and time to think of how they could next approach Baba Lysaga, for they still needed to go to Berez in order to obtain a midnight rose for Firestorm as well as discover the meaning being Madam Eva’s card reading that seemed to draw Firestorm to that place.

Don’t look a Gift Skull in the Jaws

The next morning, the group headed out of the winery and to the north. They would see Ezmerelda if they could and then head back to Tser Pool to discuss their options with Madam Eva. From there, they would have to go back to the swamp and hopefully they’d be better prepared to deal with Baba Lysaga if a fight broke out again.

While traveling up the path, Bhuellor noticed a bit of stark white amongst the green foliage a few yards off the path. He held up a hand and went into the forest to investigate. It was the dragon’s skull. He surveyed it and found nothing odd about it at all.

“Who would leave this here and why?” Bubblegum asked with suspicion.

“I don’t know,” Bheullor replied, “Maybe Alek did? I mean...he seemed to be the one that left us at the winery...maybe he left us this too?”

“Well, he did seem to like me,” Firestorm said, “I guess we should take this back to Argynvostholt.”

“Yeah,” Bubblegum agreed.

The two dragonborn ladies lifted the giant skull and brought it back to the winery. There, the Martikovs let them borrow their wagon and draft horses so they could easily bring the skull back to the haunted manor. Mathias drove the wagon and perhaps wasn’t paying too much attention as he hit something in the road as they rounded the corner leading to the southeast. He jumped off the coach seat and picked up a rather beat up bird cage, then threw it on the seat next to him.

During the journey, Bubblegum examined the bird cage as well as the dragon skull. The skull had transmutation magic about it, which was likely what allowed Baba Lysaga to fly while sitting within it, but there was something darker about the skull as well. Bubblegum could see the traces of some sort of unholy magic that made it impossible for her to command it and upon further examination realized only one devoted to Mother Night would be able to control it. The birdcage was another matter. It had a touch of necromantic magic about it and apparently, if a bird is put within it can never leave again, nor does it need to eat. That could potentially be useful, so she kept it for the time being.

The trip to Argynvostholt was a short one and they were able to drag the skull through the manor and into the resting place of Argynvost in the mausoleum in the cemetery. Bubblegum and Firestorm placed the skull down at the same time and a bright pink and green light shown within the marble building. From that light, a beam of pink and green shot up into the gloomy skies of Barovia, piercing through the ever present clouds. Looking upon that light, the travelers found themselves filled with hope that they had not felt since they first stepped from the mists into Barovia. And from that light a soft hissing voice floated through the wind and said, “Thank you, my knights are now at rest.”

At the Crossroads

With Firestorm at the reins, the group traveled to the east along the old Svalich road towards Tser Pool in hopes of obtaining another reading from Madam Eva. Coming up to the gates of Vallaki, she wondered briefly if they’d have any issues passing through the town. The Burgomaster had, after all, kicked them out last time they were here, but Burgomaster Vargas Vallakovich was dead and the quickest way to Tser Pool was through Vallaki.

The guards at the gate stopped their wagon, but when Firestorm told them they were just passing through, they did not quest her and let them do so. The town had new decorations up since they last visited. For one, there were no signs of any posters indicating the latest and “best” festival’s upcoming date and for another, there were many hellhound heads on pikes. There were also signs of large fires that were recently put out. A number of stores were bordered up, but the Vallakovich mansion and the Wachter House suffered the worst of it. The people of Vallaki were seen throughout the streets working together to restore people’s homes and businesses.

Firestorm steered the draft horses as quickly as possible through the town, keeping her head down, glancing back at her friends now and then to ensure they were doing the same. Nothing happened, thankfully, and they exited the town just as unnoticed as when they entered.

The road was muddy and worn and the thick, dark forest loomed over them as what little light that crept through the mists of Barovia began to fade. The day was growing darker and though it wasn’t always easy to tell in Barovia, twilight was fast approaching. As the night sky darkened, Firestorm found herself looking up. The bright beacon of pink and green shone in the night sky and instead of the ever-present clouds above, the sky was clear. She could see the stars in the sky and a half moon shining above.

“We did that,” Mathias said in awe from the back of the carriage. The traveling companions stared up at the sky, wondering when the last time anyone had the chance to glimpse the stars of Barovia. They were unfamiliar to the constellations of the Forgotten Realms, but still beautiful and still filled their hearts with hope and a childlike wonder.

Of course, this was Barovia, so the splendor did not last long. As they approached the crossroads that led to Castle Ravenloft in one direction and the Village of Barovia and Tser Pool in the other they saw an older woman being held from behind by a figure in a dark, hooded cloak with their head buried into her neck.

Firestorm stopped the horses and they quickly existed the wagon as the figure dropped the olde woman on the group with a sickening thump and crunch. Under the hood, the figure’s eyes glowed red as he looked up at the travelers, whipping his mouth of the blood that stained it.

“Why are you hurting that woman?” Bhuellor cried out in dismay.

“I was hungry,” the vampire replied and as he spoke, the travelers realized who he was. As he spoke, the group realized who he was - Escher, one of the vampires that was acting as some sort of servant while they talked with Strahd over dinner.

The group pulled out their weapons, maybe it wasn’t too late to save the older woman? As they did, a group of wolves charged out of the forest, taking protective stances in front of Escher. Instead of attacking, Escher, in a soothing voice, asked Mathias to defend him. Mathias was utterly taken in by the vampire and tried to counter his friend’s attacks against him.

The fight ended as quickly as it started as a large cloud of bats formed over Escher’s head, he gave the party a rather bored look, then shifted into a bat himself and joined them as they flew off towards Castle Ravenloft. The wolves were easily dealt with.

Looking over the woman, no one recognized her. She was dressed in peasant garb and had a small, ancient locket around her look. Opening the locket, they found a picture of Gertruda within, the young rather ditzy woman they had met over dinner with Strahd. Likely this was her mother and she had set off to find her daughter and instead became the meal of one of Strahd’s own.

Uncertain what to do, the group put the corpse of Gertruda’s mom in the back of the wagon and continued on to Tser Pool.

Tser Pool

They were greeted as soon as they arrived in Tser Pool as if they were expected, which was likely the case given Madam Eva’s powers of divination. They briefly asked if anyone recognized the woman they had and if she had any relatives in town. The man they spoke to said he wasn’t sure, but he had met Gertruda and according to her, her mother kept her locked inside all the time which is why she had left in the first place.

The party then went into Madam Eva’s tent and obtained another reading. She was a bit more direct with them this time.

Madam Eva’s New Readings

Madam Eva still makes residence in a large tent set apart from the encampment close to Tser Pool.

The inside of Madam Eva’s tent is lit by many candles positioned vicariously throughout. It’s very colorful and covered in red and golden fabrics, herbs drying on a wooden rack, and various large puffy pillows to sit on. She sits herself behind a table low to the ground and gestures for the players to sit themselves on one of the pillows as she does the card reading.

“Been expecting you’d show up. Thought it’d be sooner,” she says as the party enters.

Bhuellor

“Bhuellor, welcome. I knew you’d find your way here eventually,” she places a card down in front of him (The Wizard) and says, “Your wife and child are in the hands of another who stole your love’s heart away. I see them in a magical house set into the mountainside beyond a vast lake.”

(Group believes this is referring to the mountain, Mount Baratok, behind Lake Zarovich)

Strahd

She turns to the group as a whole and says:

“Like many travelers before you seek to leave Barovia,” she lays down the Transmuter (one of stars) card, “The choices you make will have severe consequences on this land and the people that live here.”

She places another card upon the table, The Dark Lord, and says, “If you wish to leave Barovia, it all comes down to the ruler of this land.”

She places another card next to The Dark Lord, revealing the Conjurer (Nine of Stars)

“The Conjurer represents an unexpected supernatural threat, those who think themselves as Gods.” she says, “There is a hidden darkness in this land, a power that even obscures my vision.”

“Hmm,” she frowns, looking at the cards laid out before you, “Have you heard the story of Count Strahd’s defeat 814 years ago?”

“Travelers, much like yourselves were brought into the mists and their actions inadvertently led to the death of a young woman that Lord Strahd loved above all others. He made an enemy of them and though not all of them survived the ordeal, they defeated him in the end. The mists departed and the sun shone upon the land of Barovia once more and those that wished to could leave the land. But the darkness was not done with him and brought him back, enclosing him and his people within the mists once more. There are very few that remember this tale, in fact, the darkness wishes for us to forget. I doubt Strahd himself remembers.”

“If you wish to save this land forever, then you must find a way to break his curse and face those that hold him captive here,” she says.

She flips over another card revealing the 7 of Swords (The Hooded One) and says, “Another history of this land may guide you so you may further understand the darkness that grasps it. I see a faceless God. He awaits you at the end of a long and winding road, deep in the mountains.”

(Group believes this is likely referring to some place near or within the Amber Temple)

“Of course, there are those that may assist you in this effort,” and she lays down another card (The Broken One) and says, “A great wizard is who you must seek. His mind is broken, but his spells are strong.”

Tome of Strahd

She puts down the 8 of Stars (The Necromancer) and says “I see a woman hanging above a roaring fire. Find her and you shall find Strahd’s journal once more.”

Holy Symbol of Ravenkind

“You have to be more careful with that relic,” she says sternly to Corvid, “But let’s see what the cards have to say.” she turns over a card (2 of Swords - The Paladin) and says, “I see a sleeping Prince, once the servant of light but jealous consumed his heart and led him to darkness. The holy symbol lies with him.”

(Group believes this is referring to Sergei von Zarovich’s tomb (Strahd’s brother))

Mammon

When asked about Mammon, Madam Eva said she did not know why he was there, but the Mists brings many into the realm of Barovia whether they want to be there or not. Either way, she believes that Barovia will be much worse off if Mammon were to take over as the ruler.

Other Info Learned

Madam Eva stated that when the skies are clear at night, usually it means the Lord of Barovia is in a good mood. She did not seem to know much about the Dragon's beacon, however.

Gertruda and her mother lived alone in a small house in the Village of Barovia, Madam Eva did not think that the mother would be missed.

Strahd apparently visited Madam Eva shortly after they dined at Castle Ravenloft and asked her to tell him the readings she gave, so she was expecting him to reclaim his property at the first opportunity.

According to Madam Eva the thing Baba Lysaga wants more than anything is something she will never have - Strahd accepting her as his mother.

Tser Pool

After obtaining some supplies for the road, playing music with the Vistani, and removing the head of the vampire's victim and burying her, the group turned in for the evening in small, individual tents lent to them by the Vistani. Bhuellor, Firestorm, and Mathias took watches while Corvid and Bubblegum slept the full night. While Mathias was on watch, he roamed around the water's of Tser Pool and was visited by Escher. Escher fed on Mathias and afterwards Mathias asked if he would be a vampire. Escher offered to show him, but Mathias declined. Escher expressed that he was lonely, but after a brief conversation decided he was bored with Mathias and left.

Ruins

The group traveled to Lake Zarovich with two Vistani that agreed to take the horse and carriage back to the Martikovs at the Wizards of Wine Winery. Following a thin trail as well as guidance from Firestorm and Mathias, the group traveled through the thick woods towards Mount Baratok and noticed a group of ravens circling overhead towards the northeast. They located a small deer path leading in that direction and decided to take it. Bhuellor sent Cam to assess the situation and he informed him that there were two creatures hunched over what was likely the corpse of an older dwarven woman lying at the center of some stone ruins.

The group decided to investigate, but were far too loud to sneak up on the ghasts. The ghasts turned to attack and a battle broke out, which was soon joined by a ghostly figure of a warrior. The ghost's horrific face resulted in Mathias aging 30 years, but they were able to defeat both the ghost and the ghasts. The ghost returned, however, and seemed annoyed by the fact. He said he was Leo Dilisnya and Strahd would not let his spirit rest. Mathias recognized that name from Strahd's journal as the person who betrayed him and caused the murder of many wedding guests, including Strahd's beloved Tatyana, as he tried to over through Strahd's rule. The ghost was restless and after finding his bones lying against the side of the circular ruin, the group decided to put him at rest. Oddly, his skull had fang like teeth within them and inspecting what was left of the ruin, the stone had deep claw marks all around the inside of it. After Corvid consecrated the ground, Leo's ghost faded after the group witnessed what led to his demise. He was shown to be a vampire, sealed within a circular crypt wailing in agony as he clawed at the walls and turned into a cloud of mist, yet could not escape.

When Corvid inspected the corpse of the dwarf, he realized it was Marin, the dwarf that had betrayed them and led them into Barovia. She did not have a beholder eyestalk on her and was much older, but he was sure it was her. He found a nice looking knife with a black hilt decorated in golden and red runes sheathed in leather case, though the leather did not feel like normal leather to him. He also found a large diamond, and 100 gold pieces in a small pouch.

Cabin in the Woods

After witnessing that rather disturbing scene, the group saw a raven perched on a branch of a tall tree, beyond which they could just make out a small, run down cabin. Firestorm used "speak with animals" and the raven informed her that the cabin was empty and that the "lightning man" was located towards the northwest, about a day's flight from them.

On the way to the cabin, Bhuellor noticed a bat fly over head and perch in the trees as if watching them. He sent Cam to follow the bat, which continued to follow them to the cabin and perch just outside of the cabin upon the nearest tree. The group feared this was Escher returning for another snack.

The group moved forward to investigate the cabin, which was mostly run down. Bhuellor inspected the fireplace that was still standing in what was left of the half-collapsed cabin. Bhuellor noticed the von Zarovich crest etched upon the stone of the fireplace. Further inspection of the small cabin resulted in them finding a large chest under the floorboards containing two longswords (both with the von Zarovich crest upon the sheaths that held them and upon their hilts), a long-sense decayed set of bow and arrows, and a very nice quiver which Firestorm identified as the Quiver of Ehlonna. Among this weaponry was a set of rusted chain mail and a book. When Bubblegum inspected the book she recolonized Strahd's hand writing. It was a book of poetry, which the bard decided she could use against the vampire in the future.

A Night with a Vampire

The group decided to camp out in the old, abandoned cabin for the evening. As Bhuellor was on watch a thick mist began to form over the forest floor and crept into the cabin. At the same time, Cam reported that the bat he was keeping an eye on flew into the mist, then morphed into a mist form. Bhuellor panicked and decided to awaken his friends. After a bit of discussion, they agreed that the bat was likely Escher and now that he was hidden within the mist, it was best that they keep at least two people on watch all night in case Escher's intentions were malicious.

Firestorm and Bhuellor took the first watch, during which Escher spoke to them from the mists though they could not pin point where he was. He moved every time her replied and they could never see his form. He claimed he was bored and just wanted to talk, though he wouldn't leave them alone and every time Bhuellor told him to leave so they could rest, he replied, "Sleep well."

After some conversation, they were able to determine that Escher was apparently jealous of Strahd's relationship with Ireena. Even further discussion, Escher claimed that he is Strahd's husband and wants nothing more than to see Ireena out of Castle Ravenloft, but when asked if he could help the party rescue Ireena he only said vaguely that he "could not assist them directly with that".

Firestorm and Bhuellor decided to stay up all night so the other's could get some sleep as it was clear Escher was not going to leave them alone. And he did stay the entire evening, leaving shortly before dawn and only after Bhuellor attempted to convince him to shift into his bat form and join them during the day in a small birdcage Bhuellor had upon his back. Though Bhuellor was surprisingly convincing, Escher did not seem to trust him stating only "I know where your loyalties lie."

Demonic Statue

In the morning, Firestorm and Bhuellor told the rest of the group what happened over the course of the evening, then they decided to go back to Krezk to see if The Abbot could restore Mathias's age before the change was permanent and he loses 30 years of his life. On the way there, they encountered a black stone riddled with green copper lying in a clearing of scorched earth along an opening in the forest. A green devil face with its mouth gaping wide open sat upon the black stone and within the mouth was only darkness. The group inspected the statue and Mathias dropped a stone within it, which caused three shadow creatures to poor out of the mouth of the statue and attack. The group defeated them easily and after further inspect decided to leave the statue alone.

Village of Krezk

The group continued on to Krezk and though time was of the essence, they had to go through the slow process of the guards getting the Burgomasater's approval before they were left into the village. They made it to The Abbot with only about an hour to spare, perhaps less. They were greeted by some of The Abbots mongrelfolk and were escorted to The Abbots dinning hall where he was found dancing with Vasilka as Clovin played a beautiful melody upon his viola. Mathias inturpted them and Corvid explained the situation to The Abbot. He agreed to cast Greater Restoration upon Mathias to return his lost youth if they had a wedding gown made for Vasilka afterwards as she was clearly ready to be presented to Strahd. The group agreed and The Abbot had Mathias lie down upon the floor as he sprinkled some diamond dust over his body and prayed to Lathander to restore his body to what it once was. The spell worked, but caused a sharp pain to course through his body as it was being cast. His youth was restored but he now feels incredibly cold.

The Abbey of Saint Markovia

Firestorm, knowing that tonight will be a full moon, asks The Abbot if there is a place they can lock her up for the evening. The Abbot says there's a free shed he is currently not using for one of the Belviews that already has chains set up and everything. He seemed very proud of this fact. With Bhuellors assistance, Firestorm is chained in the small shed for the evening both her arms and lets bound by heavy chain as well as Bhuellor's manacles, then further locked her in the wooden shed itself. Lastly, the secured the door with heavy wood from a broken down carriage. At first, Bhuellor seemed to be the only friend of hers willing to stay the evening in the courtyard of The Abbey to ensure she doesn't escape, but the other's eventually agreed to do so as well.

Mathias stayed up first as the rest of the group tried to get some sleep for the night. It was difficult, seeing as The Abbey was anything but quiet with constant screaming coming from the Belviews or a random Belview wandering the courtyard as they tried to sleep. Eventually, they fell asleep just as Firestorm started to change and Mathias stood uncomfortably watching over them trying his best to ignore the constant cacophony of sounds that echoed through the courtyard while keeping a keen ear on Firestorm as he heard her struggling to break free of the chains that bound her.

As he wondered if things could get any worse, a thick mist started for form in the courtyard. Mathias, believing it was Escher again, woke the rest of the group up. They were all very grumpy given that Escher kept them up the previous evening and decided to go back to sleep. Escher, of course, took advantage of this situation and attempted to talk with Mathias. He told him he had a potion for Firestorm that would put her to sleep, but Mathias didn't agree to give her the potion until Escher appeared before him and charmed him. Of course, Escher took a little drink from Mathias before handing over the potion and disappearing into the mists once again.

Mathias, convinced to give Firestorm the potion, began to remove the barricade of the door that held Firestorm within which awoke Corvid and Bhuellor. Mathias explained that Escher had given him a potion to help Firestorm. Corvid and Bhuellor both recognized it as being very similar, if not the same potion, that Strahd had provided Firestorm to prevent her change when they went to dine at Ravenloft. After a bit of debate and Firestorm breaking free of one of the chains that bound her, the group held her down and force fed her the potion, which did not have any visible affect on her except to put her into a deep sleep.

Corvid stayed up for the next watch and talked with Escher as he moved from place to place within the mists. Sometimes he seemed to be very far away and others he seemed to be above him or right next to him. They mainly discussed the Wachters from Vallaki and Escher informed him that Lady Fiona Wachter was the only member of the household executed as her children were not guilty of her crimes. He noted taht the Wachter family has always been loyal to Strahd and Strahd's family for as long as they've been in Barovia. He also in told Corvid how Victor Vallokovich was the new Burgomaster of Vallaki and the mandatory festivals were no more.

Escher attempted to talk with Bhuellor during the last watch, but Bhuellor was not responsive and conveyed a much annoyance as he could in his single word replies. Escher decided that he was boring and as he did the night before, left a few hours before daybreak.

Through the Woods

Traveling through the Svalich Woods during the day was much easier than it had when they did so at night. The trip from Krezk to Mount Baratok was a lot shorter than the trip coming from the eastern side of Lake Zarovich. As they traveled, Corvid noticed a few wolves in the forest that were traveling in the same direction. Bhuellor sent Cam to check on what they were doing and Cam reported dozens and dozens of wolves following them on their side of the forest trail. They did not appear to be hunting, only looping through the wilderness. The group continued on, unsure what the wolves meant or what they could even do about them and eventually came upon Mount Baratok.

The Mad Mansion

As the land began to sloop upwards they made out a shimmering mansion about 100 feet up from a rocky pass. It flickered in and out of existence until only a shimmering golden doorway was left. Thinking this must be the magical mansion Madam Eva mentioned in her reading for Bhuellor, the group climbed the mountain pass and walked through the door of light. Stepping through the doorway they found themselves in a grand hall brightly lit by numerous drifting globes of light hovering about 5 feet off the floor. They explored the doorways before entering a room with three statues with vampiric-like features.

Upon entering the room, a transparent image of a bald man with arched eyebrows and a neatly trimmed goatee wearing long, flowing gray robes with a high collar appeared at the center of the room. He cried out, “You shall never defeat me, fiend!” as a bolt of lightning arched out of his finger tips, striking the center statue in the chest. The statue remained intact and the image faded with a mournful cry. The statues then sprang to life and attacked the group.

The group continued to explore the Mad Mansion in search of the mage that may be able to assist them in locating Bhuellor's missing wife and child. On the bottom floor they discovered some odd things - the door on the western all of the room with the statues in it teleported them into a two-floored library. Within were shelves lined with books, which were oddly all blank. At the center of the room was a book with a single entry written in a elegant hand. After figuring out the puzzle in the library, they discovered a hidden study behind it a piece of a journal entry.

The first floor also contained a number of translucent figures with vampiric features chopping unseen food in the kitchen and setting up the dinning room table for guests - though the food upon the table had rotted away. They also came across a storage room filled with barrels made of rotting wood. The only intact barrel, when opened, let out a moan of despair that echoed around the first floor. They also passed through a room with a five-pointed star carved onto the floor. When they entered, Strahd appeared before them looking quite menacing but disappeared as soon as Corvid tried to interact with him. As Corvid walked over the pentagram he felt a stab of pain and heat on his arm and looking revealed another rune in Infernal that meant "opening".

Upstairs they encountered two strange creatures floating in the middle of a laboratory. Bubblegum was able to charm one of the creatures and they destroyed the other. The charmed creature informed them that he was created by the wizard who does not remember his own name and that the creature is rarely allowed to leave this room.

Upon the study's table they found a black cat with bat-like wings trapped in a cage. It appeared grateful when Bubblegum let it out but did not like it when Bhuellor tried to removed his collar. The tag on the collar indicated that his name was Urik. Urik led them to a bedroom that did not look like it had been used in a long time considering the amount of dust throughout. When Bhuellor looked upon the mirror leaning against the western wall he saw two versions of a mage. In one scene, the mage was fighting against a devil and appeared confident. In the other, the mage was fighting against Strahd and appeared overwhelmed and taken by surprise.

While the strange eye creature was still charmed by Bubblegum, the group took advantage of a surprise attack on it and slew it before they rested for the evening. Firestorm was about to change, so they made their way downstairs to lock her in the library for the evening, assuming she would be stuck within once she changed. On their way down, Bubblegum spotted Escher with her see invisible spell at the end of the main hallway looking as if he just entered the mansion. Bubblegum attempted to dispel the magic that was making Escher invisible but failed. Escher said that was rather rude of her. He then offered

While the strange eye creature was still charmed by Bubblegum, the group took advantage of a surprise attack on it and slew it before they rested for the evening. Firestorm was about to change, so they made their way downstairs to lock her in the library for the evening, assuming she would be stuck within once she changed. On their way down, Bubblegum spotted Escher with her see invisible spell at the end of the main hallway looking as if he just entered the mansion. Bubblegum attempted to dispel the magic that was making Escher invisible but failed. Escher said that was rather rude of her. He then offered the group the potion to prevent Firestorm from changing in exchange for a future favor. The group tried to get him to say what kind of favor but all he said was "nothing outside your means or skill". Bhuellor attempted to have Cam steal the potion from Escher but Escher caught the imp and killed him with one stab of his rapier. Bhuellor was upset by this, but Escher pointed out that he was only protecting what was his and if he didn't' want his imp to die then he shouldn't be trying to steal someone else's property. Bubblegum whole-heartedly agreed with Escher.

At this point, Mathias offered his blood in exchange for the potion. Escher agreed to that, unable to resist freely given blood, though Bubblegum pointed out he was charmed so no really freely given. Escher gave them the potion and left by the use of a teleportation scroll since the way he came in was no longer open.

The group finds the mage's complete journal which read as follows once they pieced it together:

Entry 1

As a traveler of the planes ensuring balance throughout the realms, I was not completely taken by surprise when the strange mists enveloped me and swept me off into another realm. The land has an overall gloomy feel to it as if the mists themselves drain the hope and happiness out of the people that call this place home.

After gaining what information I could from the locals in the village of Barovia, named after the land itself, I believe I am now in a demiplane, cut off from the realms by an ever present mist that surrounds it. It is quite fascinating, though the locals are frustratingly closed and ignorant about their own situation. None seem to know why the mists surround them nor do they seem to care, only remarking that it has always been as such. They are a dismal, subdued people who are content with their lot in life for they have known no other and they are too fearful of the presence of “The Devil Strahd”. So much so that they are unwilling to tell me much about him other than that he is their ruler and lives in Castle Ravenloft high in the mountains that loom over the village. I must learn what I can about this devil and lead these poor souls to make a stand against him.

Entry 2

From my subtle prying of the villager’s minds, I have learned that this “Devil Strahd” is no more than a vampire who gained a position of power. He hides himself behind a curtain of mystery and a fearsome presence that has led these simple Barovians to believe his power is omniscient. He is clearly clever given what he has accomplished here and unfortunately the land does seem to favor his kind as true sunlight does not shine upon it. However, vampires have many other weaknesses all of which I have studied at great length for I have dealt with vampires before and they are no match for my powerful magics. With a bit of assistance from the locals, I can easily dethrone this undead monster.

Entry 3

It took much longer than I had the patience for, but I’ve managed to convince enough of the villagers to assault Strahd at his Castle and end his tyranny over this realm. One villager in particular, Priest Donovich’s son Doru, shows promise. He would have made a fine adventurer given the right upbringing. Sadly, his father, though a holy man, is petrified of Strahd so much so that he will not even speak the vampire’s name, for fear that it will summon him. It will be a pleasure to destroy this fiend and show these people he was nothing more than a blight upon their land hiding in his ominous castle.

Entry 4

I have lost everything. My staff is broken, my spellbook lies I know not where, and the bright boy Doru has given himself over to The Devil. The vampire matched my wit and my magic spell for spell. I am utterly useless to these people, my attempts to assist them only brought about more misery. Am I now trapped in this land? I cannot live with the villagers any longer, the shadow of my failure is etched upon each of their faces and every corner Strahd’s minions watch me. I shall hide in the mountains where none shall find me. In time I will forget. Perhaps a spell will aid me and force me out of this misery.

After finding another riddle in the Mage's bedroom, the group is able to disable the green lightning in the center room of the top floor. They teleport to a tower outside in the middle of a thunder storm. The Mage confronts them, believing them to be Strahd's minions. However, they convince him otherwise and by showing him his own journal, he removes the Mind Blank spell he cast upon himself to forget his failure. Not before freezing everyone in time for a moment while he put up his defenses.

The mage tells them he is Mordenkainen but is afraid without his staff and spellbook there isn't much he can do to help them with Strahd or Mammon. He does believe there is likely knowledge in the Amber Temple, which was once a haven of great mages, to help them destroy Strahd for good and perhaps deal with Mammon as well. He has been to the nine hells and says they could offer Mammon a deal of some sort if they don't want to fight him. He thinks it's strange that Mammon is in Barovia and thinks that perhaps he is stuck there like the rest of them and making do as Barovia is not as grand as Mammon's own domain.

Mordenkainen allows the characters to keep his journal in case he forgets himself again and they need his assistance. He offers to help with any ritual casting they may need to bind Strahd and/or Mammon but is reluctant to offer direct assistance in fighting either of them.

On their way down from Mount Baratok, a raven gave the group an invitation to Old Souls Night in Vallaki. Firestorm asked the raven to stay and transform as she had a message for him to deliver to Ireena. The raven was no one they had met before but he said his name was Josif Martikov and he agreed to attempt to deliver Ireena a ring to her and tell her that Firestorm said to wear the ring if she is in danger.

The group dresses in various costumes and heads to Vallaki for the festival. The festival was mainly held in the town square of Vallaki where everyone was dressed in costume and masks except for a number of guards that patrolled the area. A stage was set up in the middle of the Town Square where masked folks danced to the tune of music played by a band dressed up as skeletons. The group participated in "Tales for Tokens" in which they could tell a story to receive a token or bit of food or drink from a villager.

During the festivities, a group of undead descended upon the Town Square. The group assisted in dispatching the undead though one town guard was killed during this confrontation. While discussing the situation with Burgomaster Victor Vallakovich, Arabella Martikov stumbled into the square, bleeding from a wound on her side. She informed Victor that Bhuellor attacked her and her brother, Derrek. Others, however, confirmed that Bhuellor was in the Town Square assisting with dispatching the undead. After Corvid cast "Zone of Truth", they realised that no one was lying, so something strange was going on here. Arabella was upset as whoever attacked them had made off with her brother.

Bhuellor sent Cam to see if there was a clear trail to follow, but there didn't seem to be one...just a blood trail that ended only a few feet from where the attack occurred. At a loss, the group asked Victor what they could do and a man wearing a devil mask replied in a rather exasperated tone, "Did he have any enemies, perhaps start there."

Mathias asked the man to lower his mask as he felt uncomfortable talking to someone when their face was hidden. He did so and behind the devil mask was Strahd as Victor introduced him to the group as Vasili. Mathias, being anything but subtle, directly asked Strahd why Escher was bothering them. Strahd just laughed and told him he was clearly mistaking him for someone else. Victor did not seem to be concerned by this exchange at all.

After a bit more discussion with Arabella, they discovered the Derrek had an argument with Nikolai Wachter the other night about a girl, Marina, who they were both courting. The group along with Victor, traveled to the Blue Water Inn to find out more about the argument. There, they were able to confirm Arabella's story and Bhuellor located a trail of gravedirt and footprints leading to the town graveyard.

At the graveyard, they spoke with Milojov who said his friend Nikolai had given him a dinner break and when he came back the graves were dug up and Nikolai was no where to be seen. He did not think Nikolai had the capabilities to raise the dead and had assumed it was just a poorly done prank as Nikolai loves playing jokes on people. Milojov tells them Nikolai is dressed as a skeleton for the evening and gives them details on his costume. Corivd using "locate object" after finding a bit of Nikolai's pants that tore off in the graveyard. The spells leads them back to the Town Square and they confront Nikolai.

Nikolai is drinking and after telling them about how his mother was keeping his dead father's body preserved in her bed and how disturbing that was, did also confess that he raised the dead. He told them that his friend Dorin Ivilskovia had given him a scroll which he said would create an illusion of a zombie, so he was going to use it to scare Milojov, but instead it raised the dead. He came back to the Town Square in hopes of confronting Dorin as he was sure Dorin gave him the wrong scroll.

Victor leads the group to the Ivilskovia mansion, which is near the town graveyard. There they discover a group of hags were disguising themselves as the Ivilskovia family and were attempting to make a sacrifice of Derrek and Marina to form a Coven on Old Souls Night. The group defeated the hags and Victor thanks them and Derrek said they could stay at the Blue Water Inn for free whenever they were in Vallaki.

When Mathias pointed out how far along Victor's magic had become, he thanked him and said he had a tutor now - Vasili, which the party knows to be Strahd in disguise.

While getting some well earned drinks at the Blue Water Inn in Vallaki, Corvid asked Burgomaster Victor Vallakovich how long he had been Vasili von Hultz’s apprentice and where exactly Vasili lives. Victor told him that he has been studying with Vasili for some time now, but his efforts were increased after the devil’s attacked the town and that Vasili lives in Vallaki in a smaller manor. His family is quite old but Vasili is the only one left. Corvid then asked how much Vasili charges to teach the arcane arts in which Victor replied he does not charge, but as his apprentice Victor is expected to follow his instructions. When asked if Vasili has required Victor to do anything “strange or unpleasant” Victor, quite venomously replied, “No.”

The group spends the night at the Blue Water Inn and get a full night’s rest for once. The next morning, when Bhuellor comes down into the tavern area, Adrian Martikov approaches him and tells him he has some bad news - apparently the Baba Lysaga has Bhuellor’s daughter. Adrian tells them that he was following a group of devils that had his daughter captive and they unwisely trespassed in Baba Lysaga’s home. She killed the devils but kept the child for herself. Knowing that Baba Lysaga baths in blood, he fears that may be why she kept Bhuellor’s daughter.

Group heads out with Adrian to the Ruins of Berez and as they travel discuss the many ways they may be able to deal with Baba Lysaga. These ranged from talking with her, straight up attacking her, and a combination of talking with her and sneaking into her hut. They agreed the best approach was to have a few people talk with Baba while Bhuellor snuck into her hut while invisible.

As they approached the Ruins of Berez, they saw numerous scarecrows stuffed with raven feathers twitching against the wind. These scarecrows do not attack as the group passes through the area and towards Baba’s hut. Instead of knocking on her door to talk with her, Bhuellor sent Cam to peek in one of the window’s of the hut and perhaps sneak in. Cam did so, while invisible, and saw a baby in a crib in the middle of the room and his daughter in a cage against the far wall, but Baba did not appear to be home. There was a strange, green glow beneath the baby’s crib.

Cam broke into the hut and Bhuellor was able to dispel the magic of the gem through his familiar. The group then went into the hut, removed the gem, and rescued Bhuellor’s daughter Jeanie. Jeanie seemed to be in shock and was just holding onto her father’s arm. Adrian looked upon the baby in the crib with clear disgust on his face, but made no comment on it. Mathias, inspecting the baby and crib realizes that it’s an illusion. But before they can really discuss this, they hear Baba Lysaga’s cackle echoing through the swamp.

Everyone but Mathias exits the hut to confront the witch. She’s now flying on a broomstick. Mathias decides to open the chest in the hut and as soon as he touches it is assaulted by a blast of lightning. The fight, with the hut disabled, goes much better for the group and they are able to defeat her. Mathias falls to a fireball and learns that fire seems to harm him far more than it used to. Perhaps this is a side effect of The Abbot’s cure?

Bhuellor dispels the ward on the chest and within they find some useful treasure as well as a very old journal stained and etched with mold. At this point, Adrian asks for the gem from Mathias which he hands over without question. Most of the journals is illegible but they are able to obtain the following, in which Mathias reads aloud to the entire group:

Queen Ravenovia has just given birth to the most angelic child I have ever laid my eyes upon. I am truly blessed to be this one’s midwife. I shall treat Strahd as if he was my own.

Ravenovia does not deserve this child. She does not see the potential in him that only his real mother would see. I shall steal him away from her and teach him the ways of Mother Night.

That foolish Queen has banished me from her realm! Will I ever see my precious child again?

I have made countless sacrifices to Mother Night and she has finally answered my prayers. Queen Ravenonia is dead and I am free to act as Strahd’s true mother. I shall watch him from afar and ensure none oppose him!

The group discuss who Queen Ravenovia is and Adrian tells them she was Strahd’s mother and as they ponder if this is something they can use against Strahd, Adrian informs them that it the information is well known as he named his Castle, Ravenloft, for her. As the group discusses what they should explore next, Adrian sits down on the road and begins to read a book.

As Mathias looks for anything of use within the remains of the mansion’s basement, Firestorm and Bhuellor explore the mansion gardens. They find a number of goats in a pen in front of the mansion. They let the goats out and Bhuellor, using Speak with Animals, is thanked by one goat and told that the strange roses they seek are in the gardens, but are not tasty. Firestorm obtains two roses, but has to feed them some of her blood as she does so.

They end up exploring the ruins of an old mansion. There, a ghost appears before Firestorm and tells her to travel 200 paces to the west and says “There lies a monument to my folly.” Firestorm goes alone and finds the same monument she dreamt about. The monument resembles Ireena perfectly and the epigraph below the life-sized statue of a peasant girl holding a rose reads, “Marina: Taken by the Mists”. As Firestorm examines the monument she hears a voice very similar to Ireena’s say “Lay down your bow and quiver.”

The group, wondering where Firestorm is, sees Adrian staring to the west towards their friend standing before the stone monument. Adrian reluctantly joins them as they approach Firestorm. As they arrive, they see an apparition of Ireena (or in this case, Marina) appear before them. As Firestorm lays the bow and quiver down, the clouds above depart and moon beam highlights the weapons. They begin to glow with a soft blue light and the moonbeam begins to shrink, as if it is being absorbed by the bow.

She says, "Save him if you can, but he lost his way long ago. You must do whatever it takes to heal this land. May these weapons aid you.”

The apparition stays there as the group turns to explore the stone pillars on the other side of the Luna River. As Firestorm picks up her weapons and turns to join her group, she notices that Adrian is not following. When asked, he says he’ll join them soon and recognizing that there must be some history there between Marina and Adrian, Firestorm left him alone. However, when he still did not join them after the group spent some time discussing the strange circle of stones, she turned back and watched him from a distance. Adrian is kneeling down before the monument as she watches. She sees him stand and wipe his eyes with th back of his hand. A moment of pity washes over her, but before she can process it, he raises his hands up to the sky and seemingly out of nowhere a Nightmare appeared by his side. Adrian, who Firestorm now realized was actually Strahd, mounted the fiery horse and took off towards the east. Firestorm rejoins the group and informs them of what she saw. Mathias was very concerned that he gave Strahd the gem for the winery, but when Corvid tried to send Strahd a message using a smell, he received no response.

Still studying the stones, the group is only able to determine that the place is Hallowed Ground, so they should be able to rest there without Escher or other creatures disturbing them.

After inspecting the Standing Stones, the group cannot determine what they were once used for or if they have any use now. All Corvid can tell is that the center of the stones is considered to be Hallowed Ground and they theoretically could rest there for the evening without any undead or fiends disturbing them. Still, they were outside at night in Barovia, so they set watches.

During Bhuellor’s watch, Escher accompanied by a giant wolf approached the Standing Stone circle. Just at the edge he called to Bhuellor and informed him he had a message for them. Bhuellor woke everyone up as Escher attempted to get one of them to come over to him as he didnt want to have to shout the message and could not enter the circle. Corvid walks over to Escher and talks with him. Escher tells him that Strahd wants “you idiots” to meet him on Tsolenka Pass on Mount Ghankis and vaguely tells him about a gem Strahd has that will trap Mammon, but Corvid has to be the one to use it. Eventually Escher informs them that van Richten will be accompanying Strahd “if that makes any difference”. Bhuellor asks why Strahd didn’t talk to them himself and why they should trust Escher. Escher informs them that Strahd is busy “brooding”, but doesn’t really answer the question on why they should trust him.

Meanwhile, Firestorm figures out that the wolf by Escher’s side is likely Alek and convinces him to talk with her. He shifts into his human form to do so and is quite naked and unashamed by this fact. Firestorm manages to convince Alek to travel with them after asking him about Ireena. He admits he’s not allowed near her, but is still given the task of watching over her and the castle and apparently someone spread a rumor that he was attempting to court Ireena behind Strahd’s back. This led Bubblegum to call Escher out as she was the one to plant that seed with Escher in the first place. A bit of awkward conversation ensued before Escher essentially threw a tantrum, turned into a bat and flew away.

Alek, now convinced to stay with the group, joins them at their camp. He informs them Escher was supposed to deliver them a letter from Strahd explaining the details of the fight, but he himself does not have those details as his task is to protect Ireena while Strahd is away. He also informs them that Strahd wanted them to meet him in two days. He does know that Strahd has been working on creating the gem for some time and that it can trap Mammon when he has been sufficiently weakened. He doesn’t quite understand how the magic works but he knows that Corvid must be the one to use it.

When Bubblegum asks about the rumor Escher spread, Alek shrugs and says, “You have to forgive Escher. He is acting out as he is quite lonely.”

Shortly after joining them, the group has a disagreement about Alek and he reluctantly tells Firestorm he should leave, shifts back into his wolf form and runs off into the woods, but not before Corvid shoots a Guided Bolt at him.

In the morning, the group travels to the Wizard of Wines Winery and asks the Martikovs to look after Bhuellor’s daughter, Jeanie as they continue to travel through Barovia. Jeanie wasn’t too happy about this but understood that her father was only trying to protect her. On their way towards Mount Ghakis, they walked into a trap set on the path with undead hands reaching out and holding them in place. An assassin jumped out of a hiding place and attacked Bhuellor, taking him out quickly and said if they gave him the dagger, they could live. The group, however, easily took out the assassin and after a brief discussion on what they should do with the dagger, they decided to keep it until they could figure out a better solution.

They also recalled the history of the dagger. Ba'al Verzi Dagger - This specialized, incredibly sharp dagger of the Ba'al Verzi assassin guild is fashioned with a black hilt decorated in golden and red runes of power. It is said that the red symbolizes the blood taken, the black for the darkness of death, and the gold for the price paid. The dagger comes with a special sheath that is said to be fashioned with human skin from the Ba'al Verzi assassin's first victim. A Ba’al Verzi Dagger was used by Strahd’s brother Sergei to kill Tatyana on the night of their wedding. Strahd, in turned, use the dagger to kill his own brother and sealed his pact with “Death” and became a vampire.

Devils on a Cliff

As the group ascends the treacherous paths of Mount Ghakis they encounter a horde of devils waiting for them. A giant devil standing far above them aims an oversized crossbow and shouts in infernal, “Take the tiefling alive, kill the others.”

After a long battle in which many of the devils almost fell on top of Corvid before dissipating out of existence, the group prevailed with only a single invisible imp escaping.

The Devils defeated, the group continued up Mount Ghakis. The paths were narrow and slick with ice. The combination of the setting sun and the thick mist surrounding the mountainsides limited their visibility as the cold, howling wind pierced through their thick winter threads. Just as they were contemplating finding a safe location to rest for the evening, they made out a sliver of orange light flickering behind a small crack in the mountain side and a barely visable silhouette of a man leaning against the cliffside staring out into the Mists in which appears to be a great city made of white stonework. The sound of a far off distant and mournful church bell echoed within.

Bhuellor sent Cam ahead to see not only who was leaning up against the wall but what was behind them. He wasn’t too surprised to find out it was Strahd since he had asked them to meet him at Tsolenka Pass in the first place.

Conversation with a Vampire

After an awkward moment in which Strahd did not acknowledge their presence, through conversation, he informed them of the following:

Strahd had not planned on going over the tactics with the group that evening and was clearly annoyed when they asked him to, telling them that it was all spelled out in the letter he wrote them. They informed him that Escher did not give them the letter and all Strahd responded with was “I see.”

Strahd instructs Corvid on how to use the gemstone that has been embedded into a leather headband against Mammon. He says it will be a contest of wills, but once Mammon is sufficiently weakened it should be easy enough for Corvid to dominate him. To empower the gemstone, Strahd says he needs the “blood of a traitor”, then turns to Mathias and asks for his hand. He takes out a dagger, drags it along Mathias palm and drips the blood over the white gemstone, which absorbs the blood and turns from pure white to white with red veins running through it.

When asked about the city in the mists he said, “It was once my homeland. You know, I can’t even recall the name anymore.” He also informs them that it is not really there, just a form of torment from the Dark Powers that keep him in Barovia. When asked if he has ever tried to leave he said he hasn’t made an attempt in centuries. According to Strahd, he succeeded once when working with Azalin Rex, the lich King of Darkon, in creating a portal that enabled them to leave Barovia. However, they were both sent back eventually.

After some discussion of a reward for assisting Strahd in dealing with Mammon, Strahd gives them his word that he will grant them passage through the Mists when they return to Castle Ravenloft. Mathias remembered Strahd telling them he had no such power while they dined with him and his people. However, it is hard to determine which statement is true and which is false. Strahd is almost impossible to read.

Strahd says that he is dealing with Mammon because, based on prophecy, Mammon will enslave his people if he does nothing to stop him and Strahd will not allow that to come to pass. When Corvid asked if he made a deal to allow Mammon into Barovia, Strahd outright denied this accusation and stated, “There are many rumors about my person that are false.”

Bhuellor vaguely asked about an assassin that would be after a particular dagger that attacked them. Strahd simply asked if they killed the assassin and when Bhuellor said “yes” he simply replied, “Then per their code, they will leave you be.”

Corvid and Strahd talked privately away from the camp for a moment. Corvid asked if he can have the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind back after Mammon is dealt with. Strahd told him that that particular artifact is a family heirloom. It was his late brother’s in life and now rests with him, where it belongs. After this very fancy way of saying “no”, Strahd leaves to take out as many of Mammon’s minions as he can that evening while the rest of the group rests.

The Old Hunter

Within a small cave covered by a large cloak is van Richten kneeling in prayer next to a campfire. After Strahd leaves, he engages in conversation with the group. He does inform them to be careful what they say, because it’s never guaranteed that Strahd isn’t listening.

Van Richten tells them a bit about the lands in the Mists that they find themselves in. He says he is from Darkon, born and raised, but has traveled to many of the other domains himself. Azalin Rex is the Lord of Darkon and Van Richten knows him to be a lich. He says that each realm has a dark history associated with it and the rulers are often the cause of it. Strahd, for example, not only killed his own brother in an act of vengeance but agreed to take on unthinkable dark powers to do so. It is rumored that Azalin killed his own son, but the story behind that tale is a bit more vague. When asked why he stays in Barovia if he can travel through the mists van Richten says that Strahd closed the borders to his domain and he cannot leave, though he wouldn’t want to anyway as he wishes to remain there to protect Ezmerelda.

Van Richten tells them that the Ba’al Verzi Dagger is a dagger of legend and it is said to give ill luck to any who draws the dagger without giving it blood. When asked what he would do with such a weapon, van Ricthen says he would do what he could to keep it away from evil.

In regards to Escher, van Richten says he isn’t sure how much control Strahd actually has over Escher, given what he witnessed while staying at Castle Ravenloft. When mentioned that Escher referred to Strahd as his “husband”, van Richten states that he must have performed the bride ceremony on Escher, making him a full vampire instead of a spawn. Mathias theorizes that maybe Strahd doesn’t have any control over him then. Van Richten, however, isn’t sure and says, “Perhaps, but Strahd is...unique.”

The eve before heading to Tsolenka Pass to battle Mammon and his forces, the group rested in a small cave with van Ricthen. The evening was mostly uneventful with Bubblegum telling the bat-winged cat, Urik, about the good deeds she's accomplished in the world and van Richten handing Firestorm a letter from Ireena during her watch. He indicated that she should read it when she knows Strahd will not be around.

In the morning, the group discussed various strategies for approaching Mammon's Keep for a good hour before heading to the area and settling with an attempt at sneaking into the keep by using Firestorm's Pass without a Trace spell. Strahd warned them that there were likely to be lookouts (most likely invisible imps) in towers leading up to the keep as well within the keep itself. After they passed through a gate and Bhuellor dispelled a magical green fire beyond the gate, they were spotted by one of these lookouts and attacked. The group managed to defeat the devils and stopped an invisible imp from escaping.

Uncertain if their battle was heard elsewhere along the pass, the group discussed options outside the guard tower as a humongous bird flew overhead.

The group, after a bit of debating, broke into two groups - one came into Mammon's keep from the hole in the roof and the other through the front gate. After a long battle, they were able to defeat Mammon and Corvid bound his father in a gemstone on the headband Strahd made.

Strahd agreed to identify the headband for Corvid and told him it now contains some of Mammon's abilities within, though Corvid must attune to it to access these abilities.

During the battle, Strahd displayed a fair amount of his abilities including the following:

He can practically disappear when he wishes.

He can apparently summon up a snow storm and raise the dead as skeletons and zombies.

He is quite skilled with his sword and the sword itself seems to drain the energy from his victims.

Strahd left to return to Ravenloft and Bubblegum asked to go with him. Stating she had finished her part of the bargain so she wanted to go home. He agreed to take her.

Firestorm reads the letter van Richten gave her from Ireena as soon as Strahd takes off with Bubblegum. The letter reads as follows:

Firestorm,

I wanted to thank you for the kind gift, it is a very beautiful ring.

I’m afraid I am losing much of myself the longer I stay here. I am remembering things I never experienced, events that happened to (note: the sentence trails off here, never completed)

It is why I write now, I’m not sure how much of Ireena is left, but you must know something I have discovered while staying in Castle Ravenloft. Within the spires of the castle is a large, magically pulsing heart. If you must fight Strahd, destroy the heart first. It holds some protection over him that I do not understand.

I also do not understand my own feelings. There are days I am sure I may love him, but I do not know if that is truly me or someone I once was. If you see my brother, tell him I love and miss him dearly.

Your Friend,

Taty Ireena Kolyana

Firestorm, concerned for Ireena was ready to abandon the groups wishes to explore the Amber Temple and hopefully find some much needed information on Barovia and Strahd and perhaps the strange powers there. The group, however, convinced her that exploring the Amber Temple would better arm them when they returned to Castle Ravenloft. Van Ricthen leaves the group, stating that he must work alone and does the sad, old man walk as he slowly meanders down the Tsolenka Pass.

The bridge that led over the Tsolenka Pass had a figure frozen upon it. At a distance, they believed this to be a statue, but soon learned it was a man frozen in time as the bridge beneath him was beginning to collapse. They tied a rope around him and pulled him to safety. Part of the bridge collapsed when they did so and the man unfroze. The man introduced himself as "Montgomery Bogwart" and said had placed himself in a time-bubble for when he was safe again, then he asked what year it was and was surprised to learn it was 1182 BC.

He said hew as on his way to the Amber Temple and knew the place to be a safe guard of magical knowledge and that it is rumored to contain great evil within. Montgomery joined the group and they made their way inside the Amber Temple as the giant roc flew after them, swooping down just as they entered the temple.

Within the temple they encounter three flameskulls, which they defeated. The room the flameskulls were guarding had a hole in the ground which Cam indicated went down to a strange room with Amber sarcophagi. After debating on going down the hole or not, they decide not to and continue on. They encounter Casimir, the dusk elf from the Vistani camp outside of Vallaki within a room that appeared to be a lecture hall. Casimir said he was there to discover a way to bring back is dead sister, but was a bit hedgy about how he passed the flameskulls, simply stating that they were not there when he arrived the night before.

Farther down the hallway was a great set of double amber doors and behind them was a giant amber statue, which, unfortunately was not a statue as it began to move towards the group as soon as they opened the door. The group shut the doors and ran, barricading themselves behind the secret door near the entrance of the Amber Temple. There they decided to rest for the evening, if the constant thunderous footfalls of the awakened Amber Giant lets them.

As the group rests during the night Bhuellor hears footsteps just beyond the secret room they rest within and sends an invisible Cam to see who it is. Cam sees a middle-aged woman with long blond hair dressed in dark gray robes. She, it seems, sees Cam as well, but before she interacts with the imp, Cam flies back to Bhuellor.

Firstorm hears a wolf growling during her watch somewhere to the west. Close perhaps but not on the move and more likely resting or sleeping.

When Mathias wakes from his watch, he suddenly has twin tattoos of ravens in flight encircling his wrists. He tells Firestorm they are meant to protect him.

In the morning, the group proceeds down the steps leading into the temple floor and standing before them is a towering statue of a faceless god, the face of which enshrouded in darkness and from that darkness shoots a bolt of lightning. The group fights a strange fox-like devil that is hiding within the face of the statue shooting spells from the darkness. They defeat the Arcanoloth. Mont takes his spellbook and Firestrom adorns his robes, which is a Robe of Useful Things.

Behind the statue they find a secret door that leads to a staircase going upwards. Ascending the stairs they enter a library where they meet the woman Bhuellor saw the night before. She was reading a book and seemingly unconcerned about their presence. Through conversation between her and Mont, Mont hints at having a journal from "Azalin" about a severance ritual. This concerns the woman and she demands the book back and says she will help cast the powerful magic required to weaken Count Strahd, seperating him from the darkness that empowers him. Mont does not agree to give her the journal and this eventually devolves into her attacking, the illusions around her fading for a moment, revealing a skeletal figure with glowing coal-like eyes. Bhuellor recognizes her to be a lich and as he shouts this, she casts a spell on Mont, dominating him and forcing him to move to her a deliver her master's journal to her outstretched hands.

After Monti, clearly under the lich's sway, hands over Azalin's journal to the Fina. Fina then tells them she does not want to kill them, but her Master will destroy her if she does not bring this book back to him. After a few people respond by hiding behind chairs in the library, the group decides to parlay with Fina. As a gesture of good faith, the lich cast a spell to create a copy of the journal and handed it to Monti who then shared it with the group.

When Mathias asked about if there was any information about the Mists, Fina goes over to the library books and takes one down, handing it to him. The title of the book was "Van Richten's Guide to the Mists" and flipping within, it describes some of the various other realms within the Mists.

When asked about the Dark Powers, Fina told Mathias that they are mysterious and unknown, but she hinted at them influencing the people that lived in the lands surrounded by the Mists. She also mentioned that perhaps whatever spoke to Mathias had meant to slivers of the dark gods that are trapped within the amber sarcophagi in the temple.

When asked where they could obtain an amber gemstone, Fina suggested the treasury, which was located below. She warned them that Strahd had visited now and then and likely some of his minions were downstairs. Sure enough, when they traveled downstairs, a number of Vampire Spawn attacked them.

Journal of Azalin Rex

Barovian Calendar 542 - Barovia

Barovia is nothing more than a provincial mud slump and I find myself forced to work with Von Zarovich to escape this dreadful demiplane. If working with that insufferable creature is what it will take to return to my homeland in Oerth, then it is a sacrifice I must make. To make matters truly intolerable, upon arriving in this land I have discovered that I can no longer learn new spells and am forced to tutor Von Zarovich on these manners. He already had substantial knowledge of the arcane when I arrived and his genius in the matter is quite alarming. I will have to hold back what knowledge I can from him, for I cannot let him surpass my own mastery. It is a tricky situation, indeed, for I must teach him what spells I cannot cast myself in order for us to both escape this place.

Barovian Calendar 543 - Barovia

Von Zarovich’s obsession with this Tatyana woman and his reluctance to divulge the complete tale of the night the Mists formed in Barovia has been the ultimate test of my patience. Tatyana is a blind spot of his and one I might exploit if my escape attempts fail and I must supplant him. Though he has several weaknesses, his obsession of this woman is his most consistent. He has noticed the pattern of her continuing birth, death, and rebirth in this land, so the idea of introducing a false version of her at an inconvenient time to him could be most advantageous to me. However, any such attempt would need to be perfect, for he would see through an illusionary magic I might attempt and seems to recognize not only the woman, but her soul as well.

After slowly prying the tale from Von Zarovich, I believe the Mists react to strong emotions and negative acts. This, leads to the conclusion that the Mists are intelligent or that something sentient controls them. After learning all Von Zarovich was willing to tell me about that fateful night, I reluctantly concluded that the land is tied to him as much as he is to it. The ritual he invoked through blood and the statement “I am the land” when he first came to rule Barovia as a mortal man thus restated thrice in his journey to the supernatural creature he now is has formed a magical connection. A stubborn fool, Von Zarovich refuses to conduct the necessary ceremony to sever his connection with the land. He tells me that we cannot know what will happen if that severance is made and claims his reluctance is a noble one for he wishes to bring no harm upon his people. This from the creature that literally feeds on their life on a nightly basis. I believe that he truly fears that by severing his tie to the land, he will break his power and end Tatyana’s rebirth cycle. Again, he is blinded by this woman and I must, reluctantly, come up with an alternative solution.

Barovian Calendar 579 - Barovia

My latest spell work was successful and Von Zarovich and I were able to escape Barovia into the land of Mordent. I cannot recall what occurred while we were there for months or perhaps years. Von Zarovich acts as though he remembers, but I know him to be a practiced liar when it suits him. He has a dark sense of humor and I highly doubt he would remember what I cannot. More likely he finds pleasure in lording this over me, yet is as clueless as I.

Barovian Calendar 580 - Darkon

A year has passed since I became the ruler of my own realm, Darkon. At first, I thought it a gift, but now I see it for what it is: a gilded cage. I am trapped in Darkon as much as I was in Barovia. At least now I don’t have to look at that arrogant vampire’s face anymore and am free to plan my own escape from these demiplanes without him.

The memories of what occurred in Mordent are slowly coming back to me and I believe within those memories is the key to allow me to return to Oerth. In Mordent we had managed to separate the darkness that resides within Von Zarovich from the man he once was. This resulted in two versions of him as if one wasn’t enough. We had failed to destroy this “dark half”, however. The details elude me, but I believe it was his reluctance to let go of Tatyana that ultimately led to our failure. Instead of Strahd’s ultimate destruction, the two merged together again and we were forced back to Barovia.

Barovian Calendar 1180 - Darkon

Since Von Zarovich started everything with the Mists, I believe he is the key to freeing those within, myself included, and there are only two ways in which this could occur:

Von Zarovich willingly participates in a severance ritual, cutting off his magical link with Barovia. After which, a portal is created for him to step through. Any mage with an ounce of talent should be able to do this. If successful, this should bring him and Barovia into whatever land they were once part of. Theoretically, this should release all of the demiplanes from their respective prisons. The likelihood of Von Zarovich agreeing to such a skeme is slim for he fears losing that woman of his. I’m also reluctant to try it myself as it may just release in his freedom and not my own.

Repeating the ritual we performed in Mordent, but destroying the darkness or “Death” as Strahd had called it. Since Death is made of dark, impenetrable shadows, obtaining a suitable vessel in which to trap it is all that is needed to destroy it. Afterwhich, Von Zarovich will be sufficiently weakened and easy to destroy, then I will all be free of my prison and returned to my rightful land. This ritual is far more preferable as it would not require Von Zarovich’s consent and knowing how foolish and stubborn he is, I doubt he would ever agree to either. Since I can no longer travel to Barovia myself, I have sent my vassal to further research this method within the confines of the Amber Temple and perhaps attempt it herself.

The unknown beings trapped with the amber sarcophagi attempt to make deals with Bhuellor and Corvid, both do not make any bargains. Casimir does make a deal and he transforms before their eyes, appearing as an undead thing. He says the being promised him the power to restore his sister to life. He asks if they will accompany him to the catacombs of Castle Ravenloft so he can revive her. The group is weary of him now.

After a long rest, the group discovers the treasure chamber. Firestorm uses her robe of useful items to trap the large amber golem guarding the room within a pit she placed directly below it's feet. Within the treasure vault they find an amber gemstone for Firestorm, a magical human skull with gemstones in its eyes, a Bag of Holding, and a lot of gold.

Further exploring the Temple, they found a model of Castle Ravenloft, a Tome of Understanding, and a Staff of Frost after defeating a group of ghostly warriors and their ghost wolf.

The group continues through the Amber Temple and discovers more of the amber sarcophagi. One of these sarcophagi is broken, shattered and upon the wall Firestorm notices a wolf-like silhouette upon the wall behind it. Corvid thinks it might be best to take some of the shattered amber from this sarcophagi to assist in the removal of Firestorm's curse. Additionally, when Firestorm attempts to communicate with one of the beings trapped within the amber, it tells her she has already made a deal and cannot make another.

Bhuellor talks with "Bhab with Skull" - the magical skull that was found in the treasury room and asks him a few question. Bhab answers the questions, but in such an insulting way it does physic damage to the warlock.

Bhab shared the following information:

The Mists: Powerful beings known only as the Dark Powers created the Mists to trap people who have done great evil in their lives.

Strahd and the curse: The clear way to break the curse that holds Barovia in the Mists is to destroy Strahd as he is the reason Barovia was taken from whatever land it originated from the in first place.

The Dark Powers: Unknown entities but likely powerful beings that can influence those of other worlds but are said to be unable to leave the realm from which they reside unless summoned by a powerful sorcerer.

Returning to the library in the Amber Temple, Monti finds a book bound in black leather. Upon first opening it, the pages are blank then slowly they shift, showing Monti the means to creature himself powerful magical items, but try as he might, he cannot read the spell as the words and ingredients continually shift before his eyes. As his frustration grew, the book shifted once more, becoming Strahd's journal. Within, Monti reads a tale that no one had seen before. This story depicts Strahd making a deal with "Death" to obtain his heart's desire, but seen by Alek Gwilym. Strahd kills his Commander for the crime of witnessing his own horrible deals, despite Alek swearing he would still serve him. Strahd hides Alek's body to deal with later, but later that same evening he finds the body completely gone with no trace of what happened to it. A decade later, Alek shows up at Castle Ravenloft, none a werewolf and having no memory of what occurred between him and Strahd. Strahd does not share this information for fear that his Commander would seek revenge.

The group decides to leave to Krezk to have The Abbot remove Firestorm's curse. They also sent a number of messages to their allies (Ezmerelda, van Richten, Mordenkainen, the Martikovs, Ismark) to meet them in Krezk to discuss their plans to take out Strahd.

The group traveled the the stone circle in Berez and, following the Abbot's instructions, performed the ritual to cure Firestorm. Once completed, a darkness poured out of Firestorm's mouth and took the shape of a great, shadowy wolf. Around the stone circle, more wolves appeared. Once the wolves were defeated, Firestorm's curse was removed and she no longer had wolf-like features.

The group traveled back to The Abbey and met Ezmerelda there. They strategized how to best utilized their allies assistance and came up with a plan to retrieve the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, the Sunsword, and destroy the Heart of Sorrow.

The group meets some of their allies at the Abbey and learn from Ezmerelda, Ismark, and van Ricthen that they were able to obtain the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind, which Ezmerelda hands over to Corivd. van Richten, however, was not able to obtain the Sunsword, but did provide them with a map of the Castle and how to best approach Strahd's Tomb, where the Sunsword lies and the "bone room" where they are destined to meet Strahd.

After much discussion, the group travels to Castle Ravenloft to face Strahd and save Ireena. Ezmerelda goes with them, taking them in her vardo to quicken the journey to the castle. Within the walls the encounter Alek who, after a terse conversation with them, agrees not to deter them, but also not to assist their efforts for Strahd is his oldest friend. Monti hands over Strahd's journal in which the vampire describes killing Alek a long time ago and his sudden appearance and memory loss a decade later. After a bit of discussion, Alek and Ezermelda leave the group to face Strahd as they attempt to find Ireena and get her out of the castle.

The group encounters two vampires in the church, making preparations for the upcoming "wedding" ceremony. They destroy the vampires and make their way down into the crypts beneath the castle. As they enter the crypts, they see the ceiling above moving as if made from living shadows and see that one of the nearest crypts has been broken into quite recently.