In the morning, Elora uses her magic to remove the curse of lycanthropy from McCoy. He is relieved he doesn’t have to worry about harming his companions but can’t help but feel he has lost something. Bramo completes his work on the squid beaks forging them into two great shields both of which are resistant to fire. He gives one to McCoy and the other to Riley. Bramo also finishes work on the new wand he acquired in the sewers beneath the Abbey. He carves the wand into an arcane firearm allowing him to cast his spells with increased deadliness.
The group heads out and makes their way to the swamps of Berez. The once vibrant town is now a skeletal ruin sunken into a bog of stagnant water and mud. The air is filled with a heavy fog and clouds of buzzing insects. There, on the road into Berez, they meet Jeny Greenteeth. She is in a small cart being pulled by an enormous boar named Toady. She greets the party and they ask her why she is here. She explains she is here to rescue her sister Laura Stoneheart from the clutches of the evil witch Baba Lysaga. She tells them she has tried many times to save her, but the witch always repels her with her great magic.
The group tells Jeny they are going to retrieve something from Baba Lysaga as well and offer to rescue her sister. Jeny thinks this is an excellent plan. She tells the group if they rescue her sister, she will reward them with 3 magic potions, a magical wooden coin which can summon her, and she will waive any favor requirements for her spellcasting services. She tells them she will meet them on the road if they are successful. McCoy asks why Jeny thinks they can succeed where she has failed, and she tells them that doesn’t, but wishes them luck.
She says their friend the “horny mage” has been hiding out at her shop disguised as a boar. The group is relieved to hear that Alkazaar is safe and that they now know where to find him. Before she leaves, she tells them a naked girl is trying to get their attention from a circle of stones nearby.
The group heads over to the stones and found a naked young woman there. She has short black hair with a patch of white in it and pale skin. She is badly injured with a long, jagged burn running up her side like she was struck by lightning. The woman introduces herself as Muriel Vinshaw. The group tries to introduce themselves, but she tells them she already knows who they are. Muriel tells them she is part of the Martikov spy network, and she has been keeping an eye on them since they came to Barovia. She has been trying to keep them safe with limited success. She explains that Davian sent her here to scout out the area for them and locate the skull of Argynvost.
While she was scouting the area, she discovered that Baba Lysaga had captured a group of ravens and was keeping them locked in cages outside of her hut. Muriel tried to free them but was caught by the witch and nearly killed. She managed to crawl her way to the stones where there were no insects and waited for help.
The group heals Muriel and Johan gives her his cloak to wear. Muriel explains she has lingering injuries and cannot accompany them into the swamp. Johan offers to let her ride his skeletal horse back to the winery, but she declines thinking it would be very uncomfortable in her current state. They also offer her some of their field rations which she declines as well.
Muriel gives them the lay of the land around Berez. She points out the old manor ruins and the church with a graveyard. She tells them Baba Lysaga’s hut lies beyond a large pool of water. She also tells them there is a small village of huts built over the swamp. There is a group of women living there. Muriel doesn’t know who they are, but she didn’t like the look of them. She also tells them there are scarecrows spread out throughout the swamp. These scarecrows are alive, and they act as Baba Lysaga’s eyes in the swamp. She has seen them attack the Wizard of Wines before and tells them the witch is the enemy of the Martikovs.
The group thanks Muriel and heads into the swamp intended to quietly disable the scarecrows as they go. Bramo scouts ahead of the group with McCoy trailing behind him. He spots a scarecrow and tries to destroy it with a bolt of fire, but it barely singes the construct. The rest of group joins in the brief combat and manage to destroy the scarecrow. They are unsure if their presence has been detected or not.
They make their way through the ruins of the manor and encounter the ghost of Lazlo Ulrich, former magistrate of Berez. Lazlo tells them the tale of Marina a woman with dark hair who looked like Ireena. The group tells him this must have been another reincarnation of Tatyana and Lazlo agrees. He tells them that Strahd seduced Marina and was in the process of turning her into his vampire bride. To save her soul, Lazlo and Brother Ludovich, the town priest conspired together and killed Marina. When Strahd discovered this, he killed both of them and used his powers to make the waters of the Luna River rise up and destroy Berez killing most of its inhabitants in the process. Now Lazlo is forever damned to haunt these ruins for his sins.
The group tell Lazlo they are working to restore the land and end the curse afflicting it. They hope to soon lay him to rest. Beyond the manor, the discover a realistic statue of a young woman kneeling and holding a rose. The woman looks exactly like Ireena. Written on the grave in front of the statue is the inscription: “Marina, taken by the Mists.”
As they are studying the statue, corpses suddenly rise up out of the waters surrounding them. The corpse and drowned and bloated bodies that shamble towards them. The drowned corpses are easy to defeat, but when slain, each one bursts open to reveal they are filled with swarms of poisonous snakes! The snakes are more difficult to kill, but eventually they are defeated.
They spot another scarecrow guardian and the spellcasters work in conjunction to attack it all at once and destroy it. They find the ruins of an old church of the Morninglord, its chapel bell lies half-submerged in the stagnant waters. They see beyond the church ruins a sunken cemetery its graves sticking out of the water’s surface like jagged teeth. They avoid the cemetery and head towards another scarecrow when they notice a group of women watching them. Caught in the act, they casually walk over to the women and introduce themselves.
The women introduce themselves as the “inconvenient Women of Barovia.” They have been driven out of society for being too intelligent, for voicing their opinions, and for refusing to be victims. They have found solace here in this abandoned place and seized power for themselves. The women are very upset that men have been brought to their swamp. They explain that land outside of the swamp belongs to men, but here women rule free of their oppression.
The men in the group remain quiet while Riley and Bronwyn speak for them. The women’s spokesperson is Zaleria supported by Hermia, another of Baba Lysaga’s lieutenants. The group of a dozen women are all Baba Lysaga’s apprentices. They have learned from and are protected by the great witch.
Bronwyn tries to convince the women to let them search through the swamp. She tells them they are searching for their friend Laura who has become lost in the swamp. Zaleria tells them she knows of no Laura in the swamp and that her friend is likely dead. Bronwyn tries to insist that they must at least try to look for her and ask again for permission to search the swamp. Zaleria consults with Hermia and tells the group they will not allow them to search the swamp. They must leave immediately or face the consequences.
As Bronwyn is trying to salvage the situation, Riley recognizes Zaleria’s voice and realizes she is the one who gave her the cursed tattoo! Riley loses her cool, calling out Zaleria and attacking!
Zaleria summons a Yeth Hound to attack the group and retreats. The witches attack from the walkways around their huts with sickening beams of magical energy. The Yeth Hound lets out a mournful wail which frightens Ireena, Elora, Bramo, and Verushka. All of scarecrows of the swamp are summoned to the battle and start closing in on the group.
Hermia acts as the vanguard for the witches and attacks the group in melee. When she is struck in combat she suddenly vanishes in a puff of smoke. Bramo builds an arcane cannon which spews cones of fire out at the scarecrows but doesn’t have the range to reach the retreating witches. Riley has to halt her pursuit of vengeance to save Elora when Hermia reappears behind her attacking from invisibility!
Riley defeats her and returns to her vengeance. Elora casts a spell of Haste on her to help with her vengeance. The witches are performing a fighting withdrawal as they fall back across the platforms. Riley catches up to Zaleria, but she too disappears in a puff of smoke. Riley curses her cowardice!
Johan cuts off the escape of the witches with backup from Lancelot and Ireena. A few of the witches manage to slip away, but most of them are killed. The group spots Zaleria slipping into a strange hut beyond the village and they pursue her. The hut is fifteen feet on each side and built into the trunk of a tree ten feet above the water. Two cages filled with ravens are attached to the front of the hut and the large skull of dragon sits upside down in the mud in front of it.
Baba Lysaga emerges from the hut. She is a beautiful, elven woman with blonde hair and dressed in animal skins and bones. She drops into the skull of Argynvost and flies into the air. From her flying skull, she fires a lightning bolt which strikes McCoy and electrocutes him.
Riley runs over to the hut using her great speed to catch up with Zaleria. She is supported by McCoy who stands beneath the hut with her. Baba Lysaga casts another spell on them, and black, writhing tentacles erupt from the ground beneath grasping at all of them including Zaleria! Then she flies back over the swamp huts.
Elora attacks her with scorching bolts of radiant fire, but most of them are deflected by the skull. And angry and frustrated Verushka runs across the platforms and climbs to the roof of the nearest hut to try and reach Baba Lysaga. The group tries to gather together with Johan and Ireena coming around the swamp huts to support Riley from the south. Johan casts a spell on Zaleria to mark her as his quarry should she try and escape again. Above them, Baba Lysaga circles and prepares to attack.
Curse of Ravenloft 